Hotshots

"Are you drunk?" Lucy asked, trying to push Rena out of her arms.

Rena giggled. She'd thrown herself at Lucy the moment she'd seen her. Jebediah had retreated with Niles Jr. No one knew if the baby had been tampered with or if Rena would lose control. The only ones who still remained next to Lucy were Dawnie and Aarti.

Aarti had never been affected by Rena, a fact that usually irked Rena. Dawnie always said that her metabolism would burn through everything equally fast, and neither she nor Rena wanted to see where the breakeven point would be.

"Maybe," Rena said, looking over Lucy's shoulder at Aarti. "Where's your mom? She's not outside."

Aarti looked from Rena to the giant hole Rena had made in the metal of the creche's wall. The edges still sizzled, black and burnt.

"Are we really not going to ask about the hole?" Aarti finally said.

"What hole?" Rena asked, blinking owlishly at her. She pulled back and beamed at Lucy. "I feel fantastic!" She leaned in closer. "How about we go and kill some people? You could make a giant dome somehow, and we could ransom whoever survives."

Lucy sighed as she pushed Rena off of her and towards Aarti who gingerly helped her stand up straight. Lucy pulled a lock of hair forward and examined it critically.

"Just what happened to you?" Lucy asked.

"There's this awesome little machine that spits out solid liquor," Rena said solemnly. "Well, maybe it's not liquor?"

Lucy blinked.

"Are you talking about those weird tanks that shoot goo?" Lucy asked.

"Those smelly things?" Dawnie added, her eyes wide. "They smell like a midden."

"And how do you even know what a midden is?" Aarti asked, frowning at Dawnie.

"I read! I read a lot just last week. I was so bored waiting for things to happen," Dawnie protested. She sighed. "I wish it was last week again. This was way too much."

"Will you two?" Lucy began. Then she paused and shook her head. "Rena? Rena!" She said, grabbing Rena's arm and shaking it.

"Hmm?" Rena glanced at Lucy before returning to scanning the crowd. "Why do we have more kids? Did we always have so many?"

"Um, not sure?" Lucy said, following her look. "I haven't had time to have roll called, and getting out of here was far more important."

"Well, now there's a hole?" Rena ventured, glancing back at the hole she made as if it was something new she'd never seen before.

Jebediah cautiously approached, his arms empty. Trolli sat on his shoulder, blinking her little black eyes at Rena with unabashed curiosity.

"Do not teach Trolli to be a drunk," Dawnie exclaimed, eliciting an inscrutable look from Jebediah and an excited one from Trolli who squeaked in query.

"I think she just had too much poison," Jebediah said, coming to a stop a foot away from them.

"That's what I was thinking," Lucy said. She held out the lock of hair she was examining. "I got greener after the hug. Not a lot, though."

"Probably burned through most of it making the hole," Jebediah said, turning to look at the hole. "Looks like most of the others are outside. Shall we go, milady?" He crooked his arm towards Rena.

"Of course," Rena chirped, brightening. She walked forward, leaving a slight haze behind.

"As beautiful as ever," Jebediah said, patting the arm she twined around his.

"Sweet talker," Rena cooed at him as they walked towards the giant hole.

"Someone is going to have to explain the dynamics of those two to me one day," Dawnie said, causing Aarti to nod her head.

"I have no answers," Lucy replied with a shake of her head. She turned towards the little group she led. "Alright, people! Let's move out through the new little hole. Avoid the edges if possible."

The group started moving towards the hole while Lucy and Aarti kept a wary eye on the fight happening in front of them. Aarti's mom and Batman were fighting a horde of guards.

"You know the stalemate's over once an overlord shows up, right," Lucy whispered to Aarti who shot her an annoyed look. "That's when they'll just stun the whole group just to get your mom and Mr. Scary."

Aarti narrowed her eyes as she thought about it. Lucy feigned a nonchalance she wasn't feeling. If the overlords got their hands on Aarti's mother again, they probably wouldn't be as cautious as they'd been with Aarti and her predecessors. She was sure that they'd refined their processes after their escape.

Lucy wasn't sure that the Liberation would have been possible without Aarti. Aarti had been the one who escaped and alerted the terrestrial authorities after all. Besides, Aarti was a formidable force once she applied herself. Lucy couldn't really reconcile the Aarti she knew with the few stories Aarti had told them of her time on that stupid island.

"Well, if someone had a bow, we could just shoot just right there," Dawnie brought her forefinger to just in front of her eye and then slowly levered it down to point. "And that would eliminate most of the problems, right?" She continued with a sly, innocent look.

"Ha-ha," Aarti responded. She unlimbered the bow that was on her back.

Lucy swayed from side to side, still trying to figure out how the bow stuck to Aarti's back despite not having a string. The mystery had been bugging her ever since Cassidy's drones arrived with the bow, Aarti's curious mother in tow.

"What's the vector again," Aarti asked Dawnie, glancing at her. "I've never shot so this might not work."

"Of course, it will! Have faith!" Dawnie chirped, eyes shining.

Lucy hit her forehead with the heel of one palm. In her mind's eye, things were already falling apart.

"It'll be okay, Boss," Court said, appearing at her side. "More importantly, how does a bow without a string actually work?"

"Like this," Aarti remarked, her eyes following Dawnie's guide. She pulled back on the bow as if drawing an arrow.

And it was like the world changed.

It seemed to get darker, and the moon was high in the sky, unobscured by clouds. There was the faint sound of howling wolves.

There was an arrow of light gripped between Aarti's fingers, set against the purity of the bow's wood and pulled against a thin strand of moonlight strung on the bow.

With an almost musical twang, the arrow was released. Aarti's mom gave one startled look backwards before tackling Mr. Scary.

The arrow whistled as it traveled and it burned a hole through the guards it touched, leaving fist-sized holes.

"If I wasn't in love with you right now," Court breathed.

"Ditto," Lucy echoed, staring wide eyed.

"We should go," Aarti said, turning towards them. As she released the arrow, the world faded back to normal. "The adults will follow…or not," she added with a shrug.

"Never tease Aarti. Never tease Aarti. Never, ever, ever tease Aarti," Dawnie muttered to herself as they walked to the hole.