damned_institute | Nightshift 36: Courtyard

Skuld frowned, extremely suspicious; when the boy tried to touch her... she suddenly flashed to one of several anti-goddess tools.

Don't touch her! Scarlet screamed as Skuld backed away fast.

"Don't think you can fool me!" the little goddess snarled. The incantation took scant seconds, and then an out-and-out tidal wave was rushing towards the boy. After it slammed him into the nearest object, the old man would be next--he hadn't done anything, no, but they weren't giving him the chance to either.

Teisel got glared at for that disparaging little comment. Soon as he got his powers back, Mr Impending Doom was getting a demonstration that Kon really was a grade A superhero. Maybe he'd take him flying. See if he believed him when they were miles up in the air with nothing but good old tactile telekinesis holding them up.

Of course, the effect his display of affection had on his companion went completely unnoticed by Kon. But there was no way he could miss the girl's overreaction. "Fool you? I wasn't trying to-" anything else he was about to say was lost in a gurgle as the wall of water knocked him off his feet, washing him backwards and slamming him into a tree.

Gasping and spluttering, Kon stayed sprawled back against the tree, waiting for the world to stop spinning and his arm to stop screaming at him. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled once he got his breath back. "Geez do you always react like that when someone tries to be nice?" Great, he was wet, cold and in pain and his TTK wasn't working. Now things couldn't get any worse.

As soon as he saw the water rise up (and up) Teisel knew he didn't have time to get out of its path. Wrapping his arms around the bench, he took a deep breath and braced himself. The force of the water squeezed the air right back out of his lungs. He gritted his teeth, arms straining to keep his grip on the bench as the wave tried to pull him away. When the water subsided, he collapsed onto the muddy ground, gulping air and blinking water out of his stinging eyes.

SuperIdiot's indignation was the last straw. Mad as a wet hen and still gasping for breath, he used the bench to hoist himself up to his feet. "You...utter...moron!" He took a moment to get his breath back. "What'd you do a damn stupid thing like that for? How is acting like a sleazebag supposed to be nice?" he added, almost as an afterthought. Obviously, SuperIdiot thought that the androids were actual girls, which made his advances that much more distasteful. If the guy had tried that crap with Teisel's sister, heavy artillery would have been involved.

"'Nice'? You think I wouldn't notice you trying to subdue me?" Skuld demanded. Noble Scarlet was glowering as if daring one of them to try that again.

Hoping to be discreet about it, Skuld fumbled behind her for a bomb... and, as feared, came up empty. The motion of the water behind her increased--partly because of her own agitation, partly to intimidate her opponents. They definitely had reason to fear what she could do with that.

Still, she was uncertain if she could hold this place on her own; Noble Scarlet flew up to look around. No back-up that she could see. Belldandy? Urd? Peorth? she called.

No answer. Not good. Skuld warned the boys, her voice low, "I wouldn't try anything funny."

[Sorry for my fail! Assessments caught me by surprise.]

Kon blinked at Teisel, taken aback by just how worked up he was. He wasn't the one with a great gaping hole in his arm that had just gotten slammed into a tree. Staggering upright he shouted back "Sleazebag? I was not acting like a sleazebag! It's called flirting! Maybe if you tried it sometime you wouldn't be so freaking uptight!"

Spinning to point at the girl who'd decided to send him on his painful little trip he snapped "And I wasn't trying to do anything to you! It's called being friendly! People do it all the time where I'm from!" Watching the pond warily in case she decided he needed another bath, Kon continued, "Why the hell would you think I'd try and attack you anyway? I'm Superboy!"

He started to fold his arms before wincing and dropping them back to his sides as his injury protested again, looking put out by the whole situation.

"Oh, is that what you call it?" Teisel yelled. This kid was standing on his last nerve. "That's funny, I don't remember her asking you to waltz up and drape yourself on her! She was going to leave us alone; why didn't you just back off?"

Wringing some of the water out of his ponytail (which was so soaked it must've weighed about ten pounds now), he listened in disbelief as the idiot started bellowing at the android who'd just kicked his ass. And he had a feeling that she'd been fairly gentle that time. This guy must be just plain tired of living... And what was he going on about? Maybe there were people here who actually were delusional.

As "Superboy" pouted like a child, Teisel kept a weather eye on the androids. They looked distinctly unhappy. He wasn't feeling too chipper himself. His hair was going to smell completely rancid if he didn't get a chance to wash the pond gunk out of it, and the kid's bites stood a good chance of getting infected now that they'd been drenched in filthy water. "Nice going, idiot," he muttered.

Skuld just stared at him. " 'Superboy'--?" Sure, she'd seen some Superman manga, but... last she checked, he was a green-eyed blond. And not a kid.

Maybe the brainwaves affecting most of the people in here were just making them delusional about who they were? It made as much sense as anything else.

She still just had to point out, "The Superman that I remember can stand up to a whole lot more than just a water blast." If the real one somehow showed up, she'd just let him by--he was a good guy anyway, and she wouldn't have much of a choice. But this kid? Please, whatever was going on with him had to be messing with his head.

"Look man, just 'cause no one ever wants to get cozy with you doesn't mean it's wrong for other people to do it! It's not like I was about to grope her or something!" Just when he'd been thinking Teisel was OK before, now he was yelling and carrying on like Kon was some stupid kid who'd done something wrong. How could have been expected to know that the girl would totally over react to his getting close to her? Even Robin didn't freak out like that when Kon tried to touch him.

Deciding Teisel was no longer worth his attention, Kon pointedly turned back to the girl - who obviously was just as annoying as Aquaman. Maybe they were related. "First up, I said I'm Superboy not Superman! And second, like I've been trying to tell people all night my powers aren't working! I don't know why but if they were I would've flown out of here ages ago! And it still doesn't explain why you'd think I was going to attack you!"

Now, that was just plain uncalled for. "Oh yeah? For your information, plenty of people get cozy with me!" Granted, the foremost among them had been a man, but that wasn't the point. The point was... But he was letting the guy sidetrack him. "What makes you think you can just walk up to some girl you don't even know and... Oh, forget it!" Teisel crossed his arms in a huff. If the guy didn't even see anything wrong with his extremely unchivalrous behavior, then pointing it out would do no good at all.

And now he was being ignored. Fine! See if I care! Teisel shivered in the cool night air, wondering why he'd gone out of his way to help this reject from Brainville. The guy's outburst and his argument with the android girl just got him all kinds of confused, though. He didn't like feeling out of the loop. "Super what?" he snapped, frustrated beyond belief and trying to keep his voice in check. "What are you going on about?" This was intolerable. If the night didn't start to improve, he was going to have to hurt something. Or someone, and he already had a short list whipped up. A very short list.

"You got the boy part right, at least," he grumbled.

"Anti-goddess tools can be disguised as anything--or didn't you know that?" Skuld retorted. She didn't see any rings on him, and she'd never heard of one that was animate (she wasn't discounting the possibility that he was a construct of some kind), but she wasn't about to let anyone get the better of her.

Scarlet just glared; she and Skuld were getting a little worried, but they were not going to show it. Even with just magic at their disposal, they had the upper hand right now, and it probably wouldn't be too hard to keep it that way.

Our weakest is still better than their strongest, she said, in response to how Skuld's anxiety was still creeping up. We'll keep things under control no matter how long it takes the others to get here.

She nodded, not taking her eyes off their opponents, but her angel's words made her smirk. Yeah--really, who could stand up against them?

Kon hadn't intended to dignify anything else Teisel said with a response. He was way too defensive to have actually gotten much action lately - probably hadn't been laid in ages which would explain why he was so uptight. But then he didn't seem to have any idea who Superman was and there was no way that could be right. "Superman," Kon repeated for him slowly. "You know, flies around Metropolis in tights and a cape, has saved the world more times than anyone can count, part of the Justice League? That guy? Well, I'm Superboy. I'm kind of like his understudy."

"Even you can't be so over-the-hill you've never heard of Superman," Kon said, payback for the boy comment.

He frowned at the girl, "Wait - goddess? Are you saying you're a goddess?" Great. This was just like that thing with the supposed goddess Pele back in Hawaii. Hopefully it wouldn't end as badly as that had - she may have knocked him into a tree and gotten him all gross thanks to the pond water but he didn't want this girl to die. At least this time there were no innocent bystanders to worry about. Teisel so didn't count as innocent after the way he'd been carrying on at him.

And now the girl was nodding like she was talking to someone. Was she crazy or was it something else? Maybe she was telepathic like Dubbilex? Whatever. He needed to make sure she wasn't going to hurt anyone, including herself.

"So, why would a goddess be in a place like this? Seems pretty weird if you ask me." He had to get her talking, try and figure out what she wanted. And he wasn't going to make the mistake of getting too close to her again. Kon was staying right here by his tree in case she tried to drown him again. If he was lucky he could climb out of the way. Or something.

Reaching out he tried shoving on the ground again - nope. Still couldn't fly. Great. Just great.

Teisel laughed. He just couldn't help himself; it was too ridiculous. "Oh, kid," he gasped, trying to get a hold of himself, "you can't be serious! That's your story, huh? Some goofball poncing around in tights and a cape...!" He couldn't breathe, he was laughing too hard. "Sorry, Superboy," he said, barely managing to get the name out at all. "Can't say I've ever heard of you." Breathless, sides aching, he wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. "You really expect me to buy that? Sounds more like a lousy comic book to me." On a whim, he grabbed his ponytail. "Tell you what," he said, waggling the tail at the guy, "You fly, and I'll cut off my hair."

Feeling a lot less tense now, Teisel could turn his attention back to more important matters. Anti-goddess tool? Nearly all he knew about androids was what Professor Caskett had filled him in on, and his brief run-in with Megaman Juno. He'd only ever heard about Mothers and Megamen, not Goddesses. Was it some rank in between? So many questions, but it probably wasn't a good idea to ask her directly. For now, he was content to let Superboy do the talking; Teisel would watch and listen from the sidelines where it was a little safer.

Skuld pictured the Superman she knew in that getup and had to try not to laugh. Snorting, she looked at his fanboy and said, "You seriously don't know the signs?" She pointed to the marks on her face. "This is how you tell." Noble Scarlet leaned forward, and she added, "And, more powerful goddesses have angel companions."

As for what she was doing here--ugh. "My sister's stupid boyfriend. We don't know who took him, so--I'm supposed to stay here and block anybody who comes through from getting any further. Don't take it personally."

"Superman is not a goofball," Kon snapped, scowling and looking back and forth between the two. They were laughing at him and carrying on like they'd never even heard of Superman, let alone him. That just couldn't be right - every world he'd been to had had a Superboy and that meant they had to have a Superman too. You couldn't have a clone of Superman without Superman. But some of the versions of himself he'd seen were pretty weird. If their's was too maybe they just didn't recognise him.

Scowling at Teisel who was going out of his way to be obnoxious he said, "How many freaking times do I have to say it? My powers aren't working!" Seriously, the second his powers came back he was taking Teisel up as high as he could and dropping him! He'd catch him before he hit the ground but he'd learn you didn't mess with Superboy.

"I am Superboy and I can prove it!" Somehow. He just had to figure out how.

Anyway, how was claiming to Superboy less believable than claiming to be a goddess? "Right, so you've got some spots on your face and another girl with powers so that makes you a goddess? Puh-lease! Wouldn't that make your sister a goddess too? So how could someone kidnap her boyfriend?"

"Oh, no, I'm sure he takes his work very seriously," Teisel teased. It felt good to get some of his own back after all those 'old' comments. Ah, what a shame, the guy wasn't even going to try flying? Oh well. His hair was safe for another day. "Awww, they're not?" he said with mock sympathy. "You poor thing. How awfully convenient for you." He knew he was being cruel, but Superboy had been a royal pain in the ass for a while now.

"Prove it? How do you plan on doing that? Wait," he said, sneering, "don't tell me you're wearing tights under that getup." Another maniacal giggle slipped out. "I'll do without proof if that's all you've got."

Hmmm, the face markings seemed reasonable. Geetz and Gatz had had those too, hadn't they? Of course, Teisel had only seen the two Servitors in the flesh (so to speak) while they were in that reaverbird shape, so he couldn't be sure. And was an Angel supposed to be her rank's Servitor?

And then she mentioned something about "her sister's boyfriend" and a red flag popped up in his head. How could an android have a sister or a boyfriend? They seemed pretty frigid to him. Was he on the wrong track here? What other explanation could there be?

Grrrr! "No, marks don't make me a goddess," Skuld retorted. "This does." Another wave shot out of the pond, this one only aimed at "Superboy". It wouldn't hurt him, this time... but getting soaked again wouldn't be terribly pleasant either.

"And yeah, both my sisters are goddesses--and they're on their way, just so you know." Let him sweat over that for a while; if he had any brains he'd just take off now. (Which was probably a no, then.)

He was going to sock the irritating old geezer one in a minute! Carrying on like Kon was lying about being himself and just saying his powers weren't working to cover up the fact he didn't have any. Part of him thought it wasn't surprising they didn't believe him - heaps of people wanted to be him and it made sense some of them had tried to claim they were before. But he was the real deal, not some fake! He had to prove to them he really was Superboy, but how? He couldn't fly, he wasn't invulnerable and his super-strength was gone.

He was about to try using the TTK to dismantle something when the crazy girl sent another wave of water at him. Stumbling back as he tried and failed to get out of the way, Kon yelped as his arm hit the tree again. "So you got some lousy powers! Aquaman can do that and he's nothing special either! Here's a newsflash - having superpowers doesn't make you some sort of goddess!" He shouted at her as soon as the wave had subsided.

He was really sick of being soaked with pond water and arguing with these two, but without his powers he wasn't sure what else to do. He'd never been without the TTK before, not really and he needed to get it back. Dragging his shirt off, Kon started wringing it out trying to figure out what he should do now. "You keep saying your sisters are coming but I'm not seeing them. You sure they haven't ditched you?" he snapped moodily at the girl.

Watching Superboy get drenched by another wave, Teisel had to admit feeling a tiny twinge of sympathy. The poor guy was really getting wolloped tonight. Not that it was Teisel's problem, but he still felt kinda bad about it. Just a little.

The kid had been asking for it, though. He needed to learn when to shut his face. "Hey, guy," he called over, not wanting to walk over to Superboy and risk being in the line of fire. "Maybe you should try not antagonizing her, eh?" Teisel, for one, was in no hurry to meet her "sisters."

"I can call Onee-sama anytime I feel like it," Skuld informed him. Scarlet rose up a little and nodded firmly; distance didn't mean much to an angel. "I haven't because I don't need to." Smug as ever.

Except Scarlet had already tried, and no response... Belldandy and the rest had to be okay, they were too strong for anything to happen to them, but where were they?

Skuld being Skuld, though, she was transferring her worry and fear into motivation to pound anyone else who crossed her path into the ground if they stepped out of line.

"Maybe you should try keeping your mouth shut," he snapped back at Teisel. He was not antagonising the crazy girl, not really. Wasn't his fault she was claiming to be a goddess just cause she had some lousy powers that still worked.

To the girl he said "Why don't you call theses sisters of yours then? Maybe they'll help me out instead of trying to drown me for no good reason!" Her sisters couldn't be any worse than she was, maybe they'd even take her away so she couldn't decide to randomly assault people for being friendly.

Ugh! He could feel the gross pond water running down his legs from the sodden pants he was wearing. Hanging his slightly less soaked shirt over a nearby tree branch, Kon bent down and stripped off his shorts. Making a face at the wet squelch the fabric made he began wringing them out like he had the shirt.

Apparently I can't spell today. Just picture him wearing whatever underwear you prefer - with a little smiley face right in the middle.

Oh no he did not just... As fast as it had come on, any guilt Teisel had felt for teasing Superboy was dead. "Did you just tell me to shut up?" he asked, voice low. "Why don't you come over here and say that again, huh?" Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, Teisel directed a snarl at the kid. If he didn't either step up or apologize, the pirate was more than willing to go over there and beat an apology out of him.

His murderous rampage was stalled, however, when the guy suddenly decided to take his pants off. Shivering in his own wet clothes, he stared in disbelief as Superboy stripped down to his unmentionables just as though he was all by himself. He stopped staring and found an interesting bit of grass to look at when he noticed that one: the underwear was white (except for the...smiley?) and two: it was soaked. Blech. Well, maybe the androids won't care. If they did, he had a feeling that wringing out those clothes was a pretty futile gesture.

Skuld's train of thought got somewhat derailed when the boy... stripped. What was he doing?! She and Scarlet just stared at him; after a moment, Scarlet burst out laughing. Even that was silent to all but Skuld, but it was still more than a little obvious. He'd better not be trying to impress us!

Skuld shook her head, and with a wave of her hand flung the shirt back into the boy's face--she had telekinesis too, and hers wasn't tactile. "Just go inside already."

Kon laughed at Teisel's little display of aggression. He really had no idea who he was challenging. He was supposed to be the next Superman, how did some random pirate expect to have a chance against him? Except for the problem with his powers. But he'd get them back in no time. He had to.

Of course, the other guy shut up pretty quickly when Kon's pants came off. What - he'd never seen a guy in his underwear before? OK the underwear had a smiley face on it that was - pretty weird. And definitely not what he'd choose himself but it wasn't that big a deal.

Except it was enough to have the little angel-girl laughing at him. "Hey, I so did not choose this outfit." He was about to offer to lose the lame underwear too when his shirt hit him in the face. Snatching it off he asked, "Wha- Did one of you do that?" They must have, there wasn't enough wind around to have blown the heavy, sodden piece of clothing into his face like that. Now he remembered why he was sticking around here in spite of the repeated attempts to drown him. "Look you gotta tell me why your powers work and mine don't. Then I'll leave, swear. I gotta get my TTK back, I'm on a mission for the Justice League, see? They're relying on me to save the world!"

Okay, see-through skivvies or not, Teisel would not just stand there and be laughed at again. It was time to see how Supertwit's non-existent powers did against a good left hook.

He hadn't taken three steps when he was brought up short. There hadn't been any wind, so how in the world had that shirt moved? At Superboy's question, Teisel looked back to the androids, feeling very stupid for letting himself ignore them. They didn't look angry, but maybe it was best to stay back. He couldn't understand why the kid was so adamant about talking to them. Wasn't he hurt bad enough yet? This guy needs to know when to call the retreat, he thought, completely missing the irony of that opinion coming from him.

Skuld snorted. "I told you, I'm a goddess. If you're being affected by something, then it looks like it can't touch me."

Which was arguably sheer luck, but she wasn't about to let on about that.

She levitated the boy's pants as well, and dropped them on his shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I have territory to defend."

Nightshift 36: Courtyard

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