Session 13

Session 13 took place on the 21st July 2023.

Notes were taken by Alyssa

## Recap

Entry 1

Friday, July 21st, 2023

11:59 PM EDT

This is a first and this is for you, Alyssa. One day, you'll need to come back and read this. You'll need the reminder about how things were and how they should have stayed. Don't stray too far. Remember, you have people who wholeheartedly believe in you.

You got this.

We were in Halcyon, remember? Out in the outskirts of Old Town. Rhys, Glitter, Jules, Kid, and Donna were there. Rhys and Glitter Sparkle had decided to try and teach the rest of you how to do patrols. The instructions went over how to land and fall properly, how to make the jump between buildings.

Recall the pieces of conversation?

**Rhys**: "You need to learn to roll when you fall."

**Donn**a: "I don't need this." *Hand Raised*

Glitter reminded Donna about how she needed discretion and Rhys let her know that she needed to watch where she was landing.

Oh, Alyssa! Do you remember Kid moving with style? How he tried to shift into a ball and make the leap between two buildings? He didn't quite make it and ended up SPLATTING on the ground below. That poor old lady thought he was trying to mug her while he was trying to make sure she was okay.

I still have the recording for you, in case you forgot. Here:

[Splat. Travelinstyle.mp4]

\_Transcript:\_

**Respawn**: "Don't do that again."

**Kid-Ink**: "Okay, Robin."

**Respawn**: "That's not my name."

\_End\_

Then, everyone proceeded to try to jump across the gap. Rhys, Donna, & GS made it perfectly. Julie wouldn't jump and GS had asked if she was afraid of heights. She had confirmed that with a huge question mark at the end of it. For some reason, GS decided to make her a beautiful bridge made of bricks and with railings. Very fairytale like and Jules some how still went across even though we could see through it.

Of course, it disappeared as soon as the demon girl went across. Leaving us and Kid-Ink to find our own way across. We actually ended up talking Kid into leaping across first and he made it with a cheer from Donna. We, however, teleported across with no issue what so ever. Pretty sure we both impressed and disappointed Rhys by not jumping. He had been in the middle of making sure we didn't wear ourself out, always looking out for us, when the alert came over. He had that police scanner in his helm that alerted all of us the hostage situation. Even while we were all in the middle of trying to get to that old history building that every other school field trip was for, our mind was preoccupied. We had been thinking about asking Nightwing for further training on traveling by roof top.

The sea of police had been so impressive; just about every officer in all of Old Town had been there. The others had started piecing together how we were going to help when Julie asked us to try to hack the police systems. Of course, the traffic from the sheer amount of people and our level of skill made it nearly impossible to do. By then, the news crews were starting to crowd the streets. GS had suggested that Kid sneak in first, either by drain or cellar.

He was very much not enthused to sneak in on his own. Which, who could blame him? The mayor who was responsible for killing 13 innocent people as witches lived in that house. Who knew what was really in that basement? Still. We had to give him credit. He still turned into a puddle and skittered away. Thankfully, GS was the one who picked up the cell phone he left behind.

GS had a game plan. She was going to gather intelligence on what the police knew through a call with Rhys.

Do you remember that conversation, Alyssa?

**Rhys**: "I don't have it on me. You don't bring phones on ops."

**Us:** "I've heard that before! I'll call you, Poly."

We had heard that before and not that far off from today, really. I hope things stayed clean, Alyssa. You're in a good place, I think. Or, you can be, if we decide that's what we want. I'm nervous to see how things really go with *him*.

Anyways, do you remember that perfect, effortless teleportation as GS took to the streets? Holding Rhys in that one armed hug and taking him to the roof top of that old fucking building. We were working our way into the building as GS (trailed by Donna and Jules) tried to get the attention of the cops. We had muted the call long enough to make our way across a dark room, keeping one hand one Rhys' back.

They had men with assault rifles in the building.

Do you recall that this was where GS first met Montoya and Officer Thomason? The badass, hardass detective and the GS's little fan. She gathered the intelligence we needed and she was given the all clear to save the people.

I'll include the next bit in a few key pieces of texts. They're still on our phone. Hold on.

> GS: Putting coms on mute. Text instead. Put phones on silent if you haven't already. R&I are right near a  bad guy.
>
>

> Jules: Two bad guys down stairs. Kid ink's down there.
>
>

> Jules: We're knocking out the guys down below. You guys take out the guy above
>
>

Thank god we had Rhys. He took out the guy upstairs with a choke hold. I think that was one of the first non-lethal take downs we've seen him do. We rejoined the others and GS had the hostages under her thumb. Do you remember that fear, Alyssa? The one that cut through us when we realized that Jules wasn't. Fucking. There.

I'll be honest. I don't know what kind of state you're in right now. I almost don't want to go over the combat. I don't want to describe past the basement and the door made of wall and the heat and the words in a language we didn't understand. I don't want to remind you of the robed men and the sacrifice that was still breathing. Yet, I know we can't just skip over this. I am supposed to just remind you of how these days went. Maybe in a vain hope in grounding you, however and where ever you are now, Alyssa.

Do you remember the room dug out of the earth? The wooden beams that supported it? The chanting that seemed to pour from the walls themselves?

I do. The memory is new, raw. Its burned behind my eyes.

The dumbest thing was that we were not afraid, Alyssa. We were ready, asking really, for battle. God. We learned a bit, I hope. We grabbed a guy and teleported him out of the fight. Up onto the street. Can you believe that we had hoped that the cops would simply arrest him and listen to us? What a joke. They shot at us. Not once or twice. It really felt like every gun they had was trained on us and the pulled the trigger.

I still do not know if that guy lived. I don't want to know. The fucking fear that put into us. Still, we tried. We came back. Between all of us, we were fighting and doing our best. And then. Then they used fucking magic. The heat and pain as we were set alight. The almost automatic reaction that triggered, pulling us deep into the earth. Do you remember? I fucking remember. The cold earth all around us. No air. No light. A moment. An eternity.

Then we were back; like it hadn't happened. Standing behind Rhys and with a new, deep fear buried inside us. Do you recall telling, begging Rhys to end this as quickly as we could in that dark, wet moment of panic? I do. I remember and it aches. Kid tried defending Jules. Donna was trying to secure and save the sacrifice. Rhys fought to take out as many as he could without actually using his weapons. Poly had rejoined the fight and Jules. Oh, Jules. She lost her cool. Lost sense from the way she was fighting.

Destruction everywhere. Two of the three beams supporting the ceiling were destroyed and the fire was everywhere again. Kid. Alyssa, we got in the way. Tried to protect him. Our powers. We were thrown up onto the street again and that vomit inducing fear was on the tip of our tongue. We tried to go back. I think we really tried, but how to do you just walk back into hell like that? Our powers **failed** us. Kid-Ink talked the cops into evacuating, into getting civilians out, while leading the way back. Each step was so **heavy**, so **hard**. My team was still there and they still needed me.

**Us**.

They might not look like it, but we did send out two calls for help. One read like a joke and the other didn't:

* **To Damian**: If I die, you have permission to take all the shit out of my room in the Oblivion. **From Damian**: Fukkin sweet bruh

* **To Nw**: Tips on dealing with it when you're super scared in a fight and you still have to keep going? **From NW**: Think of the people you need to protect. Think of not what you have to lose, but what others will lose in them. You got this.

**You. Got. This.**

Not much by some standards.

So fucking much by our standards.

We were on our way back when the most irritating person arrived in the most magic of fashions. I won't even go into detail. You know him. I know you do because I can't forget him or his mouth on our gloved hand. He would eventually tell us that this was committed by the Church of Blood. I hope you don't know them well. I can't shake the feeling that you do, Alyssa.

By the time we were reunited with the team, the fight was over. The 'Chosen One' cleaned up the area and buried the earthen room. He also helped us bring Jules back to Ricky. He wasn't Ricky. Didn't look our way at all, but I suppose we were never close. I'm not sure we'll work on correcting that.

And

Here I am now. Looking down at my phone at a message that I haven't sent yet. Alyssa, do we get better at asking for help? Do we ever learn to lean on the right people? I hope I'm not setting you up for pain later. This feels like the right move. I hope we find a good family. I hope you find love. I hope there is joy in the future and you're laughing as you read this little message to yourself. Its silly, childish.

It makes me feel better and I hope it makes you feel better too.

We've got this, Alyssa.

End