Question Mischief 3: The Remedy for Mischief

Manhattan NY, Saturday morning the day after Thanksgiving. And I wish I could have a breakfast like that spread, yum. Aww, Aunt Brandy still not comfortable with Imp being around Melissa or dating her brother. *sigh* Good for Ryan to come to Imp's defense.

Aunt Brandy looked annoyed at that, and it was all Melissa could do to not blow a raspberry at her. Her aunt glanced at her, and Melissa just sat there, trying to look innocent.

Okay, Melissa has more self-control than I would have in this situation at that age. Telling about her and her friends' training team, plus 'girl time' with Aunt Brandy, hope they have a normal outing for once. *eyes bug out upon Melissa saying those fateful words* Melissa, you don't tempt fate!

Bwahahaha, messing with Aunt Brandy by asking for a 3k necklace for Christmas, priceless. Ouch, asking if Melissa has a boyfriend yet, poor girl, Aunt Brandy stepped into a minefield. Oh boy, letting Aunt Brandy know the Triangle went after Melissa and her friends, I pity those idiots now with how creative she is going to be when she gets ahold of them. Good time to practice awareness of the surroundings and what is going on as any. A guy in a blue hat following them, I wonder who.

Split up and meet back at a set location, hope we aren't dealing with anyone smart enough to counter this. Crud, an ambush and hit with some light that seems to have blocked Melissa from using her powers. A woman in a white uniform which Aunt Brandy calls Remedy, guessing she is behind the power suppression. A client hired Remedy to recover Brandywine alive, who could it be now. Darn, searched and disarmed of every weapon and equipment.

Not hired to take Melissa as well, but keeping her to use as leverage against Brandywine, sickening. And Remedy thinking the other Shielders will come too late to rescue them or capture her, overconfidence is many a villain's downfall.

“The patient Melissa gets the cookie,” she quietly reminded herself.

Nice callback to her swiping cookies from Imp.

Shoot in the legs and then drag them, ugh, talk about a thug mentality. Great, nothing to keep Melissa from being bored out of her mind, big mistake on Remedy's part. Heh, Brandy not wishing to know about the time Melissa met Blue Diamond, keep living in ignorance, it won't help. Nullifier whose powers are especially effective against warpers and psis like Melissa and Brandy, yikes.

Melissa out of her handcuffs followed Imp's advice to always have her lockpicks on her, I'm thinking it will be Imp's training of Melissa that gets them out of this mess. And swiped one of the goon's badges as well, her skills are coming along nicely. Not knowing what the girl she abducted with Brandywine could do was a big mistake on Remedy's part. 1 guard goes down easy to Brandy, she has some skills.

Melissa nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah … Mr. Anderson teaches our class, but sometimes he has Imp teach the escape and evasion stuff cuz she’s really really good at it…”

Aunt Brandy paused for a moment to shake her head in disbelief. “The Imp as a teacher … I still can’t believe it.”

And Mister Mayhem is the buyer, wonder why. A supervillain in it for chaos and destruction, yet took it personally when a superheroine stopped him twice, what a mook. Darn, right when they are about to leave, Brandywine going to hotwire the van, they get spotted. And it is the creep who had the blue hat earlier, firefight happening when their powers aren't working sucks.

Two flat tires on one side, rats. Bwahahaha, Melissa's bag of tricks with Trixie's stinkbombs, that guy is going to be feeling that for a while. No idea where they are in New York, shoot. Melissa trying to hide and sneak away but Brandy just has to stand up and refuse to run away anymore. Ouch, shoot in the back, so glad those kevra jackets and clothes are out there and Melissa got one from Aunt Brandy.

Smoke bomb and sneak away into a shop nearby, nice.

“I’ve got lots of cool stuff,” Melissa bragged excitedly. “Smoke bombs, and stink bombs, and super-duper glue, and lock picks…”

I love her bag of tricks. Darn it! Wait a short while before trying to move, get spotted and Brandy is caught. Running for it, then teleports and kicks one of the goons in the groin, yes! Melissa's powers are back up and running.

And Remedy makes a mistake by forgetting about Brandywine having telekinesis, that goon is going to be feeling that one for a while. A stunner rifle and now it is in Brandywine's hands, goody. Shoot, Remedy has a personal force field, knew it would be easy to take her down. Nullify Brandwine's powers and a full dumpster comes crashing down on Remedy, now that is a way to cause a stalemate.

Take her personal force field belt, get Remedy to surrender, then use Melissa's super glue to bind her hands behind her back. Plus a warning from Brandy to Remedy, she has no idea how close she came to earning the ire of Imp.

“Bwa ha ha ha,” the Imp laughed maniacally. “My Evil Minions will destroy your Feeble Defenders, and soon, I will be the undisputed Impress of the world…”

Just what kind of card game are they playing? Oh, Xombie Horde sounds interesting.

“You should try teaching them sometime,” Imp responded with a smirk.

Aunt Brandy gave the Imp an odd look before wryly commenting, “Those poor poor monsters.”

Even got Ryan involved in the game. I'm curious if Mischief's warping is unknowingly leading her into situations where she is kidnapped or targetted by criminals or bullies.

Ooo, the question of why she went after Polarstorm comes up.

“My tail is part of my spine. When he yanked it, he tore most of the muscles in my tail and lower back, dislocated a lot of the vertebrae, and damaged my spinal cord.” Her expression was grim and serious, which was an expression that Melissa didn’t see from the Imp very often. “It was … excruciating, and if I didn’t have regen, I would have been crippled for life.”

Doing that to her and laughing about it, he got off light imo.

Bwahaha, Melissa playing those two cards and Imp being such a ham about losing. Lollypop Bazooka sounds like a game Wondercute designed. Devil's food cake, yum. Ryan talking about his wife and Melissa's mom, Vivian, to lose her so young.

“And not just from the school,” Aunt Brandy pointed out with a faint scowl. “Her … mentor … has been teaching her things. Things that saved both our lives today.”

Glad to hear her admit it.

“I’m starting to think that maybe … just maybe … your new girlfriend isn’t so bad after all.” However, she quickly added, “But if you ever tell her I said so, I’ll deny it completely…”

Yay! Melissa happy, things have a way of working out after all.

Melissa had been overjoyed to learn that her dad and Imp were dating, and she was even more delighted by the fact that they made each other so happy. Melissa loved seeing her dad happy, because for a long time, he’d been sad and grumpy. Even if Melissa had no other reasons to like the Imp, she would have loved her just for bringing back her dad.

Dang, brought a tear to my eye.

With that, Melissa went into the kitchen to grab her cake. However, her attention was really on her teacher, best friend, and hopefully one day … her new mom.

And a bit of foreshadowing for Gen 2 at the end as well, nice.

I loved this story, seeing all their relationships grow and change, Brandy learning how much Melissa has learned from Imp. It was great to see Melissa using all she learned, being patient, using the tools and skills to free her and Brandy, then taking down Remedy and her men alongside her aunt. Plus Brandy warming up to Imp and all those thoughts which Melissa had at the end. Ryan, Imp, and Melissa make a cute family. I can't wait to read more of Imp, Ryan, Melissa, and Brandy's future adventures and family time.