Robotic Dreams

Lucy scowled as the explosion rocked her ersatz transport. She glanced over at Dawnie and Aarti, only to see them staring out of the window with widened eyes. Aarti unlimbered the bow on her back and pulled at the nonexistent bowstring. A glowing arrow of light appeared.

"Won't that break the window?" Cassidy asked, frowning.

Lucy found herself nodding. It was already hard enough to keep the robotic shape they'd decided on. She wasn't sure just how she'd manage with wind pouring in.

"If we don't, we might be stuck here," Aarti replied as she released the arrow.

The window didn't shatter in so much as a hole suddenly appeared. A harsh whistle of wind darted through it along with the sound of an explosion.

Aarti's lips curled up in a satisfied smile. Lucy and Dawnie rolled their eyes in tandem.

"Seriously? Did you at least get it?" Lucy felt the need to ask.

"Of course, I did," Aarti replied, stepping closer to the window to scan their surroundings. "I got the transport they were sending after us, but I don't think I can do anything about the light beam things."

"Light beam things?" Lucy echoed. Her eyes flashed wide as she wrenched the pseudo-robot to one side and winced. "I think I just lost one of the legs."

"That's not good. There's nothing in them," Dawnie said. She suddenly yawned. "I'm out of bars, and Don's already asleep in a corner."

"Go. Make sure no one's molesting him or anything," Lucy said with a jerk of her head. "We'll figure it all out."

"They already know we have the ring," Cassidy said, transferring her attention from the window to Lucy. "They just don't know who has it."

"And we're not going to tell them." Lucy looked around. "Find Kuro and Sol. Maybe they still have some power left."

"On it," Rena said, slipping away. She was still a little unsteady on her feet, but otherwise sober.

"Oooh! Another one!" Aarti exclaimed happily, raising her bow.

Lucy ignored her antics and concentrated on keeping the robot together. She could hear the faint sobs and cries of the rescued children behind her. Despite Aarti's tough exterior, the fact that she was willing to use the bow, an Amazon weapon, to defend them showed how much she cared.

Lucy would know. She'd spent an entire afternoon listening to Aarti rant about Themyscira and her relatives. Aarti wasn't really cut out to be an Amazon, at least according to Aarti. After watching her recent fights, Lucy wasn't so sure.

"You know, her mom is really scary," Dawnie whispered into Lucy's ear.

"Oh?" Lucy asked, wincing as another missile landed on the robot construct.

"She's actually on one of those transports. She's standing on it and ripping bits off," Dawnie said, stifling another yawn. "With her bare hands. That's so not normal."

"You can run at almost the speed of light. That's not normal. Court manipulates tech. That's not normal. I'm flying a giant box using a stupid ring. That's incredibly not normal. There are precious few normals here which is why we're running away as fast as we can," Lucy replied with a chuckle.

"Then maybe we should figure out a way to slip away?" Dawnie rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath.

"We're in a giant box shaped to look like a robot. Unless Cassidy shakes off whatever they mickied her with, I'm fresh out of ideas," Lucy said.

"We could do a shield. I think," Sol added with a worried look. She glanced at her brother who was trailing behind her. "We might have enough power for one?"

"One would be enough," Lucy said. "We just need some sort of distraction so we can gain some ground."

"I can help," Kathryn said, approaching.

"Sure, fine, as long as its soon," Lucy gritted out as the construct swayed. She glanced at Dawnie. "Check on Don. He has the hat, right?"

"The hat," Dawnie repeated, her eyes widening. "On it."

"She's going down for count soon," Rena remarked as she returned. She threw a concerned look towards the trio standing off to the side. "What's our little magic corp up to?"

"Shield of some sort. Hopefully a shield that will give a surprise and let us zip off a bit faster?" Lucy ventured. She took a deep breath. "This is so much harder than it looks."

"Think of it this way: we rescued people who needed rescuing and didn't lose a soul." Rena paused. "I think we didn't." She glanced around. "Did we forget Mr. Scary?"

"Mr. Scary ran off to do his own thing," Lucy said. "No clue where he went, and I really don't want to know. In the flesh, he makes me nervous."

"I think he makes everybody nervous," Rena snarked.

She fell silent as the magical trio came forward again, Sol peeping out of the window gingerly. Sol nodded decisively. She turned to the other two.

"Is this going to work?" Kuro muttered as he came forward.

"You give the power. I give the structure. Okay?" Kathryn patted his shoulder encouragingly.

"Then let's get this done, and then we can go to Simone's house for cake and ice cream." Sol beamed.

"What's ice cream?"

*****

"You still have the hat," Dawnie said, blinking owlishly at her brother.

Don sat against the wall, smiling wryly. As usual, a coterie of girls were fluttering around him. The hat sat on his head. Dawnie had to admit that it did look more like a cowboy hat than some reality breaking device.

"Where would it go?" Don yawned, eliciting a few looks of worry. "You take it, though. I'm so tired right now."

"I still have a candy left," one of the girls said, extending a grubby hand. She frowned at it. "It looks rough, but it should still be edible."

"And calories are what matters," another added in a sterner voice. That one, Melanie if Dawnie was remembering correctly and someone capable of energy beams, turned towards Dawnie. "We're almost out of here, right?"

"Right," Dawnie agreed as she snagged the hat. She turned the rim through her fingers, unwilling to put it on. "It'll be soon."

The room lurched but not as hard as previous times.

"I would help if I could," Melanie said, biting her lower lip.

"No," Dawnie immediately cut her off. "The less we show, the better. They don't know what we're capable of, and we do not need to put ideas into people's heads about us. You know some have never expressed. It would only put them in worst trouble than we already are."

"Yes, Dawnie," the girls chorused.

"I'm just going to take a little nap," Don said with another jaw cracking yawn. "Let me have that candy first, though."

Dawnie and Melanie managed small smiles at his attempt at levity. Dawnie could tell that Melanie might have the same issue as they did with energy output. Perhaps once they were out of adolescence, if they survived it, their metabolisms would calm down.