Summus Proelium

For a few seconds after Cassidy took off following their conversation right outside the tunnel leading into the arena, Dani and Izzy were silent. Even though the spot was surrounded by trees, it was still only a couple hundred feet or so away from that secret entrance, and they both knew they should probably move further away before someone came through and started to wonder what they were doing. But they couldn't make themselves move just yet. Both of them just stood there, staring in the direction Cassidy had left in while trying not to freak out.

Something was wrong. Very wrong, that much had been obvious even before Cassidy had outright confirmed that it was by saying they couldn't explain exactly what was wrong. And that by itself gave an even better idea of just how wrong things were. The fact that they could admit there was a problem, but were too afraid to actually say what that problem was, even when the three of them were alone? Someone was listening to them, watching them, or something. Someone who wouldn't let them tell anyone what was going on. Someone who clearly terrified them, and was dangerous enough for Cassidy not to risk saying any more than they had.

It wasn't until the sound of someone actually leaving that building with the secret entrance in it reached the pair that they snapped out of it and looked at one another. By mutual silent agreement, they quickly headed away from that area, making sure to go in the opposite direction from the small building. Things were already complicated enough as it was, they didn't need to make it any worse by accidentally tripping over someone's secret identity. It was time to go talk privately.

A quick discussion once they were out in the main part of the park led to the agreement about where to go. Specifically, Dani's hotel room. They certainly weren't about to talk about this in the Evans' suites, and they needed someplace private. The two of them used Dani's rental car to get back there, remaining mostly silent on the way. Honestly, the car itself was almost certainly as safe as the hotel room would be, but neither of them wanted to start talking about this only to stop once they got to the hotel. So, the pair simply sat quietly, mostly lost in their own thoughts.

It wasn't until they got to the hotel and were in the privacy of Dani's suite (and after she had used some device provided by Blackjack to make absolutely certain there weren't any listening bugs, just in case) that the two actually started talking about what had just happened. As Dani set her bag on the couch and began taking the lizards out one by one, she was already saying, "So Cassidy is in trouble." She had the bearded dragon in her hand, and looked down as the thing flicked her tongue out against the girl's wrist. "Yes, Riddles, we all know that shouldn't be a surprise at this point, but I think they're really in over their head this time. The way they acted in that match…"

Izzy looked down at Twinkletoes, the chameleon who was currently gnawing on one of her shoelaces. After a slight hesitation, she reached down to carefully pick up the little guy. He was just a little bit bigger than her hand, resting in her palm while his tail flicked back and forth up near her elbow. "Uh huh, they're scared. But I think they're angry too. Like, um, really angry." Her finger moved to gently scratch under the lizard's chin. "You're really not mad at me for the floating thing, huh?" When Twinkletoes sniffed her fingers, she shook her head. "Maybe later."

As if only just then really thinking about where she was and who she was with, the girl looked at Dani. "This is still weird, right? I mean, you and Amber are a thing, but you're still sorta a thief."

Dani made an offended sound. "Sorta a thief? I'll have you know I am absolutely a thief in every way." With that, she paused before offering a weak shrug. "And yeah, it's weird. You're one of the goodie two-shoes Stars. I'm dating another one. And here I am, trying to help figure out what exactly is wrong with yet another one that's got them so upset. I may be a, let's just face it, ridiculously awesome, brilliant, and gorgeous thief. But I don't think I'm much of a villain."

"Good," Izzy shot back promptly, "cuz Cassidy doesn't need a villain right now, they need a friend. Maybe a lot of friends." With that, she bit her lip thoughtfully, still lightly scratching under the chameleon's chin while Mars Bar the iguana wandered past on his way to a spot of sunshine coming in through a nearby window. "Do you think it's that gang you guys fought last night?"

Dani snorted, shaking her head as she moved to sit in one of the plush armchairs after making sure Bumbershoot, the six foot long Komodo Dragon, had plenty of food in the large metal bowl he had been investigating. "No way, those guys were a joke. I mean, sure, they might want to try for revenge after the asskicking we gave them, but they're not the sort of threat that would make Paintba-- I mean Cassidy act like that. It's gotta be someone a hell of a lot more dangerous."

"Yeah," Izzy murmured thoughtfully, moving to sit down on that couch before putting her hand out so Twinkletoes could crawl off and stretch out next to Holiday the skink and Scatters the tiny Neon Day Gecko. Her brow furrowed before she offered a hesitant, "I think we need some help. If it's, uh, bad enough that Cassidy is too scared to talk about it, even after everything, then it must be someone really dangerous. We've gotta find out what's going on, but we can't ask them again. And we… we can't let them know we're looking." Even as she said that, the girl's frown was back in full force, her face twisting uncomfortably at thought. "Maybe this is a bad idea."

"I'll tell you what's a bad idea," Dani informed her, "leaving Cassidy to deal with whatever this is on their own. You saw them out there, on the field and when we tried to talk to them. This thing, whatever it is, it's got them all twisted up in knots. They need help, even if they can't ask for it."

Steeling herself with a deep breath, Izzy gave a short, firm nod. "Right, you're right. But how can we help them when we don't even know what the problem is? And like I said, we can't ask them about it. How do we find out what's wrong, or who--" She paused, head dropping to squint at the assortment of lizards lounging next to her, before slowly turning her gaze to Dani's backpack.

Leaning forward from her chair to follow the other girl's line of sight after she cut herself off, Dani waited briefly before prompting once the thoughtful silence had gone on for too long, "Something special catch your eye there, little Twinkle Star? If you want one of those bags for yourself, I think I can probably convince Blackjack to help--"

"That's it." With those words, Izzy popped right back to her feet, her sudden motion annoying the slumbering lizards next to her. But the girl didn't notice, too busy fumbling with the phone she'd just yanked out of her pocket, only to drop the thing. Fortunately, she missed hitting Tuesday, the little gecko who was right there. He even tried to help, grabbing the phone in his mouth and offering it that way. Granted, the poor guy was only able to lift it a couple inches off the floor, but it was the thought that counted, and Izzy made sure to thank him with a few quick scritches after taking the phone back.

Before Dani could ask what she meant, Izzy was already tapping at her phone, sending a text. She waited an anxious thirty seconds, then sent another one while Dani just looked on in silent confusion. Finally, the girl gave up on texting and actually tried to call whoever she was trying to talk to. She was pacing in circles around the suite, muttering for the person to please pick up. That lasted until the call went to voice mail, before she cursed and tried a different number.

That time, Izzy only had to keep muttering anxiously for about ten seconds before someone picked up. "Hey! Fred, it's me-- huh? Who is… What do you mean, not there? Oh, it's Raindrop. Uh huh? Wait, is this-- oh hi, you're the… uh huh, I think so. But where… oh, um, right, I sorta need your help with something. I mean, Paintball needs your help, but they can't know about it. Hang on, I'll put you on speaker so we can explain. Uh, Pack and me. Uh huh, it's a long story."

Dani, for her part, had stood up with Tuesday in her hands, letting the little guy clamber up to one shoulder so he could nuzzle up against her neck. "Who're you talking to, that Alloy chick?"

"Not exactly," the other girl replied, already setting her phone down on the table before hitting the speaker button. "Hey, you guys wanna introduce yourselves? This is Pack, she's… cool."

"Don't worry!" A chipper feminine voice from the other end of the line immediately announced as soon as Dani could hear, "we know all about working with the not-really-that-bad guys to beat the super-actually-terrible-evil guys, don't we?" The words were met with an assortment of quick and enthusiastic agreement before she went on. "Hi, Pack, we're the Cuddles. We're sorta in charge of the store while everyone's busy. I mean, it's closed so there's no customers or anything, but we're making sure it's safe!" There was a mutter from slightly further away before she huffed a bit. "Okay, okay, Ash, keep your scales on, I'm introducing us! Ahem, I'm Aspen."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The others introduced themselves just as quickly, going through Maple, Cherry, Oak, Ash, and Willow before Aspen took over again to ask, "But what's going on with Paintball? We thought he did really good in that match! Wait, hang on, this isn't about just trying to help him cheat, is it? Cuz we definitely can't do that. I don't think he'd want us to anyway."

"Wait, really? The Cuddles as in the Cuddle Corps? And they're actually playing security for the kid's shop?" Dani opened and shut her mouth, staring at the phone before shaking it off. "Okay, right, sure let's just roll with it. No, it's not about helping him cheat. As if he'd ever go for that."

Together, the two girls gave the Cuddles a quick rundown about how Cassidy had been acting and how nervous they obviously were. Between that and the aggressive way they'd been in that match the Cuddles had actually seen, it was enough to convince them something was wrong.

"That's sorta where you guys come in," Izzy continued once they were all on the same page. "I was calling Wren, but you're kinda the ones I wanted to talk to anyway. We need your help."

"Dude, if it's for Paintball and they're really in trouble, we're there." From the sound of the voice, that was Cherry, the tiny plush duckling. "But how're we supposed to do anything from up here?"

"Well," Izzy started hesitantly, giving Dani a quick glance before pushing on. "you guys remember how Oak went to school with Cassidy the other day? They've still got that bag…"

******************

"This is a great plan, a fantastic plan! We're gonna be like secret agents!" Cherry, bouncing back and forth on the front counter of the closed shop, declared cheerfully. She had been selected as the one most likely to be able to pull off what Raindrop was asking. "I need a cool tuxedo and theme song." The toy duckling hopped up in the air and flapped her wings rapidly to no real avail.

Oak, the wise (or nerdy if you asked Cherry or Ash) old (maybe even as ancient as thirteen) turtle member of the Cuddles, reminded her from his spot on the other side of the counter, next to the cash register, "You have to be very quiet. You can't let Cassidy have any idea you're there. Not until we find out exactly how they're being monitored. If they know we're spying on them, the bad guy might be able to find out too."

Maple, the green cowboy monkey, dangled upside down from one of the high shelves and swung herself back and forth on her long tail. "That means no humming action music, Cherry!"

"You can't stop me from humming in my head," Cherry retorted before making a quick raspberry sound. Before Maple could react to it, she added, "I get it, I get it, I'll be super quiet and careful, I promise. I don't want Paintball to get hurt any more than you guys do. I can be sneaky when I wanna. I just don't usually wanna. Hey, do you think I could ask Paintball to bring some tacos back with them? Arizona probably has some really good-- I'm kidding, it was a joke, it's a joke!"

"Ahem," Oak politely coughed before turning to the nearby wheeled office chair where Aspen had the phone. "I don't suppose you've had any more luck with our missing shop owners?" They had been trying to get in touch with Wren or Fred for the past few minutes, ever since getting off the phone with Raindrop. A phone that had only been answered in the first place because Ash was impulsive. But it turned out to be a good thing he had, if it meant they could help Paintball.

Aspen, however, shook her head and pushed the disconnect button on the receiver with a sigh. "Nuh uh, they're still not answering. Hey Qwerty," she called across the room, "what about you?"

The colorful parrot-squirrel had another phone on top of one of the shelves full of broken tape recorders. He flapped his wings anxiously while bouncing from one side of the shelf to the other. "Murphy and Roald are comin'! I talked to them, I did! I talked to them, but I didn't say why we needed them or anything, I just said it was really important and they definitely had to come back lickety-split!" The little guy had been upset ever since they found out something was wrong with Cassidy, insisting that he should've found a way to sneak along on the trip to help protect them.

It was quite the mood shift from how ecstatic all of them had been just half an hour or so earlier while watching Paintball's performance. Fred and Wren had been gone for the third one, off to get ice cream with the local leader of Ten Towers and her daughter. But the others had been here, Peyton, Murphy, and Roald. They were there for the match, heading out afterward to get some lunch and leaving the Cuddles and Qwerty to watch over the empty (and closed) shop.

"Should we wait for them?" That was Maple, worriedly swinging back and forth from her upside-down perch as she stared at an assortment of clocks arranged on one of the distant shelves. "What if something happens as soon as Cherry peeks? What if we break something?"

Aspen took a quick run around the room to think and work off nervous energy, the tiny toy rabbit becoming a blur of motion as she sprinted along the walls before coming back to where she had started. "No," she declared firmly. "We can't wait. As soon as there's an opening, Cherry takes it." Even as she said that, her head was turning sharply enough toward the stairs to make her long bunny ears flop around. "Ash!" she called that way anxiously, "you got anything yet!?"

The small dragon toy quickly shouted right back, "If I did, you think I'd be sitting here quietly!? They've gotta change sometime, right? Are we sure they weren't already in their costume?"

Raindrop said they weren't, Oak reminded him, using their psychic connection rather than shout the way the others were. I think we can take her word for it. Just be ready to prop that entrance as soon as they reach in for the costume. Ash at that very moment was perched right next to the special closet where Cassidy's costume was stored here at the shop, holding the pencil-shaped tool Wren had provided back when Oak went with Cassidy to school. It would keep the physical connection between the bag in the closet and the one Cassidy had on them open just a little bit. But it had to be opened first.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Ash sent a telepathic call that it was happening, rather than risk saying anything aloud while the connection was open. They all rushed that way, bounding up the stairs as quickly yet quietly as possible before skidding to a halt next to the door into that closet where the other bag was kept. Ash was perched in the doorway in front of the bag itself, which was open just a bit, and they could hear the sound of cars and such coming through it.

There it was. Cassidy had opened the bag on their end to get their costume out. As soon as they did, Ash had used Wren's tool to keep the connection partway open despite Cassidy closing their bag. Now there wasn't time to waste. Cherry made a show of running her wing across her beak, zipping her metaphorical lips. Then she squeezed through the opening, falling into the bag amongst Cassidy's clothes. From the inside, there were two openings, one leading out to the shop, while the other faced the fabric wall of Paintball's pocket.

There was always the chance they would hear what they needed to from this side of the bag, of course. But it wasn't as though Cassidy would be holding the bag up for them to listen better. Any voices were going to be muffled. They needed Cherry on that end to poke her tiny head as close to being out of Paintball's pocket as possible so she could hear everything. All without letting them feel anything. Fortunately, from Cassidy's side of things, the bag would remain flat and seemingly empty. The only connection was that opening.

So, from her hiding spot in the bag nestled right in Paintball's costume pocket, Cherry listened intently while Cassidy had a conversation with someone on the phone. Normally, she would've only heard one side of that conversation. But the cell that Cassidy was using, the one connected to the bluetooth in their ear, was in the same pocket the bag was. Cherry was able to lean her tiny duckling head very close to the phone and actually hear the entire discussion. Which meant she heard the voice that was talking to Cassidy. A voice that already would have been familiar after all the videos people made about her, but was made even more apparently just because of what she was actually saying. And she could pass that information to others telepathically. Just as she passed on the information about what she heard when Cassidy ambushed someone whose voice was also familiar, in this case because they'd been listening to her announcing the matches all day long. Cherry was right there in Paintball's pocket through all of that.

Which meant that by the time the rest of the Cuddles heard the back door opening as the others arrived, they were ready to meet them with some actual information. Aspen, Ash, and Willow raced that way while Oak and Maple stayed put right by the bag to help pull Cherry out if she needed it. They were joined by Qwerty, who had willingly (though rather anxiously) remained downstairs while they were doing the whole spying bit out of fear that he wouldn't be able to stay quiet if he heard Paintball in trouble.

It turned out Murphy and Roald weren't alone. They'd brought Peyton back with them as well. And no sooner had they come in, than the latter was already asking, "So what happened to Paintball?" In response to the surprised looks (an impressive feat on its own coming from an assortment of stuffed animals), she gave a dismissive hand wave. "Oh please, we all knew something was up after how intense they were in that match. Obviously something happened. We were trying to find Wren or one of the Minority peeps for reinforcements, but you guys called us back first."

"Cass called the shop, right?" Murphy put in. "What'd they say?"

After exchanging looks, the three Cuddles and Qwerty quickly explained about it being Raindrop who had called, and what she'd said.

"Eavesdropping through the bag?" Roald blinked. "Um, did… you hear anything important?"

"Err, you could say that," Aspen confirmed. "But we really need to find Wren and get her back here. And do you guys know Paige and Sierra's numbers?

"Cuz if we're gonna save Paintball from Casura, we're gonna need all hands on deck."