It’s Horrible, It’s Terrible, It’s Horrorterrible! It’s Gwen And Rescue, Devil And Angel

*Found within the Special Features of The Big Team Season 3 DVD Box Set is a selection of unfinished and unreleased content. Included therein is a scene entitled "It’s Horrible, It’s Terrible, It’s Horrorterrible! It’s Gwen And Rescue, Devil And Angel".*

## 4:00 PM, Thursday, May 30th 2019, Big Team Base

Gwen is standing in the Big Team briefing room. There's tables and seats for everyone, with a large TV at the front for presentations. She stands off to the side, looking at the Big Board. She's pondering as she looks at previous notes others have put up.

"Since we've been looking for the Aquilonians, we could put up something, I guess..." she thinks out loud. She doesn't finish the thought. It doesn't seem fruitful. Rescue had already told them everything they needed to know for now, or could know, and her retrocognition had told them all the rest. It was out of her hands right now.

Angel groans as he enters the room, looking around the seats and floor as he moves. He notices Gwen standing around, but says nothing. His fatigue was starting to get to him and he would prefer that he got what he needed and left as soon as he was able.

Spotting his duffel bag, he quickly reached for it before giving Gwen a quick smile and wave as he turns to leave.

Gwen, seeing Angel come in, sticks up her hand to wave back, when suddenly a thought hits her. He had said something about the 'horrorterrors' being able to help and Hex not wanting their aid--though not declining it outright. She knows Angel hadn't liked talking about the creatures he had a pact with, so for him to bring them up as being able to help seems significant. Yet she also knows that he wouldn't easily volunteer information about such a personal subject. Maybe if... she got him at a better moment? He seems very tired right now. No wonder, with all the searching of the past few days and all the research and investigation.

"Hey, Angel," she calls out, just as Angel is stepping out of the room, "quick question: what... what do you usually do to like... get to maximum relaxation?"

She gives a sheepish smile and a shrug. "I've been kind of so worn out over all this, I need a way to get my mind off this and my body to recover."

Angel turns around and leans against the doorway, arms crossed as he looked at the ceiling. It really wasn't the toughest thing to answer, but why was she asking something like this? Wait...she answered that already. He mentally hits himself as he shakes his head. The days must be getting to him, he thinks to himself.

"Well, uh, I guess that would be..." he looked around the room and pretended to think, if only to buy himself some time, "I like going on dates with Pul? Going to the park with Khloe is pretty nice. I, uh, haven't really thought of relaxing much these days. Sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe try some tea and yoga?"

Gwen seems to ponder that answer for a moment. "Tea and yoga... so, something for the body to do to relax, and something you can drink that relaxes you from within?"

"Sure, I guess," Angel shrugs as he turns away, "a snack helps too. I like sweets, but that's also not for everyone. Sorry, Gwen, I really have to get going. Pul and I have to make dinner and it's getting late..."

"Alright," Gwen gives a weak smile, "take care Angel, text me if y'all are staying the night elsewhere, okay?"

Angel smiles back and gives Gwen a thumbs up before heading out, slinging his bag over his shoulder as the door closes behind him.

## 7:00 AM, Saturday, June 1st, Shady Glen Manor

Gwen stands in front of a mirror in the hallway downstairs, just outside the kitchen. She tugs at her pink bikini and adjusts her purple tie and blue leather jacket. She rolls up the sleeves, then back down again after she gives it a disapproving look and shakes her head. Her hair is put up with a sparkly clip and she has a pair of pilot sunglasses on her head. She bends down and puts on knee-high pink socks, before reconsidering, taking them off and putting on ankle-high socks on instead. She looks visibly excited, but also very nervous. Besides the mirror stands a large plastic container filled with lemon bars she baked the night beforehand. A faint lemony smell still hangs in the air in the kitchen.

Pulalu walks down the stairs first, sniffing the air as his tail moves side to side. He tugs on his spiked choker in an attempt to loosen it up, but shows no discomfort regardless. He wears a pair of baggy sweatpants and leather arm bracers with a rainbow flag stitched in, possibly in an attempt to fit the theme. His torso is practically exposed with nothing to hide his tattoo or physique except for an intentionally torn pieces up tank top and a leather hooded vest. He takes up a spot behind Gwen as he gives himself a quick look and nods before sitting on the bottom stair and leaning back as he continues to sniff the air.

"Smells good..."

"Like that huh?" Gwen grins at Pulalu. She leans down and picks up the container, popping off the lid and holding it out towards the clouded leopard man.

"You can take one, there's plenty for other people later," Gwen offers. She looks at his attire and nods appreciatively. "Yeah, you look very ready for the parade. The bracers are a nice touch."

Pulalu silently picks out a lemon bar and takes a small bite out of it. The end of his tail twitches slightly as he continues to snack on the treat. Once finished, he gives Gwen a small smile and points up the stairs.

"Angel idea," he explains before leaning back on the stairs, "Hot day, but have to look good for Zodiac float. Angel still putting on glitter. Cute, but gets on fur. For later. Miss Gwen also very nice. Part of floats?"

"I intend to be!" Gwen confirms, "but, I have to admit, I don't really know how it all works? I figured I'd just hop aboard with the Big Team, or otherwise with the Knights, if they're cool with it. There's not like... sign-ups required, right?"

She looks uncertain as she closes up the container again. "I've participated in the parade in the past, but that was always with my father, and that was years ago. We last went together when I was 13. She also had a lot of cute glitter on that time. Galahad teased her a bunch about it, in that kinda smug, stoic way of his, but I know he liked it too."

Pulalu leans up and sits cross legged, reminiscent of a cat sitting up straight and watching people as they walk by. He stares silently as she speaks and nods when she mentions her father and the time they spent at pride. "Pride is good," he replies, "good that you can enjoy with father. Don't think sign up required, but do know Big Team will have float. Knights...unsure. As long as people have fun and smile, should be happy time."

Pulalu shakes his head as she mentions herself. "No. Not you. Like sister, I think. But, I think Miss Gwen right. Needs relax. Could try giving him massage again. We need another night alone anyways."

Before he can speak further, Angel appears at the top of the stairs, covered in pink and blue body glitter from his shoulders to his knees. He sports a cropped tank top with the letters 'HCP' written in a blocky font and colored like the trans flag. He wears a bandana around his neck similar to Khloe's, which is dyed in a multitude of colors. His shorts run very high up and expose a large portion of his thighs, but he shows no embarrassment or shame with how revealing his clothes are.

"You two talking about me? Flattering~"

Pulalu stares at him, mouth slightly agape as he decends the stairs. Once Angel reaches the bottom, he's pulled into a kiss alkost immediately.

"Pul," Angel stutters out as his face reddens, "what was that for! And in front of Gwen!"

The leopard chuckles as he kisses his lover again before letting him go. "Very cute," he purrs out as he ruffles Angel's hair, "couldn't resist."

Angel rolls his eyes and looks over at Gwen and gives her a smile.

Gwen snickers a little at Angel's embarrassment. It wasn't often that that happened\*. She raises her hands up, one still holding the container of lemon bars. "Hey, I don't judge. Otherwise I'd get more shit from all the people I've had some PDA with Olivia in front of."

She holds out the container for Angel. "Lemon bar? I dunno what kind of pastries you like, so I hope this is to your taste."

Angel quickly snatches one up and thanks Gwen as his face gets hotter. He looks at his watch quickly and sighs as he takes a bit of the lemon bar. His eyes brighten for a second as he takes another bite and then another. Shortly after, he's devoured the whole thing and wipes the corners of his mouth.

"Holy shit Gwen I didn't know you could bake. Ugh, wait, convo for another time. I'm gonna end up late for the committee meeting before we get on the float. Pul, you also need to join Rogue and Derek for the Zodiac City one. Did you need a ride, Gwen?"

“Sure, I could use one,” Gwen says, closing up the container again, visibly pleased with Angel’s response.

"Cool, c'mon I'm gonna be late. No time for a Lyft we're flying." Angel's magic flares around him as he starts heading towards the door, fingers interlocked with Pulalu's. As the leave the manor, Angel covers the three of them in his magic. A slight tingling sensation envelops the trio as they take off to the sky and head towards the nearby park where the parade would begin.

## 8:30 PM, Monday, June 3rd, Shady Glen Manor

Angel giggles as Pulalu leads him back to their room, kissing Angel's neck and purring into his ear. The couple had just finished eating a dinner of Qinabu, a form of dumpling that Pulalu's mother taught him to make before he left for Halcyon.

"Pul, you really didn't have to go through all this trouble for a simple date night."

"Yes, I did. Not know when you might leave for Montreal. Maybe tomorrow. Would miss your birthday. Don't want to risk."

Pulalu opened the door to their room and kissed Angel deeply as he shut the door behind them. Before they continued, Angel noticed a footbath machine lying by the bed with a note attached to it.

"Another surprise, Pul?"

Pulalu shook his head as he tore the note off and opened up for the couple to read.

Dear Angel,

You've worked hard these past few days, between Pride and everything after The Play, and you've done a lot for us in general. We hope you'll enjoy this relaxing gift.

Love,

The Girls

P.S. I know how to make empanadas now! Still looking forward to you teaching me about uh... lorchata?

P.S. 2 The bottle is not entirely full because some of us had never had it. Lo siento!

Underneath the footbath machine lay a package. Unwrapping it, Angel's hands revealed a bottle of Mezcal, a small bag of weed, and a box with some lemon bars and empanadas.

Angel eyed the contents with suspicion and then looked at the footbath. He handed the items of to Pul who put everything to the side before coming back and rubbing Angel's shoulders.

"Something wrong," he asks as he continues the pseudo massage, "Nice of band to think of you."

"Yeah, a little too nice," he responds, melting into his lover's touch, "Especially after I fell asleep in that pool on Sunday. God, what was I thinking testing out water-breathing magic on a day like that. And then falling asleep too? Maybe..maybe I'm not cut out for this whole Montreal thing. Or maybe that's just the depression talking. I don't know. I should take a nap."

His advancement towards his bed is halted as Pulalu holds him in a vice grip, keeping Angel in place.

"Pul.."

"Try machine. If not, can give massage. Have to relax."

"Does a not not count these days?"

The leopard man shakes his head and kisses Angel's check. "Too much sleep. Try something else. Please."

Angel sighs and puts his hands on Pul's, dragging him to their bed. "Fine. I'll take you up on your massage. No offense to Gwen and them, but I'd much rather have you fawn over me than them."

After a few minutes pass, Angel lays on his stomach as Pul massages his back. While they normally refrain from oils or lotions, due to the fur, Pul insisted on using something given to him by one of his adult dance students. The room was filled with the scent of eucalyptus and lemon, as the couple remained in blissful silence. As time went on, Angel started to feel his tension melt away and a smile was put on his face.

"Better?"

Angel responds with a small satisfactory sound as he turns over, forcing his lover to stop.

"Pul," Angel started as he looked his lover up and down, "why aren't you wearing a shirt. It makes sense for me to not wear anything, but you?"

Pulalu grins as crawls on top of Angel and gives him a brief kiss, purring as he does so. "Appropriate," he responds as he continues to kiss his human lover.

"Pul, there are people in the house. I'm all for making out, but seriously. And this is me saying this you dork."

Gwen had been keeping an eye on when Angel and Pulalu came home. The timer she had started beeps as she sits in her room, telling her that--by her estimation--enough time had passed for Angel to now be well into enjoying a nice relaxing footbath, might be a little tipsy, and probably had eaten some of the fresh pastries they'd made. She's worried if the booze and weed might have been too much, but Mini had told her that if she wanted to get Angel to agree to something, she should give him that instead of just food. Of course, Gwen hadn't gone as far as to tell anyone her actual plan: that she wants to convince Angel to let her use her retrocognition on the horrorterrors and find out more about their nature, so that they could figure out how to make that work into opening a portal to Montreal. Or... to Avalon.

She taps the timer on her phone to silence it and walks into the hallway, whistling innocently as she looks around in case there are other people around. She stops at Angel's room and knocks on the door. "Room service~"

"Shit," Angel curses as he quickly pulls the cover over himself and Pulalu. After a quick second to make sure things were...safe, he took a deep breath and responded with a "Come in!" as he sat himself up.

Gwen opens the door and peeks her head in. Seeing Angel and Pulalu’s bare shoulders—shirtless!—and with the bedcover covering the rest of them, her face flushed. “Oh! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt—this. No. Oh my god. Sorry!”

"Gwen," Angel says in the most tired tone one could imagine, "we have shorts on underneath. Pul was giving me a massage, we took off our shirts, it's fine. I would not have asked you to come in if we were...yeah."

Gwen, already in the process of closing the door, stops, and thinks. “Right. Right! Haha, of course you wouldn’t have. Right. Silly me.”

She steps into the room, leaving the door open behind her. “So, having a nice relaxing evening after a very busy weekend and a very stressful week?”

She casts a look at the footbath machine and the contents of the open package, unsure of what to say about it.

"I guess? The massage was going pretty great and I really do appreciate the gifts, but I have to admit I'm kind of-"

Angel is interrupted as Pulalu puts a hand over his mouth and smiles at Gwen, nodding.

"Gifts very nice. We both enjoy. Will make sure Angel use footbath later. For now, massage. And sleep."

Angel's muffles remain silenced, as Pulalu pulls him closer and keeps his hand held firmly over Angel's mouth.

“Good!” Gwen smiles, and the flush of prior embarrassment begins to fade from her face. “That’s good. Um. I do... want to ask something of you, Angel. Not necessarily now, but later, because it’s kind of a heavy subject and I know it’s a pretty huge request. So, if you have some time tomorrow after school, could I get a moment of your time?”

Angel narrows his eyes and struggles to speak, but Pul holds him in place and nods. "He will listen. Thank you for gifts. Tell Girls I said so too."

“Alright, I... I’ll leave you two to it, then, for tonight,” Gwen says, walking back to the door. “Goodnight?”

Pulalu nods and repeats the sentiment to her as the door closes, locking the door from afar so the couple could enjoy some time alone.

## 4:20 PM, Tuesday, June 4th

The next day, after some final business at school with the track and field team, Gwen arrives at Shady Glen Manor again. She heaves a sigh as she closes the front door behind her. The school year was coming to an end, which meant that she had less of an excuse to stay at the Big Team base during the week to be closer to school. A place with little history just felt better to her to be around. Shady Glen Manor was a home, but something always nagged at her.

Today, however, there was good reason to be there again, since she'd told Angel they'd talk today about something she wanted to bring up.

"Angel!" she called out, texting him at the same time. The manor was big enough that she didn't want to just wander the halls until she'd find him.

Angel walked into the room holding a bottle of water and gave Gwen a smile as he saw her. Having just come back from his volunteer work in Zodiac City, Angel was feeling a bit tired and sweaty, but he knew that something would be happening today. So, he made sure to prepare mentally by bringing Khloe with him, like always.

"I'm here. Just needed some water. It is so hot out today, girl."

"Well," Gwen said, with the smug face of someone who is about to make a joke or throw a lot of shade, "it just got a little less hot since we're inside now."

She gave herself a high five. "Ah, I feel good today. I, uh, am a little nervous though, because there was of course still that one thing I wanted to discuss with you, if you've got time now."

Angel raised a brow and took another drink, nodding before he took a seat on the stairs.

"Sure," he responds with a shrug, "I think I'm pretty free for the rest if the day. Pul has his classes and I finished up the volunteer work for the day."

Alright Gwen, this is it, the girl takes a deep breath as her brain races. Just... throw it out there.

"I want to try retrocognizing the Horrorterrors to see if we can figure out something about their nature that might help us reach a solution about opening portals to other dimensions like Montreal or Avalon."

Good job! Next time, go a bit more slowly, though.

Gwen's face is contorted into an awkward grimace. She knows she's asking a lot of Angel and she hopes it isn't too much. She had to ask, with the stakes being as high as they were. With there being time pressure on reaching both worlds.

Angel blinks once, then again, as his eyes continue their stare onto Gwen. Quietly, he puts his bottle down and reaches into his bag, pulling out a flask. He silently unscrews it and begins chugging it down. After draining the flask of its contents, he seals it back up and puts it away.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. It sounded like you wanted to retrocognize some unknown Deep Spirits. If I did hear right, I'm gonna need another drink."

"Well, pour yourself another and one for me too."

Gwen takes a deep breath and claps her hands together. Really should've gotten a second bottle of Mezcal.

"I know this is a lot to ask, but also I've retrocognized Deep Spirits before. I've retrocognized pieces of the Sonata no less than three times and some other unsavoury and/or powerful things. If you're worried about your safety, then I can assure you that nobody that I've ever used my powers on was negatively affected."

She paused for a moment.

"Except for the dragon we killed. But that was a group effort."

"Yeah, I remember." Angel starts making his way to the kitchen, sighing and massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Look," he starts as he grabs a bottle of plum sake and pours Gwen a glass, "I'm not saying I'm entirely opposed to it. Do I want to know more about them, of course. But, they also haven't been screaming in my head lately like they should be. Or really being around in general. I'm more worried for your safety. When you retroed that dragon you were...comatose? I guess that's a good enough word. I don't want to see you like that again."

He hands the glass over to Gwen and begins to drink directly from the bottle, letting out a sigh of relief after a long chug. "But, if you really want to, we may as well have some drinks before we do it."

"I..." Gwen starts as Angel mentions the after-effects of the dragon fight. She takes the glass and sips it, thinking.

"Thank you for your concern, but... honestly, if this helps us find a way to reach Montreal and save Narsus and get Rhiannon out of her depression, it's worth it. If it helps us reach Avalon? More than worth it. I realize that my goals in this are selfish, but I figured... hey, it's worth a shot, and if I can help you learn more about the Deep Spirits you've bound yourself to before I knock myself into another terminal illness for a month, that'd be a very pleasant bonus, honestly."

She chugs her glass empty and holds it out for a refill.

Angel gladly pours her another full glass and continues to chug. "I mean, I guess that's true. If you're absolutely sure about it, then I guess it's worth a shot. God knows I'm fresh out of ideas..."

"As long as we're not out of this," Gwen says, holding up the glass with a wry smile. "The best time to try something desperate is when you're desperate, eh?" She holds up the glass. "To desperate ideas." She takes a gulp.

"Desperate ideas," he says as he chugs the rest of the bottle down, "Cool, so how are we gonna do this. Should we go somewhere quiet? Probably shouldn't be anywhere people could find us.."

“The manor is big enough. Basement, attic, or the closed off wing seems perfect.” Gwen counted off the options on her fingers.

"Hmmm..." Angel thought to himself as he walked up the stairs, thinking of the best place for something like this. "We could go for that closed off wing. A nice relaxed environment seems best. Someplace with music maybe, that always seems to keep them somewhat agreeable. Or at least agreeable enough that they aren't screaming in my head every few seconds."

Gwen raised an eyebrow and smiled a little. "The closed off wing, huh? Entering the Forbidden Zone? Yeah, I'm up for it. I've explored it before, both recently and when I was little. Probably should check if the electricity is turned on for that part of the building, but then we could plug in some music. Whatever your--or their?--preference is."

*...the Special Feature scene ends there, as it suddenly turns to pencil drawings and basic animation, with no voice over lines.*

## Director's Commentary

*We were going to make this longer, as part of a series of scenes happening almost concurrently with the Montreal Limited Series, showing the actions of the characters who remained at home. One sub-set of these scenes had Gwen interacting with various teammates about trying to get her powers back, about making a new weapon for herself, and about learning to be a hero all over again without being guided by Nimue. Unfortunately, not all of these scenes were finished, and so it was a plot thread that we later changed, giving Gwen a transforming weapon instead while she was in Avalon.*

*In this scene, we were going to delve into Rescue's history with the Horrorterrors and what these things actually are. They've always been this sort of enigmatic presence. We know that they are probably a Deep Spirit of some sort, just like The Dragon and The Tiger, but they're more of a collection of them, a multi-hivemind type thing. They are also much more interested in humans than most Deep Spirits, and they're also generally malicious, despite having a symbiotic relationship type deal with Rescue.*

*We thought this would be fun to contrast with an earlier scene the character Dominik, which showed a bit of the nature of the Dragon. This would also give Gwen a recurring pattern of getting in over her head with super-powerful cosmic entities, which started during the Apocalypse Sonata Limited Series, and which would go on for much longer after this scene.*