55 - Behind Me

I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat down next to Fursona and Gourmet. It’d been close, but I didn’t think Flare and The Crumb saw me sneaking away from their conversation. I settled back into my armchair and looked at the team. “What’d I miss?”

“None of us hate dogpiling,” Theseus said.

Fursona nodded. “Yep. Fair tactic. The reason most heroes and villains don’t use it must be growth-related. If it takes Stell-Luna 6 attacks to knock someone out of the fight, she gets at least six Style Points. If she, Liege Lord, Golden Goose, Tele-Portal, Big Fish, and Flyboy all fight the same enemy, they get one each because chances are they won’t get much Grit for taking hits while ganging up on the villain.”

“It’s also not good TV if you’re worried about that sort of thing,” Gourmet added. “Unless the villain is super-unpopular, most people like some tension.”

Fursona glanced at me. I couldn’t see their face, but I could imagine a raised eyebrow and an unspoken question: “Did you get it?” I wanted to answer, but Flare and The Crumb returned before I could. They both glared daggers at me for a moment, and I gulped.

Maybe I hadn’t gotten away with it after all.

As they returned to their La-Z-Boys, I tried to think of a way to signal Fursona that wouldn’t give away anything to Theseus and Gourmet. The villains wouldn’t start something here—not when Doctor Jackson was right there, but tipping off Gourmet or Theseus was a guaranteed loss. The conversation shifted from whether dogpiling was ethical to how we wanted to refer to it in our written Code of Ethics, and I took up the pen.

Code of Conduct: October 24

• We will not endanger harm threatenendanger civilians Extras needlessly

◦ When Extras must be involved, every effort must be taken to make them aware of danger they must be clearly informed of danger

◦ What about Henchmen?

▪ WHO CARES ABOUT HENCHMEN?

▪ I care about henchmen!

• Destruction of non-government residential non-corporate/non-government property is to be kept to a minimum not necessary not okay

◦ I can’t agree with this, guys. I need to eat!

▪ Bring your own snacks. I bring my own! And quit making fun of me!

▪ You ate a wrestling singlet!

• Medical Extras are off-limits. Healing heroes should only be targeted if involved in the fighting are a low priority target are not a target unless they directly engage

◦ Why? Good tactics are to take out the healers first so the rest of the team actually takes damage.

• Property damage must have a point be for a purpose be directly related to the Episode’s goals

• Neutrality will be respected

◦ When it’s convenient for heroes?

▪ Eat a sandwich, Gourmet. It’ll make you feel better

• Dogpiling is acceptable under all most all almost all circumstances.

◦ Are you sure that’s the wording we want? We could go with most instead, got it?

◦ Yeah, I got it, Fursona.

◦ I support ‘all’

◦ Almost all or bust

◄▼►

When class finally ended, I bolted for the door, Fursona right behind me. Class policy, strictly enforced, meant that no one had their phones or computers. It’d be too easy to spill a secret identity that way, so we left them at home, which was great for privacy and focus.

But when you had an important message to get to Ikenga, and the closest phone was in Walnut Tower, and you’d left your movement power unequipped like a dingus, and supervillains were right behind you trying to stop you from saying anything?

It wasn’t so great then.

The only good news was that Flare was…well, not a pushover, but we’d beaten him before. And The Crumb wasn’t exactly Lord Destructo or Tapdance—Punch and Grapple didn’t have much respect for him, by all accounts. Plus, they probably wouldn’t say anything to Theseus or Gourmet. It’d look bad for them if the SSS found out.

Which was good because the two supervillains were only a few steps behind us when we dashed up the ramp to the Mister Felsic statue. Looking over my shoulder at The Crumb’s makeup-covered face glaring at me, I knew we wouldn’t get away with it. Flare was too fast to run from. We just had to hope the other villains were taking the tunnels today.

A few Extras stood up as Fursona and I skidded to a stop. “Get out of here! I’m a [Hometown Heroine]! Run, and I’ll keep you safe,” I shouted.

“Stop her! She hasn’t told the kangaroo yet,” The Crumb yelled. He put both hands in front of him, bread cape rising around him, and blew. A torrent of flour rushed toward us, and I braced for impact.

The powder covered us and hung in the air, but it didn’t do any damage. I started laughing. “That’s the best you’ve—“

Flare rushed up the ramp a moment later. He activated his flame arm and sprinted toward me.

And hell broke loose under the Mister Felsic statue.

Whoooooom!

[HP 6/7]

[HP 5/7]

[HP 4/7]

“What the [Beep!]” I coughed, picking myself up from where the massive fireball had thrown me. My Understudy Costume smoldered and smoked, and the bastards had singed my bows! “Fursona, don’t let them do that again!”

[Rating Warning #1! Episode Rating - PG! Censor in Effect]

[Gritty Recovery! +1 Grit Point Pending]

“You…you got it, boss.” Fursona’s suit had fared more poorly than my costume. Flames roared from their pouch and tail as they hopped back toward the two villains. I took a deep, cough-filled breath and hurried after them.

Fursona barreled straight toward a totally-unscathed Flare, leading with their feet in a two-legged kick. They caught the fiery speedster in the chest and sent him flying past one of the enormous granite pillars. The Justice-Roo tried to close the gap and keep the pressure on, but Flare started running.

The Crumb coughed. “I hate that combo so much, but it’s just so strong!” His ugly jacket smoked; he clearly hadn’t gotten off easy from the explosion. Maybe Flare had [Fire Resistance].

Either way, I had to keep the pressure up if we were going to win. [Hometown Heroine] was ticking down, but it got me in range of the bread-themed villain—who came up with these themes, anyways?

I aimed a [Spotlight Strike]-guided fist right at The Crumb’s face, but he drew a baguette like a sword and parried my punch. A moment later, the baguette flashed out like a rapier, drawing a line of crumbs across my chest. The crumbs melted into an oily mess, staining my costume, but they didn’t do any damage.

[Hometown Heroine] faded instantly, though.

I backed off, rethinking. Was The Crumb a Support villain? He’d ripped my buff right off with his stupid…bread stains. And it’d explain why Flare said neither was on Monologue’s ‘nice’ list; he’d lost against us during ‘Super-Suited,’ and The Crumb wouldn’t ever be more than a lieutenant.

It also meant I needed to recalculate. The fight wasn’t about beating the villains. It was about getting the information I’d learned to Ikenga. The only way to do that was to get to Walnut Tower, though. And I couldn’t just burst through the door. But…

I could use the tunnels if I could regroup with Fursona. If they held the two villains off at an entrance, I could run and get to the Walnut elevator. This wasn’t a fight for me. It was a chase scene.

“Fursona, back to the Mister Felsic Ramp!” I yelled. The kangaroo hero nodded and leaped back toward the stone-gloved granite statue. As they arrived, I blurted everything at them. “They said something about TUAAS and a dealer. We need to tell Ikenga. Can you hold them off? I’ll run to my base.”

Fursona nodded. “You got it, Understudy. Go!” They dropped into a stance I’d never seen a kangaroo in before, with one paw behind the other and one hand outstretched. It looked like it’d be uncomfortable for a roo. But maybe not for a person in a roo suit.

Flare zipped through the stone pillars a moment later. His sparking fist flickered toward Fursona, but they stepped back and redirected the blow against the tunnel’s wall. “Go!” Fursona yelled again.

I started running. The sounds of combat faded as I ran past the theater room, then turned a corner and dodged the couch. Then another explosion echoed down the hall, and the sounds grew louder again.

I almost turned around. Fursona was just a newbie hero; I was an asshole for leaving them to fight not one but two villains. But the fighting sounds didn’t stop. They were still up even after the explosion, and I doubted Flare could spam his trigger ability for the combo. And the camera drone following me kept looping ahead to look over my shoulder instead, watching whatever action was behind me, so Fursona was probably getting crazy amounts of Style Points.

So I kept running instead. I turned one corner, then another. The tunnels below TU weren’t straight and easy to follow. They weaved back and forth, swerving and branching to connect with each building’s elevator, or a maintenance door, or even a classroom that never had any classes. I relaxed a little. There was no way they’d be able to follow me through here.

[Good Thinking! +1 Cunning Point Pending]

The Walnut Tower elevator was just ahead. I stepped into it, pushed the button, and slid my key card to confirm I could go up. When the elevator finally dinged open, I dashed through my secret base and into my living room. I opened my computer and typed out a quick email.

Subject: Info

Ikenga,

TUASS, whatever that means. Fursona fighting in Mr. Felsic Tunnels. Send help. Going back in.

Understudy

Then I turned around and pressed the elevator button back down. I’d won. It was only a matter of when Ikenga opened the email. But that didn’t mean I’d let Fursona fight by themselves. I tried activating [Hometown Heroine] as soon as the doors opened, but it wouldn’t go. I bit back a curse. Whatever The Crumb had done, I’d need a good dry-cleaning, or a Costume change, to get rid of it.

The sounds of fighting grew louder. Then, as I rounded the corner, I received a pair of System messages.

[Episode Finished!]

[Investigative Episode: What’s the Plan, Man - PG]

[Penalties: 1x Rating Warnings - No Penalty]

[Episode Finished! +3 of each Style Point]

[Winner Winner! +1 of each Style Point]

[Role Focus: Cunning > Drama - Goal Partially Met! +5 Cunning Points]

[Alias - Understudy] [Archetype - Magical Girl] [Community Rank - 449/523]

[HP 4/7]

[Styles and Skills]

►Archetype Skill - Transformation Sequence

►Badass (lvl 0; 49)

►Cunning (lvl 2; 48)

► Inkling 1

►Drama (lvl 3; 52) (Skill Roll Available)

►  Stellar Ray 1

►Flamboyance (lvl 3; 31)

►Signature Skill - Adaptive Armoire

►Stored Costumes: (Rainy Day)

►Flickerform 1

►Spotlight Strike 1

►Grit (lvl 1; 16)

► Rejuvenation 1

As I ran, I rolled the skill. I doubted the two villains would stop fighting just because the Episode was over, especially because of what the next message said.

[50 Drama Credits Used. Rolling Skill!]

[New Skill! Bit-Part Barrage 1: An aerial assault against an enemy with high damage but high risk. A miss leaves you vulnerable to counterattack]

I didn’t have time to deal with a new ability or what it might actually do. Fursona needed me. A new System message popped up just as I rounded the corner and saw the fursuit-wearing hero backing up against both villains’ assaults. I was too busy to read more than the first line.

[Casting Call]

[Episode: TUEAS Dogpile - PG-13]

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