“So,” Velvet said, her two forfingers pressed together somewhere before her chest and her head tilted down so that her summer hat hid her eyes a little. “I have a friend,” she started before looking up and into her scroll. The innocuous device was leaning against a parasol in the middle of a table, its screen lit up with a live image of one very unimpressed Coco Adel. “My friend kind of needs help. Back in Vale. Right now.”

“Velvet,” Coco said. “What happened?”

“N-nothing,” Velvet said. The truth was maybe a teensy-bit too complicated to say aloud. Also, there were people in the tables next to her.

“Bun, if you had friends in Vale we would know. What’s really going on?” Coco asked.

“I do have friends in Vale,” Velvet protested. Akelarre was kind of a friend. Maybe. And Neo... okay, so Neo was just scary, but Coco had been scary too, at first. “And they do need help... please?”

“A friend in need,” Yatsu’s voice said from off-screen. “Very well. Our homework can wait one night. Shall we bring all of our equipment?”

Velvet’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, and thank you,” she said. “I didn’t know if you would be willing to help.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Velv,” Fox said. “But what kind of trouble can we expect?” He seemed more than eager to shove his homework away and get to her side.

“Um, criminals?” Velvet said. She probably should have asked Akelarre more questions, but she had been nervous.

“Right, how about you two go on and grab all of our gear,” Coco said. “I just need to talk to Velvet for a moment.”

She could imagine Fox and Yatsu sharing a look. “I can stay. It’s not like I can pick out your lockers from the rest,” Fox said.

Coco frowned a little and reached up to fix a beret that wasn’t there. “Really guys, it wouldn’t interest you.”

“Nonetheless,” Yatsu said. “I wouldn’t have a difficult time carrying all of your equipment. I have been blessed with the strength to help my friends.”

Coco stood off her bed, placed both hands on her hips, and with a flash of the girl she had been, scowled at Yatsu and Fox. “Fine. We were going to have an in-depth discussion about our periods.”

“Coco?!” Velvet squeaked.

“See, we finally synched up this week and both of us are practically flooding. Since Velvet's in Vale I was going to ask her to pick up some of those super absorbent heavy duty rags. I’m sure you’ll love hearing every last detail,” Coco said.

“Coco’s lying!” Velvet said past her horrible flush.

A few of the people in the tables nearest to hers were giving her very strange looks.

“We know,” Fox said elusively. “She just wants us out of here.”

With a huff, Coco crossed her arms. “Fine. I didn’t want to bring it up, but Velvet is actually going in heat and was planning on ravishing me via scroll before we leave on this errand.”

“Coco!” Velvet screeched. “I... that’s a myth. I’ve never ravished anyone.”

“I notice that you’re not saying that you weren’t planning to,” Coco said.

“Coco!”

The looks were growing rather pointed and one older lady shook her head and stood out of her seat to leave. “Kids these days,” she scoffed. “Degenerates.”

Yatsu sighed and Fox looked ready to do the same. He pressed a huge hand against his face and rubbed it. “I sense that we’re not wanted here. Very well, we’ll leave you two alone while fetching our gear. We will be back though, and soon.”

“Yeah yeah,” Coco said dismissively. She watched as the boys moved out of the room, then turned sharp brown eyes onto the screen. “Tell me everything.”

“There’s um, nothing to tell?” she tried.

Coco’s eyes narrowed. “Bun Bun,” she said. “How about you find a nice, quiet corner and tell me what’s actually going on.”

Sighing, Velvet nodded, picked up her scroll and purse and moved out of the terrace and towards a public restroom. It wasn’t exactly the stealthiest place, but after making sure all the stalls were empty she deemed it good enough to talk to Coco.

“Really Bun, a bathroom?”

“We could always wait for you to arrive here,” Velvet said.

Coco’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, Bun, that comment almost had some bite. Is there a bee in that pretty hat of yours?”

“N-no,” she said, hesitating for a moment as she wondered if Akelarre might have snuck a Grimm bee onto her head. She dismissed the idea because panicking while in a bathroom wouldn’t help anything. “No bees.”

“Right. Who’s your friend?”

Velvet winced. “Ah, about that,” she began. “Promise you won’t be angry?”

“Oh no, I’m promising no such thing,” Coco said. “The only times people say that is when they know that they’ll get someone angry. Do you know something that’ll make me angry? And no trying to slip it past me, Velvet. I know when you’re lying.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Velvet said.

Coco snorted, then gave a fake, higher pitch to her voice. “‘Oh, I was j-just, just taking an extra long shower. It-it takes a lot of work to clean my ears.’”

Velvet felt her face burning up and had to look away from Coco’s victorious grin. “Fine. You remember Akelarre?”

“Akelarre... the Grimm girl? Velvet, tell me you haven’t been talking to her. Is she your friend?” Velvet, you need to get back here, now. Wait, do you need help? Blink twice if she’s watching you.”

Velvet twitched at Coco’s sudden outburst. “No, it’s not like that,” she said and Coco slumped on-screen. “Akelarre is actually really nice. She bought me ice cream.”

“You went on a date with a Grimm?!” Coco shouted.

A woman stepped into the bathroom, paused, then spun on her heel to leave.

“Coco.” Velvet huffed. “It wasn’t a date. Akelarre saw me, um, looking at her and she invited me to talk. That’s all.”

“And now she wants you to lure us over to her?” Coco asked. She wasn’t even trying to hide her suspicious tone. “How do you know she won’t double cross you?”

Velvet suppressed a pout and started walking from one end of the bathroom to the other, her reflection in the mirror looking only half as frustrated as she felt. “Because,” she started slowly. “Because she’s nice, and she explained things, and she never hurt anyone that I saw.”

“She could have killed us,” Coco said.

“You did kill her,” Velvet shot back. She huffed. “Just trust me? Please?”

Their eyes met through the screen for a few long seconds. Coco slumped back and crashed into Velvet’s bed. “Fine. I’ll trust you, Bun Bun.”

The screen flashed once and went black.

Velvet had the impression that the night was going to get complicated.

***

“Hello!” Akelarre said with a jaunty wave.

The warehouse her bugs had found was a nice, dry place to talk about the sort of things she was up to. It was poorly lit, had a few ominous creaks with the passing of the wind and smelled a bit like rotting meat. Things that were usually pretty bad, but that were perfect for skullduggery and other such fun.

Neo didn’t seem to mind it at all. She was sitting on a crate, her head only a bit higher than Akelarre’s from her new perch, with her feet thumping into the box without making a sound.

The motion seemed to be driving the gatling gun girl, Coco, mad.

“You must be wondering why I invited you all here tonight?” she asked.

The four members of team CFVY stared at her with wildly different looks. The Yatsu boy seemed calm and composed, Fox was staring at a point past her shoulders while twitching with nervous energy. Coco... Coco looked ready to start shooting Akelarre again.

And Velvet smiled timidly from her spot in Coco’s shadow and gave her a brave little wave.

“Yeah, Grimm girl, we want to know why you invited us here,” Coco said.

“I’m sensing some hostility,” Akelarre said. “Also, Grimm Girl is a horrible name for a superhero.”

“You think you’re a superhero?” Coco deadpanned.

Akelarre shrugged one shoulder, an expression she had learned from Neo. She understood that Coco was somewhat upset with her, but at this point it was clear that the problem was born from an initial dislike, a bad response and some bias that Akelarre couldn’t do anything about. That, and Coco probably blamed her for every bad thing that had happened after their last encounter. It wasn’t fair, not for Akelarre, but it was understandable.

If she was better at socializing she might have been able to figure a way out of it that didn’t involve her current plan, but she wasn’t and it wasn’t a situation that could be reminded via application of a few metric tonnes of bug.

“I would rather people see me as a superhero than as a supervillain, even if I represent everything evil in the world,” she said honestly. “But I might not be given that option. After all, people are quick to shoot first and not ask questions.”

Coco flinched at that, but her back straightened a moment later. “So what, you want us to help you burn down an orphanage?”

Akelarre rolled her eyes and saw Neo doing the same through the eyes of her bug friends. “Nothing of the sort. There are some criminals I’d like to remove from the street. Not normal ones either. These are all horrible men and women that deserve their time behind bars. None of them look beyond your team’s ability though.”

Coco frowned at her, then turned to spear Velvet with her eyes. They softened a moment later when Velvet Cowered away. “And what’s in it for us?”

“You get to remove some bad guys from the streets, work with me to help me prove that I’m not a heartless villain and I’ll give you this.” Reaching into her hood, Akelarre pulled the beret she had stolen off her head.

“Wait, you still have that?” Coco asked.

“I thought it was fashionable.”

Coco snorted. “That thing hasn’t been fashionable in half a decade.”

Velvet looked at Coco’s back, then down to her hands which we bunched together before her. “I thought it was cute,” she said.

Coco stiffened. “Ah, well fashion can be complicated. You looked adorable with it on,” she said.

Velvet’s smile was a little watery, but it was there nonetheless. “Thanks Coco.”

“Wait, did this belong to Velvet to begin with?” Akelarre said as she raised the beret.

“Nevermind that,” Coco said. “I want to know why you want us to do your dirty work.”

Akelarre shared a glance with Velvet then refocuses on Coco. “Very well. This situation is one where I can kill a flock of nevermore with a single rocket, as you say. The Knights of Vale are a violent gang, they peddle hard drugs and aren’t above basically enslaving people. Getting rid of them is its own reward, but it will also allow me to test the response time of the local police department, see how they handle themselves on the field, and observe your team in action.”

“Sounds a lot like you’re spying on us,” Coco said.

“Coco,” Velvet said as she laid a hand on Coco’s shoulder.

“No Velvet, I think I’ve had enough of this,” Coco shot back. She slid her Scroll out from her pocket and pressed a thumb against the already-lit screen. “I’m sorry Grimm Girl, but if you’re really so nice, I’m sure we can all learn about it once you’re in a cell.”

“Coco!” Velvet screamed.

The wall at the far end of the warehouse exploded inwards, the rocking, tearing sound loud enough to make the members of team CFVY wince, but not nearly so well as the sound that followed.

“Peter! Smash!”

A red and gold blur crossed the warehouse, something long and brilliant at the end of its arm.

The gun the man was holding came down butt-first, the axeheads built into it slicing through Akelarre with no resistance at all.

For a moment the scene held, then Akalarre’s face twisted into a grin.

The warehouse cracked, the illusion shattered.

***

Akelarre, the real Akelarre, sighed and reached up to adjust her beret.

She recalled the many insects she had in the warehouse, leaving only the less interesting or useful ones behind to spy on team CFVY and the half dozen Beacon professors charging into the room.

Brushing her pant legs, she moved away from the window of the apartment complex next to the warehouse and turned to find Neo laying back on a dilapidated bed, legs swinging the same way as her illusionary self’s had. “It’s a bust,” she said.

Neo raised one hand and made a vague wishy-washy gesture.

“Yeah, I know. I guess we’ll have to do all the hard work ourselves.”

Neo bent her legs up until her knees were near her chin, then kicked out and landed on her feet. She walked over to Akelarre, gave her a quick hug, then pulled at one of her hands.

“Really? I know we made a bet, but you ate two sundaes already. Isn’t that enough ice cream for one day?”

Neo’s over dramatized motions to the contrary didn’t stop her from pulling Akelarre along.