"I was wondering what kind of girl could have botched up a rescue attempt so badly. Now that I know it was you all along, everything makes sense."
"Go away."
Rome runs his nose down the side of my face, smiling at the way I shiver. "After all thes...
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"CALM DOWN," GREASE SAYS. "You'll tear yourself apart trying to get to me."
Shadow Cougar, still enraged from the attack, lunges at him anyways. We slam into the net, only to get electrocuted. Shocks cascade through our muscles. Our vision goes hazy. We tense so hard that our teeth grind together. For one second, I'm back on the grass, hit by Ava's lightning - and the other second, I'm back. I'm exhausted. Shadow Cougar, on the other hand, rises back up on her feet. Growling.
Enough, I tell her. There's no use trying to get out. Stop.
She bares her teeth at Grease, even as our body trembles on the verge of collapse.
"Magnificent," Grease, Rome's arch-enemy, isn't at all disturbed by our threat. He crouches down so that we're face to face. "A beast and a human combined into one. There's intelligence in your eyes. Is the human still in there, listening?"
Shadow Cougar snarls again, the low vibrations of our throat echoing throughout the metallic chamber. Our body is sluggish but our mind is restless. We're trapped, drained off all resources, and in a flying mechanism with one of the most powerful supervillains on the planet. And the only person who knows how to fight him is unconscious.
"If Winifred is in there," Grease's voice, just like the rest of him, is a fusion between iron and flesh. In one beat, he sounds like a robot. In the other, he sounds like a normal man. "I'd like to speak to her."
I need Rome. I peek at him from over Grease's shoulder, but he's a shadow, slumped in the corner. Not moving.
"I have no interest attempting to carry on a one-ended conversation," Grease continues. "I want to speak to your human persona."
Alright, I decide. Step aside.
I reach into our collective body, taking the reins from Shadow Cougar.
She shoves me away.
I reel back from the shock. What are you doing? She's never denied me control of our body before.
"Still shy? That's okay," Grease stands up again, his long shadow falling over our form. "Let me know when you're ready to talk."
On his way out, Grease ruffles Rome's hair. The strands of silver fall in front of face, hiding his eyes. Still unconscious, Rome doesn't react at all. HIs head nods back and forth, swaying with the movement of the air ship. Blood dribbles down his neck.
He's injured. I realize. A head injury.
This is very bad.
We need to get to Rome, I tell her and search our surroundings.
The wings of the metal bird expand and retreat around us, a harmony of bronze and iron clashing against each other. It's still dark. Beneath our body, the floor vibrates. Hums and clicks come from around us. They turn on and off at random movements. It smells like gasoline and oil and everything you'd find in a mechanic's office. The more we try to absorb information, the more our brain turns into mush.
