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_{Grim :)}

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Yeah I guess that's true. mom's a lawyer and dad works for KBEL the broadcasting company. Think they threatened to do legal stuff and spread it all over the news.-Better not say he was vice-chairman. It was the kinda thing that made friendships weird. Anyways, time to change the subject-About the news you think Lady Arcana really fried the police commish?

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_{Judas :)}

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March 30th, 7:19 AM
Hub City

"Look, it really wasn't that big of a-"

Clarissa wouldn't even let Karen finish before she was in her face. "Not that big?! You went on a date with Zoey Kasimir!"

"It wasn't a date! We just had lunch!" She protested, her cheeks growing red as she noted the other passengers on the train staring oddly at them. Whenever she got excited Clare would forget her indoor voice completely.

Folding her arms with a dissatisfied huff, the other girl eased back in her seat. Although Clarissa was a year older than herself, she could really act incredibly childish when she didn't get what she was after. "If I was dating a billionaire celebrity, I wouldn't keep all the juicy stuff from you."

"The only 'juicy' stuff was that OJ I had!" Karen shot back. "I told you everything. There's no art for you to draw this time."

Clarissa smirked lightly at this, glancing up at the dirty ceiling of the train. "We'll see about that, my friend. We'll see about that."

Great. Now her best friend was starting to sound like a supervillain. Between Wilhelm escaping earlier in the month and that weirdo guy in New York, she had more than enough of those in her life right now. It's funny, before she gained these powers she was constantly worried about her grades at school. They were her ticket out of here. Now? She barely even cared, simply going through the motions to maintain her "secret identity". All those old concerns seemed so tiny and minuscule now, when you had the weight of the world on your shoulders.

It kind of ate at the back of her head, in truth. She felt guilty for wasting time in school when she could be out helping people. There were folks out there literally dying while she was hunched over a desk. Clarissa had even persuaded her to watch television with her on more than one occasion, even though she'd fallen behind on most of the shows she used to watch.

Was she letting people down by continuing to be Karen Hernandez?

"Hey, what are you acting so broody about?" Clare nudged her.

Ripped from her thoughts, Karen blinked. "Ah, sorry...s'nothing. Just thinking about how I'll be all alone at Hub City Elementary next year."

"Hey, I'll still be around The Wedge, y'know!" Clarissa tried to reassure her false concerns. "And besides, it's just a year. We'll be in the same school again the next three after that!"

Letting her head lull back against the window behind her, Karen exhaled. "Yeah, just a year..."

What would their world even look like a year from now, much less three?

April 3rd, 10:45 PM
Hub City, Hell's Corner

Hell's Corner, the only place in Hub City that could be considered worse than The Wedge used to be. It wasn't so much that it had a "crime problem", but rather that crime had essentially become the economy here, such was its prevalence. For Lady Arcana, that made it difficult to know where she should even start. Hard drugs were exchanged openly on the street during both day and night, thugs brandished weapons without a second thought and no cop would come within a mile of the area.

In truth, being on patrol here almost felt like a joke. Her vision at night was excellent, as was her ability to discern details from high above. For Hell's Corner, however, that just meant she could see about ten different drug dealers on the same street, each openly competing with one another. They were so flagrant in their activities that they were openly waving their narcotics around!

She was also pretty sure she saw a six year old threaten one of said dealers with a pistol for trying to scam him.

How do you help such a place? It wasn't a matter of power, it was a matter of figuring out who here wasn't a violent criminal. After all, how could you cross a line when there was no line to begin with? Maybe she should just focus on something really big, in that case. Something that would have consequences beyond Hell's Corner.

Right, just ignore the drug dealers for now. Find something that everyone wasn't doing, something really, really dangerous.

"...Hm?" Arcana craned her head to the left, noting a large gathering of men by a partially burnt out warehouse off the main street. It straddled the line between Hell's Corner and the Old Manufacturing District where her dad worked. What made their little gathering stand out more than anything was that half the men there were wearing pretty snazzy suits.

That half were definitely not gangbangers.

Landing quietly off to the side of the warehouse, Arcana listened closely to the conversation between the sixteen individuals she counted.

"Look, we've got AK's, Uzi's, you name it. You want a leg up on the competition? Want to rule Hell's Corner? Your ticket's in these crates...if you're willing to pay our fair price," One of the well-dressed men explained, his words laced with honey.

"A hundred grand? Man, you're tripping balls," The gangbanger he was conversing with replied. "If we had that money, you think we'd be livin' here?"

The man - whom she at this point presumed was a mafioso - cupped his chin in thought, though she had a feeling he was faking it. "Maybe we can work out another deal, then. See, we have a product we'd like your assistance in distributing to your fine community."

"Product?" The gangbanger quirked a brow. "You're wanting us to push something for you?"

"In a manner of speaking. We give you the guns, and in exchange, you help us open Hell's Corner to a whole new market," the mafioso smiled, gesturing to the warehouse. Karen immediately turned and floated upwards until she could see through the nearest window.

...Girls. Clustered tightly together, each and every one of them looking terrified. She felt her blood chill as her breathing ceased entirely. There was no reason to wait any longer.

The first one to go down was the mafioso who was clearly in charge of the operation, a swift blow to the solar plexis knocking him back a good fifteen feet and rendering him unconscious. The remaining fifteen were left standing in a stunned silence for a brief moment as Lady Arcana glanced behind her at the gangbangers, a spark of electricity arcing from her eye.

"F-f-fuck," the gang leader backed away, "I...I wasn't gonna do it, alright? None of us are down with that shit!"

His fellow gangbangers had already started fleeing the scene, and when he realized this, he quickly followed. That was fine...tonight, they weren't the ones she was here for. No, a bunch of moronic gangbangers were nothing compared to this lot.

Unlike the local thugs, however, these guys seemed to be from out of town. She knew that by their accents.

And because they weren't running.

The night was soon alight with the flash of gunfire, as shot after shot was sent her way. She'd done this old song and dance so many times before, and while these guys carried military grade weaponry, it naturally made little difference. Slamming the side of a mafioso's head into the concrete, she snapped his AK-47 over her knee even as bullets ricocheted off her.

With her superior control over her speed and strength compared to four months ago, disabling the seven criminals took only a matter of seconds. She could even throw actual punches now, instead of the palm strikes she once relied on. When swift jab to the sternum sent the last of their group crumpling to the ground, Lady Arcana immediately turned her focus to the young women inside.

They were shackled together like animals. It was hard to imagine how anyone could be this cruel, to do something like this to another human being.

Reaching out to grasp their chains, she easily snapped each and every one. To her surprise, the girls seemed completely calm and at ease, never displaying any sense of surprise at her abilities. One of the older ones even immediately stepped forward, a...rather smug grin on her face?

"Oh, thank you great hero for saving us," she smirked, extending her arms out to either side. "Whatever would we have done without the great Wizard to swoop in and ruin everything!"

Before she could respond, the women screamed. She really screamed, to the point where the glass in windows of the warehouse instantly shattered. Wincing her eyes part way shut at the minor throbbing in her skull, Arcana felt her feet leave the ground as she went sailing back into the mafioso's moving van, slamming into the side with enough force to cave the side of the vehicle in.

Peeling her eyes open while shaking away her disorientation, Lady Arcana watched as the women stepped forward, their human forms cracking like an eggshell as bird-like wings and talons emerged from their backs and limbs, their remaining skin turning a light grey. When their transformation was complete, Karen could only describe what she was seeing as a flock of harpies

"Harpies? So wait, the girls were the sexual predators?" Lady Arcana remarked in astonishment, climbing to her feet as the creatures took to the skies. She'd been reading up on her mythological creatures at Sam's insistence, and she didn't like anything she'd heard about these gals.

Lifting into the air, Lady Arcana launched herself into the nearest harpy, seizing it by the throat. Before she could follow up on this, however, she once more felt the powerful force of their ear-piercing screams hit her from behind, as several joined together to bombard her with their weathering song. It made her stomach turn, and in her state of nausea she was unprepared for the talon that clocked her across the jaw, sending her plummeting into the warehouse below.

Smashing through the roof with enough force to literally bring the entire place down on top of her, Arcana found herself buried beneath many tons of rubble.

Okay, this was a lot more than she was used to dealing with, that much was clear. They were using group tactics against her, so she needed to be smart here. Physically they were much stronger than a normal human, but still nothing to her. Those screams, though...

"Right, that's a plan. Enough wasting time, then!" Arcana exclaimed, bursting from the rubble in one swift upward motion. The Harpies were now gone without a trace, however. A cursory glance also revealed that the mafiosos were also missing.

"Shit," Arcana swore, grasping her head in frustration. "They weren't planning on fighting me, they just wanted to stun me long enough to escape..."

And they succeeded. Now there were a bunch of a Kentucky Fried Rapists running around in Hub City. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

April 4th, 7:48 AM
Hub City

Karen hadn't slept since the previous night. How could she, knowing that those things were loose in her city? She'd scoured the skies in search of them, flying over every square inch of the city...but they had apparently gone to ground. With their ability to disguise themselves as humans, this made finding them nearly impossible. Their human stats also evidently suppressed their arcane imprint to a degree, as she hadn't felt their otherworldly nature until they transformed. If her natural ability to sense them wasn't sufficient, she only knew one other way to potentially flush them out of whatever holes they were squatting in.

Holding her burner phone to her ear, Karen chewed on her lip nervously. She hoped that Zoey wouldn't mind her calling this early on a Saturday, but it really was kind of an emergency. Hopefully she was high enough in the sky, too, that nobody would be able to snap an odd photo of Lady Arcana making a call on her cellphone.

---

April 4th, 8:48 AM EST
Kasimir Castle, Gotham City

"Nicole, I swear to god-" Cursing, tired, and mildly hungover it took Zoey a moment to grab the phone on her beside table from under the multiple blankets that encompassed her bed. She didn't like the cold. Staring at the screen it took another moment to register that this was not her work phone. Well, at least not her civilian work phone. That contact definitely wasn't her personal assistant, either. She quickly cleared her throat of any morning roughness before the redhead thumbed the answer call button and brought the device to her ear.

"Lady Arcana, what can I do for you?"

--

"Um, Grim? I...have a bit of a problem," Lady Arcana explained, her unease apparent in her tone. "Well, about ten of them, actually."

Scratching the side of her face, Karen struggled to find the right words to explain everything that had happened in a way that would make the severity of the situation apparent. "Last night I was on patrol in Hell's Corner - it's a really nasty place in Hub City - when I happened upon what looked like a weapon's deal at a warehouse between some mobsters and a local gang."

"Except, it wasn't just weapons they were trading in. I saw that they had a bunch of girls chained together inside the warehouse, and they wanted the gang to help sell them to the locals in Hell's Corner in exchange for the weapons," she recalled the events of the previous night in as much detail as she felt was needed. While it was unclear if the mobsters were going to play any further role, it was best to not leave out anything that could potentially be a clue.

Glancing up to make sure she was staying well below the blanket of smog that forever hovered over Hub City, she continued. "The gangbangers ran when I showed up, and I quickly knocked out all of the mafiosos...but that was when things got weird."

"When I went to free the girls, they seemed...eerily calm, if not irritated at me. Then, one of them screamed. And I mean louder than the people in Elysium did! So loud that it sent me flying back into a van. When I looked up, all ten of them had transformed into..." she paused, knowing this was going to sound rather crazy to any rational person, even if the past four months perhaps softened the oncoming blow, "...harpies."

Closing her eyes, Lady Arcana prepared to conclude her bizarre tale. "They attacked me, and with their screams managed to stun me long enough to escape. I think they've all gone underground somewhere in Hub City now, and I haven't been able to locate any of them."

---

Zoey's breath caught in her throat at the first mention of girls, releasing in a shuddering exhale as her eyes closed. As Karen continued to speak Zoey was already getting up and moving around her bedroom, picking out anything she would need before going down to gear up and get in the jet. That's what this was leading to wasn't it? Going to Hub City to hide a body for Lady Arcana?

... Oh. Nope, that wasn't it.

"... Harpies." Zoey stated calmly, having paused in getting her things together. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure how I could - right, no, harpies are probably magical, like every other thing that's happened lately. The tracker, I understand. I'll get geared up, I can be there in an hour. Just keep an eye out until then."

Thank god the jet had a coffee maker, she was going to need it.

---

"Will do," Lady Arcana replied, clicking her phone off.

Landing gently atop the Whizz Radio Tower, she folded her arms and calmly stared out over a city where monsters lurked in the shadows. She felt a little bad for having to ask for Grim's help with this...after all, such a thing was actually her job. She should have probably went to Sam first with this, in fact, but...she knew the black Bombay would've probably chewed her out for letting them escape in the first place.

She really didn't need that right now.

---

April 4th, 9:03 AM
Hub City

Between getting her things together, making sure the castle was going to be fine in her absence, and then the flight itself it took Grim a little over an hour to reach Hub City. A quick check of her phone on where Hell's Corner was had her moving the jet toward that area, 'parking' on top of a nearby industrial area's rooftop out of the way. Her motorcycle took her the rest of the way, the specialized machine easily traversing the dilapidated roofs to the area.

Honestly, the place reminded Grim a little of some of the slums in Gotham, back when she first moved there. Of course from what she understood of Hub City this place was just considered a lost cause rather than the police being utterly corrupt. Still, back to business. With her motorcycle idling beneath her on the roof opposite a collapsed warehouse she could only assume was the site of the battle Grim sent a quick text to Lady Arcana that she arrived before focusing on the computer built into her gauntlet, interfacing with the main computer located back in her labs to check the tracking device. Much like Gotham this place was brightly lit with magic, especially with no specific signature to track. Idly, Zoey wondered how much of that magic belonged to Lady Arcana and possible the plant's influence.

Maybe with any luck she could find something from the harpies to track, otherwise this was still just a wild goose chase. Well, wild harpy chase.

"Oh, starting at the warehouse was smart!" Lady Arcana chirped, stepping beside Grim only a moment after her text message had been sent. Offering a warm smile to her new friend, she quickly focused on the matter at hand. "I was knocked into that warehouse, and by the time I flew back out...nada."

Taking a step closer to the scene of last night's altercation, Arcana cupped her chin on thought. Her eyes drifted along the ground for several moments, searching for anything that might tip them off to their location. "We need something with their arcane 'signature', right?"

Taking another step towards the warehouse, she reached out and grasped what looked to be a long, sallow feather. It wasn't the only one on the ground. Standing again, she presented it to Grim. "This should work, right?"

Grim most definitely did not jump when Lady Arcana's voice suddenly came from her side, and the sudden rigidness in her shoulders was of course not from clamping down on the reflex to jab her elbow into the appearance of someone beside her. Rolling her suddenly stiff shoulders to loosen the muscles Grim glanced to Arcana with a slight nod to greet her.

"Right, something either from them or created by them," The vigilante watched the other woman, nodding approvingly at being presented with the feather. "That will work. I might have to tweak it a little to track the type of magic rather than the specific signature, but I already connected the tracker to my computer hub so everything should be fine on that end." Holding her hand out Grim took the feather and bent it in half to fit into the compartment in the gauntlet, nestled next to the sterile cotton swabs ready for use. It took only a few moments for the lights on the small computer screen to go from lighting up Hub City to only one point. A few taps had it changing to a handful of them, spread throughout the city.

"Look like we have a match. This will lead us to the general area they're in, but considering what they looked like when you found them it'll probably end up being a game of hide and seek." Grim tapped one of the spots on the computer. "Here's the closest one, shall we?"

Lady Arcana quickly nodded, "Yeah, they've enjoyed giving me the slip for more than long enough I'd say."

They were probably all cackling their stupid birdy brains out about outwitting her earlier. Well, she'd show em'! Lifting off the ground, she offered a quick "thumbs up" to Grim indicating that she would be following her lead in this case. After all, she was the one with the tracker. While her eidetic memory wouldn't let her forget the image on the screen, it was - as her friend said - merely a general location. Things might change as they drew closer.

"I should warn you, by the way: these things are much stronger than a normal human, and their screams could easily deafen you and shatter bones."

"Yes, their lungs are legendary, I remembered a tale of them from high school - which reminds me," Grim took a moment to reach into an inside pocket of her jacket, tossing a small plastic package to Arcana. Inside was a pair of bright orange ear plugs. "I brought two, but if they scream at me I'll already be hurting. Might save you a headache at least." With that done Grim revved the engine on her motorcycle, it roaring before settling into the quiet purr that accompanied most of her bigger gadgets.

Not having to worry about Lady Arcana keeping up Grim took off - once more using the advanced and sophisticated tech of her motorcycle to use the rooftops of Hub City as her own personal highway to mask their approach. It didn't take more than ten minutes to reach their destination, even with having to double check the tracker once they got closer - the dot hadn't moved, but it was hard to say if it was just one or a couple overlapping.

Just in case she hadn't reiterated it enough to herself yet, then Grim was so effin' cool!! Her gadgets, her bike...everything she did just screamed sleek badassery! Even though she had the power of the Gods inside of her, Lady Arcana couldn't help but be a little jealous of all the amazing toys her friend had. Hopefully one of these days she would let her take a ride in her jet!

But they had business to attend to now.

Within ten minutes they had arrived at the general location indicated by the tracker. It was in, interestingly, the Chinatown district of Hub City. While she had flown over it plenty of times in the past, Karen had never actually been here before, and so seeing up close was pretty sauce!

Turning to Grim, she stared down at the busy streets of the oriental community. "What do you think the best approach to finding them would be?"

Grim hummed quietly, eyes roaming along the streets absolutely filled with people. She never did like crowds.

"We could survey the streets from the air but considering that you said these things could disguise themselves as humans we don't even know what we're looking for. The best bet to flush them out might be walking the streets, but if we startle them it could put many innocent people in danger." Grim huffed lightly, eyes narrowing behind the mask. "I really need to put a magic sensor in my goggles or something," The vigilante muttered under her breath, before gesturing to the roofs.

"Might be better to see if we can find anything from the rooftops so we're not putting anyone in danger just yet, but worst come to worst we descend and look for them by foot." A slight shrug. "More important than me not liking my picture taken after all.

Lady Arcana nodded in agreement with Grim's suggestion. For now they would stick to the roofs and avoid the prying eyes of the hundreds going about their daily business. But that still left the question of where they should look. They could be literally anywhere here, and in such a densely populated area of the city -

"Wait," Arcana's face paled lightly, as an idea forced its way into her head. These harpies had initially disguised themselves as sex slaves. That avenue had been busted by herself, but the easiest transition from it would logically be... "The Brothel."

Lady Arcana's voice was flat and monotone as she spoke those words, the mere idea of having to stroll into such a place causing her face to flush. She was really afraid of what she would see there, but...this was her duty. Like, her actual job as The Wizard. Helping people, being a heroine, that was something she chose to do, something she loved doing...but stuff like this here was the whole reason Shazam had chosen her. She couldn't back down.

And there was little doubt in her mind that she was right on her hunch. The closest group from the warehouse fled right into Chinatown, the only place in Hub City widely known to have illegal "Massage Parlors". It seemed so painfully obvious now.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Karen hardened her face and tugged her hood partway over her eyes. "Alright, let's go look, then."

A red eyebrow quirked beneath the goggles at the suggestion, and although Grim nodded slowly in acknowledgement of the suggestion she tilted her head slightly to look at Arcana. It was easy to see the other heroine was flustered, even just from the red that crept up on her. To Zoey's eyes even tugging her hood on didn't hide it all. After a moment Grim looked forward, back down at the streets with a thoughtful hum.

"Good point. I'll handle this and you can head to the next section? You should have a much easier time of it with them separated." The modulator kept Grim's voice the usual emotionless timbre, no inflection that she had caught on drifting into it. It would be difficult, but Grim was confident in her own abilities if it spared Arcana having to do something she didn't wish to.

Lady Arcana looked up in shock at Grim's suggestion that she handle the brothel alone. Had she been that obvious in her discomfort? Man, she really needed to learn how to get a handle on her feelings. She was supposed to be this big super-wizard, the Lord of all Magic, and here she was red-faced like a school girl. Which, even if that actually was the case didn't mean it was alright. She had to be better than what was merely expected of her.

"There could be two, maybe even three Harpies there, Grim," Karen reminded her softly, not wishing to come across as condescending. Closing her eyes, she steadied her breathing. "No, we're in this together. I can't afford to be so easily shaken."

"Thank you, though. It means a lot that you would be willing to take such a risk just for my childish discomfort," she offered the other heroine a warm smile, not wanting her to think for even a second that she wasn't grateful. Lifting off the ground again, she began surveying the signs on the building. Thanks to the Intellect of Mnemosyne, she could effortlessly read the Mandarin writing that was omnipresent, although many stores had their names also displayed in English anyway.

Finally she saw it: Eternal Springs Massage Parlor.

"....That's probably it, huh?" Arcana muttered, floating down to the entrance. Several men nearby gasped in shock when they saw her, immediately walking in the other direction as if they'd "never been anywhere near any brothel, Ms. Arcana ma'am." She didn't know why they were so nervous, it's not like she would beat them up for going here.

Waiting a moment for Grim to catch up, she nodded only once to her friend before stepping through the entrance.

The place looked...gaudy. Lots of lavish, stereotypical oriental colors that she was certain would be considered tacky no matter the country it was in. The woman at the front desk, while initially smiling, quickly adopted a sour expression upon seeing Arcana.

"No women! You not read the sign?"

Lady Arcana blinked at this, slowly looking to Grim.

Another soft, low hum was Grim's only answer to Lady Arcana shooting down her suggestion. She could've guessed the other woman was too noble for it, but she'd not regret asking. Nevertheless she dropped the topic, only nodding at Arcana's thanks and even though the mask covered it returning the small smile.

Not being able to read the Mandarin Grim still scanned along the street, looking at the English names for the various shops. Arcana picked out their target first and Grim quickly focused on it, just giving a slight nod. Kicking the stand at her motorcycle's side Zoey left it there, her hookshot grabbing purchase on the roof before she grappled down, landing on the streets heavily. Though people backed away from her it wasn't nearly as dramatic as the men backing up from Lady Arcana, much to Grim's amusement. It'd likely be the opposite had this been Gotham.

As soon as they entered the massage parlor Grim's eyebrow twitched seeing the interior. It was a nightmare, and had she been in her civilian persona Zoey would've turned and walked right back out of any room that looked like this. She was pretty sure this fashion disaster was going to haunt her dreams.

"Hm?" Grim dragged her gaze to the woman that was raising her voice at Arcana, huffing lowly. Quickly the vigilante analyzed the situation. There was absolutely no way to pose as customers considering who they were, and if this woman kept yelling it might tip the harpies off - if she wasn't one herself that just took over. The place wasn't so big they'd really need any information from her either. Decision made Grim just hummed thoughtfully for a moment, and in a sudden flurry of motion leapt the desk and grabbed the woman's face in her left glove. The valves on the glove activated the instant she began moving, pumping the woman's face full of anesthesia.

Of course not to be inconsiderate Grim at least caught her with her other arm as the woman collapsed, lowering her to the floor behind the desk. With that done Grim very calmly moved to the front door and flipped the sign to 'closed' - no need for any amorous men to wander in on this.

"I'll see if I can gas anyone we come across first, get a quick drop on the harpies if I managed or at least keep them from being tipped off," Her voice was quieter in this setting, keeping to the stealthy approach. With a slight nod to Arcana, Grim focused on the path ahead, slipping forward on near silent feet to venture into the back.

Lady Arcana stared on in surprise when Grim gassed the woman at the front desk. Effective, and actually pretty funny. She clearly hadn't seen that coming, and hopefully neither would their targets. Following Grim's lead, she gently lifted off the floor and hovered alongside her, so that she wouldn't accidentally make a sound and blow their advantage.

As for the woman Grim had just knocked out, she wasn't one of the harpies. She did remember what each one looked like, thanks to her eidetic memory. Assuming they couldn't change their forms, that should allow them to find their targets.

And as they stepped through one of the curtains, Karen could definitively confirm that they had found something. Namely, a very oily man, and a confused, topless woman who promptly yelped at their presence.

"Eeep!" Arcana raised her hands to cover her eyes. "S-sorry!"

She...wasn't one of the ones at the warehouse.

Backing out of the room, Arcana quickly pointed down the hallway, to a sound that read "spa". "Maybe we could t-try that before bothering with all of the massage rooms?"

Yes, that sounded like a better idea. There would be more people there, after all, plus...the less private environment meant they were probably up to less explicit activities, right? Right! Right...

Nervously pushing towards the spa, Lady Arcana pushed open the large, ridiculously ornate wooden double doors which fit quite well with the try-hard style of the rest of the parlor. What she saw on the other side were about a dozen naked men who were waist deep in water, along with a similar amount of women, many of whom were massaging their shoulders or sitting beside them in the water.

Freezing in place at the sight, the only thing that stopped her from awkward backing out right away was the trio of Asian women who she instantly recognized. "H-hey, they're-"

Before she could even complete her sentence, one of the women screeched and lifted the man whose shoulders she had been rubbing clean out of the bath for the world to see, and threw him right at Arcana.

"NOOO I CAN SEE EVERYTHING!!"

Grim was very, very glad her mask covered her expressions currently. Despite being sympathetic to Lady Arcana's apparent sheltering and modesty it was rather funny seeing her reaction to walking in on a massage in progress. Grim had stepped into the first massage room fully prepared to attack just to get a myriad of startled noises from everyone involved. She gave the slightest of nods to the topless woman and man before stepping back and closing the door after Arcana, she evidently didn't think that woman was one of them.

Oh, and then Arcana picked the spa. Idly Grim thought of warning her, but Arcana probably had the right idea - the most amount of people would be in there. With that in mind Grim followed along, fingers on her left glove twitching lightly. Since it was a spa she wouldn't be able to use her right glove's defibrillator without being extremely careful, but she had other methods.

As soon as the door to the spa opened Grim swept her gaze along the people gathered, focusing on the women. Arcana stopped beside her, though hearing the start of a stuttering sentence Grim tilted her head toward her. Of course Arcana didn't even need to complete it before it became very obvious what she spotted.

Years of doing this for nearly every single night had Grim not even hesitating, even with Arcana's shrill yell in her ear and a very naked and wet man coming at them. Diving under the approaching man in a baseball slide Grim came up shooting, her left wrist snapping out. From the knuckles shot a dark brown liquid to the woman - harpy - that had first reacted, honed precision getting the mace right across her eyes. The screech was more of surprise and pain than any power, allowing Grim to sprint those last few feet. Skidding slightly on the wet floor Grim brought her arm up as she started just going passed the harpy, catching her around the throut with the bend of elbow. With the sudden jerk of momentum stopping in the clothesline Grim didn't fight it, instead leaping the last bit and in a display of athleticism kicking out both feet into the jaw of the woman behind the obvious harpy - from the way her skin had begun to crack like eggshells Grim had no problem breaking her jaw.

Well, if she was lucky anyway.

Of course taking her feet off the ground brought the first harpy down with Grim to the floor, the vigilante driving her elbow into her throat on the way in a move reminiscent of those fake wrestling matches. Her elbow, however, was very real and left the harpy choking for air. A swift reaction was all Grim had against these harpies after all. Rolling to her feet one of the silver blades was in her hand in an instant, ready to draw blood next.

Lady Arcana hadn't been prepared to have a naked man thrown at her. She had screamed, she had started to dodge...but then realized it would probably mean said gentleman being injured on impact. Biting her lip, she swiftly extended her arms to catch the tubby individual, winding up with him in a princess carry. Staring down at him with an uneasy smile, she desperately tried to ignore the shadow in her lower periphery. He had apparently been having a good time before they interrupted.

Setting the man down, she noted - thankful for the distraction - that Grim had already intercepted two of the harpies. She had never seen any normal human being move anywhere close to that fast, to the point where she had managed to get in several good shots before they were able to fully transform. Given their reaction, they apparently weren't as strong in their human forms.

Unfortunately, the third near the back had managed to complete her metamorphosis while Grim was occupied with combat, and she was occupied with an...old man...

Seeing the harpy's chest begin to expand, Arcana swiftly dashed forward and brought her fist up beneath her jaw, knocking the bird-woman clean through the ceiling while patron and prostitute alike all ran about the spa screaming in terror. Turning towards Grim, she noted that the harpy that had been kicked was now bleeding from her lip, but had continued her transformation.

The one on the ground had yet to catch her breath, however, and so she quickly moved on the fully transformed creature as it reared up for an attempted screech, slamming her head into the wooden wall with enough force to plant her torso clean through it. Drawing back her fist to deal an incapacitating blow, her eye was caught by another old man beside her who screamed in terror at the sudden turn of events.

"P-please don't hurt me!" He squealed, trembling.

"Oh God, stop shaking!" Arcana held her hands up.

Unfortunately, this had bought the harpy enough time to kick out with her legs, sending Lady Arcana flying into one of the pools which several men were still struggling to waddle out of. Ripping itself free from the wall it had been embedded in, the beast once again expanded its chest for a scream.

A low rumble akin to a growl hissed through Grim's mask seeing Arcana going flying. The other heroine had gotten distracted and it cost her, but that's what she was here for. Seeing as the harpy once again had her feet on the wet floor the defibrillator wasn't going to be of use either, which wasn't shocking considering the room.

Instead Grim threw her right hand out, the one that was already holding a silver blade. The metal flew forward and true, embedding itself in the cheek of the harpy. She would've gone for the throat, but traumatizing a bunch of men and women with that spray of blood wasn't on her agenda. When the harpy's head jerked from the sudden slicing pain Grim once more launched forward, and despite how bad of an idea getting close to a harpy's talons were she was confident. Grim all but jumped on the harpy, knocking her back into the hole Lady Arcana had made and getting her feet off the floor.

Practically straddling the bird woman Grim reached out with her right hand, only to be stopped by the absolutely bruising talon latching around her upper arm. Rather than fight to reach her chest like she had initially been going for Grim just changed the path of her hand and grabbed onto the feathered arm holding her by twisting her wrist, sending a few thousand volts of electricity through her. The grip tightened on her arm briefly, drawing a slight hiss from Grim before it loosened as the tazing did its job. Slipping off the harpy to put her own feet back on the floor Grim then turned to survey the damage, and the first harpy who no doubt had caught her breath by now.

Briefly Grim noted the harpy had ripped her jacket. How rude.

The first harpy had indeed managed to complete her transformation by now. Furthermore, she had noted the plight of her sister, the beast's chest expanding as she unleashed a shrill scream containing enough concussive force to shatter a human skeleton in mere seconds. It would thankfully not last for more than one, as Arcana burst from the water to deliver a right hook to the creature, knocking her clean through the back wall and out onto the street.

Glancing to Grim while scratching at the back of her head, Lady Arcana bowed her head in apology. "Sorry for letting my guard down back there. I was just...a little overwhelmed by all the..nakedness."

Stepping past her ally to stare out the hole she had just made, she could see the harpy laying prone atop an assuredly totalled yellow sports car People outside were screaming in terror at the monstrous sight - unconscious or not - and fleeing in a panic from it. Exhaling slightly, Lady Arcana floated towards the prone beast-woman, reaching down to lift her from the vehicle. That's when a horrible piercing scream washed over Chinatown.

Glancing up, Lady Arcana saw a harpy flying high above the community, her head cocked back as she unleashed her voice upon the sky. Arcana could see the blood pouring from her lips and the large bruise beneath her chin, indicating it was the one she had uppercutted earlier.

Dropping the harpy in her hand back onto the car, Lady Arcana quickly shot into the sky, grasping the creature by its throat and slamming down through the roof of the brothel and, ultimately, the pool beneath it. Watching the shitty imitation marble crack beneath the force of the impact, Karen lifted the creature up so it wouldn't drown.

"Why was it just screeching into the sky? Was it sending a signal?"

Grim stumbled, a hand reaching up to rub against her ear tentatively. Even with the ear plugs that mere second of screeching wound its way around the ear plugs, driving like a drill into her brain. Luckily it didn't deafen her thanks to the them. Grateful to Arcana for her interception Grim just gave a slight nod to her friend. While the Lady followed after the first harpy Zoey took a moment to check the one she had shocked wasn't going to get up before following after her.

At least, she had started to follow after Lady Arcana on hearing the screeching, just for a loud crashing to have Grim whirl around. It took only a moment for Lady Arcana to float back up, soaking wet with an equally dripping harpy. Looks like this place wasn't opening back up anytime soon.

"Screeching into the sky?" Grim stepped toward Arcana, taking a moment to lean over the edge of the pool and glance upward. Right through the ceiling, not surprising but impressive. Finally though the vigilante turned to the computer screen on her wrist, tapping to check the dots. "Might've been warning the others. We should move quickly - did you have a plan for what to do with them? I doubt the police are competent enough to deal with a mythological creature."

Lady Arcana paused. looking to Grim with an expression of pure bewilderment. She hadn't even considered that question until her fellow heroine had brought it up. How were they going to cage a punch of super strong harpies? There's no prison in the world that was equipped to handle them as far as she knew. And there were ten of them overall, at that, so they would need to make sure these didn't get up while they were dealing with the others.

"Sam!" Karen exclaimed, the black Bombay cat flashing through her head. "She might know what to do with them! Keep an eye on these guys, I'll go get her."

Glancing up at the whole in the brothel's ceiling, Lady Arcana wasted no time through it and back towards The Wedge. Landing in the alleyway behind her home, she tapped on the window of her bedroom. It took a few moments, but sure enough Samantha wandered in, seemingly confused at the origin of the tapping. The fear of her father coming instead briefly crossed her mind, but...there's no way he'd be up this early on a Saturday.

"Karen?!" Samantha gasped, seeing her owner/ward floating outside. "What are you doing?"

Suppressing an amused snicker at the cat's bewilderment, she gestured to the side. "Just unlock the window, I need to talk to you."

Sam visibly exhaled in her weird feline way, before using her paw to undo the latch. Karen quickly opened the window and pulled the cat into her arms, flying high into the sky with her again even as she squirmed in futility against the iron grasp of Lady Arcana. "Stop squirming! I need your help with something."

"Eh? What have done this time?!" Sam groaned, though she at least stopped fidgeting.

Lady Arcana pouted slightly at her tone. "I didn't do anything! T-there were these harpies, alright?"

She then descended into the brothel once again, happy to see that the creatures hadn't awoken in that time. Letting Sam down, the cat flinched at the wet floor beneath her paws, and irritated growl rumbling from her throat. She then paused, glancing about the place. "Wait...K-err, Lady Arcana, is this a whore house?"

Karen's cheeks flushed red at this, but she quickly shook her head. "That's not the point, Sam! I don't know what to do with these harpies, and there's probably even more we have to worry about!"

"Yeah, those are harpies alright," Sam muttered, glancing to the bird woman laying prone halfway through the wall. Her eyes then briefly settled on Grim, her nose wiggling slightly at the dog motif. "So you need a means of detaining them, right? Well, luckily you have one: The Rock of Eternity."

Lady Arcana's face lit up at the feline's words. "Oh! That place, the one where Shazam gave me these powers, right?"

"Exactly! Part of it's function is to hold dangerous beasts like this when necessary. Though in olden times they'd have probably just slain minor creatures like these," Samantha explained, seemingly noticing Karen's look of horror at the notion. "But I understand your feelings, so it should serve this purpose well."

Karen's tense posture relaxed a bit, relief washing over her at having a solution.

Left in the middle of a brothel with two new holes torn into the building, and three unconscious harpies, Grim could only stare after where Lady Arcana had disappeared into the sky. Alright, so she didn't have a plan, but at least she knew someone that could help. Apparently. Feeling a bit uneasy with the harpy just outside for the world to see Grim stepped outside to retrieve the one unconscious on the car through the hole in the wall, hoisting her onto her shoulder to bring in with the other two. After gassing her, just to be sure. By the time Grim set the harpy down on the wet floor Arcana had returned and she turned her attention to her, just to pause.

Was that a cat?

... Did the cat just talk?

Yep. Yep that was a talking cat that Lady Arcana had brought back. Grim's eyebrow twitched under her mask at the realization, the tick she had developed kicking in. Magic was absolute insanity. She was woken up by a literal Goddess of Magic, chased harpies across the town with her magic tracker, fought them in a brothel with said Goddess of Magic, and now a talking cat was telling them what they should do with them. Maybe she was actually having an alcohol-fueled dream.

Nah, her ears were still ringing from that harpy. Taking a deep breath and exhaling Grim tried really, really hard to shake off the strangeness of the day to instead focus on the two before her. At least they were divulging interesting tidbits of information. Rock of Eternity, someone named Shazam gave Lady Arcana her powers. Interesting. At least it solved the problem they had here and now.

"How do we get there?" The vigilante finally rumbled, and despite having just dropped the harpy once more went to grab onto her, grunting as she lifted the bird woman over her shoulders to carry her. With how her day was going it was probably more magic bullshit. After a moment her gaze behind the goggles flicked to Sam once again. Grim hesitated just a moment before bowing her head slightly, well-bred manners coming true, even to the... talking cat.

"Grim. The pleasure is mine."

Samantha eyed the man dressed as a dog for a moment before returning the nod. "Samantha, or Shurpanakha, if you prefer."

"Shurpa...?" Karen tilted her head to the side in confusion at this, but decided it wasn't worth asking about at the moment. Not when they had three angry birds to lock away. Moving to sling the two remaining harpies over her shoulders, she looked to her feline companion for their next move. "Okay, Sam. How do I get back there?"

Samantha raised her paw to gesture towards the thunderbolt on Lady Arcana's chest, "The Rock of Eternity has always been within you, quite literally. That thunderbolt on your chest is a direct conduit to the source of all magic, all you need to do is focus on your desire to return there and it will be so. No spell required, not for you."

Frowning slightly, Karen stared down at the forever oscillating lights within what was apparently an inter-dimensional power source contained inside of her. She then watched Samantha leap onto one of the harpies slung across her shoulder, whispering in her ear to concentrate. Right, focus. Focus on that day when the Wizard pulled her there. On that throne room where he sat...right, the throne...the throne...

"Well done," Samantha congratulated her, her weight disappearing from her shoulder, prompting to Karen to open her eyes to see that she was standing before the very same throne she had pictured before. Like, she was even the exact same distance from it that she had been back then! Maybe perfect photographic recall allowed her to appear exactly where she was before?

She was still carrying the two harpies, and Samantha now sat in the throne room beside her. Dropping them to the marble-like ground, Karen gasped in amazement, a broad grin stretched across her face. "Sauce!"

"I'm really back here! It's...just as I remember it, except...brighter?" She noted, observing how the once dim lines that crisscrossed the otherwise smooth black surface now hummed with power - magic power, she could immediately tell.

Samantha nodded at this. "The Rock has been restored to full power after so many centuries of decline. Arcane energy flows freely through it and into the mortal plane once again."

Lady Arcana cautiously stepped towards the throne, the power that coursed through the Rock seemingly tracing it's origins to the great, shimmering thunderbolt at the center of the obsidian chair. "C-can I sit in it?"

"Of course, it's your throne," Sam reminded her.

Placing a hand on the arm of the throne, Lady Arcana slowly eased herself down into it. "Nnah...!"

A feeling of overwhelming power rushed through her entire body in that moment, not dissimilar to how it felt whenever she transformed. It felt...good, but so very strange. Like the life of the world, no, maybe even the universe, was flowing through her. She felt connected. Connected to everything ever touched by magic. In that moment it literally felt like she could do anything!

"You can feel it, yes?" Samantha chuckled. "Your connection to the world of the arcane. From your throne you can perceive events virtually anywhere in the cosmos, at any time within the cosmos. Just speak these words: 'Historama'!"

Lady Arcana nodded once at Sam's instructions. "Alright...Historama!"

It was like the air before her had been torn open in that moment. Images flashed before it, things she didn't really understand. Unfamilair faces, locations, events...it was all a jumbled mess. "What am I...seeing?"

"Everything," Samantha replied. "You need to learn how to focus on only one image at a time, learn how to control the Historama. For now, simply focus your mind inwards, to the Rock itself."

Arcana did as she was told, filling her mind only with thoughts of the Rock of Eternity itself. Of the room before her, of her first arrival here, of meeting the Wizard. As if in response to this, the images of the Historama shifted, showing both the interior and exterior of the Rock...and an image of her standing before the previous wizard, Shazam. "Wait, I can see the past, too?"

"The Rock exists on a separate plane of time, so yes. Though in the case of that image, it is just that: a recording of past events, for it took place within the Rock of Eternity itself," the knowledgeable feline explained. "But in any case, let us attend to the matter at hand."

Bounding up to the throne, Samantha gestured to one of the images with her paw. "That area of the Rock is intended for holding creatures too dangerous to remain on the mortal plane. Harpies are a bit beneath it, but...it should be fine for now."

As Karen focused on it, the image grew in size, eventually eclipsing the others entirely. "Alright, how do I get there?"

"You don't need to, not right now. Just focus on one of the 'cells', and imagine the harpies inside," Samantha explained.

Karen obeyed her mentor, quickly imagining the winged creatures inside the one of the cells. Almost instantly, both harpies were struck by lightning almost identical to that through which she transformed, vanishing from where she had dropped them. When she glanced at the Historama again, they were suspended in midair within their new prison, sealing runes - as their inscriptions indicated - glowing on all sides as arcs of magical energy surged into them from the walls, seemingly keeping them locked in place.

"Holy Sauceballs..." Lady Arcana muttered. "This Wizard shit is effin' lit!"

She then remembered the remaining harpy outside, the Historama instantly displaying an image of the ruined Brothel, Grim and the remaining creature. "Hey, what about that one? I still need to go out and get it. How do I get back?"

"Unnecessary," Sam replied. "Since that harpy is also unconscious, there will be no contest of will. You should be able to do the same to it, even though it's in the mortal plane."

Pursing her lips slightly at this, Karen nodded. Imagining the third harpy in the same "cell" with her sisters, she watched as yet another thunderbolt descended down upon it. Sure enough, the prison was now occupied by all three siblings. "Shit...can I do that to anyone?"

"Probably not at this point, no. With those who have lost consciousness, it's easy. With those who might offer resistance to your will, however, it is far more difficult," the Black Bombay stated. "In time, you'll gain experience and become more adept at it. When that day comes, only the strongest of wills would be able to deny you."

She...didn't really know how to respond to that. On the one hand, the prospect of one day being able to zap bad guys directly into magical prison was pretty damn awesome. On the other hand, it kind of scared her. Should anybody, especially her, have that kind of power? It really did feel eerily like she was playing God at this point.

"Ah, shit," Lady Arcana smacked the side of her head. "What about the other harpies?"

Sam hummed in thought, as the Historama responded to Karen's desire, showing...what looked to be a literal tear somewhere in the sky near Hub City. "Seems like they've retreated back to their own plane in fear. That tear must have been how they crossed over in the first place. You should mend it."

"Eh? How?"

"Well, you know how the sky's supposed to look, right? It's not supposed to have a tear in it. So, imagine it without that tear."

Was it really that simple? "Imagine it like it normally is...so horribly polluted and shit, got it."

~

"Grim!" Lady Arcana called out to her friend, a thunderbolt heralding her reappearance in the mortal plane. "I did it! I locked away the harpies. And the others apparently went home."

Setting Sam down beside her, she smiled to the other heroine. "Don't worry, I locked the door behind them."

To say that Grim was having a day would be a bit of an understatement. Here she was, patiently waiting to go to some eternal rock while the talking cat told the magic Goddess how to get there, when said magic Goddess disappeared in a bolt of thunder. Yep, that was a thing that happened.

Left standing there like the third wheel at a keg party Grim could only stare at the spot where Lady Arcana had disappeared, not even a sign that she was there left. The vigilante cautiously circled the area before ending up in her original position, fumbling to take out her phone to call Karen just for another bolt of thunder to come down from nowhere. Except this one was right on her back - or more accurately, the harpy over her shoulders. Suddenly lacking the weight that was there Grim twisted her head to look at her shoulders, one hand still held up as though to hold the harpy there before raising her goggles to the ceiling. She wasn't even near the hole that Lady Arcana had made! How did thunder even strike?! Magic of course. It was always magic.

Grim raised that same hand to rub at her temple just above her goggles, feeling the muscles there moving beneath her fingertips as her eyebrow continued to twitch. Well, despite how bizarre the morning was at least the problem of where to store them was being taken care of, if she was correct - yep, there we go, another thunderbolt along with the reappearance of Lady Arcana. She seemed happy at least.

"Oh," At the moment Grim was grateful for the voice modulator that hid the disappointment coloring the one simple word. Despite the tick that developed due to these magical shenanigans it would've been interesting to see the apparent 'source of all magic' that Sam the talking cat had mentioned. In an instant however she clamped down on the feeling in a mental vice grip, instead nodding to the other heroine. "Good job, Lady Arcana. Hub City is safe again thanks to you." Her attention diverted to the cat at the woman's side, humming thoughtfully.

"And your help was vital as well, Samantha," Grim commented politely, before gesturing to the hole in the wall. "Shall we go then? I think we've made a lasting impression on the people of Chinatown. Plus I'd rather not be around when the owner wakes up from her nap to see what we did."

Lady Arcana glanced around at all the devastation their little battle had wrought against the carnal establishment, a hand rising to scratch at the back of her hood. "Well, at least we managed to get a happy ending! Eh? Eeeeh?"

Her shoulders sagged at the lack of response. "...I'll just take you back to your jet now."