#and by it I mean Somerset's ability to facepalm without hands

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 106

 I grinned happily as I led my team back to the base, which really did look impressive and imposing with its metallic sheen.  While Aika—the other team captain—was surely skilled, she preferred picking her sisters first, allowing me to collect all of the Somersets, Mariasha, Valeria, Damien, Daphne, and Dea.

 “You seem confident.” stated Four after we entered our fortress.

 “Of course.” I told him, turning to grin at him.  “I have all of you.”

 “But you let Aika team up with her sisters.” pointed out Aid.

 “So?  I have all of you Somersets and Messy.  How can we lose with your strength, Mariasha’s creation, and Valeria’s magic?” I asked, grinning at him.

 He facepalmed.

 “We try to avoid letting the quadruplets all be on one team for a reason.” replied Four, giving me a sympathetic smile.

 Messy nodded as he spoke, and then said, “You know they’re telepaths, right?”

 “Okay, so they can communicate well.  I know the Somersets can do that fey thing, so…” I started explaining, stopping when Four shook his head.

 “Most of our team can use the fey version of telepathy, but Luce and I can’t.  What the quadruplets have is far stronger.  They’ll have perfect coordination between the four of them.” he explained.

 I shrugged and said, “Okay, but we still have more raw strength on our side.  I don’t really see the issue.”

 “Individually, the quadruplets are about as strong as you probably expect, but if they all work together, they’re really strong.” stated Aid.  “By herself, Aiko can’t control as much heat as I can, not even close.  If I try to take on her and Aika together, it’s like fighting someone who has slightly more control than Aiko alone plus slightly more raw strength in controlling Air as Aika alone.  If all four are working together, they can control heat, air, earth, and electricity to greater effect than any of them individually while using residual magic with considerable skill.“

 “As you’re probably thinking, “ started Four, “each one of us individually still has stronger magic, but we can’t work together with it as well as they can, especially since we’ll all be holding back while they don’t need to hold back against half of us.”

 “Don’t worry.  We can still win.” stated Dea confidently.  “I’m sure they’re just wanting you to be aware of our enemy.  Speaking of, don’t underestimate Crazy.”

 I gave her a tight smile, trying to find any resemblance to the Deo of yesterday.  After a moment, I gave up.  I had enough to worry about without trying to wrap my head around someone who swapped appearance easier than I swapped clothes.  I had read about him… or her… when I was being briefed, but I wasn’t really prepared for it.  Her point about Serenity didn’t really help my mood.

 “What’s our strategy?” asked Aid, forcing my mind back to the task at hand.

 “As long as they can’t get our flag, they can’t get points, right?” I confirmed, smiling when several of them nodded.  “Raine helped me design this fort like a puzzle box, so I can shift the form to trap intruders.  There are also turrets throughout it that I can easily activate.” I explained, demonstrating by shifting a couple walls around to reveal a turret.  “Everything’s solid metal, so I doubt they’ll be able to get through.”

 Mariasha shook her head, poking her finger into the wall as easily as I could reach my hand through water.  The strength needed to push aside several inches of steel like that was mind-boggling.  There was a flash of light, and the hole was repaired.  “Crazy could roll this whole fortress up like a playdough castle if she felt like it, and she’ll solve the puzzle here more quickly than you’re probably guessing if the quadruplets don’t solve it first.  This sort of design is right up their alley.”

 “I know this is practically impossible, but don’t forget about Layla.  We haven’t fought against her yet, but I’m betting the quadruplets will utilize her well.” pointed out Daphne, brushing a hand through her black hair.

 “What do you mean?  She’s just a friend who’s visiting, isn’t she?” I asked, realizing I didn’t know a thing about her.

 Laughing, Stormcrow said, “She’s my cousin.”

 “So a wereraven?” I asked hopefully.

 “Nope.  She didn’t know wereravens existed until recently.  Layla removes herself from the minds of others.  If you want to detect her at all, you have to set something up in advance, so there’s an incongruity.” explained Stormcrow with a grin.

 “Such as?” I questioned, disappointed I had missed such a big threat.

 “If I create a static field around her, I can realize someone is there and hopefully figure out who.” he replied with a shrug.

 “I’ll do my best to keep an eye on her.” stated Aid with a frown.  “I can’t guarantee anything though.  If she’s using her ability from the start, there’s a chance I won’t notice her.”

 “Spotting her is that hard?” I asked worriedly.

 Four nodded.  “Unless you’re Father, her ability is really impressive.  Even when you’re looking for her, thinking of her will be difficult.  I’m looking forward to seeing how many of us she tags out without us realizing that she’s there.”

 I swore, blushing when I realized they were all staring at me.  “Sorry.  I’ll stay on defense, since I can control the building.  Who wants to help?”

 “I will.  I have a chance of noticing Layla too, but only a chance.” stated Mariasha.

 “By the way… If too many of us get Ella’d, we usually call the match.” added Four.

 “Ella’d?” I asked with a frown.

 “When she takes control of us.  Even Messy occasionally gets Ella’d.” stated Aid with a grin.

 Mariasha rolled her eyes.  “That only happened a couple of times when I was taking it too easy.”

 “Isn’t there a way to remove the effect?” I asked hopefully.

 Everyone shook their head.  

 “She can do it if she remembers that she affected you, but we typically just wait for it to wear off, which won’t happen within a match.  Short-term memory loss is another side effect, since she’ll reflexively alter your memory.  Father trained her to do that, since she won’t remember to cover up otherwise.” explained Four, smiling as if he found the situation humorous.

 After a little more discussion, I decided to have Valeria send our assault team directly into the enemy fortress at the start of the match, though she’d be remaining behind to help defend.  Mariasha, who insisted I call her ‘Messy’ instead, was kind enough to create a pool area under the fortress, so Valeria could just deposit people there for a sort of kill trap.  Getting three hundred milliliters of water on your clothes was enough to be counted out.

 When I asked why they used water instead of counting what actually should be considered a deadly blow, I was reminded that restraint was needed when fighting against Messy and that there was a considerable difference between what would actually be lethal amongst the kids here.  After listening a little while, I felt I had made a grave mistake in not choosing Serenity on my team.  Even Messy seemed a little intimidated by her.