First Mission

"Welp. Fuck it," I say, standing up from my vantage point overlooking the city.

I guess this is going to be my first mission after all. Well my first chosen mission. I've sat on the sidelines willingly. Where it was comfy. Safe. But I am too bad ass to play it safe.

But a bad ass still needs to asses the situation.

I take a minute to center myself and harness inspiration. Today, I feel like channeling Yelena, my current fave hero and girl-crush.

Calm. Methodical. Lethal. Gorgeous.

Yet.

Soft.

"I don't remember Yelena ever having to turn into a Kaiju but okie dokie.."

There was no way around it. I can do SO MANY things. And, honestly, I was hoping to keep it more low key for my first mission. Maybe I'd ask a tree to help me get a kitten out of their branches. OK they would have totally roasted for that. So lame.

Instead. Here I am. Faced with a seemingly evil sentient super nova who had already leveled three burrito places.

I have no choice. No one messes with burritos.

And the other guys have been shooting and punching for the better part of an hour with no end insight. The being just seemed...annoyed. And wobbly.

"Kaiju it is then," I say as I draw my focus inwards.

But which one?

I don't need to channel my version of the G-man for this one. Too much.

Ah yes. Calm. Methodical.

Yet.

Soft. Gentle.

I take a deep breath in.

I already see the lightning particles swirling. That's not a technical term. That's just what I call them. Little lighting flickers, Cosmic crackles and sparks as my magic wakes up.

It doesn't take over. I don't control it. It's a part of me.

An ancient, celestial version of me awakens. I like to think of her as an ancestor, or a past life. The point is...it's not about control. Or even wielding anything. It's about working together. Figuring it out.

And right now I am watching her figure out what kind of Kaiju is the right woman for the job.

The mini lightning flashes a subtle orange and I gasp, "I like it!"

The lightning swirls in triumph.

"Oh! What about some wing action? It's been forever since I've flown"

The lightning multiplies instantly, and there is a hum in the air. Almost a little dance beat.

"C'mon baby show 'em what you working with," I hum as embers made of rubies, garnet and tiger's eye join the dance, the sparks taking on a more sequin look.

"Noice!" I exclaim right before it happens.

A rose golden purple glow envelopes me as I feel my body bend and stretch. There is no pain. No fear. No inner turmoil. No need. I contain multitudes and milky ways. This is simply one of those forms.

"There is peace in not hiding any more," she whispers, reminds me, as I feel the jeweled embers and orange sequins merge with the purple glow. Things really pick up now. It's pretty awesome to watch, actually. It's not always a spectacle, but catching their attention is mission critical. The angry gray orb radiating red lasers is definitely giving off big bad vibes. But this doesn't feel like a three-episode story arc to me. Or her.

No. Something else is going on here.

File this next sentence under "for lack of several better terms" but usually part of the "solution" my "friend" and I come up with involves something so simple, it's almost silly.

It's understanding. Making someome feel seen, asking a few questions, can prevent a lot of property damage! Not everyone is bent on world domination and/or destruction. Which, by the way, is mostly a HUMAN concept. You have no idea how many beings literally get lost on their way home and end up here. Earth is like the Waffle House of the cosmos! It happens all the time. But most of Earth's superheroes would rather space laser sword a dude first and ask questions later.

"Not our style" our two voices say in unison, smiling as the final transformations take place.

In the same breath I know who I am.

"Hot damn!" I giggle.

When I transform like this, when the situation calls for it, the final stages take place like an out of body experience. I can see what I am turning into as it happens. Every detail. The intuition kicks into over drive and we start to see the situation for what it is. That is actually what fuels the final stages. There's some things to figure out on the fly, but our intuition guides the situation and the solution.

And today's "solution" is a butterfly Kaiju with an orange sequined body, giant tiger eyes for, well eyes, amber antennae, and flaming ruby encrusted wings spanning a good thousand feet.

Just like I thought. The fray has halted and all eyes are on me. I slowly and indulgently flap my wings once, twice, three times, giggling as even the being's red death lasers seem to be following the movement. The JV-Squad members sent to deal with it follow the motion too. Most are frozen, but some are trying to muster the gumption to intervene. But they won't. They won't know why. They just....won't.

Being a Witch is so bad ass.

I flap my wings faster and faster until I can feel them carry me towards the creature who seems to be laser (pun intended) focused on me.

"Good," we think.

As I get closer, that hum, the beat I heard earlier gets more intense. Louder.

"Oh I thought that was you!" I say to the other me. "But that's coming from it!"

The angry orb of energy is radiating some kind of sound. Music. For lack of a better term.

The back story is starting to take shape. The random movements of the being. The general hostility. The music. The burritos.

I pick up the pace.

"Just need to confirm one more thing."

I squint my tiger eyes and I try to pick up on the energy. The creature's aura. So much of what we are remains in what can't be seen. I try to carry that understanding with me on this new, long awaited adventure.

Back to the matter at hand. Focus up. l think I see it. Yes! There is it. It's foreign. Very foreign.

"It's an angry hornet's nest of energy of course it's foreign," my Ego snaps, an attempt to intervene. I ignore it.

This is a job for Cosmic and Me.

I focus harder. Yep! Its aura! If you know how to spot it, read it, an aura can tell you so much about the emotional state of a creature. And the emotional state of this creature is....

Drunk. Very, very drunk

More importantly drunk and looking for a fight. And a burrito.

It all snaps into place. Like it usually does. What happened. What's happening. What needs to happen next.

Like I said, being a Witch is bad ass.

With a few more flaps of my wings I am close enough to the being to communicate.

"How?" you may ask.

The honest answer is, I just do.

That is 100% lazy story telling but it's 100% the story. It goes back to everything being energy. If you can read the energy, you can communicate.

"Hey there sweetheart," I "say" to the creature. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the JV squad looking on. "What's going on love?"

Silence. Confusion.

Confused. Drunk. Angry. Hungry. Not a good combo.

"Don't worry. I not here to shoot at you like those guys," I say motioning my antennae towards the four guys in Lycra unitards of varying designs.

"They mean well, trust me. But obviously their method of resolving this isn't helping, so I thought I might try. Do you want to talk?"

Immediately the creature turns the hottest of fuchsias as a cacophony of noise emits from it. To the others it must sound like the air being let out of a meteor-sized balloon, but I hear the story, the anguish and the answer in the barrage of high pitch squeals. I listen. And listen. And listen.

"That asshole!" I exclaim when I can finally get a word in.

The squealing kicks up an octave and I almost have to cover my Kaiju ears. It must be deafening on the ground. I swirl in another protection spell to soften the sound for my human and non-human friends.

"Look honey, I get it. And I hope he gets sucked into a interdimensional rift, but it's time for the party to end. You don't want to be a messy Queen. This isn't you. Go home. Eat some greasy asteroids or whatever and sleep it off. You'll feel better in a few hours."

The wailing ceases and the fuchsia goes from hot to a sea of silk.

"See? You're gonna be just fine. He doesn't deserve you anyway! Gimme a hug and call me if you need anything."

The being glides closer into my waiting wings.

"Let's get you home safe," I whisper to it. I close my eyes, focusing again as I figure out the best mode of transport. "Got it," I conclude. "Hold on girl."

I command my ruby wings, still embracing the being, to vibrate, tuning into the frequency of the creature's home. In a few seconds, it's gone.

"Lovely! Bye new friend!" Cosmic and I exclaim as we turn to fly away.

"Hey!" I hear. Oh, right. They still won't try to fight me, but they will have questions.

I turn my fuzzy orange butterfly sparkling Kaiju head to see one of the JV-squad, who apparently has the powers or equipment, and the balls, to zoom up here to talk to me. I can at least acknowledge him.

"What?" I say telepathically. First, it's easier. Second, I can talk to his buddies at the same time. Nothing gets lost in translation.

And I bet it made at least one of them shit their pants.

"How are you in my head?" the one who volunteered as tribute yells.

"It's just telepathic communication. I am not harming you. It's not that deep."

"Sounds like something someone that is trying to harm you with telepathic communication would say?" he stammers.

I gently sigh and start to turn away. It's not out of frustration. Sometimes walking (or flying) away is truly the best course of action.

"Wait! You owe us an explanation! How the hell did you do that? What even was that? And who even are you?! I want answers, dammit!"

I gently sigh and turn back to Crankypants McGee.

"That was an interdimensional terraforming quantum super nova that happens to be going to through a bad breakup."

JV stares blankly. Mouth wide open.

"His boyfriend cheated on him and he went out with some Shes, Gays and Theys to blow off some steam. One thing lead to another and he ended up here, very drunk and looking for food. But don't worry I took care of it. Bye now."

"Wait! What about what it did? All this damage?" he demands.

"Y'all engaged with an unknown intergalactic being radiating red lasers by SHOOTING at it. That is NOT on me. And quite, frankly, not on Andreas either for that matter. He got lost."

"Who the hell is Andreas?!"

"The drunk interdimensional terraforming quantum super nova that happens to be going to through a bad breakup."

"What were we supposed to do!?" he calls out as I start to fly away again. Training these guys on how to be better superheroes is not in my job description. But I hear one more question before I tune him out completely.

"And who the hell are you?"

"Fuck it," I mutter under my breath.

"Fran," I say happily, and telepathically. "Cosmic Fran."