Page 118 of Velveteen vs. The Consequences of Her Actions

“I would love you even if you’d come back without powers,” said Vel.

The Princess rolled her eyes. “If we’re going to defend my home, we need to go now. You can flirt later, all right?”

“We get a later,” said Velveteen. “Let’s go.”

They left the throne room in a flurry of wings and claws scratching against marble, leaving the fairy tale behind.

* * *

While all of this had been going on—the resurrection, the reconnection, the recollection and the rest—Polychrome and Victory Anna had been busy enjoying the many wonders the Park had to offer. From rides to shopping, and beautifully designed and sculpted environments filled with endless delights, they wandered from place to place with eyes wide and fingers intertwined.

“Are you quite sure this isn’t magical?” asked Victory Anna as they joined the queue for a water ride in which they would steer a two-person boat through what were advertised as dangerous rapids and glorious scenes of true wilderness. Polychrome was fairly sure that meant mechanical bumps and animatronic gorillas, but she would have been willing to ride something far more artificial to put that look into her girlfriend’s eyes.

“The Princess is magical,” she said, squeezing Victory Anna’s fingers lightly. “Isn’t that quite enough?”

“I’ve been told, but I still don’t fully understand how her powers are meant to function,” admitted Victory Anna. “Can you explain them?”

“I can try,” said Polychrome. “Basically, she has all the powers that the children of the world attribute to a fairy tale princess.”

“A fairy tale being your world’s term for a wonder story, yes?”

“Ye-es,” said Polychrome, hoping she was correct about that. “So her hair is always perfect, and she can run in really high heels without hurting herself, and she can make anything beautiful with the wave of her hand.”

“Don’t forget about her heartless subjugation of our avian brethren,” said an unfamiliar voice. Both turned.

Behind them in the line was a woman, whip-thin and dressed entirely in black spandex, with owl-themed tattoos crawling along the length of her arms. It was the civilian sort of spandex, meant for yoga classes and ease of motion rather than running along rooftops, but something about it, combined with the sour expression on the stranger’s face, made Polychrome’s stomach clench.

“I’m sorry,” she said reflexively. “We thought we were having a private conversation.” As if two superheroes in costume could ever have a private conversation in a public space. Everything they said was probably being noted down for the superhuman gossip blogs, including the moment where Victory Anna had offered to upgrade the cart of a churro vendor to give him the death ray he so very clearly deserved.

Sometimes OSHA regulations and the availability of a hot cup of tea were the only things standing between Victory Anna and a career change to villainy.

The woman sneered at Polychrome. “Of course you did. You’re both members of the superhuman military industrial complex. Why, I’m sure you thought the rest of us peons would just step back and let you do as you liked, without any interference from us.”

“Right now, all we want to do is get on this ride,” said Polychrome, as patiently as she could.

And that was when Victory Anna broke into the conversation, and everything went terribly wrong. Stepping forward, so as to put herself between the strange woman and her girlfriend, she asked, “Are you opposed to the presence of superhumans in the public sphere? Because we were having a perfectly pleasant afternoon, and requested no interjections from the proletariat.”

“Oh, no,” said the woman, with a small, smug smile. “I’m not that much of a hypocrite.”

“Torrey…” said Polychrome, trying to pull Victory Anna back. “I think we should go.”

“Too late for that,” said the stranger. “For you have awakened The Parliamentarian!” She struck a pose, dramatic enough that it seemed like a shame that it wasn’t accompanied by a roll of thunder and a crack of lightning.

“Suppose we know she doesn’t have storm-based powers,” said Victory Anna dryly.

Polychrome grabbed her arm and yanked. Victory Anna stumbled back against her, shooting her a somewhat sour look in the process.

“I say,” she said. “I don’t remember consenting to rough play in public.”

Polychrome didn’t say anything, only pointed to the woman in black with her free hand. Victory Anna turned back to her.

She was still standing frozen in her over-dramatic pose, owls dropping out of the sky to swirl around her in a feathery, self-contained tornado of silent wings and flying feathers. Each one circled three times before lifting back into the sky, settling on nearby trees and structures to watch as The Parliamentarian was revealed.

Black spandex had been replaced by a skin-tight suit of gray and black feathers, speckled and streaked like the feathers of a great horned owl, until she was draped in a camouflage that would have been all but flawless in a forest environment, but was virtually useless in the brightly-colored, well-lit Park. A mask covered the top half of her face and the entirety of her hair, crowned by two feathery plumes that should have looked ridiculous but somehow managed to look menacing instead.

Unimpressed, Victory Anna scoffed. “What, do you have magic owl powers? Are you angry about the Princess borrowing your companions? What is the purpose of this?”

The queue was emptying around them, people who’d been looking for a fun afternoon at an amusement park wisely deciding that boredom was better than being caught in the middle of a superpowered brawl.