Who's that Girl? (Alpha)

He still wasn't asking her any questions. Still, Damian seemed to like her, which was a good thing. It was enough to cool her annoyance. He said that she was a kind and understanding person. Honestly, nobody had ever said that to her before. She felt a few tears forming in her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly.

"You don't know anything about me, but I guess that's fine. There's not too much to tell, really." It did make her happy to hear him say that people would eventually come to love her, but she would have been more comforted if he was saying it about Jemmy, not about Grace. As strange as it might sound, Jemmy was starting to feel jealous of Grace. Even without doing anything, Grace made friends with ease.

And then he showed up.

Jemmy's eyes opened wide as she saw a man approaching. He wore a fedora and a trench coat, but his most striking feature was his face. He didn't have one. Instead, a permanent shadow lingered, hiding his expression from the world.

Not now. Why did he have to show up now? Jemmy stumbled out of her chair, backing away from the ominous figure that approached. This was The Hat, an agent of Order who had been sent to kill Shivering Jemmy.

"Did you think you could fool me?"

Jemmy looked to Damian. "Hero time. Help, please."

The Hat pulled out a dart and threw it at Jemmy. It had anti-magic properties, so whatever it hit would lose a vast amount of magical power. Jemmy threw up her arms and hoped that Damian blocked it for her.

Jemmy sighed, relieved. Those darts hurt, bad. Fortunately, Damian had managed to catch it with his gauntlet, so he shouldn't have been injured.

But then the gauntlet disappeared, and Jemmy started to panic again. The Hat could infuse his darts with anti-magic. Magic disappeared when it got close to the stuff, and that included Jemmy's powers and Damian's gauntlet. Jemmy didn't know how well Damian could fight without his gauntlet, but she would soon find out.

Maybe she could just teleport away. But that would require returning to her true form. She didn't want Damian to know she had been lying to him. Then he would hate her forever. This was a tense situation, and she didn't know what to do.

The Hat laughed. "So, Shivering Jemmy, you've tricked this poor young man into defending you. He was the one you were trying to fool. Well, I have no thirst for innocent blood. Let us allow him to make an informed decision."

There was a pulse of anti-magic energy, just enough to remove Jemmy's disguise. In an instant, she was transformed back into a 10 year old girl with yellow hair and orange eyes. Her outfit changed to a simple blue dress, and a red balloon appeared in one of her hands. Jemmy looked at Damian, horrified.

"Whoever you thought this was, she isn't," The Hat said. "This is Shivering Jemmy, a Lord of Chaos. She has been responsible for bloodshed and destruction, killing countless people over the years. She is a monster, and the world will be better without her. Is this someone you wish to defend?"

Maybe Jemmy could pretend to be shocked by her current form. She could claim that The Hat had transformed her into some strange person that she did not know or resemble. A moment later, though, such lies became unnecessary. Damian decided to defend her anyways, even though she had lied to him. Even though he knew what she was and vaguely what she was guilty of.

Jemmy still didn't teleport away. She remembered the last time The Hat had hunted her. He had always managed to find her, no matter how far she had gone. If she teleported now, The Hat would find her, but Damian wouldn't. There was no reason to leave the one person willing to defend her right now. Maybe here, together, and in public, they would stand a chance.

"You got this, Damian. Show him what's what!" There, she had helped, right? She had encouraged him.

The Hat snickered as Damian attempted to recall his gauntlet. "Even an alien invasion can't turn you against her. Humans are certainly odd creatures. You defend your very tormentors. I'm glad I am no longer numbered among such a pathetic race."

With that, The Hat split into three versions of himself. They all looked the same, and had the same abilities. As long as one of them survived, The Hat would survive. All three Hats pulled out an anti-magic dart. It was becoming clear that The Hat simply cheated at life.

"No. Looks like we're going to die," Jemmy said. Reaching out, she touched the table where she had been eating. A moment later, Jemmy, her balloon, and the table disappeared. They teleported ten feet above the Hat that stood in the center. The table fell on top of the man, knocking him to the ground but not knocking him out. Jemmy and her balloon stayed floating in the air.

While his other remaining counterpart turned to deal with Jemmy, one of the Hats threw an anti-magic dart at Damian.

As Damian rushed towards the First Hat, the man would pull a knife out of his coat. He brought up his left forearm to knock Damian's arm (and the dart) to the side. The dart still managed to scratch his neck, however, and he grunted at the sting. A thin line of blood formed on the side of this Hat's neck. In retaliation, the first Hat slashed his dagger at the young hero. He would follow up with a front kick aimed at Damian's stomach.

The Third Hat threw a dart at Jemmy. It hit her in the side, and blood started dampening her dress. Jemmy winced. She wasn't used to things actually being able to hurt her. She fell onto the table, to the annoyance of the Second Hat, who was still underneath it.

She looked up at the Third Hat, who was now also holding a dagger, thickly covered in anti-magic. He brought his weapon down, and Jemmy threw up an arm. A moment later, her arm had been cut off at the elbow.

Jemmy let out a shriek. Never had she been injured so deeply. This...this wasn't fun. She didn't want to do this anymore. She just wanted to escape and survive, but her teleportation wasn't working right now.

Before the Third Hat could attack again, Jemmy's balloon lashed out with its ribbon, which stabbed into the man's eye like a thin steel blade. Blood was everywhere now, coming from Jemmy's missing arm and the Third Hat's eye. In pain, the Third Hat cut the ribbon with his dagger. The balloon bounced in the air, as though it was in agony.

The Third Hat ended up tripping and landed hard on the ground, still grasping as his eye. Jemmy looked over at Damian, struggling to stay awake. Her vision was getting blurry. So this was what it was like to be mortal. It was terrifying. She was in no condition to fight, and her balloon was hurt. Only Damian could save her now, and he didn't seem to be doing well himself.

The First Hat's face was still only a shadow, showing nothing human. "A little girl? Haven't you been paying attention? She is the furthest thing from a little girl. Of course I have no shame using this power. When the mouse finds a way to hunt the cat, it will not show mercy. I cannot let you interfere."

The Hat ran at Damian, stabbing the dagger at the boy's chest. "Your life is a necessary sacrifice!"

As they struggled, the Second Hat wormed his way out from beneath the table. He dusted himself off before turning his attention to the ongoing fight. First Hat didn't need to win. He simply needed to keep Damian busy while Second Hat killed the now defenseless Jemmy.

Jemmy, however, was on the move. It was a slow move, but a move it was. She was reaching inside a purse on the ground. It had been part of her Grace disguise, and had come in handy for carrying money. There was something else in here that she needed right now. If she could just...

"I suppose it goes without saying that you can't pay me off," Second Hat said, raising his dagger above her.

Jemmy pulled a can of pepper spray out of her purse and shot it into the Hat's shadowy face. The Hat covered the area you would expect to find his eyes in, and cried out more in annoyance than pain.

First Hat managed to break free from Damian's grasp, but a sense of doom soon overtook him. The anti-magic field on Damian's gauntlet had run dry, and the gauntlet re-materialized around the hero's hand. Damian's powers were back, in full strength.

First Hat was worried as Damian boosted his gauntlet. It was obviously something rather powerful. Of course, he could cancel out all super powers in the area, but that required more time than he had. Damian was already picking him up by his shirt, ready to punch his lights out. He had dropped his dagger in their scuffle, so he had no weapon in his hands now. First Hat reached a quick hand inside his trench coat, pulling out a small pistol. He aimed it at Damian's face, but the punch came too quickly, knocking the Agent of Order out cold.

A second later, both the first and third Hat disappeared.

The Second Hat realized that the battle was lost, and ran off into a crowd, still pressing his hands to his face. He would be patient, and strike when the little Lord of Chaos was alone.

Jemmy pointed to where the anti-magic dart was still lodged in her side. "Hey Damian," she said weakly. "Could you pull this out? I'll be fine afterwards, I promise. Just get this thing out of me."