《Myriad》


 The Guy

    "Hey!Hey!You''re him right?" The girl looked both ways, and then around nervously. She lowered her voice into a hiss. "Right?The Guy?"


    "I''mThe Guy,"The Guy-- who was usually called Jimmy Wallace -- responded. And then, after a moment''s hesitation, he continued. "I find missing objects. I locate stolen posess --"


    "Yeah. I know. My friend told me. C''mon, we aren''t doing this in the middle of the parking lot." She paused mid-turn and her eyes, carefully outlined in dark, cattish eyeliner and -- Jimmy couldn''t help but notice -- a really vibrant shade of green, stopped darting around for a moment and focused squarely on him. "You look shady asfuck, you know that?"


    The girl eyed him as he shifted uncomfortably, taking in his thick, dark sunglasses, the ball cap which was tucked low over his hairline, and then the bandana covering his lower face.


    "I-I know."


    Her eyes strayed down the buttoned up duster jacket he was wearing over his clothes and then hovered for a moment longer on the gloves.


    Shehesitated... Then pointed out quickly. "Ok. Well my friend said that too. Now before you get anyfunnyideas, just know that she''s in this park right now and got the police on speed dial.Capiche?"


    Jimmy nodded hurriedly.


    "Also I''m armed," she continued after a moment -- she pulled out one of those pen-tasers that was making the rounds everywhere these days then stuck it back into her seat pocket -- "andI''ve been taking krav-maga for about five months, so if you try anything funny, I''m going to knock your ass out here in the park and wait for the police to bag you while drinking club soda from the vending machine.You get me?"


    "Y-yeah I get you," Jimmy said still nodding quickly and trying to look as agreeable as he could behind his ball-cap, sunglasses and face-mask. He wished he''d gone for the hospital mask instead.''Far less suspicious,''he thought.And maybe the gloves were a bit overboard?''


    "Alright. C''mon." The girl said. And dragged him over behind a cop of trees. "I don''t want anyone to see I''m talking to you."


    "No one''s noticed us." Jimmy volunteered helpfully. "Trust me."


    The girl eyed him balefully one last time then rolled her eyes and grimaced. "Are you changing your voice too?!"


    ...


    "Never mind. I don''t want to know. Creepyaf!"


    <hr>


    The girl''s name was Vicky, or Victoria Montgomery if you were reading her homework assignments, and just like all school cheer leaders, she was tall, leggy and thin and waseveryone''scrush.


    She had done her auburn hair up in twin, french braids today, one on each side of her head, and they came together at the back to combine elegantly together into a mega-braid.


    She liked tea over coffee. Lived with her mom -- but saw her father every other weekend -- had two dogs named Wriggly and Mechlin, did palates with her friends and dated the star quarterback for Eastwall High, Buck Higly.


    ...And Jimmy knew all of this because he was often lucky enough to sit behind her and her friends in physics class. Once or twice she even noticed him enough to ask him a homework question. Really, the fact that they were even sharing more than a few sentences was actually a little exciting, Jimmy thought.


    "Ok, so here''s the sitch." She said looking uncomfortable for the first time. "So my name is Vicky, and, uh... you don''t need to know any more than that right?" She peered at him.


    He shook his head.


    "It''s myex. We broke up two weeks ago, free and clear. And I thought we were good, but then he called me up and he was arealdick!" she spat. "Said he had videos of me. Of us, you know? Pictures too. Said he''d start sending them to people if I didn''tdothings for him, you know?"


    "What a dick." Jimmy agreed easily, but... his heart sank, and after a moment, that ever present ich that he''d been suppressingwoke up.


    Instant red zone. Hunger. It wantednow. And Jimmy... Jimmy had been putting it off for far,fartoo long. He knew he had too, but he''d been waiting for a job to come by --thisjob actually, and now.... He bit his lip. He had to get out of herenow.


    "Yeah. Really sucks. You know? I -- I actually don''t th --"


    Vicky was squinting at him. Hard.


    "...Oh. OH! Waidaminute,he has nudes?!"


    Vicky went red and suddenly she was looking everywhere at once. "Sh-shhh-shhh!!--Are you crazy?!" She hissed, leaning forwards and waving her hands. "Yes!Yes he has nudes! And videos. Andeverything! And he threatened me! ok? He said that if I don''t --"


    Jimmy gaped at her, and his brain stall was so complete it was almost enough shut down the red zone break he was in the process of having.Nudes? OfVicky? Jimmy''s face was burning, and if he knew anything, his ears were bright red too.


    Vicky was still squinting hard at him, though. "Do I know you?"


    And twice in one go, she stopped him short.


    "Kn-know me?"


    "You forgot to do that thing with the voice this time --"


    ''CRAP''


    "-- And I never forget a voice. Faces whatever. But voices...." she glared at him suspiciously. "Do you go to my school?"


    "Y-your school?HA!" Jimmy started backing up hurriedly, face still burning, and now... "The chances of us knowing each other," he babbled "are so minute tha --"


    "That''s not a ''no''!" She hissed. "You do!" Vicky advanced on him raising her fist."I swear to god if you say awordabout this....I-if you''re Parker...!"


    "I''m not Parker!"Heknewhe should have stayed away from someone going to his school! Knew it.knew it knew itknewit!


    Jimmy was in full on retreat now, warding the girl away from him with both hands and all but running backwards. If he didn''t think she would absolutely trounce him in a foot race... Dammit. Anddamnthatdesperateitch!


    She stopped, huffing and glaring at him. "So Idon''tknow you?"


    "Why. In the world." Jimmy said between pants. "Would you know me?"


    "Mmmm.Stillnot a''no''. What''s the matter with you? You don''t like lying?"


    "This was a mistake." Jimmy spun about and --


    Vicky dragged him back by his jacket before he could get more than two steps away. "Ok. Finefine fine!Idon''tknow you, ok? Sheesh. Parker''s a dick too. And whatever the matter is with you..." she looked him up and down again, taking in the face coverings, the duster jacket and lingering again on the gloves.... "I don''t think its being a dick. So can you help me, Guy? I want those videos."


    "I mean... even if Iwantedto I don''t think I can." Jimmy said, tugging at the sleeve that Vicky was maintaining a vice grip on. I mean, if he video taped you guys to get the... uhh... the --" his ears flamed again. "It''s probably all on a cloud. Nothing I can do about --"


    "-- It''snot!" Vicky broke in quickly. "Bucky''s paranoid about clouds. He barely has more than a flip phone. No chance it''s online. So? Can you do it?"


    Could he? Jimmy thought about it. Than paid it a bit more attention, and thought about it again. Harder.


    Couldhe? A video? Jimmy pursed his lips.


    The problem was that when he found things for clients, he didn''t go about it in any kind conventional way. He used a... asense, so to speak, and there was a pretty exacting set of parameters for him to use it. In particular, the one that was throwing him for a loopnow, was that the item had to betangible.Discreetlyownable... and video?


    "I don''t think this''ll work." He told Vicky quietly. "It''s a video. Its not really something I can f--"


    "What if I told you exactly where it is?"


    "Wha -- say what now?You know where it is?Then what the hell do you needmefor?"


    "Please. You expectmeto break into my douche ex-boyfriends house to steal his hard drive?"This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "... And you expectmeto?"


    "Isn''t that what youdo?"


    Vicky was peering hard at him now, andshe still hadn''t let go of his jacket!


    "One. I find and retrieve things that are missing. I don''t ste --" he choked. "I''m not a th --damnit! I don''t do break-ins!That''s just plain unsafe!" he yelped."Now. Let. Go!"


    "Please. Youhaveto help me!" Vicky hissed, holding on tight. She was looking a little manic herself now, which -- Jimmy couldn''t help but notice, was a stark contrast to how she''d been before. If her friend really was hanging around the park watching, she was getting somereallyweird visuals. "C''mon, you''reThe Guy! Ann said you were awesome! What d''you want? money? I was gonna give you that already. I --"


    "I told you!" and he was fighting two things now he realized. Cheerleader Vicky, who worked out and did five months of krav maga, and thatitch. Itburned. itWanted! andNeededand -- it made him want to tear his skin off and if he didn''t get away, he was going to -- "I can''t help you!" he gasped.


    "A -- a date! I''ll, uh. I''ll go on date with you!"


    Jimmy froze. And interestingly enough that seemed to catch theitch''s attention too.


    "A. Date." Jimmy repeated in disbelief. "You want to go on a date with a guy... in amask?Are you insane?"


    "I mean, youdogo to my school right?"


    Jimmy twitched. Vicky noticed.


    "Not a dick. Goes to my school. Can''t seem tolie. Blushes at sex. Looks like a stick and for some reason, is giving me hard core nerd vibes." She ticked those off on her fingers one by one. "Yeah... yeah I think thats well below my danger threshold."


    "So what do you say, Guy? Moneyanda date? Hmmm?"


    Vicky did thatthingthat girls did where they made themselves look even prettier withoutnoticeably doing anything!


    But what wasreallycatching Jimmy''s attention was that Vicky seemed to have caught theItch''s attention too, and that was... that....


    TheItchwas not a skin issue. It was more cosmic. Or existential.... Or, at bare minimum, a highly peculiarmentalissue. And like his sense for wherethingswere, it came with his power.


    His. Power.


    And it onlytook interestin certainthings....A. Date?!


    "This. Is a really,excruciatinglybad idea --"


    "Why thou --"


    "-- But.Fine!" Jimmy finished quickly, before theItchcould act back up. "A date. And money." Itch was calm.... Jimmy waited some more as Vicky whooped and let go of his arm grinning.


    "So -- uh... how much money?" Vicky remembered to ask.


    "Five."


    "Five... Fivehundred?Ann payed you five hundred bucks to get her bike back?!"


    "She payed meonehundred." Jimmy said acerbically, shaking his cuff out where Vicky had gripped him. "Butherjob didn''t involve breaking and entering! Buck is likefivetimes my size!" He exclaimed, not even bothering to hide that he knew who Buck was. "He looks like a truck!Five!"


    "Five...dates?" Vicky chirped.


    "Ffff --" His skin writhed. He really couldn''t afford to say no to this, Jimmy realized.''This is dumb. This is dumb. Itch you havedumbrules.''He wasneverleaving it this long again."Fine!"He said finally. "One hundred. Five dates. Deal."


    Vicky whooped again. "Deal!" And she shook his gloved hand.


    <hr>


    "-- Arbitrage is that AI mediated transaction app right? Why is it asking for access to my camera?"


    "Part of its lie detection algorithm."


    "And It''ll hold my cash until the contracts been met?"


    "Yup."


    "... How does it know...?"


    They parted ways after the logistics and Jimmy made sure to watch Vicky walk all the way to her car and drive off before he took off himself.


    When he did leave, he made sure to take several unnecessary turns and check that no one was following him until he turned into an alley, ripped off his hat, glasses, and gloves and bundled them into his duster jacket, which he then stuffed into the backpack he''d left in a patch of shrubbery where two walls met.


    Then he headed off to the bus stop.


    If anyone saw him now, he looked no different than any number of High Schoolers headed home after school rang out.


    He wasn''tThe Guyanymore. Just Jimmy Wallace. High Schooler, nerd, with a thin face and unassuming light brown hair which was getting a bit long... blushed at sex and most definitely wasNOTone to have a conversation with Vicky Montgomery by himself in the park!


    Nope. He was just a normal... Jimmy Wallace was not normal. He hadn''t been for a little more than three months now by his estimate. And that estimate may have been rough, but not dangerous, seeing as theItchhadn''t really made itself known until about three weeks after he realized he could dothings.


    And as he walked, almost without thinking, Jimmy did one of thosethingsnow.


    His hand crept into his pocket and he thumbed around absently.


    "Extra pair of disguise glasses."He mumbled to himself, just as absently."Bug spray -- hate mosquitoes. Three big sticks -- Why did I pick those up again? Pack of pens... A brick for... brick things. Lots and lots of yarn... I really need to return tha --"


    Jimmy paused, and then pulled out... acard.


    He stared at it accusingly. "You''re new!"


    To anyone else it looked like just a card, albeit one that was slightly bigger than a normal playing card, more colorful and layered in tribal calligraphy. But to him....


    Jimmy flicked his wrist, and for just a moment, he was gripping a new, shiny black pen-taser, with a thumb switch on one side and pocket clip on the other. And it had a heft to it that Jimmy generally associated with expense.


    Then it was a card again


    He blinked at it dumbly for a moment. Then heslapped himself on the forehead!


    ''You Idiot!''He thought.''Sothatswhy the Itch went away!''


    Then he climbed on to his bike, and rode off, and nobody noticed a thing.


    <hr>


    "SSSSHHHHHHHH!"Jimmy''s sister said dramatically as she swung the door open for him. "Moms watching the news again. She''s already yelled at me for being loud.Twice!"


    "-- ring you live coverage from Enderson High, where a manhunt is underway for the unidentified Superhuman responsible for this devastating attack. We have Elisa Snowsi on the scene."


    "It''s still going on." His sister hissed in his ear. "Apparently black fire doesn''t go out. They''re saying itsthousandsof degrees hot! The Firemen can''t get in!"


    Jimmy nodded without saying anything. He could see the fire on the screen. It was all murky and black, like someone had dropped an ink well and the splatter had jumped up and started dancing. Only, it wasn''t comical like that image sounded in his head. It was....


    Only part of the now iconic U of Enderson, was still standing, and the black blaze billowed up into the sky where the rest of it should have been.


    Over the reporter''s shoulder, Jimmy could see helicopters buzzing overhead and rescue personnel still running around like a kicked over ants nest.


    ''They must not have stopped.''He thought.''They must have brought in reinforcements from the surroundings cities.''


    The reporter looked tired. She had bags under her eyes and there was a noticeable weight to her shoulders. That didn''t stop her from flipping her hair back and glaring into the camera.


    "-- The current toll stands at thirty-nine confirmed dead, and over one hundred injured, many critically, with many more students and faculty still unaccounted for. Authorities believe that there are many more trapped inside the blaze and the predicted death toll has mounted to over three hundred, making this the single deadliest assault by a Super on US soil."


    There''s been no word yet as to why this Super attacked the school, however the most recent statement from the police is that they now believe that perpetrator of this horror may in fact have been one of the students. Back to you John."


    Elisa Snowsi tossed her mic to someone in front of her and stumbled off screen before the camera cut.


    "Once believed to be the next big step for humanity, the advent of Super Humans has instead heralded a time of mass conflict and death at a scale previously only associated with active war zones. What do you think of all this, Kent?"


    Kent was a balding man with a pudge and his voice cracked as he spoke.


    "Well... well, I think its pretty clear that this can''t continue, John. I mean five years ago the fear was a man might open up on folks with a gun, now, a single man --"


    "-- or woman --"


    "-- Or woman, can decimate a school with just -- just their brains! It''shorrifying... I, tell you John, I don''t think the hard Right''s going to be able to continue carrying this on the back of Second Amendment rights. It''s one thing to say the public can keep and bear arms. Doesn''t mean the public can carry around rocket launchers or -- or god forbid nukes."


    "-- Yes. Yes I agree this is definitely going to put pressure --"


    "--That right there? That right there, John. Thats a weapon of war! A-and I don''t believe the US military has that in their arsenal."


    "What do you believe the answer to this is, Kent?"


    "Expanded powers to law enforcement. Expanded surveillance. Monitoring. At the veryleastmandatory registration and public records. The public has a right to know if their neighbor can tear a building down if they have a bad day.Parentshave a right to know if their child sits next to a-a Super at school!"


    "Thank you, Kent. Folks, we are going to go on a five minute brea --"


    "--And John. John. The public is not going to continue standing for political seesawing. Not after this. We don''t know enough about these guys. Eight years ago they show up? Where did they come from? Why are they here? Are -- they even huma --"


    Jimmy''s mother clicked the TV off and stood up. She was short even for a woman, a fact which Jimmy had found never actually made her any less imposing. She let out a harrowed breath which Jimmy echoed a second later.


    "Hey Babes," She came over and gave them each tight hugs and Kaykes, his sister, a quick, apologetic smile. "Neither of you know of any Supers at school right? You''d tell us if you suspected anyone?"


    They nodded and shook their heads and Jimmy was very very glad that the order of questions allowed for plenty ofambiguity.


    "Supers aren''t cool, babes. They''re going to tear apart the world. That lunatic in Africa.... Massacres in the UK and Germany. Koreas in shambles. Now Enderson...." She trailed off shaking her head and moving towards the kitchen. "Dinners going to be ready in thirty minutes, guys."


    "Hey," His sister nudged him. Her name was Kayla whenever anyone bothered to use it. To him she was just Kaykes. She took after their mother more than Jimmy did. She was short, with dark eyes and dark hair which she''d cut to just below her chin.


    She gave him some finger guns and bright grin that Jimmy felt was completely at odds with the pervading sentiment that the TV had left in the room. "You wanna --"


    "Not tonight." Jimmy broke in stiffly. "I got homework...."


    "Aww,C''mon!"


    <hr>


    Upstairs Jimmy sprawled heavily on his bed. After a moment he flicked his fingers moodily, and his cards flickered out and flowed into the air above him.


    They flew out from his pants pockets, his school bag, several from his chest of drawers and one even squeezed out from underneath his mattress. There were a lot of them and they were all, if not identical, indistinguishable from one another. At least to anyone not Jimmy....


    To Jimmy they were...His. And he could tell you what was in each one without a second''s hesitation. He could feel them all, floating above him in a cloud...


    "And you!" Jimmy fingered the card containing that pen-taser and glared at. It was a vibrant blue card, which faded into splotches of green in places, kind of like the ocean did under certain skys.


    There was no border on this one, but like all of his cards, jagged and smooth black lines twisted and curved all across it. There were symbols mixed in there too -- or what he thought were symbols -- though none he recognized.


    ''Someonemadethis.''Jimmy thought, not for the first time.''Someone not me.''


    "You''re abadpower. A very badbadpower." He groused. And somehow theItchseemed to purr, deep inside of him.


    "What the hell am I supposed to do with five dates?" he muttered after a moment. He felt his ears go a bit red again and then he grinned stupidly. "Five dates with Vicky M!" He punched the air. Then he sobered.


    ''Its gonna have to be tonight,''He thought.''There''s a game on tonight and Bucks the star player. There won''t be a better time.... What a dumb deal.''

 1.2 Stairs and Ladders

    "... Why... does it ''got'' to be done. Tonight?"


    "Welll," Vicky responded grimacing. "Bucky said he''d start sending stuff come Thursday, and today''s...."


    "I can''t just go on some harebrained scheme to snatch a hard-drive from someone''s house! With hours notice!"


    "Hey! I wanted to meet yesterday!"


    "That''s not much better! I need to ¡ª do things. I need to prep! I need to..." ''mentally prep...'' "I need to plan...."


    "And hey! Hey, Guy!" Vicky was waving her hand in his face. "We can plan now. I''ve been at his house tons of times. I know where everything is."


    Jimmy glared hotly at her and the fact that she didn''t burst into flames, said more about the dark shade of his sunglasses than any natural resistance to such things.


    "And ¡ª and you want to do it tonight anyway!"


    "... Why... Do I want to do it tonight... anyway?"


    <hr>


    "¡ªTonights game day." Jimmy mimicked under his breath. He took care to make his voice especially winey and annoying. "No way is he gonna be home. Bucky doesn''t miss a game. Even when he''s injur¡ª Well someone''s sure as heck home now!"


    Jimmy zipped passed the house again on his bike and went several blocks farther until he turned back in a slow, grudging circle and cycled back. Slowly.


    He dismounted several houses away under a deep patch of shadows cast by an over hanging tree and a distant streetlight.


    The street was littered with such shadows. It was fully night time by anyone''s estimation and the sky was just overcast enough to damp out the light of the moon. And streetlights? They cast as many shadows as they did luminance.


    He dismissed the bike back into a card with a touch and It flickered into his hand where he glared moodily at it before tucking it back into his pocket.


    Jimmy wasn''t worried about someone noticing. Approximately three months of paranoia and anxiety had taught Jimmy the valuable lesson that people were notoriously bad at noticing... anything.


    And Jimmy... Jimmy also had a... sense for that kind of thing.


    What he''d told Vicky in the park was true. No one had noticed them ¡ª at least, not initially. It wasn''t anywhere near as accurate as the sense he usually used to find peoples things. He couldn''t pick out, or point to the noticer or anything, but frequently, he''d found that he had a sort of instinct ¡ª a prickle down his spine, when he was being actively watched.


    And... he wasn''t.


    It wasn''t infallible, or anything ¡ª in fact it failed all the time when there were a lot of people doing a lot of fast noticing or when he called attention to himself. But in the dead of night with only a couple pedestrians and a man distracted by his dog across the street?


    Jimmy stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned into their driveway pausing only briefly to slip some blue-tinted swimming goggles over his eyes, a hat over his head, and raise a hospital mask ¡ª black for the occasion ¡ª over his nose.


    ''Oh yeah. No ones gonna be home. They''re all gonna be at the ga ¡ª Well someone''s definitely home now, Vicky!''


    Jimmy eyed the car still in the driveway and then the lights he could see in several of the windows.


    Mental Vicky, flicked her braid at him. ''Well, you know, maybe someone''s home, but they''re just downstairs. And you know, whatever right? It wasn''t like you were planning on walking in through the front door, were you?'' The image of Vicky in his brain grinned brightly. ''You can totally do this! You''re The Guy! Yo ¡ª''


    Jimmy blushed and shook his head until Mental Vicky got dizzy and shut up.


    Real Vicky had of course said none of those things.


    ''And probably no one''s gonna be home.'' Is what she''d really said. ''They''re all like die hard football nuts. I was once trapped in a convo for like three days ''cause I said I liked the Pat....''


    "Great," Jimmy muttered to himself as he trudged up to the back gate.


    "So what if someone is home. It wasn''t like I was really going to walk in through front door. I can totally do this. This isn''t even my hardest job!"


    That was certainly true. His hardest was that time when someone had paid him to retrieve their stolen debit card of all things.


    He was certain that they''d only asked him to do that on the novelty alone of some dude claiming that they could retrieve anything, so they had been gratifyingly surprised when he''d turned up five day''s later with their missing card.


    It had been difficult. The boy in possession had been walking around with it stuffed into his wallet, so Jimmy had been forced to contrive a scenario where he''d been crushed up against the guy long enough to stick a finger into his pocket and ''en-card'' the entire wallet, with no mask or duster jacket, and only the crush of bodies, and shear human blindness to conceal what he was doing.


    Still, Jimmy remembered gleefully. The dumbstruck expression on the kid''s face when he''d turned up with the card had been more than satisfying. And, he''d completed the contract, so Arbitrage delivered the two hundred dollars straight into his bank account five business day''s later and no amount of the boy''s screaming, complaining or text yelling could do anything about that.


    Debit cards were, what? Fifty cents to replace? If they weren''t free? The sheer profit from that job alone had left the Itch making happy cat noises for a month.


    The gate disappeared at a touch and then reappeared a moment later behind Jimmy ¡ª carefully ¡ª so that it didn''t make any noise when it reappeared, and he stole past the side-door ¡ª windowless, thankfully ¡ª and then all the way to the tree that Vicky claimed was right below Buck''s window.


    ''You could probably climb it!'' She''d said.


    Jimmy... was not going to climb it.


    He breathed tight, even breaths and produced a card. "You''re gonna be fine." Jimmy said to himself. "You''ll break into Bucks room. Steal the hard-drive and get out. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy. No where near your hardest job. Just get the hard-drive. Then you''ll get paid, the Itch will leave you the F alone, and then. Five. Dates. With Vicky M....."


    ''Oh, I hate Vicky M...'' He thought. But he knew he was blushing.


    <hr>


    The ladder flashed into existence with a woosh and a scrape as the rubber pads struggled at first to find purchase on the exterior.


    Jimmy flinched, steadying it desperately. And then he froze, listening ¡ª


    No change. No noise of alarm from the house. Just the dullest of all murmurs which could have even been coming from the neighbors.


    He breathed again and made doubly sure that the base was steady again before scrambling up the ladder. ''Please don''t fall. Please don''t fall. Please please pleeeeaaaaaaase''.


    He didn''t fall and a moment later he was standing just below Bucks bedroom window and peering between the blinds into the messiest room he had ever seen.


    There were clothes littering the floor, and the bed was unmade with the sheets all bunched up on one side of the bed where they''d been flung.


    He could see what looked like granola bar wrappers scattered on the desk against the far wall, along with several old plates and plastic-ware, and some of it had even overflown onto the floor underneath, along with a jumbled stack of books and binders, some loose papers and one and half pairs of shoes. The missing half, Jimmy located a second later by the door leaving the room.


    ''But, no Buck.''


    The window screen, the window and all the blinds went the same way the gate had ¡ª into his pocket.


    Really, Jimmy thought. Everything''s all the same answer with this power. Have a door you can''t go through? Card it. Need to climb up to a window? Card a ladder for later! Can''t get in through the window cause glass is non-permeable to humans? Card that too. Cardcardcardcardcard. I''ve got a hammer, and everywhere I look are nails.


    Jimmy grinned stupidly as he swung himself in ¡ª like a shadow, he imagined ¡ª and rubbed his hands together.


    Sometimes, your pretty cool, Jimmy thought to the Itch.


    ''Now, where''s that hard-drive....''


    <hr>


    The room was a mess.


    Jimmy took a moment to appreciate this fact as he professionally appraised the room in his capacity as a thief. Messy rooms were good for business, he thought. Messy rooms meant that everything that would normally be secreted away into neat little cubbies and boxes and shelves and dressers, were all instead left out in the open for all eyes to see. Wonderful.


    Five minutes later Jimmy was forced to reevaluate his professional opinion.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ''It also means that nothing is where it''s supposed to be!'' Like a hard-drive which Vicky had been certain would be either on his desk, or in one of the drawers underneath his desk.


    It wasn''t in either of those places.


    What''s more, if he hadn''t been certain that the house had been occupied before ¡ª people left lights on all the time ¡ª he most certainly was now.


    He could hear them talking downstairs. Just a muffled murmur that he couldn''t understand, and it was raising hackles all the way up and down his spine. It was one thing to suspect that people might be home and decide to break in anyway, just really quietly. It was quite another to actually be in the house, and be one loud thump away from those family members storming up the stairs to kick his lights out.


    Or worse. Call the Police.


    Jimmy... was hyperventilating a lot.


    The hard-drive was supposed to be in the desk. It wasn''t.


    The family were all probably going to be at the football game. They were not.


    What else was Vicky wrong about? Was there even a game? Was Buck here right now? Was there even a hard-drive to begin with?


    Jimmy could feel his breath speed up as he sifted frantically through the mess with his flashlight set on its lowest setting. Then he checked all of the drawers again and then....


    "Aarrggghhhh!" Quietly.


    "I have to go," he muttered. ''It''s really, time to go.''


    And... he didn''t move.


    ''I... I can''t go.'' The contract. He''d given his word to retrieve the hard-drive. Tonight.


    ''Oh. I really really hate Vicky M'' he thought, in what he was starting to think of as the theme of this whole operation. ''Damn her and her stupid, glowy, beautiful face, and long dumb hair and...stupid smile and.... What if this is a setup?''


    He froze in the middle of checking between the matress and the bedsprings.


    "What if this is a setup, Itch? Then I can go!"


    The Itch, of course, said nothing so helpful as ''Yes, Jimmy''. Only... Itched dully... at the lack of any actual stealing going on.


    ''If I''m going to get hurt or injured or caught, there is no reason why I can''t go!''


    He took two steps towards the window before the Itch woke up.


    <hr>


    It wasn''t an Itch-y pain that stopped him. It was deeper than that. A dull ache which started small but stretched quickly until it balooned into a burning tear. As if he was pulling at something deep inside, and that if he didn''t stop, it would snap and he''d....


    He stopped, breathing raggedly mere feet from the window sill.


    Once, in ninth grade, his mother had had the fantastic idea that he, Jimmy, should join the cross-country team. She had her reasons, Jimmy was certain.


    But after four days of having to run three miles as the warm up, Jimmy came to the realization that they couldn''t make him run if he twisted his ankle.


    So he tried.... And then he ran the three miles because the sheer existential horror of trying to break yourself on purpose was just, somehow, More than team sports.


    "Ok. You win." He breathed. And the pain vanished like it had never been.


    "B-but I''m putting a new clause in the contract! ''I can walk out on any job if in danger of bodily harm or identification!'' And ¡ª and..."


    Jimmy looked around and belatedly wondered why he was whisper-yelling in the middle of this dark, messy room, instead of, you know, yell-thinking.


    New plan. ''I am a Super Human! With Super ¡ª uh ¡ª theft ¡ª skills! I am not grubbing around this dumb, pigstie of a room on my hands and knees with a flashlight until Buck gets home!''


    He reached out and a card flickered into existence.


    Pants ¡ª lint in pockets


    Again. More pants.


    Shorts ¡ª pockets empty


    He started sweeping his hand around the room in quick broad strokes.


    flicker.


    flicker.


    flicker.


    ...


    Flicker. Flickerflicker. Flickerflickerflicker.


    Sweaty Socks. Low quality essay ¡ª English. Low quality assignment ¡ª math. Low quality ¡ª Jimmy shook his head, all of Bucks homework was low quality apparently, though how his power determined that was beyond him.


    The entire desk disappeared into a card and Jimmy eyes fluttered as he integrated all of what had still been inside it. Seven Pens. Two Pencils. Calculator ¡ª low quality. Calculator with graphing capability ¡ª moderate quality. Half Empty box of Tissue Paper. Used tissue pape... Jimmy sped past that one.


    Where?! If I were a hard drive that... maybe I don''t want anyone to find... where would I be?


    His eyes zipped around room. It was far cleaner now. And far emptier. ''I''ll put it all back.'' He thought. ''I will! I''m a thief, but I''m not an evil thief!''


    The mattress went next. He''d already checked underneath it, but maybe Buck had cut a hole... Nope. Just a mattress. Then the bedspring. Then the frame... nope all kosher. "Fudge!"


    There was a box of condoms, he noticed now, that had been beneath the bed... but no hard-drive!


    ''Where else?!'' he looked around and his eyes landed on... the closet! He rushed over barely pausing to en-card the dresser on the way ¡ª ironically, it was mostly empty ¡ª and then he was there.


    The sliding mirror doors each disappeared into a card and then he was running his hands through all the jackets and coats and jerseys and hockey sticks and shoes and cleats and... and cards flew every which way in a cloud of multi colored ethereal paper with tribal markings.


    He was so feverish that he almost didn''t even notice it when the words Hard-drive ¡ª medium capacity popped up and it was only after his fingers picked up Thumb-drive. Thumb-drive and then for some reason Flash-stick that his mind skittered to a halt.


    "Hard-drive!" He croaked, and then his hand slipped and instead of en-carding the shoe box at the top right corner of the shelf, the shelf itself flickered into his hand.


    There was a crash.


    It was loud.


    <hr>


    Time slowwwwed for Jimmy as the clamour of... lots of falling things thudded and clanged against each other in the closet.


    The dull murmur stopped... and then there were footsteps.


    Jimmy leapt and he was one leg fully out the window before he realized that he''d vanished the ladder behind him after entering ¡ª for very good reasons that he couldn''t remember now ¡ª and that he was currently about to step out into thin air ¡ª


    His hand dove into his pocket. Low quality assignment ¡ª math. Calculator ¡ª low quality. Ladder!


    He stopped short of rematerializing it as the thought came unbidden that the only possibly more unappetizing thing than being caught right at the window of Buck''s room might be to be caught just below the window of Buck''s room on an unstable ladder!


    ''I should jump,'' he thought dully. ''I should¡ª'' He looked down as footsteps thudded up the stairs... and he jumped....


    Back! Into the closet. The bed, the desk, the dresser... they were all cards now. There was nowhere left to hi ¡ª


    And Buck strode into the room.


    <hr>


    In reflection, some part of Jimmy had always known that Buck would be home tonight. The same way he just knew that if he went sky-diving, the drag force of air molecules would stutter. Or, if he went scuba-diving the valve might stick... or a ¡ª a shark might come.


    So he''d known. He had! Even though it was game day! Even though Vicky said Buck never missed a game and Jimmy couldn''t see why he would, star quarterback and all. So he''d known.


    He''d just disregarded it. Because that''s what you do to those fears....


    But now faced with Buck''s figure filling the room, Jimmy also knew... ''That... that was a really dumb idea.''


    "What the¡ª" Buck''s exclamation was startled as he stomped in to his now desolate room and Jimmy tried to make himself as small as possible in the closet. "What the fuck?! Dad! Mo ¡ª" then his eyes panning the room found Jimmy and he roared.


    Jimmy made a break for the open door, and Buck charged after him.


    Jimmy remembered hearing once that quarterbacks tended to be on the smaller side of football teams. They were meant to be quick and speedy.


    And that checked out, he thought. The football team was quite prominent at school, walking around in team sweatshirts and letterman jackets, and bar none they all looked like rinoceri in human skin.


    Buck did not. He was smaller. But that did not mean... small.


    His shoulders and waist filled the room and his hands looked like they could crush soda cans into pancakes. And when he moved....


    Jimmy noted dazedly, that it mattered very little to the guy getting hit if the one doing the hitting was the size of a rinocerous or merely as big as a refrigerator.


    He tried to dodge and sprint at the same time and only managed one of those.


    He hit the open door, then the wall hard enough to see stars, and Bucks hand closed on his wrist.


    Jimmy struggled, almost sobbing in desperation.


    "What the fuck! What the ¡ª where the hell are my things!" Buck was screaming into his face.


    Somehow he managed to squirm his arm out and then he was crashing down the stairs back first while Buck, enraged, bore down on him.


    ''I''m gonna die.'' Jimmy thought blearily as he crashed down the stairs. ''This is it. This is how ¡ª'' And some latent survival instinct that Jimmy didn''t know he had kicked in, and his hand... flicked.


    The card he was still clutching flew and then a ladder long enough reach a second story window burst into being with a crunch of shattered dry wall.


    Jimmy saw Buck''s eyes widen a split second before he struck the ladder, tearing furrows in both walls before the ladder met the first stud, and Buck clotheslined beneath it.


    Jimmy lay on the ground, stunned. Then he dragged himself up. His body burned and ached and that swelling sensation of forming bruises was everywhere. ''Please don''t be broken. please nothing be broken.'' He swayed, and caught himself against a wall. ''Door? That way. Doo ¡ª''


    A hand grabbed his shoulder and slammed him back against the wall.


    The stars came back, and through those stars, Jimmy saw Buck close his other hand into a fist just before it impacted his stomach. Twice.


    He threw up into his mask. Jimmy had never encountered this kind of pain before. He''d never even been in any sort of brawl before.


    "You and I." Buck was hissing in his ear. "We are going to be great friends. Now lets see who the fuck you are. Huh?"


    "No! No!" Jimmy desperately babbled. He struggled futilely, trying to escape.


    He grabbed at Bucks arm ¡ª it had about as much an affect as it would have against a Silverback Gorilla.


    He strained! and his other hand ¡ª


    Sock ¡ª soiled, Low Quality Assignment ¡ª math, Mirrored Door, Three Sticks of Bludgeoning...


    His other hand closed on a card. It flickered and Jimmy pressed it in the rough area where Bucks neck was and pushed the switch.


    Vicky''s Pen-taser made a sound like a concentrated swarm of cicadas as Jimmy held it there, and Buck spasmed.


    He probably held it there for a little bit longer than he should have before a noise dragged him back to the present and his thumb slipped off the switch.


    Buck crumpled and Jimmy was left standing over him staring at an older woman, her hands over her mouth looking horrified, and a short, similarly aged man with a pointed beard.


    ''Buck''s parents. They must be.'' Jimmy thought dazedly.


    Only now did he realize how quickly everything occurred. The noise from upstairs. Buck bursting into the room. Them crashing down the stairs. Buck hitting him. Him tasing Buck... ''They must have just made it in and now I''m....''


    "I''m sorry." He managed. "I ¡ª"


    The man bellowed. He grabbed at a vase and flung it.


    Jimmy tried to dodge ¡ª it didn''t work very well ¡ª but the man''s aim was askew anyway and the vase shattered against the wall next to Jimmy''s head, sending painful pinpricks against his cheek.


    Buck''s father picked up a chair next while Jimmy backpedaled. ''Door... Door? There. Door!''


    "I''m sorry." Jimmy kept mumbling. "I''m s-sorry." as Buck''s father advanced on him. He swiped at the chair as the man got close, disappearing it into his hand ¡ª Violent Chair ¡ª and the man let out another bellow, this time horrified.


    "A Super!"


    "I''m sorry." Jimmy begged again. Then he turned tail and dashed for the door. He didn''t even bother with opening it, just flickered it out of existence with a touch and only remembered to flicker it back in to existence when he was half way out of the drive way.


    Then he ran... or limped quickly. What he hoped was quickly, anyway.


    ''I need to break line of sight. If they follow me.... Who in their right mind would chase a Super?'' Jimmy''s thoughts were a jumble. He chanced a glance behind him ¡ª no one ¡ª and turned a corner already fishing in his pocket for his bike.


    It appeared in front of him, and Jimmy jumped on it and he rode. And rode and rode.


    <hr>


    It was nearly midnight when Jimmy made it back to his bedroom window ¡ª he did actually have to scale a tree this time. He zapped it out of existence with a sigh, hopped in and ¡ª


    His desk chair swiveled smoothly around as he flickered it back in.


    "Bro..." His sister said after a very, very long pause. "Your homework is hardcore."

 1.3 From The Mouths Of Sisters

    "So, just to be clear. You''re not about to brush me off with a ''go away sister. It''s late.'' nonsense. That window was not ''always open'' and ''missing a screen'' or something. And you''re not about to tell me ''you just opened it very very quietly'' either."


    Kaykes'' sat in Jimmy''s office chair, one leg loosely crossed over the other, her eyes bright and a single slim finger leveled at his chest in judgement.


    "I''m also not about to hear some inane story like some night time romance garbage. I think I''d know if my brother was talking to any girls anyway."


    "... Now that''s just insulting."


    His sister snorted.


    "I''ll have you know I do have a date lined up!"


    "Oh yea? With who?"


    "Vicky M."


    Kaykes choked. "You? Vicky M? Not in this life time. HA!"


    Jimmy scowled and folded his arms. Then he decided, ''You know what? I don''t actually have to deal with this!'' He was bruised and sore. He felt like he''d been hit by a truck ¡ª something he actively saw his sister taking note of with a raised eyebrow ¡ª and he was tired. "Not tonig ¡ª"


    "Ah ah!" His sister raised her finger again. "See point number one."


    "... What are you even hoping to hear? Maybe I was jus¡ª"


    "See point number three."


    Jimmy glared at her. "Nothing...weird" ¡ª ''what a pleasantly ambiguous word'' ¡ª "happened with the ¡ª"


    "Aaannd point number two."


    Jimmy folded his arms. "Or what?" He ground out.


    "Excuse me?" His sister squinted at him as if he''d hit one too many stairs on the way down from Buck''s bedroom and it was showing. "Or I''ll do the same thing sister''s have done since the dawn of time.... Tell Mom."


    "Don''t. You. Dare."


    "So. Spill." His sister''s arms folded archly over her chest.


    Pure truculence made him fold his arms even harder and scowl at his sister.


    "Oh come on. We''ll start with something easy. You''ve got powers now. Right?" Kaykes waggled her eyebrows. "Riiiight?"


    Jimmy stared at her.


    "What?"


    "Aren''t you supposed to be scared of me now."


    "Please. You''re still my brother. You''re not going to turn into a murderous power-lunatic overnight. It''s bound to take at least several iteration with the law before that happens. And I''ll be sure to un-sister you long before then. So? What can you do? Is it something crazy like total matter annihilation? But also spicy like, ''only in the light of the moon'', or some BS?"


    "What? What kind of power only destroys by moonlight?"


    "I dunno." His sister shrugged nonchalantly as if this actually was a topic of conversation that she regularly engaged in. She put her hands behind her head and leaned back. "But there are some weird ones. Back, like, two-ish years ago someone started this Rate-My-Power nonsense. For some reason its still going strong despite ¡ª or I should say ¡ª especially with all the bad press around Super''s recently."


    Jimmy was blinking. Hard. "Re¡ªreally?"


    "Yeup. Funniest one I ever saw was this one guy who got super strong, super fast and with super reflexes under the influence of caffeine. I thought that one was a hoax, but then he posted video of him chugging an E-drink and then busting a cinder-block with his index finger. He was Australian, he did that super cool accent all super fast. He was... super funny too." Kaykes grinned toothily.


    "Spiciest was this one guy who got specter-of-the night powers from sex. He posted videos too ¡ª but... ah." Kaykes coughed. "He might have just been doing that for cash.... Most normal was the dickhead girl in Germany who can make hard-light constructs with her brain. And they..." His sister shook her head with a twist on her lips. "Do whatever the hell she wants them to. Like shoot hard-light missiles and stuff. So, what are you, bro?"


    "Uhhh.... I''m still having a hard time believing you spend so much time thinking about Supers. Do you have something to tell me?" He raised both eyebrows. Both because he couldn''t do that thing his sister was doing with just the eyebrow singular. And he waited several beats because he was actually interested, and dare he say, slightly hopeful?


    "Nope." She made the ''P'' sound pop with her lips. "But you''re deflecting." She cocked her eyebrow again. "Iiiis it spicy?"


    Jimmy felt himself go pink. "No!"


    "Ahah!"


    Jimmy rolled his eyes. But part of him, he found was actually considering it.


    So after a moment longer of struggling with himself. Of standing in his room covered in bruises, with pockets bulging with cards containing another person''s room. With five dates in the bag with Vicky M. With his first fight... ever. With... ''Why not''? He thought.


    And so he applied his hammer one more time, and ¡ª


    His sister yelped as Jimmy''s chair disappeared out from underneath her, and her butt thudded to the floor.


    Then she broke into cackles. "Oh, yea. This is more like it!"


    And she sprang onto his bed as Jimmy rematerialized it back beneath himself and sank into its cushioned coziness.


    "It was a contract." He started.


    <hr>


    When Jimmy''s alarm went off the next morning, he just lay there blinking up at the ceiling.


    And then he grinned a bit.


    His sister... was pretty cool he thought.


    They''ed stayed up way too long talking, and they''d only stopped when their mother had barged in asking why they were both still up.


    "I can''t believe that half the stuff that happened last night actually happened." He told the sliver of golden sunlight painting a strip across his ceiling. And in the light of the rising sun, he really couldn''t. Making a deal with the most beautiful girl in junior year. Break in to Buck-the-quarterbacks house. Getting beaten up by Buck-the-quarterback... Beating up Buck-the-quarterback. Sharing his power with his sister....


    "Thaaat probably makes me the world''s biggest id¡ª"


    Jimmy threw up a bit in his mouth.


    ''Aaaand, there is that Itch,'' he thought. ''Coming in clutch.'' Making sure he didn''t break any STUPID ¡ª he thought that thought really hard ¡ª rules. "Kind of cute though, that you stop me from calling myself an idiot," He said to the Itch. ''Not that you make an ounce of sense''.


    Kaykes was of the opinion that the Itch did in fact put him on the spicy spectrum.


    "You''ve got deep, dark part of yourself which hungers, Jimmy." She''d said with a dramatic growl at the end. "Trust me. There''s spice."


    He''d thrown a pillow at her.


    Jimmy smirked, remembering.


    It had actually felt good to talk to someone about it. About all of it, though they hadn''t actually gotten that far. Not when you took into account the three months he''d had his powers for and all the jobs and power testing that he''d done since then.


    His sister had wanted to get right into that too, but he''d insisted that they wait for the weekend.


    "It''s not happening tonight, Kaykes. And we sure as hell aren''t doing it with Mom home. Mom''ed flip. You heard her. She was all ''Supers aren''t cool. They''re going to tear apart the world''. And when Dad gets back... he might flip." Jimmy amended after a moment. "At any rate, they''d probably want me tell the cops."


    "Why don''t you?"


    He''d... glossed over that. And distracted her by zapping her shoes off her feet. He didn''t think that actually worked, but she''d dropped it. For now.


    Though she did note "It''s kind of strange, the deal with the cards. You don''t even play!"


    ''It is kind of foolish''. He thought. Then he said it aloud. Huh.


    Foolish ¡ª that''s another one that works. Jimmy thought. "I am foolish!" Yup. Worked. "I am a fool!" Jimmy blinked. Annnnddddd that also worked. ''It''s official folks! I''m a cosmos certified fool!'' Or was it Itch certified? ''Whatever Itch, You do Stupid things for dates!''


    The Itch gave a sort of rumble in the back of Jimmy''s head. Sort of a... ''Speaking of Dates, Jimmy.''


    Jimmy''s eyes widened "Cra¡ª!" He''d been so taken up with his sister last night that he''d forgotten....


    He scrambled out of bed, and pawed through his jeans pockets until the correct card ¡ª The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings ¡ª turned up and he un-carded it hurriedly.


    "Fudge. Fudge. Fudge...." It took thirty seconds for it to update fully ¡ª a process it always went through after a stint as a card ¡ª and then...


    Text Message.


    Text Message.


    Text Message. Text Message. Text Message....


    Jimmy scrolled down hurriedly. They were all from Vicky.


    [10:05 PM (VM)] Hey Guy! Any updates?


    [10:07 PM (VM)] Did you manage to get the "stuff" [smiley]?


    [11:01 PM (VM)] I''m just letting you know that my friend just told me that the game was canceled. I don''t know if that changes anything...


    [11:01 PM (VM)] Apparently because of the Enderson thing.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    [11:02 PM (VM)] I swear I didn''t know.


    [11:02 PM (VM)] Were you able to get it anyway though?


    There were no smileys after these ones.


    [12:04 PM (VM)] Ok. It''s 12 now. I''m freaking out here. can you let me know?


    Jimmy scrolled to the bottom. The last one just said.


    [01:00 AM (VM)] HEY! Guy!


    She''d tried to call him too. If he''d kept this phone out, it would have been blowing up all night. It sounded like she''d been having a heart attack!


    "Fudge!" He said one more time, and scripted out a quick text.


    [6:14 AM (TG)] I got the drive. I''ll pass it off later today.


    The reply came so fast that Jimmy wondered if Vicky hadn''t slept a wink and had instead been glued to her phone the entire time.


    [6:14 AM (VM)] Oh thank fuck. What took you so long?


    Jimmy felt heat creeping over his face.


    [6:14 AM (VM)] To get back to me I mean. Sorry. That sounded worse than I meant it. I''m really thankful.


    [6:14 AM (VM)] Sorry. I''ve just been freaking out here.


    And the heat crept back down. A bit.


    [6:14 AM (VM)] Sooo... You got it? How did it go? Is it the right one?!


    The heat came back and Jimmy glared at the screen in his hand hard enough that he was certain Vicky may have felt the force of his glare through the text-being-written indicator. He deleted the message he was writing hurriedly. Then the next one....


    And then his No Shit - taki alarm went off. Fudge! and Jimmy hammered out.


    [6:16 AM (TG)] You tell me. It went.


    Then he re-carded it and stumbled into sweats... and groaned as his entire body protested.


    Yup. Today was definitely a sweats day.


    <hr>


    He stumbled into the bathroom just as his sister stumbled out and they shared a ¡ª a look.


    An ¡ª I-know-things-about-you look which had definitely not been there before last night.


    The look slowly transformed as she looked at him.


    His sister was short, with short, black, chin-length hair that his friend Nate, insisted came straight out of a manga, and today she was wearing jeans, a purple sweatshirt, and a dawning incredulous expression.


    "What?" Jimmy insisted after it became ridiculous.


    In response, Kaykes, raised her eyebrow ¡ª just the single one which Jimmy still thought was a super power all by itself ¡ª and beckoned him in to the bathroom.


    "If Mom sees you," Kaykes hissed, "She''s going to lose it!"


    She shut the door behind him ¡ª Jimmy eyed her ¡ª but then he eyed himself twice as hard in the mirror and forgot about his sister.


    ''Oof.'' He thought. ''That hurts just looking at it all'' He flexed his side and watched in fascination as the red and blue patches down his side flexed and balled.


    It ¡ª wasn''t impressive or anything.


    Vicky had unfortunately been right when she''d described him as a stick. It also meant that there hadn''t been any padding when he''d hit every ¡ª


    "It looks like you hit every stair on the way down." His sister commented wonderingly. "Maybe I can count them. One. Two..."


    "Shut up!" Jimmy flexed again and watched the patches where Buck had punched him shift painfully. Ugh....


    "Stop flexing!" His sister snarked. "You don''t even have the abs for it. You''re all, like, bone and... actually just bone. But dude." Kaykes eyed him through the mirror. "Your wearing long sleeves today. Its all down your arms too. And..." She peered hard at his neck. "Dude." She hissed again. "You''ve got to get better at this! Was he choking you?!"


    ''That ¡ª that he was'' Jimmy fingered the light, but very iconic markings on his neck. "Ugh. I remember that...."


    "Skip out of gym class today. And for god''s sake wear a turtle-neck. No one''s going to believe you got those marks the normal way."


    Jimmy paused in tenderly poking at his neck. "And what, is the normal way?"


    His little sister rolled her eyes. "I''ll tell you when you''re older."


    "Mm-ok. Well, in the meantime..." He eyed her.


    "What?"


    "... Get out!" Jimmy pushed her out the door eliciting a squawk.


    He sighed and went back to checking himself out in the mirror.


    Angry blue and red splotches ran all the way down his front and over his left bicep too, along with areas of raised skin, where it''d been chaffed through his duster jacket. The coloration ran all the way around his ribs, and when he turned around and craned his neck, it extended passed where he could see out of the corner of his eye.


    He sighed. His sister was right. He did have to get better at this.


    He finished brushing his teeth just as his Your-really cutting-it-close alarm went off ¡ª ''Fudge'' ¡ª and he scrambled out of the bathroom, checking both way''s for his mother, before hightailing it to his bedroom for that turtleneck.


    He went through his cards for the day. The Itch started to get antsy when he didn''t have at least some on him at all times, and, Jimmy noticed, that he had started to agree.


    Three Sticks of Bludgeoning ¡ª ''Sure, why not?'' He thought.


    Brick... for Brick Things. Of course, practically a staple of his armament these days. No more complicated reason why.


    Extra pens, Closed Mirrored Doors, Mattress ¡ª Heavily Used, Random Cellphone 2, Random Cellphone 3... Random Cellphones 4 through eight he left behind ¡ª Rusted Bike Chain, and Rusted Bolt Cutter all made it into his pocket.


    Shades... actually those were reporting themselves as Smudged Glasses of Lesser Clarity today for some reason. The names changed every once in a while.


    Stun Stick of Power! He stared at that one for a moment too. Yup. That was an exclamation mark at the end. Then he stuffed it into his pocket as well with a grin. That was definitely coming with! Exclamation mark and all!


    From the humming in the back of his head, the Itch approved.


    Jimmy was left staring at the veritable mound of other cards left scattered on the floor, and the few, hanging in mid-air over his bed.


    The pile, he hesitated to call it a horde had grown substantially since his powers had snuck up on him, and it had nearly doubled during his excursion last night.


    The Itch was happy about it, at least. He felt it low-key purring every time he looked at them all, like a dragon stretched out and eyeing its pile of gold. But, really though....


    "What am I gonna do with it all?"


    The Itch didn''t like that question.


    Jimmy could physically feel it like a roll of unease which started in his throat and went all the way down through his stomach down to his toes, leaving them twitching as if he was getting ready for sudden flight.


    "Of course, I''m gonna keep them." He hissed. And the Itch subsided again.


    He sighed. And then his last alarm ¡ª the DUDE-GET-OUT! alarm ¡ª went off, and Jimmy snatched another handful of cards, banished the rest under his matress and catapulted downstairs.


    "Gotta go Mom! Bye!" He called as dashed out the door.


    "Take your sister!"


    He didn''t. But his sister caught up on her bike a minute later.


    She eyed him sideways as they cycled.


    "Don''t think I''ve forgotten the deal." She said. "Your life in the shadows is over, brother. I want the rest of the story tonight!"


    "What do you want to know? I already told you about my" ¡ª he switch ''powers'' to "condition" at the last moment. Paranoia never hurt anyone. "Condition. I told you about the job.... What else do you want?"


    "You''ve got hidden depths, bro. I''ve just poked at the surface last night. Still don''t get why your doing these jobs in the first place, or how your condition" ¡ª Kaykes took both hands off her handle bars purely so she could effectively mime the air-quotes ¡ª "really works. Or why you''re heading to school so early."


    "If I can get to school early enough, I can get to Vicky''s locker before too many people are around. I want to dust my hands of this contract asap and get my pay."


    ''And my pay''. A darker voice said inside him.


    Something must have shown up on his face, because his sister gave him a long sidelong glance over her handle bars.


    "Definitely spicy," she said after a moment of tangible judgement. "You know, Vicky M isn''t really going to go on a date with you right? Much less five? She''s cheer captain, smoking hot and so far out of your league that even if you weren''t shady as fuck, she''d have to catch glimpses of you in the bullpen with a telescope. Girls like her don''t go on dates with dorks like you. You know that, right?"


    The Itch didn''t know that.


    And, it didn''t like that one eensy weensy bit.


    <hr>


    Nate greeted him with a painful slap on the shoulder and a "Hey dude!"


    Jimmy grumbled and glared at him from where his head had been laying on his folded arms. Then he checked the clock, then the door.


    "Hey!" he mumbled after a moment. And tried to dial up the intensity of his glare to discourage further talking. This was physics class, and Jimmy was determined not to speak a peep for the duration.


    Nate was immune, and in fact his round, and red haired face was set in an excited grin. Making him doubly so.


    "Didn''t you hear? They caught the bastard?"


    Jimmy blinked at that, aaaand doubled down on his silence."


    "Amaterasu!" Nate crowed, throwing his backpack next to Jimmy and plopping down in the adjacent seat. "That''s what their calling him. For ¡ª well, obvious reasons. And he is a dude, it turns out. And he went to school there. They were ¡ª"


    "I hardly think the word caught is applicable here, Nick."


    The voice was acerbic and held enough casual condescension that Jimmy felt a bit belittled by proximity.


    Nate glared. "It''s Nate. Or Nathan, you know."


    The girl flicked her red curls dismissively and sat up, somehow, even straighter than she had been.


    Patricia Collins, never slouched. Jimmy didn''t even think he had ever even seen her hunch her shoulders in all the time she''d been in his grade and ¡ª


    "This means she likes me. I''m telling you, she''s my future wife!" Nate whispered in his ear.


    "The feds tried to arrest the boy at his house," Patricia continued with even more derision in her voice. "Which went about as well as anyone could have imagined. So now there are two flaming craters in Enderson instead of one. More people are crisped. And we still don''t even know why? Oh. And the day I marry you Ned is the day I''ve discarded the last eligible guy on planet earth. Like your silent boyfriend for instance."


    Nate face reddened. But he grinned unabashedly through it all the same ¡ª which Jimmy thought was actually quite impressive.


    "You''ll see." Nate said. "I''ve got hidden charm. You wont be able to resist for much longer. Back me up here, Jim."


    Jimmy shot him a wide eyed look and didn''t say anything again, while Patricia made gagging motions with her throat.


    "Who cares why Amaterasu burned down a school. How many good reasons could their be?" Billy Winters drawled from where he was sprawled over three seats in the front row. "My view? Fuck him! They should have sniped his ass from a mile away when they tracked him down."


    "Pretty sure sniping asses is counter due process." Nate insisted. "You can''t go sniping American citize ¡ª"


    "Most American''s can''t level a school building!" Billy broke in. "My dad''s a Sherif''s dep. And he says we don''t have anything like, like... what he can do. Stuff''s like napalm. It''s thousands of degrees hot and. It. Doesn''t. Go. Out! Amaterasu can shoot the stuff from his damn hands. How the hell do normal cops bring him in the normal way?" Billy had risen a bit from his seat and he was spearing Nate with a glare.


    "Well, what about Heroes, you know?" Nate looked around hopefully.


    Mico Lin shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Tom Biltmore and Sashaya Springrose looked at each other and Patricia cocked her head.


    "Other Supers with abilities could step up and you know... Citizen arrest their asses."


    "You. Are still on that fantasy shit." Billy stated with finality. "Thats literally never happened. Not even when Ice Age in the UK straight up tracked down a BBC news anchor and declared himself national enemy number one right before officially debuting his name! That would have been an excellent time for a Superhero to show up. Nada. What we''ve got instead are Super gangs. And Super Felons and Super massacres. And Super warlords if you''re counting Sudan.... I can go on!" Billy sat back. "And even if a Superhero showed up. How''ed you even control them! Huh?"


    "Well... uh." Nate searched around the faces as people started trickling in. "It''s not like we''ve been giving Supers much reason to... step in. C''mon, Jimmy you were telling me this."


    Jimmy shot Nate a panicked look and tried to sink lower in his seat.


    It didn''t work.


    "Yea Jimmy, what were you saying?" Billy asked. His smirk was unfriendly.


    Jimmy glared at Nate, which didn''t work ostensibly because he''d been glaring at Nate since Nate had sat down, and glanced hard at the clock willing the minute hand to move. Five minutes until class started. Fudge!


    "I ¡ª I didn''t say anything." Jimmy muttered and eyed the door. ''Thank you Nate. Truly.''


    "No. No, I want to hear this." Billy could be dogged. "Something about no reason for a good guy Super to step up?"


    Jimmy sighed and eyed the door again. ''Just stay closed another minute...'' He thought. ''I''ll keep it short''. "Well, it''s like you said," Jimmy responded grudgingly. "How are you going to control them if someone did show up? How does tha ¡ª"


    And the door did open and Vicky walked in.


    Her auburn hair was done up with clips pinning her bangs behind her ears and the rest flowed behind her as if there was a breeze which blew just for the effect. She wore a crop top and jean shorts which hugged her hips and there was a kick to her step that Jimmy hadn''t noticed the other day.


    Literally. She was wearing boots. The kind which Jimmy normally associated with cowboys, bandannas and double six-shooters on either hip. Her heels clicked appealingly as she stepped and there was a dazzling grin on her face which somehow managed to mix elation with a glimmer of curiosity at the edges of her lips.


    And the effect her entrance had on Jimmy was immediate. And embarrassing.


    His voice cracked, and he blushed from the tips of his ears to below his turtle neck.


    "What are we talking about? Superheroes?" She asked brightly, looking around.


    One of her friends who had walked in with her, nudged Vicky in the side smirking and tipped her head slightly in Jimmy direction.


    Vicky''s eyes flickered towards him for a moment and then immediately dismissed him. Jimmy died a second time.


    And then Billy, who''d been watching all of this with great interest sat up and said. "Jimmy, was just about to regale us with why he thinks its ok for Supers to not step in to stop massacres. Tell us Jimmy!"


    And then all eyes, including Vicky''s and all five pairs from her posy who had followed her in landed on Jimmy and pinned him into his seat.


    The only good part about what happened next, Jimmy thought as the bell rang, and Nate patted his shoulder consolingly, was that throughout the totality of the word vomit he had engaged in, at no time had his voice at all sounded like his own. ''Like The Guy''s at the park.''


    And Vicky? ''... I never forget a voice.'' Vicky? ''Faces whatever. But voices....''


    Jimmy saw not even a millisecond of recognition in her eyes.


    At least that went right, Jimmy thought darkly as he put his head back down. It was still burning.


    And then, his ¡ª The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings which was notably not carded the way it was supposed to be vibrated against his leg.


    It read simply.


    [8:01 AM (VM)] Hey Guy! When are we having that date?

 1.4 School Life

    "It was kind of cute," Sashaya said smiling. "In a... small fireball sort of way. You know?"


    "And flattering!" Mico added shyly. She peeked out from behind her curtain of black hair and twiddled her pencil between her thumb and forefinger idly. It was one of those monochrome tablet pencils who''s shape was their only nod to a conventional writing implement. "I''d be flattered if boys'' voices broke in my presence."


    "And their self confidence too."


    "No, Nate. I''d rather their self confidence remained intact. Thank you."


    Nate grinned and mimed babbling with both hands and his mouth, while Sashaya and Tom grinned and Mico giggled shyly from behind her hand.


    It was study period, and technically their study period was meant to be held in one of the smaller assembly halls, but Eastwall High was pretty lenient. As long as you were studying and your grade point average was high enough, exactly where studying occurred was allowed to be fluid.


    "It''s like small particle attraction in space!" Tom liked to say. "First there''s one, but its bigger than all the other particles, so three more come and glomp onto it. Now its way bigger, so ten more come and..."


    And that was apparently how they''d all eventually gravitated to the Study Tree, centered in the grassy area next to the parking lot, instead of Study Hall next to the gymnasium.


    "That''s just dumb, Thomas. First of all, it''s mass related, not size. Second, at the small particle stage, most things have far too much momentum and far too little attraction to actually glue, so really they spend centuries to millennia twisting through space as very dispersed dust clouds. And thirdly... you guys just aren''t that big."


    That was Patricia Collins. Her curly, red hair, freckles, and eternally arched eyebrows gave her a consistently snooty look, while her tone of condescension mixed with the combined weight of all of her study hours made her something of a greatly coveted pariah. She was... still orbiting the group and hadn''t ''glomped'' yet. But she usually shared her physics solutions around, so she was tolerated.


    Jimmy was probably the newest member all told, and all he remembered was that Nate had said something to the effect of, "Look! Smart people!" And dragged him over.


    And that was that.


    Jimmy eyed his friends over his computer balefully. "Thanks Mico. Die in a fire, Nate. Would it make a difference if I said, ''I don''t have an unrequited crush on her and that that wasn''t what happened there?''"


    All four of them shook their heads solemnly. And Tom snickered, "Nope. That ship left the harbor. But really. I''m pretty sure everyone with a ''Y'' chromosome has crush on her. I certainly do, so you''ve got competition!" Tom eyed him with mock severity for a moment, then melted. "It''s gonna make the rounds for a week or so, possibly hit the seniors, and then dissipate."


    "Also, in the midst of the babbling, you did make some cogent points. I thought your point about public-Super perceptions made some sense. Applicable to current events too." Mico commented softly through her hair.


    She scrolled down on her tablet a little farther, still twiddling her pencil between her fingers. "Just in. Powered assault on an un-Powered individual in Ionia, Michigan. Some sort of novel shape shifter power. Only, its being treated as a self defense incident and Stand Your Ground laws might apply."


    She tapped her tablet with the top of her pencil pensively. "Thing is, while the Super did stick around to talk to the police, she bailed when they wanted her to come in to the precinct. So now there''s a warrant out for her arrest, and they''re booking her for Resisting Arrest, and then potentially Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and Assault with a Powered Capability ¡ª which is somehow different apparently."


    "Why''d she do that I wonder," Mico asked, looking up as they all made sounds of astonishment and clambered around her tablet. "Why''d she bail?"


    "Assault? The man had a gun! That''s clear cut self defense right there!" Nate burst out after a long moment of intense reading whereby all members of their study group tried to hog the tablet''s scroll feature and Mico made sounds of aggrieved protest. "How can that be assault?"


    "There''s actually some debate about that." Tom pointed out. At the same time Sashaya exclaimed, "The guy was a known ganger. One of the new ones. Drugs. Human trafficking...."


    Everyone''s heads flipped between the two...


    "¡ª If your immune to bullets, is it really self defense, if you royally slaughter the guy pointing the gun at you? It would be kind of like reacting with full force if someone ran at you with a nerf sword or a pool noo...."


    "¡ªsn''t make any sense why she''d ditch the scene," Sashay continued over Tom, "It seems pretty clear cut to me. She''s kinda begging for criticism."


    ... And picked Sashaya.


    "Mmm ¡ª I think that''s faulty logic," Mico commented softly, peeking out from behind her hair again.


    Mico always spoke softly. It had the odd effect that people tended to lean in to listen to her words rather than try to win through volume like Tom.


    "Just because we know now from the news article that the man was a ganger, doesn''t mean it was obvious at the time. We are operating with a severe information glut. And Supers... tend to get short shrifts. When was the last time a case against a Super actually went the Super''s way? And maybe... maybe it was an accident." Mico murmured the last part, and folded herself behind her hair again with a small smile.


    Jimmy cleared his throat. He was lying on the grass with is feet kicked up behind him and his notebook propped up on one of the tree roots and felt very clearly every single one of his cards of <s>other peoples</s> his things he held in his pockets. "So. I kinda said this during the debacle this morning." Jimmy said, feeling the need to classify his statement... for reasons.


    His friends looked at him, smiling widely and Jimmy skipped quickly passed any further qualifications.


    "Back when Supers first started coming out of the woodwork, there were several that came forward either during criminal investigations or by straight up walking up to the media. They all kind of... disappeared eventually."


    "They did?" Nate exclaimed. "I don''t remember this."


    But Mico was nodding. "Yeah. I remember. There was talk about putting together some bureau of Supers and all that. Like in fantasy books and comics. But then they all sort of just faded."


    "I don''t remember any of this." Sashaya said while Tom shook his head too. "I''d think that would be big."


    "Well, it was!" Jimmy pointed out. "But then it wasn''t. You remember Pink Mist?"


    "Well with a name like that...."


    "Except his power literally was generating a pink mist. He had broad range of things he could assert in that mist too. I...researched this." Jimmy shrugged uncomfortably while Nate, Tom and Sashaya all looked at him and Mico nodded, agreeing.


    Even Patricia seemed to be listening in from the sidelines while bending over her text book, though she wasn''t saying anything and was studiously maintaining a severe expression that said she disapproved of their lack of real studying.


    "Anyway, he was one of those that came out with it up front. Was very big on Powered, un-Powered relations. Kept talking about unionizing super humans and getting real representation. Only things kept happening. Other Supers started popping up. Some came forward. Most fell into the wait-and-see-what-happens crowd. And some took their powers as an excu..." Jimmy stumbled a bit here, but only for a moment. "¡ªcuse to rob convenience stores, turn in grudges and there were more than a few sickos who went around kidnapping teenage... girls. And some not so teenage too."


    "Turns out all that public sentiment against Supers has a reason behind it. Who knew, right?" Tom chuckled dryly.


    Jimmy ducked his head and shrugged uncomfortably. "So Pink Mist went up and had to speak to all of that. All the time. He was the public''s face for Supers. Thing is, he was some horse-handler from a farm in Iowa. Not a politician, major face for radio. No talent for public speech. He was just a Joe Shmo American! And he had some help too. Initially. Like Electra-Coil ¡ª actually, she was a politician ¡ª and Phaser-Gazer, but...."


    "You got a point to this analysis?" Tom quirked an eyebrow.


    "Oh, let him talk! He''s redeeming himself from physics!" Sashaya grinned teasingly, but she looked interested.


    Jimmy shrugged and chewed on his lip. "Just two thoughts," he said finally. "Where did they go?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Where did Pink Mist go? He''s just gone. Only Mico remembers, and barely. Electra-Coil? ¡ª"


    "¡ª I thought she was assassinated." Mico commented.


    Jimmy nodded. "Phaser-Gazer? Where are they now?"


    "Dude, you just said they fell out of the public eye."


    "Wha ¡ª all of them?"


    "You''re saying that there might be some existential threat to Supers?" Sashay''s tone was critical. "I can see it... but I dunno that I believe it. I can''t see anyone disappearing Amaterasu for instance. He''s wiped out two squads by himself now. And UK''s Ice-Age is pretty existential all on his own." She frowned, leaning back against the Study-Tree trunk and looking thoughtfully into the sky. "Throw in Kerass in Germany. Seraphim, The Downtown Demons gang in Tennessee, that new guy, Legion ¡ª at least his demons are leashed, right?" She laughed humorlessly. "All the existential threat arrows seem to be pointing in a different direction, Jimmy"


    "But most Supers are probably just Joe Shmoes!"


    At the same time Nate said, "It could be gaussian!"


    Jimmy nodded quickly and Mico''s eyes glimmered.


    "Gaussian distribution." Mico murmured. "Mostly average, with radicals at the tails. We could just be seeing the right most tail, Sash. Violent. Means everything below the ninety-ish percentile could basically be in hiding and benign."


    "It means," Tom growled, "That there may be far more Supers'' than anyone''s prepared to deal with just sitting by the sidelines watching us get fucked, and can at any moment decide to walk rightward on that bell curve."


    "You said there were two points, Jim," Nate prompted.


    Jimmy shrugged and chewed on his lip. He checked his watch and started packing up as study period ended. "Maybe there''s an existential threat. Maybe not. But I bet they all wonder. And..." Jimmy shrugged uncomfortably. This conversation had approached a little closer to home than he was prepared to deal with, he thought. ''Time to disengage''.


    "I''m just saying that I figure it''s tough." He tapered. I bet most Supers prefer to stay out of the lime light. They''ve got their own stuff to deal with. A few wreak major havoc. The ones with a public faces are horrible representation and didn''t sign up for the huge amount of negative sentiment and not a small amount jealousy that reared up. And now Supers are left with the likes of John Hannon the news anchor and Kent Maccabee running for president with his hard line on Supers stance as representation. Not easy to walk into that."


    "You know quite a bit about this." Tom poked with a side long look as he too started packing up. "Got something to tell us, Jimmy?"


    "HA! Not on your life!" Jimmy laughed and quickly schooled his expression behind a healthy amount of friendly derision and ''sweet sweet ambiguity''.


    "We''d tell you, Jimmy." Nate said and grinned while Tom and Mico nodded with mock judgement.


    "I''m actually thinking of voting for Maccabee." Sashaya said suddenly. She looked around defensively "What? He makes good points. It''s sad what you''re saying, Jimmy, but he''s right! The current situation just isn''t tenable. Enderson''s just the latest in the States, but all over the world there are all these Super related fires that just keep getting bigger and bigger. Some of these Supers can destroy ¡ª have destroyed cities! That''s like Nuke level danger."


    Jimmy... grinned ruefully and shrugged while Nate pointed out helpfully that unless those Supers also left heavy doses of radiation behind, it wasn''t actually nuke level.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Jimmy felt a... a twist inside. Somewhere right next to where his heart sat in his chest. It was like the opposite of what he felt last night with his sister. When Kaykes had been accepting and warm. And Interested. Despite the cards in his pockets, that were<s>n''t</s> his. Despite the Itch that made him do things he didn''t want to do.


    It hurt. And when Nate shrugged unconcernedly and Tom frowned in consideration and commented, "Yea, it does kind of suck. But what can you do, you know?" It hurt even more. Apathy hurt.


    ''They don''t know,'' Jimmy thought. ''They can''t know. You haven''t told them.''


    But how could he tell them? When Mico''s cell phone she''d lost last month and had been in so much trouble with her parents for, was nestled covetously in his pocket as Random Cellphone 2. When Tom''s keys were underneath Jimmy''s mattress along with Sashaya''s Grandmother''s bracelet which the Itch had taken one look at and had not been able to wait for the next job.


    When Patricia ¡ª who was stalking along behind them wearing her eternally peeved expression ¡ª had lost her calculous homework to him just a couple weeks ago! Jimmy knew she spent hours pouring over her assignments. The Itch knew that too, from its humming. It had turned her work into High Quality Advanced Mathematics Assignment so fast, Jimmy''s head had spun, and when he''d un-carded it hurriedly, it had completely transformed everything into Jimmy''s own handwriting and style.


    How could he say anything?


    Jimmy felt very, very alone.


    <hr>


    "It''s a trap." His sister said cooly and She handed the phone back to him after an incredulous glance at the screen. "Don''t fall for it. Who''s cell is this anyway?"


    "Some random person''s from the grocery store." Jimmy huffed. "And it''s not a trap! It''s the contract."


    "I''m telling you, Jimmy. It''s a trap. Listen to your sister. Now I''ve got some information for you." Kaykes looked around and drew him away by his sleeve out the double doors of the main campus to a corner of the courtyard which was mostly shielded from prying ears. She lowered her voice. "I threw out some feelers, and it turns out Buck isn''t at school today."


    Jimmy choked. "You asked about him? Kaykes!"


    But Kaykes shut him up with a dismissive shake of her bangs. "Trust me, Jimmy. A ninth grade girl asking after the QB of our football team isn''t suspicious in the slightest. And I wasn''t the only one. Point is, he''s not at school and word is that it''s because there was a break in at his house last night." Kaykes raised her eyebrow at him. "If the kids know than the faculty definitely knows."


    "So?" Jimmy wasn''t quite sure what he was supposed to do with this information except feed his anxiety unhealthily. He lifted The Guys Phone for Illicit Dealings uncertainly. "I''m texting her back." He said.


    His sister opened her mouth furiously, but then she was interrupted.


    All grades are to report to Assembly Room A for an important announcement directly after Lunch Period. I repeat, ALL students are to report to Assembly Room A for an important announcement. Attendance WILL be taken


    Principle Lane''s voice cut off abruptly.


    "Speak of the devil," Kaykes hissed. She checked her watch. "It''s almost the end of lunch. We''ll talk about this later. After gym. Don''t go to gym! Remember? You''re covered in bruises."


    "¡ª How could I forget?"


    " ¡ª Don''t do anything before we talk! Now come on and find Nate. I bet they''re seating us by grade."


    <hr>


    Assembly Room A was singularly the biggest room at Eastwall high, with the possible exception of the Gymnasium ¡ª for obvious reasons. It was also the grandest.


    It was built with a tiered seating arrangement with the rows farther back situated closer to the ceiling and descending as you got closer to the stage, which was raised again so that a tall speaker, if he stood up, might be approximately head height with the average head in the room.


    There were double doors leading into the room, frosted glass along the side facing the outdoors and it even had several columns spaced at regular intervals around the room.


    It all came together to make a somewhat somber atmosphere, Jimmy thought. Of course the High Schoolers tamped down that atmosphere. They piled in, in groups of three or four or ten, laughing and making snide remarks, looking around and choosing seats noisily, and generally being loud and obnoxious with little in the way of sobriety.


    And Jimmy could tell that Principle Lane hated it.


    "Settle down. Settle down now, Students." Principle Lane had wispy grey hair. His lanky frame and hunched posture always reminded Jimmy of some form of wasp, and his lined face and voice were set into an eternal frown.


    When he spoke it was in an impatient monotone. "Please, quiet down. Choose your seats. Quickly now. By gra ¡ª young lady you are in tenth grade, I believe. Not eleventh. Choose your seats by grade. Quickly now."


    It wasn''t quick. But Principle Lane started talking without preamble soon after, and that killed most of the chatter due to shear curiosity if nothing else.


    Nate hissed in his ear. "What do you suppose he wan¡ª"


    "The NEXT Student to talk out of turn will be sharing an hour of detention with me." Principle Lane interdicted, his eyes glittering.


    That killed the rest of the chatter, and Nate shut his mouth with a snap.


    "I''ve brought you all in here today to share some news and introduce some new emergency procedures to our venerated establishment."


    He looked around grimly.


    "I have received word this morning that one of your number, a school mate, was assaulted, brutely, in his house, with his family last night. This horrible event was carried out by a Super Hum ¡ª"


    The whispers caught like wild fire. Jimmy could practically see them move as heads turned and people shuffled closer together to corroborate.


    For his part, even knowing it was coming didn''t stop the stab of panic that shot down his chest and a sensation like walls were closing in... and in the midst of that... indignation.


    ''Assaulted?! Brutely?!'' At most Jimmy suspected, Buck might have a minor red mark on his neck. He was black and blue!''


    Sashaya was leaning in talking in short sentences with Tom and Mico, while Patricia looked on austerely with her freckled face curled in an even more severe expression than usual.


    Over among the ninth graders, Jimmy could see Kaykes, sitting with four other girls and two boys. Her dark eyes flicked in his direction just once, before she leaned over and started whispering excitedly with the dark skinned girl sitting next to her.


    "¡ª Super Human. Buck Higly is a much loved member of this school. And an accomplished member of our very own football team! Our hearts go out to him and his family. I can only imagine what they are going through." Principle Lane raised his voice to reach over the din.


    So far it all sounded rehearsed to Jimmy, but to the Principles credit, he wasn''t reading from a script.


    Principle Lane pursed his lips and chewed nothing pensively for a moment. "In the backdrop of the Enderson Highschool tragedy of two days ago, we, the faculty and the board of directors are responding with aplomb and adamant dedication to the security of this school and its members. We are in contact with local law enforcement operatives leading this investigation and are receiving the unwavering support of our state and federal government in this endeavour. Eastwall will not turn in to another Enderson. I will assure you of that. And I assure you that we are taking every ¡ª"


    The Principle looked around gravely as if trying to meet every students eyes. He definitely met Jimmy''s, causing his heart to jump in his throat, and Jimmy could swear that his beady eyes even hovered on him for a split second. Or that could have been because Nate, next to him was practically vibrating with contained energy.


    "¡ª precaution available to ensure that. So without further adu, I cede the floor to Special Agent Mannheim with the FBI and his team." And he waved to a group of suits in the front row, before striding off the stage.


    Special Agent Mannheim did not bandy words. He was stepping up to the stage even before Principle Lane was finished, and when he spoke, it was clipped.


    "I am Special Agent Mannheim, and assisting me are Special Agent''s Warner, Parks, Mehdi, and Suma. Last night, Buck Higly was assaulted in his house and robbed of a great number of his possessions. The investigation is still on going, how ¡ª EVER"


    He raised his voice as the whispers started up again.


    "I can say that we have identified this High School as well as several others in the vicinity and other locations as ¡ª Students. I will not talk over you! ¡ª as likely institutions that the perpetrator commonly visits."


    "We do not believe there is any present danger at this time, however as your principle mentioned, we are taking this incident extremely seriously and are taking all possible precautions. I, myself and my team, will be based at this school. You may see us walking around. You may see us sitting in lectures and in some cases, inviting students out of class for questions. Do not be alarmed if this happens to you, it does not ¡ª IT DOES NOT MEAN", he shouted as the hubbub exploded again. "That you are a suspect in this case. Additionally, there will be additional security posted at this school. You may see them patrolling the halls, you will definitely see them patrolling the perimeter. They are here merely as a precautionary measure and not because this team, or the government, or the faculty perceive an immanent threat to members of this institution."


    ''Jeez,'' Jimmy thought, feeling stunned. ''All this over a robbery... and no injuries.'' But the moment he''d been caught, he had known there''d be repercussions. Any incident with a Super was scrutinized, and he''d known that. He just hadn''t thought about it in the backdrop of the roller-coaster ambush by his sister and the late night conversation and... and Vicky''s text.


    Special Agent Mannheim looked around after he was done and, this time it was to dead silence. "I''ve got nothing further to add," he said after a moment.


    The Principle stepped back up looking a bit vexed that the Special Agent had been so terse with his words. "Does anyone have any question''s for myself, or the Special Agent?"


    There was noise.


    "You! second row. Tenth grade. Name and question" The Principle pointed and a boy with dark skin and curly hair stood up.


    "Anthony Melbourne." The boy said in a wavering voice. "My question ¡ª uh. If we are being pulled out of class, does that mean that we need to get a lawyer?"


    "Excellent question," Agent Mannheim responded, sounding like he thought it was anything but. "Everyone is free to refuse to answer any questions at this time, and if you so choose, seek council with a law expert. In the unlikely event, however, that this investigation leads us to believe that there is in fact a threat, the Bulwark Act grants my team expanded powers of surveillance and interrogation, falling far short of advanced interrogatory measures ¡ª"


    This time Special Agent Mannheim just stopped talking and waited for all the voices speaking over each other to die down. A minute later he picked up where he left off.


    "¡ª It may restrict your right to seek external council or to refuse use of truth detection technologies. I urge you to research the Bulwark act at your leisure. I do not expect any of these measures to be at all necessary. Next question."


    "You in the back. Eleventh grade."


    "Victoria Montgomery." Her breathless voice threw a sudden hot prickle down Jimmy''s spine. He caught his sister''s eyes again, his heart pounding in his chest. But they just glinted darkly and her expression stayed placid. "Can you tell us what happened to Bucky ¡ª Buck Higly I mean?"


    "He was beaten and robbed, girl." Special Agent Mannheim answered gruffly. "Is there anything else you need to know?"


    "N-no." Vicky said. And he heard her sit down.


    There were more questions after that. Many more. Some were about Buck. A fair number were about the Enderson massacre, and plenty were about the additional security measures being instituted at the school.


    One boy asked what guns the operators would use to protect the school. He received a curt response to that question and heckles from those close to him. And there were more than a couple questions centered around identifying Super Humans and where to go with information.


    Special Agent Mannheim seemed to enjoy these question about as much as Jimmy did not, and took time to discuss them fully.


    His responses were enlightening... and horrifyingly accurate.


    "As far as we can tell there is no one size fits all identifying feature for Super Humans." Special Agent Mannheim said after thanking the ninth grader who asked. "Generally speaking, when their powers are not active, they should look about the same as you and me. Obviously that is not a rule." He emphasized this point by looking around pointedly. "If you are getting uncanny valley vibes off of someone, seek the nearest member of my staff or call the hotline immediately. Our subconscious''s were born in the crucible of the unforgiving wild, and may very well be able to identify a threat before your conscious mind can."


    That of course sparked a flurry of students looking up what that term, uncanny valley meant, which the Special agent patently ignored.


    "¡ª Having said that, here are a couple things to look for. One, anything that looks suspicious. Two, Super Humans tend to possess what we call a Quirk. Again, Not. A. Rule... as far as we know. However, if you see someone doing things or reacting to stimulus that is far outside ¡ª and I do mean far ¡ª the human norm. That could be a Quirk."


    He paced a couple steps before he spoke up again quickly as the room buzzed.


    "Now I know, that directly after this conversation, you demons are going to come hammering on my door and pulling me aside to report your friend who wont stop aligning her pencils exactly right on her desk, or some cr ¡ª stuff ¡ª like that. Don''t. If you see an identifiable Quirk, you will know. Some known Quirk types include but are not limited to, moderate to severe allergies to certain metals like iron or silver, severe obsessions, some levels of OCD can be a quirk, discomfort telling falsehoods, highly contractual behavior, affinities towards specific creatures...."


    He rattled more off. Many more. More than Jimmy had even considered, and by the time Agent Mannheim drew his lecture to a close and delivered the Super Hotline number, that he ensured everyone was taking down in their phones, Jimmy''s heart was beating so hard it felt like it was breaking through his ribs.


    ''They know!'' He couldn''t stop thinking. ''They know so much! Quirks? Falsehoods?'' his head was spinning so hard that he didn''t even notice his sister before she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him through the milling students and into the void created by the open wing of one of the double doors.


    "Don''t. Leave school." she hissed.


    "Wh-what?"


    "They''re trying to flush the guy out. Taking attendance, this assembly in the first place. Go to gym class. Don''t leave school early." Kaykes took in his heavy breathing and whatever expression Jimmy felt covering his face. He hoped it was just pinched, and not, you know... red and covered in sweat. "What''s the matter with you?"


    "I can''t lie" He said so sub-audibly that he practically mouthed it.


    "That''s your ¡ª? At all?!" She face palmed. But then she grinned suddenly, and dragged him back into the throng of students who were all chattering and whispering, ensconced in their own intense conversations. "Don''t worry, Jimmy. They start rooting for people with ''discomfort telling falsehoods'' in high school, they''re gonna get so many hits they might as well select based on favorite color. Go to gym class."


    "I can''t wear a jersey."


    "Don''t. Wear your turtleneck. Say you forgot yours at home."


    "That''s n ¡ª what?"


    She rolled her eyes. "Deal with it Jimmy. No one''s making you take your clothes off for gym, and if they do, threaten sexual harassment. Deal with the laughs."


    <hr>


    Jimmy lurched up the stairs and into his room to find his sister already there and fiddling with one of his cards on his bed covers.


    "It was under your pillow." She explained. "It''s strange," and went to pick it up with her thumb and forefinger. "If try to pick it up, it slips right out of my grip like its greased. Scraping at it doesn''t work, neither does scooping it."


    "You''re not worthy." Jimmy muttered and eased himself into his desk chair with a groan.


    "But if I put my hand under the blankets like this, and lift the blanket, it moves just fine."


    "... The blanket is worthy."


    "Ha. Ha. What are you moaning about?"


    In answer Jimmy peeled off his sweat drenched turtle neck and groaned from the center of his chest. "Aargh. Gym. No good. Hurts. Laughed at."


    "Oooh. Yeah, that does look worse than it did this morning." Kaykes, cooed with interest but without anything resembling sympathy.


    "Thank you. I can tell." Jimmy hesitated then showed her the The Guy''s Cellphone for Illicit Dealings, and Kaykes'' eyebrows dropped like a stone.


    "Vicky?" Kaykes took the phone automatically


    He nodded and gestured for her to scroll. There were five new texts.


    [3:47 PM ¡ª VM] What did you do to him?


    [3:50 PM ¡ª TG] Tased him. He caught me and I ran.


    [3:51 PM ¡ª VM] Serves him right.


    [3:51 PM ¡ª VM] So when are we having that date?


    [5:19 PM ¡ª VM] ?


    Kaykes blinked back and forth slowly between the cellphone and Jimmy. "You... can''t be serious."

 1.5 From The Mouths of Sisters... Again

    "... I get it. You... need a girlfriend. I''ve been negligent in my duties as a sister. You''ve never had a girlfriend, so I''ll put some feelers out and see if I can hook you up. Is tenth grade good? Or does it have to be eleventh?"


    "No! stop." Jimmy was red. He could feel it. Why did he always turn red when girls came up? "What are you, the girl mafia?"


    Kaykes blinked at him. "I have friends."


    "In three grades?"


    "... Four."


    "Ok. Yeah... That''s not weird at all. Anyway, I don''t need my baby sister to hook me up. I''ll find someone. All by myself. When I want to."


    He''d unabashedly used the term ''baby'' sister as a means to try rest control of the conversation from her grip. Her deadpanned expression told him flat out that he was both unsuccessful and unsubtle.


    "Ok. Good. So we can drop this convo here. We delete her number and never talk to her again. She''s a direct tie to you, bro. The only one. She''s heard your voice, she stands the best chance of identifying you. Ditch this notion and you''re out of this mess before the end of the semester."


    "No don''t!" Jimmy dashed forward and wrestled the phone out from his sister''s grasp.


    "Good God! What is it about this girl Jimmy?! That you have to go on a date with her?" Kaykes glared at him from where she was struggling to lift one of his cards off of his bed cover, now with tweezers.


    It was a struggle. Whenever she went to pick it up, it slid right through the pincers like it had been greased. Her fingers worked even less effectively.


    "She''s just some girl blessed with Super-skin, no pimples and fantastic hair, and she''s used to twisting boys brains around her finger tips! Why can''t you see that?! She saw a horny boy and shamelessly manipulated him into breaking in to her ex-boyfriends house for a song."


    "Than why is she still texting me?"


    "Because. It''s. A. TRAP!"


    Jimmy shook his head. "Uh uh. I don''t believe that. You didn''t see her in the park. She was desperate."


    "She''s dumb and shallow and she has a dumb and shallow taste in boys!"


    "Shut up, Kaykes. You don''t know her," Jimmy scowled. "She just went too far with ¡ª"


    "That''s the crush talking."


    "I don''t have a cccccc¡ª"


    Kaykes watched with interest as the word refused to leave his mouth.


    Jimmy changed tacts. "The contract ¡ª"


    "¡ª Fuck the contract! You, Jimmy. You want to go on a date with her. Tell me I''m wrong."


    Jimmy shrugged uncomfortably and didn''t say anything.


    "It''s the boobs."


    "It''s not the boobs!"


    "Gah!" Kaykes palmed her face. "Boys! You are so much better than her, Jimmy, why her?"


    Jimmy opened his mou --


    " ¡ª Patricia!"


    ¡ª and stumbled. "What?" he gasped.


    "Patricia. She''s cute. I''d bet she''d go out with you."


    "Wha ¡ª I. No. I ¡ª What?" Jimmy felt himself go deep red again. He covered his face as his ears glowed. "I can''t go out with Patricia! I''d feel judged with every word I said!"


    Kaykes looked puzzled. "I asked her for homework help once. I didn''t feel judged."


    "You''re a ninth grader who knows freakin laplace! Of course she''s not going to judge you!"


    "... Irrelevant. Mico would probably ¡ª"


    "It still doesn''t make a difference, Kaykes." Jimmy insisted, gesturing with The Guys Phone for Illicit Dealings which he was still holding in his hand. "It''s in the contract."


    "Arbitrage, can''t enforce a date."


    "No, of course not. But the Itch can."


    "... So you signed... an unenforceable clause in a contract, that you''re still beholden to but she isn''t?"


    "... Pretty m ¡ª"


    Kaykes jumped up, gesturing furiously "Are you dumb?! Stupid? God damn it, Jimmy!"


    His face burned.


    Kaykes'' eyes darted first to the closed window and then to the closed door. She stalked over, opened it suddenly and peaked out, then closed it again gently. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter but no less furious.


    "There are people looking for the guy that broke into Buck''s house, assaulted the members of that household after stealing property. Do you know what that''s called Jimmy? Do you? That''s Breaking and Entering. That''s Assault and Battery. That''s Assault with Super Human Capability AND Assault with a Deadly Weapon ¡ª"


    "A taser is not ¡ª"


    "Super Humans tend to get charged with both! And if you think that your cards aren''t deadly, then you''ve got another thing coming. And the only reason there isn''t more on that list is because the Higly''s much less the authorities don''t know a single damn thing about you and I''m not a lawyer! So I can''t list all the possible charges under which you can be fucked!"


    "They know you''re male, and they know you''re ''young, possibly teenage'' because you opened your damn mouth to apologize after downing their son, and as every crime flick out there has definitively established, most crime is conducted against people in the victims sphere of contact. So where does that put us Jimmy?"


    "I get it." Jimmy bit out through clenched teeth.


    "Do you? Because where I''m standing, that leads us to a High School within driving distance of Bucks house. There''s three of those by the way. Increased security at all of them. An investigation headed by an FBI special agent. An Emergency Assembly. Students being hauled out of class for questioning. A Super human Hotline... did I miss anything? Oh yeah. Apparently, you can''t lie. And a fucking dragon was seen soaring over midtown park!"


    Kaykes flashed a news article on her phone in front of his face.


    "A... that''s a dragon?"


    It could have been a dragon.... It could also have been a very odd wisp of cloud.


    Kaykes shrugged and sighed heavily. "It''s probably a hoax. People actually see things all the time and claim its super related. It usually doesn''t amount to anything." She glared at him. "Point is, brother. The city''s on high alert. And you do not want to be a Super criminal in the backdrop of Amaterasu. They''re looking for someone to burn, and that fucker is not accommodating."


    "I get it." Jimmy bit out again. "I do, Kaykes. But I still don''t have a choice. The Itch is not going to let this slide!"


    "It''s always the Itch this. The Itch that. You act like it''s not you. Like it''s an actual ¡ª"


    "Thats because it is, Kaykes. It actively wants thi ¡ª"


    Kaykes grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him hard against the wall. She was strong for a fourteen year old!


    Kaykes glared deep into his eyes and growled in a low voice. "Ok. Then I''m talking to you now, Itch. I don''t care if you''re really my brother, or some eldritch thing from deep space."


    "That''s not how this wor ¡ª"


    "Shut up, Jimmy!" She slapped him.


    "Ow!"


    "I don''t care." She hissed, gripping him by his collar and glaring deep into his eyes. "He''s a moron, but he''s my brother. And if you fuck him over with your stupid idiosyncrasies, I''m going to come after you, Itch. I''m going purge you from his soul. You hear me? Itch?"A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Nothing happened.


    Kaykes shook him. "I don''t know how I''ll do it. I don''t care. I will do it though. Even if I have to lock him in a room and starve him of anything to steal until you burn your way out of him."


    "Kaykes... Kaykes, that would seriously hur¡ª"


    She shook him again. "You get me? Itch?"


    "Literally nothing. I told you. Thats not how this works!" Jimmy pulled her hands off and Kaykes made a disgusted sound and stalked back to his bed."


    They were both breathing hard now and not looking at each other. Jimmy felt a little bit of moisture at the corners of his eyes. When he was certain his sister wasn''t watching, he wiped at them.


    "Look," he said thickly. Kaykes had gone back to trying to lift the card from the bed with renewed vigour. She''d taken to trying to slide a piece of printer paper underneath it and lifting that up. "I think we need a break. I''ll hold off on ¡ª"


    "Send the text."


    "...What?"


    Kaykes sighed. "Send the text, Jimmy. You''re going to end up doing it anyway. So... might as well." She studied him. "Somewhere public," she said eventually. "A park. Lots of kids and people doing foolish things. You''ll be in good company. We can do a picnic. Chicks dig picnics."


    "We...?"


    Kaykes snorted. "Do you know how to plan a picnic? I''m planning this op."


    And Jimmy... conceded the point.


    <hr>


    "Boy. Boy! You got the juice?"


    "I ¡ª the jui-wha now? Huh?"


    "The juice boy! The juice!"


    The man squinted at him from beneath a pair of the bushiest, grey eyebrows Jimmy had ever seen. And then he poked Jimmy hard in the stomach.


    "Ow!"


    He was a funny little man and looked a little bit like Gandalf the Grey crossed with Santa Clause and then shrunken to the size of an elf... and not the Tolkien version. About one head level below Jimmy''s.


    His hat more than made up for it though. It was almost too big for the man''s head, with a wide, curved brim and a trunk that grew from the top and curved grandly behind the mans head. It was mirrored by the bushy grey beard which hung down and wagged almost jovially by the man''s knees as he talked.


    "I am not made of Eternal Moments, boy." The Man grumped. "Put some Pep under your tongue. You''ve got the gumption but you also need the juice. Do you have it?"


    For one wild moment Jimmy wondered what in the world would happen if he said yes.


    "No." He answered. "I don''t have any... juice. Sorry."


    The man pursed his lips gravely, but then he winked and his eyes twinkled as if there were caught stars far back behind his eyelids. "S''all right boy. Come back when you''ve got some. I like you. But you''ve also got to have the ¡ª"


    <hr>


    Jimmy''s eye''s opened blearily to the sound of his mother''s news station.


    "... decision to finally field troops in Sudan is a step in the right direction. A much needed step. But it stops short of dealing with the real issues!"


    ... "What about this guy they''re calling Legion? He sacked a police precinct with ¡ª with an army of ¡ª get this ¡ª very attractive ''demons'' who proceeded to, and this is a quote mind you, ''supernaturally seduce the male police officers before... ripping their throats out... with their teeth''. This was taken from an interview from one of the female desk clerks who hid in a janitors closet."


    A cry of disbelief.


    "John. This is fundamental. Society breaks down if the rule of law cannot be applied on the population."


    "This must be an outlier. Most of them are probably just your everyday Americans who woke up one day and found that he could fly. This... that''s horrifying!"


    "Maybe they are, John. Maybe they are. But the fact is, very few Supers have voluntarily come forward. And for every ''I can fly'' American we are getting a disproportionate number of Legions and Amaterasus."


    "Amate-what?"


    "A reference to ¡ª"


    "Ah. I got it. I have to say, giving these crazies names. Could it be empowering them? I mean, with a name like Legion ¡ª"


    Jimmy shielded his head from his mother''s news coverage by pressing his pillow over his ears. He turned over and groaned as everything from his neck to his ankles ¡ª even his toes ¡ª throbbed.


    " ¡ª costing lives. If I am elected President, I''ll be instituting sweeping reforms. Education, Civil, Defense, Criminal... This is a problem that touches every part of our lives and ¡ª"


    It didn''t work. He groaned and buried his head deeper.


    ''Five more minutes.''


    ''Yes. He''d get up in ten more....''


    One minute later, Jimmy tromped down the stairs with a glower, thankfully having remembered that turtlenecks were still in fashion.


    "Good morning babe," His mother greeted him softly with her morning voice, which, interestingly enough, Jimmy groused internally as he sat down at the counter, was actually lower than the volume on that John Hannon fellow his mother liked listening too. "You''re up early. Couldn''t sleep?"


    "No." He rubbed his eyes. Still bleary.


    "Coffee?" She passed him a cup without waiting for a response. He took it gratefully, than she refilled her cup and was pensive.


    "I couldn''t either," his mother continued softly after a moment of stretched silence during which they both sipped companionably from their cups. "I went to that conference with your teachers last night. About the attack on that poor boy. Your father remoted in from wherever they''re keeping him.


    "You don''t know where?"


    His mother raised a slender eyebrow. "Do you know?"


    Jimmy shrugged and sipped from his mug as his mother sighed.


    "Some case they have him working right now. Lots of time. Lots of secrets. Lots of out of touch. He says it will be over in a couple more weeks. How are you kids doing?"


    Jimmy eyed his mother sideways over his mug. "Fine." He said finally. And then because it was close enough to a lie, that he could feel that taught feeling winding up behind his sternum, "A bit worried." He clarified, and the tension subsided.


    "Brave boy. I''m terrified." She admitted. "You heard about Legion?"


    ''Please not a another conversation about Supers,'' Jimmy thought. ''I can''t take it. Please!'' He nodded.


    "There''s a new character in the mix. Took out a group of gangers here in our city. Saved a couple girls on the amber alert too."


    And Jimmy... brightened. "So he''s a good guy!"


    "I suppose. It''s still vigilante justice, though babe. That''s still a crime."


    "So? He saved some kids from traffickers. I call that a win for the good guys. Did you know there were traffickers around here?"


    His mother arched an eyebrow at him. Sometimes it seemed to Jimmy like he was the only one who couldn''t do that!


    "Why do you think your sister''s got such an early curfew? She."


    "She?"


    "She leaves a calling card. A red rose. Thorns and everything."


    "It''s the modern age, Mom. Guys can like roses too!"


    His mother chuckled. "Call it mother''s intuition, kid. And I agree. I''m glad she saved those kids. And I can''t imagine what their parents were going through. If we lost either of you two...." His mother trailed off there. "Sometimes I think it all begets each other though. Heaven know''s there''s been human trafficking and drugs since the dawn of time, but in the last eight years, when Supers started showing up? It seems like its all gotten worse. Maybe its just the Availability Heuristic playing havoc with my head, but I swear I don''t remember hearing about folks and kids getting snatched on the news as often as I do now."


    "How can those possibly be related?"


    His mother shrugged and studied him. "You really like them don''t you? Supers."


    "Wha ¡ª why do you say that? I ¡ª dunno. I guess?"


    "You always leap to their defense. I hear it in your voice."


    Jimmy gulped. ''That all stops this instant! Never saying another nice thing about Supers again... at least a month '' He cleared his throat awkwardly.


    "You used to read a lot of fantasy. All magic and dragons. Witches and Wizards. Played some table-tops too. You remember?"


    "Mom! Of course I remember. It wasn''t that long ago."


    "And then Supers started appearing and there you were standing in line at the books store like it was the 2000s again, to pick up the newest and best Super Hero books because they were leaping off shelves milliseconds slower than they were being back-ordered online. You gobbled them up just like everyone else. Only, when reality set in for the rest of us, it didn''t for you. You kept buying those books. For a time. And even now, when Supers are brought up, it''s like your eye''s light up. Like you still believe in Super Heroes. There''s still wonder there."


    "I think. That I am thoroughly tired of the subject." Jimmy said acerbically. "I think Super this and Super that is all anyone''s willing to talk about now."


    "Yes. Well. They are the trial of our lifetime, babe."


    "A group of people. Can''t be a trial, Mom."


    Jimmy grimaced into his cooling coffee. He downed the rest of it in single gulp, and noticed Kaykes had made an appearance on the bottom step of the stairs. She hadn''t said anything yet, which could have been an indication that she was listening in, or nearly as likely, an indication that she''d slept as well as he had and was unimpressed with the hour.


    "Yes. Well. The consequences from their existence can. Morning Babe!" Mom greeted Kaykes brightly. "Coffee?"


    "It''ll stunt my growth." Kaykes growled. So it was probably the hour.


    Kaykes did end up accepting a cup, and the conversation turned to friendlier topics, like homework and his impending college applications ¡ª "it''s ok to not have started them yet, just as long as it''s on your mind" ¡ª and "Dad sends his love!" And then he and Kaykes bundled themselves out the door and took to their bikes.


    "Mom troubling you with her intuitions?"


    "No. Yes. Both. I don''t know. It''s like I can''t escape Supers!"


    "Uh... I don''t mean to alarm you... Jimmy, but you are in fact ¡ª"


    "Thank you, Kaykes! It doesn''t mean I wan''t to discuss Supers with Mom fresh off her first cup of coffee and dose of John Hannon."


    "You could tell them."


    Jimmy almost swerved into the curb. "What? Absolutely not."


    "Why not? Have you considered it?"


    "Mom and Dad would lose it!"


    "That''s a bad reason. They love you, Jimmy. There''d be a shock, sure. But then they''d probably be as curious about it as I am...."


    "Mmmm, I take that back. Maybe less. Still." Kaykes eyed him. "They''ve never met a Super before, Jimmy. They just get what''s on the news. You could probably shake quite a lot of sentiment by just introducing the new you."


    "My Super-ness comes with a lot of baggage. Kaykes, I''m a psychological basket case. I''m a dipstick of a first contact."


    "Did... you just curse on a dip... stick?"


    "See? Baggage. And thats kid level!"


    "I won''t even touch that. Jimmy, you''ve never met another Super either, maybe you''re the standard of normalcy."


    Jimmy peered at her.


    "Actually, that''s a horrifying thought," Kaykes amended after a moment of hesitation. "Still. Maybe that makes you the best representative. Weird Quirks and power combined."


    "They''ll want me to turn myself in. Come out in front of it all."


    "Might. Might. And I seriously doubt they''d go behind your back about it. There''d just be a horrific amount of parental pressure. But... Maybe that wouldn''t be a bad thing anyway."


    "Kaykes!"


    "That''s your whole deal, isn''t it? Supers don''t step up. They don''t put themselves out there. Share about themselves, talk to people, work with the police, and make themselves humans instead of monsters! All I''m saying is that I''m staring at a Super right now, and he''s not doing it either!"


    "Kaykes. I." Jimmy gritted his teeth.


    "That all I''m saying. Not pressuring. Just observing."


    "Isn''t this a major departure of your notions last night?"


    "Humor me. It''s early. Imagine all this blew over tomorrow."


    "Kaykes..." Jimmy rubbed at his eyes, which caused his bike handles to wobble dangerously until he snatched at them again. "My power..." ''Why did it feel like he was wining. Was she right? Was he...?''


    "It''s not meant for the lime light, Kaykes. Supers will not thank me for stepping up and being their rep. I believe that there are real Heroes out there. Real Supers who can really step up and be shining examples of heroics. I''m just not it."


    "You''re afraid."


    "Cripes, I''m terrified! I can barely handle being a monster in the shadows. I don''t want to be one in the light."


    They turned into the school parking lot soon after.


    Kaykes gave him a quick hug and a long look before she left. Then she punched him in the chest ¡ª which hurt through no fault of her own. "End of the week, Jim. Knuckle through today, suffer the heckles for the Vicky thing from yesterday, don''t sleep through history, and then the fun stuff." Her mouth stretched into a wide grin and she cracked her knuckles loudly. "P-testing!"


    And Jimmy laughed.

 1.6 Power Testing

    School... was not fun. For one, all of that security that FBI Special Agent Mannheim had intimated would arrive, had. Overnight. And just because Jimmy knew that they couldn''t identify him from Adam, did not stop that surge of shear terror from spiking through him every time one of their groups of two walked by.


    They looked like a Super Human Response Team. They were without fail, big and muscular with set faces and serious, roving eyes. They wore a type of dark, greyish fatigues which made Jimmy think heavily of urban camouflage, and their weapons were ¡ª big.


    Jimmy didn''t know much more about guns than any other boy in a post-Super world his age, but as far he could tell, he didn''t think most gun magazines were that fat... or that there were usually quite so many switches and knobs on the frame.


    Super rated. These guys were serious.


    Then there was Vicky.


    Not her personally, but as Jimmy stepped up to his locker and three boys nearby all swooned as one, Jimmy could already predict the ending of this episode. And he was right.


    They weren''t the last. They may not have even been the first, but Jimmy had been so preoccupied with the new security personnel he wouldn''t have noticed anything not at least wearing combat boots.


    Now though....


    Boys and girls swooned around him and laughed. Some even slapped their faces up hurriedly to best encapsulate the event before babbling dramatically in inane voices.


    "¡ªI think Supers..."


    " ¡ª upers aren''t bad. They''re just misunderstood! Oh hello Vi..."


    "¡ªcky, I LOVE y¡ª"


    Jimmy''s face burned.


    "¡ª Vicky"


    "Vi ¡ª"


    He hunched his shoulders as he pulled books out, stuffed them in his bag and practically ran from his locker.


    "I''d fight a Super for you, Vi ¡ª"


    "¡ª Vicky"


    "Vicky"


    And he bumped into ¡ª "Vicky!" he gasped. Her gorgeous eyes filled his vision. And her mouth. The tips of it were quirked into a small smile.


    "Hey! KNOCK it off, Guys!" She glared around until they subsided to snickers and then she squinted at him. "You''re... Jimmy. Right?"


    And Jimmy died again.


    <hr>


    "Pay no attention to fools and pigs, Jimmy. Both will drag you into the mud with them, and they enjoy it." Patricia scowled archly from the seat over.


    Her eyes were looking at him. But her scowl seemed directed at everything else but him. He was just the one graced with it. It was... comforting in a way.


    Her curls fell down her shoulder in a red wave and she was hunched over her notebook scribbling furiously.


    "You look tired." He said after a moment.


    "The night was long, and full of terror. Did you solve the two body pendulum problem?"


    "No!" Jimmy breathed. "Did you? I keep getting the second mass as -367 grams. It''s a nightmare!"


    Patricia nodded gravely. "Let me see your work," She said and held out her hand. "I think the adjustment you have to make is...".


    And the day brightened for the five minutes it took History to start.


    Then three of Vicky''s friends strode in. One of them, Raven ¡ª who actually looked like someone named Raven might ¡ª spied him and gave him a full faced smirk before putting her head together with Melody to giggle.


    The less said about all the other periods the better, and the day''s only saving grace was... "Thank FUDGE there''s no gym on Fridays."


    "It''s ok, Jimmy." Nate said consolingly while Sashaya threw a companionable arm around his shoulder and Tom bit back snickers of ¡ª probably also companionable ¡ª mirth. "I''m sure come Monday everyone will have forgotten the color your face turns when Vicky''s name is mentioned. And think on the bright side. At least on Monday, you''ll have had the opportunity to wash your gym jersey."


    In hindsight, Jimmy thought gloomily, They probably wondered why he''d thrown his hands up and announced that he was going to burn all of his turtlenecks. After he was done with them of course.


    <hr>


    The hat wobbled on the man''s grey head as he nodded vigorously. "Oh. YES. That''s the stuff!"


    "I-it ¡ª is?"


    Black eyes glimmered beneath grey and bushy eyebrows.


    "Come with me, boy. Time is a poor currency to waste." He clapped his hands. "One. Two. Three. Four. Step right through my secret Doo ¡ª"


    <hr>


    Breaking News. Amaterasu STRIKES again. With the Fires at Enderson Highschool and his childhood home STILL burning, the Super Human colloquially known as Amaterasu but who the authorities have identified as seventeen year old, Ren Yoshida has teamed up with Legion also known as Oren Hunt.


    Together, they are tearing a swath through Menrose county just east of Enderson. Governor Hess has activated Reserve units and called up the local National guard while pleading with adjacent states to send aid. He has also declared that a full evacuation of the area is now in progress.


    President Mires has pledged his full support.


    "We stand with Arizona. We stand with the good people of Enderson and Menrose county."


    However the President pushed back against declaring sweeping emergency measures.


    "These attacks are not random. They are surgical and do NOT appear to be targeting civilians. Now is not the time to turn our sights on Supers at large. We must embrace our differences and come together as. One. Nation!"


    Public sentiment is moving against the President here, with public protests numbering in the hundred thousands dotting the US map.


    "¡ªing them down!"


    "I don''t care how ¡ª I don''t¡ª"


    "NUKE the bastards if you have to!"


    With the primary election just around the corner this may well turn the tide in Kent Maccabee''s favor.


    More on this, at eight.


    Jimmy pulled his pillow over his head and screamed into the fluff.


    <hr>


    "Was that a cry for help, bro?"


    "Shut up, Kaykes."


    "Who''s that your texting?


    "Vicky."


    Her eyes slid his way slowly.


    "She says she''s looking forward to our picnic on Sunday."


    "If you send anything more than the most banal of smiley faces, Jimmy, I''m going to stab you."


    "She might think I''m not int ¡ª put that down Kaykes!"


    "You''re NOT interested." Kaykes hissed. "You''re just doing it for your stupid contract. Now come on!" She grabbed Jimmy and tugged him away from the counter.


    "You kids going somewhere?"


    "Yeah. We''re ¡ª"


    "Hiking," Jimmy inserted helpfully.


    Kaykes'' eyes swiveled to him suspiciously. "Right... let me change my shoes."


    "You kids be careful out there." Jimmy''s mother chastened as Kaykes darted off. "You heard the news?"


    "I couldn''t not." Jimmy grumped.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    His mother gave him a guilty grin, but said, "Well informed is well prepared, Jimmy. You take care of your sis. Got it?"


    And he and Kaykes snatched up their bikes and darted out.


    "We aren''t really, going hiking, right Jim?" Kaykes asked quietly as they swerved out of the driveway. "You said you knew a place."


    "I do. Trust me."


    And she did as they cycled down the street waving to Mrs. Mavis as they passed by.


    And also when they turned right passed Eastwall district mall. She even maintained it as they turned again down Culver Blvd which snaked underneath the freeway and passed new construction residential housing being built on either side.


    Kaykes drew the line when they entered midtown park.


    "Jimmy. This is totally not what I thought you meant when you said the words ''I know a place''," Kaykes hissed, looking furtively around at the jungle gym and the swing set and the faded green and slightly dry grass field. "When I said P-testing I thought you understood what I meant."


    "I did understand what you meant. C''mon. It''s passed the park. And it is a bit of a hike ¡ª" Jimmy nodded at their pair of bikes. "You want me to card that for you?"


    "Better not," Kaykes muttered, looking around suspiciously.


    "No one''s noticed us," Jimmy said after a moment of introspection. "I can tell."


    "Still better not. People saw two kids ride in on bikes. Best they see us also suffering the consequences and lugging them around. Or at least locking them up over there."


    She nodded to a set of metal bike loops sticking out of he ground by the field.


    They locked them up and Kaykes followed Jimmy around the grass a bit bemusedly, and then up a steep embankment, and into the hills which surrounded the park''s far side.


    They climbed a bit. They walked a bit, dipped down a bit and then climbed a bit more....


    "You heard of FPV Drones, Jimmy? You know... the ones with cameras?" Kaykes''s chin length hair swung as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the sky above them.


    Last week, Nate had commented that Kaykes'' hair and eyes made her look like the world''s ''most perfect imoto''. He''d regretted that a moment later when the world''s most perfect imoto grinned at him with bright eyes and kicked him squarely in the shins. It... may not have helped her case.


    "They''re all the rage now a days."


    Jimmy frowned. "So?


    "Well, they can... you know... video...."


    "Civilian media is inadmissable as eviden ¡ª"


    Kaykes stopped. "Have you looked up the Bulwark Act Jimmy?"


    "Not... yet?"


    "Ok. Well The Bulwark Act was created with the idea that ''advanced and extraordinary'' measures were necessary when investigating suspected Super Human involvement in a crime. The idea being, that in a world where people can manipulate citizen''s minds, turn invisible and run at mach-jesus, you take your evidence where you can get it, and employ ''extraordinary'' means of attaining it. The gate? Suspicion of Super Human involvement in a crime."


    Kaykes eyed him meaningfully.


    "Huh."


    "Technically, it also allows for the expanded measures of interrogation like our Special Agent was hinting at, like AI Driven Truth Detection Technologies, but stops short of things like AI Cold Reads and Water-Boarding... Probably because some Supers might actually enjoy that treatment." Kaykes shook her head. "None of thats the point now though. I see blue sky above me, Jimmy."


    ''AI Cold Reads!'' Jimmy thought, feeling sick. ''Fish-fingers!''


    "That''s fine. There a pretty dense wooded area around the next hill. We may not be able to stand up straight all the time. But if they can see us from up above, we deserve to be caught. And I''ve never seen a drone that didn''t make a ton of noise."


    <hr>


    It really was densely wooded here. It was that prickly, almost oaky brush which looks like it should just be those small shrubs that you could crush underfoot, but grown up. And there were a lot of them very close together.


    Kaykes and he had to beat a new path into the center ¡ª it had been a little while since he''d been here ¡ª but afterwards they stood in a kind of wooded dome of spiky branches and leaves.


    If a drone picked them out, It was right on top of them, and looking straight down.


    "Ok. This is pretty good." Kaykes allowed grudgingly. She pulled out a notepad. "Ok dude. It''s time. What can you show me?"


    What followed was what Jimmy could only describe as a power based obstacle course designed by a madman.


    Kaykes had him card stones, then un-card them at varying time intervals, studying them critically.


    She had him try to card air ¡ª he had difficulty with that ¡ª and then liquid from a water bottle.


    He carded the water as it sat still and then watched as his sister checked the temperature using a digital thermometer the moment he un-carded it back into the bottle, comparing it to the temperature directly prior.


    "Same temp." She groused, squinting at the reading. "At least to two dec.


    Then she had him card the water as she poured it slowly out of the water bottle.


    "No! Not all at once! I want just the water as it flows from the rim."


    That.... was difficult in a way a bit akin to doing the splits. But.... He finally managed it to his sisters specifications.


    Then he had to take a breather.


    Kaykes gave him five minutes while tapping her pencil impatiently. Then she said, "C''mon Jimmy! Times money and we can''t waste it."


    <hr>


    "The trees are strong my lord. Their roots go deep."


    "Rip them all down!" .... "And technically I''m a Lady. So... ''Instead of a dark lord you shall have a Queen! Not dark, but beautiful as the --''"


    "Ok. Ok. You''re taking this a little farther than intended your, Grace." Jimmy said. It came out as a grunt.


    After Kaykes had developed a baseline by having him en-card rocks of ever increasing size, she''d turned her sights to the bushes ¡ª carefully, they didn''t want to disappear their cover. The results had surprised even Jimmy.


    Apparently, he could en-card anything. Even if he couldn''t see the the fullness of the object''s form.


    "I mean it makes sense, I suppose" Kaykes muttered, chewing pensively on her pencils eraser. "When you en-card ¡ª are we really calling it that? ¡ª an object, you only really see part of it. Most things are ice-burged. Hmm. We need to find the edges of your power, bro. Thats how we reach understanding."


    "I think ¡ª I''m... finding one of those... edges now." Jimmy said, gasping.


    "Talk to me, Jim."


    Jimmy, released the branch he was gripping in a white knuckled grip and backed up shakily. The tree... remained where it was. Kaykes raised an eyebrow.


    "No. That''s it. Edges." Jimmy said, still gasping for breath. He felt winded. "I couldn''t... reach the full shape. It wouldn''t flip."


    "It''s surface area related?" Kaykes exclaimed shrilly. "Why would it be surface area? Mass makes far more sense. Try it again!"


    "You know, you''re not really a lady."


    "Again, Pleb!"


    Jimmy tried it again. "Nope." He said backing up breathlessly several seconds later. "Surface area. I''m sure of it. It feels like I''m extending a-a film or something over it. If I can encapsulate it, I can ''eat'' it and it becomes a card. Otherwise." Jimmy shrugged.


    "And when you take longer than normal to make the card transition?"


    Jimmy nodded. "Yea. If its too big, I can kinda stretch for it, you know?" He shivered a bit. "It doesn''t feel good though. Vulnerable. Like anything can slide in when I''m open like that. I don''t think my power is meant to be a stretch so much as a snap. Or a flip. En-CARD! See?"


    "I see...." His sister responded, nonplussed. "So, to be clear... you''re telling me... that you can ''en-card''" ¡ª she air quoted ¡ª "a black hole, with greater ease than you can a hot air balloon."


    "I mean... It could also be multi-variate." Jimmy muttered a bit sheepishly. For some reason he was feeling the distinct urge to defend his card powers from Kaykes'' scorn. "Could be I just can''t hit that limit before my surface area limit hits maximum."


    "It should be mass." Kaykes muttered, glaring at her notes. She wasn''t listening to him. "Mass is what matters. Not... surface area? Why isn''t it mass?!" She glanced at him. "We aren''t anywhere near understanding how you''re powers work, bro. Can you at least... en-card, like, half the tree?"


    Jimmy shook his head. "Nope. Itch didn''t like that one bit. All or nothing."


    "Drat!" And Kaykes scratched something out on her notepad. "Ok. Lets move on."


    Jimmy grinned. He had been looking forward to one thing in particular. "Human catapult?"


    "Human catapult! Load the guns, pleb!"


    <hr>


    The stone crashed into the boulder with the force of a miniature locomotive. It shattered on impact and the two teenagers hit the deck with shrill yelps and curses.


    "We... need to step back."


    "Yea we should definitely be farther back."


    "How big was that rock?"


    "Two of your heads."


    "This is a serious scientific investigation, Jimmy. I''m not using that unit of measure."


    "Is your head changing size?"


    "... Right. Two of... my heads." Kaykes scratched words into her notebook.


    "Ok try... three heads now. No four. Lets do double. I''m getting a picture here that I''m both enjoying and not in the slightest. Throw the card, release a bit earlier though so I can really capture the flight."


    Kaykes held her hand out for The Guys phone for Illicit dealings, glared at the fresh texts from Vicky.


    "You''ve got to be encouraging her", she hissed. "Why the hell is Cheer Captain so interested?"


    Then she turned on the camera function.


    "Again! With feeling!"


    CRAAACK


    "Ok. That..." Kaykes gasped, standing back up. "Was still not far enough." She took off her safety glasses ¡ª apparently Jimmy had carded an uncomfortable number of them from somewhere and forgotten ¡ª and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. "That was too close."


    "Oh yeah." Jimmy said breathlessly.


    They watched the video, heads together. Then Kaykes rewound it and they watched it again. Then she used her finger to scroll the video right to the frame where Jimmy un-carded the stone.


    "Newton. Is throwing a hussy fit in his grave." Kaykes said wonderingly. "I no longer think that surface area crap is strange. We don''t seem to be caring about mass at all!"


    Jimmy nodded. He knew where Kaykes was going with this, but his sister liked to talk her way through things, so he let her. It helped him too.


    "Newtonian physics loves the notion that energy is a property of objects of mass. It''s where we get the first law and that nifty conservation of momentum equation."


    Jimmy didn''t even blink at his sister''s analysis. Even though this was so thoroughly beyond the bounds of the ninth grade curriculum, he''d long since come to terms with his sisters outsized knowledge base.


    "So when you transform an object into a card, you''ve changed the mass. We know this because you can lift it and are not a body builder...." She cocked her head. "Also because when you drop a card it doesn''t make a giant divot in the soil."


    She went back. "When you throw it, your imparting a modicum of energy to the card. Enough energy to chuck a card but NOT a stone. When you transform that stone back, it should suddenly have far too little energy to fly at that same speed, and ¡ª you know ¡ª drop out of the sky like the stone it is."


    Kaykes looked at him seriously. "It doesn''t. That stone looks like it''s still flying at the same speed as the card was. You''re creating energy, bro. Now its thermodynamics laws your slaying."


    "It doesn''t feel like I''m creating energy, Kaykes." But Jimmy was dragging his fingers through his hair, feeling winded.


    "Oh?"


    "It feels like I''m putting something back."


    "O-ok. But Jimmy... please take your feelings and smack it with the science stick, because, I''m not seeing any other explanation for why we keep having to hit the deck with an alacrity proportional to the size of the stones your throwing. Call it?"


    "Yea..." Jimmy swayed a bit. "I''m hungry."


    Kaykes eyed him. "It''s not been that long since breakfast."


    "Not... that kind of hungry, Kaykes." Jimmy breathed. "I''ve never carded that many things so quickly before. My hands are... itching.


    Kaykes stared at him. Then she cursed. "That," She said. "Should have been the first thing we experimented with. Forest for trees. Come on," Kaykes was already striding away. "You can take something from my room."


    "Like..." Jimmy''s brain scrambled. "Your computer?"


    "... I was thinking something more along the lines of a few pens...."


    "Not. How. This. Works."


    "You can''t have my computer, Jimmy. Crap!"


    They skidded down the hill and ran for their bikes. That was fine. As Kaykes breathlessly pointed out, two kids running for bikes was not suspicious in the slightest. But only if you didn''t look at their faces.


    "I need a contract, Kaykes. I need a contract now." Jimmy''s face was white.

 1.7 A Wise Man

    "Dude. You''re power is super cool. But it''s giving me some serious Heebie Jeebies."


    There were no cars in the driveway when they turned in, a fact that they took full advantage of as they stormed up the stairs and into Kaykes'' bedroom.


    It was a quaint room with little in it but her bed, which was space ship themed, those glow in the dark stars and planet stickers which had been a fixture of her ceiling since she''d been seven, and two bookshelves practically groaning with books. There was a desk like Jimmy''s near the window with several text books strewn over it and her book bag lay on the floor next to the desk chair.


    "Alright Jimmy, feast your eyes. Anything the light tou ¡ª NOT THAT!" Kaykes darted in front of him as his eyes snapped directly to her computer sitting on the desk.


    It was one of the new Gen X Horizon''s with enough GPUs, CPUs, and all the other three letter acronyms required to run a small local AI without pushing to an external server. It was a gift from their parents last year, as a reward for Kaykes'' straight ''A''s for the eighth year in a row all the way through middle school.


    Half of it. The other half Kaykes had paid for... somehow.


    "Not my computer, Jimmy."


    Jimmy grit his teeth and made sure his hands were firmly by his side. "That... would probably work beautifully, Kaykes." Jimmy said.


    "Ah uh. Nope! I need it. Stay away!"


    "For what?"


    "Computing! I need a computer, dude! Pick something else! Besides mom and dad will notice instantly if that technological marvel disappears."


    "YOU wanted to power test! I was good for like... A good week at least."


    "We didn''t think. GAH! We know so little. Why do you need ¡ª"


    "Your wallet." Jimmy gritted out. "How much you got?"


    "I don''t know. I''m in ninth grade. Like five bu¡ª HEY!"


    This time, she wasn''t fast enough. Jimmy''s hand reached out and... a card flickered into existence. He breathed.


    "More like five hundred bucks. Where does a ninth grader get five hundred bucks?!"


    Kaykes'' eyes blazed. "Give. It back." She said dangerously.


    "It''s coming up as Five Hundred Dollars of Grit and Toil."


    "That''s how, you clepto-bastard. You can''t just take my lunch money!"


    "You seriously misunderstand me when I say, ''Thats not how this works''," Jimmy said. He pocketed the card and watched Kaykes'' face as it flickered through anger, sadness, consternation, mirth of all things, and finally regret.


    Finally she said grudgingly, "So, how much did my ''grit and toil'' buy us?"


    Jimmy shrugged. "A day, maybe? Two? ¡ª"


    "My ''grit and toil'' bought you one maybe two?!" Kaykes yelled. "Didn''t you survive for weeks on a hundred measly bucks from that kid and his debit card?!"


    " ¡ª Three, but then I''ll be famished."


    Kaykes wailed and pulled at her hair.


    It was a really good thing both their mother had stepped out, Jimmy mused.


    "Seriously though. How does a ninth grader make five hundred bucks? The Itch doesn''t seem to think it''s even that valuable."


    "Inflation hasn''t soared that high in three months" Kaykes growled. "That should be good for weeks!"


    "I don''t make these rules. I just have to abide by them. Three days. Max. I need a contract."


    Jimmy glanced between his sister and the card pointedly until she shuffled her feet, and glanced away grimacing.


    "Like you said, bro." Kaykes muttered. "I''m a ninth grader who know''s laplace. How do you think I make money? When I hold court, Seniors come running." She glared at him. "Still doesn''t mean I''m happy about losing five hundred bucks."


    Jimmy shrugged. "I''ll buy you lunch."


    "Hey! that''s a nice chea ¡ª"


    "Not. How. This. Works." This was starting to sound like his catch phrase. "The Itch understands extravagant spending. Not extravagant giving."


    Kaykes slumped, and threw herself in her chair.


    "Ok. Fine. I get it. Eldritch Itch is finicky." She folded her legs underneath herself and huffed. "I''ll put some feelers out. It''s High School, I''m sure I can find someone who''s had their stuff reappropriated recently."


    Jimmy eyed her. "O-ok, Godmother."


    "I''ve got friends, Jimmy! Not just some lame tree-nerd clique!" And while Jimmy choked on his own saliva, Kaykes asked. "Now tell me about these contracts."


    <hr>


    <h4><u>3 Months ago</u></h4>


    It is an unfortunate constant in the universe that with great power, does NOT come great understanding. So when Jimmy woke up one morning with powers of eldritch mystery at his fingertips and a burning itch he couldn''t scratch, Jimmy did what any other boy his age would do.


    He got up, stretched, yawned a whole lot and stumbled off to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Aaaand walked out a short while later with his sisters bathroom supplies.


    "Jimmy?" His sister''s morning face was more bemused than usual. "Is there a reason why you''ve dragging my... ah. Stuff around?"


    "MINE". Jimmy said. And wrapped his arms protectively around HIS Salmon toothbrush, pink toothpaste, pink mouthwash, bag of feminine supplies, box of some more feminine supplies, two hair towels, vanilla-lilac shampoo, and mocha scented conditioner.


    What followed was possibly the strangest game of tug of war in the known universe. And, let it be known that his sister eventually managed to rest control of all of her supplies except for her toothbrush.


    "You keep that, Jimmy," Kaykes hissed. And stalked off, leaving a now very bemused Jimmy holding a toothbrush he wasn''t ever going to use and clutching his chest and wondering why it felt like something was tearing.


    It didn''t end there.


    Jimmy walked through school that day, he sat in lectures and attended study-tree session with Nate, Sashaya, Mico and Tom, and it didn''t stop! He borrowed a pen from Sashaya and it disappeared into his pocket. Nate looked away from his cellphone for one second, and suddenly it was in Jimmy''s backpack.


    It was like people''s affects were suddenly magnetically attracted to his fingertips. He bumped into someone in the hall, and their wallet was now in his back-pocket. He brushed their arm and their watch appeared on his wrist. The less said for anything left on desks, chairs, corners, and open lockers the better.


    And every time Jimmy made to return the items he appropriated, it HURT.


    But with all of that, it took him a three weeks to card his first item.


    <hr>


    "What was it?" His sister was reclining back in her chair now, and her bare feet were thrown up on the foot of her bed.


    Jimmy was lying on it.


    In answer, Jimmy flourished a card and tossed it to his sister.


    Kaykes let out a muffled shriek and dove out of her desk chair.


    "Relax, it''s just..." Jimmy un-carded it, and The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings shimmered into view on the floor.


    "I just saw you shatter stones to bits with those things!" Kaykes hissed picking herself up off the floor of her room and glaring. She snatched it up. "So this was your first cellphone?"


    "Yup. It wasn''t called The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings then though. That was Random Cellphone 1.


    "Huh."


    "Yea. And the moment that I carded it, I was fine. Things didn''t stick to my fingers. I was good for about three weeks."


    His sister pursed her lips. "One cellphone. Three weeks. Got it."


    "It''s inconsistent. Mico''s phone gave me about a month and a random guy''s tablet gave me about four day''s." Jimmy shrugged. "Kind of feels like a dice roll to me."


    "Right, so fast forward to the contracts. What''s the deal?


    "Ok. So the thing you have to understand is that just because I''m not starving doesn''t mean I''m not... snacky.....


    <hr>


    <h4><u>2.5 Months ago</u></h4>


    "So apparently, this new Super on the News? Legion?" Tom looked around, his eyes popping incredulously behind his glasses. "He actually visited a psychiatrists office, before he went all ape shit!"


    Sashaya sucked on her pencil eraser and didn''t look up. Patricia heaved a put upon sigh and Nate said, "So?"


    Tom looked back and forth between all of them, his mouth flickering back and forth between incredulity and something very close to hilarity. "Well... he... he brought his girls with him."


    That got everyone''s attention. Especially the resident girls, who were not amused.


    Sashaya punched him in the leg, while Mico and Patricia scowled.


    "Don''t call them that. It''s straight up slavery what he''s doing. And those collars he makes them wear?" Mico said all of this in the iciest tone Jimmy had ever heard from her. "They''re victims! Who know what he does to ¡ª"


    "I mean, from this shrink''s accounts, it sounds like he mostly sits in the corner and shivers. Get this. ''Recounted to me... bla bla bla... more bla...'' Here we go. ''The girls are demons from another world. They have little sense of morality, and come from a place where slavery is common practice and the consumption and mutilation of sentient creatures is the norm. When ordered to, they answered my questions truthfully and with explicit detail ¡ª"


    "What''s up with you, dude?" Nate asked from where he was lying on the grass, one of his notebooks propped up on one of the Study-Tree''s roots.


    Jimmy breathed shakily and slowly moved his hand away from Mico''s Tablet where it had crept while Mico''s eyes were diverted.


    ''I''ve got to get this under control'' he thought. ''I can''t keep doing this.''


    "Ha! Ah. Nothing... nothing is up" ''And that lying problem. What''s the deal with that?''The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "I just, ah... Mico, you mind if I borrow your tablet for a second? To check something?"


    "Go for it, Jimmy. It''s still slavery." She continued, back to Tom. "That''s as evil now as it was twenty decades ago."


    Jimmy checked the weather quickly, and then passed it back, still chuckling nervously. That was until Patricia who had been listening to Mico''s fiery discussion with Tom silently, began looking in his direction curiously.


    Then, Jimmy swallowed his nervous laughs and did it all on the inside instead. ''I am ME!'' He thought desperately at himself. I will not steal. I''m. NOT. Doing it!


    The Itch... just itched.


    "¡ªAND Why are they ALL female?" Sashay pounced now. "That''s, like, way too grossly misogynist."


    "It says here that Legion doesn''t get a ¡ª"


    "Ah ah!" Sashaya wasn''t having it, neither was Mico, nor Patricia for that matter, who was grimacing and shaking her head.


    Sashaya jabbed her thoroughly chewed pencil at Tom beleaguered face. "A guy gets a power where he can summons creatures from the dark abyss and you think it''s a coincidence that they are all supernaturally hot women with a compulsion to obey his every word? I''m not buying it, dude. Why the hell would a power even be so arbitrarily specific?"


    Jimmy opened his mouth.... and ¡ª he eyed Mico''s tablet which his fingers were even now trying to reach for again ¡ª and closed his mouth tightly.


    ''Legion can fight his own battles,'' Jimmy thought. ''I''ve got my own, and He''s got supernaturally hot women with compulsions to obey to do it for him.


    The Itch hummed.... and burbled something indecipherable in the back of Jimmy''s mind.


    It was always doing that now. Itching and mumbling and humming and slithering through his hands, to his fingers and...


    It wasn''t even a scratch-able itch. It was too deep. Too in him for him to reach.


    ''But I can fight you.'' Jimmy promised that night while he brushed his teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. ''I''m gonna return everything you try to take. Even if it''s a tissue.''


    But when Jimmy went to speak those words out loud after he spat out the toothpaste, they wouldn''t come, and by now... Jimmy thought he knew why.


    He didn''t sleep that night.


    He didn''t sleep the next one either.


    But he did return the items he stole, even though the looks he received started getting stranger. Even though the pain in his chest started getting worse and spreading throughout his body, like it was tracing his bones.


    He did! But he also kept stealing, and that he couldn''t stop.


    <hr>


    "The Problem, Kaykes is that its far too easy to steal. When I stole The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings I freaked out! I went back to the store asking if someone had lost a phone ¡ª no one had reported anything ¡ª so I went to the lost and found and... turned away because it made me feel icky for some reason."


    "Icky?"


    "Icky" Jimmy nodded. "But that didn''t stop me. I actually tracked the guy down after searching through the phone for his information, and then biked across town to his house. I was this close to knocking on his door and handing back the phone, when the Itch finally realized I was serious."


    "It had a tantrum?"


    "Right there on his front porch."


    <hr>


    Jimmy inched his finger closer... closer.... ''C''mon!'' He thought. ''How hard can this be?!'' His finger was shaking. It was curling in on itself, practically writhing, like it was a tentacle rather than something limited by joints. His arms was shaking too. So were his feet.


    Actually, Jimmy noticed suddenly. His entire body was practically vibrating where he stood.


    He breathed and closed his eyes. ''Ok. Ok.... In three seconds I''m going to jump forward. My power can''t stop me then.'' Jimmy thought. ''Not when I''m in midair.''


    "Three. Tw ¡ª" Jimmy gasped. Three. Two. Ooooonn ¡ª" Jimmy hunched over shuddering. It was like something was pulling somewhere deeper than he could comprehend. Too deep. Too There in him.


    Jimmy was sweating he realized, and suddenly he wondered how long he''d been standing there cradling his chest.


    <hr>


    "I wasn''t in a good way." Jimmy told his sister. He folded his hands behind his head, remembering. "By this time I had been un-stealing things for a good week. Made sure to put everything back whenever something stuck to my fingers. Policing myself constantly. I''d even been sleep steeling! And right there on that porch? It was like the Itch just decided that enough was more than enough".


    "I bet you were starving."


    "I was famished, though it didn''t feel like that then. It just felt wrong. And it HURT." Jimmy shook his head. "So, anyway, I was standing there practically dry heaving from the pain and the door..."


    <hr>


    ... Opened, and a short, bearded man with silver hair and a lined face peered out at him. His eyes were crinkly and hazel, and his knurled hands were shaking where they gripped a walker.


    "Son?" He said in wheezing voice. "I have never seen someone try so hard to push a doorbell before." He pointed a crooked finger at a camera behind Jimmy that he hadn''t even noticed. "Is there something I can help you with?"


    Jimmy just looked at the man for a moment, still shaking uncontrollably. Then he gasped, "I have your phone." And he showed it to the man.


    The man''s eyes brightened. "Ah. I''d wondered where it had gotten off to."


    He reached for it but Jimmy''s hands jerked back involuntarily. "I think." Deep, rasping breaths. "I think you have to... pay me for it."


    "Oh." The man scrutinized him, frowning. Then he said. "Would five dollars do?" And he reached one shaking hand into his pocket and, extracting a wallet, pulled out a crisp, green, five dollar bill."


    "Ye ¡ª" Jimmy choked on the word, and slowly shook his head.


    "Ten?"


    Still no.


    <hr>


    "I think, today I could have done it, but ¡ª"


    "But you aren''t starving today."


    "No. Not like then."


    <hr>


    "Would a hundred do?" The man had stopped pulling bills out, but he was still scrutinizing Jimmy curiously.


    Jimmy shook his head. He was starting to get a sense for this. "One-fifffff ¡ª two hundred ¡ª and three?" He managed. "Two hundred and three exactly." And clenched his eyes shut at how that sounded.


    "Ah." The man said.


    He peered at Jimmy for a long moment. He did not pull out two hundred and three dollars, but he did open the door a little wider. "Why don''t you come in, boy," He wheezed. "I have a nice pot of tea brewing. Leaves, not that tea bag stuff. Why don''t you sit with me a while. My son just went back to Florida, and I''m... I''m feeling a little lonely today."


    He opened the door wider still, backing up with his walker so that Jimmy could squeeze in, and smiled warmly as Jimmy hesitantly did.


    "You''re not right boy," He said as he led Jimmy inside.


    The house was small, but homey, there was a reclining chair and a couch and a wall of bookshelves, with what Jimmy could only describe as tombs, but which were probably encyclopedias and histories and some even looked like religious texts.


    In the free wall space there were many pictures. Most with groups of people, several with just two, and those two seemed to age together. And some of them showed a little boy. And then a teenager. And at some point that teenager wore a military uniform and was no longer a teenager anymore.


    "Somethings not right in here, is it?" He tapped his head. "The noggin."


    Jimmy didn''t say anything, but the man continued as Jimmy sat down at the quaint, little glass kitchen table with a small orchid arrangement in the center, and the man passed him a steaming cup of hot tea and eased himself into his chair.


    The man held his hand. It vibrated as he held it out. "I''ve got some experience with problems in the mind, you know? Parkinson''s. You see? Can''t stop. Diagnosed five years ago today. I used to be a boxer. Was told I was pretty good too." He shrugged. "Now look at me. Some days are better. Some days I can even throw a jab ¡ª not a strong one, you understand?" He chuckled. "But a jab. Those days, I go out into the town. Do some shopping. Walk the park and see the sights."


    "And some days...." And he shook his head. "They tell me I''ll lose my mind eventually. Start to forget things. Forget my wife. My son. Need someone to help me eat. And shit.... The mind. Can''t do anything about the mind. Name''s Elias, by the way. Elias Biggles. What''s your name?"


    "J-J-Jimmy," Jimmy stammered.


    He suddenly didn''t know what to say. How to respond to... but the man was looking at him expectantly, holding his tea with his shaking fingers and sipping at it. And Jimmy did know what to say.


    He told the man, about that first day when he woke up and stole his sister toiletries. He told him how his hands moved and snatching things. Stealing from his friends, and pickpocketing strangers. How he HURT when he gave them back. His terror that it was getting worse. And how today....


    His eyes were leaking into his tea at this point. His hands shaking only a little bit less violently then the man sitting in front of him. "I can''t stop. And today... today I...." Jimmy couldn''t say it, but he could do one better. He picked the phone up and flipped it into a card. Cellphone of a Kind Man, it read now. It had changed.


    He waited breathlessly for the man to jump. To flinch. To throw his tea cup at him... but he didn''t. His eyes squinted. "Ah. He said at last. You''re one of those folk. You know? I had feeling."


    The man held his hand out for the card and Jimmy tried to place it in his hand, but of course, it slipped through his fingers. So Jimmy placed it on the table and the man peered at it. "It''s beautiful." The man said at last. "Those colors. Like the oce ¡ª"


    "It''s evil!" Jimmy burst out. "I''m evil!"


    "I just watched a boy doing his damnedest for ten minutes to give a phone back to an old man." The man said simply. "Evil?" He shook his head. "Can''t do anything about the mind. In fairness the mind can''t do anything about the body either." And he chuckled. "Got to work together, you see?"


    "But I''m a Super. They''re... they ¡ª"


    "Going to destroy the world?" The man chuckled again and winked. "I read the news papers. Hear the radio. Supers. The next evil." He smirked ruefully. "Causing mayhem. Going to destroy the world and all that." He shook his head.


    "People destroy the world, Jimmy. People. And people were doing a damn fine job of it long before Supers started showing up. But you do have a problem boy. Let''s talk about it."


    <hr>


    "And he gave you the idea for the contracts?"


    "Not the full idea." Jimmy said. "He didn''t know about Arbitrage and all that. And I don''t think I ever told him about my ability to find things that were MINE. But he said ''Can''t do anything about the mind, boy. Can''t live with it...''"


    <hr>


    "... And you can''t shoot it. But you can work with it. Sometimes I wake up, and it''s a bad day. And I know, it''s a day to stay in. Let my mind rest. Maybe heal a little or do whatever it needs to do. Other days I demand. I say ''You know, mind, I gave you my Monday and Tuesday. So you best give me my Wednesday, you hear?'' And I go to town."


    The man shrugged and smiled sadly. "Doctors think I''m crazy. They say it''ll stop working like that. But so far, it works. And when it doesn''t, it just means I need to figure something else out with it. Got to work together with the mind. You need to find a way, Jimmy. Something that works for both of you."


    "You mean... compromise with it?" Jimmy''s voice was shrill.


    Elias smiled sadly and winked at him with his crinkly eyes. "Keep the phone boy." He said simply.


    And they sipped their tea in silence.


    <hr>


    "Did you see him again?"


    "Once. When I got the idea for the contracts I went back to visit him. See what he thought of it. I explained about Arbitrage, the tiered AI system of arbitration, and what I figured I could do with it and my powers. Turned out he knew some things about contracts and he helped me write the first basic outline. He moved to Florida soon after though to spend the rest of his time with his son."


    "Ah." Kaykes was looking a bit wide eyed at this point. "You, know, if this were a story, he''d have left you the deed and keys to his house."


    Jimmy flourished a pair of keys.


    Kaykes toppled out of her seat with a yelp.


    Jimmy laughed. "Nah. These are Tom''s. Were at least. Sometimes I''ve got bad days, you know? I need to stay in."


    "Asshole." She stuck her tongue out at him and picked herself up off the ground, righted her chair and plopped herself back into it. She studied him.


    "You still think you''re evil, bro?"


    Jimmy shrugged. "Yes. No. I don''t know. There''s something dark about my power, Kaykes. Most of the time its really cool."


    Jimmy waved his hand above himself and cards soared into the air.


    Meager Bike Chain


    Stun Stick of Power!


    Violent Chair


    Brick... for Brick Things


    There were many more, and they flowed together above him in a slow figure eight of oceanic color.


    Once and Future Blow Drier That had been his mothers... once.


    Mattress ¡ª Moderately Used


    Jimmy smiled up at them and his sister was watching them too with her mouth slightly open as the cards flowed and folded over themselves in flight like a school of fish.


    "And the bad parts... they seem kind of innocent on the surface. A bit whimsical even." He looked at his sister. "Not like Legion''s, at least."


    His sister raised an eyebrow. "You think he doesn''t have a choice?"


    "I think Sashaya doesn''t have power''s." Was all Jimmy said.


    "My power is not like Legion''s, Kaykes, but it''s got its own skeletons. And I''m pretty sure if I look too deep, I''ll see them. I feed off of people, and I can''t stop. We can talk about working with the Itch all we want, but in the end of the day, Elias worked with his mind to figure out whether to go shopping or not. Me? It''s whether I take something from someone else."


    They were silent for a long, long time after that.


    <hr>


    </a>


    "It''s really hard to come after a wise old man with Parkinson''s, Jimmy. But I have my own take, if you want to hear it." His sister sounded hesitant.


    "Of course I do, Kaykes."


    She took a breath.


    "Have you ever read the books after Ender''s game, Jimmy?"


    Jimmy blinked. That was... not where he thought she was going. "I mean... I read the first. Can''t miss out on the classics. But I never really got through the second one."


    "Right. So the first one was definitely the best. But the ones after that changed. Took a more philosophical bend." Kaykes paused for a second. Then she continued slowly.


    "They didn''t so much in the first book, but in the later ones they talked a lot about inter-species philosophy. They kept classifying different species as Ramen ¡ª like the soup ¡ª or Varelze. Is this ringing any bells?"


    Jimmy shook his head.


    "Any species that was compatible with the majority of human norms were Ramen, but then you got some who''s way of life, species specific need, what have you, was so dichotomous to ours as to essentially be zero sum."


    "If you''re Ramen, we''re good and can work something out, if your not...." Kaykes made a face and moved a finger across her neck. "Eternal war and damnation."


    "Here''s the deal Jimmy," She said. "I''m not a wise old man. I''ve not even been around the block that long. Barely through High School." Kaykes chuckled without mirth.


    "But the way I see it, Jimmy. A lot of our good and evil philosophy boils down to what''s good for humans as a group. We can kind of extrapolate that to adjacent species like monkeys or dogs and say that chopping off a limb is probably evil, but if you start championing the rights of cockroaches to not be gassed, you''ve got another thing coming.


    Kaykes looked at him long and steadily, and Jimmy thought, a little angrily.


    "I think ¡ª I think If scientists came out today and said vegetables actually had bright and thriving cultures, all of humanity would be appalled. But that wouldn''t stop anyone from chopping up carrots and serving them for dinner. All these contracts? Helping people who''ve lost things? Making it work? I dig it. I really do. But if something goes wrong. If you can''t make it work for both humanity and you, then fuck your skeletons, Jimmy. In a zero sum game, your not evil if you choose you."

 Rosette

    Red Rose. No. Gauche.


    Ivy.


    Off theme.


    Petal Parade. Petal Protector.... The girl left those two right where they fell flat.


    "A Hero needs a name." The girl muttered, and she scuffed her shoe against the rooftop.


    It was an oddly gravely roof. Not like the other rooftops the girl had frequented recently. This one was flat and gravely and grey, with silver and black AC towers, metal struts and tubes which rose up in odd intervals. "I wonder if it helps with insulation in some fashion," she muttered. "Or maybe it catches AC runoff to prevent pooling?"


    She checked her watch.


    "I''ll be Rosette." She decided.


    Short. Elegant. On theme. "Rosette".


    And as she spoke a flower appeared in her hand. Not just any flower. A rose. With blood red petals and perfect ¡ª not bruise on it. The thorns were long and thin, but though she gripped the stem tightly with bare fingers, the thorns didn''t prick her.


    She bound it firmly in place in her hair''s train and checked her watch again and then... it was time.


    "Rosette." She said, and she felt the shape of the name as it formed on her tongue. The sizzle as it left her lips, and the solid click as it meant her.


    Rosette jumped


    <hr>


    She fell.


    Fifth story. Fourth. Her eyes tracked a window on the third floor apartment across the street, and as she fell into alignment, she moved again.


    Fast Corner


    Double Jump


    Her momentum altered. Her legs collected beneath her as if crouching on an invisible disk, and she jumped again. Fast. Far and fast! Across the street, straight at that open window... and the man standing in it.


    She almost made it.


    As if pulled by some long forgotten instinct, the man''s eyes flickered upward in the process of lighting a cigaret and they caught on her flying form.


    He froze for a second, and with her power burning in her, Rosette could see it all clearly.


    How his eyes squinted in puzzlement. The point when his brain caught up. The cigaret and lighter falling to the floor. His unshaven chin wobbling, gaping and his eyes widening in sudden terror at the impossibility of what he was seeing.


    It all wrote itself out in front of Rosettes eyes, as if they were telescopes, perfectly zeroed in on the man, and he was moving through some sort of invisible, hampering sludge.


    So she saw it the moment his brain kicked in again and he did what any gunman sentry would do in his position. He raised his gun, and opened fire.


    Too late. Rosette moved.


    Arial Roll


    Double Jump


    The bullets zipped by in little jolts of super sonic pressure. Flash Step ¡ª she was at the window.


    Her hand whipped out, catching the gun-hand as the man tried desperately to orient and smashed it against the window frame. Her other elbow caught the man''s jaw, brutally killing his cry for help behind a row of shattered teeth.


    It didn''t matter. This was audible. Rosette knew that. So she finished it quickly.


    MOVE.


    Like dancing flames. Her arm came around twining around his arm, joining her other hand still gripping his wrist ¡ª a long arm to move, short to ¡ª her foot painted a crescent on the floor, she jerked and the elbow snapped.


    No more guns for you.


    This time the man did manage to scream shrilly. For a moment. Then Rosette''s hands flashed again. Once. Twice. And the man fell, nose broken, eyes already swelling to the floor, stunned.


    Rosette breathed. And her power burned. She could feel it waking up and spreading from her chest to her arms, to her legs and head in a wave of bright heat and prickles like thorns.


    Already she could feel the tiara forming, casting a mask of orange shade across her face and wreathing her hair in flames.


    Somehow, Rosette knew that there was a rose carved into the face of the tiara now. Just like there should be.


    She was Rosette. "I''m a Hero." She hissed.


    When the sudden silence transformed into the confused clamor of voices, Rosette was already moving.


    Doors opened. Men spilled out, and she heard men cursing and cocking weapons. Too slow. Far too slow. Like cold honey. Her power burned and she could see every movement like they were choreographed`.


    Flash Step ¡ª She flickered ¡ª and was among them.


    Low ¡ª her leg swept out. She caught a knee ¡ª it broke ¡ª and then her hands followed. Two pressure points, a wrist ¡ª grab. Break. Solar Plexus. Head. Move.


    Flash Step ¡ª She danced. Flicker.


    Flicker. Head. Ribs. She swept a knee. Traced where he''d fall, caught his companion in the neck with her finger tips and then finished the job with her heel to his temple as he hit the ground. His companion followed.


    Flash Step


    Fire danced down Rosettes arms as she moved. They formed gauntlets and greaves, with thorns like frozen flames searing their way across them like unfurling vines. Roses bloomed in the flames.


    Her boots burned where she stepped, wreathed in orange flames which hardened and they left traceries of sparks and fire as they whipped through the air.


    Spin. Kick, double ¡ª triple punch, groin, head. Head. Head again. Break the knee. Break the elb ¡ª


    Rosettes eyes flashed left.


    Premonition


    She dove as gunfire blasted her position.


    Then she was up and her feet left the floor in a surge of motion. They touched the wall ¡ª Quick Corner ¡ª and she was off!


    Another burst of gunfire. Not a handgun this time. Something automatic. It blazed passed her head like a trail of sparks and those little puffs of overpressure as she passed, and then it was over.


    She broke his arm ¡ª that was becoming a favorite, a form of karmic retribution she thought, then his knee, then a knee to the head to put him down.


    She spun to meet... And it was over. No one else stood.


    They were scattered on the floor like toys, many in positions that were not at all natural, with guns and knives flung this way and that where they''d been ripped from fingertips. A couple of them whimpered, but most just lay there stunned.


    Five seconds.


    Rosette''s lips twisted. Her power roiled and raged within in her. About her. Through her.


    She wasn''t done. With her power surging through her, she could feel them all, like little sparks of radiance.


    The men on the ground. The ones still in the rooms, frozen, stunned at the sudden and then abruptly ended violence. And the victims.


    They stood out to Rosette. She couldn''t say why they did. Only that they seemed to blossom differently in her mind than the rest.


    Her eyes flashed and her tiara pulsed hot flames through her hair and down her spine.


    Rosette had been specific when she''d chosen her entrance. To her left were the elevators, the right, the stair well. This was the exit, and in front of her was the hall. It traveled straight passed all the rooms, which were made in that parallel hotel room fashion.


    All the rooms below her level were innocent ¡ª or at least, not overtly guilty. She''d staked this place out, and her informant had been... informed. This level and up were fair game.


    She''d taken the exit, and the hall. The only other possible exit was on the far side. If someone ran that way they could make it.


    Which is what someone did a second later.


    Rosettes arms moved. She stepped forward in a fencers lunge as fire pooled in her palms and she clapped.


    CLAP


    There was flash of light, sparks and a flood of pressure which traveled down the hall, blasting doors open and shattering light bulbs.


    It slammed into the man on the far side and he made a dull thud as he hit the wall and fell limply.


    Her eyes flashed again. She held this exit. And the hall. If they ran, they could make the far one, but only if she was in a room and couldn''t see. The victims were in the rooms. So she was taking down anyone in her path.


    "No one escapes" she hissed into the silence. But she knew some would. Some would be able to make that dash. When she was in a room. When she was fighting....


    She''d track them down later. But for now... she''d have to be fast.


    Rosette could be fast.


    Flash Step


    <hr>


    Get to the door. Get to the Room. Get ¡ª


    Flash Step


    ¡ª And don''t forget to breath.


    She spun and flames roared.


    She kicked out, an ankle broke. The knee followed and then the head.


    Move. Get to the door. Fight. Get to the door.


    It was all chaos. Men streamed through the door and she knocked them down like nine pins. They came to her. Why weren''t they running?


    ''No one escapes.''


    Rosette needed ¡ª she needed time. She needed to get to the door.


    Bullets flashed by. They mostly missed, but one glanced off her gauntlet and her hand went numb.


    Her eyes narrowed. Heat flooded her.


    Flash Step ¡ª Break the arm, knee to groin, fist to chest, grab the head and ki¡ª


    No. Elbow to head. He dropped.


    Thud. Thud. She staggered. Her full arm went numb now. Then her leg. Her healing factor kicked in and she ¡ª


    Ground roll ¡ª High Jump. Twist ¡ª KI¡ªNo.


    Kick to the face. Grab the wrist. Break. Break. Break!


    She was getting swamped. They kept coming! She need space. "Get to the room" She snarled. "Get. TH¡ª"


    CLAP


    CLAP


    CLAP


    "¡ªEM"


    Rosette fell against the wall. "I am Rosette. I am a Hero." She breathed harshly into the ringing silence. "Get to the room. Get to the door. Do it again."


    She staggered to her feet.


    <hr>


    It got easier.


    And it got harder.


    But above all, it became more bitter.


    Fire. Flames and rage consumed her. She fought. She took bullets to both legs. Fire blossomed into boots of hard heat and light and thorns.


    Her flames shrouded her and a chest plate formed, and pauldron embossed with Roses and thorns in searing glory.


    It tanked fully automatic gunfire from rifles longer then her arm. She shook. She rocked.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Flash Step


    KI¡ªNO!


    Get to the next room


    "LET ME IN" She found herself screaming. Over and over again as she twisted and spun and danced among the flames and men who got in her way. Her fists moved like tongues of fire. Her feet as light as falling ash. "I AM ROSETTE! Get them out! I ¡ª am a ¡ª Hero."


    Boots of hard fire flowed down her legs again. They shrouded her feet in flames and thorns.


    She took the third floor and left scattered, broken ¡ª but alive bodies in her wake. She got to the rooms. She broke those doors down.


    <hr>


    Fourth level.


    Why weren''t they running. There ¡ª was the stairwell far away from her. She''d let them run... She''d le ¡ª Rosette staggered under a hail of gunfire. They''d been waiting for her on the landing this time.


    Again. ¡ª CLAP


    She had to breath.


    More. Rosette drew on her flames. She reached deep. Deep into that ball of searing fire and fury in her chest and sent cascading vines of thorns and brilliant light curling down her arms.


    I am a HERO. They. Deserve. Better. GET to the DOOR!


    But every room had a door.


    MOVE


    FLASH


    ...


    STEP


    KIL ¡ª NO!


    <hr>


    The top level was built into a penthouse design, two large units on either side, so Rosette chose the second one instantly. Thats where they were. She could feel it. Five men on the other side and two rooms with ¡ª


    AGAIN. The room. The Door. Once more.


    She charged.


    Normally a shoulder charge from a girl her size would have done a whole lot of nothing to the front door, and probably would have made her crumple. But this girl had flames and FURY.


    It flew inwards in a flash of sparks and the men on the other side opened fire.


    AGAIN


    Rosette charged. One of her gauntlets sparked with bright magic and the bullets whizzed and zinged off of the shield which expanded in front of her. It flashed. Dimmed then shattered.


    Rosette took more bullets. Staggered ¡ª and juked right. Fast Corner ¡ª She leapt ¡ª Double Jump ¡ª she leapt again, juking again as some weapons managed to track her.


    Flash Step ¡ª Move. She danced.


    Spinning in air as her foot moved ¡ª kicking. Her fist lanced out, smashing a chin before ¡ª Arial Roll ¡ª her hand caught a wrist mid flight and her leg swept under and over the arm and around the shoulder.


    AGAIN


    It would have been called a flying omoplata if a normal person did it. It was called devastating when she did.


    AGAIN


    The man flipped. His shoulder snapped and she rolled through collecting another leg on the way. Knees bent well around one axis. They bent easily around the others.


    AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN.


    I am a HERO! Get to the door!


    Solar Plexus. Neck. Head. The man fell and Rosette snatched up the pistol that fell from his fingers as she rolled by. She twisted and threw and the woman staggering to her feet took it in the temple as she moved to fight or run. Rosette didn''t know. The Woman fell back and ¡ª Flash Step ¡ª it was over.


    Get to the door!


    Rosette was still moving. She didn''t stop. She burst into the room ahead of her.


    There they were. Just like all the other similar rooms in the other apartments.


    They were naked. Blind folded and gagged with ropes and cuffs binding their wrists and hobbling their ankles.


    There were all types here. Blond and brunettes and red heads, black skin and brown and sun-deserving white, but without fail they were leggy and young. Their captors had a profile apparently and it showed.


    Some had crawled to corners and cowered. Others had found them and cowered with them seeking comfort in the warmth of people they probably didn''t know and couldn''t see. Others just sat there curled up against the wall with trails and trails of dirty tear tracks and crusted snot running down their cheeks and chin.


    They''d all been beaten. Some had been whipped in that ''pretty'' fashion some liked and ¡ª


    ¡ª And Rosette couldn''t see. It was all red. A haze of red rage bloomed in front of her eyes like a rose of death and the fire which had borne her this night dimmed, then flooded her.


    AGAIN


    It tried to burst from her finger tips, wreath her in an armor of fire and magic to slaughter the men outside. The defilers. The captors who dared to ¡ª


    To visit such vengeance upon them that stories would be told of their fate. And not stop there. The broken bodies she''d left scattered in her wake. Them too... and then the people living in the lower stories, who Rosette had spared, but now she knew ¡ª they had to have known.


    You can''t hide this. Not this many. And the walls were not so thick that screams couldn''t pass through. She knew. She''d caused plenty herself tonight.


    Red. Rage. And fire. It bubbled up from her pores and tried to from rings and bracers. It snaked up her shoulder to form pauldrons and ¡ª


    And Rosette did what she had at every room she''d come to this night. Rooms of crying, beaten, abused girls. Some drugged, most not, and some boys too. But mostly girls.


    "I''m a Hero." She hissed through clenched teeth. And she pushed it all back down.


    The Fire and rage and vengeance. Away Pauldrons. Away Gauntlets of flames and fury. Away Gloves and Greaves of thorns. Away, I say, away. Come thee back another day.


    They, the girls here, did not need an avenger. They needed a Hero. So she pushed it back, back, all the way down into that little ball of fire in her soul that never died. Until the gauntlets disappeared and the light left her eyes.


    She left the tiara though. Somethings needed to stay.


    "Hey." She called out softly and she hoped soothingly, though she didn''t know how well she managed with the rage still bubbling up her throat. "I''m here to help. I''m a Hero. I ¡ª I''m going to touch you now. And get those binds off of you."


    She repeated that over and over again as she went from one to the other. "I''m a Hero. I''m here to get you out of here."


    Some girls roused themselves, figured out what she was doing and moved to help pull gags from mouths and tug blindfolds off. Some just curled up in renewed shock and started sobbing. Some came up fighting and had to be talked down. "My name is Rosette. I''m here to help. I''m a Hero."


    The girls came to her to break the chains, which she did in flashes of hot flame, and the words that she wanted to say never left her mouth ¡ª I''ll KILL them all. Those words she tamped down deep inside herself to never utter. They didn''t need that Rosette.


    "Come with me," She said "Let''s get out of here."


    She stopped when she heard the window open.


    <hr>


    Rosette felt every living person in the apartment complex.


    Every. One.


    The girls shivering and still naked behind her, the men and some women she''d left strewn throughout the upper stories, some now crawling brokenly to exits. The ones who lived below, huddled in rooms or running out the doors. She even felt a little bit of the street beyond.


    This man she could not feel.


    He was a black haired man, looking vaguely oriental with not too long, straight black hair, bright eyes and a pale, thin face.


    He wore a black suit, undone in the front displaying a red tie and a white shirt, black pants and shiny black dress shoes completed the ensemble and his easy crouched position on the window sill completed the look.


    "Hello, hime-chan." He said in a smooth, honeyed voice. "When you broke up my operation in Casper, the other night. I was certain it was a mistake, and I hold no grudges."


    His black eyes panned the room slowly, taking in the men sprawled on the floor and one woman still groaning and whimpering where Rosette had left them. His eyes passed over Rosette critically, admiring her tiara ¡ª she thought ¡ª and she saw his eyes cross over to the girls cowering behind her. "This... doesn''t seem like a mistake anymore."


    "Return"


    One word. But there was power there. It slithered through the air like a malignant snake and rushed toward ¡ª it splintered against the power of Rosette''s tiara. But it wasn''t a thing, so much as a wave, and she felt it push her back, flood around her... and the girls Listened.


    She heard and felt them straighten up behind her and troop back into the room. One or two even started to try to put back on the restraints.


    She stepped forward. Again ¡ª Made to charge, but the weight of his presence stymied her.


    Rosette snarled and the fire she''d tamped down for the girls, bloomed. "Again", She hissed. "Defiler. Usurper. How dare ¡ª"


    "Wait. Wait." The man said holding up a casual hand. "I don''t get it. You have power here. That''s obvious."


    His eyes took in her tiara appreciatively and the flames licking back up her chest, arms and legs.


    "Why mess with me? You think they''ll love you for it? The thralls might. But it''s a cold world out there for you and me."


    Rosette didn''t say anything, only hung on the edge of that precipice of violence and rage she''d danced along all night."


    "How''s this? You answer me, and I''ll let you go. Most of the thralls below have already escaped. The law" ¡ª he grinned toothily ¡ª "Is arriving so you''ve got that going for you, and the ones who''ve left I won''t come to collect. My word on it."


    Rosette still didn''t say anything, but her eyes blazed.


    "I can, you know." He tapped his nose still grinning. "Why?"


    "Do I need a reason to do what''s right?" It came out as a hard rasp.


    "You do. Tossing around men twice your size isn''t easy even for me, let alone across three stories. Most of them have been on the streets for quite a while. You were taken aback by my presence but not surprised, so you knew there was a Super at the end of this race. You need a reason. A good one."


    "I." Rosette hissed. "Was not given my gifts to defile and destroy the world. There isn''t a better reason than that. I. Am. A. Hero. I will fight fuckers like you ¡ª"


    "¡ª That''s what I''m asking! Save the diatribe. We are Gods. They are chattel. If you get your rocks off in combat, you can just say it. We are both Supers. I hold no judgment.


    "Because ¡ª because I actually believe that ''with great power, comes great responsibility''." Rosette yelled. "That we can be more than base! That we can be better than what we''ve become! That we don''t have to tear apart the world. That we. Can. HELP. People like them ¡ª" Rosette pointed behind herself ¡ª "When they need us. Because we don''t have to be YOU!"


    "You actually believe that shit? Believe that we are picked out? Chosen and given our powers? I say it was random." He tapped his chest with his fist. "I say, if other people got our powers, they wouldn''t act any better than us! Most people are stupid, power hungry bitches, who lead their sorry little lives, in their sorry little lanes, because of the little pens society puts them into like pigs. Give them power and they''ll want the girls, and the drugs and the money. Give them power and they look like us, girl."


    "No."


    Again ¡ª Do it again. Once more.... And her tiara unfurled. It spread down her face into a chin guard and wrapped around her head and around her ears in a helm of flames.


    MORE ¡ª the pauldrons returned and the neck-guard, and fire bloomed over her chest and unfurled into a chest-plate of solid magic and flame and roses. Her backplate fell into place, and her greaves and gauntlets and bracers, and the fiery boots danced their way back around her shoes.


    "I am a Hero. And those girls." Rosette pointed her thumb back behind her at the open door where even now the girls were re-blindfolding themselves, sticking gags back into mouths and re-tying themselves back up. "They''re coming with me. And you. You are not touching any of them again."


    She reached back and grasped the hilt of a sword that bloomed into existence for her grip, drew it and pointed the burnished orange blade straight at his chest.


    "Nice." The man said. He actually did sound appreciative. "My turn." And he changed too.


    He became... less, somehow.


    His cheeks hollowed out and his skin lost the rest of its color. His fingers lengthened, and black claws burst from his fingers and extended inches from their tips. He stood up smoothly and as he stretched, his shadow seemed to slurp its way back into his body and was gone.


    "When I am done. I will not kill you. I will simply add you to my toys. I''ve never owned a Super before. You''ll be my favorite." He purred. "I promise".


    When he moved it was fast, like flickering shadow.


    When Rosette did, it was like flames given life.


    <hr>


    The girls shuffled out first, Sobbing and covering themselves and that was probably a good thing. No one noticed Rosette.


    Paramedics rushed to the victims. They were dressed in the blue and yellow emergency uniforms you always see in emergency relief, and they seized the girls with gentle fingers and kind words, and they threw blankets about them and pulled them back.


    There were so many victims. And many were so young, Rosette thought. Younger than even her.


    They streamed passed Rosette in a wave of hope and relief and sorrow and ¡ª


    Rosette wavered where she stood and caught herself against the door frame. Her fire had banked a long time ago. Now only her tiara remained, the rose still seared into it, glowing dully on her head and shading her face. Somehow the real rose woven through her hair had survived too. What covered Rosette now was bruises ¡ª deep ones ¡ª and gashes. There was blood still dripping from her fingertips.


    Her healing factor was kicking in, Rosette noticed dully. She could feel it hard at work in the background. Tomorrow, she might even be as good as new. Maybe. But not tonight.


    There was a shout, and police and firefighters, who had been rearing to storm through the open doors once the stream ended backed up fast.


    Weapons bristled from around vehicles. Men shouted and crouched and yelled into radios.


    Some of the victims reacted. They yelled back waving newly freed hands still showing cord marks. "She saved us. She''s a Hero. She''s here to help ¡ª"


    They were grabbed roughly and forced back behind the police line.


    "Get down. Unidentified Super. Get down and put your hands on your head."


    "I ¡ª I can''t." Rosette wavered, almost buckling where she stood in the door frame. She couldn''t. Her knees wouldn''t bend. That''s not... how this could work. She was Rosette. And she wouldn''t be....


    "Get down!"


    "I ¡ª can''t do that." She croaked. She didn''t even know if she was audible. "I''m a Hero." She gasped. How ¡ª how should this work again? Rosette felt dizzy.


    "I am a Hero." She tried again. Better. "I''m a Hero! My name is Rosette! I''m here to give a statement." Far better. Thats how it should go.


    Safeties were released, Super rated weapons were adjusted in shoulders. She could feel them taking aim. See them painting her with reticles and lasers most people couldn''t see with naked eyes.


    "Get down! This is your last warn ¡ª"


    "I''m a Hero. My name is Rosette! Let me ¡ª let me ¡ª" It wasn''t going to work. They were going to....


    "HOLD! Stand down!" Someone older pushed forward. He had black and silver hair, a thick mustache, body armor and it looked like he''d been running. His cheeks were puffed out and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "Stand down. I''ll have the badge of anyone who opens fire."


    There was a chatter of voices into radios. Police officer shifted where they stood or kneeled by vehicles, weapons wavered. Medical personnel bundled up the victims into blankets and ambulances and pulled them back, and there was silence.


    Silence....


    "Miss?"


    "I''m a Hero." Rosette said again into the silence. "My name. Is. Rosette. I am prepared to give my statement of tonight''s events."


    "That''s... That''s good. Very good." The officer said. He beckoned her forward. "Just step right this way, Miss and we can get you to the precinct. We can take a statement there."


    Rosette was already shaking her head. No. No. This was all wrong. All of it!


    The Officer sensed it and his voice hardened. "Miss, I''m going to need you to come with us to the precinct. This is procedure." His eyes roved up the side of the building. It was destroyed now, especially the upper floor. She and the other Super had burnt and blasted that story to shreds. "This looks... bad. If you come with us we can work this out."


    "There were no deaths. Just injuries. And concussions... There are still victims inside. I just came out to talk to you. Please."


    "Can you let us pass?"


    She nodded and stepped away from the door. Several times.


    The Officer waved medical professionals through and they rushed passed her in a stream, calling out and ¡ª and doing whatever it is medical professionals do when they weren''t watching a showdown between a Super and law enforcement.


    "There''s one death." Rosette amended.


    The police officer stiffened


    "Top floor. I ¡ª beheaded him. He was a Super. Mind control, speed, strength. I killed him."


    "Does he still look like a ¡ª"


    "No. He... looks normal now."


    The police officer cursed softly. "Miss," He said again. "I am begging you to please come with us. No fighting. We''ll treat you fairly and professionally. Get you to the precinct. Get you some lawyers. Ask you some questions and call it a night. Please. I ¡ª" He squinted at her. I think I''ve got daughters your age. Please come in. We need to follow procedure."


    And Rosette looked around. She saw all the guns pointed at her. The fear in most eyes. The pent up anger in some. And one or two flickers of envy.


    She saw the flashing lights of the police cars, and the ambulances. The cameras and the crews the media had toted in and when she looked up she saw the helicopter casting a flood light on her high overhead, escorted by a pair of drone gunships.


    She''d been here before she realized. Not her personally, but Super''s had been here before. This is how it went. In a face off with law enforcement. She''d seen this episode play out before. And... She couldn''t play it differently! The fire in her chest wouldn''t let her... not right now. Not like this. If she did...


    So Rosette looked at the Officer and with her tongue thick in her mouth, she said, "Sir. I''m beat. And I ¡ª I can''t be in a room with white walls and Super rated tech. Not now. Not like this. I ¡ª can''t. You''re gonna need to bend, sir. One of us has got to, and... and if I bend, I break. If I bend, I can''t be Rosette."


    She breathed and looked up at the sky, at the moon and the stars high overhead. At the blades of the helicopter, thud thud thudding so slowly above her. And she reached deep into her chest and gave that dimming flame one, final, tug.


    "But I''m one of the good guys. So if you force me, I''ll run. I won''t fight you. I''ll disappear."


    "Or, you can let me give you my statement now. I am Rosette. And I am a Hero." And she whispered softly just to the man in front of her who had daughters her own age. "Let me be that Hero. We need Heroes."


    The Officer looked at her for a long time. Then he knuckled his mustache and pulled out a notepad. "Ok, Hero." He said. "Tell me what happened here.


    And Rosette did.


    <hr>


    As if in answer, the Downtown Demons of Tennessee ransacked a museum, and the Warlord in Sudan unleashed his forces and took swaths of territory, nearly reaching the capital overnight. Amaterasu stayed free, and a Dragon was seen soaring furiously overhead. Ice Age flash froze a command of English Soldiers, Legion invaded a government office, and Seraphim shook Prague with his might.


    But for a moment. A brief, tenuous, wondrous moment. Like a flickering tongue of flame, like a caught spark. The image of a girl wreathed in orange magic burned itself across a nation.


    There she stood. Battered, bloody, but straight backed. There was a rose in her hair, her eyes were alight and armor like burnished flame traced her limbs.


    And her words were like the answer to a prayer.


    "I''m a Hero. Take my statement."


    There was light.

 1.8 D Day (Part 1)

    It was early when Jimmy woke up. Far too early.


    It was dark which was the first clue, and his mother''s news station was not blaring Super vitriol across the house, which was the second.


    The proof was when he rummaged in his bedside table for his phone. He glared at the three numbers and 2 letter displayed on his screen.


    [3:00 AM]


    "Nope." He said. "No, that''s too early. I''m tired. I''m cosmically hungry. I''ve got a date ¡ª oohhh fudge.


    Jimmy clapped a hand over his eyes. The. Date.


    That date had seemed like such a good idea on Tuesday. With Vicky''s gorgeous eyes staring at him in the park on one hand, and the Itch going into Itchi-niptions on the other, it had been hard to make another one.


    Now, the prospect of stumbling over his tongue for a couple hours in front of the most beautiful girl in junior year while on a picnic was far less appetizing.


    "You''re just making trouble for me!" Jimmy hissed. "And besides! How is going on a date with my accomplice anything less than insane with FBI agents roaming the school?!"


    The Itch... burbled something. Which actually was better than usual! Normally it ignored him unless something caught its eye, or he was breaking some existential rule it thought should govern his existence.


    "Oh. You''re awake then too. Good." Jimmy grumped. "You could at least tell me what the whole bootlicking deal is you know? Seeing as I''m risking my self confidence ¡ª and my neck ¡ª for your idiosyncrasies and all."


    The Itch did its low key itching thing. It had grown worse over night. A kind of dull hum of discontentment that was so deep, that Jimmy felt like he''d have dig all the way down to his bones to scratch it.


    Now that was a pleasant thought.


    Not a red zone moment. Not yet. But his fingers were going to be stickier than usual, Jimmy knew. Not as bad as they''d been on Tuesday, but....


    "AAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! I''ve just been here! All this over some power practice?!" Jimmy slapped his forehead with one of his hands and glared at the time.


    "You can''t just tell me?"


    Nothing.


    "You know. Kaykes barely believes you''re more than a figment of my imagination, but I know you could be far more helpful than you''re being.


    Still nothing.


    "Speak to me you foolish Itch and tell me about the whole damned sit¡ª"


    <hr>


    "¡ªA Day and Night of Captured Fright. ¡ª"


    ¡ª The Boy lay on an alter. At least it felt like an alter.


    It was cold and hard and smooth. Probably stone. And it was raised. There were grooves cut all along its surface in lines that whorled and twisted oddly.


    He knew this because the edges of those grooves cut uncomfortably into his back. His naked back. He was naked. And he couldn''t move. Not... one... inch.


    Yes. This was definitely an alter.


    For some reason, this revelation did not bother The Boy the way he would have expected.


    "¡ª My sisters are competent." A woman''s voice was saying.


    "¡ªA Wicked Act by Frozen Moonlight ¡ª"


    "We can hold the Dilation as long as is necessary. But only thrice, Borengirdle. Your Brothers of the Beard, will have to work¡ª"


    "¡ªift of shame. A Little Pain. An'' All For Not but a Foolish Game"


    "No one calls us Brothers of the Beard. It lacks propriety." This voice was huffy, and familiar.


    The Boy strained his eyes to his peripherals, and a familiar wagging beard and hat combination swam into view. He was speaking keenly with a tall, spindly woman, wearing a long black gown and a peaked hat with a brim that fell low over her eyes.


    "¡ªieves we might be able to increase our output significantly if we invest in a remarkable process called Daylight Savings. There is actually quite a lot of precedent. Why, volume seventy-three ¡ª auspicious number ¡ª of the Tribault Initiative Tombs describes a simi ¡ª"


    "He is awake." The Woman cut in quickly, sounding a little strangled. She hurried over.


    "Good awakening." She leaned over The Boy, and with her standing over him, The Boy could see the crows feet at the corners of her eyes and the hard Blackness far back in her gaze. "Are you comfortable young man?"


    "¡ªEnd it. Bend it. Tend it. Mend it.¡ª"


    "I am a little cold, Ma''am?" He thought he should call her Ma''am. "But otherwise this is quite cozy."


    "I dare say a little Breath of Summer should put you right at home then, dear." She huffed a short breath, and suddenly, it felt like he was basking on a warm beach.


    "Oh, that is perfect." The Boy exclaimed and grinned.


    "We are going to run some tests now. Just answer my questions truthfully and tell me how you feel. Now, does this hurt?"


    She pinched him.


    "Yes."


    And she didn''t stop.


    "When you can bare the pain no longer, ask me to stop."


    The Boy didn''t.


    The Woman stopped. "Your dearest sister died in a potions accident because she mixed her Gasp of Frozen Terror with Whitest Fury after it had thawed."


    The Boy believed her.


    "How do you feel?"


    The Boy sighed. "I wish she hadn''t waited so long before mixing."


    The funny, bearded man grunted and The Woman''s mouth twitched a little. "Quite. I am going to stab you now." And a sudden hot pain in his leg accompanied her words. "I nicked an artery. If you do not convince me to heal you, you will join your sister."


    The Boy pursed his lips and thought. Finally he asked, "What is the best way to convince you?"


    The pain disappeared.


    "The Elixir of Ardent Apathy is a powerful brew." The Woman muttered to the bearded man. "It should hold, and we have spares. Shall we begin, Borengirdle?"


    "Just hold your spectacles! That Daylight Savings process bears looking into." The bearded man protested. "If he''s right, we can scale the power consumption, by several consistently Eternal ¡ª


    "¡ªThree Score. Two Fold. Seven Asunder. Roll of Thund¡ª"


    "Time, we have little left." Was all The Woman said, and Borengirdle deflated. He nodded grudgingly.


    "What are you going to do to me?" The Boy asked.


    "We will break you." Said The Woman, fiddling with something just out of sight.


    She beckoned and another figure in a hat rushed over, passed her something and darted off again, and suddenly The Boy realized that there were actually quite a few people in the room with them, just too far away for his peripherals to catch.


    "¡ªTragedies From Camelot''s Pleas. A Stolen Voice of Absent Choice. Broken Bonds And Scattered Wi¡ª"


    "Will it hurt?" He asked.


    "More than you can bare."


    "Why?"


    "Why will it be more than you can bare?"


    "No. Why are you doing this?"


    "¡ªnd A False Claim Shall Ne''er Again Befit Thine Name¡ª"


    The Woman paused what she was doing with her hands, and looked down at him.


    Her eyes were cold, and Black, but there was something there. Just below the surface. For moment, The Boy thought it was sadness. But only for a moment.


    "Because you deserve it." She said.


    "Oh." And The Boy breathed a long sigh.


    <hr>


    ¡ª Jimmy blinked as his screen flickered.


    [3:14 AM]


    ''Nice''. He thought. ''What were we saying? Oh right. I''m existentially hungry and I''m tired, but I can''t sleep.'' His stomach rumbled a bit now.


    ''And. Now I''m actually hungry. Well, I can do something about one of those things.'' And Jimmy grudgingly climbed out of bed.


    ''Stupid Itch''.


    <hr>


    Life as a Super Human was different from the life Jimmy remembered participating in beforehand. But not in the way he would have expected.


    Books like The Go Team or Excelcior or Line of Valor. They all were filled with action and horrible world changing choices.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The characters were always frowning. They were always getting into fights and shooting off one-liners that were more at home imagined in a shower than shouted into a villains face. And they discussed the fate of the world ¡ª or in Excelcior''s case, worlds ¡ª solemnly and like it was an actually acceptable conversation topic.


    It wasn''t. For many reasons.


    The first day Jimmy realized he was a Super Human, he did actually spend a good hour in the shower coming up with those one-liners. And when he exited, geared to try them out, he found his sister standing outside the door with several choice comments of her own that she managed to shoot off far faster than he could.


    So those one-liners? Those were for Master at Arms from The Go Team. The fight scenes? Probably Line of Valor.


    But magic? Not the flashy stuff like Grand Fireball or Summon: Eternal Depths of Hell. Useful magic?


    Jimmy grinned, and his hand flicked!


    He could do magic.


    Heated Socks of Fluff and Fury


    Blanket of Eternal Comfort


    Casual Robe of Mysterious Attire


    Fireside Blushed Coat of the Adventurous Peaks


    Slippers ¡ª Just Slippers


    There were more. Many more.


    They arched into the air as if on parade and spun about him as his fingers moved.


    "Oof. Such choices. Well Fireside Blushed Coat of the Adventurous Peaks is a ski jacket, Itch, and if the Fireside Blushed part means what I think it means, I''m going to be a furnace within a second of leaving my room. No. With great power comes great responsibility."


    That card slipped itself back underneath his mattress.


    "Casual Robe of Mysterious Attire, you''re a bathrobe. Go join your brother." It did.


    "And what''s up with Just Slippers? Those things feel like they were sewn from the most lovingly sheared heavenly sheep!"


    His mental card text seemed to shimmer in his mind for a moment, and then solidified again, still as Slippers ¡ª Just Slippers.


    "Ok. Well, that''s just petty. It stays."


    So did Blanket of Eternal Comfort and the cards Un-sweated Sweatshirt and Fresh Dried Sweatpants.


    Jimmy beamed at them. And then he wore them.


    It was quick! He tapped the pants to his legs and suddenly they were on ¡ª and still with that perfect warmth from the dryer! The sweatshirt followed suit and when he gripped the Blanket of Eternal Comfort and flourished it around himself like donning a cape, it fell about his shoulders and wrapped around exactly like it was supposed to.


    Magic. Everyday, casual magic. ''So much better than grand fireball.''


    Jimmy didn''t un-card his slippers on though. Half the magic of wearing those was slipping into them. Which he did with a sigh.


    ''Just slippers... Pft. So wrong.'' And Jimmy tiptoed quietly downstairs.


    In a couple hours. His mother would wake up and want to turn on the news and listen to all the horrible things Supers had done while they were asleep.


    About an hour later, his sister would follow suit and be grumpy about coffee and... actually everything about the day and especially Jimmy would cause her consternation.


    And just several more hours after that, Jimmy was going to go on the most stressful event ¡ª possibly exceeding his Buck encounter ¡ª of his life. That ill-advised date with Vicky.


    Jimmy could feel his tongue already tying itself up in preparation for that.


    But before all of that.. ''Neath the cold white moon and shade of night. ''Neath an hourglass of electric might. Above a stove of fiery blue, Magic most cunning shall I imbue....


    Magic


    Or breakfast.


    <hr>


    There was one good thing about night times and very early mornings.


    He could be Super without worry of being caught. Or judgement from Kaykes. And, it had to be said, that being a Super... aside from the uncomfortably Itchy drawbacks, was Super cool.


    Perfectly Heated Pan of Searing spun into the air as Jimmy rummaged in the fridge. Two eggs.


    Two Un-life of Chickens flew to join the pan.


    "You know. You could just call them eggs."


    ... Two Un-life of Chickens revolved slowly around the pan in interweaving circles.


    "Eggs. They''re Eggs!"


    ... Jimmy cracked the two Un-life of Chickens into the pan, and caught the toast, the moment the toaster binged ¡ª ''perfect'' ¡ª en-CARD! for later.


    Toast was apparently just Toast.


    Dash of Salts, pepper and various other spices all made it onto his eggs ¡ª Jimmy didn''t discriminate ¡ª and when his eggs were all seared to perfection and just a little runny on the inside, Jimmy flipped them into the air and en-carded them as they fell.


    Jimmy liked carding things. It was simply fun. And how the cards floated and flowed and spun where he directed them? Magic.


    The plate came next. Jimmy had more than a few of those stashed away, from... well, just about everywhere he''d eaten in the last month. They kind of just left restaurants with him. And his mother had been complaining of a lack of plates recently for a reason.


    Butter from the fridge.


    Two Toasts became just two toasts, but still freshly hot! So Jimmy cut slabs of butter and threw them on and...


    Re-carded it back up again for later. Jimmy eyed the stove speculatively.


    The burner fire was still on. He hadn''t turned it off yet, but.... Yesterday, Jimmy had carded air. Poorly, but....


    ''Theres... no way.'' He thought as his heart did a sort of excited tumble. ''No...''.


    Magic. Well, a theme was a theme. And tonight just felt like....


    Jimmy narrowed his eyes at the flame. ''Just gas.'' He thought. ''Just really hot...'' And he flicked his hand through the burner.


    The burners hissed and that off-smell of gas filled the air.


    Jimmy blinked rapidly. ''Fudge!'' And he scrambled to spin the correct knob. Then he gawked at the glowing, blue-splotched, red card layered with concentric circles and arcane glyphs.


    Flames of Blue ¡ª But Just a Few


    A runaway chemical reaction. Caught in card and time. Jimmy could feel himself cackling. ''Kaykes is gonna lose her science marbles!''


    Jimmy un-carded it eagerly and it flickered into ephemeral motes of blue flame, and disappeared.


    Jimmy blinked at where they''d hovered. "Yes... Yes, that was definitely just a few...."


    It made sense though, Jimmy thought. Fire was pretty instantaneous. Once the fuel combusted, no more fire. But....


    Jimmy bit his lip in focus, and turned the burner on again. He hesitated. ''Just like the water bottle trick,'' He thought. ''Not a snap, but a stretch''.


    He jabbed his finger into the fire.


    "Ow!" and pulled it back out again. ''Not fast enough. Gotta be fast.'' Jimmy squinted his eyes and focused. ''Not a snap. Stretch for it. And pull the fire into card-space... or wherever it was that all his things went when he carded them.'' Stretch.


    Jimmy jabbed again at the fire, and reached. He pushed that thin so thin film, out around the blue tendrils from the burner and pulled.


    The flames flickered out and that gas smell happened.


    A second later the blue motes burned themselves out above Jimmy''s hand again. Maybe they''d stuck around slightly longer?


    Jimmy frowned. ''Not pull.'' He thought. ''I''m not sucking through a straw. I''m taking what exists. What''s there.''


    That felt more right.


    ''Kaykes'' bottle exercise.'' Jimmy did it again. And again.


    And again.


    He held his hand fully in the burner now ¡ª it didn''t burn him. Not when he was carding it. He wrapped that thin film around each one of those tendrils and held it. Mine. Heeeeel¡ª "Ow!"


    He shook his hand out. ''Again!''


    Not hold. Create. Consume. Form. ''I''m forming a card out of you. All of you. I''m FORMING a card. Just really, really slowly ¡ª''


    That deep feeling of vulnerability, Openness ¡ª was that right? He thought it was ¡ª came. It got worse fast.


    ''It''s supposed to be a snap. But. If I do it really, really, reallllllyyyyyyyyyy sloooowwwwwwwwww ¡ª''


    Jimmy strained. He could feel the card trying to form. He thought he could see it too. Like little flickers. Ghosts of rectangular shapes. Different cards. Different symbols flickering and slithering around his fingers and the blue flames.


    ''Slooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww...'' His breathing felt ragged. He started to shiver. He was so Open. So vulnerable to... ''What was he vulnerable to?''


    ANYTHING.


    Jimmy quivered.


    He bit his lip and squinted. ''HOOOOO'' There was definitely a card trying to from now. It flickered between his fingers as his will fluctuated. Flashes of blue. Black symbols. Shapes fluttering in and out of existence. ''OOOOLLLLLLLDDDDD ¡ª''


    Jimmy rocked back, clutching a glowing blue card and gasping. ''Oh fudgesticks'' He thought. ''Oh boy. How much time was I?'' He checked the time. A minute. A single minute had passed.


    ''A minute! That felt like ten!'' But when Jimmy looked down at the card this time, it said the same words as before. Flames of Blue ¡ª But Just a Few. Now though... now, he thought he saw another line just below it. Almost like a subscript.


    Flames of Blue ¡ª But Just a Few


    Yet Many More Than There Were Before


    And this time, when Jimmy un-carded it, it flared like a nova in midair and there was nothing at all ephemeral about it.


    Magic. Everyday MAGIC


    Jimmy grinned. ''If my closet has skeletons.'' He thought, ''It''s only fair that my pockets hold magic.''


    Jimmy snatched up more fire from the stove again. Braved the hard Openness again for one ¡ª one minute ten... twenty... One minute twenty seconds!


    He breathed raggedly and held himself up on the counter afterwards, looking down at the new card now clenched tightly in his fist.


    This one was blue like a nova and washed in red-gold like the sunset. Glowing curves swirled over its surface and glyphs that seemed to burn in his eyes dotted it like stars.


    There was something different about this card, Jimmy thought. Special. It''s name burned in his mind just a bit brighter than the others did.


    A Little Bit of Magic ¡ª Not much. Just a touch


    And something about those words made Jimmy feel like it was winking at him.


    So the Itch could do emojis now.


    Jimmy grinned hard enough that his cheeks hurt.


    Magic. It was beautiful.


    And now for the final event!


    Jimmy turned to his cards containing well seasoned eggs who''s runny part of the yolk had never had any time to solidify and toast frozen in time, with enough butter that it ran down the sides.


    "Now what do you make of this, Itch?" And he flickered them all back into existence together and then re-carded them into an it.


    Plate of Poorly Made Breakfast hovered above his fingertips.


    "No one likes a critic. I am going to enjoy thi ¡ª"


    And that was when he heard his mother coming down the stairs.


    Jimmy''s heart thudded. This was really early! He should have had ¡ª Jimmy looked around ¡ª Hours!.


    Cards fluttered around and above him. They hung suspended in the air next to the fridge and over the counter-tops and lay on the counter-tops....


    And the steps were getting closer. He moved. ''Get back here!''


    Like a flood, they flew back, flickering into his pockets and a few up his sleeve just as...


    "Morning Babe."


    It was... technically, Jimmy supposed, looking in askance at the [4:37 AM] blinking on the oven.


    His mother yawned sleepily as she entered. "Something smells good. Whatcha making?"


    "Oh...Heh. Heh... About that..." Jimmy pocketed the card a tad sullenly. ''Tomorrow'' he promised it. "Eggs."


    His mother eyed him suspiciously, and then the kitchen with too clean and uncluttered counters. "Uhuh."


    "But I need more." Jimmy continued seriously. And quickly went to work pulling out pans and eggs and oil and spices and cluttering up the uncluttered counter-space.


    This was far more than his mother was willing to engage with pre-coffee this early in the morning. "Ok Babe." She muttered, and sleepily shuffled over to the coffee maker and then to the Azure Mirror on the wall.


    Jimmy sighed... Time for the morning news update of horror.


    ''What has Legion done now?'' Jimmy thought sullenly. ''Up next ¡ª How Amaterasu crisp fried another team of feds.''


    Or would it be about that poor Super from Wednesday who defended herself against that human trafficker? ''Self de-fence or self of-fence. Up next...'' Jimmy hunched his shoulders, and cracked eggs into the pan sullenly.


    But... it didn''t come.


    "Babe."


    Jimmy looked back. His mother had frozen.


    "Babe, come here. Oh my god...."


    That... that wasn''t his mother''s usual reaction.


    Jimmy rushed over. That wasn''t even his mother''s usual tone... tone of... voice....


    Jimmy stared at the screen. His mother stared at the screen.


    With a subtly trembling voice his mother said "Play", and words that were not vitriol or horror filled the air.


    It was grandeur and light and a fiery girl. An officer shaking hands with a Hero. Victims saved from traffickers. Good trouncing Evil.


    And slowly Jimmy felt his mother''s arm reach around his shoulders and pull him into a one armed hug.


    MAGIC. And something else.... Something about how this girl stood.


    She was hunched, obviously hurt. But not bowed.


    She stood when she gave Officer Fillmore her statement. She stood when the EMTs gingerly asked her if she needed medical treatment ¡ª and refused.


    She stood even though her legs quivered in exhaustion underneath her and she swayed almost imperceptibly on her feet.


    Through it all, she stood and her eyes blazed in the camera. Her tiara burned like a circlet of such glory he felt it through the screen and when she said the word Hero it clicked, like she''d stated an immutable fact of the universe. She. Was a Hero.


    ''Something else.... Something Different. Special.'' And he thought, that maybe... maybe ¡ª if he were somehow able to catch this instantaneous moment in a flicker of time... Maybe it would say something like...


    LIGHT ¡ª And Much MUCH More Than There Was Before


    LIGHT.


    "Oh my ¡ª" Jimmy breathed. And he realized his eyes were burning.

 1.8 D Day (Part 2)

    Nothing could take this day from Jimmy. Not now. Not Vicky, not the Itch, not even the devil himself if he showed up.


    A girl on fire. A Hero. Rosette. That name burned in Jimmy''s mind like a tongue of her flames had taken residence in his soul.


    And her words ¡ª ''Take my statement. I am a Hero.''


    ''That''s ¡ª That''s how it''s done,'' Jimmy thought. ''A Hero. This. Was right.''


    He''d not been the only one. Nate had been the first.


    [7:43 AM ¡ª ND] ''Dude. I''m in love. Did you see the news?!''


    But he hadn''t been the last. Sashaya ¡ª ''Check it on Azure! A good guy Super!!'' Then she sent a bicep emoji, and ''Girl Power! I can''t believe it!''


    None of that captured it, Jimmy thought. Didn''t they see it?! The LIGHT?


    Then Tom created a group chat and it took off like wildfire.


    [8:31 AM ¡ª TH] Anyone got any idea what her power is?


    [8:31 AM ¡ª ND] Total fire bender chick. I bet she can throw fireballs and make fire walls and shit.


    [8:32 AM ¡ª TH] I don''t see why software has anything to do with it.


    [8:32 AM ¡ª ND] You know what I mean!


    [8:34 AM ¡ª SW] Nice.


    [8:34 AM ¡ª SW] Nah. Fire benders are just elementals. Rosette''s got all that karate stuff going on.


    [8:35 AM ¡ª ND] Sooo... Fire Bender....


    [8:35 AM ¡ª SW] And what''s with that tiara? And the roses? AND the ARMOR!


    [8:37 AM ¡ª MS] It''s magic. Doesn''t have to make sense.


    [8:37 AM ¡ª ND] I bet she can shapeshift. You know. Girl one minute. Fire monster the next. Armored night after that!


    They really didn''t get it, Jimmy thought as he cradled his phone in front of him and watched their texts scroll by.


    Didn''t they... they see it? The....


    [8:37 AM ¡ª PC] Strength. Speed. Martial Arts. Fire-based magic. Rose motif.


    [8:38 AM ¡ª PC] Witness accounts are pretty explicit, Norman. Don''t make powers up where they don''t exist. Also, you misspelled ''Knight''.


    [8:39 AM ¡ª TH] Burn


    [8:39 AM ¡ª SW] So Burn


    [8:39 AM ¡ª JW] Guys. Didn''t you SEE her?? She was FIRE. SHE was SO much LIGHT!


    Next to him, Kaykes'' head thumped against the granite counter-top as if it had slipped from her hands and she''d failed to catch it in time. She also looked like she was stifling....


    Jimmy blinked and then reread what he''d just put into indelible text.


    There was a very long pause in the group chat. Then....


    [8:44 AM ¡ª TH] Ok. Intervention time, dude. You need to stop stacking up all these unattainable crushes. It''s not healthy for a growing boy.


    [8:44 AM ¡ª ND] Remember, we are the study-tree group.


    [8:44 AM ¡ª ND] Our max attainable score is maybe a seven. And statistically that means we are actually shooting for fives the lot of us.


    [8:45 AM ¡ª SW] Pa-lease! Speak for yourselves! I am awesome.


    [8:45 AM ¡ª SW] Us girls rock.


    [8:46 AM ¡ª MS] You are really sweet, Jimmy. Don''t listen to those idiots.


    Jimmy''s face burned. He dropped his phone and covered his face with his hands.


    Kaykes snatched it back up. "Oh, this is golden." She gloated evilly. "I think my face is blushing in pure empathy ¡ª"


    Jimmy checked. It wasn''t.


    "So, do you run like, an awkward poll and just throw out the high score?"


    "Shut up," Jimmy muttered, covering his eyes again. "Tell me when it runs its course." He just knew his ears were red too.


    "Hmmm. Patricia is stepping in. She says ¡ª"


    "Don''t read it to me!"


    [8:48 AM ¡ª PC] Fools babble when silence suits, Jimmy. Pay them no mind. Rosette was fire. And light.


    "I really like this girl, bro." Jimmy could feel her eyeing him speculatively. It was in her voice. "And she''s not done!"


    [8:48 AM ¡ª PC] Also, your math is atrocious as always, Norman. And Timmy. The less said about your advice is to your benefit.


    [8:53 AM ¡ª SW] Oof. I felt that from here.


    [8:54 AM ¡ª TH] I''m Timmy now...?!


    [8:55 AM ¡ª MS] Guys. Guys! Stop it!


    "You''re probably safe now, bro," Kaykes said.


    Jimmy eyed her suspiciously. She still sounded like she was choking back laughter. But he snatched his phone back, grimacing.


    [8:56 AM ¡ª MS] Rosette kept insisting that she''s a Hero. Wouldn''t go with Captain Fillmore to the Precinct....


    [8:57 AM ¡ª MS] Agent Mannheim said to look out for severe obsessions and odd behavior. Any of that strike you as quirk material?


    There was another long silence as everyone incorporated this, and Jimmy was caught between the overwhelming urge to give his far too professional two cents now that this was something he could actually get behind, and covering for his fellow Super.


    "You''re not gonna bail her out?" Kaykes was sitting at the counter with him, sipping coffee with her I-just-woke-up-and-am-displeased-with-the-results face newly recovered.


    She was surreptitiously checking over Jimmy''s shoulder while she fielded her own group of friend''s texts as well. She was doing a lot more texting than Jimmy was... and her group chat had so many participants that Jimmy was certain she was actually part of several chats that she just kept switching between.


    "I can''t," Jimmy muttered. "She''s probably right."


    "See? She''s sharp. Far better date material than cheer captain Vicks." Kaykes took the phone back from Jimmy and wrote.


    [9:00 AM ¡ª JW] Bet it''s the theme. Supers get massive bad press. Girl needs to get out in front of it.


    [9:00 AM ¡ª JW] Don''t think you can do better than announcing I''m a Hero every second sentence in front of a bajillion cameras the night of your debut.


    She passed the phone back to Jimmy while he gaped. "There."


    "That doesn''t even sound like me!"


    "No one''s checking. In a second they''ll run wi ¡ª"


    [9:01 AM ¡ª ND] That''s not Jimmy.


    [9:01 AM ¡ª ND] Kayla Chan?


    Kaykes pinked. It was pleasant seeing the normally unflappable Kaykes in the hot seat.


    [9:01 AM ¡ª MS] Hi Kayla.


    [9:01 AM ¡ª SW] Yo Girl!!


    [9:01 AM ¡ª TH] Hi Kaykes


    [9:02 AM ¡ª PC] Hello Kayla. As always, I enjoy your reasoning.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Kaykes snatched the phone back from Jimmy with a scowl.


    [9:02 AM ¡ª JW] .... This is Jimmy


    [9:03 AM ¡ª ND] Nah. This is the world''s best Imoto.


    [9:03 AM ¡ª JW] I''m going to kill you, Norman.


    [9:04 AM ¡ª ND] See? Vicious. And can the women in this group start calling me by my name? Seriously. There''s nothing Norman about me.


    [9:04 AM ¡ª SW] If that was a pun, I enjoyed it. Also, I''m changing you to Norman in my phone.


    Kaykes sneered and handed the phone back to Jimmy. "See? Minor crisis averted. Also, I''ll pay you fifty bucks to card a tarantula and drop it into Nate''s back pocket¡ªHey!"


    Her muttering turned into a screech as their mother walked back in, spied the coffee Kaykes was holding, and snatched it out of her hands.


    "Get your own coffee, babe! I was looking for this for ten mi¡ªOW!" Their mother shifted her grip to the mug''s handle and rubbed her fingers. "It''s... still hot." While Kaykes spluttered and Jimmy tried to look innocent and anywhere but Kaykes'' quickly igniting eyes.


    "You bribed me to wake up with MOM''S coffee?"


    "Fingers have been sticking to things," Jimmy told her apologetically as their mother left to put Azure back on. She''d been in and out periodically to check as the commercials ended and John Hannon showed back up. "But!" Jimmy announced in a staged whisper. "We''ve got a solution." And he passed Kaykes, his other phone.


    Kaykes'' eyes sharpened. "Another contract? Already?"


    Jimmy grinned. "A potential. Some Tim Cogburn. Missing wallet."


    "As long as it means MY money stays in MY wallet, I''m sold."


    "Kaykes," Jimmy whispered after several moments. "Don''t you know what this means?" Jimmy nodded at his phone lying on the counter with his friends still texting back and forth about Rosette''s maybe Quirk. "This means there''s another Super in Eastwall. Not just¡ªyou know. The Guy."


    Kaykes looked at him sideways through still narrowed eyes. Then she pushed her cell phone over to him. It had a news article pulled up.


    "As far as I can tell, bro, there''s three."


    <u>Eastwall Dragon Confirmed</u>


    "Caught on a police cam when they were responding to a noise complaint. Didn''t stick around. But both officers in the car saw it and it''s on video."


    "Three..." Jimmy felt winded.


    His sister didn''t look happy. "It''s two more than I''d like," she said.


    "I didn''t expect to hear you say that. This is great! If I could ¡ª"


    "No Jimmy. It''s not!" Kaykes glanced around, making sure their mother was out of earshot and focused on John Hannon''s third analysis that day of Rosette.


    She punched him. "You need to shed this rosy smudge you have on your glasses and focus. They. Are. Looking. For. You."


    "Rosette showing up is pretty cool and is a much needed gold star for Supers in general but it means there are going to be SO many more eyes on Eastwall, and therefore SO much more pressure on the feds to find the ''Masked Criminal Super who assaulted that poor boy.''" Kaykes threw in the air quotes. "A fucking dragon, Jimmy?! Really? That''s the last thing we need here."


    "He hasn''t done anything!"


    "He looks like he eats PEOPLE! Which... let it be said, literature mostly corroborates."


    Jimmy scoffed. "That''s just fantasy, Kaykes."


    "Bro, you''re fantasy."


    Jimmy had no response to that.


    What could he say? He''d caught flames in his hands just this morning. And in his pocket...


    A Little Bit of Magic ¡ª Not much. Just a touch


    And the card burned against his leg.


    <hr>


    The date loomed in front of him like a cloud until lunchtime. A sort of doom, that he couldn''t really stop from coming around.


    The prospect of this date with Vicky had changed a lot since Tuesday afternoon at the park.


    Then, it had been a sudden snap decision, made in the moment and was definitely the lesser of two... Well, it wasn''t even an evil per se. Actually, it was a really sweet get-out-of-jail deal, especially for Vicky, Jimmy thought as he biked glumly.


    Especially for Vicky.


    No one in the area. The Itch deciding that it had starved long enough. Vicky with her designer clothes, purse, jewelry, Stun Stick of Power!, phone... and whatever else she had on her person at the time, must have seemed like a juicy steak dangling in front of a starving man.


    Who knows what would have happened? Jimmy... thought he did.


    So Vicky unknowingly giving the Itch something else to focus on was a godsend. For Vicky... And, apparently the Itch, though Jimmy had no idea what it was getting out of it.


    For him though... As he biked, he remembered the sound his voice made when Vicky walked into Physics class the next day. The giggling from her friends. How his tongue tied itself in knots and his brain flushed its system through his mouth. His face flushed.


    And... as Jimmy turned into Midtown Park, surreptitiously carding his bike, there she was.


    His heart did a flip.


    Vicky stood out.


    He''d slowed his biking down to a crawl after about halfway to the park and the nerves fully set in, and she... had apparently gotten bored of waiting for her late date and was doing a handstand. And it looked as natural and stable as if she was standing right side up.


    Her auburn hair fell like a waterfall down to the grass and her red hoodie, rode just a little bit down showing pale, taut skin. Her jeans were tailored just right so that they hugged her hips and legs all the way down to her calves where they flared out again revealing feet tipped like spears skyward and wriggling toes.


    Jimmy gulped. And he... he knew. He was not at all on the same page as the Itch.


    He was more on the same page with Nate and Tom!


    ''What was he doing?'' He was... Jimmy. He was a nerd. He was built like a twig. He got pimples and blushed when girls gave him more than a passing glance.


    Jimmy remembered Raven''s smirk from the other day.


    He... He was his grade''s laughingstock. And as Nate put it, that wasn''t scheduled to change for at least the next few weeks.


    Jimmy''s hand dove back into his pocket for his bike and suddenly, he knew one thing more definitively than he knew his own name. There was no way he was walking up to... and his hand found a different card. And he stopped.


    Perfect Basket for a Perfect Date


    When Jimmy touched one of his cards, he knew everything that was in it. He knew the number of lint balls on his Socks of Fluff and Fury. How much charge was left on his Stun Stick of Power, and how much the Brick... For Brick Things weighed down to the last... actually, the tolerance on that seemed to be limited to the size of his conscious memory rather than his Power''s sensitivity.


    So he knew everything that was in his basket if he cared to look. And tucked in underneath all of the picnic supplies his sister had passed him last night.


    Underneath the fresh baked French bread, the three cheese platter, honey, sliced apples, and dipping sauces... was a note.


    It didn''t say much. But it was undeniably Kaykes.


    To the you five minutes beforehand. You''re more awesome than she is. Knock it out, bro.


    And his brain hiccupped.... And turned again.


    Kaykes was wrong, Jimmy knew.


    She was awesome. Kaykes was. She had put together the cosmically acclaimed Perfect date basket.


    She had friends in four grades, got straight ''A''s from the moment that grades started mattering, and made hundreds of dollars off her intellect alone in ninth grade.


    Kaykes thought and analyzed. She kept his head on his shoulders when the Agents showed up and he was spiraling.


    Kaykes was awesome. Not Jimmy.


    But Jimmy did have something that Kaykes didn''t have.


    Jimmy reached a trembling hand up to his face and felt a hospital mask fold slightly beneath his touch. Felt the thick rim of his tinted glasses around his eyes and the ball cap tucked firmly over his head, hiding his hair. He felt the weight of the duster jacket on his shoulders.


    He wasn''t Jimmy here, was he?


    Vicky hadn''t offered to go on a date with awkward, nerd Jimmy Wallace. She''d offered it to The Guy. And The Guy could catch fire in his fingertips. The Guy had magic in his pocket.


    The Guy walked into Buck Higly''s house, tased him, and stole his hard drive. The Guy was awesome.


    ''Not even my hardest job,'' The Guy thought, who was usually called Jimmy Wallace, and he walked down to the most beautiful girl he''d ever set eyes on for his date.


    She sensed him coming. Or heard him. Because she flipped smoothly back to her feet. And smiled.


    <hr>


    Vicky was tall for a girl, but not really tall. So that put her just under head height with The Guy.


    She smiled widely as he stepped over, and a little shyly. "Ye''know? I had wondered if you''d come ensembled or not," she said after a pause that was just shorter than awkward.


    ''Ok. So The Guy wasn''t Mr. Suave either,'' Jimmy thought wryly.


    "So! I came prepared." And Vicky turned around and picked up... A mask! One of those festival masks with long, brightly colored feathers and shiny paint twisting over it in golds and silvers swirls and sequins.


    She brandished it grandly, laughing as The Guy gaped very obviously behind his own very mundane mask, and held it up to her face.


    "For the duration of this date, I claim the name The Fletched One! And I greet you solemnly, Guy of Mystery and Intrigue! But before that..." She pulled it away from her face and looked The Guy directly in the glasses. "Before that, I''ll be Vicky for just a little bit longer."


    She breathed a few big breaths, then continued hesitantly.


    "You know. My friends told me I was insane meeting up with you like this. Masked Super. Violent. I wouldn''t tell them where we were going." Vicky shrugged. "Told me I didn''t have to. I don''t owe you anything. Bla bla bla. A lot of words."


    "But I was there ¡ª obviously ¡ª and I know you didn''t have to help me out. I definitely knew you didn''t want to. And... you did it anyway."


    Vicky kicked her bare foot through the grass and grimaced, looking back and forth between him and the ground.


    "I don''t know why," she said. "Maybe I sound like an idiot right now. I know I looked like one the other day in the park. And I bet you were wondering what the whole deal was with some stupid videos and all."


    The Guy... hadn''t actually. He was certain he would be mortified if half of what he suspected was on that drive was there.


    Vicky looked at him straight at his thick-rimmed and tinted glasses, and The Guy almost felt like he could feel her gaze right through the glass.


    "I really appreciate it, Guy. I really do. I don''t know why you said yes. I don''t know why you didn''t bail on me when it all went to shit in the middle, too. I don''t care. I owe you five dates. And if you ever need anything. I''m there. You hear me?"


    And The Guy nodded slowly. And the Itch hummed softly.


    Vicky laughed nervously. "Now having said all that in the most awkward fashion possible. That STILL means no funny business! I''ve got five and a quarter months of Krav-Maga under my belt! So if you try anything, I''m going to knock your ass out here in this park and feast on whatever''s in that basket you''ve brought while I wait for the cops to get here. Capiche?"


    And now The Guy had to say something. The date had been in progress for at least a minute now and he''d just stood there for the entire thing and not said a word!


    That. That was Jimmy level dating! And The Guy was feeling far too Jimmy-like for his comfort level.


    So The Guy did something different. He acted.


    He raised the basket and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "I have a picnic! The cosmos itself says it''s Perfect! And... ah..."


    Now The Guy shuffled his feet uncomfortably.


    "You keep saying you know kravmega? Isn''t that, like, some kind of Middle Eastern dance?"


    Vicky toppled over and died in horror. "Oh boy," she said.


    Then she jumped up and showed him some dance moves, and The Guy, Jimmy and the Itch, learned a thing or two about certain Middle Eastern dances.


    And after that... The Fletched One put on her mask. The Guy opened up the Perfect Basket and they had a Perfect Date.

 1.9 You Didnt!

    "So it was... perfect?!" Kaykes'' face was dismayed. "AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH! I knew throwing that brie in was a cheese too far!"


    "No! It was a hit! I told you she likes brie. And the apples and honey."


    "Ugh. I don''t want to know. Now it''s like I''m complicit." Kaykes held her face with both hands and struck her forehead against the granite of the counter top several times. "Ok. What happened next?"


    Jimmy grinned. He was practically vibrating where he sat. Perfect. He''d had a real date, and it was perfect. He''d had a date with Vicky M! And it was perfect!


    He opened his mouth. But Kaykes took one look at his face and held up her hand hurriedly.


    "Wait. Wait. Oh no. We''re not doing this. I can see you''re going to give me an exact blow by blow. And I''m going to want to irrigate my ears from all the pro-Vicky sentiment. Just the highlights, dude.... And don''t you dare use the name ''The Fletched One'' because that''s actually kind of cute and I don''t want to think of Vicky in that light."


    <h2>The time where Vicky asked The Guy about His Powers</h2>


    <hr>


    "So, you are a Super right? The feds aren''t just seeing Powers places?"


    "Seeing Powers places?"


    "You know..." Vicky took a moment to drizzle golden honey on her cracker, brie, and apple tower. She was back to brie again. She''d done the rounds and had faithfully recombined the assembled ingredients in increasingly creative ways.


    Even cheddar.


    <hr>


    Kaykes looked horrified.


    <hr>


    "Everyone says, like, half the Super reports are actually just web nuts who want attention or just people jumping at shadows."


    "But these are Feds!"


    "Still people."


    Jimmy digested this silently for a moment and to cover up his indecision, crunched his way through three crackers with nothing on them. "I ¡ª"


    "Hey, Guy." Vic ¡ªThe Fletched One eyed him with her green eyes behind the mask of gold and feathers, and jabbed the cheese knife at him. "You don''t have to tell me. It won''t change anything. I''m just curious. I''ve never actually met a Super before."


    The Guy felt torn between vibrating where he sat and freezing in place. On one hand, he didn''t think he had ever said the words ''I am a Super'' to anyone except the mirror before and something about those words sent a giddy shiver down his spine.


    It also sent a frisson of fear. There was a reason why he''d never said those words.


    On the other hand... This was a date... and what was he supposed to do, if not talk about himself? Not ad-nauseam, of course, but... a little?


    So The Guy shrugged, and bobbed his head. Slowly. And ¡ª he couldn''t help himself ¡ª he grinned.


    And The Fletched One did too. "Thats so cool. What can you do?"


    ''Well, the queues didn''t get any better than that.'' The Guy thought. He reached out a finger, and still trembling slightly, tapped The Fletched One''s cracker-brie-apple-honey confection.


    "HOLY F ¡ª" The Fletched One jumped! And scrambled back pulling off her mask.


    "Sorry! Sorry!" The Guy held very still and held up both hands, one now holding a fresh card.


    Very Stylish Snack


    "W-What the hell?" Vicky was looking back and forth between The Guy, the card in his hand and her fingers. She was also breathing really heavily.


    ''In retrospect'', The Guy thought, tense, ''maybe most people don''t take the obvious use of Super Human powers with the same aplomb as Kaykes does.''


    "I''m sorry." The Guy said again. He was. He hadn''t meant to scare her. "I didn''t mean to sc ¡ª ah ¡ª I just thought I''d show off a bit. You know? Ah ¡ª"


    "No. It''s..." Vicky was staring at her hand where she''d been holding her Stylish Snack and rubbing her fingers together. "Not even sticky..." she muttered. "It''s... fine. Ah...." She stared hard at him. "What did you do?"


    The Guy held up the card. It was pale, almost as white as the brie-rind, with golden flows which faded in and out along the card and some green star bursts that only seemed to appear when you looked at it just right.


    "You should know that the universe believes that you made a Very Stylish Snack."


    Vicky grinned suddenly, put her mask back on and plopped back down next to the basket. "It was kinda, wasn''t it?" She bent over to look at the card, blinked, and looked even harder.


    "That''s beautiful." She whispered.


    The Guy almost felt like he should be preening. It felt good to have his power admired. It was a cool power.


    "And you just ¡ª" The Fletched One snapped her fingers. "Turned it into... something else? Like that?"


    "Turned it into a card. Always a card."


    "And then... you ah."


    "Turn it back." And a second later, The Guy was holding the the cracker with a strip of brie across it, a thin slice of green apple and a zig-zagging drizzle of honey.


    ''Definitely stylish'' he thought. And then he lifted his mask just enough to fit the cracker underneath and ¡ª with The Fletched One''s squawk of outrage ringing in his ears ¡ª crunched down.


    "My..." The Fletched One''s mouth was open in dismay.


    "Your loss was well received."


    "... But... it was so... stylish...."


    "It even tasted stylish."


    The Fletched One glared at him. "You can''t just steal girls'' food like that! It makes us hangry!" She sliced more brie vehemently and tugged a cracker from the basket.


    "I''m making another one! Twice as stylish. You stay away from it or I''ll show you more dance moves." The Fletched One brandished the cheese knife at him again as The Guy laughed.


    "What else can you card?" The Fletched One asked as she intently drizzled honey again. This time she was making a hatch-pattern and it looked like she was taking extra care to make sure the lines where as smooth as possible.


    "Anything." The Guy said.


    "Anything?"


    "I caught Magic just this morning."


    The Fletched One laughed. And then did a double take. "Wait... Are you serious?"


    <hr>


    "Hold on." Kaykes held up a hand of such palpable judgement and displeasure that it was practically an aura. "That didn''t sound like it was just a turn of phrase...."


    Jimmy grinned and told Kaykes about the morning''s sojourn of enlightenment.


    "And you told fu¡ª" Kaykes lowered her voice. "Fucking Vicks before your sister?!"


    "... There was a lot going on this morning."


    "Not. That much. Show!"


    <hr>


    "M-magic?" The Fletched One asked weakly for the third time. She reached out a trembling hand to touch the card ¡ª for the eighth time ¡ª and it slipped past her index finger, just like it had all the others. "I-it''s beautiful. Oh my god, it''s bringing tears to my eyes."


    Vicky looked away hurriedly and raised her mask to wipe at them. "What can it do?"


    The Guy shrugged and grinned widely. "Not a clue," He said. "But it feels different than my other cards. Heavier."


    <hr>


    "Sometimes, I honestly hate you, bro." Kaykes said, and tried to touch the card Jimmy was holding out to her for the eleventh time. She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.


    "You showed this to Vicky, before you showed it your sister."


    <h2>The time where Vicky talks about Bucky</h2>


    <hr>


    "Let me guess.... You asked her about her ex. Dude, you never ask about the girl''s ex. That''s like... dating 101!"


    "Why?" And then he glared at Kaykes. "And what body of insight are you pulling all this judgement from?"


    "... Mom."


    Jimmy blinked at her.


    "AND... All the conversations I''ve overheard on the topic." Kaykes was suddenly rather curious about a chip she''d found on the counter top. But she was Kaykes, so she was also resolute.


    "I like to think that I''ve managed to isolate the good practices from the moronic ones, separate out the outliers, and then distill what''s left into a coherent set of rules to follow."


    "Uh-huh." Jimmy''s mouth quirked with all the condescending weight that his single date experience provided him. "So, it wasn''t like that, Kaykes. It all just kind of flowed. You just wanted the highlights."


    Jimmy paused before continuing the story. "Wait a second.... Then how the tater-tots did you manage to put together more than just an Average Basket for an Average Date?!"


    "Oh. That was all Mom." Kaykes grinned toothily. "I copied over one of her anniversary date recipes. Substituted out a Cabernet-zin blend for Endless Holiday Tea, and Havarti for brie. It''s official. Mom is a cosmically acclaimed guru."


    "Oh... fudge, Kaykes. You might have just set me up here." Jimmy ran a nervous hand through his hair. "You had me go with one of her anniversary recipes?! And it was perfect?! How am I going to beat that next time?!"Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Oh, I know." Kaykes cackled. "Now that you''ve had your good date, you''re fully allowed to crash and burn. There is no way, I''m having Vicky for a sister in law."


    <hr>


    The Fletched One was lying on her side now in the grass, one hand holding her head up, the other a small espresso cup of hot tea.


    Kaykes had suggested the espresso mugs. ''Big mugs get cold and it''s a waste of hot water. Small cups. Big thermos. And, they''re cute.''


    They were cute.


    The Guy mirrored her. It had gotten a little cold, so The Guy had pulled off his duster jacket and thrown it over her.


    <hr>


    Kaykes retched loudly.


    <hr>


    So now The Guy was cold ¡ª but compensating by drinking far more tea than The Fletched One, and, since he''d worn short sleeves instead of long today because of all the sweating he''d expected to be doing, his arms were on full display and... so were the slowly fading bruises.


    He saw The Fletched One notice them.


    She looked a bit sick. "Did... Bucky do that?"


    "I think his stairs did that."


    "His stairs?!"


    "He threw me down the stairs. One out of five stars. Don''t recommend."


    "Ooof. Guy..." The Fletched One shook her head. "He was always kind of like that, you know? Violent. I always thought it was because he was a football player, but...."


    "To be fair, I had sort of invaded his house in the dead of night." The Guy pointed out with a plastic fork for emphasis. "I can think of other less productive reactions."


    "To be fair," The Fletched One eyed him through the feathers with a deadpanned gaze. "He was blackmailing me for favors with... things."


    "Also fair." For a moment The Guy wondered why in the world he was defending Buck.... Then shrugged. "But I also think that that''s not quite the same thing. It''s a bit Bayesian-ey." The Guy said. "The worlds in which I get thrown down the stairs are drastically more when I invade someone''s house than when I don''t. Doesn''t really say much about Buck''s inherent violence."


    "O-ok. Guy. But have you ever... spoken to Bucky? Not that I''m digging behind the mask!" The Fletched One added quickly. "I''m respecting the mask."


    The Guy laughed and shook his head.


    "Right. So I can just tell you. He is." The Fletched One looked at him and tapped her lips thoughtfully. "I don''t know, but I have a feeling that you''re mostly in honors and AP classes?"


    The Guy stopped himself at the last moment from first nodding, and then, pointing out that Vicky herself was in at least one honors class herself. Barely.


    "So you probably don''t ever run into Buck. He''s not in any. He''s about as cliche jock as you get, C averages and everything. But he didn''t used to be like this. We started dating in ninth grade. I was a new freshy on the cheer team. He was a new freshy on the Football team.... That combo works out in real life almost as well as it does in the movies.


    They both laughed, though for his part, The Guy didn''t know whether The Fletched One was being self deprecating or not.


    "End of last year, beginning of this one. He started getting moodier. Angrier, more territorial. You know Jamal Faruk?"


    Jimmy shook his head.


    "Well he broke the boy''s hand for accidentally tripping him up in the hall, beginning Junior year."


    "Broke his.... Why didn''t the school ¡ª"


    "Probably because it looked like a handshake."


    "A handshake?" Jimmy asked weakly. But he also remembered the feeling of Buck''s hands closed over his neck and how immovable they felt. "Fuddggge."


    "There were other incidents. I talk to a guy. They show up with an odd bruise the next day. Someone cuts him off on the road, he flies into a rage." The Fletched One shrugged "So... we broke up."


    "Just like that?"


    "Just like that." Vicky frowned. "Well... there was an incident. But I''d rather not talk about that." And she held her cup out for more tea.


    <hr>


    "See?"


    "... I''m going to put that down as one of the outliers." Kaykes rolled her eyes. "Ok. I''m getting the picture. It was all cutesy and nice and everything worked out. Somehow." She added darkly. "Skip to the end! How did it all leave off?"


    Jimmy grinned


    <h2>The time where The Guy Monologued about Bayesian Analysis</h2>


    <hr>


    "Ok. Guy, I have to ask. This is the third time you''ve called something Bayesian. What... in the world wide web of AI and GPTs is Bayesian?"


    The Guy colored.


    <hr>


    Kaykes fell off her chair. Then she just lay there.


    "You didn''t!" She gasped.


    Jimmy colored.


    "You... you ended your first date by monologuing about BAYES?" Kaykes'' voice grew shrill. "That''s it. You''re no longer a valid data set. I''m striking all ¡ª"


    "Wait." Came a strangled voice from behind them.


    Jimmy and Kaykes both turned around veeerrrryyyyy slowly.


    Their mother loomed behind them. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her eyes... BLAZED? "Did you say... first date?!"


    <h2><s>Bayes Monologue</s> Canceled</h2>


    <hr>


    "Mom. Mom." Kaykes eyes were wide with terror and Jimmy heard her adopt her best ''reasonable'' voice like her life depended on it. "Nothing happened. Jimmy just hung out ¡ª"


    "One more word out of you young lady, and you are grounded for a week!"


    Kaykes'' mouth snapped shut, and then their mother grabbed another stool and dragged it over. "I heard DATE!" and her mouth stretched into a grin so wide it looked like it was in danger of splitting her face in two. "Speak quickly, my son. Tell me everything. From the beginning!"


    Kaykes gagged. Then quickly adopted an innocent expression as their mother speared her with a glance.


    The story that ensued afterwards was far, far longer than before. Probably because, whenever Jimmy looked like he was slowing down, their mother asked him if that was all that happened And when Jimmy answered no ¡ª for obvious reasons, she glared at him until he resumed.


    Jimmy had to think quickly to dodge anything that came close to revealing anything too... power related. Or origin related.... Or identity related. Eventually, when Jimmy began discussing how Vicky''s hair moved in the wind for the fifth time in a row, their mother was satisfied.


    ... And Kaykes had to endure every second of it.


    Kaykes was right. His mother, it turned out, was really into dates.


    "Alright, Babe." Their mother breathed a massive sigh and grinned as if she''d just consumed an entire meal of nothing but desert. "I am satisfied."


    Kaykes tensed.


    "Now tell me about the logistics..."


    And it began again.


    <hr>


    Their mother squealed. "And you set him up with the Anniversary Recipe?"


    Kaykes nodded with dead eyes.


    "Give it to me, Babe. What did you stock it with? Don''t hold back anything!"


    Kaykes listed it all out and their mother burst out in cackles. "Ah! Wonderful! A work of art!" Their mother raised a hand for a high-five which Kaykes grudgingly returned.


    "HAHAHAHA YESSSS. Finally!"


    "But Mom!" Jimmy cut in. He''d started pacing at some point''. "It was the anniversary basket! It was perfect! I''ll never be able to beat that!"


    "Sit back down, son! It is a master you''re speaking to! Dates aren''t linear! They come in surfaces! Peaks! Valleys! And waves. Ho ho ho!" His mother shook her fist at the ceiling, and Jimmy shared a concerned look with his sister.


    "Finally! A Date! I have waited so long! Your father was always useless at planning dates. He once took me out for a ''nice'' date to a movie theater with frosted sugar cookies."


    Both Kaykes and his mother made the exact same disgusted face. It was surreal. "A real date has flavor, boy. Panache! Magic."


    His mother smirked wickedly. "I say, for the next one, we go with The Starlit Night Recipe.


    "NO Mom!" Kaykes squawked, reaching forward to shield their mother''s mouth. "It''s too powerful! She''ll love him for sure!"


    Their mother batted her away, her eyes burning.


    "Listen closely, my son. Today you but debuted. The next will be bold. Romantic! It starts with...."


    <hr>


    One other thing happened that day. It was important. Probably the most important.


    Which is why, it felt rather sinful to be so giddy.


    Jimmy walked, one hand in his pocket, the other texting on The Guy''s Phone for Illicit Dealings.


    [5:53 PM ¡ª TC] You almost here?


    []5:53 PM ¡ª TG] Should be. I''ll see you soon!


    Maybe it came came through the text. But it was hard! Their mother''s enthusiasm was infectious, and if he was being honest, he was still riding the blissful high of THREE hours of laughing and talking and sharing with Vicky M.


    They''d talked about Magic and Powers and Supers. And not the usual way people did! Like it was cool! And special.


    They''d talked about mathematics, and even though Kaykes had made it sound like he''d crossed some invisible line into faux pas land, Vicky had been interested! She''d asked questions!


    They''d talked about Vicky''s dogs, and laughed about their names, Michelin and Wriggly.


    They''d talked about how Vicky had gone from freshy to team captain of the cheer team! How she''d gotten into Krav Maga ¡ª NOT a dance.


    They''d just talked... about inconsequential things. And it was wonderful.


    Which is why it took him far longer than normal to notice... that on his way to the same park where he''d first met Vicky, he was being noticed.


    That didn''t faze Jimmy. People were always noticing and not noticing things, and as ¡ª he thought ¡ª Kaykes would say, ''There was nothing at all suspicious about a teenager texting with a dumb grin on his face''.


    But... it didn''t go away. He was still being noticed. Even when he took a sharp right turn away from the main street.


    Then, the number of people noticing him doubled and Jimmy lost his dumb grin.


    <hr>


    Jimmy walked passed the alley where he''d changed over for Vicky and now his heart was pounding.


    He wasn''t texing anymore even though Vicky had texted him back with a [smiley]. He just kept his head down and tried to make sure that his thumb was still moving across his screen as if he was texting.


    His other hand was in his pocket. ''Nothing suspicious about that.'' Jimmy thought desperately. ''Teenagers walk with hands in their pockets all the time. All. The....''


    Stun Stick of Power! brushed his finger tips.


    Three Sticks of Bludgeoning


    Five Stones of Reckoning. Those had come from his power testing with Kaykes. They''d changed, he noticed distractedly. They used to just be Five Ordinary Stones.


    ''Slow breathing'' He babbled to himself. ''Don''t walk. Wander. Oh fudgesticks.''


    ''This is a trap''. And oddly enough, this was somehow the calmest thought he had.


    Two noticers became three. Then one dropped away and another took its place.


    ''Trap. Trap. Traptraptrap. I need to get out of here.''


    Kaykes voice rang in his head. She was always so calm. Rational. "Stay the course, bro." Mental Kaykes said. "Walk passed the park. Nothing at all suspicious of a boy wandering around and texting."


    But where were they? How were they noticing him? Could they see him sweating?


    He couldn''t see anyone watching him. At least not through his peripherals. No pedestrians. No cars that moved slowly or stuck around.


    His phone in his hand vibrated and he almost dropped it.


    [6:01 PM ¡ª TC] Hey dude. Are you even coming?


    ''Wander. Don''t walk. Wander.'' Jimmy wandered desperately and his hand clenched in his pocket.


    ''Tim. It had to be Tim. It was a setup!''


    "Stay the course."


    ''Hell Fire and Fudgesticks, Kaykes!''


    ''Or... or it could have been Vicky.'' Jimmy went cold.


    ''Vicky could have told the agents where she''d first met The Guy. They could be watching the park. They WERE watching the park.''


    Brick... For Brick Things


    ''Stay the course.''


    Jimmy walked sloowwwly past the park, fake texting the entire way. He might have even real texted accidentally, but he didn''t notice.


    SLOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLYYYYY. So very slowly, Jimmy walked around the perimeter of the park, and through his peripherals, Jimmy spied Tim, sitting at the table, right where Jimmy had told him he would meet him.


    Except Tim wasn''t Tim.


    Because Tim was Buck Higly, and he looked murderous.


    ''Wander. Nothing at all to see here. Wander. And don''t forget to text. Wander.''


    Vicky texted him. She sent him a message that ended in ''HAHAHAHAHA!''.


    ''What had he sent her? Wander.''


    Tim Cogburn texted him. He ignored it.


    Jimmy''s eyes were fixed on Buck through his peripherals. ''Don''t change gait.''


    And as Jimmy passed the table that Buck was sitting at, just meters away from him, a fourth person noticed Jimmy.


    Jimmy almost bolted.


    "Stay the course"


    ''Thank you Kaykes. Thank you. Thank you. Best little sister ever.''


    "I know."


    Passed Buck. Around the park. Away.


    The fourth noticer dropped off.


    Away. Left turn now. Away from the park.


    Jimmy''s breathing hitched. A third noticer dropped off. Then the second.


    ''Keep going.'' Back now. Back to where he''d locked up his bike.


    Kaykes words from power testing came back to him. People saw two kids ride in on bikes. Best they see us also suffering the consequences and lugging them around.


    ''Thank you, Kaykes. Thank you.''


    The last noticer dropped and he gasped a breath. ''His bike. Get to the ¡ª''


    It was missing. The bike chain dangled uselessly where his bike should have been.


    That was... fine. Jimmy had several bikes. And the last noticer had dropped so...."


    ''... Suffer the consequences.''


    Jimmy missed a step.


    These FBI agents had come for a purpose. They''d come to find the Super that had broken into Buck Higly''s house in the dead of night. Stolen his property and assaulted the family.


    "Breaking and Entering. Assault and Battery. Assault with a Super Human Capability AND Assault with a Deadly Weapon... And the only reason there isn''t more on that list is because they don''t know a single damn thing about you."


    But... What if they could imagine.... If....


    They''d come with chips on their shoulders and in the backdrop of the Amaterasu massacre. And one more thing.


    They weren''t amateurs. They knew Supers.


    ''... Suffer the consequences.''


    So Jimmy did so with all his might. Jimmy didn''t do what he wanted to do. What The Guy would have done. He did not just produce another bike, secure in the knowledge that no one was watching.


    He did the same thing any boy would have done if their bike was stolen.


    "Mom." Jimmy said after infinite moments of ringing. His voice broke. "My bike''s been stolen. Can you pick me up?"


    "Of course, Babe. Let me finish some things and I''ll be right there."


    Jimmy waited where his bike used to be for thirty of the most grueling minutes of his life.


    At some point someone noticed him again. Then they left. Then another one.


    ''This is fine.'' He told himself. ''Normal. It''s normal to notice a boy standing around where his bike was.''


    They dropped away.


    And finally his mother pulled up.


    "Babe! Are you alright? Babe... you''re white!"


    Jimmy piled in and shut the door before his mother could say another word.


    And then he breathed. And breathed and breathed.


    And didn''t speak another word until they got home.

 1.10 I Dreamt A Dream Dark As Pitch

    "Ok. You can speak now." Kaykes said with a raised eyebrow and a self satisfied air. "Mom currently thinks Vicky let you down hard, and that you need some time alone. She''s also deeply disappointed in her prospects for grandchildren and is already planning Operation Rebound AND Operation Yenta. Kaykes grinned.


    "You... ah. You talked her down from all of that right?"


    Kaykes snorted. "Some things, a man has to do for himself, bro. The fallout is going to be glorious."


    Jimmy was sitting on Kaykes'' bed, slouched against the wall, as Kaykes sauntered into her room, kicked her chair over into position and sat in it forcefully enough that it spun her in a full circle before aligning with him again. When it stopped, her hands were steepled in front of her face and she was eyeing him dramatically.


    Jimmy knew what she was doing. When he''d jumped into his mother''s car he''d been white as a sheet and hadn''t answered any questions no matter how urgently she''d asked. He''d been tense, spooked, very angry and practically shivering at how closely and casually he''d come to being caught.


    So Kaykes was... being Kaykes. Just more dramatically than usual. Making light. Easing the tension. Turning her room into an assuring and safe space. And just because he knew what she was doing, didn''t mean he couldn''t let it work.


    He grinned, and eyed her. He felt his muscles un-tensing. "You''re the best little sister, you know that?"


    Kaykes blinked. "Say... ah... what now? Are you feeling alright?"


    He kept grinning. "The entire time, I had your voice in my head. Probably saved my skin several times there at the end.


    "Oh, god. Oh no. You can''t attribute random shit in your head to me, bro! You probably imagined me saying the dumbest shit. Ugh."


    Jimmy laughed. It was getting easier. "I dunno. how does ''Nothing at all suspicious about a boy wandering around and texting'' sound?"


    Kaykes scratched her nose and paused. "Actually, that does sound like me." She said presently. "You do know, that just because there''s nothing suspicious about having a dumb grin on your face, doesn''t mean you need to¡ª"


    Jimmy threw her pillow at her and they both laughed. Easier. Far easier. Jimmy felt something in his chest loosening.


    It was working. Good. So Jimmy told her what happened.


    <hr>


    "Well fuck."


    "Fudge." Jimmy agreed


    "Fuckety fuck fuck."


    "Just because you have the enviable gift of cursing doesn''t mean you need to use them so unsparingly."


    "Sue me. Dude." Kaykes leaned back in her seat and eyed her ceiling constellation of glow in the dark stars and planets. "What''s killing me is that it doesn''t even make sense!"


    Jimmy raised both eyebrow ¡ª mostly because he also didn''t have the gift of raising one. "I''ve got some thoughts too," he said.


    "Oh? Share."


    "It wasn''t Vicky." Jimmy paused. "I don''t think..."


    But Kaykes was nodding in that ''get-on-with-it'' fashion.


    "She had plenty of opportunities today at the park."


    Kaykes nodded.


    "Buck doesn''t make sense."


    Kaykes nodded again.


    "Because he''s the last person the FBI would be using to catch me in a sting. They''d know I''d see him and bolt."


    Kaykes raised another eyebrow. "Which you did. Maybe that''s what they were looking for?"


    Jimmy smirked. "Nah. I wandered. And there''s nothing at all suspicious about a teenage boy not rushing to engage a random other high schooler in a convo."


    Kaykes threw her pillow back at him. "Yea. I''m just being obstreperous. Keep going."


    "They know it was The Guy in Buck''s house."


    "You use the same getup for each job?"


    Jimmy shrugged. "I change it up. But I do cover myself up pretty good. When I met Vicky, she said her friend warned about how ah... she called me shady."


    Kaykes cackled. "Medical gloves might be a step too far."


    "Medical gloves are why there aren''t any finger prints at Bucks house."


    "And shady. We''re on the same page." Kaykes continued. "Two thoughts come to mind. They''ve interviewed at least one person who led them to the guy. Buck hasn''t been at school and I can''t fathom why."


    "Think they''re keeping him away?" Jimmy blinked. "Wait. You think they''re suspicious of him?"


    Kaykes shrugged.


    "Wait. Wait. You think Buck is a Super?"


    "Fuck if I know." She rolled her eyes. "With how many Super''s are popping up in Eastwall now, I''d at least entertain the notion that Mom''s a Super."


    Jimmy blinked. Mom?


    "She''s not! I''m making a point. The point is, that there''s not really evidence for that, and it doesn''t change any equations. It doesn''t answer why he''s not been at school. Or why the agents used him as part of a sting. It''s just stupid Availability Heuristic trash."


    <hr>


    "It will be glorious!" The bearded man was saying. "Simply magnificent. A work of craft not seen since the first bearded man donned the very first hat and wondered."


    The Boy nodded eagerly.


    "You will use it wisely." Bushy eyebrow lowered in The Boy''s direction. "And grandly. You have the juice. But I picked you for the spirit. The Gumption." Two eyes twinkled into his own with such intensity that The Boy wanted to look away.


    "Of course, ah... sir." Then he did look away, because the eyes hurt and he shifted uncomfortably on the stool where he sat.


    They''d... done something to him. He couldn''t say how he knew this except to say that somehow he was Aware of it.


    He didn''t know what. And a part of him wanted to know what. But most of him didn''t mind. A small part of him babbled way back in the corner of his brain that he really should mind and quite a lot, but the majority of him also had decided that it was a foolish little part of him, and he was going to ignore it. So he did.


    He was going to be grand. And he was going to ¡ª


    "¡ªSave countless errant souls," The Man finished for him.


    The Man was short. He had a long grey beard that would have fallen all the way down to his knobby knees if the man stood up ¡ª and if Jimmy could see his knees in the first place, which he wouldn''t have been able to.


    The Man wore a flowing robe in a shade of ocean green worked with gold, and a wide brimmed, grey hat sat low on his forehead with a trunk that reached up, and curved back down a little behind him into a tip.


    And... he sat in the most ornate, plush armchair that Jimmy had ever seen. It was so ornate that it almost seemed like it should in fact have been called a throne.


    The bearded man called it an armchair. And he treated it like one too. His back and neck were propped up on one of the arms and his slippered feet were propped up on the other. And floating in front of the man''s bushy eyebrows were three rolls of parchment held open by... nothing, which he was scribbling furiously on and a tea cup which bobbed shallowly in the air off to his left in easy reaching distance but, notably, not easy knocking over distance.


    And none of this seemed at all out of the ordinary to The Boy.


    This was... how things were. Why shouldn''t parchments present themselves willingly to be scribbled in? Why shouldn''t tea cups wait patiently to be drunk? Why shouldn''t lounge chairs be so... ostentatious? Why shouldn''t beards reach all the way to knees and why in the world should hats so large ever, ever come off their owners heads?


    "Why, they shouldn''t, my boy, they are hats! Not gloves."


    "Ah!" The Boy smiled and nodded agreeably.


    "But they do grow rather heavy at times," The Man added, stroking his beard soberly. He pierced The Boy with glimmering eyes. "I expect you will find this too, my boy. Sometimes I wish...." But he just shook his head and continued scribbling on the floating parchments.


    "I''ll be grand," The Boy repeated into the silence that descended. "I''ll save hundreds... no thousands of errant souls."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "I expect you will, lad," The Man muttered into his beard as he wrote. "I expect you will. If only you''d been born in a younger time. A different Lad. A different boy ¡ª"


    He was drawing something now. His quill motions were too smooth and long to be letters, and it almost looked like he was drawing both above and through the page as well, though The Boy never saw the quill actually peirce the fabric.


    "What a W¡ª


    "It''s time."


    "¡ªd you would you be."


    The Boy jumped and glared as A Woman clad in all black with a steepled hat spoke from the open doorway.


    The Boy didn''t like this woman. Though he couldn''t really say why. The Woman stared back into his gaze unflinchingly and the Blackness behind her eyes made The Boy look away first.


    "Give it to him, Borengirdle. You quibble over nuance and recheck thrice checked work dozens have poured over."


    The Bearded man harrumphed. But he slowly got up from his <s>throne</s>Armchair, brushed off his robe, though it needed none, and solemnly carried the first parchment to The Boy.


    "Read it," He said.


    And the boy did. All of it. It took him hours, though The Boy couldn''t say how he knew that or why a single page of parchment took him so long. And afterwards The Boy also couldn''t say what exactly it was that he had read.


    "You have to agree."


    "I do."


    The Woman hmmed from the doorway and The Man nodded, his beard wagging by his knees. He handed The Boy the next parchment. And the next.


    After each one The Boy said. "I do."


    And then the man reached deep into his robe and pulled out a fourth and there was something Different about this one. More than all the others.


    "This is the gift I gift to thee." The Bearded Man muttered gravely, slowly passing this new parchment to The Boy. "Thrice spoken, fourth unbroken. I gathered thee to fight for me, an'' so thee shall and never flee. Take this contract if thee dare and use it wisely but without spare.


    The Boy gripped it in both hands. It was sealed, he saw, by wax and gold and something More. And the words carved into the gold burned under his gaze. They read ¡ª


    Servitors, I Art Thine Master


    And The Boy thought it was W¡ª


    <hr>


    Kaykes'' eyes blinked up at him sleepily. "Jimmy? Ah. Wha ¡ª" She started to sit up.


    Jimmy blinked down at her too. "Ahh. K-Kaykes? What are you doing in my bed?"


    "... What are you doing in my room? What are... Where...."


    They both looked around bewildered. Kaykes, from her bed, and Jimmy from where he was standing over her bed. And they saw... nothing.


    The walls were stripped bare. There were no posters. No constellations of stars and planets on the walls and ceiling and no books on... a bookshelf that also wasn''t there. It was all missing.


    The office chair that Kaykes usually sat in and passed judgement from was no where to be found and neither were all the little doodad and nicknacks that made her room hers. And they weren''t hers. Not ¡ª


    Jimmy eyed the closet''s open door, and even in the dim light streaming through the window, something about the closet seemed Empty to Jimmy.


    ¡ª anymore.


    "Jimmy." Kaykes'' voice was edged like a razor. "Did you take my stuff? Where. Are my things?" She jumped up. Her night clothes were rumpled, but her eyes blazed.


    "I..." Jimmy backed up. He shook his head hard. It was like he was waking up from some sort of deep sleep, or a daze. "I ¡ª your stuff. Ah, I didn''t ¡ª I..." He shook his head again. Harder this time. He felt his eyes twitching and his fists opened and closed uselessly by his side.


    ''Why can''t I talk? Why can''t I ¡ª'' But, of course, Jimmy knew why. He could feel them.


    All of Kaykes'' things. Her books, her homework, her backpack of notes, calculator, lint and notes people passed her in class. Her constellations and wall posters.


    Her clothes. Her desk. "K-keep your voice down," he muttered faintly. He could feel them. <s>Kaykes''</s>HIS things.


    "My ¡ª My voice?" Kaykes was advancing on him. Her fists balled. "My voice? Jimmy. GIVE. Me. BACK. My. Computer!"


    "I ¡ª I can''t. Thats not ¡ª"


    "If you say ''That''s not how this works.'' I''m going to kill you, you fucker. Make it ¡ª"


    "Your voice!" Jimmy begged desperately. "Please. You''ll wake up mom ¡ª"


    "I''ll wake up the whole damn neighborhood!" She grabbed him by his shirt. "Give it ba¡ª"


    He grabbed back at her desperately. Trying to cover her mouth. "Shh ¡ªSHH OW!"


    She bit him. Then started punching and kicking at him.


    "Jimmy! Give! Me! Back! M¡ª


    <hr>


    "Jimmy?" Kaykes'' voice was soft, but clearly audible in the stillness. So was the weight to her tone. Her eyes were narrowed and they tilted up at him skeptically. "What are you doing?"


    Jimmy blinked back at her, uncomprehending. His heart thudded. "I... ah... I''m sorry Kaykes''. I¡ª" Wait a minute.... This wasn''t Kaykes'' room....


    This was ¡ª Jimmy looked around. He was in the living room. Downstairs.


    He was wearing a jacket and his shoes were on and.... He licked his lips. "I¡ªis this the dream? or the last one?"


    He felt around in his pocket hurriedly. He couldn''t feel a super computer, he thought.


    "Does it feel like a dream?"


    "How... does a dream... usually feel?"


    "Ok. Well how about you dream yourself, in this dream, back to bed. Huh?"


    Jimmy shifted uncomfortably where he stood but didn''t move. "Do something you wouldn''t do in a dream." He hissed.


    Kaykes'' eyebrows rose. "Ok." And she reached behind her and pulled from somewhere a wooden baseball bat and hefted it. "How''s this?"


    Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. ''Ok. Definitely a dream''.


    And then she kicked him in the shins and it HURT.


    "OW!" Jimmy stifled a yelp and pranced back fo-cursing. "What the fudgsicle, Kaykes!"


    "Dream yourself back upstairs, Jimmy." His sister said levelly. And hefted the bat.


    Jimmy glared at her. "No!" He hissed back. "You can''t just attack me in m¡ª o¡ª mom and dads'' house!"


    "Try me."


    "I''ll just card the bat away from you! I''ll turn it into a fourth stick of bludgeoning! Get away from me!"


    "Do it." She dared.


    Jimmy glared at her.


    "You weren''t listening to me, were you Itch!" His sister''s mouth curled into a snarl. "You didn''t take me seriously."


    "I''m Jimmy ¡ª"


    "¡ª I told you I''d burn you out of him if ¡ª


    Jimmy groaned. "Not this again. I told you. It doesn''t work that way!"


    "Oh yea?" Kaykes eyes burned. "Then tell me, bro. What are you doing down here at twelve o''clock at night?"


    Jimmy froze.


    "Do you even know?"


    Jimmy... did know.


    His sister noticed. "See my brother is not a fucking idiot, Itch. He wouldn''t be stupid enough, to disappear in the dead of night after a stupid bike tha ¡ª"


    "It wasn''t!" Jimmy breathed. It wasn''t a stupid bike!" he hissed. "It. Was. MINE. And they took it." Jimmy''s fists clenched, and his fingers twisted in on themselves. One of them was in his pocket, he realized.


    Brick... For Brick Things


    He pulled it out of his pocket hurriedly but his voice was no less fierce. "It was a Stead of Steel and Grease. It ¡ª"


    "That even sounds stupid, bro!"


    Jimmy almost hit her.


    Kaykes noticed. "You aren''t right." She said. "It''s the Itch! It''s making you do this!"


    "No. Kaykes." Jimmy whispered. "This is me. And I''m tired. I''m so hungry. They took my steed. And it HURTS. They''re hunting me. And it HURTS. They ¡ª" He glared at her. "I''m getting my steed back." Jimmy growled. He spun to the door and ¡ª


    Kaykes bonked him on the head with the bat.


    It HURT.


    Jimmy almost screamed. He spun back around swiping at the ¡ª


    But Kaykes danced away, keeping the bat out of reach.


    Jimmy swiped again furious, and Kaykes kicked him in the shins.


    They did that again and again. Silently ¡ª so silently. But furiously.


    "I want my brother back." Kaykes hissed at him.


    "I am your brother! What happened to all that peachy carrots and human monologue you were spouting!"


    "What happened to compromising!" She hissed back. "You''ll be caught! Why is that a good thing?!"


    They eyed each other, both breathing heavily in the darkness of the living room.


    "Dude." Kaykes said. "They took your bike for a reason. They aren''t stupid. No normal kid would go after a dumb bike that someone stole!"


    "Neither would a Super!"


    "So what? They probably stole it to see what you''d do in the moment. But you know what? If it disappears in the dead of night, there''s only one person they''re suspecting! This. Is. Stupid."


    Jimmy snarled. Something was burning in his chest. It was searing across his bones. His.


    Kaykes noticed. "And what about me?" She said, spreading her arms. "What about Mom and Dad? And your friends? I''m your sister! Aren''t we yours too?"


    They were. Jimmy knew this. Though not the same way. The Itch knew this.


    "I can''t believe I''m saying this ¡ª what about Vicky?"


    Jimmy froze, and Kaykes, of course, noticed.


    She nodded with a complicated expression on her dimly lit face. "You go get your bike, you will never see her again."


    Jimmy spun away, snarling. There was the door. There. Was the door.


    "I can feel it, Kaykes." Jimmy whispered presently. He pointed at an angle through one of the walls. "It''s right. There. A little piece of Me." He said. "And they have it. I can''t not go. Maybe that makes me Virelze, Kaykes. Maybe it makes you all carrots. But if someone stole even your little finger, what would you not do to get it back?"


    "My f-finger? Quite a lot, dude. I''ve got the rest of my hand!"


    Jimmy grimaced. "Bad analogy."


    "You take one step to that door, and I''m knocking you out so hard you wont wake up for a week."


    Jimmy paused, one hand on the door handle. He hadn''t realized he''d reached for it. "Then do it." He said at last. "I''m getting my bike back." and he opened the door and stepped through.


    <hr>


    Jimmy expected a lot of things when he darted out.


    He expected to feel the hot flash of the bat hitting his head, and he didn''t.


    He expected to hear his sister raise her voice and call down their mother from upstairs. And didn''t hear it.


    Part of him wouldn''t have even been surprised if Rosette showed up, or the dragon from the news articles dropped out of the skys.


    They, of course didn''t.


    He expected something, but instead all he felt was the chill wind blowing past his cheek and all he heard was the noisy chirping of the crickets.


    This was dumb, he knew. Stupid. He knew that too. It made no real, normal sense. But, nothing had really made sense for months now.


    People couldn''t own things by turning them to cards, but he could. People didn''t starve if they didn''t steal, but he did. People could lie and curse and break promises, but he couldn''t. And people didn''t carry around A Little Bit Of Magic in their pockets... but Jimmy did.


    What was retrieving his bike next to all of that?


    Stupid. That didn''t change. But also right. In a way that only made sense if you looked at it in a wrong way.


    Nothing happened as Jimmy walked. Nothing until he got all the way to the end of the street and felt thin arms wrap around his waist in a hug.


    He felt his sister''s head bounce into his back and stay there. She was breathing heavily.


    "I love you, bro." She said. "You''re my brother. I don''t have another. I don''t want another."


    "If you go, I''ll lose you. You''ll get your bike back. I''m sure of it. But then they''ll come for you. They''ll come and take you away, and I''ll never see you another day."


    Jimmy heard her sniff into his back.


    "Do you know why? Because you''re a Super. And humans can''t hold Supers. Not in prison. Not anywhere. You''re too powerful. So they''ll disappear you. Just like Pink Mist. Just like Electra-Coil and Cromagna. Like Everfell and Elesium and all of those Supers no one ever heard from again."


    "If you go. You''ll get your bike back. But if you go. You''ll take my brother from me."


    And that... Jimmy did understand. And that, The Itch understood too.


    "It hurts, Kaykes."


    "I know. Please, come back."


    And he did. It took him a while. But in the end, Jimmy turned around, and walked back. Away from that thin line of ownership connecting him to his bike.


    And it ¡ª


    <hr>


    Jimmy awoke, gasping and with a hand clutched to his chest.


    It. HURT. In a fashion he could not articulate. In a place he couldn''t point to.


    It. HURT. More than anything else the boy could remember. And almost as much as he could bare.


    That thin line of ownership snapped like floss pulled tightly, and Jimmy threw up on the carpet and stayed very, very still for a long time.

 Girl Boss

    <h2>Aden Emsly</h2>


    <hr>


    [8:05 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Aden Emsly. I''m calling in that debt. Where is Buck Higly?


    [9:10 AM ¡ª (AE)] Who the fuck is this?!


    [9:10 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You know who.


    [9:20 AM ¡ª (AE)] ... I cant blieve Im saying this. Is this "girlboss"


    [9:20 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] With a space and correct capitalization preferred


    [12:20 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You are stalling and I care about this answer.


    [14:20 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Have you opened that fat college acceptance envelope yet? It came today.


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (AE)] Bitch. You are creepy. What do you want?


    [12:22 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I am interested in Buck Higly''s absence from school. Why has he been gone? What has he been up to?


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (AE)] why? its just a few days


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Not how this works. Tell me what I want to know now, or you will regret that you did not.


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (AE)] Ok. Fuck. Well. your out of luck. you think buck consults me about shit? How the hell should I know where bucks been?


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You are best buds. Eastwall Titans are close nit. You were texting Buck an hour ago.


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (AE)] you are fucking creepy. you fucking spying on me now? I can call the cops on this shit


    [13:47 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Last chance.


    [12:22 PM ¡ª (AE)] You never call in those dumb deals.


    [12:22 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Someone lied to you.


    [12:22 PM ¡ª (AE)] Listen GB. I''m not ratting on my friend.


    [12:23 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I advise you to reconsider. What I giveth I can taketh away.


    [12:23 PM ¡ª (AE)] go screw your self


    [12:23 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] ... such wasted loyalty.


    <h2>Victoria Montgomery</h2>


    <hr>


    [8:29 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Hello Victoria. What can you tell me about The Guy?


    [8:31 AM ¡ª (VM)] Who wants to know?


    [8:31 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Call me Girl Boss.


    [8:32 AM ¡ª (VM)] lol is this a joke? seriously. how did you get my number?


    [8:33 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I just sent you a list of references. Feel free to check my credibility.


    <h5>--- Five Minutes Later ---</h5>


    [8:38 AM ¡ª (VM)] I didn''t get anything


    [8:38 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I sent it to your email.


    [8:38 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Personal email.


    [9:00 AM ¡ª (VM)] Ok. That''s not shady in the slightest. You sure you don''t already know the guy?


    [9:03 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I don''t usually waste my time with things I already know.


    [9:03 AM ¡ª (VM)] Thats... not a no....


    [9:03 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] ...


    [9:05 AM ¡ª (VM)] thats a long list of references....


    [9:05 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I curated them for you. You are welcome.


    <h5>--- Next Day ---</h5>


    [7:00 AM ¡ª (VM)] ok. I talked to some of the folks on your list and they say youre the real deal.


    [7:00 AM ¡ª (VM)] So I have to ask


    [7:00 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You don''t have to ask


    [7:01 AM ¡ª (VM)] Why do you want to talk to the guy?


    [7:03 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I don''t. I want to know about the guy. I can pay well.


    [7:09 AM ¡ª (VM)] sorry girl boss. cant help ya. see ya!


    [7:12 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Tiffany is going to be really disappointed.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    <h5>--- 3 Hours Later ---</h5>


    [10:30 AM ¡ª (VM)] ok. Youre a fucking creep. what do you want to know about the guy?


    [10:43 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] A general description will suffice.


    [10:45 AM ¡ª (VM)] He''s disguised and it changes all the time. Happy?


    [10:45 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] No. I was hoping you would go deeper.


    [10:47 AM ¡ª (VM)] Listen Girl Boss. I dont know what youve got on Tiff, but I''m not talking about the guy. find someone else.


    [10:48 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] How does one grand up front sound?


    [10:48 AM ¡ª (VM)] Say what now??


    [10:49 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] And another two for speculation regarding his identity. Contingent on quality of course.


    [10:49 AM ¡ª (VM)] Huh...


    <h2>Minion 42</h2>


    <hr>


    [11:21 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Minion 42. This is Girl Boss.


    [11:43 PM ¡ª (M42)] GB! You changed your number again! What can I do for you?


    [11:44 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] This one suits me better.


    [11:44 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I''m planning an event. How do you feel about converting assets on the west-side hall. Third Floor.


    [11:45 PM ¡ª (M42)] Oooohhhh. A hit! Its been a while. I was worried you''d tucked those claws away.


    [11:45 PM ¡ª (M42)] The one with the lockers?


    [11:45 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] An event.... You shouldn''t call it that


    [11:46 PM ¡ª (M42)] I''ve got enough on this phone to burn for good if anyone checks


    [11:47 PM ¡ª (M42)] I can do it GB. But it aint gonna be cheep.


    [11:47 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] Do this and we are free and clear.


    [11:57 PM ¡ª (M42)] Nah. Not what I''m after. I want to go deep.


    [12:22 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] ... Deep?


    [6:03 AM ¡ª (M42)] In. I want in.


    [7:43 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You... want a promotion? You are already pretty high up.


    [7:45 AM ¡ª (M42)] 42 is high up?


    [7:45 AM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] I started at a super secret number to keep the hoi polloi guessing.


    [7:45 AM ¡ª (M42)] Uhuh...


    [7:46 AM ¡ª (M42)] I was thinking more of a rank that didn''t start with minion.


    <h5>--- 1 Day Later ---</h5>


    [12:01 PM ¡ª (555-475-2677)] You are right. That isn''t cheep. Tell you what. I''ve got a different job for you. Do it, and you''ll be deep, in and whatever other euphemisms you can think of. I know you''re good for it.


    <h2>Baby Boss</h2>


    <hr>


    <h5>--- Very Soon after ---</h5>


    "Wha ¡ª what are you do ¡ª "


    "Smile, Bitch you''re on camera!"


    Girl Boss slurped loudly from her ice and coke, and in her other ear she could Karmin Franks crunching her way through a popcorn bag.


    She could see her doing that crunching too through her computer screen.


    "Want me to step in Girl Boss? 105 looks like she''s flailing."


    "Stay the course Baby Boss." Girl Boss took another long slurp, stirred the ice around with her straw and then set it aside. "She did an Icarus. Fly too high and you get burnt."


    "No! STOP! Get that ¡ª"


    "¡ª AND I''m going to post this on line, your hear me?! You and your dumb as shit alias. You stay away ¡ª"


    "¡ª Not ¡ª Boss!"


    "¡ª my friends. AND you DAMN well stay away from The Guy!"


    Karmin had stopped crunching and Girl Boss could see her eying the camera on her computer screen furtively.


    Karmin had opted to wear a plastic mask of a Baby''s face to get in character, but her strawberry blond pigtails stuck out on either side just like they usually did and Girl Boss just knew that underneath that mask her lips were pursed around her blue braces.


    She couldn''t see Girl Boss, of course. Maybe that was unfair... But that was also the rub. There were perks for being at the top, and for all she trusted Baby Boss ¡ª who had until recently been Minion 42 ¡ª an identity was a precious thing to waste.


    "Damn... glad my wings were made of sterner stuff."


    "You weren''t threatening to talk to the feds."


    Crunch. Crunch.


    "So, what? This was a test? See if I would burn someone for you?


    "It was an indoctrination. It''s good to be Boss. But it comes with responsibilities that I need to know you can handle."


    Baby Boss''s glance was skeptical. "And now you know."


    "Now I suspect. I''m opening another op. You''re gonna run it. I figure you can base out of Computer Lab C, West Side."


    Baby Boss''s eyes lit up from behind the baby mask. "Fuck yea! Now we''re talking."


    "And I''ll need those assets pronto. For that event."


    "You mean the hit! We going with the usual, Girl Boss?"


    Girl Boss speared the newest boss with her iciest stare even as Baby Boss fist-pumped exuberantly. Then she realized that Baby Boss could''t actually see her, and that there were also cons to being at the top. She sighed and un-muted her mike.


    "No. I''ve got something special planned for this one."


    <h2>Boss Babe</h2>


    <hr>


    <h5>--- Five Months Later ---</h5>


    "Of all the University Bosses, in all of Northern United States, you came to me. To what do I owe the pleasure, Girl Boss?"


    His finger''s were steepled and his face wore an easy grin.


    Of course, Girl Boss wasn''t foolish enough to think that that was his actual face. They both wore local filters over their complexion to mask their appearances ¡ª they weren''t morons. Still, because they weren''t morons, Girl Boss also expected that he valued communication enough that he wasn''t using an emotion emulation package on his avatar.


    So it ticked her off.


    "Don''t make this something it isn''t, Boss Man. Cut the pleasantries. I''m sending an agent over."


    "I''m not accustomed to lying down while High School Bosses run ops on my turf. "


    "Yea, yea. It''s unavoidable. Her name is Boss Babe and she''s willing to play nice if you do."


    Girl Boss hit a few buttons and the sent-email sound whooshed a second later.


    "That''s her."


    Boss Man opened it on his phone and his eyebrow quirked elegantly. "Not our usual profile, Girl Boss." He tisked and showed her the image on his phone.


    It showed a strawberry blond wearing a sweat wicking T-shirt and an intense expression stringing boxing wraps over her hands. The gym she was standing in had a lot of hanging bags, and a lot of very muscular men and women beating the crap out of those bags.


    "Laugh it up, Boss Man. She''s ambitious."


    "Ambitious?"


    "Girl used to wear braces."


    "Now that is more the look ¡ª"


    "¡ª So now her teeth are straight."


    "¡ª Ah."


    "She had to do a bunch of running."


    "Do tell...."


    "So she learned Parkour."


    Boss Man''s eyes moved over what Girl Boss assumed was the profile she''d sent him. "She''s got a ''B'' on her record."


    "Physics isn''t her thing. But ask her for LAN access, and she''ll get you eyes on the entire third floor in a day."


    "A hacker?"


    "An anything with a computer."


    "And the Op?"


    Girl Boss told him.


    "That is... significantly outside our usual scope. Especially for a High School Boss."


    "I went to Boss Mama direct." Girl Boss''s grin was wolfish. "And we both know it''s not just a High School."


    "She does like the precocious ones." Boss Man sighed and put his phone down. "I look forward to meeting this... Boss Babe."


    "Good." Her phone vibrated and Girl Boss checked it. "Because she''s about to knock on your study room door."


    Before the connection cut, Girl Boss had the supreme pleasure of seeing that easy grin finally turn brittle.

 From Beyond

    <hr>


    She awoke with the sun and not a pesky alarm. Ah-ah. None of that nonsense. Not today. Just her and the sunlight. And the smell of earthy coffee.


    It was just barely wafting in through her open doorway. She''d bought a new coffee maker just last week which had that new automation feature where it measured your sleep rhythms through your phone and timed its function to coincide with your awakening. It took a few days to calibrate itself to your schedule, and there were a couple days there in the middle of the week when Amy just knew the thing had spun itself up in the middle of the night and then had to stay hot until dawn ¡ª the coffee had that taste ¡ª but today, it got it right.


    Right. On. Schedule.


    ''Today''s gonna be a good day,'' Amy thought, as she breathed in the dark roast and opened her eyes. ''A zen day. So zen. No day more zen''.


    And she smiled. Then she levered her covers off and stood up, stretching in both directions and then touching her toes on the way.


    "Zen Zone. Gotta stay in that Zen Zone." And Amy walked absently out of her room, down the short hall and to the bathroom.


    ... And then she darted back in because walking around her apartment naked ¡ª even when living alone ¡ª was awkward! But ¡ª


    "But Trish says, ''sleeping buff is the stuff''." Amy recited. "Sleep is good for the soul. And soulful is zenful... or... something like that. And today..."


    Amy huffed a sigh and pulled out her most comfortable, thick sweatpants, her blue, starry, long shirt which looked far too big for her but was soft and velvety on the inside and said My Favorite Muggle on the outside, and her absolutely fluffiest socks from her drawers.


    "Today is all about that zen. Gotta stay in that Zen Zone, Ames."


    "Zen Zone!" She sang out as she pulled on the clothes and took long, soulful moments pulling those fluffy, wool socks over her feet with her eyes rolling to the ceiling. "So much zen. No one more zen. Gotta stay in that" ¡ª she tapped a beat against her bed and bobbed her head ¡ª "Ze-eh-eh-eh-eh-en Zone!"


    And Amy danced out, rolling her hips and shaking her fist to the song in her head.


    "Zen Zone ¡ª Zen Zone. Gotta stay in that ¡ª" She pointed both fingers at no one in particular ¡ª seriously, there was no one here, and she would never, ever, not in a million years be doing this if there was!


    The very thought gave her anxiety, and she stomped her foot hard to get that out of her head ¡ª after making sure all the windows were closed ¡ª and then she added that to the rhythm! Foot stomp once. Twice. Five times!


    "Ze-eh-eh-eh-eh-en Zone!"


    And this morning was all about zen. Her Zen Zone. Her bastion of all things, calm and fluffy and radiant. No mirrors this morning. Those made her question herself.


    No radio. No TV and most definitely not her phone. Those were windows to the outside and th-things happened outside!


    Li-ike car crashes! A-and muggings. Sexual assau...


    "No! Th-think positive, Ames! Bunnies! Soooo fluffy. And Orchids! Live ones!"


    Legion was outside. And the Downtown Demons, who were supposed to be a purely Tennessee problem, but everyone knew they''d expanded by now. And Amy knew they weren''t actually outside outside, but the news happened outside and....


    Amy chuckled nervously and dodged away from all of these thoughts like she was oil, and they were a hot griddle.


    Those walls around her Zen Zone were solid as all h ¡ª solid as nobodies business! She told herself. Rock solid. Like diamond. Can''t get harder than diamond!


    Amy giggled nervously, and jumped up and down to the rhythm of Zen Zone several times to make up for it.


    Today was the day!


    The... day.... Amy looked around her meager excuse for a kitchen. And despite herself, and despite the day being the day, the corners of her lips drooped a little. There were dishes in the sink, and she''d left the yogurt out again.


    ''Ooooohhh!! It''s probably still good'', she thought and hurriedly put it back.


    There was a single plant that Amy sometimes remembered to water, and it showed. Yesterday''s coffee cup ¡ª her main coffee cup ¡ª was still out and coffee stained with crusted grounds at the bottom, and she''d left yesterday''s mail out on the kitchen table and some of them had windows on the front and looked official! And ¡ª and.... Amy had been zenning it up last night as well ¡ª zen nights led to zen mornings ¡ª and she''d forgotten!


    Her shoulders slumped. ''No! Gotta keep those zen walls up!'' Amy thought furiously, and forcefully lifted her shoulders back. "Today''s the day! Gotta be zen. Zen Ames!", She bobbed her head and stretched a smile on her face. "And all Zen Ames cares about now is coffee and soulful vibes and .... Yeah."


    The coffee got poured, and the steam wafted and that dead plant stopped mattering so much and the dishes in the sink faded into the background... those bills didn''t, but Amy knocked those aside with her wrist as if she didn''t see them when she sat down.


    She''d... pick them up later. Bills were stressful and Amy was super-duper, hyper determined not to be stressed in the slightest. Not today. Or... at least this morning.


    "Or is today a tea day?" She asked her cup absently. This was important. She sipped at it cautiously and considered it, bobbing her head in what she thought of as a zen fashion


    "Bleh! Why not both?" And so saying. And so smiling, and so so so zenning, Amy put the water back on, pulled out several chamomile tea bags ¡ª she liked her tea extra strong ¡ª and prepped them in a mostly clean cup. And then, to stay in exactly the right head-space, she threw out those moves one more time.


    "Zen Zen Zen Zen! Who''s zen? I''m Zen. Trish said to be zen. Ze-eh-eh-eh-eh-en" CLAP.


    She clapped her hands


    CLAP.


    She tapped her foot and rocked her hips and shook her fist and bobbed her head ¡ª very glad that she had remembered to put clothes on for this, because even though she lived alone and all the windows were closed, this would have been super awkward ¡ª all the way until the water boiled again and then a few minutes longer so that the tea could steep.


    Then she sat down at the single chair by the kitchen table. And breathed in the scents of both her coffee and her tea.


    It was a little disappointing. The strong smell of coffee overpowered the subtler tea ¡ª she hadn''t even thought about that. But it was ok, she decided, inhaling deeply again. And she allowed the coffee smell to fill her soul with vitality and tranquility.


    Coffee smells were zenning all by themselves, and the tea would be zenning when she sipped it and that was what was important.


    That was the theme this morning, if you couldn''t tell. Zen. And as Amy sat at the table in her lonely kitchen with her dying plant and cluttered sink ¡ª and no bills anywhere in sight ¡ª and sipping at both cups one after another and rolled her shoulders, Amy thought that she was managing it.


    So presently Amy exhaled. She reached out with her mind in a fashion she did not understand. Sipped her chamomile through barely trembling lips. Whispered "Zen Zone" one more time. And ¡ª


    Beckoned.


    ...


    And then she screamed.


    <hr>


    "¡ª Its not working Trish! Trish! It''s not.... Not.... None of this is working! I was calm. I had tea. I was in my zen zone" ¡ª she was hyperventilating, she knew. Not zen. Not ¡ª "AND NONE OF ITS WORKING! Please call. Please ¡ª"


    Amy sobbed and hung up, sinking back against the cabinets underneath the kitchen sink.


    "It''s not..." She whispered through fat tears. "Not working".


    She looked up through the moisture at them. They hung there. Innocent. And breathtaking. Until you got a good look at them.


    Beauty. And Madness. Like caught Magic in space. Like fire frozen in form and burning in colors that weren''t colors, but which felt like they should have been called names like Wonder and Glory and More and Other and Elsewhere.


    Five of them. Five shapes. Five Cards. Beautiful.


    Magic. Because they couldn''t be anything else.


    Amy looked at them with tears in her eyes the same way she did every morning. Each time she saw them anew even as she saw them again.


    She saw the geometry stretching across each one in black lines. The lines were so straight and the curves so precise, they looked like they''d been drawn against the edge of a scalpel.


    She saw the symbols etched along those lines and the script that she couldn''t read no matter what dictionary she compared the letters to. The script and the symbols ran along the those lines and often, Amy knew, they ran above and below them as well ¡ª even though that was impossible ¡ª and twisted about them, like they''d been written deeper somehow.


    This made sense. Because whenever Amy''s gaze passed over them, they fell into them, beyond those lines, and beyond the four edges of those cards. She didn''t know how far. Just Beyond.


    And in that forever distance, Amy saw ¡ª


    Elder Leviathan of Fallen ThingsStolen story; please report.


    From the depths he rose and in his eyes lay death. From his maw dripped terror and claws, despair. The tide fled, and the moon dimmed for Leviathan rose and with his step fell nations


    Amy choked and hiccuped. And her eyes skittered away, in the wrong direction though ¡ª the cards pulled at her ¡ª and fell into the next one.


    Specter of Emphallion


    The whisper from a forgotten realm, he carried the weight of one billion, billion souls. Reality fell cold and brittle at his passing and Emphallion was no more.


    And... and they were all like that! The next was Void Herald of the Abyss which looked like smoke and shadow so black it tore the color from her eyes. And after that the Emissary Of Carnage which looked merely like a man, but there was something wrong with his grin and he carried a scythe with a blade of red blood, and the words which accompanied this one rang with so much juxtaposed horror that her heart skipped several beats in succession.


    And the card she drew today...


    Emberlain''s Phoenix


    What pact made Emberlain in his folly? For the Phoenix called none her master. She descended in burning glory and her wingtips brushed both horizons. Wonder at Emberlain''s Phoenix and despair for the sky burned at her passing and all fell to ash in her wake.


    "Wha ¡ª Wh¡ª WHY?!" she wailed into the silence of her kitchen. What am I supposed to do with you all?" Amy whimpered and covered her eyes with her hands.


    "Why couldn''t one of you ¡ª just one ¡ª be a ¡ª a bunny?" She hiccuped. "Or. Or. Or a Schnauzer. Or... or.... Something normal, like a ¡ª Unicorn? Even an evil one would be fine!" She hiccuped again and wrapped her arms around her knees, and stayed there for a long time.


    Amy. Was not. Zen. How could she be? She drew a monster every morning and discarded one every night, and each one could end cities if she let it out.


    It was like she carried five nukes in her pocket. And any one of them could go off with but a single evil thought.


    Amy shakily pulled herself up, and pushed away her cards, dismissing them. She had to push. They didn''t want to go. They wanted to be used. But Amy firmed her lips and glared at them wetly, and one by one, they winked out in little blazes of magic, and she felt them slot themselves into place somewhere in her mind, as present as always and ready to be summoned to her hand at a whim.


    Five nukes in the palm of her hand. Five. With a fresh one on the way every day.


    Sometimes she woke up, and she was holding one clenched in her fist. Sometimes she caught herself whimsically thinking about one of the cards at work or idly wondering at the magic she saw in their depths. Sometime...


    Amy sighed. And gingerly started cleaning up the coffee that had spilled when she''d leapt from the table.


    She had to be ginger about it, because the mug had shattered when it hit the floor and there were ceramic shards mixed in with the spilled coffee and littering the kitchen. And all the tattered remains of her Zen Zone needed, was for her to be stabbed in the soles of one of her fluffy-socked feet as she pattered around without care.


    ''Emberlain''s Phoenix'', Amy thought dismally as she swept. What''s next? She didn''t want to think about it.


    ''Please. Be small.'' She begged the cards. ''I ¡ª I don''t care if you have to be a monster. Just ¡ª be a small monster. A ¡ª a car sized monster would be perfect! Just one.''


    Amy leaned against the wall of her kitchen, broom in one and her eyes squeezed shut.


    ''I know you can do it,'' Amy thought at the cards. And they burned merrily at her in her mind.


    Amy was not zen. And when Trish called, Amy snatched up her phone so fast she had to juggle it for several seconds before she could grasp it. She answered with a cry.


    "Trish? Trish. It happened again, Trish. What? Yes. Now. I need to see you. Please. Please, Trish! Yes? Ok. I''m coming!"


    And she hung up and ran out of the kitchen. But not before carefully knocking over her chair on her way out.


    It didn''t help.


    Gotta be zen. She thought desperately. Gotta... got to be zen. Zen Zone.


    Amy was not zen.


    <hr>


    And neither was Trish when she saw her. Though, at least Trish tried to put a good face on it.


    Trish gave her a good hug ¡ª if a bit hesitant ¡ª and a tissue to wipe her eyes with ¡ª they''d been leaking on the way over and sat her down with another cup of tea.


    "So it... didn''t work?" Trish asked presently, after waiting what neither of them thought of as an appropriate length of time.


    Amy shook her head despondently and then they both lapsed into silence for a far more appropriate length of time.


    When Amy had first woken up with a burning need to Beckon something and no idea how, or why, or what in heavens was going on... she did the responsible thing. Namely, find the best therapist she could find and specifically one who didn''t hang up the moment they came to even the suggestion that she might be a Super.


    And so she met Trish. And she had liked Trish instantly because Trish had more than three stars in all the places that mattered. Had a big office, with dozens of little knickknacks and banzai trees ¡ª some of which were fake ¡ª and coloring books with crayons, and plenty of full tissue boxes for when crying her eyes out really was the best answer.


    Three months later, Amy was less sure Trish was the best, but now she was committed and gosh darn it, at least Trish tried!


    So, when Trish said in her professionally soft voice. "There now, dear. You''ve had a good cry now. Why don''t you tell me what happened." Amy sniffed one more time, and did.


    " ¡ª And... and then It appeared. I did everything! I was calm. I dreamed of little, fluffy bunnies with floppy ears. And..." She couldn''t finish. She''d started sobbing again midway through the retelling.


    "Well ¡ª Well" Trish said, as she stared up at the card Amy had waved up into the air for Trish to inspect with slightly wider eyes than she usually wore. "I-it''s not all bad dear. It''s an improvement! Better than that man right?"


    Neither of them liked the man. That grin...


    "And ¡ª and it''s got feathers. It''s majestic! So you must have been doing something right. Right?"


    "It''s wings touch both horizons, Trish! And I don''t even like birds!" Amy snarled tearfully. And then felt instantly bad as Trish''s face fell. So she bobbed her head after a moment in what was at least half-hearted agreement. "Maybe not all bad." She sniffed. And pushed the card away.


    They both relaxed visibly when it disappeared, and Trish got up hurriedly and went to put on another pot of tea.


    She looked a bit more composed when she came back with two full mugs.


    "Well it''s a bit earlier than I expected to see you again, dear. But why don''t we go through our routine, shall we? Tell... tell me how you''ve been doing. Has anything new happened in your life?"


    Amy shrugged and hummed noncommittally. "Work''s been good, I guess."


    Trish hummed.


    "My sales are down again, but everyone likes me, I think. A nice old lady said I was sweet the other day, and bought two phones and a tablet from me! So that was good!" Amy''s face fell. "But then she returned them all except for the one phone at a different location, and my boss will see if she remembers to look."


    "That happens, dear. I''m sure she''ll be understanding."


    Amy bobbed her head again. "And... and I guess I had another one of those dreams. I think."


    Trish stilled mid-sip, and then jumped as she scalded herself. "Another one?"


    Amy nodded and Trish licked her lips.


    "The... the altar again?"


    Amy shrugged.


    "And the funny looking men with the hats?"


    Amy shrugged again and nodded. "There were more of them this time, and they kept trying to give me something, but I can''t remember what! I... Do you think they did this to me?"


    Trish shrugged herself, this time helplessly and took a long pull from her mug which was impressive because Amy''s own mug still felt too hot to drink. "I don''t know, dear. It''s not like they cover pow ¡ª Sup ¡ª ah conditions quite as special as this in uni, you know? At least, not when I was in. But... beards don''t usually grow as long as you are describing, you know?"


    Amy did know.


    "Maybe..." Trish continued looking a bit weak. "Maybe it''s time...." Trish petered off looking a little sick, and then finished in a rush. "Maybe it''s time we had you talk to someone more specialized than me dear. Have you considered going to the police?"


    Amy jumped up. "The police?! No! I can''t go to the police! They''ll..." What would they do? Amy felt here heart beating quickly in her chest.


    "Or someone in the government!" Trish tried again quickly. "Just... someone else who might be able to help y¡ª"


    "You don''t want to see me anymore?" Her voice was shrill.


    "No. No, I ¡ª"


    "I need you, Trish. You''re the only one who understands! It''s helping I promise it''s helping! See?" Amy pulled out Emberlain''s Phoenix again and they both stared at it weakly before Amy stashed it back away hurriedly. "It''s got feathers. That''s better! You said that was better!"


    "I ¡ª"


    "Please, Trish, I ¡ª I''ll pay more. Double!" Double?! How was she going to pay for double? "Please Trish," Amy begged.


    Trish licked her lips and then her shoulders slumped, and she downed the rest of her tea.


    "But dear, I don''t even know how I can help you. This is far out of my expertise. And I ¡ª"


    "No. You''re the best, Trish. I like you. Please, please don''t send me away."


    "Of course I''m not going to send you away. It''s just. What are we going to do? I ¡ª how much time do you have left?"


    Amy looked tortured.


    "Months?"


    Amy shrugged.


    "Days?"


    Amy shook her head, then shrugged again. "I don''t know." Amy said miserably. "I ¡ª I''ll go to the Rage Room again. Tons of things there I can break. And... and put out of order. That helps!"


    "And the... the killing things?"


    Amy went white. For her part, Trish didn''t look much better herself. "I... I will. If I have to. Amy said at last. "The poor things."


    Neither of them said anything for a while after that, and eventually Trish went and refilled her cup, and Amy definitely saw her add several dashes of something to her cup that most definitely was not tea.


    Breaking things. Killing things. Putting them out of order. There were costs to the cards, Amy had found out. Costs to pulling early, or disposing late. Costs to not pulling at all... and... Amy was absolutely certain there were costs to not using them too. And those costs were piling up fast.


    At, first, just breaking things helped. That was easy, and Amy had happily bought a whole carton of those old lead pencils no one actually used anymore but which you could still find for very cheap, and broken every single one of them in two.


    That had stopped working soon after, so Trish had suggested a Rage Room. It was a seedy little place, and the corpulent man behind the counter had definitely been eyeing her as he swiped her credit card, but he''d led her to a padded room filled with old computers and TV''s and furniture and old junk, passed her a face-mask and a wooden bat, then closed the door behind her while she went ham on everything.


    That had also helped! Aannndddd also stopped helping.


    But then she''d accidentally run over a rabbit one morning on the road.... And that had really helped. Her mind was clear for weeks afterwards. Weeks!


    "I''ll go to Pet''s R Us." Amy said quietly, bobbing her head. "Buy some feeder mice, or... or something."


    Trish looked sick.


    What Amy did not tell Trish, is that she''d already done this about a month or so ago. She... didn''t like thinking about it. The little rats she''d picked up had looked so soft and cute, with their little paws and beady eyes and whiskers.... She''d let these ones go. But the next morning she''d been in a daze with the cards burning in her eyes and refusing to go away, and so she''d stuffed them into her pocket, and rushed back to the store to pick up another set.


    Then she''d wrapped them in a black plastic bag and whacked it against the floor hard until the squeaking stopped and the bag stopped moving and all the while bawling and screaming and telling them she was sorry. So sorry.


    Then she''d gone and found Trish, and was inconsolable, but had not told her what she''d done.


    "And then what, dear?" Trish asked. "You''ll eventually have to ¡ª" She dropped her voice to a whisper. "To use your p-pow-er."


    "I just. Need to wait for a small one." Amy stressed quietly. I need to Beckon a small one. And then I can let it out ¡ª somewhere far ¡ª far away. And... and see what happens."


    "And if you don''t get a small one? Which one will... you pick?"


    Amy sniffed and looked at her hands helplessly. "I... m ¡ª"


    "Not the man!"


    "No." They were both in firm agreement about the Emissary of Carnage. I... maybe the Leviathan?" She asked weakly? "In... like a desert somewhere."


    They were both quiet after that, until Amy''s time was up, and she left with promises that she wasn''t going to let anything out tomorrow ¡ª and definitely not without talking to Trish first ¡ª and promises from Trish that she wasn''t going to stop seeing Amy.


    <hr>


    That night, as the moon rose, Amy dismissed the Emissary of Carnage and his grin was the last things to disappear as his card burned and flickered away.


    It was Knowing, Amy realized, as he burned away. His grin was for her, across time and space. Beyond. He knew her. And smiled at her. And burned away grasping a Something that only looked like a scythe.


    The next morning Amy woke with the sun. That earthy aroma of her coffee was filtering into her room and outside her window, she could hear the birds chirping and dogs making happy dog sounds to one another.


    But this morning Amy was not smiling. She lay in her bed for a long time and when she finally pattered down to her kitchen table her coffee tasted burnt and her plant had very obviously died now.


    She sat there and stared at the kitchen sink and said Zen Zone half-heartedly a couple of times.


    "Please," She said at last to nothing in particular. "Please. I''m begging you. I''ll go to church. Or to synagogue... or anywhere you want me to. I''ll pray every day. But please. Just once. Give me something small today."


    ''I know you can do it,'' She thought.


    And she Beckoned.

 2.1 Vicky

    It rained. Which seemed appropriate. It also thundered which also seemed appropriate though for separate reasons. And Vicky Montgomery asked the boy shivering on his carpet next to the foamy scum of sick ¡ª


    [5:43 AM ¡ª (VM)] ''Yo Guy! What do you think of this Rosette chick?''


    And The Boy responded.


    [5:44 AM ¡ª (TG)] ''Fire an'' light an'' all that is bright. Wonder an'' Magic an'' beautiful might''


    And... that was it. That brilliant flare in Jimmy''s life where he dated Vicky Montgomery, cheer captain and the most beautiful girl in four grades, ended with a whimper.


    "Oh nonononon ¡ª" Jimmy stared in horror at the indelible green text on his screen and wanted to vomit all over again. "NONONONO. Itch. What did you do? Itch!"


    The Itch didn''t respond.


    Jimmy reread what he''d written. And then again. He started to write ¡ª


    [5:57 AM ¡ª (TG)] <s>That came out wrong. I</s>


    But then he deleted it, fo-swearing. He tried again.


    [5:57 AM ¡ª (TG)] <s>What I meant was that</s>


    And then he wondered if Vicky was watching the screen and the awkward text-editing icon blinking under his name. He erased it hurriedly.


    "Fudge. FUDGE!" He thumped his head back against the wall ¡ª which hurt more than it should have ¡ª and squeezed his eyes shut.


    Gingerly, he Felt somewhere deep within him. There was a looseness there now. Something that just yesterday had been as firm as tough leather and that he''d never known to feel before. A gap. A loose thread just dangling there.


    And right next to it, there was another one. It was tenuous. A little fuzzy at the edges in a sea of threads that were somehow more Solid than solid. But at least it was taut. Like piano wire. And its name was ¡ª


    "Vicky," Jimmy breathed. He even whimpered a bit. "C''mon, Vicky. Text me back. I didn''t mean tha...."


    He had meant that. Just... not the way it came out! Rosette was Fire and Light. She was Magic so Bright. But that didn''t mean he had to say it to another girl!


    Jimmy looked at the clock on his bedside table and groaned as [6:07 AM] blinked cheerfully back at him. Vicky still didn''t text him back.


    Jimmy hammered out another text and tried not to look at it closely. ''As if that''ll change anything!''


    [6:08 AM ¡ª (TG)] I didn''t mean it like that. I think Rosette is cool


    ''Smiley? No Smiley? Will she think I ¡ª''


    Jimmy added the smiley. Hit send, and then threw the phone across the room as hard as he could ¡ª but not before flipping it to a card as it brushed the tips of his fingers. He wasn''t a moron! Just an ever-fudging dipsticking excuse for a ¡ª


    "Fuuuuuudddddgggggeeee," Jimmy felt at that thread again. Yup. Still taut. Right next to that dangling looseness which had HURT so much.


    Jimmy didn''t think he could describe what he''d gone through even if he was knowledgeable in ten languages. It was just too much. Too earthshakingly More.


    When Jimmy went to break rules, go back on a promise like he''d tried to at Buck''s house, tried too hard to swear (in the modern sense), or give back something he''d reappropriated. He''d feel something, almost like a muscle pulling. Or, like he was slowly bending his elbow over the edge of a table the wrong way.


    Big. Horrifying when you try. But... Not like that. Not something that even hinted that that was on the other side.


    ''I can''t ever go through that again. I can''t. I ¡ª''


    ''Please don''t go.'' Jimmy thought, squeezing his eyes shut. ''I don''t think I could take that again.'' Vicky would be so much MORE than a Stead of ¡ª


    And on a completely different wavelength Jimmy also thought, ''C''mon, Vicky. You''re so cool. And pretty. And you liked my power AND you were interested in Bayes AND....''


    Jimmy really wanted Vicky to text back. ''So lame'', Jimmy thought. ''One date and I already care this ¡ª fudge''


    He summoned the card back impulsively. It spun back to him in a whirl of auburn and blue, and he un-carded it swiftly and checked.


    Nope. Still nothing.


    "Fudge." He re-carded it back. Then. "I''m a loser". Then. "Okay. Okay."


    Jimmy breathed and took stock of himself.


    His skin was clammy, was what he noticed first. His shirt stuck to his skin and he was pretty certain that if he turned on the light, he''d find that despite having a target the size of his floor, he''d still missed and tagged himself as well.


    His hands trembled as if he hadn''t eaten ¡ª for obvious reasons ¡ª and that loose thread, that missing card... was loose, and it dangled helplessly among all the other threads spinning out into the ether deep inside of him.


    Threads.


    Cards.


    A missing tooth where just a day ago there''d been a wide gleaming smile.


    Pieces of HIM. And one was gone.


    That little, dangling thread hurt numbly ¡ª so pale in comparison to what it had been ¡ª and it made Jimmy want to burst into tears just contemplating it.


    So he didn''t.


    He got up, trembling, even as he heard John Hannon start up downstairs and brushed the wet part of his carpet gingerly.


    Slowly, he spread that thin ¡ª so thin ¡ª membrane of his power across its surface.


    Slow. Part of Jimmy was gibbering that if he went too fast, It would happen again. So, he went slow and deliberately. ''Even though it''s meant to be snap'', he thought. A flip of reality. ''Feeeeeel it happening. Make sure there aren''t any'' ¡ª His power hiccuped as he shivered hard ¡ª ''tears''.


    ''Each carpet-fiber is an edge. Feel the borders. And the surface tension above.'' It felt so vast compared to the thinness that he spread over it. A border vast as eternity... but as limited as a puddle. Aaaaaand ¡ª SNAP.


    Jimmy felt it flip. Just like it always did. Smooth and natural. Like the twitch of his eye and as effortless as the drumming of his toes on the carpet.


    "I''m fine. Oh, Fudge, I''m ¡ª" Jimmy blinked at the crisp new card between his fingers.


    Puddle Of Death''s Touch


    Aaaannnndddd it looked like it too.


    The card was watery green with faded black creeping in from the edges and hair thin slices of red, like paper-cuts, dashed across. Somehow that red was tactile, and seemed to encompass the full agonizing experience of a slow slice across skin bathed in fresh lemon juice ¡ª and that wasn''t even a color! The symbols were jagged and looked like they were embedded in the card rather than adorning it.


    Jimmy felt sick just touching it and pocketed it quickly. He would have left it under his mattress, but something about that notion left him feeling off too.


    His Death''s Touch. His ¡ª Jimmy felt his diaphragm heave. ''Don''t leave your death lying around, Jimmy'', he thought. ''Don''t ¡ª''


    "Okay! No more thinking. No more thinking no more ¡ª" Jimmy pressed his fingers into the sides of his head until the pressure started to hurt. "No. More..."


    ''Shower. Become a person again.'' Jimmy dashed out so he could get to the shower before Kaykes did. He didn''t think he was up for explaining any of this.


    He was back a second later to throw open the window to let the breeze waft away the aroma of Deaths Touch. Then he left for real.


    He wanted to explain all of this to his mother even less than he did to his sister.


    <hr>


    "You look like death." His sister greeted him with her patented morning gaze as he stepped out.


    It was a work of art. A slow, unblinking stare which detailed in no uncertain terms that you were wanting, your actions were wanting, and somehow you had woken up with a marked deficit in your goodwill bucket.


    Jimmy met it with a dull stare of his own. "I feel like d ¡ª" He bit his tongue hurriedly and watched his sister''s eyebrow arch as she noticed. Then arch some more as she noticed him notice....


    Jimmy wiped at his face. "Thank you." He finally bit out. "For last night."


    "You are welcome. What happened last night?" Kaykes yawned. "Also you''re blocking the door, and it''s depleting my lingering sense of affection.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "Never mind." Jimmy could smell the coffee downstairs and even John Hannon''s commentary on Rosette''s Battle for Borderland ¡ª that''s what they were calling it. The complex she''d effectively destroyed had been called Borderland Apartments ¡ª could not staunch his existential need for it right now.


    "Hey!" Kaykes grabbed the back of his shirt as he went to step past. She yawned again, and looked even grumpier than before. "Hold up. Dude. That''s not a turtleneck. I know you''ve got at least one more."


    "They''re barely visible."


    "They''re barely damning."


    "Oh. Come on!"


    "Barely is still quite a lot! Don''t be dumb, Jimmy. Be glad it''s still winter."


    Jimmy twisted his lips and made to stalk back to his room, but his sister caught his shirt again.


    Now he was getting grumpy. He wondered whether his gaze was picturesc as his sister''s. Probably not. She practiced hers.


    "Oh. And. Ah..." she looked around dramatically. "You haven''t... ah... seen my new wallet, have you? I think I left it somewhere. Must have had a grand or something in it...."


    Jimmy blinked at her, nonplussed.


    ...


    "What''s the matter with you?" She hissed after a moment. She squinted up at him. "Are you broken this morning? You didn''t do something dumb while I was asleep, right?"


    Jimmy didn''t say anything.


    "Still hungry?"


    "Famished." He growled.


    They stared at each other. Then Kaykes brushed passed him with a scowl and a flick of her dark locks and stalked into the bathroom for her own shower.


    And Jimmy walked back into his room ¡ª it still smelled like death ¡ª changed, and then finally downstairs.


    Breaking News! The Fourth Marine Expeditionary Force, redirected to the Red Sea as part of Operation Ardent Fang, has for the first time engaged the Sudanese Warlord''s forces. Coalition partners from the United Kingdom and Germany have joined the U.S. in the operation, providing aerial and logistical sup...


    Jimmy had noticed Kaykes'' wallet in the bathroom. It had had far more money than he would have expected in it as well....


    It just hadn''t felt like anything to him. Just... just some loose bills in a case of shiny plastic. Nothing to see here. Nothing to take.


    Jimmy flickered The Guy''s Phone For Illicit Dealings into existence again, and checked it, his heart pounding disproportionately in his chest.


    Still nothing.


    His last text ¡ª


    [6:08 AM ¡ª (TG)] ''I didnt mean it like that. I think Rosette is cool :)''


    directly below ¡ª


    [5:44 AM ¡ª (TG)] ''Fire an'' light an'' all that is bright. Wonder an'' Magic an'' beautiful might''


    Somehow looked even more awkward and desperate than it did before.


    "Dipsticker." He muttered. "Fudging Di ¡ª".


    Jimmy carded it back hurriedly because looking at it was making him cringe and walked into the kitchen to give his mother a good morning hug and accept the mug of coffee she offered in return.


    Then Jimmy staunchly ignored her tilted-head look of concern as he hunched over by himself at the counter and tried to nurse his battered Something back to health with caffeine.


    And the boy tried very hard not to think about how it would feel if Vicky never texted back at all.


    ...ly military reports confirm that the initial engagement involved coordinated airstrikes from coalition aircraft, as well as ground force deployment via amphibious assault vehicles and marks the first major international operation where superhuman threats are being addressed on such a scale.


    <hr>


    Their mother drove them to school. One, because the rain was still pouring down as if it was trying to fill up the valley with water and making it patently dangerous for Kaykes to bike, and two, because Jimmy officially no longer had a bike ¡ª ''fudge,'' Jimmy rubbed at his eyes ¡ª despite having exactly five others sitting safely in his pocket in card-space.


    Every once in a while Jimmy caught his mother peering back at him through the rearview mirror looking concerned.


    Kaykes was too, though her concern manifested in blank looks, sideways glances and sharp elbows to his ribs when she thought their mother wasn''t looking. She also texted him ¡ª on Jimmy''s phone, not The Guys.


    [7:20 AM ¡ª (KW)] ''What Happened???''


    And then scowled at him pointedly until he checked his phone. When he didn''t respond, her dark eyes lit up with such indignation that Jimmy felt his mouth quirk despite himself, and he rolled his eyes gesturing subtly with his hand that he''d tell her later.


    Kaykes subsided moodily.


    "You two done having your silent conversation back there?"


    Their mother didn''t. She was peering back through the rearview again with concern in her dark eyes which looked almost exactly like an older version of Kaykes'' own.


    "Is it that girl again? What was her name? Victoria?"


    "Nnnnnn ¡ª" Jimmy''s tongue tied itself into a knot rather than complete that answer. ''Did that hurt more than it did before?''.


    He tried again.


    "It''s noth ¡ª" That didn''t come out any easier.


    His mother slapped the steering wheel glaring and spun it with enough vigor that it threw a deluge of water into the car window next to them.


    "Mmmkay. Listen, babe. This girl doesn''t know what she''s got. Don''t get so bent out of shape about her. She''s not worth it and there are plenty oth¡ª"


    Kaykes snorted. "She''s got nice hair, boobs, and legs to die for, Jimmy, but only by fools." Kaykes cracked her knuckles while their mother looked back hazardously.


    "¡ª Exactly!" Their mother''s look was approving if not precisely about Kaykes'' word choice.


    "¡ª ay the word, bro, and I''ll academically end her." Crick-ety Crack went Kaykes'' knuckles.


    "I''m not putting out a hit on Vicky because she didn''t text me back!" Jimmy hissed at his sister as her eyebrows rose to her hairline.


    He reddened as his own words reached his ears and he glared hotly at Kaykes. He shared some of it with his mother too as he saw her hiding her mouth.


    "What does that mean anyway? ''Academically end her''" Jimmy threw some air-quotes.


    Kaykes ignored him, smirking. "That''s what all this is? Girl was probably doing her makeup."


    "She doesn''t wear any."


    Kaykes gave him a pitying look.


    "What was the last thing you sent her?" Their mother asked helpfully.


    "Nothing!" This was not technically a lie, Jimmy insisted to the Itch emphatically. Jimmy had sent Vicky exactly nothing since his last text. He squirmed under his mother''s quirked eyebrow.


    "It was awkward. I''m not saying."


    Kaykes rolled her eyes and snorted.


    "It probably wasn''t that bad, Babe." Their mother was definitely fighting a grin now. "Give it some time, call her up, and sort it out. Honestly dear, confidence tends to be its own lubricant ¡ª Oh don''t be crass, babe! You''re too young!"


    Kaykes was snickering from beside Jimmy and his face was turning red. Their mother speared Kaykes with a glance and rolled her eyes at Jimmy. "All I''m saying is that you both enjoyed yourselves yesterday. Let her know. And let her know that you didn''t mean... oh my, what have we here?


    Mom pulled into the parking lot entrance and had to break suddenly to avoid running into the line of cars piling up in front of the school.


    A soldier was walking up holding an umbrella, already motioning for their mother to roll down her window.


    He wasn''t really a soldier, Jimmy knew. But he also didn''t know what else to call him. He was wearing fatigues under his windbreaker ¡ª those digital grey patterned ones that made Jimmy think urban and the rifle he carried would never be passed out to security guards.


    It was big, with a muzzle break the size of two of Jimmy''s hands and components bolted on that could have come straight out of The Go Team which was an action flick with vanishing to no substance but a whole lot of anti-Super gun violence.


    "Pretty sure that''s a breach-fed fl¨¦chette launcher, Jim." Kaykes muttered, looking grim. She eyed the thick, second module running underneath the barrel speculatively.


    The soldier said something to their mother which Jimmy couldn''t hear through the rain, and then she was rummaging around in her purse. She didn''t find what she was looking for and looked surprised. They exchanged a few more words and then the soldier was waving them both out of the car.


    "He wants you two to get out here, babes. A new security measure."


    The soldier held up a camera as they opened the door.


    "One at a time. Repeat after me. I, your name, Do not intend physical harm to any member of Eastwall High School, or its staff, or stationed personnel."


    He made a hurry-it-up gesture as Kaykes blinked at him. She repeated it slowly, and then Jimmy went, his heart pounding in his chest ¡ª anything that ended in launcher sounded grossly disproportional to Jimmy ¡ª but the follow-up questions his brain kept imagining never materialized, and the soldier waved them out looking satisfied.


    "Line up with your schoolmates over there," he motioned to the awning by the entrance to the school proper and moved on to the car which had stopped just behind his mother''s.


    Jimmy''s mother insisted on kissing them both goodbye ¡ª something that Jimmy suffered quickly, hoping no one was watching ¡ª gave him a stern look and then a wink ¡ª "Be brave, boy" ¡ª and then, both he and Kaykes were running with their backpacks through the rain.


    "Really? Mom''s wallet?" Kaykes hissed at him. "Mom''s?"


    "Yours tasted like stale pasta."


    "You''re on a deserted island, and you''re quibbling about taste?!"


    "It had the nutritional content of cotton candy, Kaykes, with none of the sugar. Do I need more analogies?"


    "Fuck!" then.... "Did it help?"


    Their mother''s wallet. Jimmy shook his head. But his head was going a mile a minute and not in the same direction that Kaykes'' was.


    "What the beard-barnacle was that?" Jimmy hissed. He wiped rain from his face as they ran. "I thought you said the Bulwark Act stopped short of AI cold reads!"


    Jimmy saw Kaykes mouth the words ''beard barnacle'' slowly.


    She didn''t say anything until they''d almost reached the throng of students, and then she eyed a pair of freshly installed cameras pointedly.


    "That" Kaykes recited, "Was a prime example of AI Driven Truth Detection which is allowed. He is from a sharp team. Something''s changed. Bet it''s your new idol."


    Jimmy eyed her and she rolled her eyes. "S.H.R.P, Jim. Super Human Response Personnel. What do you think their gonna call it?"


    "I know what it means. You think this is because of Rosette?" he hissed and looked around to make sure their conversation was still private.


    He needn''t have. They were two teenagers sprinting through the rain and everyone near them was doing exactly the same thing, and caring little at all about anything that did not involve shelter and possibly a towel.


    "I think, you''ve still got those rosy tinged glasses on, bro." Kaykes responded in her normal voice. "If I could disappear every Super around Eastwall right now, I would. There''s far too much heat here. Look at that."


    Kaykes gestured with her chin to their right where another fatigued ¡ª woman this time ¡ª wearing a camouflage parka was leaning against a nondescript car whose only identifying feature was the unusual number of antennae sticking up from the roof.


    The woman waved at Kaykes as they passed while her other hand tapped against the black haft of her rifle absently.


    Kaykes waved back and looked like she was trying to make her grimace look like a smile. "That''s another Fl¨¦chette Launcher, dude. And look. She''s got reloads at her hip with different colored bands on them. So they''re not even all the same."


    Kaykes tossed her chin length hair, flinging water into Jimmy''s eyes as he gawked. He got a wave too and the smile the soldier graced him with was cheery.


    "They fling darts the length of my hand at supersonic speeds, bro. And look at those two, they''re packing Hit-Em attachments."


    Hit-Em was apparently colloquial for HEEDM ¡ª High Energy Electrical Discharge Modules ¡ª which were wireless tasers, but sized for African elephants. Or, very, very durable Supers.


    ".... Ok. That is definitely overkill... I''m pretty sure a normal taser would more than..."


    "Exactly. But you know who might take a Hit-Em to the face and keep coming?" Kaykes tapped her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Gee, I wonder...."


    "But she''s a hero!"


    "She''s a Super. Who walked through four stories of heavily armed gang-bangers."


    But by that point they''d joined the throng of student congregating under the awning in front of the front doors, and Kaykes peeled off for a group of girls who were waving her over.


    "Jim!" Nate haled him "Hey, move over, he''s with me."


    Jimmy joined his friend distractedly as Nate nudged some space for him and pointedly ignored the complaints.


    "Dude, did you see the duds? Damn, they''re sharp."


    Jimmy eyed him balefully. "Nice."


    Nate grinned widely. "There are like three here with fl¨¦chette launchers and the rest have got Hit-Em attachments."


    "Since when did you become an expert on counter Super..."


    Nate grinned and waved his cell. "I asked Kayla-chan. Girl''s a treasure tro ¡ª"


    One of the people Nate had nudged out of the way nudged back, and his nudge sent Nate reeling back into the group next to them.


    Jimmy''s response died as Buck Higly rolled his thick shoulders and grinned.


    Buck Higly... was big, Jimmy remembered all. Over. Again.


    There were refrigerators less broad and rhinoceri with less mass, and when he smiled, it sent Jimmy''s heart, which was already vibrating with nerves, into an encore. There was enough bare steel laden in that smile to light up a metal detector.


    "It''s Wallace, right?" He said easily, and then he walked through a metal detector, which made a sound no more frightening than an elongated beep, and Buck was asked to walk back through a second time, this time, sans his wallet and keys.


    "Let''s get to Physics." Jimmy muttered, helping a softly cursing Nate, back to his feet. And he tried not to think about all the reasons why Buck Higly, star quarterback of Eastwall''s football team, and Vicky''s former territorial and violent boyfriend might know his ¡ª Jimmy Wallace''s ¡ª name.