Asking Fisk is cheating

The niche in the rock face was barely enough for one person, yet somehow Emanuel Fisk had found a way to sit comfortably. The morning sun heated his body, but the rays had yet to reach the rebel town below him. They were just inside of the light bending sphere surrounding the town, so Fisk had a pretty good overview. The peace and quiet of the morning was only disturbed by the constant bickering of his companions.
“It seems to me", the ferret who was sitting in his lap said. “that it would have been much easier to have one of your bone shifters break their bones.”
“Not necessarily, no.” the snake wrapped around his shoulders said. “There is a certain resistance in living materials. As far as we understand it’s a force exercised by the creature's soul. Had there been humans or animals bone breaking would have been easy."
“Relatively so.” the hedgehog in his pocket interjected.
“Now hair on the other hand,” the snake continued. “that is dead cells already.”
“It is still a part of your body, so I don't understand the difference.” the ferret said.
“Most people don't consider hair or fur or feathers to be part of themselves in that way, rather something that grows on the body.” the hedgehog explained.
“Precisely.” the snake said.
The snake and the hedgehog were both keratin shifters and both members of the Body Brothers, just like himself. The ferret was your standard high-power light shifter, decent enough in temperament, but vastly uninformed about how matter shifters’ powers work.
“Then I don’t understand why they dragged you out here.” the ferret turned to Fisk.
“He is the only shifter who can fly.” the snake answered.
“A lot of shifters can fly.” the ferret said.
“In demon form yes.”
“Have you never heard of birds? You know, the things we are out here to stop?”
“Ok, ok, right. The only shifter who can fly in human form.”
“That is not likely.” Fisk said. “I’m the only one who knows how to.”
“For all points and purposes that is the same thing.” the snake said.
Fisk shrugged.
“How do you do it?” the ferret asked.
“How do demons fly?” Fisk said. The ferret looked confused. “As demons we weigh tons, and most of the wings shifters display in those forms are far, far from flight capable. I believe they are only a physical manifestation of the mental comprehension of flight.”
“You just have to understand flying??”
“We already understand flying.” Fisk picked one of the thin cartilage needles he had hovering in the air around him. “This, is flight.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Forget it.” the snake said. “He’ll just go on and on about how everything is matter, all matter is the same and so on. And then he’ll get offended when you ask why he can't manipulate everything.”
Fisk rolled his eyes, few people understood what he talked about. The one who understood the best was Stark, but every time he talked to her about it she tried to recruit him to her club. This had nothing to do with psychic powers.
“I was surprised too.” the hedgehog said. “Don’t that library guy hate you?”
“I don’t know if he does. He hasn't talked to me for centuries.”
“That is a pretty clear indication.” the snake said.
“I figured it must be something pretty important if he was willing to speak to me again.” Fisk said.
“Yeah? I bet that snotty creep gets a kick out of making everyone dance to his tune.” the snake said.
“Frankly, I am surprised you didn’t refuse.” the hedgehog said. “Most people in your position would have joined the rebels instead.”
“I might have once.” Fisk said. “But that was before they hurt my students.”
“Mhm, yeah, but there are a lot of your students among the rebels too.” the snake said.
“I’m fighting to protect them too.” Fisk said calmly. “Their motivation might be good, but the rebels’ methods will only cause anarchy. And anarchy is not good for low power shifters.”
“What if this whole situation is orchestrated by the high-power shifters as an excuse to cull the dissidents among the low power shifters?”
“There you go again with your conspiracy theories.” the hedgehog sighed.
“It is plausible!” the snake barked. “All they want is to live their cozy little lives leaching off the humans, the rest of us are just obstruction to that!”
“Really?” the ferret said. “I do so much work, every day of the week, to make sure shifters of all power levels can live a good life. And now suddenly I’m some bad guy in an ivory tower?”
“It’s systemic.” the snake hissed.
“It is not a cull, brothers. No one will be killed today.” Fisk said. “Sulphur told me everyone will get a fair trial, and those who surrender will be free once the war is over.”
“You believe that?” the hedgehog asked.
“He got an easily wounded ego, but he is honest.”
“Speak of the devil, there he is.” the sake said.
Far below they could see Shrapnel’s tiny figure as he approached Blacktown. The distance and the wind distorted whatever he was saying beyond recognition. Fisk thought he could distinguish the light bending field that hid the army's war machines in the forest beyond.
“Bird.” the snake remarked.
“Bird.” the com-radio echoed.
A lone bird had left the tow and was flying towards Shrapnel.
“Time to get to work.” Fisk stepped off the cliff and simply glided through the air towards the bird.
The light shifter put up a light bending sphere of their own, rendering them near invisible. When they got close enough the snake or the hedgehog, Fisk did not know who, transformed the falcon's feathers into keratin spaghetti. The surprised bird dropped like a rock.
“Feathers gone.” Fisk said on the radio.
Shrapnel did not move a muscle, not even when the sniper bullet whooshed past him and hit the fleeing rebel.
“You seem to know the librarian pretty well…” the ferret said.
“Naturally. Sulphur is a student too.” Fisk said.
“He studied under you?”
“Don’t you know that’s the best way to get insulted by Fisk?” the snake said.
“I’m just being honest.” Fisk said.
“But then you know his animal?” the ferret said.
“Tut, tut, asking Fisk is cheating!” the snake interrupted. “But I’m gonna keep my eyes on Shrapnel during the battle.”
“Keep your eyes on your job, or you’ll see Sulphur way closer than you are comfortable with.” Fisk said.