Chapter Text
[Manon Bannerman: Spion - 12 May 2029 12:43PDT]
Manon hears the news when she’s on the phone with Megan. She hasn’t talked to Megan in months, which she felt kind of bad about, so she called just to catch up. She’s ranting about nothing, really, some bitchy actress she has to work with and this one girl at a bar she’s convinced was hitting on her in front of her boyfriend, which like, who does that, when Megan gasps, muffled through the receiver.
“What,” Manon frowns.
“Nothing!” Megan says, too quickly and too brightly to be genuine. “I’m just. Really appalled by this girl.”
“Right,” Manon says, raising an eyebrow. She feels her phone buzz against her ear, so she lowers it to her lap, putting Megan on speaker. “But really, what? That wasn’t a ‘reaction to gossip’ gasp, that was, like–” There, glaring up at her from her screen, is the headline.
EX-KATSEYE MEMBER SOPHIA LAFORTEZA SPOTTED IN LA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS SINCE THE MECHANICAL RIOTS
“Don’t check the news,” Megan blurts out.
“Too late,” Manon grunts, already picking at her skin. “Also, I don’t care.”
Megan’s silent for a beat. “Don’t you, though?”
Manon hangs up.
It’s not that Manon doesn’t not care. It’s just that, after four years of trying to heal, after four years of the others at least pretending to be by her side, she just can’t find it in herself to waste energy on thinking about why Sophia’s back. About why now, out of all times, she chooses to show her face again.
After the last of the Riots, when Manon lay clinging to life in a hospital bed for days on end, Sophia silently retreated to only God knows where (actually, God and Yoonchae were the only ones who knew, but it wasn’t like Yoonchae was gonna tell anyone where Sophia fled to), and when Manon woke up from her coma, body still searing with pain, she saw four worried faces looking down at her instead of five.
So yeah, after all that, Manon really can’t afford to care why Sophia’s back. Publicly, anyways. She’s been sitting on her bed since she hung up on Megan, glaring bullets into her phone which is vibrating from notifications, willing herself to not touch it.
Eventually she caves, reaching for it, ignoring the scars that still line her skin, when she senses something. Then, it seems like her whole apartment complex shudders. Her lamp nearly rattles right off the side of her nightstand.
And then the screaming starts.
//
[Sophia Laforteza: Babaylan - 10 May 2029 10:02GMT+8]
The anomaly is moving towards America, which is not good. Specifically, it’s moving towards Los Angeles, which is really not good. Like, on a cosmic level. Sophia feels physically sick just thinking about returning. Returning to the city, to the people, to her team that she betrayed.
To Manon.
She knows Manon is doing well, now. She keeps tabs on all of them, all her girls, but Manon is the easiest. While the other four retired their former superhero glory for more laid-back, regular lives, Manon stayed where she belonged: the spotlight. After her full recovery, she dove straight into modeling, acting, being an influencer – the whole lot. Even if Sophia wanted to forget, Manon made it impossible. A part of Sophia wonders if she did it out of spite, to make sure Sophia drowned in guilt forever, but the rational part of her knows Manon would never do that. At least she hopes.
Anyways, maybe she can deal with the anomaly – a fleet of mutated, unnaturally fast shapeshifters – on her own. Before Manon or any of the others even notice that she’s back. She’s been tracking these fuckers for too long to give up now.
So, with a frustrated sigh, she takes one last look at her maps and goes to pack her suitcase. She needs to call Yoonchae.
//
[Daniela Avanzini: Protectora - 12 May 2029 13:15PDT]
Daniela’s at the gym when the shaking starts. She snaps her head towards the TV mounted on the wall, the one that’s always playing the news.
“Tremors are felt through the city as large beasts of some sort are rampaging through LA,” the reporter is saying. “This is the first large supernatural disruptance since the Mechanical Riots. Earlier today, ex-Katseye leader Sophia Laforteza was spotted…”
Daniela tunes the rest of the report out, sprinting out of the gym. Outside, the sun is too bright and people are frantically running in every direction. A large shadow briefly obscures the sun for a second, before moving away at a frightening speed for a creature so big. Daniela runs towards the thing, unconcerned – she may have given up this superhero shit a long time ago, but she’s still impenetrable – she’s not too worried about some glorified giant stomping its ugly feet through her city.
The organism is pretty hard to miss. It’s maybe 170 or 180 feet tall, with long, thick limbs made of a material similar to vines, and a gaping maw. It’s swinging its arms around, windmilling, and just generally making a large mess of things. Taking a deep breath, Daniela barrels towards it, swinging up its legs. Briefly, she realizes she left her gym bag, and a flash of fear courses through her as she wonders if she remembered to take off her bracelet before working out, but luckily the charm dangles off her wrist and she grins. The one time she forgot to take it off ended up working in her favor.
She makes her way up its body, climbing higher and higher, until she can see the top of some buildings. She’s about to activate her charm and jam her shield into its arm, when another figure flies up in her peripherals.
“Dani!” she hears the figure shout.
She knows that voice. Gritting her teeth, she activates the charm. There’s a flash of sky blue, then a shield springs from her wrist and fastens around her arm, just as the giant swings a massive fist at her face. The shield absorbs most of the impact, but Daniela still gets propelled off its body, the ground hurtling towards her. The impact won’t necessarily harm her, but it might give her an ache in her bones and leave a rather inconvenient Daniela-shaped hole in the sidewalk, which she really doesn’t want to have to pay for.
Just as she’s about to hit the pavement, sturdy arms swoop her away, and Daniela sighs.
Sophia.
What the hell is she doing back?
//
[Megan Skiendiel: 火法師 - 12 May 2029 12:47PDT]
Frankly, Megan’s a little offended that Manon hung up on her. She doesn’t get to talk to her often, and she was trying to be nice, not telling her about Sophia.
Back when they were all kids, before, well, everything happened, Manon and Sophia were the two Megan thought would never leave each other’s sides. They were the kind of pair that made you believe in true love, even though Megan’s not really sure if they ever actually figured out their feelings. It was kind of hard to tell if they were dating or just really, really codependent. Megan had this, like, childish fantasy that they’d all grow up together, and that maybe Manon and Sophia would get married, and they’d all live in this big house together and her and Lara would tease the duo about being grannies and they’d all baby Yoonchae and, well.
The Megan of the past was very naive.
The week after the last Mechanical Riot was a blur. Megan remembers Dani pulling Manon out of the wreckage, and then she remembers the police, the paramedics, the news – the whole shebang – flooding down the beaches. She remembers cameras, being separated from Yoonchae but stubbornly clinging to Lara as a medic herded them into the back of an ambulance. She thinks she saw them fucking airlift Manon out of the ocean. She remembers pulling up to the hospital, her and Lara swatting away all the probing hands, insisting that they were fine, and strong-arming their way through sterile halls until they found Manon, surrounded by doctors and nurses. At the foot of the bed is Sophia, hands quivering, purple glow flickering as if panicked. And Megan will never, ever forget the look on the older girl’s face. Gaunt, blank, empty. Her eyes were glossed over, absolutely nothing behind them.
It was one of the last times she saw her.
Until now.
Megan squints at the picture posted by the news outlet. It’s blurry, and of a crowd, and she almost doesn’t believe the headline, but no. There she is, unmistakable despite the low quality of the photograph. Her hair is the same, her height, her posture – but she looks so much older than Megan remembers (well, duh, it’s been four years, but this is different, hard to describe). Bile rises from the back of her throat, but she swallows it down. Maybe she’s just here for Yoonchae, or maybe–
A violent shake ripples through the ground. Megan sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, where the headache is already forming. Of course it’s some monster, of course that’s why Sophia’s here, why would it be for any other reason?
And like, Megan could go fight whatever thing is terrorizing the city. She could put herself out there again, and risk running into Sophia. But, truthfully, she’s still so conflicted about everything, about her former leader, her former friends, her former life. She’s kind of sure Sophia can handle this – yeah, like that worked out so well last time, Megan thinks, but she wards those thoughts away. Dani’s probably already there, knowing her, and maybe Yoonchae too.
Megan doesn’t feel like fighting right now, anyways, especially because Lara’s on the other side of the country. Megan always fought better with Lara around.
So she takes an Advil, stretches out on her couch, texts Lara, and waits it out.
//
[Sophia Laforteza: Babaylan - 2 Jan 2025 20:49PDT]
Sophia really, really thinks it’s over. That they’ve failed their city, and that everyone’s gonna die. That they’re gonna die. She’s collapsed over Megan right now, breathing all raggedy and heavy from exertion, pushing through the pain spiking through her lungs. Dani stands with her back towards them, taking blow after blow after blow, hoping to tire the damn thing out. Megan’s got her head in Sophia’s lap, and her hair is sprawled everywhere, and she’s fighting to keep her eyes open. Her torso has this gnarly gash through it, the kind that spurts blood when you move too suddenly, so Megan’s trying to breathe even, but Sophia can tell it’s taking all her effort.
Distantly, she wonders if Yoonchae is still swinging her axe through layers and layers of metal. Wonders how far away Lara is, if her powers are enhanced by the raging snowstorm, and if she can sense that her partner in crime is barely clinging to consciousness. Wonders if Manon (oh, God, Manon) is even alive at this point. Sophia hasn’t heard from her since she sent her into the belly of the machine to dismantle it from the inside. They lost connection when the Riot started.
Megan coughs feebly underneath her, and Sophia forces herself to focus. Her hands glow with purple energy, and she holds them over Megan’s wound. Slowly but surely, the gash starts to close.
“Sophia, how much longer?!” Dani roars over the din. The mecha seems to have gotten bored of her, finally, as she joins Sophia in crouching over Megan, her shield covering all three of them.
“Give me a second,” Sophia manages, breath visible as she exhales. Megan’s fingers twitch, a small flame dancing between her fingers, and Sophia continues until there’s barely a scar left. A large piece of debris flies into Daniela’s shield, startling them all.
“I’ve got Megan,” Sophia says, hoisting the girl up. “Find Manon.”
Dani nods, sprinting away. Megan’s leaning on Sophia, but at least she can walk now, so there’s that. She can actually see the color returning to her cheeks in real time, and they stagger away to a more covered place, the blizzard raging around them.
After they catch their breath, Sophia speaks. “Go find Lara, if you’re feeling better. I’m gonna get Yoonchae. We should’ve never split up like this.”
Megan’s got her eyes screwed tight, but determination paints her features. “Yeah, I’m good,” she says. “Thanks.” She offers Sophia a grim smile, squeezes her hand once, then dashes away in a blaze of fire, forging a burning trail through the cold.
Sophia heaves a breath in, and steels herself to find Yoonchae. She flies straight up, trying to ignore the sting of the wind, but she can’t see through the thick flurry of snow. She can’t hear anything but the ominous creaking of metal, her own breathing, and the wind whipping around her. No sign of any of her friends.
And all at once it hits her, how tired she is. So, so tired. Her limbs are wrung with exhaustion, exhaustion from flying and healing and leading and it’s all so much. Hazily, she wonders how bad it would be if she just… stopped.
A jarringly loud screech snaps her out of it, and thank God, because she needs to get her shit together and find her team. Everything shakes, the kind of shaking akin to a category 7 earthquake, as finally the mecha crashes. It falls into the ocean, saltwater spraying up into the sky. Sophia dives towards the beach, spitting hair and water and snow out of her eyes and face and holy shit she just wants to see her friends, to see Manon–
She hits the ground running, Megan nearly bowling her over as Lara slides on an ice path past them. They run and run until they can make out Yoonchae standing on top of the fallen beast, tiny atop the thing. Her shoulders are rising and falling, heavily, axe by her side. As they get closer, Sophia can see the tears through her shirt, the cuts underneath dripping with blood, but somehow, she’s still standing.
Yoonchae spots them and starts climbing down. Clenched in her hand is a mass of crudely cut cables. Disturbingly, Sophia thinks some of the wires are actually organs. Yoonchae drops them in the sand, running into their arms. They’re all crying now, in a huddle, and Sophia’s tears are freezing on her cheeks. She pushes all of them back, staring at each of their eyes. Her heart is hammering at a mile a minute, and it hurts to exist right now, but–
“Where’s Manon?”
“I don’t know,” Yoonchae chokes out. “I haven’t seen her since she– entered– the mecha, but I saw Dani punch her way in a few minutes ago, I–”
Several loud clangs ring out in succession. Sophia, and the others, watch with bated breath as Daniela tumbles her way out of the mecha, swinging her shield through the layers of iron skin. She’s got Manon, like, awkwardly slung over her shoulders, but she takes care to lower the girl gently before jumping out herself. Sophia flies towards the pair, feet skipping over the angry ocean waves. Daniela’s sagged against the metal, but she’s alive, she’s conscious.
Manon, on the other hand…
Sophia nearly throws up.
There are these awful, worm-like steel wires snaking their way through her skin, as if alive. Her feet are tangled up in them the most, and then they curl up around her ankles, then the rest of her. They dip in and out of her body, threading metal through her veins. They’ve wrapped around her neck, through her neck, barbed and horrible. Her chest rises and falls alarmingly slow, and her eyes are closed – one sewn shut by the wires, the other on its own.
“I– I had to yank her out,” Daniela’s blubbering. “It was so bad, Sophia, it was so, so bad. There was so much blood. I thought that if I pulled too hard, the wire would unravel, and she would– just–” She buries her head into her hands as her body trembles with sobs.
Yoonchae, Megan and Lara have kind of caught up now, all three waist deep in water. They freeze at the sight of them, eyes blown wide. Megan doubles over, retching. Lara rubs her back, robotically, staring shell-shocked at Manon’s body. Yoonchae reaches out, fingers outstretched, but falters when she realizes she doesn’t know how to help.
“Sophia,” she says, voice hoarse with emotion and laced with dread. “What do we do?”