Dangers & Friends

Cardinal watches Dorothy says goodbye to Boon as he remains camouflaged against an old wooden fence from the adjacent house over. Boon super speeds off as Dorothy gives a wave to her goodbye. Cardinal lets go of the fence his wooden appearance melting away as if torn from the a hole in the center of his chest, revealing the silvers and whites of his suit covered in slabs of mud rubbed into the fabric. He approaches Dorothy from the side.

“Dorothy, we need to talk.“ Cardinal said in his raspy voice.

Dorothy lets out a wild shriek at Cardinal’s sudden appearance. Her scales clacked shut together. She looks at him wide-eyed. “Lucas!” She says in a loud whisper, relieved for a moment, before tensing up again. “Are you here on a mission? I swear, I’m not involved with any shady businesses!”

Cardinal waves both hands closely in tiny waves losing the raspy voice just as quickly as he’d put it on.. “ssh, ssh, no mission, no mission, I just needed to talk to you, and please call me Cardinal while I wear the mask. Actually that is what I wanted to talk to you about.  “

“Oh!” Dorothy relaxed a bit, then slumped her shoulders. “Oh… I messed that up. Sorry.” She shuffled her feet and glanced at the front door of her house.

With a heavy breath of exhaustion.  “It’s okay, I think it’d be best if we had this conversation inside.”

Dorothy shakes her head, eyes going wide. “No!” She dropped to a stage whisper. “No, I… I don’t think that’s a good idea. My family’s home and they… aren’t great with superheroes.” She looks down at her claws as she brushes them over one another. “My brother is a big fan of your team, which can be a little embarrassing, but my mom’s gotten hurt in a super fight before. She’s very scared, and my dad is very protective of us.”

She hangs her head. Dorothy doesn’t want to tell him more than that. She’s a terrible liar, but at least she can stop herself from talking to keep a secret. The irony of the situation was not lost on her.

“Alright” Cardinal gives her a knowing nod and sits on the curb motioning for Dorothy to join him,

“ I don’t mind talking out here then, the truth is there are some very dangerous people who are aware of me and might be looking for an excuse to harm anyone I come into contact with. I don’t think anyone from Bishop saw us today, but they could have and me coming outside today and having fun in this mask put you in danger and that’s my fault, but now that you do I want to know that your safe.”

Dorothy sits down next to Cardinal and curls her scaly tail around her legs. “I didn’t realize that. That makes sense. I’m sorry. I guess now I know why most kids in school didn’t want to hang out with known superheroes.”

Tilting his head toward Dorothy with his still pale blue mask and outstretched hand, “Can I see your phone?”

“Hm? Yeah, sh--” Dorothy almost instinctively hands her phone to Cardinal, fishing it out of a little purse underneath one of her scales. “Wait,” she says, holding it back between her claws, “what are you going to do with my phone?”

“I’m going to give you my number, that way if you’re ever in trouble you can call me. I’d also like to escort you home from school for the next couple of weeks just to make sure no one is following you.”

“Oh! That does sound nice,” Dorothy smiles a little. “Being able to call you, at least. I… I don’t go to school anymore…”

“Why is that? I mean we all hate school sometimes but don’t you have other friends there ?” Cardinal types into the phone a number then hands it back to Dorothy.

“I can’t go back,” Dorothy sounds resolute, yet pleading and sad at once, as if it’s a fact and tragedy at once. “I… yeah, I used to be good friends with Casey and Kurt. I have different friends now, good friends!” She perks up for a moment, then slumps back down. “Friends who don’t have to see me.”

“Well I’m seeing you right now, Boon sees you, Jackal and Phoenix saw you today we can be your friends. You could a different school if its too hard to go back to your old one and find better friends there. Zodiac city is full of people who went through the same stuff you did, I met a family of Rat people up there today, they all came from different backgrounds and but now they shared a home together. That seems pretty cool to me, so maybe it would be easier going to school up there?”

“I can’t,” Dorothy shakes her head. “It’s too far to do it every day, too expensive, and my family can’t afford to move either. It would be amazing, but that’s just a dream. That’s all it is

“Why haven’t you asked Boon she has super speed and could get you there and home without a problem. I don’t want to speak for Boon, but I’m certain she would help you”

“I can’t do that,” Dorothy’s voice almost whimpers, her tail curling tighter around her.. “She already does so much for me, I can’t ask her to be my personal taxi service every day.” She takes a deep breath and starts to get up. “I’m sorry. I should really go inside.”

“One last thing, before you go inside.” Lucas stretches his arms out for a hug.

Dorothy looks at Lucas for a few moments, stepping closer and opening her arms a little, then shying back. “Careful with the plates,” she mumbles, perhaps more to herself than to Lucas, before she steps closer and puts her arms around Lucas’ waist. “Thank you.” Her tail briefly curls around the two of them, before Dorothy seems to realize it and pulls it back.

Careful to watch for the plates Lucas returns the hug, “Today was the most fun, I think I’ve had since I put on this mask, it wouldn’t have been the same without you let's go shoot arrows again sometime. ” after a moment Lucas breaks the hug. Slips his mask back over his head and puts up his cowl. “See you later, Dorothy” Then step back to camouflage into his surroundings.

Dorothy walks to the front door of her house, then turns around to look at the spot where Cardinal disappeared. She sighs. A large furry tiger’s paw gently comes down on her shoulder. She turns around and heads inside.