#visala

“You’re late.”

Maka flinched, slowly turning to face the inevitable cold eyes and crossed arms. Delphi usually wasn’t one to be mad about curfew; it was usually Maka who got worried when Delphi didn’t come home. However, she couldn’t blame her for being mad. Who wouldn’t be mad when their best friend kept fighting crime even when she was supposed to be relaxing in their joint apartment?

“You are supposed to be taking a break from being a superhero to focus on your mental health,” Delphi sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “What good is Andromeda to the city when she hasn’t had enough sleep to fly properly?”

“It’s not that late,” Maka argued weakly.

“It’s 2:30 am.”

Her words died in her throat. The only sound was the distant honking of the city from the window in between them.

Delphi slowly uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to Maka. “You need to trust that the others will watch the city for a few days without you. We’re a team for a reason-”

“And I’m the leader!” Maka cried, beginning to pace back and forth. “What good is a leader if she’s not there?” Delphi put her arm out to halt the pacing. “She’s a leader who trusts her teammates,” She answered. Maka froze, before tilting her head down.

“...Get some rest.” Delphi finally said, gently leading Maka to her bed. “You can rejoin the group tomorrow night, if you sleep now.”

-

“You didn’t get enough sleep, did you?”

Maka grumpily tossed off her coat. Whose idea was it to have buttons on her uniform? Oh right, hers. She fumbled for a few moments before looking up at the disapproving face of Delphi’s alter ego, The Oracle.

“You ready to be back in the field? It’s been a whole 24 hours,” Delphi joked, bumping Maka on the hip as she finally got her uniform on.

“Definitely. I feel bad sitting around not doing anything,” Maka answered, zipping up her boots, grabbing her bo staff, and climbing up the fire escape to the roof of their apartment complex. “Anything on the itinerary or is this just a routine watch?”

“I think the others spotted Sagittaria having a meeting with her second-in-command. We should go check it out.” Delphi grabbed Maka’s hand as Maka took flight. While it was not Maka’s only power, flight was more convenient than taking an Uber, and Maka was grateful she had it.

As the two approached the warehouse, Maka set Delphi down and surveyed the scene. “We shouldn’t make a move just yet. There could be more than just her higher ups, and you could get hurt.”

“Me? What about you?”

“I can defend myself. I have actual fighting powers.”

Delphi whipped her face around, expression contorted into anger. “That’s a stupid excuse and you know it!”

“Listen, we only know that they’re in there, and nothing else. I’m just saying if we’re going to act we should be on the defensive.”

“We have the element of surprise, you ding dong! We could just--”

A stray bullet ricocheted off the wall less than a foot away from her. The two looked up, only to see the wicked grin of Sagittaria, their most prominent foe with the ability to kill anything she touched.

“Well, isn’t this interesting. Two of the Galaxy Girls, all by themselves. Where’s the rest of your little clique?” the villainess drawled, slowly walking towards them.

“We don’t need them,” Maka responded, ignoring the glare Delphi gave her. “We can take you on by ourselves!”

“Can you?” Sagittaria sneered, snapping her fingers. Two large and imposing men, one wearing a leather jacket and the other in glasses, stepped out from behind her, preparing for a fight.

“Oh great,” Delphi muttered, crouching into a fighting pose and pulling out her stun gun, while Maka tightened her grip on the staff. “Just follow my lead,” Delphi murmured to her partner, before ducking under the legs of the man with glasses, despite Maka’s call of “Wait a second!”

Maka cursed under her breath, then charged the second guard. Per their usual tactics, since Delphi used her speed to take out less powerful enemies while Maka would tackle the bigger and tougher foes, thus allowing them to do more work in less time. The jacketed man blocked her first strike with his forearm, before she swung back around and used the bo staff as a pole vault to get behind him. The staff clearly wasn’t going to hurt him, so Maka switched tactics, kicking him in the face. However, Maka realized, she was not feeling well enough to properly fend him off. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep after all. And she was so engrossed in her problem that she didn’t hear the cry of alarm before it was too late.

By the time Maka had looked over her shoulder, Delphi had been pinned down by the other man. Maka sprinted over and threw a punch, but she quickly realized she was too weak to get him off of Delphi.

If only she had worried about what could go wrong even when she was there.

In her moment of shock, the leather jacket man Maka knocked her aside, sending her into a nearby wall. She got back up, ready to fight, only to see Delphi’s pleading eyes.

“Go!” she cried. “I’ll be okay, just go get help!”

Maka shook her head. “I can’t leave you! Not when I know I can help!”

“Listen!” Delphi called. “Listen to me. I will be ok. Go!”

With one last look, she turned around, used her staff to break open a nearby window, and left the warehouse, tears flowing down her cheeks.

-

“And now you’re here,” Ruby finished. She, along with the other 4 that made up their team, were sitting around Maka’s couch back at her apartment after Maka had abruptly called an emergency meeting to explain the situation.

“Sagittaria can kill anything she touches. Delphi could be dead for all I know!” Maka was pacing around the room. “I need to go after her as soon as possible.”

“What you need is more rest,” said Alina. She was gently maneuvering water around the kitchen, preparing tea for the stressed leader. “You can’t help anyone without proper sleep.”

“I can’t help Delphi while I’m asleep either!” Maka cried, dropping her head into her hands. “I can’t take it, I’m going after her.”

“And what will happen if you go in? You get caught too?” Visala replied, beginning to don her Sunset Rose uniform. “Why don’t you let us handle this?”

“Because it’s my fault!”

The other girls in the room stopped, slowly turning to Maka.

“It’s my fault she was captured. I wasn’t strong or fast enough. I didn’t listen to her plan. I just did what I thought was right -And look where it got me.”

“So… your plan is to do the exact same thing again?” Xia piped up, not looking away from her phone.

“No, my plan is to do what Delphi initially suggested: Use the element of surprise.”

The girls shared a glance between one another, before Jalene, the quietest of the group, spoke up.

“Stealth missions are best with only one or two people, but we’ll wait for you on the outside in case you get spotted. I’m glad you’re going to try to listen to other people for once instead of getting your butt kicked in order to prevent the rest of us from getting hurt.”

“Thanks,” Maka replied sarcastically, picking her bo staff off the ground and turning towards the fire escape. “Let’s go save our friend.”

-

“This is Jalene, I have visual on the facility. Maka? Can you hear me?”

“Copy.”

“Go left, the building is a circle and there’s fewer guards there.”

“Got it.”

Maka had to admit: This was a lot easier when you had 5 people out front helping you.

After Jalene had managed to locate the floor plan by hacking into the computers at Sagittaria’s base, she brought her computer so they could help Maka track down where Delphi was probably being kept. It was unlikely Sagittaria would pass up an opportunity to use Delphi as a hostage.

Maka carefully walked down the corridor, making sure to avoid running, as her boots would cause too much sound. After a few minutes, she came across a set of doors guarded by 3 men. “Now what?” She whispered into her mouthpiece.

“I think that’s the holding cell, give me a minute. I’m gonna try something.”

Maka heard a few clicks on Jalene’s computer, before her voice was heard over a nearby loudspeaker. “Oi, you three, the boss wants you to help unload some cargo.”

“And who is this?” One of the guards asked.

“Uh….” Maka could hear Jalene freeze up. She wasn’t good with improvising.

Luckily, Ruby had picked up the microphone. “This is Mrs. Natas, secretary to Sagitarria. If you want to not die, I suggest you do as we say. Thank you!”

Ruby hung up (probably to hide her laughter), and the guards slowly shuffled off, muttering to each other “Is she new?”

When the men had cleared, Maka ran up to the abandoned gate, where Delphi was quietly giggling. “Sevil Natas? Really?”

“You know that’s Ruby’s favorite pseudonym,” Maka laughed, striking her bo staff down on the lock, shattering it. Delphi stepped out of the cell, before hugging Maka fiercely.

“Thanks for coming back,” She muttered, burying her face into Maka’s arms.

“Did you think I wasn’t going to?” Maka asked, wrapping tighter around the shorter girl.

“No, but I expected you to come alone and get your butt kicked.”

“Gee, thanks, I’m glad my team has a love of roasting me in common.”

“You’re welcome!” Delphi chirped, letting go of Maka and turning around to survey the surroundings. “So, which way?”

“Back into your cell.”

The two whipped around, seeing Sagittaria standing behind them, murder on her face.

“I’m getting a sense of deja vu,” Maka muttered.

Sagittaria motioned to the various guards surrounding her, who formed a circle around the two. “I had planned on holding you ransom, but it seems that your presence here gave me exactly what I needed!” she cackled.

Delphi and Maka stood back to back; Maka had her staff raised, while Delphi kept her hands at her sides.

“Lower your weapon,” said Delphi.

Maka flipped her head around. “What?”

“Lower your weapon; we’re outnumbered.”

Maka slowly met Delphi’s eyes, noticing a familiar glint in her eyes.

“Trust me,” Delphi said, her voice calm and firm.

Maka knew that the plan Delphi had was much better than fighting. It was a plan Maka had suggested when they first worked together, all those years ago. Back when they trusted each other. Back when their relationship wasn’t so lopsided.

Maybe it’s time to go back to that, she mused.

Slowly, Maka lowered her weapon, to the delight of Sagittaria. However, before she or her men could act, Delphi raised her arms, a faint purple hue emanating from her fingertips. A familiar feeling washed over Maka, prickling her nerves, as time slowed to an immediate halt for all but the two of them. Her hair began to defy gravity as Delphi strained under the immense effort her power forced from her.

While Delphi did not have powers that helped in a fight, that didn’t mean her powers weren’t awesome.

Letting her flying powers kick in, Maka grabbed Delphi by the shoulders, and floated the two of them further down the hallway, until the supervillain was out of sight, when the two dropped their powers simultaneously.

“Run!” Delphi harshly whispered, and the two bolted out the building while Sagittaria called from behind them, “Where are they!? Where did they go!?”

The two girls began to giggle, their laughs of delight following them out the building where the others were waiting.

“There you are! We thought something happened when Maka stopped responding,” Alina said, jogging over to hug Delphi. “Welcome back!”

“Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done it without you. All of you,” Maka said, turning to the team.

“Especially me,” Delphi muttered.

Maka coughed. “Yes, especially you.” The others laughed.

“So now what, team leader? We gonna go in and finish the job?” Xia asked, cracking her knuckles, clearly anticipating an affirmative.

Instead, Maka turned back to the building, sighing, and shaking her head.