Part 1
Sorcerer's Apprentice
Terra watched intently as her daughter strained to move a ballpoint pen using only her magic. It scratched across the paper, answering Caitlyn's English exam.
"Aaaaaand end, put the pen down!" said Terra with satisfaction, and the pen made one last point and toppled over as Caitlyn slumped in her chair, exhausted. Terra walked over to her daughter's table and put her hand on her shoulder as she took the paper and began to study it.
"How did I do?" asked Caitlyn in a shaky voice.
"Your magic writing is still a little messy, but it's gotten a lot better." commented Terra, squeezing her shoulder gently.
"The text is excellent as always though, well done darling, I'm proud of you," Terra said, placing the sheet on the table and using her magic to draw a circle on the sheet with an A in its center.
"Thanks Mum," Caitlyn said smiling and exhaled deeply, "Can Jade come over? I haven't seen her all week."
"Sure, you guys really deserve a break together. I'll take your exams to your Highschool and then go into town afterwards, do you want me to bring you anything?"
"No, we have everything," Caitlyn said with a smile, thinking about showing Jade all her new tricks. Her face seemed to show what she was thinking about. Immediately Terra said, "But no magic while Jade is here!"
"But Mum, she already knows we can do magic."
"But the neighbors don't yet, and as long as I'm not here, no magic in case something goes wrong. Jade always tempts you into the biggest mischief." Terra laughed.
"All right," Caitlyn said with a groan and rose from her seat to disappear into her room. She reached for her cell phone on her bed and typed Jade a quick message. The latter answered less than a minute later.
Jade: I'll be right there XO
Caitlyn hugged her cell phone to her chest.
Finally free from the stress of exams and free for a summer vacation with Jade. She thought and rolled happily back and forth on her blanket.
"See you both later and don't you light my house on fire!" said Terra, waving to her daughter and her friend Jade.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Taylor, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again!", Jade called back to her, earning a jab in the ribs from Caitlyn, while Terra just shook her head.
"Bye Mum!" shouted Caitlyn, quickly closing the door before her red-headed friend said anything more.
"So you're finally released?" asked Jade, and Caitlyn nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, finals are finally over and we have weeks until I have to go back to school," Caitlyn said, pulling Jade into her room.
"Did youuu…" Jade started, but was interrupted by Caitlyn.
"Yeah, I learned some new tricks, but Mum said I couldn't while she was out."
"When has that ever stopped us?"
"Jade…"
"Come on, it's just a spell. I won't tell anyone either." Jade said, sitting down on Caitlyn's bed and clapping her hands encouragingly. Caitlyn rolled her eyes and started to smile.
"Alright, so watch this," Caitlyn said, closing her eyes and raising her hands.
"Yayyy!" exclaimed Jade.
Caitlyn imagined what she was going to do and pointed her hands at her friend. Immediately, much of her magic disappeared from her body and she felt dizzy for a moment. Concerned, Jade stood up and supported her friend.
"Are you all right? I mean, I wanted to see a trick, but I don't want you to overdo it."
"Yes… yes, everything is fine and the magic works too!" said Caitlyn, breathing heavily, but smiling.
"Mh, why, what did you do?" asked Jade, looking down her body, suspecting Cait had conjured something to her, but nothing was the case. Caitlyn ultimately pointed behind her and grinned widely.
"What, oh," Jade said as she turned to see the blanket and bed sheet from Caitlyn's bed had taken on a life of their own and were flying towards Jade.
"Oooh, you didn't do that!" Laughed Jade as the blanket grabbed her wrists while the sheet wrapped around her legs.
"Oh yes I did, as a little payback, from last time," Caitlyn murmured, walking up to Jade to give her a kiss, which her girlfriend was only too happy to return. They locked eyes and enjoyed the moment until Caitlyn disconnected them. Jade lusted for a little more and leaned forward. But the blanket pulled her back and wrapped around her torso. Caitlyn gently pushed her backward.
"This is so unfair," Jade laughed, stumbling onto Caitlyn's bed. Caitlyn jumped in after her and sat wide-legged on her Jade burrito.
"So what do you do about it?" asked Caitlyn as the blanket rolled tighter and tighter around Jade.
"Mmmmmh I don't think anything," Jade mumbled, making a kissy mouth. Caitlyn licked her lips and leaned down to give her another kiss. Her hands held Jade's face and her tongue fought with her friend's. Caitlyn was so mesmerized by their moment of kissing that she didn't notice something worming its way into her room. Ropes of various lengths crawled into Caitlyn's room as if by magic, using Caitlyn's blind spot to crawl up her bed. They connected into loops and slowly brushed over the ankles of the young sorceress, who still unsuspectingly kissed Jade's mouth. Only when two of the ropes wrapped around her wrists and tugged away from her friend did she look up in wonder.
"Hey, what are you, oh…"
Jade opened her eyes in irritation as the kiss was interrupted, and looked up at Caitlyn in fascination.
"Wow, you can do that with ropes too? Why did I bother learning all that from Rilliana?" she asked delightedly, watching as the ropes wrapped themselves around Caitlyn. They pulled her hands behind her back and bent her legs backwards onto her butt.
"Um babe, that wasn't me… At least I think I wasn't," Caitlyn muttered in panic as more ropes wrapped around her body, harnessing her chest.
"Well definitely looks great!" joked Jade, and Caitlyn was about to contradict her when several ropes pressed into her mouth, giving her a cleave-gag. Caitlyn gasped indignantly and shook herself against the restraints, but it was useless. The ropes stretched high toward the ceiling, like snakes, attaching themselves to hooks Jade normally used for her bondage. They pulled Caitlyn up so that she dangled back and forth. Jade watched tensely and smiled when she saw her furious friend. While they both lusted after each other's tongues, Jade was thrilled at what Caitlyn's magic could do, willingly or not. Once the ropes were satisfied with Caitlyn now hanging over Jade, they turned their attention to the redhead. They tied a zigzag pattern across the blanket and anchored her to the bed. The same gag as Caitlyn's followed, and so both were condemned to look at the other. Not a bad punishment, Jade thought, while Caitlyn struggled against the ropes and at the same time thought about where she had made a mistake in her spell.
Hopefully mum will be back soon. Caitlyn thought after she had let off steam, and hung her head to look into her girlfriend's lovely blue eyes.
"Maike, how nice to see you. Here are my daughter's exams!" said Terra, handing Caitlyn's exams to the grumpy teacher.
"Hey Terra, did she do well?" asked Maike, glancing at the first few papers.
"She did well, as usual…" She stopped as she sensed a spell had taken over in her home and she knew who was to blame.
"Forgive me just now, I feel my dear daughter screwed something up," she said, pulling out her cell phone to find out if the house was still standing.
"Kids, right?" asked Maike as she put Caitlyn's work aside.
"I'd love to come by and see Caitlyn's accomplishments firsthand," Maike said, smiling.
"Well…" Terra said, hesitating as the cell phone chimed. There was a reason she had moved away with Caitlyn and taught her magic, after all.
"Not that I doubt those results, but I would like to play it safe."
"Well, um, why don't you come over on Monday. I'll make us something to eat and you can ask Caitlyn what you'd like."
Maike grinned widely.
"I'll look forward to it."
Part 2
It was still Leon City
"She's such a show-off," Natasha muttered, watching the young black-haired woman just warming up for her run.
"Why do I know you mean Caitlyn?" asked Mark, who was tying his shoes and not even looking up.
"Just look at little Miss Perfect! Ugh, gosh, I hate her!"
Mark straightened up and looked at Caitlyn, who was waving over at them.
"Smile and wave," Mark muttered under his breath, and they both waved back at Caitlyn with blank smiles.
"Let's do it," Natasha said suddenly, not taking her eyes off Caitlyn.
"You do know I have a girlfriend, right?"
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"I mean the plan we came up with with the others the other day," she corrected him.
"That was only a joke, wasn't it? We could get in a lot of trouble for that."
"Not if we don't get caught, and if we do it tonight, she'll miss tomorrow's test from Ms. Schoene. A flaw in her otherwise perfect record."
"Heh, are you sure a career in the Leon City Police Department is right for you?" asked Mike, waving the others over to fill them in.
After the actual training, Caitlyn had stayed on the athletic field and run a lap or two. She usually didn't mind working out alone, but she always felt it was a shame that none of the others wanted to run with her. She couldn't explain it, but the other students at the police academy seemed to dislike her for some reason.
"Maybe it has something to do with my favorite show," she puzzled, thinking of last night's episode of Crabcop in which a young female cop had to work with the grumpy crustacean to bust a drug ring. For a moment, she imagined that she was the cop, solving crimes along with the crab. Caitlyn chuckled to herself at the thought and headed for the locker room. She happily hummed the theme song from the show and opened her locker to take out her wash clothes. She was bending down when she heard footsteps and looked up.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
No one answered and Caitlyn narrowed her eyes to slits. She suspected bad things, this was still Leon City after all. Caitlyn adjusted her tight-fitting gym clothes consisting of black leggings that came to just below her knees and a dark blue spandex shirt. She bent back into her locker, reached for her shampoo bottle and unfastened the top. At that moment, four hooded figures leapt toward her from both directions of the hallway. Caitlyn had already been expecting them and pushed hard on the shampoo bottle, creating a pool on the floor in front of her. Two of the attackers slipped on it. One of them skidded against the lockers and crashed to the floor, cursing, while the other tripped over a bench and crumpled. Smiling, Caitlyn turned to the remaining two attackers, who were now moving dangerously close. She snatched her towel from her gym bag and struck the first as if it were a whip. He raised his arms protectively in front of his face and warded off the towel. Taking advantage of his reduced field of vision, Caitlyn grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder with full momentum. Groaning, he slithered across the floor, dragging the other two attackers with him as they tried to get to their feet. Caitlyn felt the last attacker grab her shoulder and she whirled around in a flash, ramming her elbow into his face. Caitlyn heard a groan from under the head mask and tackled her staggering back attacker. She was about to throw another punch at him when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. Her arms were pressed to her side and she kicked against the grip as her feet lifted off the ground.
"Put me down now!" she screamed. All she got in response was the snorting of her attacker. She didn't flinch for long and threw her head back. Again moaning, but he didn't let go. Even more, he gripped even tighter and prevented her from taking a deep breath. Her resistance weakened as her eyes slowly went black. The other attackers joined in and together they grabbed her limbs. The young woman began to struggle again to the best of her ability, but it was a losing battle. Although Caitlyn still caught one or two with her fists, her attackers gradually forced her to the ground. Two sat on her legs, one on her back holding her arms back painfully and the last one pulled out a gym bag. He opened it and Caitlyn froze.
"You've got to be kidding," she muttered as her arms were bound with ropes.
"All right enough playing! HILPFFFFeeeee!" she was about to shout when a cloth was shoved into her mouth and sealed with another. She now had a cleavegag knotted tightly behind her head. The attackers then tied her legs together and pulled her feet to her buttocks with another rope. Only now Caitlyn's arm restraint was reinforced and pulled across her chest.
Can anyone in this stupid town handle a rope? Caitlyn thought annoyed as her last resort to be able to free herself quickly disappeared. She saw one of the attackers go through her gym bag and come back with her cordless earbuds. He put them in her ears and unlocked her phone with her face. Shortly after, she heard the tune from the Crabcop series in her ears. The attacker gave her the finger and put her phone on one of the lockers. Last, they took away her vision by wrapping Caitlyn's towel around her face and knotting it as well. Unsure of what to make of it all, Caitlyn lay on the locker room floor tied in a tight hogtie and robbed of her senses. Now she could also hear the assailants talking among themselves, but she couldn't understand a single word as the music fully engaged her auditory canals. She felt herself being picked up and squeezed into something metal before a door slammed in her face.
Did they just lock me in a locker? Caitlyn thought stunned and banged her forehead against the door and a muffled sound echoed.
Yup it's a locker.
She shook her head and felt her bonds. She was kneeling on the floor of the locker now, her hands pulled back and she doubted she had enough room to escape. Caitlyn slid back and leaned her head on her side. The fight and the training had made her tired. She closed her eyes and let the Crabcop melody lull her to sleep.
Caitlyn awoke. She didn't know how long she had slept, but she felt strong and full of strength again, despite her predicament.
Enough playing! She thought and banged her head against the locker door to draw attention to herself. And again, and again. Suddenly there was a click and to her surprise the door flew open as if by magic. She flew out through the swing and landed hard on the floor. The towel had slipped and so Caitlyn could see that she was alone and it was already morning.
THE EXAM!
Through her bondage experience with Chloe, she had already learned an escape trick or two. It didn't take long and she found one weak spot after another in the rope, which she could use to free herself bit by bit. When Caitlyn was finally able to stand again, she grabbed her cell phone and turned off the music for now, but looked at the time with horror, five minutes left until the test.
She ran out of the locker room and slithered down the hallways. Caitlyn caught the occasional odd look from other cadets or instructors, but she arrived just in time at the classroom, where an instructor was reading out names to check attendance.
"Taylor, Caitlyn?" the blonde cop asked, looking up as Caitlyn yanked open the door.
"Pfiiirr!" cried Caitlyn shaking her head in irritation, ripping the gag from her mouth and spitting out the cloth.
"I'm here, Ms. Schoene!" she repeated under the eyes of her comrades, who all looked at her in bewilderment. Four in particular looked especially shocked. Natasha and Maik were two of them, looking at her as if she were a demon. She and the other two had been injured, some badly, over the night.
"Taylor, sit down, we're about to start," Barbara Schoene said, as if this wasn't her first rodeo to have one of her students show up gagged for an exam.
After all, it was still Leon City …
Part 3
All in
Caitlyn took a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked on her instructor's office.
"Come in." She heard instructor Schoene's voice and Caitlyn opened the door.
"You wanted to see me, Ms. Schoene?" Caitlyn asked hesitantly, the woman sitting at her desk.
"Sit down," the blonde police officer said sternly, interlacing her fingers and looking over them at Caitlyn seriously. She sat down and waited, wondering what her instructor had to say.
"Why did you show up gagged for your exam?" the policewoman asked.
"I forgot to take it out beforehand, madame," Caitlyn said truthfully.
"And why was it in her mouth in the first place?"
Silence, then, "I was attacked in the afternoon and could not free myself until the next day, just before the exam."
"And why didn't you report it?"
"I didn't see the need for it, Madame, it was just a prank that got out of hand, if anything."
Ms. Schoene leaned back and folded her arms.
"I don't think you're fit to be a police officer, Ms. Taylor. Please sign here, it's your discharge papers." Ms. Schoene said, placing a sheet on her desk. Caitlyn looked at it with trembling lips.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Caitlyn, clenching her hands into fists.
"I'm doing you a favor here. You're protecting this scum and obviously you don't know what law and order means. Now sign this and get out of my office."
"No."
"No? So you want me to add disobeying orders on top of that?" asked Ms. Schoene.
"I have trained and learned every day to make this city a better place, I am not signing this and if you have to punish me for it, so be it."
Her instructor narrowed her eyes into slits.
"Fine, have it your way. Show me I can trust you not to screw up on the street. Come on." She ordered and stood up from her chair. Caitlyn followed the order this time and walked after the slender and athletic policewoman.
"Madame, where are we going?" asked Caitlyn as she struggled to keep up with Ms. Schoene.
"We're going on patrol. I need to make sure you're made of the right stuff. Look at it as an exam that will correspond 100% to your grade. If you don't convince me by the end of the shift, you're out. Have them give you your weapon and our equipment. Come to the garage afterwards." she said and continued walking towards the garage while Caitlyn stopped at the armory and gulped. This was probably going to be a meaningful day in her future career.
Caitlyn was more nervous than she had ever been in her entire previous life. If she blew this patrol, it would be her first and last. She glanced quickly at Officer Schoene, who was stubbornly keeping her eyes on the road. Caitlyn also turned her gaze back to the front and cleared her throat.
"Thank you Officer Schoene for…" she was about to say, but the blonde police officer interrupted her.
"Don't thank me Taylor, if we were to end our shift right now, you would be on the fast track back home. You've already missed two misdemeanors."
"Oh…"
"That's right, Oh. When we get to three, you're out." said Officer Schoene, turning right, "And there we have the number…"
"Blue Ford, expired plate." Caitlyn quickly interrupted her before she could finish the sentence.
"Very good, do we intend to pull him over?"
"Um…" Caitlyn looked from her instructor to the license plate, "Yes, the car is three months over."
"Well then," Officer Schoene said, flashing her blue light briefly to get the driver in front of them to stop.
"Let's see what you've learned," Officer Schoene said as Caitlyn nodded, got out and walked around to the driver's side of the blue Ford.
"Good afternoon, my name is Caitlyn Taylor, I noticed you have an expired license plate," she said to the old man behind the wheel.
"What, oh no, I thought I didn't have that until next month."
"Good job on the inspection. It'll give you another misdemeanor free before you get kicked out." Officer Schoene declared after they buckled up. Caitlyn nodded in encouragement and peeked out the windows again, careful not to miss anything. Schoene was about to drive off when Caitlyn said, "Wait. What does that look like, to you?"
Officer Schoene looked up just in time to see a plastic package and money change hands.
"Hey, good eye," she said, unbuckling her seat belt again, "If they see us and start running, grab the buyer, but please be careful not to hurt anyone. Because I'm not in the mood for THAT paperwork."
Caitlyn nodded and as if on cue, the drug buyer and seller looked up and ran in different directions.
"Go!" shouted Officer Schoene and Caitlyn sprinted after the young fellow, deftly dodging other passersby and keeping his pace with ease. On a straight emptier passage, she was about to sprint to catch up with him, but he suddenly stopped, breathing heavily, and leaned against a streetlight. He was pulling out an asthma pump when Caitlyn came to a stop beside him.
"Are you okay?" she asked with concern, and he just nodded before taking a deep breath through the pump. He then reached his hands out to her; he had given up. Caitlyn handcuffed him, secured the drugs and walked back to the car while she explained his rights. She put him in the car and looked around for her instructor, but there was no sign of her. She pulled out her radio.
"Officer Schoene? Do you have the suspect?" she asked, but got no response. Caitlyn looked down at her suspect. He wasn't really in a position to flee, but what if he did?
"Officer Schoene?"
Again, nothing. Caitlyn bit her lower lip nervously and ultimately followed the path Officer Schoene had taken, into an alley. It led into another crawl space along and behind a large dumpster Caitlyn found evidence of a fight. Overturned pallets lay scattered on the ground and a wooden board looked like it had blood on it. Caitlyn hoped it wasn't Ms. Schoene's blood and followed the tracks leading deeper into the alley. Before she went any further, she recalled her training and pulled out her radio.
"…How can you be so stupid? Tell me! How did you get the grandiose idea to lead the policewoman to our hiding place?"
Barbara Schoene opened her eyes. The hall she was in was sparsely lit and equally furnished. Broken chairs and tables lay, crisscrossed. She could see four people standing around a fifth, yelling at each other in turn. Barbara shook her head slightly and immediately regretted it when she felt a throbbing pain at the back of her head.
Cowards. She thought and tried to stand up, but at that moment she felt a bicycle lock tying her neck to a steel column. Reaching for it was also beyond her, as her hands were also cuffed behind the column with her own handcuffs. They rattled against the metal as she tried to free herself from the restraints.
"Hey, she's awake! Masks on!" said one of her captors. In an instant the five men were standing around her, all of them had ski masks on and one of them had taken her gun.
"Blondi! Do you know where you are?" he asked, pointing her gun at her. Barbara rolled her eyes.
"I don't know, I'm just a guest here! Somewhere on the outskirts of Falenplaza? Definitely not the smartest thing to bring me to your hideout, much less threaten me with my gun!" she growled menacingly.
"Oho, big words for someone in your position!" said the one with the gun, holding the pistol to Barbara's head. She stared down the barrel of the gun without fear.
The idiot didn't take the safety off my gun. She thought, looking him straight in the eye. Suddenly they heard noise from outside.
"What was that?"
"I don't know! You better go check it out! I need to think!" the leader yelled, putting the gun away as the others scrambled away.
"Those damn idiots," he muttered, starting to pace up and down in front of Barbara.
"If you turn yourselves in, you might still get…"
"Shut up, shut up!" he interrupted her, drawing his gun again.
At that moment, Caitlyn emerged from behind another door and yelled, "LCPD, DROP THE GUN!"
"Make me, bitch!" the man shouted, pointing the weapon at Barbara's head.
"Whoa, don't jump the gun now, we all want to get out of here alive, don't we?" asked Caitlyn.
"Then you better let me go and nothing will happen to you or your partner here."
Caitlyn's head began to race, what had her instructors said about this? If one of you is taken hostage, then …
“Blast him, Taylor!" shouted Barbara suddenly, catching horrified looks from Caitlyn and the man.
"But Officer Schoene."
"Now, trust me!"
Caitlyn pressed the trigger and a single bang sounded. The bullet whizzed down the hall and struck the kidnapper's pistol. He cursed loudly as the gun was ripped from his hand and turned to run, but suddenly looked down two more gun barrels.
"Good shot Taylor. I knew you'd make it." commented Barbara Schoene as Caitlyn rushed to her aid and untied her bonds.
"Thank you Madame," Caitlyn muttered feverishly and had one of her colleagues give her the key to the bike lock they had collected from the other drug dealers.
That evening, Caitlyn sat in Officer Schoene's office. Her hands had clenched around her seat and she was waiting for her instructor's judgment. She returned to her office after hours and seemed surprised to see Caitlyn.
"Taylor, what are you still doing here?"
"I wanted to know if I passed the test?"
"Yes, of course, or I would have sent you straight home."
Caitlyn breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Madame," she said curtly and rose.
"Good job Taylor… and I'm sure you'll make quite an excellent police officer. Not bad with marksmanship and on your own against your four classmates."
"Um… thanks, but I didn't…"
"Save it, there was surveillance footage of the four of them putting on their masks and storming the locker room. I kicked them out when you were in the armory. Please remember for the future, solidarity is important, but only with the right people."
"Yes, ma'am," Caitlyn said, saluting.
"Call me Barbara," Ms. Schoene said with a smile and wrapped Caitlyn in her arms, "Good luck with the LCPD, Boot."
Part 4
Monsters and Heros
"Haaa Leon's Keep, how colorful you've become," Celine muttered as she wandered through neon-lit streets, looking at the merchandise in the stores. It had already grown dark, but the mage couldn't resist exploring the city up close. It had changed so much in her absence. Even the name was different.
"Truly amazing what humans have created, and without a single ounce of magic," she said, brushing her red hair out of her face as she leaned down to look at a television on display.
"Hey, doll, how much?" a person next to Celine said, and she looked up at a muscular man who was studying her body, hidden under a black dress, a little too closely.
"Please what?" she asked curiously, taking a step back and giving him a friendly smile.
"How much for a number? You look hot."
It instantly dawned on Celine what he meant, and her face darkened. She clenched her right hand into a fist and was about to send a curse down his throat when a young woman came up beside them and intervened. She wore the blue uniform of the city's guards; Rilliana had called them policemen.
"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" the guard asked seriously and the man raised his hands defensively.
"No, no problem, officer. I was just leaving." he said quickly, turning his back on the two women before disappearing down the street.
"Are you all right?" the woman asked Celine, turning to face her, "Oh Miss Celine."
She instantly blushed as they recognized each other, and Celine laughed softly as Caitlyn raised her hands to her face to hide her blush.
"Thank you officer… Taylor? You are, it seems this time, my savior and not my conspiratorial enemy." Celine said with amusement, bowing to her. Caitlyn's face turned even redder and she shook her head to dispel the filthy thoughts the head of C&T was instilling in her.
"That's what the LCPD is for, Miss Celine," Cait said hurriedly as she regained her thread, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"You may accompany me to my carriage," Celine said simply, hooking her arm with Caitlyn's and pulling her along the sidewalk.
"Um, carriage?" asked Caitlyn in irritation, but followed the redheaded lady.
"Yeah, those yellow carriages. Rilliana got one for me since I was going to explore the city on my own."
"Yellow… oooh you mean a cab."
"Absolutely right! Cab, really fascinating things," Celine muttered and Caitlyn frowned at the lady's strange choice of words.
"Did you find anything interesting in town, then? I thought you came here often."
"Well, I used to, but it's been quite a while for the city. I'm sure Terra can tell you a story or two."
"You know my mom too?" asked Caitlyn irritated, "how does everyone at C&T know my mom?"
"Oh," Celine said awkwardly, as if she'd blurted out something she shouldn't, "She lived with me temporarily and helped me… through hard times. She should tell you herself."
"If she would call in," Caitlyn muttered bitterly.
"Hey, I'm sure she has her reasons," Celine said, rubbing Caitlyn's back sympathetically.
"Wait, my mom lived with you? How old were you guys please?" asked Caitlyn suddenly, and Celine could have bitten her tongue. However, she saved her answer when she heard quick footsteps behind her and in the next moment felt a gun barrel in her back.
"Not a word!" ordered the man Caitlyn had scared away only minutes ago, "In here!"
He pushed both women into an alleyway lit by neon signs and wrestled Caitlyn's service weapon away.
"You'll regret this!" growled Caitlyn to which he only grinned.
"I don't think so doll, my colleagues are already on their way here to take you away for a good sum."
"You're with the slaver ring?"
"That's right and now shut up!" he ordered, kicking the back of Caitlyn's knee to force her to the ground.
"You redhead, take the cuffs off that doll and put them on her."
Celine tilted her head and let her neck crack once loudly, earning startled looks from Caitlyn and the crook.
"No," Celine said sharply, turning and standing up in front of the man.
"'What do you mean, no? Are you bitch tired of life?" the man asked, pointing the gun at Celine's head.
"I could ask you the same thing," Celine said, walking toward him. A cold chill ran down Caitlyn's neck, and the thug seemed to feel the same way. He stumbled back from the red-haired woman. His hand began to shake. He slipped and fell over backwards. At the same moment, lights went out throughout the alley, and a shot rang out from the man's pistol. Caitlyn immediately threw herself to the ground while the man fired three more bullets.
"Aaaahh, monster! Stay away from me!" he yelled at Celine, scrambling to his feet and running blindly forward, right into a dumpster. He staggered backward, fell to the ground, and lay lifeless in the dirt of the alley. The neon panels began to glow again and Caitlyn looked up. Celine stood next to the man and looked at her questioningly.
"Officer, aren't you going to arrest this man?"
"Um yeah sure… are you hurt?"
"No, he's a shitty shooter." Laughed Celine who was a little out of breath while Caitlyn handcuffed the man and took both weapons.
"Please wait here, I need to inform my colleagues," Caitlyn said, pulling out her phone.
"This is Officer Taylor, been assaulted off-duty…"
Celine looked after her, making sure she had turned the corner. She opened her hand, in which rested four bullets she had caught out of the air with her magic. The bullets had such force that they had devoured much of her magic.
"Interesting," she muttered, putting the bullets in her pocket.
After the crook was led away by Caitlyn's colleagues, Celine and Cait stood on the side of the road.
"Um, is there anything else I can do for you?" asked Caitlyn.
"Mmh, I was that you had taken a liking to the costume I gave you last time. Would you like to try on some more?" asked Celine with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually, right now I'd like to go to…"
"Nonsense, sweetheart, after a surprise like that you have to do something nice. Come on, I've got just the thing for you!" said Celine, waving to a cab and nudging Caitlyn into the back seat before taking a seat next to her herself.
"Once to the cursed woods, please," Celine said. The driver frowned briefly before shrugging and driving off.
"Miss Celine, I don't think I'd ever wear this willingly," Caitlyn said from the dressing room.
"Never mind, sweetie. We're here to have fun after the shock. So come on out and show me what you got."
The curtain was swept aside to reveal Caitlyn, who had donned an Amazon costume. Her hair was tamed back by a metal crown and a golden whip sat at her hip.
"What's wrong with that? You look adorable." said Celine, raising her hands uncomprehendingly.
"I'm not really a fan of superheroes. Wonder Woman is cool, but somehow…" Caitlyn shook her head.
"Mmm, what about villains?" asked Celine, lifting up another costume. Caitlyn looked up and started grinning.
"Now we're getting somewhere." she said, eyes wide as she took the new costume, which Celine handed her. She disappeared into the dressing room. Wonder Woman's costume flew across the curtain and Celine gathered it up while Caitlyn struggled to squeeze her body into the full body suit. Celine heard the zipper ultimately close and looked up as once again the curtain was swept aside. Caitlyn had donned a green and black catsuit that hid her body under faux leather to below her chin. Except for her healthier face color, Caitlyn now looked almost like the villainess Shego from the show Kim Possible.
"How does it feel?" asked Celine.
"Stunning," Caitlyn replied, putting her hands on her hips, "How much for the suit?"
"Keep it as a small thank you," Celine said simply.
"I can't accept that… it could be construed as a bribe," Caitlyn said, paling.
"Still a cop, huh? Very well… give me ten and we'll call it even and no back talk!" said Celine sternly and Caitlyn hastily closed her lips.