Shard of Magic [Worm crossover]

by blake0831

Chapter 25

"Hi." Starburst nervously greeted the robed figure in the PRT HQ canteen. "Can I join you?" she asked hopefully as she held into a tray that has a cup of hot English tea and a pastry.

The seated Panacea paused in her nursing of her cup of black coffee, glanced about the half-full room and then looked at the smiling Ward. There was a bout of silence as the two teens stared at each other. Starburst had almost wanted to chicken out when Panacea let out a sigh and said, "Sure. Why not?"

'Okay, now what?' Starburst thought as she sat down next to the healer. She had a notion of wanting to talk to Panacea, to at least cheer her up, or ease whatever mental burden she had. "Um..." She said as she mentally scrambled for something to talk about. "I thought you had left the building right away after the power testing." she inquired. It's has been a few hours after the conclusion of the power testing session. Dr Henderson excused himself to the labs in the building, Armsmaster wordlessly headed out to the Rig to analysis the findings and Dragon disconnected, citing a time-sensitive operation she needs to oversee.

Panacea shrugged, still nursing her hot drink. "Vicky is my ride. She wants to chat with Dean for a bit. She hasn't seen him for three days now." she elaborated before taking a sip.

"Oh." Starburst blinked at the factoid. "Oh, right. They are dating." she blurted out. Why did a part of her got interested in social gossip? Since when?

There was a flash of irritation across Panacea's face that made Starburst tamped down on the odd sudden giddiness at the perhaps juicy gossip.. Maybe she should change the subject?

"Um..." Starburst conversationally groped about blindly. "Speaking of the Wards, do you know Kid Win has finally found out his specialty?" she said in a rush.

Panacea looked at Starburst, one eyebrow quirked. "Oh? He finally figured it out? What is it?" she idly inquired.

Starburst nodded. "Yeah. It was during one of his one-to-one sessions with Armsmaster a few days ago." She leaned in. "He said it was 'modularity'. Pretty much shouted it out, actually."

Panacea blinked. "Modularity? What, like Legos or something?" she said skeptically.

Starburst shrugged. "Maybe?" she said before a sip of her tea. 'Ugh', she thought as she made a face at the taste. "There's a big cannon thing sitting in the Wards workshop now. He built it practically overnight."

Panacea quirked an amused smile at Starburst. "Not a fan of generic cafeteria tea?" she teased.

Starburst shook her head. "Got better stuff at home. Wished I brought a thermos of it today." she wistfully said. "How do you drink coffee that thick and black? I can feel myself being more awake from just the fumes alone." she commented while eyeing Panacea's cup.

Panacea let up s sardonic chuckle. "Handy for after a long day at the hospital." she remarked, before taking another sip.

Starburst fidgeted sightly before stating what just occurred to her. "...do you work a lot at the hospital? Is that why you're so tired and grumpy everytime I see you?"

Panacea glanced at Starburst before turning back to nurse her sup of coffee, frowning. "...the doctors and hospital administrators tried to limit my time there. But I go there when I can't sleep." She took in a breath. "Powers like mine... I shouldn't just not use them. I have to keep helping people..." she muttered to myself sullenly.

"Um..." Starburst looked about awkwardly, sensing that this is a conversational minefield. "Well..." she started. "What do you do to relax? You know, have fun or destress?" she prodded.

Panacea gave Starburst a sideways look. "I read novels a bit." She hesitated, before continuing. "I like flying with Vicky sometimes. When I'm high up in the air..."

Starburst perked up at the opening. "Well, how would you like to fly? On your own?" she asked in a lowered voice.

Panacea turned her body fully to look at the other teen. "Pardon?" She asked, blinking in surprise.

Starburst leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "I don't use that aspect much, but I can temporarily give my powers to other people."

Panacea frowned. "What? Like Othala?" She paused. "And why didn't you use it much? Why now?"

Starburst shrugged. "Because if I do it with something big, like Flight, I'll get exhausted and my energy reserves will be empty. But with the battery test just now, I think I can do it to you without getting knocked onto my ass like I'd run the marathon without any prep." She blinked as a different part of the healer's question registered. "Wait, who's Othala?"

Panacea waved one hand dismissively. "A minor Trump cape in the E88 here. Can temporarily bestow a power to one person at a time, like invincibility, pyrokinesis and regeneration. She only has a fixed number of powers she can give out." She leaned in, her posture showing that she was intrigued. "So, can you give me Flight powers? How long it'll last?"

Starburst thought to herself for a moment. "Roughly about an hour. Maybe an hour and a half. Need to use a battery if I want to really push more power and extend the time." she answered.

"Huh." Panacea sat back thoughtfully. "You know, I might take you up on that, one of these days." she said, with a small genuine smile.

"Great!" Starburst said,a little happy to get an actual smile out of the New Wave cape. "I'll be waiting for when you want to fly."

Panacea chuckled. "I'll hold you to that." she said before taking a sip of her cooling coffee.

"Say," Starburst started as a thought just came to her. "When can we start healing Noelle?"

Panacea shrugged. "The PRT probably want to do some testing first before going ahead. For the time being, Noelle is safe and contained. So, she can wait for a bit-"

She interrupted when a loud alarm suddenly sounded in the cafeteria. Both teen paled as they recognized the distinctive sirens. At the same time, they both dug out their PRT-issued phones and looked at the bright red screens showing the emergency alert message.

Endbringer attack Imminent.

Endbringer: Leviathan

ETA to target zone: 7:32pm

Target Zone: Brockton Bay, New England, USA

Comments

[TheDriderPony]

Oh dear. Who could have possibly foreseen this?

[Spellflame]

Diana