They waved as they lifted off and Aurora’s arms encircled Sarah securely as her wings beat and they rocketed high up above.  Once they were high above the school,she started speaking more casually to Sarah as they glided towards her home leisurely. She knew they had more than enough time.  The bus took around an hour before it reached her stop.

 

“So, how have you been? Are you holding up alright after what happened to you?” She smiled as she innocuously asked.

 

Sarah frowned and looked up into her face.  “Ah, you know… it could be better,” she said, snuggling into her arms more.

 

“Do tell.” She murmured, hugging her gently. “If you feel comfortable with doing so, that is.”

 

Sarah spoke immediately, “My parents don’t let me out enough, and when I go out they rag on me the moment I get home.  I try to sneak out sometimes, but then I get caught, and then I get a ‘talking to,’” she sighed.

 

“Is it just limited to unpleasant conversations?” Aurora poked gently.  She peered around for a good place to settle down, and spotted a park and decided to spiral downwards to it.  It seemed deserted and private enough right now.

 

Sarah broke the long silence. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.” She shook her head softly. “You know my friend, Leona, right?” Aurora set down and put Sarah down, looking into her eyes.

 

“That’s true.  Causing trouble isn’t ever a good idea… well it isn’t usually,” she adjusted what she said.  “This is why I’m here to talk with you.  I owed you a more pleasant flight than our past ones have been. They’ve been full of drama and the last time you were malnourished and hurt by Padua.  But it’s also because Leona is worried for your well-being.” She looked into her eyes. “Do you feel like you can be completely honest with me? I respect you even if you say no.”

 

Sarah hesitated a moment, but took a deep breath and looked around. “I… I guess…”

 

At that moment, Aurora’s communicator bleeped again.

 

Damn…  She put her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and pulled her towards a nearby bench.  They walked and she wrapped a wing around her now that she knew they were polydactyl when she put her mind to it… well, that may not be the best word for it, but she could scoop someone in a poof of snuggly soft feathers.

 

“Relax for a moment here, Sarah.”  She pulled her card out while Sarah happily snuggled against her silky soft wing, looking happy and cozy.

 

She stammered cutely. “Y-you make me a little nervous.” And then she fidgeted, adding to the effect.

 

Aurora licked her lips and then read the screen and her eyes widened.  OH CRAP!

Robots in midtown, 911.

 

It was a general emergency bulletin, but even so, this was very bad.  Suddenly, her communicator beeped again, and a message from Kirby followed the general broadcasting.

 

She looked down at Sarah with a sad expression.  Her plans had been wrecked positively.  She still had a smidge of time, but not much considering how bad the situation was. If these robots were anything like the last one had been, this was an unprecedented crisis.

 

“Duty calls.” She looked into Sarah’s eyes, sighing again. “But we need to get you home right away.  There’s no need to be nervous, Sarah. Something serious is happening, and I’ll protect you as best I can. Stay at home until you hear some explosions nearby… and then, I’m not sure what you should do.”

 

Sarah’s eyes widened in alarm.  Aurora scooped the frightened girl in her arms and squoze her tightly.  “You’re Leona’s special friend, and she’s my good friend, so if you’re in trouble you can call Leona and she’ll let me know.  But I need to talk to you about something else.” She scooped Sarah into her arms and charged off into the sky again, bolting for her house.  “If your parents are hurting you in any way. If you think they’re abusing you in a way that isn’t acceptable, talk to leona. Tell her. You can confide in her. I urge you to break silence if things are bad, but if you’re fine I’ll trust you and she will too.  She loves you deeply.  I know it’s hard to be honest sometimes.”

 

She thought about her playing hooky and still was guilty.  “Leona knows what it’s like to have an abusive parent. She told me all about that.  Despite everything, she loved her father dearly… even after what he did to her in the end.  She was taken away from him and then she came to understand that he was a deeply flawed man,” he paused as she neared Sarah’s home.  “Just know that if you need support, you’ll have a home with her and her mother. They have room for you.”

 

She set Sarah down on the grass of a neighbor’s yard and looked into her arms.

 

Leona’s girlfriend was blushing softly and squirming. “I’m sorry…. You don’t make me nervous, really. It’s just… when you’re around, sometimes… I find it hard to think only of Leona.  It’s like… when you’re close to me, I feel the same thing as when I think about her…” she said and sighed worriedly.

 

Aurora swallowed softly, wondering if Sarah was at the edge of guessing her secret.  Her words prodded her and made her even more guilty.

 

“It’s perfectly fine and normal to be attracted to girls.” Aurora laughed gently. She wondered if Sarah had heard most of the speech she thought up on the fly. Probably she had, but she’d changed the subject.

 

“Anyhow, If you like girls, my assets are a bit hard to miss.” Aurora joked as she lifted off, looking down.

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Sarah gaped and looked up at her and yelled a response. “I’ll tell Leona when I can, how I feel. I promise.” She turned to her house as Aurora flitted higher away.  “But please don't tell her anything! It took me a while to accept myself and now… I…” She stopped and Aurora paused midair.  “It’s like I imagined… I want to be with her. Just when you hold me, it’s like I imagined it’d be with her… and it makes me feel… nice.”

 

Aurora sighed and lowered so she wouldn’t have to yell.  She looked into the girl’s eyes and read things into what she was saying.  But it was also about what she implied.  Wasn’t it good enough? Didn’t they cuddle enough? Was it because she still had a boy’s thing between her legs?  She wasn’t sure if she was reading too much into this, but she flitted over Sarah and touched her cheek as she ran back.  

 

“Sweetheart, I’m a little too old for you. But I’m very flattered that you feel so safe with me. I’ll give you another ride sometime. I promise. Hopefully, the world won’t come crashing in on us when it happens,” she said with a wry twisting of her lips. “Take care of yourself, and lean on Leona if you need support. She can relate to you and your situation.  Okay… this is really goodbye this time… not forever, but the city’s facing a huge threat.  Be safe.” She didn’t hesitate as she flashed into the sky.

 

She headed downtown at full speed, thinking.  Leona hadn’t talked much about her past with her father, wanting to keep things light even though she could relate to Sarah if she had told her more.  She’s certainly implied, but she hadn’t gone into too many details.

 

When she arrived, she saw the threat.  She expected more robots like the ones before, but these were…

 

They were…

 

Large, fifteen-foot versions of the ones she’d fought on Glass Bridge that morning.  They were similarly retro in style, but these had clear domes over electronics and spindly limbs.  But there were…

 

Ten of them.  Three had hooks for their left hands and three were equipped with wrecking balls.  Two others had scoops and the other two had projectile weapons and they were laying waste to the buildings of San Isidro.

 

She’d heard about the Gravitas incident where her mother had died, but was this situation less dire?

 

Groaning, she counted them again to make sure.  What the HELL? What would be the most effective weapon against these things?  Her brain practically froze when she created a huge buster-style broadsword.  In a way, it was experimentation, but her panicking might have robbed her of some sense.

 

She charged in to do battle with the robots.  Her eyes panned over the battlefield and she focused on the closest, a scoop-type.  When she was in range, it swung its other pincer-like limb at her and she lifted the sword to block the attack.  The light blade cut slightly into the metal of its hand as she blocked its swipe.  Pulling back, an antenna rose from its shoulder as it swung again with the same arm, but when it swiped close, she thrust her wings and managed to slip by the passing hunk of metal.

 

These robots surely came from the same source as the previous one.  But the worst thing was these were clearly faster and stronger to boot!

 

She considered the antenna that had appeared when she attacked this one.  Perhaps it was how they were being remotely operated, or were they being piloted? Disabling them one by one might be more trouble than going after the source of the signal might be.  She let her broadsword experiment dissipate and flitted higher, using a nearby building for cover.  She circled around it, but instead used it to screen her movements.  She’d get it from behind and make for its shoulder and see if she could do some damage.

 

Aurora concentrated and as she made her way around she created a massive hammer of light.  When it was suitably large for the job, she rushed around the corner and flashed towards the scoop-handed retro robot.  As she neared it, it started to emanate a strange pinkish aura.  It built up around the antenna and faster than she could reach it, it struck her with a powerful force.

 

Aurora went flying past the building.  It actually hurt.  She slammed into the pavement. Glass shattered around her as she shook her head to recover.  Maybe it was the opposite of what she’d suspected.  It wasn’t a weak point as much as a turret of some sort.  She’d charged headfirst into a cannon.

 

This fight would be tougher than any of the other opponents she’d fought.  She got to her feet and flitted up towards it again. Gritting her teeth, she formed her construct again into a form of a drill which had been pretty effective in the past.  She zipped around it and got behind it using her greater agility.  Deciding to put a huge hole through the robot she charged straight at it.  The drill head struck the back and she began drilling through.  It flailed and warbled as she forced her way through.  The shoulder cannon trained on her and shot.  She flitted around and charged directly at its front and attacked the opposite side and started drilling through its frame.  It flailed its limbs at her and she raised her shield to max.  It struck and as it impacted, the armor started to redden and it turned incandescent.  In moments, she pierced its chassis and the hole widened more and more as she powered directly through it.

 

When she flitted through, her wings folding backwards so she’d fit through the hole she created, she turned and saw sparking and smoke inside the hole she left behind.  A moment later, a fire started and its lights flashed and then winked out.  It fell forward towards the street and Aurora spotted a car with people in it nearby where it would land.  What sensible people would remain in a crisis zone?

 

She created a hook with her halo power and caught its inside through the hole as it fell.  She guided it towards an empty section of the road.  She managed to ease it down, but another robot had neared her position and it blasted her with its shoulder-mounted antenna cannon.  Aurora went flying again at a building.  She spread her wings and just barely stopped before she’d crash through its windows.

 

Aurora took a deep breath and knew that the job was possible to complete, but it would take a great deal of effort and attention.  So many iffy factors posed problems.  How long before someone got hurt in the fight like her mother had? Would she eventually fail to protect the lingering people below?  She cursed and flipped her card out and called for help.

 

The SoS’s card’s primary function was to allow the calling of other heroes to support them in a huge crisis.  She’d never felt compelled to call on others, but this situation warranted it.

 

Her first instinct was to call Mistral, her love.  When she tried, she found that she wasn’t able to raise a signal.  The card had never been out of service ever since she’d received it.  Calling the Society of Sentinels for support was off the table.  She was on her own.  She tapped at it in frustration, gritting her teeth, but making the situation worse, a maniacal voice rang out with a tinny quality like through an old intercom system.

 

It was more than loud enough or the people in the city around downtown to hear.

 

“Foolish hero! You won’t find any help on the radio waves! I expected this! This city belongs now to Mr. Mechanical! Surrender to me now, and I will order my robots to cease the destruction of your city. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

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