Confrontations

Aarti glared at Rena, sparks nearly flying from her eyes. Rena returned the look, mouth twisting into a grimace. Neither one relaxed their grip on the tiny purse between them.

"I don't understand. It's just a purse," Lucy said. "It's not like it's some fancy piece of tech or the newest, hottest ride."

"This was the last one in Star City," Aarti ground out.

"I saw it. I bought it. It's mine," Rena added.

"You didn't have enough and had to borrow from me!" Aarti turned her glare to Lucy. "Since I paid for more than half, then that makes it mine! And she's just the personal shopper!"

"Why, you!" Rena snarled. Writhes of greenish haze started appearing around her.

"Now, she's cheating so steal my new purse," Aarti complained, rearing back from the fog.

"I think San is using something," Lucy said.

The effect was immediate. The much desired and fought over purse slammed into the floor as they both turned fully towards her. The green haze disappeared as if it'd never been.

"What do you mean San is using?" Rena asked.

"And just what would he be using. We got rid of everything he had," Aarti added.

"I think he got more somewhere. He's acting strange." Lucy swiped the purse off the floor, ignoring the outraged huffs. "You'll get it back later when we find another one just like it." She told them, rolling her eyes.

"If you weren't my best friend," Aarti started.

"—Then you'd be a friendless wonder," Rena finished, stalking in the direction of the rest of the hideout.

They'd encountered Lucy near the entrance of the warehouse. Lucy just thanked her luck that the fight hadn't happened elsewhere. There was no way to conceal Aarti's noticeable Amazonian looks or Rena's unmistakable poisonous fragrance from anyone actively looking for them. Aarti still looked like a mini, green-eyed version of her mother, even with the short, stylish haircut.

"Then the first thing we need to do is figure out where he's keeping the stuff," Aarti said with a sigh.

"No, we have to figure out just where he's getting it," Lucy corrected. She slung the little purse on her shoulder and paused. "This is a nice purse, though."

"No," Aarti immediately said.

"I'm just thinking of borrowing it. I have an outfit that would match this so well," Lucy teased.

They stopped walking as they heard the sounds of an argument. Then they started running.

"And why are you using this stuff? This is poison, and I should know," Rena was shouting.

"This isn't poison. It's just medicine," San argued back. "Now give it back, Rena."

"No, and you can't make me, San." Rena replied.

As Lucy and Aarti entered the main part of the hideout, they saw San's face turning red from anger. It was surprising because he was the most easygoing of them all. He took two steps towards Rena's back and raised his hand.

"Oh, no, he isn't," Aarti muttered, darting over.

Even as his hand tried to descend, she caught his wrist. Aarti blinked, startled by the amount of anger she could see in his face.

"What's wrong with you? Rena's way weaker than you," she chided, glancing at Lucy for help.

"Now, San," Lucy said, tossing the purse on one of the sofas. "Why don't we talk about this like regular people? You know, those types without superpowers?"

"Ha-ha, Lucy," San growled. "I'd be just fine if Rena would give me back my stuff."

"This stuff isn't good for you," Rena protested. She waved a little silver box towards Lucy. "It's not pure Quell. It's been cut with something."

"What do you mean by 'not pure?' What's it mixed with?" Lucy asked, swiping the box from Rena.

Aarti grunted a little as San struggled to intercept Lucy. Both Lucy and Rena frowned in their direction. As far as they all knew, San's strength wasn't quite as high as Aarti's.

Lucy cracked open the little box and stared at the grainy substance inside. It looked a little like finely ground flour with specks of brown and green sprinkled here and there.

"We should let Jebediah look at it," Rena said, sidling up to Lucy's side and peering at the stuff as well. "I want to say it's Quell, but my senses are saying that that is much more dangerous."

Lucy closed her eyes and then the box. She didn't discount Rena's advice. That had been one of the things that had helped when they'd decided to fight for their freedom so long ago. Rena had been the one who could tell when the Quell had been altered. Jebediah was the one they'd turned to see what exactly had been going on with it.

Between Jebediah and Court, it'd been easy to find out all sorts of information that they weren't supposed to have. Still, if the researchers hadn't decided to start taking apart the ones they considered 'failures' to see just what went wrong, their plan might have worked. None of them had had any ties to anywhere other than the creches except for a few like Lucy, and even Lucy was more interested in keeping her friends safe than escaping.

Ella was the one they all doted on, her and little Morgan. Due to some strange quirk, those two were born eight months before the rest of that year's batch. That meant that they were sent to the creche classes earlier. Two new kids stuck out much more than nine or ten.

And Ella was a cutie. She'd followed Jebediah and Court around like a little chick, clutching her little stuffed rabbit. The rabbit had been courtesy of Aarti and Lucy. Lucy had described what one looked like, and Aarti had torn up the sheets and pillows for the cloth and stuffing. They'd then coerced another friend of theirs, Lisa to help sew it up because Lisa didn't need any other materials.

Lucy sobered at the thought. Lisa hadn't made it out of the creches. She'd stopped to use her power to block up one of the hallways and gotten a hole burned through her for her troubles.

The memory made her clutch the little box in her hand so tightly that she could feel it cutting into her palm.

"San, you can't keep using this stuff. It's not normal," Lucy said, searching for the right words.

San threw off Aarti's grip, glaring at the three of them.

"I just want to be normal," he snarled. "This makes me normal."

"You're already normal. You're normal for you," Rena argued. She rubbed her hands over her arms. "San, this stuff isn't right. Whoever gave it to you doesn't have your best interests at heart."

"And how would you know," San said. He paused, visibly biting back words. "Keep the box. I don't really need it."

He stalked away back into the shadows. The three girls exchanged nervous looks.

"Do you think he's going to get more?" Aarti finally asked.

"I think he's becoming an addict," Rena bluntly said. She sighed. "He's acting just like Mavis did before she disappeared. We found her a few days later, cold and dismembered in a ditch."

"Now, that's a cheery thought," Lucy sighed. "We'll wait for Court and Jebediah to come back from wherever they're at and get Jebediah to tell us just what's mixed in this box."

"Whatever it is, isn't good." Rena flopped onto an empty sofa, Aarti plopping down next to her.

"When I came looking for that hat, I wasn't really expecting all this," Aarti complained.

"You haven't even started really looking," Rena pointed out. "You've spent most of your time shopping with me."

"Because shopping is life," Aarti promptly replied.

Rena thought for a second and then solemnly nodded.

Lucy heaved a sigh at their antics. She set the little box on the coffee table by one of the televisions. She had the worst need to bake something.