Chapter Text
12-year-old Percival “Percy” King walks throughout the Sweet Jazz City museum, admiring each of the artifacts as she walks by. She had gone in alone, without either of her parents, Meryl, or Eros. Mother and father were busy at home anyway; they had been since mother had been injured.
She hadn’t technically snuck out. She had asked if she could go to the museum. Father had answered her rather quickly. She wasn’t even sure if he had registered what she said. But, permission is permission, so she left.
She pauses at a set of knight armor, sealed within a glass case. She gets as close as she can without touching the glass, her eyes resting on the sword. She puts her hand to the handle of her own [wooden] sword, sealed in its case, attached to the belt of her police officer uniform [it is a uniform, not a costume, no matter what mother or father or any of the teachers or kids at school say].
A voice from the other side of the room grabs her attention.
“ Eeeepithets! Rare powers. Some people got ‘em, some people don’t.” A girl with long blue hair in a yellow vest is leading a tour. A group of students—and a few adult chaperones—trail behind her. Percy’s school has today off, so these kids are clearly from a different school. Still, she moves over and begins to listen. They had gone through inscribed and mundies by the time she got here.
“Now, show of hands, who here has an Epithet?” She asks. Percy raises her hand.
“ Is she in our group? ” One of the adult chaperones whispers. Percy ignores them.
“ Of course. ” The tour guide clears her throat before she walks over and looks Percy right in the eyes. Percy, 4’9”, is only slightly shorter than the woman. The younger one takes note of the woman’s unnaturally glassy and reflective eyes before looking away. Eye contact has always been a massive ick for her. “Wowww, you’re suuuper special! Only one in five people have an Epithet!”
Percy smiles pleasantly, taking her seriously. “Thank you, Ms!”
A few of the kids snicker. “ Is she stupid? ” One of them whispers. “ She was obviously being sarcastic. ”
Percy’s smile fades. Ah, of course. This is common with her. She doesn’t know why, and she doesn’t know how to make it stop.
“Now, what might your Epithet be, little girl?”
Percy clears her throat. “Parapet.”
The woman furrows her brows. “Okay… what’s that?”
“I can construct small buildings with a variety of magical effects. Or they can simply be regular constructions.”
“Ooookay.” The woman turns back around. “Does anyone else have an Epithet?”
“Oh! Oh! I do!” A loud, booming voice comes from just in front of the tour group. A tall, muscular man holding a box zips over. “I have an Epithet, Lady Mera!”
“Lady Mera” grits her teeth. “ Not you . Does anyone else here have an Epithet? Anyone at all?”
“I do Lady Mera! Pick me pick me!”
“I wanna know his Epithet!” One of the kids actually in the tour group yells.
“Well, await no longer, children! For my Epithet is… BARRIER! And it allows me to create… BARRIERS!”
His sudden yelling is enough to make Percy back away and slam her hands over her ears. She had always been sensitive to noise like that. And a lot of other sensory things. But she figured she’d grow out of it soon enough. After all, a cop with sensory issues wouldn’t do much good in solving real crimes. When she opens her eyes again, the group of kids has moved forward, leaving the guides behind.
“Huh. Looks like your tour group isn’t all that interested in your tour.” The buff man is still holding the box.
“Of course they aren’t.” “Lady Mera” rolls her eyes. “This stuff is so basic. It’s insulting.”
“But it is our job to make sure the tour group has as much of an enjoyable time as possible, Lady Mera!”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
The man taps his chin for a moment. “Oh! I know! Hey, children! Who wants to know a story about a magic artifact ?”
The group of kids run back over, and Percy steps closer again to listen. She can see that the Western section of the museum is over there, and a tall girl is looking around. She makes a mental note to go look through that section next, then begins listening to the man.
“It is called… the Arsene Amulet…”
The woman jolts. “ Indus. ”
He continues. “I am told that it can steal a person’s Epithet…”
“Indus, shut up—! ”
“I bet something like that is pretty valuable. Valuable enough that someone would try and steal it!”
The tour guide woman grabs “Indus” by the collar of his shirt and drags him over, down to her eye level. She’s smiling. Percy stares. That means she’s happy, right?
“ Indusss, that exhibit isn’t public yet , remember ?”
The tone of her voice confuses Percy. She’s smiling, but her tone is angry.
“I am sorry, Lady Mera, I believed it would spice up your boring tour. It is a necklace… that steals Epithets.”
“It was not boring. In fact, I believe she was doing quite a good job.” Percy gestures to the tour guide.
“Hmm, good t’know someone around here appreciates my efforts. Now, Indus, how about you stick to moving boxes, and I stick to giving tours.”
“Very well!” The man stands up. “I shall do it… with GUSTO!”
The man yells as he flexes and drops the box, breaking it. Percy slams her hands over her ears once more. How could someone be so careless about moving such exquisite valuables?
“Hey! Free treasure! Let’s GET IT!” One of the kids yells.
Suddenly, the group of children jump onto the various artifacts on the ground. Percy’s hands drift back down to her sides and she backs away. She doesn’t understand why they would just attempt to steal like that. It’s the museum’s property, not theirs. These kids are around her age, and she knows not to. Why don’t they follow such a simple rule?
“Lady Mera” groans loudly. “Get away from there you little—!” She jumps onto the pile, trying to pry the children off. “OW! Don’t bite me! Indus! A little help here!”
“Indus” is quick to respond. “Fret not, Lady Mera! Hey! Children, look here!” The kids pause and look at him. “My Epithet… is… BARRIER! ”
The man yells and flexes so hard that his shirt rips off. The tour guide raises an eyebrow and smiles. “Oh, you’ve got my attention.”
Percy backs away more as the kids go back to the treasure. The tour guide attempts to pry them off more.
It’s getting loud, and when it gets loud, Percy becomes overwhelmed. Her hands pressing over her ears isn’t enough anymore. Besides, she should be helping to make sure the museum isn’t robbed by a group of children. But it’s too damn loud . Her hands shake.
“Ghh… too… loud… ” her voice is strained. Tears prick in her eyes. No no no no no, this can’t happen here . Not now .
She doesn’t know what else to do, so she runs off into the Western exhibit, past the kids and tour guides. Her head hurts from the noise. Everything feels so… amplified .
She stumbles and bumps into someone. That tall girl she had seen earlier, who currently stands in front of a glass case of classic cowboy attire. Percy gets a better look at her. Not only is she tall, but she’s slim, really slim. She has dark-ish tan skin, brown eyes, and thick, brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She’s wearing a classic cowboy hat and boots, a shall, and jeans with a sunflower pattern all over them. There’s no way she’s older than 16. She glares at Percy, seemingly quite annoyed that her admiration session had to be interrupted by a little girl.
Percy doesn’t immediately know what to say. “A-Ah—” her breath hitches. Say it just like the way you rehearsed . “My apologies. I’m so sorry.” Percy doesn’t wait for a response before running off, deeper into the museum. The girl simply hums and goes back to staring starry-eyed at the cowboy attire.
She eventually finds herself sniffling in a storage closet. It’s dark and quiet, which is exactly what she needs. Her eyes drift. She’s so… tired. It makes sense. She had kept herself from breaking down from the noise earlier. She could take a little rest. It’ll just be… a few minutes…
=====
When Percy awakens, there is no more light coming from the border of the door. She opens it to find the museum completely dark. It’s closed, obviously.
“Oh dear…” she mutters. She wanders throughout until finally making her way to the front. She grabs the handle, but it’s locked. Her breath hitches. Does this technically mean that she’s broken in? Her hands shake. No no no no no. Her dreams of becoming a police officer are collapsing in front of her. They’ll never let her join the force of justice with breaking and entering on her record.
Her eyes drift over to the phone on the table, the one for emergency calls only. While she may want to become a cop, she understands that she has done wrong. It is only fair that she turns herself in. She runs over to grab it, dialing 911 as fast as she can.
“Hello, this is the police,” a man’s voice on the other end says.
“Hi, I’d like to go to jail.”
Suddenly, the wall breaks and she spins around, dropping the phone out of fear. Before the dust can settle, she moves to hide behind the desk. Maniacal laughter comes as a group of people in yellow uniforms walk in. Percy takes a quick peek at them. The Banzai Blasters. Percy recognizes them easily—any officer [or aspiring officer] would.
“ Okay okay okay… monologue, right…? ” The person speaking inhales. “Sweet Jazz Museum. The Banzai Blasters are here to rob you blind… led by Ramsey Murdoch himself.” The Captain, presumably, based on his different uniform, steps forward, crushing the still-on-a-call phone beneath his foot. He has pink hair, which is slicked and tied back. His face resembles that of a rat, and one of his eyes is golden. It wiggles around uncomfortably in its socket.
Percy presses a hand over her mouth. These are criminals. Real criminals. And she’s scared . She really shouldn’t be. No cop should be scared of them. She presses herself down to be as small as possible, holding her breath. She. Should not. Be. Scared.
She grabs the handle of her wooden sword. This is her chance to take down some real criminals. She swallows, biting back her fear. She can do this… she can do this. She believes in herself.
She moves to stand, then jumps out from behind the desk, pointing her sword directly at the criminal cavalcade. “Freeze, criminals! I am placing you under my watch for breaking and entering into the Sweet Jazz Museum! Stay where you are. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say may be held against you.”
Her hand is shaking, but she stares at the leader, determined. He stares back at her. She tries to hold eye-contact as best she can.
“Ah, jeez, the hell’s a kid doin’ here?!” The leader yells. He turns around. “Flamethrower, did you bri—”
Percy swings her sword, hitting him in the side of the knee. It may be wooden, but it still hurts like a bitch. He spins around and grabs her sword. As she tries to pull it out of his grip, he begins to talk.
“Alright, damnit, we don’t need a kid gettin’ in the way of our heist.” As he speaks, Percy notices a golden color emerge from his fingertips and down her sword. “Either go home or stay outta the way.”
Percy’s sword becomes fully golden, and Ramsey drops it. It’s heavy in her hands, and she struggles to pick it up. The Captain hums and goes around the back of her, undoing her tie and lifting it up.
“Drop that! It’s rightfully mine!” She yells, jumping up and trying to grab it back, also dropping her sword in the process.
Ramsey chuckles, then grabs her arm and wraps the tie around her wrist, and then ties the other end to one of the [locked] drawer handles on the front of the desk. Right before her eyes, she watches it change to solid gold. Great, now she’s stuck.
“You stay here while I’m gone. Be good.”
Percy sits down, dejected, and nods.
“Flamethrower, Car Crash, Ben. You stay here and guard this girl. Make sure she doesn’t try anythin’.”
“Aww, but I wanted to see the treasure!” Ben whines.
“Well, tha’s too bad. Spike, Crusher, Darkstar, you all’re with me.”
Ramsey and his three selected minions walk deeper off into the museum. Percy’s fear spikes. Are they going to hurt her now?
To her surprise, she watches as they talk, simply acting as if she isn’t there. They complain about being left behind, then they begin to blame each other for why they couldn’t go into the museum.
“OH HERE WE GO. YOU CRASH ONE CAR FOUR TIMES AND SUDDENLY IT’S YOUR NAME! ”
“You’ve crashed a car four times?” Percy asks, tilting her head. “Hmm… I don’t believe you should be allowed to drive anymore.”
They ignore her, continuing to bicker amongst themselves. Percy sighs. She should know better than to try and interact with criminals by now. If they had listened to her, they might’ve done something bad to her. Perhaps she could orchestrate some type of escape…
“Hello?” A voice behind her says. Percy watches as the box-moving man walks out from a hallway behind the desk.
“Pssst!” Percy waves him over and he walks towards her, then kneels down. “Mr. Barrier?”
“Ah, hello young girl! I have come from checking on the cameras to make sure that nobody else was here. But you were here. And now a lot of people are now. And the entrance exploded! And you know what would fix that? A BA— ”
She presses her—by comparison, very tiny—hand over his mouth, which shuts him up. “Yes, that it did. Could you assist me in escaping and defeating these menaces?” She tugs at the golden tie holding her to the drawer. He nods, forms a small barrier the size of a donut in his hand, and begins smacking it lightly against the gold tie like a caveman.
She blinks. “Do you think, perhaps, you could break it yourself? You appear to have more than a moderate amount of strength. I trust that you could do so.”
“Oh. That makes more sense.” He grabs the gold tie and begins to try and snap it. “Menaces, eh? I should challenge them to an honorable duel… then perhaps they’d think twice before attempting this again!”
Before he can snap the gold tie, it changes. The gold on it disappears, and it becomes a normal tie once again. Percy looks at her sword, and the same thing has occurred. She hums, then simply unties her wrist herself.
“Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Barrier,” she says, grabbing her sword.
“Of course, small girl! Now…” he clears his throat and walks in front of her. “YOU THERE. MENACES. I AM INDUS TARBELLA, AND I CHALLENGE YOU TO AN HONORABLE DUEL!”
The three stop bickering and turn to face him.
“Who’s that guy?”
“And how did he get so toned ?”
“Doesn’t matter. He challenged us, so we’re gonna fight him. Team, form up!”
The Banzai Blasters form up in a way that has clearly been rehearsed. Flamethrower stands on the shoulders of Ben and Car Crash. Impressive.
“Hmm, a battle of posing. Then that it shall be!”
Indus poses, flexing his arms. His muscles catch in the light of the moon and faint overhead light of the museum. He looks downright majestic.
“Hah, nobody’s a bigger poser than us! Flamethrower does male cheerleading on the weekends!” Car Crash yells.
“Duuude— shut up! ”
“Aww, it’s nothing to be ashamed of!”
“Yeah, you’re really good at it.”
Flamethrower groans, clearly embarrassed.
“You! Young girl!” Indus yells to Percy. “Choose the victor!”
Percy walks in front of them, looking both of them over and tapping her chin. She appears to be genuinely evaluating both of their poses.
“Mr. Tarbella.”
“HA! VICTORY! The first strike is mine!”
“Wait, wh—” Ben doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Indus runs at them, knocking the tower of Blasters over. Unfortunately, his hit was also powerful enough to break the wall, his lower half only sticks out now.
“Ah. It appears I am stuck.”
“… oh dear.” Percy steps back closer to the desk, holding her sword. Her attention drifts to the Banzai Blasters on the floor. Flamethrower is passed out while Ben and Car Crash rub their heads.
“No… Flamethrower! He had the coolest name!” Car Crash says, looking down at his fallen Blaster.
“Can I be Flamethrower now?”
“YOU’LL GET. A COOL NAME. WHEN YOU EARN ONE , BEN.”
Ben sighs, then looks over at Percy. “Hey, what about ‘Kid Puncher’?”
Car Crash looks over at a now-confused Percy as well. “Heh, yeah, that would be a good one.”
“‘Kid Puncher’? That’s quite the underwhelming nickname… and who is the kid you would be—” her eyes open a bit more with realization. “Oh, am I the kid in question? Do you understand the immorality of that? Leaving out the assault, it’s—”
Percy is cut off by Car Crash grabbing her arm and holding her still. “Haha. And now we have a hostage!”
“A hostage?! NO!” Indus yells, still inside the wall. “You must defend yourself, tiny warrior!”
Percy pauses to think for a moment. “Well then… I shall construct a wizard tower!” A foundation erupts from the ground near her. From it comes a small brick tower, the top of which primes with electricity.
“Fire!”
Immediately, Ben and Car Crash jolt and writhe as they are electrocuted. Then, they collapse, unconscious. It’s painful at the moment, but ultimately harmless in the long run.
Percy pants, leaning against the desk for support. That attack used up quite a bit of her stamina. “It is… done.”
“Wonderful! Now, could you help me out here, young warrior?”
Percy approaches. “I would… but I truly do not believe the laws of physics would allow for it.”
“Do not worry! Lady Mera says laws are merely suggestions!”
“They are not ‘merely suggestions’. They are guidelines that are expected to be followed by all in a society.”
Indus doesn’t seem to hear her. He groans, then yells and breaks the wall completely, allowing him to escape. He brushes himself off and looks down at the tiny girl.
“Hmm. We should inform the police of this. Do you perhaps have a cell phone on you?”
“Oh no, absolutely not! I have been informed by Lady Mera that I am not to call the police under any circumstances!”
Percy furrows her brow. “But these were not all of the perpetrators. A group of others ran further into the museum. Furthermore, I require that the police come to retrieve me—”
“WHAT?! THERE ARE OTHERS?!”
Indus sprints off. Percy is quick to trail after him.
=====
“Alright missy, artifacts. Hand ‘em ova’.” Ramsey crosses his arms and smirks.
Mera blinks. “… what? Just like… all of them?”
Ramsey hums. “Uh— oh jeez… I-I dunno. Fine, whatever’s the most valuable.”
“Ooooo ‘wHaTeVeR’s ThE mOsT vAluAbLe’ like they wouldn’t have that stuff locked away super tight. You morons didn’t think this through, did you now? What a waste of my time.”
Ramsey grits his teeth. “Fine then. I’ll have you know I’ve got the best Banzai Blasta’s money could buy!”
“Oh?” Mera tilts her head, smirking. “Aaand how much does your allowance buy you?”
Ramsey sputters for a moment. “Um… three, obviously. Can’t ya even count, lady?” Him and Blasters laugh for a moment. “Now boys, take aim!”
The Blasters level their peashooters at her. Mera just sighs, annoyed.
“Fire!”
They shoot, but their bullets are blocked. They look around, confused. “Huhhh…? Wait… what happened?” Crusher asks no-one in particular.
“I’m afraid your bullets have no chance of reaching Lady Mera… for my Epithet… is… BARRIER !”
Indus zooms in to stand next to Mera. A barrier is formed in front of the two of them and the Banzais step back.
“Indus? How did you sneak in so quietly? You never do anything quietly…”
Ramsey’s breath hitches slightly. No— it’s fine. He can work around this. “Ah— jeez…” He grabs a pack of crayons from his pockets and holds them up menacingly. “Don’ move! I got crayons!”
Mera stares for a moment. Then bursts into uncontrollable, mirthful cackling. She doubles over. Her laughter fills the storage area. Soon, Indus joins. Awkward at first, but seeming to genuinely laugh after a bit. If Lady Mera is happy, then so is he.
“YOU THINK— CRAYONS WILL STOP US??” Mera gets out between cackles. By now, Indus is on his hands and knees, laughing.
Ramsey grimaces, then turns around and sharpens several of the crayons, then changes the tips of them to gold. He grabs four of them, pressing them together, then turns them completely to gold so they stick together. He chuckles, as do his minions. He tosses it gently in the air a few times like one would with a baseball. Then, he reels back his arm, and tosses it at Mera as hard as he can. It zooms through the air, and Indus looks up just as it’s about to make contact with Mera’s ribs.
“AH—?!”
“NO! LADY MERAAAAAAA!”
Mera pants for a moment… but she’s only taken 1 damage.
Ramsey blinks stupidly. “Huh?”
“I thought you may attempt something akin to that.”
The group looks at the source of the voice, which is between and a little bit behind Mera and Indus. There stands Percy next to a small mushroom hut. It emits a faint golden glow and radiates warmth. Her hands are behind her back.
“… hello. I… brought down the severity of your attack with this apothecary.”
“L-Lady Mera… I could not protect you…” Indus says, eyes watering, voice growing higher pitched with each word. “I am a failure…!”
“What… just happened…?” Mera asks.
“My Epithet allows me to construct small buildings with an array of magical effects.” Percy gestures to the structure next to her. It’s about the height of her shoulder. “Attempting to assault someone while near an apothecary will result in the attack being less severe than intended… and if you sustain any physical wounds, you will be healed simply by standing next to one. Ms. Tour Guide, may I borrow your cell phone? I tried to ask Mr. Tarbella, but I don’t believe he has one.” Percy looks at Indus, tapping her chin. “Or knows what they are.”
“ Healed by standing next to… Indus, grab her.”
“As you wish, Lady Mera.”
“Wh—?!” Suddenly, Percy is hoisted into the air by Indus. She can’t escape his grasp. “What are you doing?! Unhand me!”
“Just following orders, little girl!”
Ramsey blinks. “I… feel like I’m bein’ ignored.”
“That’s because you are. We have limited time, and you’re not worth it!” She looks at Indus. “Indus. Scattergun.”
Indus nods. In front of them, a barrier forms. A crack spiderwebs out from the middle, and it suddenly breaks into pieces, floating in midair. The pieces fly towards the Banzai Blasters. Ramsey manages to jump out of the way to avoid being hit, but his minions aren’t so lucky. They’re smacked repeatedly with each piece of the barrier, until finally, they’ve all passed out.
“MY BOYS! NO!” Ramsey cries. Mera rolls her eyes.
“Now, do me a favor and pass out. I don’t want anyone else interfering while I rob this museum.”
Behind her, Percy’s eyes widen in confusion.
“… what?”