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“ The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs”

- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Natalie was dimly aware of someone else in the room with her, tying her hands to shackles mounted on the wall.

Her brain was foggy though.

She remembered… Oz?

Had Oz been in the warehouse too?

She wasn’t sure.

This room seemed to be moving though, which meant that it must have been a truck or van of some kind.

She was being taken somewhere.

The person in the room continued talking about something, but Natalie’s hearing was going in and out. The man’s speech was alternating between grandiose claims about the Agletarians, a shrill ringing in her ears, and a muffled sound which accompanied her drifting in and out of consciousness.

“…the people of Agletaria!” The man finished some new boast, preening with self-satisfaction.

Great.

He was a talker.

Mull hated being kidnapped by “talkers.” She’d rather be tortured than listen to idiots monologue about their plans and their own brilliance. It just reminded her of Ronnie.

She lost consciousness again, then woke up again an unknown time later. Unfortunately, the man was still talking.

“…an army of super-powered Agletarians, marching forth to bring about a new order in the world! No longer will we be assaulted and humiliated by empowered freaks, wreaking havoc in our peaceful country!” He apparently thought the situation called for a speech, despite the obvious fact that she was barely awake.

Although, to be fair, she’d probably have difficulty not falling asleep while this dude prattled on, even if she hadn’t been hit by some kind of alien knock-out gizmo.

“…a mechanical colossus, shepherding the new generation of super-powered…” Mull passed out again, then came to when her head lolled forward. “…their sacrifice will…” He continued.

Mull’s brain drifted far away, leaving behind the small confines of the van. Her vision fogging over.

“…Kill me…” She whispered.

The man stopped his monologue-ing and turned to look at her. “I’m not going to kill you. Death is too good for you!”

“…Kill me…” Natalie whispered, passing out again.

****

“Kill me.” Natalie whispered.

Multifarious appeared from the shadows of the darkened room and sat down at the table next to Natalie, illuminated under the single light source in the inky blackness. “Huh?”

“They’re going to kill me.” Natalie repeated.

Mull shook her head. “They’re going to kill us .” Mull corrected.

“They’re going to kill you .” Mercygiver appeared at the table, voice hard. “ I will endure.”

“They’re going to kill me, then Oz, and it’s our fault!

” Natalie yelled at him. “You can pretend you don’t care about that, but I know that you do.

” She put her hands on her hips and looked back and forth between Ronnie and Mull.

“You two have been fighting each other for too long. You patch it up right fucking now, because this is bigger than us.”

Mercygiver snorted at that suggestion. “I think you are seriously mistaken about the pecking order here, little girl.” He met her eyes, jaw clenched. “I am in control. I am in control and there is…”

“See, you might think you can bully Mull because you can take her in a fight.” Natalie cut him off, straightening to her full height. “But you’ve never beaten me, you bastard . ”

Mercygiver rose from his seat. “I’ve beaten half a dozen of you so far, Kitten. I’ve killed “‘Rebecca’ and ‘Sue’ and ‘Jessica’ and ‘Alice’ and…”

“My name is Natalie.” Natalie told him flatly. “And I’m not afraid of you. ”

He launched himself at her, swinging with his fist in an attempt to punch her in the face.

Natalie simply grabbed his wrist in the air before it could connect, stopping the attack in mid-swing. Then she decked him. Hard. Exactly like Roy had taught her, so many years before.

Mercygiver staggered away, falling back into his chair and then toppling back over it.

“Whoa…” Mull sounded impressed, then jumped to her feet and pointed at him. “YES! FUCK YOU!” She pointed at Natalie. “ Kick the living shit outta him, Nat! ”

Natalie prowled after him, focused. “I’ve been over there.

In the dark. Hiding.” She pointed into the blackness which surrounded them, then gestured back towards her seat.

“But I’m taking a seat at the head of the table now.

” She kicked him in the face, knocking out one of his teeth and sending a cascade of blood onto the floor.

“I’m not afraid of you, Ronnie.” She shook her head.

“Because I don’t need you anymore. I’m stronger than you now, and you know it.

Which means you shape up or you’re gone. ”

“You think…” Mercygiver began, breathing hard and trying to get back to his feet. “You think that I would ever…”

She kicked him in the face again, then straddled his prone form, taking his throat in her hand.

“ I’m in charge now.” She told him, eyes burning into his and making certain he knew it.

She gestured back at Mull with her head, not taking her eyes off of him.

“You two idiots work for me, how and when I let you. ” She stood up, looming over him, prepared to continue the fight if she had to.

“So sit your ass in that chair, Ronnie. Or I swear to God I will end you permanently. ”

Mercygiver stood up, obviously considering whether or not to fight her.

Then meekly returned to his chair and sat silently.

“You just got beat by a shopgirl who cries at the end of E.T., you evil asshole.” Mull gloated. “That must be so humiliating for…”

“ Shut up .” Natalie snapped, cutting Mull off, sitting back down at the table and examining her options here. “You… you let the bear go.” She whispered to herself. “Of course you do.”

Multifarious turned to look at her in confusion. “Huh?”

“You let the bear go, because violence has to stop with someone.” Natalie explained.

“It won’t come back if you give it the benefit of the doubt and don’t start the fight again.

” She nodded, recognizing that’s what Roy would do.

That’s what any hero would do. “If you forgive it. And yourself.”

“What? What bear?” Mercygiver asked, trying to clean the blood from his face. “What the fuck are you babbling about?”

“Just kill him!” Mull shouted. “You know he’ll just…”

“No.” Natalie snapped, ending the discussion.

She could kill them both and take over, but she didn’t want to do that.

It would be pointless. She wasn’t as strong on her own, and she recognized that she needed them.

They were stuck together, for better or worse.

“Honestly, I’m sick of fighting you two.

It gets us nowhere. So instead… we’re going to get along. ”

Mercygiver looked absolutely appalled by that idea. “The hell you say!”

“Bitch, you’re crazier than I am.” Mull told her, sounding equally amazed by the plan.

“I could kill you both.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a statement of fact.

And everyone at the table knew it. “I could make you both disappear, right now. It’d simplify my life a great deal.

And maybe it’s the old man’s teachings finally taking hold, or maybe it’s just hanging around with Oz…

but I’m going to take the high road here.

” She tapped the table to drive home the point, anger fading.

“We’re going to make peace. Because I think we can.

I think there’s hope for us, if we try. Like Oz said: I think we’re better than always being five seconds away from killing each other.

” She looked around the table. “The way I see it, if we don’t work together on this, we’re all going to die. ”

“Some of us deserve to die.” Mercygiver spat out.

Mull flicked him off.

“Maybe we do,” Natalie agreed, “but not today.” She gestured to them.

“I’ve let you two whack jobs have at each other for far too long as it is, and it ends now, do you hear me?

!? You two are done fighting. We are going to swallow our pride, and all of that pain and anger, and we are going to sit here until we come to an understanding.

And then we’re going to move on as friends and partners.

Because none of us can survive on our own. ”

Mercygiver made a face. “If you say something truly clichéd about the power of Oz’s love giving you the strength to stand up to us, I will vomit.”

Multifarious considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I might join him.” She paused. “Although… Oz is crazy hot...”

Natalie nodded, unable to argue with herself about that.

“And frankly… being around him… it does kinda make me feel… you know… saner.” Mull continued. “ Like I can handle the world because he’s standing behind me.”

Mercygiver looked disgusted. “Who a re you!?!” He gestured at Natalie. “You’re starting to sound like her , for fuck’s sake!”

“Oz sees the best in us.” Natalie reminded them, as if they could ever forget it.

“He always has. And without us, he’s going to get hurt.

And if he gets hurt because you two morons can’t get your shit together, I’m going to kill you and then myself.

” She cleared her throat. “We’ve worked at cross purposes our entire lives.

We’ve hurt each other and delighted in it.

But if we work together on this, for once , we will be the strongest person on this planet.

We can be the kind of person… the kind of hero who stops the kind of monster the Agletarians made us to be.

” She pointed at Multifarious, “Ability,” she moved to point at Rondel, “resolve,” she pressed a hand to her chest, “and heart.”

“Heart?” Mercygiver snorted in sarcastic contempt. “What the fuck is ‘ heart’ ?”