Poe Cottage, Saturday morning, Dec 22nd 2007
Absinthe

“Are you about finished, Abbie?” my roommate Dana asked me with a smirk.

“My name isn’t Abbie,” I reminded Dana, more out of habit than because I thought she would stop calling me by that nickname. “My name is Gwen.”

“You know,” Dana continued, musing to herself. “If you got a fake ID, you should get it with the name Abbie Normal.”

“That would be funny,” Dana’s girlfriend Jinx added with a giggle.

Dana nodded emphatically. “And with your dad’s connections, I bet he could hook you up with it too.”

“Or,” I pointed out, giving my roommate a flat look. “I could go to nearly any fixer on campus and get one made, WITHOUT my parents finding out about it.”

“Oooh,” Dana responded with a grin. “Good point.”

I looked around the dorm room that I shared with Dana, then at my luggage which was currently packed up and sitting on my bed. It was nearly time to catch my ride to the airport. I was NOT looking forward to the long flight across the country.

“It’s going to be strange being home again,” I said a little self-consciously. “And Christmas is already going to be hectic enough as it is.”

“At least you have the right coloring for it,” Dana told me with a grin. “Just throw on a red sweater and you’re good to go.”

I absently ran a hand through my long green hair at her comment, remembering that I also had the pointed ears that marked me as an elf, or as a Sidhe, which was the correct term. Dana had already been teasing me about being a Christmas elf, so I expected at least one more joke about that before I left for Christmas vacation.

“You know,” Dana teased me, “when you’re back home at the North Pole, maybe you can learn to make proper toys.”

“And there it is,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. “Seattle is hardly the North Pole, and my toys are hardly the kind you can play with.”

With that, I held out my hand and released a small burst of magic. A tiny green pixie appeared in my hand, then she flew up into the air and joined the two identical pixies that were flittering about overhead. Technically, my pixies were actually hobgoblins that just looked like pixies, but I preferred not to think about that. Pixies were much cooler.

My pixies were always green, but lately there had also been other pixies, ones of other colors flitting about near me. Those ones were REAL pixies, ones that seemed to like me for some reason, and who enjoyed playing with the ones I made. Of course, I suspected that one of the other reasons they followed me around was that they were using my pixies as camouflage, so that they could fly around in the open and explore Whateley without anyone really noticing them.

“I don’t know,” Jinx pointed out as she watched my pixies. “The Dylans seem to really like your toys.”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Good point.”

Dana nodded agreement, then let out a sigh. In spite of her joking around, I could tell that she was still a bit nervous about going home for Christmas, and for good reason. Home wasn’t exactly with her family, or at least not with her birth family.

“Spending Christmas with your big sister should be interesting,” I told Dana. “I mean, staying with a supervillain can’t be boring.”

“True,” Jinx agreed. “I mean, I just have to go stay with my boring normal family.” She was clearly trying to make Dana feel a little better about the situation.

“I am looking forward to seeing Jackie and Emily,” Dana admitted. “I just… I miss my old home.”

Jinx gave Dana a hug and told her, “Maybe next year you’ll be on better terms with your parents.”

“Maybe,” Dana responded with a sigh.

“That might seem like long odds,” I commented while looking at Jinx. “But when a mangler says it…”

Dana brightened up at that and gave Jinx a hug back. “Yet another good point.”

I looked around my room one final time, trying to remember if there was anything that I was missing. I was going to be home for a couple weeks and I didn’t want to leave anything important behind.

“Well,” I finally announced. “I guess I’d better go meet up with Collin so we can get going.”

“Have a safe flight,” Dana told me. “And a good Christmas.”

“You too,” I responded as I gave her a grin. “See you next year.”

**

Hawthorne Cottage, Saturday morning, Dec 22nd 2007
Roulette

I looked over my domain, the common kitchen area for the cottage. Officially, it was a shared space that any of the Hawthorne residents could use, but I spent so much time working in there that I couldn’t help but feel a sense of ownership. That was why I wanted to leave it in good shape before I left for vacation.

“Amy,” Alyss said as she and Sapphire stepped into the kitchen. “What are you doing? You should be getting ready to leave.”

“I’m just making sure that everything is in order before I leave,” I explained with a shrug. “A lot of people are staying on campus, so I wanted to make sure that everything was ready to go if anyone wanted to cook something.”

“That is…very diligent of you,” Alyss responded with a chuckle.

“Besides,” I admitted a little self-consciously, “I was also removing a few of my personal items and ingredients. I don’t want to get back and find any of those were broken or missing.”

“That is a possibility,” Sapphire agreed. “People are not always respectful for things that belong to others.”

“Tell me about it,” I said with a sigh. “Back when I was still in Poe, I left one of my devises in the common room when I went to use the bathroom. I was only gone for five minutes, but when I got back, I found that Breakdown had already dismantled the entire thing.”

Alyss laughed at that. “Yeah, she does that.”

“I can understand not wanting to risk that kind of thing again,” Sapphire said with a sympathetic nod.

“It is to be expected,” I mused aloud. “I mean, nearly every gadgeteer and devisor I know feels at least some level of compulsion when it comes to making things. I suspect it’s a natural instinct…a desire to use our powers.” I shrugged at that. “And since Breakdown’s specialty is dismantling things, I’d imagine she probably has a similar urge.”

“I’d never thought of it that way,” Alyss mused. “But you’re right. Every gadgeteer and devisor I know does that.”

“What about you two?” I asked, giving them curious looks. “Shouldn’t you both be getting ready to leave too?”

“I have someone coming to pick me up,” Alyss answered with a faint smirk. “A family member.”

I nodded at that, remembering that Alyss had a relative who could teleport. That would have to be a lot more convenient than dealing with airports and security checks, not to mention the planes themselves.

“I also have someone coming for me,” Sapphire added. “I was about to meet up with Darqueheart so we could wait together.”

I nodded again, remembering that Sapphire had invited Darqueheart to stay with her family over Christmas break. I was happy for Darqueheart, because she would have been stuck on campus otherwise.

With that, I grabbed the small bag that contained my personal knives and some of the special spices and ingredients that I normally left in the kitchen. Now that everything was in order and I had my things, it was about time to go catch a ride to the airport.

“I guess I’ll see you guys next month,” I said. “I hope you both have a great Christmas.”

“You too,” Alyss responded. “And before I go…” She held out a small present. “Merry Christmas, and I hope you like it.”

I accepted the present in surprise. “Thank you…”

“Don’t open it before Christmas,” my tiny friend insisted.

“Thank you,” I told her again, before we hugged each other just a little awkwardly.

Alyss pulled away and gave me a wry smile. “Don’t get too mushy on me,” Alyss said with a wink before she turned and walked out. Sapphire laughed before saying goodbye and leaving as well.

**

Boston Ma, Saturday early afternoon, Dec 22nd 2007
Absinthe

“I think I’m getting a bit of deja-vu here,” I said as I glanced at my boyfriend Collin, who was walking along beside me.

“I know what you mean,” Collin responded with a chuckle. “This is a lot like when we came to Whateley together.”

“You know,” I pointed out, “some of my friends are being teleported back home. It’s too bad we couldn’t get something like that too.” I glanced ahead to the airport security checkpoint that we had yet to go through. “I REALLY would have preferred that.”

“Me too,” Collin agreed. He let out a long sigh. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Collin and I went to the security gate, specifically, to the MCO checkpoint. A couple of our classmates were already there ahead of us, so we had to wait in line until it was our turn. When we finally reached the front of the line, I was a little surprised to recognize the MCO agent who was stationed there. I didn’t know the man’s name, but I’d seen him in the Berlin MCO office a couple times.

“Hello,” I said politely as I presented my MMID and MCO employee ID. He examined them and then gave me a more thorough look.

Before the agent could say anything, I carefully set my pet carrier down onto the desk. It contained one of my pixies since I couldn’t go anywhere without at least one of them to soak up my glamour. The last thing I wanted was for everyone on the airplane to start tripping out, especially the pilots.

“My familiar authorization forms,” I said as I handed those papers to the agent as well.

Fortunately, familiars were allowed in planes, as long as they were in pet carriers and all the paperwork was properly filled out. I had definitely made sure to fill out the paperwork. I might hate rules and paperwork on general principle, but I’d learned the value of using them.

I remained calm, trying not to show how nervous I was about going through the MCO security check. Sure, I was an intern for the MCO and had a few connections, but none of that would have stopped that security agent back in Seattle if my dad hadn’t shown up personally.

“Your paperwork looks good so far,” the agent said in a professional tone as he handed me back my forms and IDs. “I remember seeing you in the Berlin office.”

“I’m an intern,” I told him with a faint smile. “And I do have one more thing to declare.”

With that, I carefully set a small box into the desk. The box was an official MCO supplied, small-size lockbox for air travel. What was important wasn’t the box itself, but what was inside of it.

The agent gave me a curious look, then opened the lockbox, revealing the dagger that rested within. As soon as he saw Needle, I placed the paperwork on the desk in front of him.

Normally, security would never allow someone to bring a weapon like this onto an airplane, at least not without it being checked in. However, Needle was no ordinary dagger. It was a magic item made out of mithril, which made it extremely valuable. I’d never had Needle fully appraised, but I knew that it was worth millions of dollars. There was absolutely no way that I was going to let this out of my sight.

“Interesting,” the agent said, looking over Needle but making no move to touch it. He then read over the paperwork, pausing to reread several bits before nodding. Once he was satisfied, he pulled out a special padlock and locked the box shut. “It can be unlocked once you reach your destination.”

“Thank you,” I told him with a genuine smile and a feeling of relief.

I quickly grabbed my pet carrier and then moved to the side so that Collin could go through his security check as well. While I waited on that, I put the box containing Needle into my carry-on bag, then grabbed my pet carrier.

A few minutes later, Collin joined me, saying, “That was easier than I expected.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod. “And it’s a good thing for him that he was so professional. If we’d run into someone who REALLY gave us a hard time…” I paused at that before chuckling evilly. “Well, Dad would have had them assigned to Bumfuck Alaska.”

**

Portland Or, Saturday late afternoon, Dec 22nd 2007
Roulette

“Welcome back,” My girlfriend Kara exclaimed.

I had barely stepped past the secure area of the airport when my girlfriend came rushing over to greet me. Kara was pretty, with brunette hair that was tied up in her usual ponytail. Before I could even respond to her verbal greeting, she had me wrapped up in a tight hug.

“Hey,” I finally responded, giving her a quick kiss while being a bit self-conscious about doing so in public. Portland was a bit more open about two girls making out than a lot of other places, but we still got a bit more attention than I was comfortable with. But to be fair, I would have been just as uncomfortable with such an open display if I’d still been a guy.

“Is that all you can say to me?” Kara said, pulling away and giving me a look of mock disapproval. “Just, hey.” She shook her head at that. “We haven’t seen each other in forever…”

“One month,” I reminded her with a look of amusement. “I was back home a month ago for Thanksgiving, and we talk on the phone all the time.”

“That isn’t the same,” Kara told me.

“No, it isn’t,” I agreed with a chuckle.

Then I turned my attention to the other two people who’d been there waiting for me. Both of them were standing back, giving me and Kara a minute for our reunion.

Kara’s aunt Beth was the one my eyes went to first, because not only was she six-foot-four…not including her stiletto heels, but she was also built like some kind of amazonian superhero out of the comic books. Of course, that was appropriate because she actually was a superhero, with the accurate name of Statuesque.

“Hey, Beth,” I greeted the woman who was not only Kara’s aunt, but my mom’s best friend.

Then I turned my attention to the other person, a lean but athletic man with brown hair and a somewhat plain look. Nothing really stood out about the man, especially when he was standing next to someone as eye-catching as Beth.

“This is my brother, Kyle,” Beth introduced the man. “He’s staying with me for Christmas.”

“Hey,” Kyle said, giving me a nod. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” I said with a polite nod back. “I’m Amy.”

I glanced around but didn’t see any sign of my mom, which was only a mild surprise at most. If Mom hadn’t come to pick me up herself, then it meant that she was either caught up in building something, or recovering after a long building session. Those were both pretty normal states for her.

“How was your flight?” Beth asked me curiously.

“Long,” I answered with a sigh. “One lady kept making snide comments about my hair color…” I reached up and touched my purple hair. “And my violet contacts.” I rolled my eyes at that since I wasn’t wearing contacts. “She kept accusing me of being rebellious and trying to get attention.”

Kara burst out laughing. “Well, I guess it’s better than accusing you of being a mutant.”

I quickly glanced at Kyle, who didn’t even blink at that comment. Then again, his sister was a mutant and he was staying with her for the holidays, so I doubted that he had any real problems with mutants.

“So, how is Whateley?” Beth asked. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been there.”

“Interesting,” I answered in a clear understatement. “I still can’t believe the things that people are able to get away with.”

Beth gave me a knowing look and a nod. “Whateley has always been pretty loose with discipline. I suppose that is to be expected when you consider the kind of students they have there. They have to be a LOT more open minded.”

“I want to go there,” Kara insisted. “I want to be a mutant so we can go to school together.”

“That would be fun,” I told her with a smile. “And I think that you’d get a kick out of it.”

“I can’t say that I’ve ever gone there myself,” Kyle commented with an amused look. “But Beth has told me so many stories about the place…” He shook his head and chuckled. “The place sounds pretty chaotic.”

“Well,” I said with a wry smile, “we recently had a campus-wide prank war going on. And let me tell you, you haven’t seen anything until you see a mushroom cloud of glitter.”

“NO,” Kara gasped with a look of disbelief.

“Unfortunately, yes,” I responded with a sigh. I reached up and plucked a bit of glitter off my shoulder for emphasis. “Half the campus is still covered with the stuff.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about it,” Beth said with a laugh. “In fact, I’m sure your mom would love to hear about it too.”

“Well, it was a devisor glitter bomb,” I mused aloud. “Or was she a gadgeteer? I can never remember.”

Then with a shake of my head, I decided that it didn’t really matter. What mattered was seeing my mom again and making sure she was all right. I hadn’t been there to clean the house or make sure she was eating properly, and while I trusted Beth to look after my mom a bit, I needed to check on her for myself.

**

Seattle Wa, Saturday evening, Dec 22nd 2007
Absinthe

I leaned back on the couch, carefully sipping cocoa from my mug while absently petting my cat Gozer, who was curled up on my lap. Several of my pixies flittered about overhead, apparently playing a game of tag with each other. All in all, I was feeling nice and contented. It was good to be home.

My flight had landed at the Sea Tac airport a couple hours ago, where I’d been met by my Mom. I wasn’t surprised that Dad was absent, especially once I found out that he wasn’t even in the state. Apparently, he was off on one of his assignments for the MCO and Mom had no idea when he’d be back.

After a stop for dinner, Mom and I returned home and settled into comfortable positions in the living room. However, I noticed that Mom kept giving me curious looks, and she had been doing so ever since we met up at the airport.

“You’ve changed,” Mom finally said, still giving me that odd look.

“You’ve already seen my changes,” I pointed out, thinking about the time she’d taken me shopping for women’s clothes, and even more embarrassing, when she’d given me lessons in female hygiene.

“That isn’t what I meant, Gwen,” Mom told me with a look of amusement. “I meant, you seem a lot more comfortable as a girl than before you left for school.”

I blushed a little at that. “I guess I’ve had more practice being one.”

“Two months more,” Mom said. That was how long I’d been at Whateley, though sometimes it seemed a lot longer.

I hesitated for a moment before admitting, “There are a couple other people around the school with similar situations to mine.” I shrugged a bit self-consciously. “We kind of talk and share tips for adjusting.”

Mom seemed a little surprised at that. “Really?” She gave a faint smile. “Well, I’m glad that you found people who can understand.”

I nodded at that, deciding not to mention just how many Changelings there were. There were quite a few in Poe, not to mention a few others around the school who were publicly known.

A faint smile formed on my lips, and with a brief command to my pixies, two of them dove down to the plate of cookies that was sitting on the coffee table. A moment later, each pixie grabbed a cookie and brought it over to me.

“That looks convenient,” Mom commented with a smile.

I grinned at her as a pixie fed me a cookie. “Very.”

“Is that what they teach you at that school?” she asked.

“Among other things,” I told her before going serious. “It’s…weird. I mean, I have classes for magic and martial arts. Everyone has powers, and you never know what craziness is going to happen.”

After this, I told Mom about some of the things that I’d seen around the school, though I was careful to leave a few things out. She didn’t need to know about how nasty the bullies could be or that Centurion had actually put me in the hospital. I didn’t want to risk her pulling me out of the school.

“And then,” I told my mom excitedly, “this giant Hello Kitty shaped balloon goes and throws this enormous cream pie at me and ends up hitting like, a dozen kids.”

“Oh no,” she gasped. “You can’t be serious…”

I nodded emphatically. “Yeah. It was a huge mess and ended up starting this big prank war all across the campus.” I shook my head and shuddered. “You should have seen the glitter bomb that ended it…”

“A glitter bomb?” Mom asked a bit skeptically.

“This was like the atomic bomb of glitter bombs,” I assure her, knowing that I’d never be able to explain just how horrific it had been. “I’m still finding glitter in my panty drawer.”

Mom laughed at that. “That does sound exciting.”

“But we do have serious classes,” I quickly assured her, not wanting her to think that it was all fun and games. “We do have all the regular school stuff too.”

“I should hope so,” Mom said with a serious look. “I’d hate to spend all that money on such a fancy school, and then have you only learn how to play jokes.”

I sat there with my best innocent expression, deciding not to tell her about the prank club or the itty bitty, teeny tiny role that I may or may not have had in setting off that prank war in the first place. Mom gave me a suspicious look, but I maintained my composure and refused to break.

“Well anyway,” Mom said as she changed the subject. “Do you have anything planned while you’re home, other than the usual Christmas stuff?”

“Well, I was thinking of seeing Mrs. Lauriant,” I answered thoughtfully. “And maybe Doug”

Mom nodded at that. “I suppose that make sense.”

I nodded as well, then hesitated a moment before adding, “And I’ll probably hang out with Collin a bit.”

That got Mom’s attention. “Collin? The boy you arrived with at the airport?”

“Um, yeah,” I answered self-consciously. “We’re…friends.”

“I see,” Mom mused with a strange expression and the hint of a smile. “Why don’t you tell me about Collin?”

I gulped at that and wondered if I could turn invisible and slip away. After all, quick escapes were kind of my specialty. But unfortunately, Gozer was still sleeping on my lap and even snoring a little bit, so there was no way I could possibly disturb him. That meant I was well and truly trapped.

**

Portland Or, Monday morning, Dec 24th 2007
Roulette

“What are you doing?” Kara asked me with a curious expression.

I was sitting on the living room couch with several metal disks spread out before me on the coffee table. They were part of something that I’d been working on before Kara had arrived for a visit.

“They’re,” I started to answer, then glanced over at Beth and Kyle, who’d both arrived with Kara.

I wasn’t sure how much I should say around Kyle, until I remembered that his sister was a mutant and he already knew that I was too. I didn’t know him well, but he obviously wasn’t the kind of person to freak out around mutant powers.

“They’re essence batteries,” I explained as I picked up one of the golden disks. “I’m a mage today, so I was charging up my batteries.”

“Okay,” Kara responded. “Cool.”

“That’s right,” Kyle mused as he looked over my batteries. “Beth said that you change powers.”

“I’m a power shifter,” I agreed pleasantly. “Basically, I rotate through several different power sets. Today, I’m a mage.”

Kyle nodded at that. “So, you can throw fireballs and such?”

“Not really,” I told him with a shrug. “With magic, I’m more of an enchanter… I usually put spells on my devises so that they work better.”

“You don’t see magic and devises mixed very often,” Beth said.

I took one of my essence batteries and clipped it onto my belt, right where it would be on hand and convenient for when I needed some extra essence. I usually kept a couple essence batteries on me, along with some other batteries for when I was in energizer mode.

“That is kind of my thing,” I told Beth. “I keep jumping between powers, so I’ve been focusing on how they can work together. Spells on my devises, which are powered by batteries charged when I’m an energizer, and so on.”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Kara exclaimed. “Now, show me what else you’ve made.”

“I am curious to see what you’ve built,” Beth agreed, though she glanced towards the door to Mom’s workshop. “I imagine Liz would love to see your devises too.”

“There isn’t much to show,” I explained. “The only thing I have ready is my needle gun.” I gestured to the counter, where my needle gun was resting.

“A needle gun?” Kyle asked curiously. He went over to the counter and looked down at my weapon. “Do you mind if I touch it?”

“Go ahead,” I told him. “It isn’t loaded right now.”

Kyle picked up the gun and looked it over. In spite of what I’d said, there was a clip installed, though the clip was empty. I had a couple others that were fully loaded and ready to go, but for now, the weapon was harmless.

“It looks like a flechette gun,” Kyle said after examining my devise. “With an EM coil system.”

“Good eye,” I complimented him.

“I’ve seen similar items before,” the man responded with a casual shrug.

Beth laughed. “You know Liz, and I know she’s shown you some of her weapons.”

Kyle chuckled as he nodded agreement. “Yeah. I remember when she brought that disintegrator to our house and it accidentally went off.”

I winced slightly. “How bad was the damage?”

“We lost the couch,” Beth answered. “And part of the wall behind it.”

I considered that for a moment before nodding. “It could have been a lot worse.”

“Yes, it could,” Beth agreed with a shake of her head. “I’m just glad that Liz has gotten a lot better about safety.”

Kara looked a little annoyed at being cut out of the conversation. “So,” she said, gesturing towards my needle gun. “I’ve already seen that before. Do you have anything new?”

“Not really,” I responded. “It has only been a month.”

My girlfriend gave me a look of disappointment. “So, you haven’t made anything new?”

“Of course I have,” I protested. “I just didn’t bring anything with me.” I shrugged at that. “It was troublesome enough just to get my needle gun through the airport.”

“Airport security tends to frown on devisor weapons,” Beth commented wryly. She shook her head and I knew that she was thinking about my mom and the problems she had every time she flew anywhere.

“I did bring a few parts,” I admitted. “But I have to wait until I’m a devisor again before I can reassemble them.”

“And I’m sure that Liz can’t wait to help you,” Beth said. “By the way, what is your mom working on now?”

I glanced towards her lab and shrugged. “She got into it with Mrs. Bonner again, and she said something about a killer robot before she disappeared into her lab.”

“That sounds like Liz,” Beth agreed with an exasperated sigh. “I doubt we’ll see her for another day or two, at least.”

“Probably not,” I agreed, letting my annoyance of that slip into my voice. “She was supposed to give us a ride to Seattle today, too.”

I didn’t allow myself to actually get angry over this because I hadn’t really expected anything different. After all, I’d learned a long time ago that I couldn’t count on my mom to be reliable about anything. It was all part of both her Diedricks and that obsessive focus that so many devisors develop.

“No,” Kara cried out with a grimace. “I was looking forward to that too…”

“What’s in Seattle?” Kyle asked, tilting his head slightly.

“The Seattle Supers,” I explained, naming one of the local superhero teams. “One of their members, Witchling, has been giving me some advice on magic, and she asked me to come by while I was on vacation so she could teach me something new.” I let out a disappointed sigh and shook my head. “I need to be in magic mode to get the most out of it, and by the time Mom is done with her current project, I’ll definitely be in another mode.”

“It’s okay,” Kara told me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You might get another chance while you’re here on vacation. I mean, you’ll definitely go into magic mode again before you have to go back.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Beth told me with a sympathetic look. “I know you were both looking forward to that…” She paused and shook her head. “I would give you a ride myself, but I can’t leave Portland right now. The Roadster is still running around, and I have to be ready when he makes his move.”

I nodded at that, not surprised that Beth had other plans. In fact, I’d never even considered asking her for a ride. She was a superhero, which meant that she had certain responsibilities.

“Hey,” Kyle said with a grin. “I could give you kids a ride.”

“Really?” Kara asked in surprise.

Kyle shrugged. “Sure. I’m on vacation, so its not like I have anything else planned.”

“It is a long drive,” I pointed out. “A couple hours, each way.”

“Not a problem,” Kyle assured me. “I’ve always liked a good road trip. Besides…” He flashed Kara a grin. “This gives me more time with my niece.”

“Woo hoo,” Kara exclaimed as she jumped up excited. “I get to meet some superheroes.”

Beth gave her a wry look and asked, “What am I? Chopped liver?”

**

Seattle Wa, Monday afternoon, Dec 24th 2007
Absinthe

“So, how have things been at your place?” I asked Collin as we walked down the sidewalk.

I was fully aware of the curious looks I was getting because of my green hair, though I imagined the attention would have been a bit more hostile if people realized that my hair-color was because I was a mutant. Fortunately, in Seattle, green hair wasn’t quite as unexpected as it could be in other places.

Overhead, several of my pixies flittered around. I was using them to keep an eye out for trouble, almost like little drones. They were hiding and being sneaky so as not to be seen, but I was also covering them with minor illusions as well.

“Home has been fine,” Collin answered with a shrug. “Almost like I never left.” Then he shrugged. “But things have been a bit weird with Mike.”

“Oh?” I encouraged him to continue. Mike had been Collin’s best friend before we’d gone to Whateley and was one of the people who used to bully me before I’d manifested. “Weird, how?”

Collin frowned for a moment before answering. “I guess, he’s being kind of distant. I can’t really blame him though. I’ve been gone and he started hanging out with other people instead.”

“And now he probably isn’t sure if he should hang out with you or his other friends,” I said with a nod of understanding.

“Prety much,” Collin agreed. “Maybe we can meet up after Christmas or something.” Then he gave me a curious look. “And what about you?”

“And what about me?” I asked with a chuckle. “I never really had a lot of close friends. About the only people I have to see, besides my mom and dad, are Mrs. Lauriant and Doug, and they’re both teachers rather than friends.”

Collin nodded at that. “And your dad?”

“Still away on business,” I responded with a shrug, acting casual to hide my disappointment. “He probably won’t be home by tomorrow.”

“Too bad,” Collin told me before abruptly announcing, “We’re here.”

The building in front of us was three stories tall, with a brick façade and a metal gate around the parking lot. This was our destination, the headquarters for the Seattle Supers, one of the local superhero groups. They were also the only local heroes that I’d personally met before.

“Are you sure they won’t mind us visiting?” I asked Collin. “I mean, they’re probably a bit busy for social visits.”

“Aunt Leah is expecting me,” Collin responded.

I nodded at that, not bothering to repeat my point about them being busy. For all we knew, his aunt, Crucibelle, was off fighting some villain.

Collin went to the call box on the gate and announced our arrival. A few minutes later, we entered the main building where we were met by his aunt.

Crucibelle was a gorgeous blonde exemplar with a red and grey costume that looked something like spandex but was probably some other high-tech material instead. She had a red cape on her costume as well some gold metal accessories in the form of a belt, bracers, and brooches.

“Collin,” she exclaimed with a wide smile as she grabbed him in a hug. “It’s good to see you…”

“Hi, Aunt Leah,” he greeted her, blushing a bit self-consciously.

“It’s Crucibelle when I’m in costume,” she reminded him before giving me a questioning look, as though trying to decide if I would be a security risk for her real identity. Then she seemed to decide that I wasn’t. “And it’s good to see you again too, Gwen.”

“Merry Christmas,” I told her, though it was still a day off.

“Thank you,” she responded with an amused look. “And Merry Christmas for you too.”

“I brought you a present,” Collin told his aunt as he handed her a small, wrapped package.

Before Crucibelle could open it, a strange sight suddenly appeared. A human sized, anthropomorphic golden retriever rushed into the room, coming from deeper within the headquarters. I immediately recognized Goodboy, one of the more exotic members of the Seattle Supers.

“Someone saw Spot,” Goodboy told Crucibelle, “and I’m gonna go get him.” He growled at that before adding, “He’s a bad dog.”

“Spot?” I asked, remembering the anthropomorphic dalmatian who’d played such a large part in the trouble that resulted in my going to Whateley.

“Spot escaped from custody along with Slippery,” Crucibelle admitted with a scowl. “I have reason to believe that Slippery was headed to the east coast, but Spot has remained here, causing more trouble.” She shook her head and gave me a wry look. “He and Goodboy have developed a bit of a rivalry.”

Goodboy nodded with overenthusiastic agreement. “I’m gonna get that bad dog.”

And with those words, Goodboy hurried out the door and was on his way. The three of us remained where we were, watching the GSD mutant leave.

“You know,” Collen commented with a chuckle, “I almost asked him if he wanted a Scooby Snack.”

Crucibelle chuckled at that. “Actually, Goodboy prefers bacon.”

“Who doesn’t?” I asked.

“Well, come on in,” Crucibelle told us, looking pointedly at the present that Collin had given her. “I’ve got a little something for you too, Collin.”

As we went further into the building, I soon spotted another member of the Seattle Supers, a man who was wearing a black and white costume that was somewhat reminiscent of orca coloration. I’d never met Natsilane before, but I knew who he was.

“Two more kids?” Natsilane asked as he saw us. His eyes moved between me and Collin. “This place is starting to feel like a high school.”

“Two more?” Collin asked his aunt.

“You two aren’t the only visitors we have right now,” Crucibelle explained before introducing us to Natsilane. “This is my nephew Collin, and Agent Wylann’s daughter, Gwen.”

That seemed to get Natsilane’s attention. He gave us another look before nodding faintly. “Interesting.”

Natsilane looked like he wanted to talk to Crucibelle about something, but then he glanced at me and Collin and seemed to change his mind. I suspected that it was superhero business, the kind that he didn’t want to talk about in front of outsiders. Instead, he gave Crucibelle a polite nod and then continued on his way.

Next, we stepped into their large rec room where three people sat around a table talking. One of them was Witchling, who looked like she was around the same age as me and Collin, in spite of the fact that she was far older. She wore her red and gold costume, though her red witch hat was on the table, off to the side.

I knew Witchling since she was the one who’d first tested my magical abilities and revealed that I had become a Sidhe, though she worked with a completely different style of magic. Because of that, she’d introduced me to her sister, Mrs. Lauriant, who’d become my mentor instead.

However, my attention wasn’t really on Witchling, but the two girls who were with her. Both girls were around my own age, and one of them not only had purple hair, but was also familiar to me.

“Roulette,” Collin greeted the purple-haired girl before I could.

Roulette, or Amy as I also knew her back in Whateley, looked up in surprise. “Flytrap and Absinthe,” she said, following Collin’s example of using our codenames.

“You know them?” the pretty brunette beside Amy asked.

“We go to school together,” Amy told her, gesturing to us. Then she introduced the brunette, saying, “This is my friend Kara.”

“Girlfriend,” Kara added, fixing Collin and I with a look that practically dared us to say something about that.

“Nice to meet you,” Collin said.

“Same,” I agreed.

“You two can wait here,” Crucibelle told us before settling her attention on Collin. “I’ll go get your present.”

Once Crucibelle was gone, Witchling stood up and grabbed her hat. “Talking magic has been fun,” she told Amy, “but I should probably get going. I do have some work to take care of.”

Amy nodded at that. “Sure, I understand. A superhero’s work is never done.”

“You have no idea,” Witchling responded with a roll of her eyes.

Kara laughed. “I’ve got a pretty good idea. My aunt is a superhero, and she likes to complain about all the paperwork.”

Witchling chuckled at that. “It’s good to see you two again.” Her eyes settled on me as she added, “And my sister is expecting you to visit her sometime soon.”

“Of course,” I agreed with a nod. “I was planning on doing that anyway.”

“Good,” Witchling responded with a smile. “Just don’t let that stick up her ass get to you.”

With that, Witchling left the room, leaving four teenagers all by ourselves. Three of us were classmates, but the fourth one, Kara, was almost a complete unknown to me.

I smirked to myself, then let my pixies emerge from hiding and flitter around, just to see how she reacted. Kara watched them with wide-eyed excitement.

I looked at Amy. “I heard that Witchling has been mentoring you.”

“A little,” Amy replied with a shrug. “Mostly, just a little advice here and there.”

Kara tore her eyes away from my pixies, then looked at me. “Did she say your name was Absinthe?”

“Well,” I responded with a grin. “That’s what it says on my MID.”

Kara stared at me for a moment more, then looked at Amy and burst out laughing. “Absinth and Roulette. So, you two are named after booze and gambling?”

Amy smiled faintly at that. “Pretty much.”

“Maybe you two should join the Dylans,” Collin joked.

“Are there any more of you at that school?” Kara asked. “You’ve got drinking and gambling, so is there someone named after smoking?”

I considered that for a moment. “Does Smoke Test count?”

“I don’t think so,” Collin offered half-heartedly.

Amy grinned at her girlfriend and said, “Well, we do have a classmate named after moonshine, so there is that.”

It was at this point that Crucibelle came back into the room, holding a present that she handed to Collin. He looked like he wanted to tear into it but held back to be polite.

“That’s for tomorrow morning,” Crucibelle told him with a look of amusement.

“Okay,” Collin responded with a resigned sigh.

Crucibelle chuckled at that, then turned her attention to me. She stared at me for several seconds before abruptly asking, “Do you two have anything planned for this afternoon?”

“Not really,” Collin answered.

I silently groaned at that, knowing that I would need to have a little talk with my boyfriend. He was old enough to know that you NEVER volunteered free time to an adult. They always got ideas about how you should fill it. This was almost as bad as complaining that you were bored.

Crucibelle suddenly grinned, sending chills of warning down my spine. “Good,” she said with exaggerated cheerfulness. “Then I’m sure you won’t mind helping out with a little charity event.”

Seattle Wa, Monday afternoon, Dec 24th 2007
Absinthe

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed as I stared at the elf costume that Crucibelle wanted me to put on. “You want me to be a Christmas elf?”

“It’s for charity,” the superheroine answered pleasantly. “Those kids are really looking forward to this Santa meet and greet, and of course, Santa needs his elves.”

I glared at Collin and muttered, “She’s your aunt.”

He gave me an apologetic look as he shrugged. “It is for the kids.” Then he let out a sigh and picked up the elf costume that had been handed to him.

“An elf costume does seem to be a little on the nose,” Amy told me while her girlfriend Kara just giggled.

I glared at the costume one more time before protesting, “I can’t wear this.”

“Because it’s offensive to your people?” Kara asked, staring at my pointed ears.

“Because it’s synthetic,” I responded with an exaggerated sigh. “I’m allergic. I’d break out in some pretty bad hives.”

Amy chuckled at that. “So,” she suggested with a faint smile, “just make an illusion costume. That is your specialty.”

Kara gave me a curious look. “Illusions?”

I shrugged, then gathered my concentration and formed the spell. Fortunately, my type of magic was pretty flexible. Some types of spells required a lot of calculation and details to make illusions work, but my magic was a bit more free-form with that kind of thing. I just needed a clear picture in my head when I let the magic loose.

A few seconds later, my clothes appeared to have changed, and now everyone who looked at me would see me wearing a red and white costume that was a lot nicer looking than the ugly green and red elf costume.

I just hoped that Dana never found out about this or I would NEVER live it down. She made far too many jokes about me being a Christmas elf as it was, and I fully expected more jokes around Saint Patrick’s Day.

“Wow,” Kara exclaimed.

I smirked, then pointed out, “I hope you’re happy, because, since I’m not wearing the actual costume, there is now one more female elf costume available…”

Kara’s eyes widened at that while Amy chuckled, not saying a word. Instead, she held up her own elf costume, which her girlfriend had previously teased her about.

“Hoisted by my own petard,” Kara grumbled.

Collin chuckled, then asked, ‘What is a petard, anyway?

“Now that you ask,” Crucibelle answered, “I have no idea.”

“So, now we have enough costumes for everyone,” I said with a smirk. If I was going to be stuck dressing as an elf, so was everyone else. Of course, I was a Sidhe, a real elf, which made the situation both more appropriate and more embarrassing. I turned my attention to Crucibelle. “You don’t have an elf costume…”

“I’m already wearing my costume,” Crucibelle quickly pointed out. “I’m expected to be here as a superhero, not an elf, to help Santa pass out some presents.”

“Maybe a Rudolph nose,” I offered with an evil grin. “Just a little illusion and…”

“Don’t…you…dare,” she said firmly.

Collin tried to hide his snickers at that while Kara just openly burst out laughing. Crucibelle looked between us, shook her head and let out a sigh. What was she expecting after drafting a group of teenagers?

“Okay,” Crucibelle told us. “You can get changed in those dressing rooms, then come out with smiles on. The kids are expecting happy elves.”

I nodded at that, then whispered to Collin, “You are going to owe me big for this.”

He hesitated a moment before nodding. “Sure.”

Once everyone was dressed, we went out into the main hall which was filled with dozens of kids, probably more than a hundred of them. And then, positioned on what might as well have been a throne, holding court, was ‘Santa Clause’.

I’d half expected Santa to be Doctor Tempest or some other member of Crucibelle’s team, but that wasn’t the case. I didn’t recognize who was in the costume, but he didn’t look any different than any mall Santa that I’d ever seen, including having the obvious padding and fake beard. Still, the kids seemed happy and that was what really mattered.

“A lot of space,” Collin commented as he looked around. “You could probably fit two or three times as many kids in here.”

“Probably,” Crucibelle agreed pleasantly. “But this is the second round of this they’ve done today. Someone from the Seattle Knights was helping with that one.”

“They even have balcony seating,” Kara commented, pointing up where there was indeed a balcony.

Collin looked up and chuckled before turning his attention to me and saying, “You know, if you went up there, you could be an elf on the shelf.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “You’re the who can climb walls, so why don’t you head up there, and I’ll just make you look like one of those elves.”

Amy looked amused by the exchange. “You know, Gwen, you don’t seem bothered by the word ‘elf’. Some of the other Sidhe on campus get offended by it.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” I responded with a shrug. “But you’ve got to be careful who you use that term with, because some Sidhe consider it to be a slur.”

“Really?” Kara asked in surprise.

“Sidhe can be an odd lot,” I admitted with a shrug. “Some of them take themselves a little too seriously.”

Collin chuckled at that, then told Kara, “There’s one on campus, who even has her own fan club.”

“There are a LOT of people on campus who take themselves a little too seriously,” Amy added with a chuckle. “But for now, we should probably take our jobs a bit MORE seriously. We have an audience incoming.”

I looked up at that and saw a bunch of kids rushing towards us with looks of curiosity and excitement.

“The elves are here,” Crucibelle called out, gesturing to us. “Give them room so they can help Santa give out presents.”

There were a lot of cheers and excitement at that, but I noticed that one little girl was staring up at me with a strange expression. When she noticed that I was looking at her, she quietly asked, “Are you a real elf?”

I hesitated for a moment, then absently reached up to touch one of my pointed ears, which was not currently covered by any illusions. The other ‘elves’ had pointed ears too, but theirs were little plastic ear caps that were obviously fake whereas my ears were genuine.

“Something like that,” I told the girl with a grin. “I just came in all the way from the North Pole to provide a little Christmas magic.”

With that, I held out my hand and created an illusion so that it looked like red and green confetti exploded out into a cloud. The girl’s eyes went wide before she began to clap enthusiastically.

Crucibelle stood off a short distance away, nodding in satisfaction and musing, “I knew I made the right decision in bringing you kids.”

**

Seattle Wa, Monday afternoon, Dec 24th 2007
Roulette

I sat at a table in the small restaurant, fully aware of the other customers who kept looking at us. That was to be expected when we had a superhero sitting at our table, in full costume.

The whole Christmas meet and greet had gone on a bit longer than expected, so Crucibelle had offered to buy us all dinner. We’d all quickly agreed, though that was probably before any of us realized that this would mean eating in public, with all the attention that any superhero would draw.

“This isn’t the first time that I’ve been in public with a superhero,” Kara told me, obviously referring to her aunt. “But Aunt Beth always made sure we had a bit more privacy.”

“I would take care of that,” Gwen said with a wry smile, “but too many people saw us coming in. Hiding us with illusion now would just be a waste of time.”

“That would probably make things worse,” I pointed out thoughtfully. “If we all disappeared or turned into other people, while we were being watched…”

“I’m sorry about that,” Crucibelle apologized. “I normally would have found a more private location, but I was just too hungry to wait much longer.” She shook her head and admitted, “My powers come with an increased appetite.”

Gwen laughed at that. “We eat at the Whateley cafeteria… Trust me, we’ve seen bigger eaters.”

“And weirder,” Collin agreed.

I nodded at that while looking around the table, my eyes settling on the last person there, the one who’d barely spoken a word and who seemed the most uncomfortable with the attention. That was Kyle.

While Kara and I had been visiting Witchling, Kyle hadn’t gone inside with us. He’d killed time doing something else, though I still wasn’t sure what that had been. And then, when we did that Santa event, he’d remained close enough that I caught glimpses of him occasionally, but otherwise, he’d just kept his distance.

“We should probably be heading home soon,” Kyle finally said. “We’ve been out a bit longer than intended, and I don’t want your parents to worry.”

“A bit longer,” Kara insisted. “I want to hear more about Whateley.”

“It’s a strange school,” Gwen told her.

“You can say that again,” Collin muttered. “I mean, what other school has a supervillain teaching kids how to fingerpaint?”

“Supervillain?” Crucibelle asked with a scowl.

“The art teacher,” I added as I took another bite of my meal. “She’s a retired villain called the Imp.”

“The Imp?” Kyle asked, suddenly interested.

“She’s actually pretty nice,” I assured him. “Just…weird. In fact, she seems to have an interest in my training team.”

“Of course,” Gwen said with a chuckle. “Your training team is called Shenanigans and one of your members is named Mischief. Its no wonder the Imp would like you guys.”

“It probably has more to do with the fact that Mischief is her apprentice,” I added with a faint smile. “Melissa mentioned that a time or two.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Collin commented with a shake of his head.

“Are there a lot of villains teaching there?” Crucibelle asked a little suspiciously.

I didn’t know why Crucibelle was acting like this was new to her. She knew that Whateley was neutral ground and had done her research before sending Collin there. I suspected that she knew the identities of each of the former villains who worked there, though she probably didn’t want to be reminded of this detail.

“There are a couple retired ones,” Collin quickly reassured his aunt. “But most of them don’t really advertise.”

“There are a lot of villain’s kids too,” Gwen added. “I mean, my roommate’s big sister is a supervillain named Pinball.”

Kyle smiled faintly. When I gave him a curious look, he explained, “That seems like a rather harmless name for a supervillain.”

“Never take villain names for granted,” Crucibelle stated with a grim expression. “You can’t judge how dangerous someone is by their name.”

“True,” Gwen agreed. “We’ve got one kid at school named Mega-Death, who likes to go off on these big Diedrick rants, but is otherwise harmless.”

I nodded at that, wanting to get Kara’s attention back on me a little more. “My best friend at the school… Well, we became friends because we both have moms who are high level devisors with Diedricks, which gave us something to talk about.”

“That would be Ribbon,” Gwen said with a broad grin. “I loved the way she kicked Stoppable’s ass during the combat final.”

“Yeah,” I nodded again. “Well, while my mom just rants and then goes into the lab to build things, her mom tends to…get violent.”

I shook my head, realizing how lucky I was that my mom’s Diedricks wasn’t quite that destructive. She could be negligent and annoying, but she’d never gone onto a killing spree.

“Another villain,” Collin said.

“But a tragic one,” I added. “According to Alyss, her mom felt so bad about it that she turned herself in.”

“Wow,” Kara said quietly. “Are there any heroes at the school?”

I was about to answer, when a new voice loudly called out, “CRU…CI…BELLE!”

Crucibelle suddenly tensed up, her eyes widening as she looked around. “Oh no…”

I turned and looked to the door, and the source of the voice. A woman was standing in the doorway, one with a green and black bodysuit that covered most of her body. She had tanned skin and dark hair that was tied back into a bunch of braids that had metal rings tied into the ends. The very sight of her sent chills of dread running down my spine.

“Bombastic,” I gasped.

“Oh shit,” Kara blurted out. “Not that crazy bitch again…”

“You know who she is?” Crucibelle asked as she stood up and prepared for a fight.

“We ran into her last month,” I answered grimly. “In Portland.”

“Cru…ci…belle,” Bombastic repeated in a sing-song tone. “I found you.”

Bombastic grinned, her mouth spreading wider than any human mouth should, revealing lots of sharp teeth. A gleam of manic madness flickered in her eyes.

“I heard you were playing with Santa,” Bombastic commented in an almost friendly tone. “I wanted to play too, but I got lost…” She paused at that, looking embarrassed for a brief moment before she brightened up again. “But now I found you and we can play…”

“Run,” Crucibelle told us without taking her eyes off the supervillain. “Hide. Use every damn trick that school taught you to keep away from her.”

“Do as she says,” Kyle hissed. “We have to get out of here NOW.”

Bombastic stepped forward, her attention now locked on me. “I remember you, purple girl… We played before.”

I reached beneath my jacket to the holster and the only weapon I currently had on me, my needle gun. It was loaded and ready to go, though I didn’t know if it would be of any use against Bombastic. I’ve seen her shrug off far worse. Because of that, and the fact that I didn’t want to escalate any faster than necessary, I held back for the moment.

“Why don’t we play outside?” Crucibelle suggested, her eyes still locked on the villain. “There will be more room to play.”

I looked around, at the people who’d taken cover under tables and behind the counter, trying not to be noticed. Crucibelle was trying to keep them out of harms way as much as possible.

Bombastic nodded enthusiastically. “Good idea. There’s lots more room to play with your head out there….”

“Play with her…head?” Gwen whispered.

“And preferably not attached,” I added grimly.

Bombastic stared at me and her grin widened even further, though I hadn’t thought that was even possible. It already spread nearly from ear to ear, demonstrating a bit of GSD with her mouth.

“I wanna play with purple girl again too,” the insane supervillain announced. “She’s fun.”

“Shit,” Crucibelle snarled.

Bombastic suddenly charged straight at us, casually knocking aside tables, chairs, and even one customer. They all went flying to the side as she rushed forward, her clawed hands up and ready to strike. But before she could actually reach us, Crucibelle shot forward and grabbed her, then continued shooting forward until both women blasted through the restaurant window.

“Crucibelle got the psycho out of here,” Kyle said with a grim expression. “We should use the opportunity to get some distance.”

“Good idea,” I said as I drew my needle gun. I wasn’t confident that it would be useful against Bombastic, but it was better than nothing.

Gwen looked at me and nodded. Then, she unsheathed a kunai style dagger and gripped it as though ready to fight. I was currently in mage mode, so was a bit sensitive to essence and magic. Because of that, I felt something odd from the weapon. Something odd…and powerful.

Several little green pixies appeared, having been hiding among the overhead lights above us. Gwen always had at least one of those things with her, though she was good at keeping them out of sight. With the chaos that was unfolding, she’d apparently decided not to bother anymore.

“Now I wish I brought some of my holdouts,” Collin growled.

Kara just snorted. “I just wish I’d borrowed one of Liz’ disintegrator rays.”

“Mom does have a nice collection of them,” I responded with a forced smile.

We rushed out the front of the ruined restaurant and paused to look at the shattered glass and other debris that was now scattered. People were yelling and running away, though a couple idiots stood there with their phones out, taking pictures of something up above. Of course, I had to look.

Crucibelle was flying straight up with Bombastic firmly clutched in her arms. Then there was an explosion as Bombastic used her concussion blast as point-blank range. The two were violently thrown apart with Crucibelle slamming into the side of a building while the villainess began to fall.

“WHEEEE!” Bombastic cried out, right before she hit the ground and went silent.

“I guess that’s one way to end this,” Gwen commented beside me. “Suicide by gravity.”

I snorted at that. “No dice. I’ve seen her shrug off that kind of thing before.”

As I predicted, Bombastic got back to her feet, then made a show of stretching and brushing herself off. She looked around with a broad grin, lots of sharp teeth showing.

“High level regen,” I explained grimly as I remembered my previous encounter with her. “Concussion blasts. And I think she might be a mid-level exemplar, but I’m not sure.”

“And she’s looking right at us,” Kara pointed out.

“Hey, purple girl,” Bombastic called out, waving to me as if we were friends.

“GO!” Kyle ordered.

“I’ll provide cover,” Gwen announced.

Two green pixies suddenly flew straight at Bombastic, who watched them with a predatory fascination, the kind that a cat might have towards something it was about to pounce on. I shuddered a little at that comparison since I remembered exactly what it felt like to have a cat stare at me that way.

“Little green girls,” Bombastic exclaimed with delight. “With such tiny little heads.” She giggled at that then suddenly slashed her claws at one of the pixies. “I can’t wait to play with them.”

The pixies both vanished and Bombastic stood there for a moment, rubbing her eyes and then looking around with an expression of surprise and delight. She reached out as though trying to touch something that wasn’t there.

“Balloon heads,” Bombastic exclaimed she looked around. “So may cute balloon heads to play with…”

“What the fuck?” Kyle gasped.

“She’s hallucinating,” Gwen explained grimly. “One of my powers.”

“A perfect distraction,” I said with a nod of appreciation.

“One head, two head, three head, four,” Bombastic was calling out in a sing-song tone as she jumped around swatting at things that only she could see. “This is fun but I want more…”

“I’m covering us with an illusion,” Gwen said as she slowly backed further away from the insane villain.

Bombastic leapt at one of her hallucinations and swatted it, then at another. Her expression turned to one of frustration before she yelled, “BOOM!” and fired one of her concussion blasts in the air.

“Now, where is purple girl?” Bombastic asked, looking around with an intent expression, the hallucinations apparently forgotten or even gone entirely. “I know you’re here…”

“Why is she so obsessed with you?” Collin whispered as we quickly crept away.

“She’s fun to play with,” Kara responded sardonically.

“And green girl,” the villainess abruptly added. “Such pretty green hair. I bet her head would be fun to play with too. Green and purple, purple and green. I bet if I had both, Crucibelle would be SO jealous.”

Then Bombastic fired a concussion blast off to the side, for no apparent reason. A parked car was suddenly smashed in with all of its windows shattered. She barely glanced at the car before firing another blast in a different direction.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Bombastic called out in sing-song tone.

“She’s trying to lure us out,” Kyle said with a grimace.

Bombastic fired several more concussion blasts in random directions, while we tried sneaking away as quickly as we could. Gwen might be good at the whole illusion thing, but that wouldn’t do a thing if we got hit. But before we could get far enough away, one of the blasts hit close knocked us all off our feet.

“Damn,” Gwen cursed as she scrambled back to her feet, though she was holding her arm. “I got hit by a bit of shrapnel.”

“THERE YOU ARE!” Bombastic exclaimed, now staring straight at us.

“Damn,” Gwen repeated. “I dropped my illusion.”

Bombastic came rushing straight at us and I immediately opened fire with my needle gun, hitting her with at least a dozen flechettes. They were each coated in Sapphire venom, which meant that each one would cause some localized paralysis. At least in a normal person. Bombastic just staggered for a few seconds, then began moving towards us again, seeming slow and sluggish in the areas where she’d been hit, but quickly recovering.

“Tricky tricky, purple girl,” Bombastic teased. “And there’s green girl and boring girl.” Her eyes went to Gwen and then Kara. “And boring boy.” This was focused at Collin.

“I am NOT boring,” Kara protested.

Bombastic continued approaching us, taking her time about it to enjoy watching us squirm. She grinned with that far too wide smile, stretching her fingers so that her claws were all the more noticeable.

Gwen suddenly threw her dagger right at Bombastic, then began to run. The dagger hit Bombastic in the shoulder, then flew right back to Gwen. She leapt onto the roof of a parked car, then rolled off in one of those parkour moves that I’d seen her and others practicing around campus. A second later, three copies of Gwen all ran off in different directions.

The villain hesitated a moment, clearly unsure of which Gwen she should follow. Then she shrugged and turned her attention back to me, but I was already running away too. We’d all scattered as soon as Gwen provided the distraction, and were off in different directions.

“Hide and seek,” Bombastic squealed with glee, “and now tag… You bunch are fun to play with.”

She started following me again and I silently cursed, wishing that I’d brought more of my weapons than just a needle gun. My coil gun would have been perfect against Bombastic, or even better, my rail gun. Hell, I’d go for one of Mom’s implosion grenades too.

“I might as well wish for a different power set,” I grumbled, thinking of my mode changer, which I’d left back at Whateley. What I wouldn’t give for that now.

Suddenly, a loud voice called out, “STAND AND DELIVER!”

I snapped around and saw Kyle, standing on top of a car with a pair of high-tech guns in his hands, ones that looked like they could have come right out of my mom’s armory. He had a grim expression on his face as he glared at Bombastic, both weapons pointed right at her.

Bombastic glanced at him, smirked, and then charged straight at me again as if doing so just to spite him. Kyle opened fire and two beams of light shot out and hit the villainess, causing her to drop to the ground and spasm as though she was being hit with a taser.

“Oooh,” Bombastic said with the shakes stopped. “Spicy.” She stood up and looked at Kyle with an expression of interest.

Kyle opened fire with his guns again, hitting Bombastic who staggered back and spasmed, but didn’t go down a second time. Before she finished shaking, he’d leapt off the car and was racing to another location.

Bombastic just laughed. “So many people to play with. What fun.”

A moment later, a familiar voice exclaimed, “Playtime is over.”

Crucibelle hovered in the air a short distance away, her costume dirty and torn in several places. She looked a bit rough, but she was clearly still ready to fight. Bombastic’s eyes seemed to light up at the sight.

“You’re back,” Bombastic exclaimed as she actually clapped her hands. “Yay.”

“Good,” Collin said as he made a reappearance. “I can use my field to hold her in place…”

“Except she’d just blast your ass,” Gwen commented as she joined him.

Collin deflated at that. “Good point.”

Gwen stepped back, looking like she was about to turn and run again. However, her eyes remained locked on Bombastic and Crucibelle. Her dagger began growing in her hand, or at least, the handle did. It grew longer and longer until she was holding a spear instead of a dagger.

Crucibelle suddenly flew straight at Bombastic and punched her, sending the villainess flying back until she hit the wall of a building. That looked like it should have broken half of Bombastic’s bones, but the villain shook it off after only a few seconds, then began running right back at Crucibelle with a broad grin.

“Everyone back,” I announced. “We don’t want to get in the middle of that.”

We all backed up to give them more room, but by this point, we were all too invested in the fight to simply not watch. Bombastic and Crucibelle went at it, exchanging punches, slashes, and concussion blasts which tore apart half the street. The entire time, Crucibelle was clearly pissed while Bombastic just had a broad grin plastered across her face, as though she was having the time of her life.

The fight ended less than five minutes later, after Crucibelle had slammed Bombastic into the ground, then tipped a car over onto its side, right on top of her, pinning the villain in place.

“No fair,” Bombastic shouted. “Let me go…”

“She’s probably just going to use her concussion blast to get the car off her,” I said. “I’ve seen her do that kind of thing before.”

Crucibelle glanced towards me, apparently having heard what I said even though I hadn’t been talking to her. She nodded at that, went up to Bombastic, then punched her in her exposed face. THAT ended the fight.

**

Seattle Wa, Monday late afternoon, Dec 24th 2007
Absinthe

“What a way to spend Christmas eve,” I mused aloud.

I should be back home, curled up on the couch with a cup of cocoa in my hand, Gozer curled up on my lap, and one of those sappy Christmas movies that Mom liked on the TV. But instead, I was spending the evening surrounded by chaos, or at least, the aftermath of chaos.

After Crucibelle had taken down that crazy Bombastic, I’d thought that everything was done and over with. However, as with everything, the truly dreaded villain ‘paperwork’ made an appearance. The police, MCO, and a couple other members of the Seattle Supers all swooped in. Everyone was asking questions, demanding written statements, and so on. Because of that, none of us had been allowed to leave quite yet.

I’d already had a brief chat with the police and an MCO agent who used to work with my dad at the local office. He’d been brief and professional, especially once he saw my MCO intern ID badge.

“You know,” Collin mused, “they haven’t been paying much attention to us in awhile.”

“They’d have to notice us first,” I responded with a tone of mock innocence. A little illusion could do a lot to keep people away. “If we wait just a little longer, they might forget about us entirely.”

“That would be for the best,” Kyle said.

“Here I was,” Kara mused, “afraid that I’d get in trouble for dressing in elf face, and now we have a supervillain situation. That kind of puts things in perspective.”

“I’m just dreading when we get back to school,” Collin said with a sigh. “Between Carson and security, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

“Not as much as we could be in,” I pointed out. “It’s not like we were out playing heroes or anything. When trouble came for us, we tried to run and hide first, just like they say we should.”

“That will make things a little better,” Amy admitted with a sigh.

“Besides,” I added with a grin. “I used a bit of illusion to help hide our involvement. We won’t be showing up online…at least not as ourselves. If anyone was stupid enough to stick around and record things, they’ll just see a group of middle-aged people running away from the villain.”

Amy stared at me for a moment before smiling. “That’s good to know.”

“The less Carson and security have to complain about,” I told her, “the happier I’ll be.”

I looked to where Bombastic had been pinned beneath the car. She was gone now, all chained up and hauled away in an armored truck. Her aura had been all over the place, a clear indication of her instability, as if her behavior hadn’t been clue enough.

“Speaking of magic,” Kara said, giving Amy a curious look. “Why didn’t you cast some spells on her? You’re in magic mode today, aren’t you?”

“I’m in magic mode,” Amy agreed with a shrug. “But my magic doesn’t work that way. I’m not the kind of mage to throw fireballs.”

“Me either,” I offered.

“I’m more of an enchanter type,” Amy continued. “I could cast a spell to make my needle gun a bit more effective, and that might have been useful…IF I’d had time to cast it. That would have taken me about ten minutes to do. Not exactly useful for short notice work.”

“That’s too bad,” Kara told her with a disappointed look. “Two magic users, and nobody threw a fireball.”

“She does have a point,” Collin teased me. “No fireballs.”

I rolled my eyes at that. He knew that I worked with illusions and a bit of nature magic, neither of which really lent themselves to fire spells.

“You’ll take illusions and be happy,” I told him.

Kara watched me with an amused look, then asked Amy, “So, do you think THAT villain could ever be a teacher at your school?”

“Not likely,” Amy answered wryly. “The Imp would probably kick her ass for intruding on her territory as the crazy teacher.”

“Probably,” I agreed. “Whateley can only handle one crazy supervillain teacher at a time.”

“And what about you?” Kara abruptly asked her uncle, who’d been standing back and was trying not to be noticed. “Where did you get those fancy guns?”

“Are you a devisor?” Amy asked him curiously.

Kyle hesitated a moment, then let out a sigh. “Gadgeteer. I’m not an especially strong one though. I mostly just work on motorcycles.”

“You’re a mutant?” Kara gasped. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Collin and I shared a look at this unexpected bit of family drama, then by silent agreement, we remained silent.

“After Beth went to Whateley,” Kyle answered carefully, “our parents had some pretty steep school loans to pay back.” He shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “I didn’t want to add to that, so I kept silent about my own powers. Besides, it wasn’t like I needed to go to a fancy school in order to master them. Hell, I trained as an auto mechanic at this garage in Pittsburgh for a few months before I realized that I was a lot more interested in motorcycles than cars.”

“But, Aunt Beth thinks she’s the only mutant in the family,” Kara said.

Kyle chuckled at that. “Oh, Beth figured it out awhlie back, but she keeps quiet. I never got around to telling our parents, and the longer I kept the secret, the harder it was to say anything.”

Kara nodded at that, giving him a sympathetic look. Then her eyes widened and she suddenly looked excited instead. “If there are two mutants in the family, then I’ve got an even better chance of being one too.”

“You might end up as one of my classmates yet,” Amy told her, which made Kara ‘squee’.

“We could be roomies,” Kara gushed.

“You don’t want to be in my cottage,” Amy quickly assured her. “There are a lot of really nice kids there, but that’s where they put the people who have serious issues with their powers.”

I nodded along. “Yeah, that’s true. But I heard that their private chef makes the best brownies.”

Amy looked like she was about to say something when Crucibelle started walking back towards us. “Well, it looks like we’re finally done here,” she said, giving an apologetic smile. She looked at me and Collin, then added, “I’ll give you both a ride home.”

“About time,” Kara grumbled.

I just nodded at that. “Yeah, this has definitely been one eventful Christmas eve.”

**

Seattle Wa, Monday evening, Dec 24th 2007

A man with a scar across his face looked out through the open window of the room he was in, staring at his target through a pair of binoculars. His target was unmistakable, a green-haired girl with pointed ears, like some kind of elf. He sneered at the sight.

“The target is leaving,” he told his partner, who crouched down beside him with a rifle, the scope undoubtedly fixed on the same target.

“I don’t have a clean shot,” his partner stated with irritation. “There are too many people around, including a couple agents and that…hero.”

“We should have gotten to her sooner,” the scarred man said as he lowered his binoculars. “We missed our chance.”

“I had her in sight,” his partner responded with a deep scowl as he finally looked away from the scope. “I had her dead to rights, right in my crosshairs…and missed. And after that, she kept disappearing. That freak is slippery.”

“She’s an illusionist,” the scarred man reminded his partner. “You probably shot at one of her illusions.”

His partner hesitated a moment before nodding agreement. “You’re right. But we missed our opportunity here, so now we have to track the freak down again,”

“This is all because of that traitor, Wylann,” The scarred man complained. “Making that freak into an intern. Making us pay for her to go to that mutie school…” He shook his head. “They’re making us look like fools, and I won’t have it.” His eyes narrowed as he added, “One way or another, we have to fix this. Permanently.”

Portland Or, Tuesday morning, Dec 25th 2007
Roulette

It was a nice relaxing Christmas morning and I was sitting down with a cup of hot cocoa, after having just finished a plate of buttermilk pancakes. Mom was out of her lab and sitting beside me, which was an uncommon occurrence. While I’d been growing up, Mom had spent a lot of Christmases and other holidays down in her lab.

At the moment, it was just the two of us, but we planned to meet up with Kara and Beth for dinner. I was looking forward to seeing my best friend/girlfriend, but at the moment, I was simply enjoying the rare opportunity to actually have Mom’s full attention.

“I suppose we should get to presents now,” Mom said.

I perked up at that. “Presents are good.”

A moment later, I was crouched down beneath the tree, a two-foot-tall artificial thing that Beth had probably brought by one day. Mom was famously bad about remembering to decorate anything for Christmas. The last time she’d actively tried getting into the holiday spirit, she’d gotten carried away and made a robotic tree that followed me around the house, singing carols.

“This one first,” I announced as I held up the small present that Alyss had given me. “This thing has been taunting me for days.”

Mom laughed at that. “Well, we can’t have that.”

I carefully unwrapped the paper, then opened the unmarked box. Inside was a small glass jar.

Mom leaned closer and stared at the jar with a confused expression. “Little red threads?”

“Saffron,” I told her with a grin. “This is probably like, fifty dollars worth of saffron.”

That made Mom blink. “It’s that expensive?”

“The most expensive spice in the world,” I explained with a grin. “They come from an orchid, and you only get three of these little threads from each flower. So…”

“Oh,” Mom responded, looking a little skeptical. “If they’re that much trouble to get, they’d better taste good.”

“Good enough,” I assured her, already thinking about what I could use this for. “Maybe a nice paella. I haven’t made that before…”

Now I really felt bad for not getting Alyss anything. I’d definitely have to fix that once we got back to Whateley. In fact, I could do a little shopping before going back, and return with her present in hand.

“My present now,” Mom announced, grabbing a larger box and handing it to me.

Mom had an eager, almost impatient look on her face, so I took my time with unwrapping the present. Watching Mom get a bit antsy was actually kind of fun.

Knowing Mom, I was expecting a devise, or more likely, tools to work on my own devises. Mom was very supportive of my devisor abilities. However, what I wasn’t expecting was the leatherbound book that I found inside.

I flipped through the pages and my eyes widened slightly. “Spells…”

“It’s a book on some basic rune magic,” Mom explained a little nervously. “I heard that this works well with the enchantment stuff that you’ve been practicing, so I reached out to an old contact in Chicago and got this.”

I stared down at the book for several seconds, still a little surprised because this was about the last thing that I would have expected from Mom. In fact, there was a good chance that Beth was involved in giving her the idea.

“Thank you,” I told my mom before giving her a hug. “And now I feel bad for just getting you socks.”

“Socks?” Mom asked with an amused look. “Again?”

I did get Mom socks. Several pairs. They were very comfortable socks though, ones that would keep her feet nice and warm while she worked in her lab. Of course, that wasn’t all that I got for her though.

Mom was always hard to buy for. What can you get for someone who can build whatever they want? In this case, I got her a reservation for a full body massage at a local spa. That would work out all the kinks that build up from countless hours hunched over her lab table.

There were a few more presents after this, but mostly smaller ones. Mom did give me a couple tools for use on my own devises. She just couldn’t help herself, but I knew that I’d get some good use out of them. Mom never skimped when it came to getting quality tools.

Once we were done with the presents, I settled down on the couch with a fresh cup of cocoa. I had my new book open in front of me and was carefully looking through it, seeing that it was a primer for rune magic, and that it included a few basic rune spells. None of these were very powerful, but that made them perfect for me since they didn’t require a lot of essence. It would be nice to add these to my repertoire.

“You know,” I said, pausing and looking up from the book. “This reminds me that I need to head back up to Seattle again in a couple days.”

“What?” Mom asked in surprise.

“You know that thing that happened yesterday?” I asked cautiously.

“With that Bombastic woman?” Mom asked, her eyes going narrow.

For several seconds, it looked like she was about to slip into one of her Diedricks rants about how she was going to take revenge on Bombastic. Then, she’d disappear into her lab for another day or two while she invented a new death ray or killer robot. But instead, she paused, took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah,” I responded with a faint smile of relief. “Well, Crucibelle said that the Seattle Supers wanted to do their own debrief on what happened…and ask about my run in with Bombastic last month too.”

Mom nodded slowly. “That makes sense, but it is a bit of a trip.”

“Which is why she promised that Witchling would give me another lesson,” I added with a faint smirk. “As compensation for the trouble.”

“Does Witchling know that she’s been volunteered?” Mom asked with a chuckle.

“By now, she probably does,” I said with a grin. “Anyway, I figure, I can ask her about this rune magic and how I can incorporate it into my enchantments.”

As it was, I was already thinking about how I could place runes on some of my devices in order to anchor my enchantments a little more firmly. However, I was sure that there was more I could do with them, once I knew how.

“That sounds good to me,” Mom said, though she was frowning. “But this time you need to be better armed.”

“That was the plan,” I told her with a sigh, wishing that I’d brought my coil gun from Whateley. At the time, I’d thought that would be more hassle than it was worth. “My needle gun works great against normal people, but was pretty useless against Bombastic. I’ll probably borrow something from the armory.”

“You know,” Mom said, her eyes beginning to gleam with excitement. “I have a new particle cannon that needs testing…”

“Something a little smaller and more discreet,” I quickly added. “And preferably, something that doesn’t need to be mounted to a vehicle.”

“Oh,” Mom responded, looking a little disappointed.

I chuckled at that, then gave her a hug. “I’m sure I can find something suitable.”

**

Seattle Wa, Tuesday late afternoon, Dec 25th 2007
Absinthe

“This next,” Mom said as she handed me the bowl of mashed potatoes.

I didn’t say a word as I carried the potatoes to the dinner table and set it next to all the other food that I’d already put there. Normally, I just had to set the table, but this year, Mom was making me play a much larger role than usual.

I’d only been a girl for a few months, and most of that time had been spent at Whateley. Because of that, Mom and I were still getting used to our new relationship as mother and daughter, and she was still trying to figure out how to treat me. Or at least she had been. As of today, it looked like Mom had decided to treat me as a normal girl, which apparently meant that I was now expected to help cook and prepare holiday meals. The extra work was annoying, but at least Mom wasn’t making me wear dresses the way that Mrs. Lauriant did.

“Do you have anything else for me?” I asked Mom, sure that I’d already brought over all the food.

“Just some extra napkins,” Mom added. “Just in case.”

Once the last touches were added to the table, Mom finally announced that dinner was ready. It was only then that Dad came into the dining room, where he paused to admire everything before sitting down.

“It looks amazing,” Dad announced.

Mom just beamed at that. “Gwen helped.”

I squirmed, a little uncomfortable with the attention. Before this, I’d always done the same thing that Dad had, which was find an out of the way place to sit and wait until dinner was ready.

Dad had flown in last night, arriving in Sea Tac around the same time that I was running for my life. He’d thought to surprise me and Mom, but instead, had been surprised to find me in trouble with a dangerous mutant. Again.

My relationship with Dad was a bit strange, but it always had been. Growing up, we hadn’t ever seen eye to eye. He was a stickler for the rules, whatever the rules were, while I hated rules on general principle.

Dad was with the MCO, which made it extremely ironic that it took my becoming a mutant for us to become a bit closer. Now, I could see a bit of the reasoning behind Dad’s ‘by the book’ philosophy, and recognize that he wasn’t nearly as inflexible as I’d always believed. In fact, he’d even taught me a few things about how to use the rules for my own benefit.

I sat down at the table and a moment later, four green pixies settled down as well. One of them perched on the handle of the wooden spoon that was currently stuck into the mashed potatoes, while the other three darted about, appearing to play a game of tag while using the gravy boat as an obstacle.

“No pixies on the dinner table,” Mom insisted in a gentle tone.

Dad was watching the pixies with no real expression, but I’d come to recognize the sights of a faint smile. He was entertained by the pixies antics, even if he was pretending that he wasn’t.

I gave the pixies a mental command and they all flew up and out of the way. I looked at one of them and made a mental note to get rid of that one soon. It was fully charged with my stored glamour, and the last thing I wanted was for it to pop and make my parents hallucinate. Then again, that could be amusing.

Once the table was cleared of pixies, I began loading up my plate, though I only took a thin slice of the ham. Ever since I’d become Sidhe, meat had become a lot less appealing to me. I hadn’t gone full vegetarian yet, but I was definitely leaning in that direction, whether I wanted to or not.

“This is delicious, as always,” Dad told Mom a minute later.

“Gwen helped,” Mom told him again.

Dad gave me a nod of acknowledgement. I just squirmed a little self-consciously. Cooking wasn’t really my thing, and I didn’t want this to become a regular thing. However, I already knew that since I was now a girl, Mom would continue to expect my help in the kitchen.

We were about halfway done with dinner when Mom abruptly asked me, “So, when do I get to meet your boyfriend?”

I nearly choked at the question, then gave my Dad a cold glare, knowing that he must have spilled the beans about Collin. However, he sat there with his carefully controlled expression, pretending that he didn’t even notice.

“Collin and I are just friends,” I lied.

“Of course you are,” Mom responded with a faint smirk. “But I have to admit that I’m a little surprised since it hadn’t been that long since you were a… Well…”

“Since I was a guy too,” I finished for her.

Mom nodded at that, looking just a little concerned. “Does he know?”

I hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodded. “Yeah… He found out who I used to be, and we had a bit of an argument over it.” I winced at that. “But, we kind of talked it out.”

“Lucky for him,” Dad mused, almost under his breath. “I’d hate to imagine what you might do to the boy if you were upset with him.”

I paused to consider what I’d done to Centurion after he’d pissed me off, not to mention the little jokes that I’d played on a few of my fellow Poesies. And now, I could actually bounce ideas off some of the other kids in the prank club and come up with some truly devious ideas.

“Very lucky,” I responded with a faint smirk of my own.

“And speaking of Collin,” Dad said, looking at me. “Crucibelle told me that she wants you and Collin to come by for a little debriefing over what happened yesterday.”

“Again?” I asked with a sigh.

“You talked with the MCO and the police,” Dad explained, “but the Seattle Supers are interested in the event as well.”

“But Crucibelle was there,” I reminded him. “They don’t need to ask us about what happened.”

“Detailed reports require all information available,” Dad told me with a serious expression. “And you may have noticed something that she missed.”

I let out another sigh. “Fine. But there had better be snacks.”

“I’ll let her know,” Dad replied with a faint smile, one that was barely noticeable. However, it was there.

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday late morning, Dec 27th 2007
Roulette

“So, how was your Christmas?” I asked.

I had just stepped into the comfortable meeting room in the Seattle Supers’ headquarters, a room that was more like a living room than the corporate meeting room that I’d imagined. Gwen and Collin were already there waiting, along with a couple of the Seattle Supers.

Since I wasn’t sure what else to say, I asked about Christmas, then immediately grimaced in embarrassment. I probably sounded pretty stupid.

Kara, who was standing right beside me, actually giggled. Mom, who’d somehow managed to make it, just looked amused. And Kyle, who’d been extremely reluctant to come at all, just looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

“Christmas was great,” Gwen answered with a grin. She glanced over at her boyfriend, then smirked. “Collin got me a jigsaw puzzle. It has a really cool picture on the cover, so I’m looking forward to putting it together.”

“I thought it looked cool,” Collin said, looking both pleased and self-conscious at the same time. “And the artist is named Candice Kane, or something like that, which immediately made me think of Christmas.”

“That sounds like a good Christmas name,” I agreed.

“What about you?” Gwen asked. “What did you get for Christmas.”

“I got a new spellbook,” I answered, which suddenly caught Witchling’s attention.

Witchling was sitting a short distance away, looking like she should have been one of my classmates at Whateley instead of being my unofficial mentor. She looked way too young to have that much experience, but that was just because of her power.

“It’s about rune enchantments,” I told Witchling. “And I’d like to ask you a few questions about them when we’re done.”

“No problem,” Witchling answered with a look of anticipation. “I’m curious to see what you have.”

“It came from Chicago,” Mom said, putting a little emphasis on the city, as though that explained things. “An old classmate from Whateley made the introduction.”

“Chicago does have some good suppliers,” Witchling agreed. “Though they aren’t usually known for sharing their techniques.”

With that, Mom reached up for the large devisor weapon that had been slung over her shoulder, positioned so that it hung down her back. A moment later, she leaned the large rifle up against the wall, making me more aware of my own weapon, my needle gun which was holstered on my belt. Nearly everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on Mom.

“Oh,” Mom said, blinking as she realized that everyone was watching her. “That’s just my freeze cannon. I brought it just in case.”

“You carry a freeze cannon around?” Collin asked blankly.

Mom shrugged. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Not even remotely,” I told my mom with a wry smile. “You know that.”

“Are you a hero?” Collin asked curiously.

“Oh no,” Mom responded with a chuckle. “Just a devisor. I tried being a hero when I was younger, but that work just isn’t compatible with having Diedricks.” She shook her head. “You have no idea how embarrassing it is, to have an episode while fighting a villain, then spend the next fifteen minutes ranting to HIM about the horrible things you're going to do to him while all the victims stare at you as if YOU are the dangerous one."

“Beth told me about that,” Kyle commented with a chuckle. “And from what I heard, you also scared Safecracker into going straight.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed with an enthusiastic grin. “Aunt Beth told me all about that.”

“Now THAT would be something to see,” Crucibelle commented as she came into the room.

I gave my mom a reassuring pat on the hand. “It looks like you were a better hero than you thought, if you could get the villain to actually quit.”

“There is that,” Mom admitted with a chuckle.

“I brought some cookies,” I abruptly announced, setting down a tray of chocolate chip cookies that I’d made last night. “Chocolate chunk.”

“My favorite,” Doctor Tempest said as he helped himself to one of the cookies. He took a bite then smiled. “Very good.”

“Thank you,” I responded.

“Amy is a great baker,” Kara bragged on my behalf.

“I can tell,” Witchling agreed as she took a bite of her own cookie. “Even better than what my sister makes.”

After this, everyone settled down into their chairs or seats on the couches. There were a lot of people present, more than I’d really expected. Kara, Kyle, Gwen, Collin, and myself were there, of course, having been there when Bombastic attacked. Mom had come, partly for moral support and partly for security. And then there were the heroes.

Crucibelle, Witchling, and Doctor Tempest were all present as representatives of the Seattle Supers. I had no idea why three of them needed to be here. In fact, I had no idea why all of us had to be here either. Crucibelle had been there for the fight, and we’d all given our statements.

“Is Goodboy coming?” Witchling asked. “Or is he still chasing his tail?” She smirked. “I mean, Spot. Or is he still chasing Spot?”

“The latter,” Crucibelle responded flatly.

Witchling nodded. “He is stubborn that way. Unfortunately for Spot.”

“Thank you all for coming,” Crucibelle said as she looked at us one at a time. “I apologize for having to ask you all to come do this. I know it isn’t easy, especially coming up from Portland.”

“We didn’t have anything better to do today,” Kyle responded wryly.

“We still appreciate you coming,” Dr. Tempest said. “Now, one at a time, can you tell us what happened in your own words?”

Collin started off, describing what had happened with Bombastic from his point of view, and then Gwen did the same thing. I just listened, wondering what the point was to all of this. Then, it suddenly hit me.

The Seattle Supers had already fought Bombastic previously, and she was now captured and in custody. They weren’t doing this in order deal with her, either now or in the future. They were doing this whole debriefing in order to show us, the police, Whateley, and our parents, that they were taking the whole incident seriously. This whole meeting was one big PR move.

I leaned back into the couch, relaxing a little now that I understood what this was about. Kara gave me a curious look, apparently wondering about my shift in body language. I just gave her a reassuring smile.

Mom listened to all the descriptions with a growing scowl and I saw her fingers twitch a few times, as if she was eager to start working on something. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I knew was going to come. Soon, she would either go into one of her devisor fugues, then rush off to build something, or slip into a Diedricks rant about how she would destroy Bombastic, then she’d rush off to build something.

“Mom,” I gently said. “Maybe you should wait in the other room.”

Kara gave my mom a worried look, now realizing what was about to happen as well. “That might be a good idea,” she offered.

Mom took a deep breath, then slowly let it out before reluctantly admitting, “You might be right.”

“Do you want a cup of tea?” Crucibelle asked her with a concerned look.

After a moment of hesitation, Mom responded, “That would be nice.”

We took a pause in the debriefing while Crucibelle went to get Mom a cup of tea. While we waited, everyone just watched Gwen’s pixies, which were darting around the room and getting into mischief. I wasn’t sure how much of that was the pixies, and how much of that was actually Gwen messing around.

Kara crouched down close to a pair of pixies who were wrestling with each other on the table, looking as if they were replaying a scene from some professional wrestling match. I was pretty sure that these particular antics were pure Gwen.

Crucibelle came back a couple minutes later with a cup of tea, which Mom happily accepted. By this time, Mom had calmed down and no longer seemed to be on the verge of dricking out.

“Now then,” Witchling said with a grin, her eyes still locked on the little pixies. “Where were we?”

But before anyone could answer, Natsilane came into the room with a grim expression on his face. As soon as he arrived, the other members of the Supers tensed up, as if they immediately knew that something was wrong.

“The Narrator is in Pike Place,” Natsilane announced grimly. “And apparently, he’s playing a murder mystery.”

“Crap,” Witchling exclaimed. “I hate that guy.”

“The Narrator?” I asked blankly.

“A villain,” Crucibelle answered as she stood up.

“An annoying one,” Witchling added as she joined Crucibelle, adjusting her hat as she did so. “He’s a mind controller who likes to make people play out parts in whatever story he comes up with. I have nightmares over the time he tried to make a musical,” Witchling grumbled. “A bad choice for someone who seems to be tone def.”

“It looks like we’re going to have to end this,” Crucibelle told us. “Thank you all for coming.”

“It was our pleasure,” Kyle said with a friendly smile and a sense of relief.

After this, we were all quickly ushered out of the headquarters while the Supers took off to deal with the supervillain. I was relieved that the debriefing was over, but annoyed since I never got that additional lesson with Witchling that I’d been promised.

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday early afternoon, Dec 27th 2007

Adam Krayche stood atop a building with his hands behind his back in a manner that reminded him of the ‘parade rest’ position from his Army days. Of course, his days in the military had been surprisingly uneventful. The scars that covered his face and body had come afterwards, the result of a mutant terrorist who’d killed seventeen people in a random attack, including the woman he’d loved. After this, Krayche had joined the MCO, where he’d found his purpose. The same purpose that he was here to serve now.

“The target is leaving the compound,” Krayche’s partner announced.

Ty Green was a dark-skinned man in his early thirties, who was crouched down and staring through a pair of binoculars. He’d been watching the headquarters of one of the local hero teams, a team that they had to avoid at all costs.

“The target is surrounded by other people,” Green continued professionally, “but otherwise in the open.”

“Good,” Krayche responded with a nod. “We can’t take her yet. Not until she’s further away from this place.”

“Understood,” Green replied. He looked up from the binoculars and commented, “This little elf girl hardly looks like any kind of a threat.”

“A single cancer cell doesn’t either,” Krayche commented. “Until it starts to spread.”

Then Kayche looked to the third person present, Jacob Owens, the newest addition to his squad. It hadn't been easy to break Owens out of prison, but it had been worth it. There weren't many agents who'd been able to kill off a powerful mutant 'hero' the way he had

“It looks like you’ll finally get to see our squad in action,” Krayche told Owens.

“I look forward to it,” Owens told him with a smirk. “It’s good to be back in the field after my little time out.”

“Should I notify the local office of our operation?” Green asked, looking at Krayche.

“No,” Krayche snapped, his expression turning hard. “The local office has been compromised. There are too many sympathizers who would interfere with what needs to be done.”

“Understood,” Green said with a sharp nod. “Off the books.”

“Off the books,” Krayche agreed. “Now get to it.”

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday afternoon, Dec 27th 2007
Absinthe

Back before I’d manifested, I hadn’t had many friends, if any. I was used to being out on my own, so, I found it strange to be back in Seattle, walking down the street with a whole group of people. It made me feel like I was some kind of celebrity, with my very own entourage.

There were currently six of us. I was pretty close with Collin, and I knew Amy from Whateley. I’d only met Kara and Kyle the other day, but we’d gone through something scary together, which created a kind of bond. And then there was Amy’s mom, who was tagging along for some reason.

I knew that we were an odd looking group, what with me and Amy both having unusual colored hair while Amy’s mom carried that big gun slung over her back. I could have used a bit of illusion to hide us, or make us less noticeable, but didn’t really see the point. Green and purple hair were unusual, but nothing to freak out over. After all, hair dye existed.

Several of my pixies flew overhead, darting from lamp post to window ledge, keeping a low profile from and avoiding being spotted by anyone on the street. Those would be a little more difficult to explain, so I was using a bit of illusion to make them even harder to see.

“You know,” I joked with Amy, “we’ve been seeing each other more on vacation than we actually do back at the school.”

“That is true,” Amy agreed pleasantly. “We share a few friends there, but don’t usually hang out together.”

“Maybe if you’d stayed in Poe,” I joked.

Amy shrugged at that. “Consider me a Poesie in exile.”

“So,” Collin asked with an amused look. “What do you think the odds are of running into some of our other classmates?”

“Well, Jinx isn’t around,” I mused, “so probably not that great.”

“Jinx?” Kara asked.

“Someone from school,” Amy explained. “She has…weird luck.”

“Hence her name,” Amy’s mom added with a chuckle. “We had a mangler in my cottage when I was going there. I wonder what ever happened to Horseshoe. Last I heard, some casino had put a hit out on him.”

That made me chuckle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened to Jinx one day. She’s really nice, but…”

I shrugged, thinking about all the odd things that tended to happen around her. It was easy to blame manglers for anything that went wrong too, even when they had nothing to do with it.

“You know,” Collin said a moment later. “I thought I saw Downpour walking down the street earlier this morning. At least, I thought it was her until I realized she was smiling.”

“That wouldn’t be Downpour then,” I agreed with a sigh. “She’s from Vancouver, so it wouldn’t be impossible that we’d see her here, but…”

“But Downpour isn’t known for smiling,” Amy agreed with a sad look on her face.

“I think Vulpine is from Vancouver too,” I mused, trying to remember which of our other classmates were from the local area. “But I think, we’re more likely to run into Kit than anyone else. She’s from Seattle too.”

Kyle chuckled. “I keep hearing about that school, and it almost makes me regret that I never went there.”

“It was an experience,” Amy’s mom assured him. “And you do meet a lot of…interesting people.”

“Interesting,” Amy mused. “That is a bit of an understatement.”

“Tell me more,” Kara urged us to continue. “I might go there too one day.”

“You’d have to manifest first,” Kyle reminded her. “And I wouldn’t count on that. Just because there are two mutants in the family, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be one too.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Amy’s mom told her. “And remember, with some powers, its better to never manifest at all.”

Kara stared at her, then at Amy with a worried look. I felt a faint knot in my stomach as I remembered Amy’s little ‘issue’, the one that had resulted in her being put in Hawthorne. Her powers came with a medical issue that could kill her at any time. A lot of the kids at Whateley considered her to be something of a pity case, or a tragedy waiting to happen. I could only imagine how much worse than would be for her friends and family.

“Anyway,” I said to change the subject. “Since we’re all here anyway, why don’t we do something?”

“Like visit Pike Place,” Kara suggested innocently. “I want to watch some of the fish throwing.”

Amy snorted. “You just want to watch the Supers fight that villain.”

Kara shrugged. “Free entertainment.”

“I think we can do without that kind of entertainment,” Kyle commented with a look of amusement. “Especially after the other day.”

“Yeah,” Collin added. “I would have thought that you’d have enough of seeing a supervillain up close. I know that I sure have.”

“Well, some of us don’t go to a school where we can see cool things every day,” Kara responded, sticking her tongue out at him. “So we have to take our excitement when we find it.”

“She’s YOUR niece,” Amy’s mom told Kyle, who just shrugged.

While the conversation continued, I shifted my attention to my pixies, taking a peek out through their eyes. I’d gotten into the habit of using them as spies and lookouts, especially when I’d spent so much time dodging Centurion and his buddies at school, and I continued to do that now.

“Oh shit,” I gasped a moment later.

From one of my pixie drones, I saw down an alleyway that was just ahead of us. There were two men in the alley, dressed in unmarked, dark grey, SWAT type gear, with what looked like night vision goggles of some sort on. And they were both armed with expensive looking weapons.

“We have trouble,” I announced, pointing ahead of us.

The armed men leapt out from around the corner, their weapons immediately pointed at us. However, because of my warning, everyone was already reacting.

Kyle dove to the side, drawing a pair of high-tech looking guns in the process. Amy began forming a ball of glowing blue energy in her hands, while her mom stepped back and unslung her own weapon.

“I brought some toys this time,” Collin exclaimed as he pulled out a police baton. It wasn’t much, but I knew that he’d been practicing with those things.

“Me too,” I responded as I drew Needle from its sheathe, keeping it in dagger form. Needle was a great weapon for fighting up close and personal, but I preferred to keep my distance and avoid fighting at all. Unfortunately, that wasn’t always possible.

Kara was the only one who didn’t have any powers or weapons to rely on, so she let out a yelp of surprise and scrambled backwards, looking for cover. Then Amy’s mom grabbed her and pulled her back behind one of the cars that were parked alongside the street.

The attackers hesitated a moment, apparently surprised to realize that we’d noticed them and were already moving. Then one of them threw something at us, though it hit the ground and rolled. Kyle immediately kicked it and the small object when skittering along the ground until it went beneath a car and exploded.

“Flash bang,” Kyle stated as he opened fire on the attackers.

The attackers opened fire as well, shooting in our direction. I was already throwing up an illusion, one to obscure us all so that they wouldn’t be able to make out exactly where we were or what we were doing. But in spite of that, both men aimed their weapons directly at me and fired again.

“Shit,” I exclaimed as I dove to the side.

Their attention followed me, even through my illusion. It had to be their goggles. They were letting those men see through my illusions. I cursed again at the realization.

“Just like my combat final against Jericho,” I grumbled. What good were my illusions if my enemies could just ignore them?

“Their armor looks like it will stop my needle gun,” Amy said as she threw the ball of glowing blue energy. “This…not so much.”

Both men jumped to the side to avoid the ball of energy, though a moment later, there was a beam of blue light instead, which hit one of the attackers. He hit the ground, suddenly covered with a sheet of ice. My eyes darted to Amy’s mom, who was taking aim for another shot with her freeze cannon.

More gunshots filled the air, but they hadn’t come from the men in front of us. There was a yelp of pain and I snapped around to see Amy’s mom holding her arm while her freeze cannon fell to the ground, sparks popping out from the side.

“MOM,” Amy cried out while Kara exclaimed, “LIZ!”

“It grazed me,” Amy’s mom snarled as she dropped down behind the car, still holding her arm. “I’m bleeding, but it doesn’t look deep.”

Kyle opened fire, shooting back behind us, where I saw three more attackers emerging. One of them was shorter and thinner than the others, giving the impression that this one might be a woman, but the body armor and goggles made it difficult to tell.

I looked around, automatically searching for an escape route. However, I couldn’t just run off and abandon the others.

“Remember,” one of the attackers told the others, “the green-haired one is our primary target. Focus on her first.”

“Me?” I blurted out in surprise.

I had a lot of questions, but at the moment, I knew that they would have to wait. Instead, I focused on surviving these guys. If my illusions wouldn’t work, then I’d have to try something else.

Two of my pixies dove towards the new attackers, one of them hitting a man and popping, releasing all the stored up glamour that it had been holding. It wasn’t anywhere near a full charge, but it was enough. The attacker immediately turned and began shooting at something that only he could see.

My other pixie swooped around another attacker, acting as a distraction while a third pixie began moving in. I didn’t really have any offensive spells, but I’d learned a few tricks to work around that, and this was one of them. A moment later, I overcharged one of my pixies with a spell and it exploded, sending the attacker to the ground with a charred uniform.

“Kamikaze pixie,” I exclaimed for Kara’s benefit. “It might not be a fireball, but it still does the job.”

“You killed it,” Kara gasped with a look of horror.

“It’s not a real pixie,” Amy quickly assured her, even as she drew her needle gun and opened fire. A spray of tiny fléchettes appeared across one of the attackers. “It wasn’t really alive in the first place.”

“What she said,” I agreed.

The man who Amy had shot, staggered back and then caught himself against a nearby wall. His armor had stopped most of her flechettes, but at least one of them had gotten through. From what I could see of his new limp, it must have gotten him in the leg.

One of the attackers came rushing in, opening fire and spraying the area with gunshots, only to suddenly freeze with his feet stuck to the ground. Collin crouched down nearby with an almost predatory grin.

“Gotcha,” Collin exclaimed, having locked the attacker in place.

A moment later, the attacker simply turned and pointed his weapon directly at Collin. My boyfriend cursed and dove to the side, releasing the attacker in the process.

“Watch it,” I called out.

Collin hit the ground and then lashed out with his police baton, hitting the attacker in the legs. The attacker staggered back, having been knocked off balance. And in the time it took him to regain it, Collin was back on his feet and in the man’s face.

“I don’t think so,” Collin exclaimed as he tore the gun out of the man’s hand and then threw him up against a wall.

It was easy to forget that Collin was an exemplar, even if not a very powerful one. He was stronger than he looked though, and he looked pretty athletic.

Another of the attackers came at me, though he stopped well out of my range and simply took aim. I threw Needle at him, hitting him in the arm enough to draw blood, but not much more. He yelped, then quickly recovered.

I rushed the man, cursing as I did so. I hated having to fight up close and personal, especially when my opponent was armed. Because of that, I did what I usually did in those situations. I cheated.

One of my pixies suddenly slammed into the side of the man’s head while a second pixie hit the gun, pushing it away so that it was no longer pointed at me. A moment later, I was in the man’s face.

My foot came up and kicked the man between his legs as hard as I could. He let out a pained gurgle, but I wasn’t done. I mentally called Needle back to me, and it soon as it was back in my hand, I drove it into his side, catching him in a gap in the armor.

Collin let out a yelp of pain as one of the gunshots grazed his side. I felt a cold anger at that, one which helped to contain the surge of terror and dread that I also felt.

Amy rushed in, holding another ball of glowing energy. “We need to finish this fast,” she said, seeming to ignore the fact that most of our attackers were already down. “They may have friends.”

My eyes widened at that as I realized she was right. And at the moment, I no longer had any pixies out as scouts and spotters. There was no telling how many enemies might be sneaking up on us at that very moment.

“There’s another one,” Kyle added, gesturing to the side where I saw yet another attacker, one who stood back and seemed to be watching us.

“I have an idea,” Amy said, only to suddenly freeze in place and let out a loud gasp. The ball of energy dropped from her hand and hit the ground where it exploded into a burst of sparks and vanished.

“AMY,” her mom exclaimed as she jumped out from behind cover and ran towards Amy, ignoring her own injury.

Amy collapsed to the ground like a puppets whose strings had been cut, and she began shaking with some kind of seizure. I watched this with horror, knowing that she had to be going into another burnout.

“NO!” Kara yelled as she ran out from behind cover to join Amy’s mom by her side.

I looked around, suddenly realizing that the tide had just turned.
Amy was down, with a condition that could kill her even without these attackers. Kara had no powers or weapons, while Collin and Amy’s mom were both injured. My heart raced as I took this all in.

“They’re after me,” I gasped, realizing what I had to do.

“No,” Collin protested, apparently realizing what I was about to do. “Gwen…”

“I’ll lead them away,” I told him, taking a deep breath as I did so. “Get everyone to safety.”

“Don’t do this,” Collin insisted.

I just flashed him a grin. “I’m good at giving people the slip.”

With that, I pushed as much essence as I could spare into a single pulse, one which wasn’t directed into an actual spell. Five new pixies appeared, and I sent each of them flying off towards the attackers. My illusions might not work on these guys, but there was more than one way to distract people.

A moment later, I turned and ran as fast as I could, hoping that my distraction would buy me enough of a head start.

“THE TARGET,” one of the attackers yelled, pointing at me. “DON’T LET HER ESCAPE!”

A nervous smile formed on my lips as I left my friends behind, hoping that I could buy them a chance to get away and survive. I’d spent years practicing for this very thing, running away from bullies, dodging supervillains, and training with the Hooligans back at school. I just hoped I wasn’t being overconfident.

Seattle Wa, Thursday late afternoon, Dec 27th 2007
Roulette

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I awoke to this sound, to the bustle going on around me, to the sight of white ceiling tiles above and to a familiar antiseptic scent. A hospital. I’d had a burnout. Again.

We’d been attacked by those men in grey uniforms, completely unprovoked as far as I knew. That wasn’t a surprise though because there were always people willing to cause problems for reasons that were entirely their own. This was really no different than when my friends and I had fought the Triangle goons.

I remembered the fight, Mom getting shot, and then the surge of pain as the burnout tore through my body. It had been a bad one, worse than normal. The fact that I was in the hospital again was proof of that. Most of my micro-burnouts were over within a couple minutes.

Burnouts were old news. I dreaded them and knew that one day, one would probably kill me, but that was an old dread. The memory of my mom being shot was a new one.

I sat up in bed and looked around, only to let out a sigh of relief when I saw my mom sitting in a chair off to the side. She was focused on a small piece of equipment, what appeared to be a piece of her freeze cannon. I knew Mom well enough to know that she was using that as a way to distract herself from something. From me. My eyes went to the bandage that was wrapped around her upper arm.

“Mom?” I asked.

Mom looked up and her eyes flashed with relief. “Amy…” A moment later, she was standing right beside me, holding my hand and asking, “How are you feeling?”

“All right,” I answered, which was the truth.

Whenever my burnouts were over, I was usually left in pretty decent condition. It was a side effect of my mode changes since every time I changed, it reset my body and healed all the injuries I had, including the damage caused by the burnout itself.

“What about you?” I asked, indicating her arm.

Mom gave me a weak smile. “Just a scratch. You were the one who had to get resuscitated twice.”

“Twice?” I asked in surprise.

“This was a bad one,” she told me with a grim expression, tears forming in her eyes. “You almost… You almost didn’t make it.”

I hesitated for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “Damn.”

Mom looked like she was about to say something else when Kara peeked her head into the room. She saw me sitting up and her eyes went wide with relief. “You’re awake…”

Kara practically ran over and threw her arms around me, giving me the biggest hug she could. I could feel the worry in her grip…and the relief.

“About time,” Kara finally said when she pulled away. “You’ve been out for months.”

“Months?” I gasped in surprise.

“Hours,” Mom corrected with a glare at Kara.

“Well, it felt like months,” Kara responded.

Collin chose that moment to step into the room as well, though he kept his distance. He was limping and I noticed that he had blood on his shirt and his own bandage on his side.

“How bad?” I asked.

“It hurts,” Collin admitted. “But I’m an exemplar. Give me a couple weeks and I won’t even have a scar.”

“Exemplars are durable,” Mom admitted. “Even the low level ones.” She looked at her own bandage and added, “Makes me wish I was one.”

“I wish I was an exemplar,” Kara said with a sigh.

I chuckled at that. “Be careful what you wish for. One of my friends is an exemplar, and she’s stuck looking like she’s ten years old. And I know others who are a lot more extreme.”

Then I noticed the worried look on Collin’s face and the notable fact that two people from the fight were missing.

“What happened?” I asked.

Mom hesitated a moment before carefully answering, “Your friend…”

“Gwen lured them away from us,” Collin said with a grim expression. “She took off running, and those goons all ran off chasing her.”

“No,” I gasped.

“Gwen is GOOD at running away,” Collin assured us. “And if those guys do manage to catch her, you can bet that she’ll make them wish they hadn’t.”

“Uncle Kyle is out looking for her,” Kara added. “But so far, he hasn’t found her.”

I nodded at that, then decided that I should take care of my normal ritual before I lost track. This was something that I did after every burnout…and every morning when I first woke up. I tried to determine which power set I currently had, because if I didn’t know what powers I had, I didn’t know how to avoid having an accident with them.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, paying close attention to my body and surroundings. My senses were no sharper than normal and I didn’t feel any stronger or healthier either. That meant that I wasn’t in exemplar mode.

There were no signs of other people’s thoughts in my head. I opened my eyes and stared at the coffee cup next to the chair where Mom had been waiting. When I tried to move it with my mind, there was no effect at all. I wasn’t in psi mode.

Next came energizer mode. I didn’t feel the electro-magnetic energy that was nearly everywhere, which meant that I didn’t have this power either. Nor could I feel a pool of essence starting to gather, which ruled out wizard mode.

“It looks like I’m a devisor now,” I mused since that was my last power set, which meant that I had to be a devisor by default.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked me with a worried look.

“Fine,” I replied automatically before glancing around at the hospital room we were in. “At least, as fine as I can be, considering the circumstances. I was just trying to figure out which powers I’m working with now.”

“That sounds annoying,” Collin commented as he came closer.

“It can be,” I assured him.

Then I noticed something on Collin’s shoulder. It was a long green thread. No, it was a long green hair. An idea suddenly struck me.

“Lean over,” I told Collin, who gave me a curious look but did just that.

I carefully plucked off the single green hair and held it up triumphantly. “With this, I can cast a tracking spell to find Gwen.”

Collin’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“I thought you just said you were a devisor,” Kara pointed out.

I nodded at that. “Yeah, but I have some essence stored in a battery...enough for one or two spells.”

Tracking spells were simple when you had hair or blood from the person you were tracking. It was always easier for me to cast spells when I was in wizard mode, but I suspected that this was more psychosomatic than anything else. Regardless of which mode I was in, I could handle this spell. It would just take me about fifteen minutes.

“AMY!” Kara suddenly exclaimed. “YOUR HAND!”

“My hand?” I asked blankly.

I raised my hand and then stared at it in surprise. My hand looked like it was made of gold metal, or at least, coated with it. It was also spreading up my arm. It didn’t hurt, so all I could do was stare for several long seconds before I suddenly realized what was happening.

“Well,” I mused with a weak chuckle. “This is new.”

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday late afternoon, Dec 27th 2007

“Report,” Adam Krayche ordered.

“We’ve contained the target within a general area,” Ty Green responded in a professional tone. “We haven’t laid eyes on her in several minutes, but we are confident that she hasn’t escaped our perimeter.” Then in a more casual tone, he admitted, “This one is slippery. If it wasn’t for these goggles, we would have lost her a long time ago.”

“Magic and illusion,” Krayche mused, reluctantly agreeing with his partner’s assessment. Their target was slippery.

Krayche thought about how the target had put Hayes out of action by slipping a dagger into his side. Hayes would live…probably…but he was no longer in any shape to continue with the current operation.

The entire operation had been a complete cluster so far, starting with the failed ambush. They’d been spotted too soon and had lost the element of surprise. Things might have gone differently if they’d had time to position a sniper, or if they’d had better intelligence on the target’s companions. Those companions had been a lot more dangerous than expected, with weapons and abilities that hadn’t been planned for.

Hayes had been badly injured. Colby would suffer minor frostbite, but not enough to take him off mission. Other members of his team had their own injuries as well, but like Colby, they would be able to continue.

Unfortunately, the botched ambush resulted in the target slipping through their fingers, at least, for the moment. However, Krayche was confident that they would get her soon.

“Take the target alive, if possible,” Krayche ordered. “Dead if not.”

“Alive?” Green asked skeptically.

“Alive, we can interrogate her before putting her down,” Krayche explained. “We can gather valuable intel on that school she goes to and on the local mutants.” He scowled at that, thinking of the botched ambush, largely caused by a lack of information. “It’s time we started planning for future operations.”

“Understood,” Green responded.

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday late afternoon, Dec 27th 2007
Absinthe

I pulled back into the recessed doorframe, my eyes locked on one of the drones that were flying about overhead, watching the entire area. I couldn’t take to the rooftops without being spotted immediately. If it hadn’t been for those things, I would have lost those grey bastards a long time ago.

It seemed blatantly unfair that these guys had goggles that could see through my illusions, drones that kept following me, and the advantage of numbers. I wasn’t sure of exactly how many of these guys there were, but there were at least half a dozen of them. Normally, I’m a big fan of unfair fights, but not when it gives the other side the advantage.

“Good thing I have drones of my own,” I mused.

With that, I shifted my focus to my pixies, one after another. One was perched on a street light, watching a pair of armed men heading in my direction. Another was on a window ledge, quietly following the one woman who was with them. A third was watching me, keeping an eye on the area around me in case someone tried sneaking up.

Once I’d checked on each of my pixies, I carefully loaded another spell into one of them. The pixies were both my eyes and my hands, and hands worked best when they held the right tools.

I silently cursed the fact that my main trick didn’t work on these guys, but that wasn’t anything new. My illusions hadn’t worked on Jericho either, and as painful as that loss had been, it had taught me a thing or two as well. Illusions might be my primary trick, but they weren’t my only one.

Then I turned my attention back to my actual surroundings, still aware of where my enemies were in relation to me. I’d been able to keep a step or two ahead of the gray bastards for several hours using that little trick with my pixies, but it wouldn’t work forever. It was about time to try something else.

Two of the attackers were now close enough that they could see me, and the only thing preventing them from doing so was the recessed door frame. However, even that would only keep them from seeing me for a few more seconds. The door behind me was locked so I didn’t have anywhere I could go.

My eyes narrowed as I realized that I was going to have to do something that I didn’t want to do. Until now, I’d been avoiding the normal people on the street, even using my illusions to keep them from seeing me and realizing that something was wrong.

With that, I stepped out into the open, already crafting a new illusion. The goons in grey might be immune to my illusions, but everyone else was still vulnerable to them. A moment later, I suddenly looked like a cute and helpless little girl while the armed men now appeared to be a couple of dirty and ragged crackheads.

“HELP,” I yelled out. “THEY’RE TRYING TO TAKE ME.”

Suddenly, nearly every eye in the area turned to stare. The goons froze in place, clearly confused by what was going on. Then they were suddenly surrounded by well-meaning bystanders who wanted to help.

I felt a little guilty about doing this, about getting all of these people involved. However, I’d noticed that the attackers had been extremely careful about the bystanders, even when it meant letting me slip away when they easily could have shot. I hated using these people as distractions and speedbumps, but if that was what it took to escape…

I took advantage of the opportunity to run, leaving the attackers surrounded by people. I just wished that I could have seen them without those goggles, just so I could have seen the looks on their faces.

The drone was still flying overhead, tracking my location for the other attackers. I’d taken that into account and prepared for it. One of my pixies flew up to the drone and then exploded, taking the thing out. It fell to the ground and shattered on impact.

“No more eyes on me,” I muttered, reminding myself that there were more drones up there too. Once those got into range, I’d have to take them out the same way. “At least not from above.”

I was good at running, a lot better than I was at hiding without my illusions to help. All I needed was a path and I’d be able to get past any obstacles in my way. That was what free running was all about.

The female attacker came out ahead of me, surprising me since she was a lot faster than I’d expected. I’d expected to be well past that intersection before she arrived.

One of my pixies flew down and hit her from behind, blasting her with a couple hours worth of glamour all at once. She staggered then began swinging her hand at something that only she could see. I noticed that she didn’t fire her gun, demonstrating a bit more restraint than most people had in that situation.

I ran past the woman and made it a short distance further before I found another of the grey goons blocking my path, pointing a gun straight at me. This one was even more of a surprise than the woman since I’d somehow missed him entirely with my pixies. He barely hesitated before opening fire on me, though I leapt behind a car to avoid being hit.

“Oh shit,” I gasped in surprise.

The woman had been careful enough to hold her fire even when under the influence of my glamour, but this guy… He was firing recklessly, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that he was shooting through windows and possibly hitting bystanders.

I crouched down behind the car, grimacing in anger. I needed to get away, but at the same time… This guy needed a lesson.

A few seconds later, the attacker suddenly heard a deep growl from behind him, right before something seemed to touch his shoulder. He snapped around and opened fire, but there wasn’t anything behind him.

Illusion. Specifically, audio and tactile illusions. I could do more than just the visual kind I was known for, but these type were harder to pull off and not nearly as powerful. Still, those goggles couldn’t do anything for that type of illusion, which made them perfect for now.

I leapt out from behind the car and charged at the man, drawing Needle and extending the handle so that it became a spear shaft. He snapped back around towards me, but not in time. Needle came down on his wrist before he could aim the weapon at me again, hitting it with the shaft just beneath the blade. There was a crack and a scream of pain as he dropped the weapon. I continued moving, kicking the side of his knee so that there was a ‘pop’, right before he dropped to the ground, screaming even louder.

“OWENS,” one of the other attackers shouted out.

My brief delay had given his friends a chance to catch up, and they were almost on me again. I muttered a curse, then turned to run.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the nearest attacker abruptly staggered and dropped to his knees with a loud grunt. I looked up and saw two people on a motorcycle, both of them pointing weapons at the grey goons. Kyle and Amy.

“Come with me if you want to live,” Kyle called out in bad Schwarzenegger accent.

Amy slipped off the back of the motorcycle and opened fire with her needle gun, shooting at the nearest attacker and apparently missing. She looked annoyed, but then, a gold metal gleam spread over her skin until she suddenly looked like a gold statue wearing clothes.

“What the…?” I stared in surprise and a little confusion.

One of the attackers shot at her, and she jumped behind a car for cover, but wasn’t fast enough. She let out a grunt, then laughed. “What do you know? I’m sort of bullet proof now… Or laser proof.”

Kyle opened fire with another shot from his energy weapon, forcing one of the attackers to find cover. I looked to my would-be rescuers, trying to figure out how I could reach them. There were too many of the grey bastards between us, and more seemed to be arriving every second.

Then I noticed it, a thick wall of fog just rushing in. My eyes went to the source, one of the armed attackers who was wearing a gas mask. That sent warning flags off in my head, especially when the other attackers quickly began putting on small breathing masks as well.

“LOOK OUT!” Kyle warned. “DON’T BREATH IT.”

“Too late,” I gasped. Everything suddenly felt faint and distant.

“ABSINTHE,” Amy called out, but Kyle grabbed her and pulled her back so that she didn’t get swallowed by the gas as well. “I can’t see her through that cloud…”

I collapsed to the ground, suddenly too tired to move. Everything was quickly fading away, but I could still hear a couple of the grey goons talking near me.

“About time,” one of them said. “If I knew we wanted her alive ahead of time, I could have brought this stuff with us then.”

“It would have made the ambush easier,” another one agreed.

“We have the target,” a third attacker said, his voice strong and decisive. “Load her up and lets get out of here before anyone else shows up to interfere.”

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday late afternoon, Dec 27th 2007
Roulette

I stared at the thick wall of fog while Kyle held me back. It crept closer and he pulled, though he didn’t have to. I wanted to run in and grab Gwen, but knew that this would be a bad idea.

“I can hold my breath,” I tried to say, though I already knew that this would be a bad idea.

“If that is what I think it is,” Kyle responded, “then she’s already out cold. Besides, you won’t be able to see a damn thing, and going in there blind is a BAD idea.”

There was movement inside the fog, the grey attackers who were wearing gas masks, small ones that only covered their mouths and noses. They already had those goggles protecting their eyes, and probably to let them see in that stuff.

When the fog stopped advancing, Kyle and I stopped retreating. I glanced back at his motorcycle, a beat-up old dirt bike with Washington plates. I didn’t know where he found that since we’d all come up in Beth’s car, and considering the situation, I wasn’t sure it was even a good idea to ask.

Kyle and I had come after Gwen alone, with just the two of us. Mom was injured and currently unarmed, Kara had no power or weapons, and Collin… Well, Collin had wanted to come, had practically insisted on it, but Kyle only had room for one more person on the bike and I was the one with the tracking spell.

Mom and Kara had both been upset when I’d volunteered, especially since I’d only just woke up from a bad burnout. However, if we wanted to find Gwen before it was too late, then we needed my spell.

A minute later, the thick fog started to dissipate, letting us see the area that it had previously covered. There was no sign of Gwen or those armed men.

I grimaced in frustration and concern, but at the same time, I sort of relaxed a part of me as well. The gold metal that covered my skin began to crumble and fall away, vanishing entirely just a few seconds later.

I was still a bit surprised by the fact that my latest burnout had left me with yet another power set. Now, I seemed to be a manifestor with an armored shell, similar to what Iron Rose had back at school. It didn’t seem to make me any stronger, just harder to injure, as the new hole in my shirt proved.

Unfortunately, even with a new power, I hadn’t been able to help Gwen. All I’d been able to do was arrive just in time to watch them take her.

Just then, I noticed movement from the corner of my eye, and when I turned for a better look, I saw Crucibelle dropping out of the sky and landing a short distance away. She looked around with a grim expression.

“Collin called me and told me what was going on,” Crucibelle announced. She looked at me and Kyle. “I see damage and some fading smoke. What happened here?”

“Those people captured Gwen and escaped,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm and even, though I certainly didn’t feel that way.

“They used some of the Fogmaker’s gas to do it,” Kyle added grimly.

Crucibelle gave him a sharp look. “The Fogmaker was here?”

“No,” Kyle corrected her. “Just some armed men in SWAT type gear, who seem to be baselines.” He gestured to where the gas had been. “But it looks like they also used some of the Fogmaker’s gear. They don’t seem the type that he’d work with, but he has been known to sell some of his equpment in the past.”

“The Fogmaker?” I asked blankly.

“A pacifist supervillain,” Kyle explained. “He hates conflict, so he usually floods an area with his fog…a mixture of knockout gas and smoke screen, then he just walks in and takes what he wants.”

“We can still find her,” I insisted.

With that, I held out a square of paper that had been folded up until it was almost like a sealed envelope. The inside pocket contained the strand of Gwen’s hair, as well as some runes that I’d learned from my new book. The outside was unmarked, except for an arrow that I’d drawn on the surface.

“I have a tracking spell,” I announced, holding the envelope flat in my hand. It spun a little until the arrow was pointing in a different direction, almost like a compass that was pointing north. But in this case, Gwen was ‘north’. “It isn’t as good as what Witchling can do, but…”

“But you’re here and she isn’t,” Crucibelle finished. She shook her head. “She and the rest of my team are still chasing down the Narrator, but Goodboy will be a lot more useful for that than I am.”

Then Crucibelle suddenly snapped around, her eyes locking on something. I followed her gaze and saw him, one of the grey attackers. He was on the ground, dragging towards an alley entrance to get away, his goggles and gas mask still covering his face. From the way he was moving, one of his legs had been really messed up.

“It looks like one of them got left behind in the confusion,” Kyle said.

The attacker grabbed at a knife on his vest, moving awkwardly and not using the hand that would have been closest. It seemed that his leg wasn’t the only thing that had been injured.

Crucibelle was on the man in a moment, knocking the knife out of his hand and then tearing off his gas mask and goggles. Beneath that, he had light skin, squared jaw, and light brown hair that was cut short.

“Who are you?” Cruicbelle demanded. “Why did you take Absinthe?”

“Fuck you, freak,” the attacker responded, spitting in her face. “I’m not telling you anything. I want my lawyer.”

Kyle just stood back, staring at the man with a strange expression that suddenly turned into a flash of recognition. “Agent Owens,” he spat.

The prisoner’s eyes went wide. “How did you know…?” Then he snapped his mouth shut.

“You know him?” Crucibelle asked.

“He’s with the MCO,” Kyle answered, still glaring at the man. “But last I heard, he was behind bars for murdering some hero.”

Crucibelle’s expression hardened even more. “The MCO?”

“None of them were wearing MCO uniforms or insignia,” Kyle told the hero. “But while we were coming in, I saw an MCO transport about a block away.”

“I doubt that’s a coincidence,” I commented.

“Me too,” Crucibelle responded.

Crucibelle pulled out a cell phone and stepped away. She spent a minute talking to someone, though I could only make out a word or two of the conversation. When she was finished, she came back, not looking any happier.

“I just talked to the local MCO office,” Crucibelle stated. “They said that they aren’t aware of any operations going on at this time.”

Kyle gave a skeptical snort. “And you believe them?”

The hero hesitated for a moment before answering, “This time, yes. If this is the MCO, then it looks like the locals have been left out of the loop.”

I stared down at the envelope that was still sitting in my hand. It was slowly rotating. “She’s still moving,” I said. “If we hurry…”

“Transport vehicle,” Kyle mused.

“If we can find where they’re going,” Crucibelle started.

Kyle shook his head. “That might be too late. They may be heading to a secure location, one with better protection and more friends. We need to get her back before they reach their destination.” Then he chuckled faintly. “Fortunately, hitting moving targets is my specialty.”

Crucibelle stared at Kyle with a suspicious look. “I’ve seen your weapons,” she finally said. “And you seem to know a lot about the Fogmaker.” She let it hang there for a moment before asking, “You’re in the business, aren’t you?”

Kyle hesitated a moment before responding, “I’m no hero, if that is what you’re asking.”

“The other side of the business then,” Crucibelle added grimly.

Instead of responding to that directly, Kyle simply said, “I’m just someone who refuses to look the other way when a kid is kidnapped in front of me.”

For several seconds, Kyle and Crucibelle just stood there, staring at each other. She finally gave a sharp nod. “I can live with that.”

“Good,” Kyle mused, his eyes narrowing with a thoughtful look. “It’s too bad that Collin isn’t here with us now. His power would be ideal for stopping a moving vehicle.”

“I’ll tell him you said that,” I commented. “I think he’s feeling pretty useless right about now.”

“Not useless,” Kyle told me. “His powers are just a bit specialized.” He smiled faintly and quietly mused, “In fact, they’d be ideal for my line of work.”

Just then, I noticed that Crucibelle was taking out her phone and walking off again. “Are you calling in the rest of the Supers?” I asked.

Crucibelle shook her head and stood there with a grim expression. “No,” she responded. “I’m calling in someone a lot scarier than any of my teammates.” She hesitated a moment before adding, “I’m calling Absinthe’s father.”

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday early evening, Dec 27th 2007
Absinthe

The truck rumbled and shook as it moved and even more when it stopped. That was what woke me up.

I was in the back of an enclosed truck, chained to the back wall closest to the cab. Manacles were on my wrists and ankles, keeping me from moving more than a few inches in any direction. And then, between me and the door on the far end, there were five armed people.

The grey bastards still wore their goggles, almost as if they were worried that I might still try casting some illusions. Smart of them, but not good for me.

I knew that I hadn’t been out for too long. Without any pixies to absorb my glamour, the people around me were getting the full exposure. So far, none of my kidnappers appeared to be hallucinating, which meant that they hadn’t spent much time this close to me.

“I can’t believe we left Owens behind,” one of the men complained. “I thought he was right behind me.”

“I thought he was right behind me,” another added.

The lone woman of the group said, “I saw the girl injure him earlier. It must have been worse than I thought if he couldn’t keep up.”

A moment later, the second one to have spoken, joked, “Fog of war and all.”

There were a few brief snickers at that. “Thankfully, I had some of the Fogmaker’s gas or this would have been an even bigger pain.”

“You should have brought it to the ambush,” the woman pointed out.

None of them seemed to notice that I was awake. I kept my eyes mostly closed, enough so that I could pretend to still be out.

“Losing Owens was unfortunate,” one of the men said. From the parts of his face that were exposed, I saw that he had a few nasty scars. “He’ll either meet us back at the rendezvous, or we’ll go searching for him later. If necessary, we can get him out of another cell.”

Owens. They’d mentioned that name twice. The name sounded familiar, though I couldn’t place it, at least not at first. Then I remembered.

That was the name of the MCO agent who’d chased after Dana, and who’d inadvertently cost Grace Winslow her position as liaison to the Liberty League. But this couldn’t be the same guy. The name had to be a coincidence.

“For now,” the scarred man said, “we focus on getting back to base camp so we can interrogate the target and gather as much intel as possible on our potential future targets.”

“THEN we finish this mission?” one of the others asked.

“Then we officially finish this mission,” the scarred one agreed.

The way they both said ‘finish the mission’ sent chills down my spine. Considering the way that they’d come after me and the weapons they were using, I was pretty sure that I knew what they meant by ‘finish the mission.’

I was scared, even a bit terrified, but I couldn’t show it. I remained motionless, pretending that I was still unconscious and hoping that they didn’t realize otherwise. It wouldn’t be much longer before they all started tripping out, and hopefully, that would give me the opportunity that I needed.

A minute later, the woman suddenly slapped at her shoulder. When the others looked at her, she explained, “A big spider.”

“You’re afraid of a spider?” one of the others asked in surprise.

“It was a BIG spider,” she protested, looking around to see where it had gone. “Like, tarantula big, and it was blue…”

“A blue spider?” the scarred man asked grimly. “Check your goggles. They might be broken.”

The scarred man suddenly slapped me and I let out a gasp, no longer able to pretend that I was still unconscious. Since I couldn’t pretend anymore, I just looked him right in the goggles.

“Enough with the tricks,” the scarred man said.

“I can’t do anything,” I protested, looking at my hands. “I can’t make the gestures I need to cast any of my spells.” That was a lie, but they didn’t need to know that. “And you can see through my illusions anyway.”

“She made me see things earlier,” the woman said in an angry tone. “Even with the protection.”

“Me too,” one of the men added.

A third one cautiously offered, “Unless you’re wearing a pink tutu sir, I’m starting to see things too.”

There were mutterings of agreement from the rest as they all began hallucinating, however, it didn’t give me the opportunity that I’d hoped for. Instead, they all pointed their weapons at me.

“Stop that,” the scarred one ordered.

“I can’t,” I told him, this time being honest. “I’m hallucinogenic. Anyone who spends time around me starts to see things, UNLESS I use magic to actively stop it.”

“This trouble isn’t worth whatever intel we could get from interrogating her,” one of the other argued to the scarred one. “Let’s just finish her now and be done with it.”

“You might be right,” the scarred man responded thoughtfully.

I gulped at that, frantically trying to think of something I could do. My options were pretty limited.

“Go ahead and shoot,” I said, forcing a grin. “You know you want to.”

That made them all freeze, then look back and forth between each other. By this point, the hallucinations had firmly taken root. They were controlling their reactions, but I could still see the way they were turning their heads and apparently staring at things that weren’t there.

“Shit,” one of them grumbled. “I can’t trust a damn thing I see.”

“None of us can,” the woman agreed. “We might shoot each other.”

“Hold your fire,” the scarred man ordered. “For now.” Then he turned to me, or what he apparently thought was me. He was looking off to the side instead. “Stop this at once.”

I smiled and pushed out an audible illusion, one that sounded just like me. My voice seemed to come from the woman. “Sure,” my voice said. “Just untie me so I can cast the spell.”

The scarred man suddenly punched the woman, knocking her back into one of the others. I bit my lips to keep from laughing too loudly.

“What did you do that for?” the woman demanded.

“Ouch,” my voice came, this time from one of the others. “That hurt.”

They all stared at the one who appeared to have spoken, but none said anything. From the way they were jerking around, I suspected that none or them could tell who was who anymore, which was why none of them were opening fire.

I pushed a powerful burst of magic into my hands and three pixies shot out into the air. The goons in grey were tripping so hard, none of them seemed to realize that these might be real.

“Great,” one grumbled as he seemed to glance at the pixies. “Now I’m seeing birds.”

“And trees,” another muttered as he stared at the back of the truck. “So many damn trees…”

While the goons were distracted by all the hallucinations, I had my pixies go to work on my shackles. I wasn’t sure if I could get them loose this way, but this was my best and perhaps only opportunity.

The scarred man, who seemed to be their leader, reached for the gas mask on his belt. “Do you have any more of that knockout gas?”

“No,” one of them answered. “I used up the entire canister.”

The shackle on one of my wrists came loose with a faint click. None my kidnappers seemed to notice. I smiled at that. Soon. If I could keep them distracted for just a little longer.

“Stop the truck,” the scarred man ordered into his radio.

The truck suddenly came to a stop, but not as if someone had just slammed on the breaks. The stop was sudden and jarring, causing everyone to get thrown around. The truck ran into something. Or, something ran into it.

Seconds later, the back door tore open, revealing Crucibelle. She stood there for a moment while the grey goons seemed completely confused as to who or even what was really there, or if they were imagining even that. Then they finally reacted but it was too late.

“A dragon,” one of the goons exclaimed as he turned his gun on Crucibelle. “Of course it’s a dragon…”

The energy blast hit Crucibelle in the chest but only made her stagger back a step. She snatched the weapon from his hands and tossed it behind her, right before grabbing the shooter himself.

One of the others started to turn his weapon on Crucibelle as well, but I sent a pixie flying right into his face as a distraction. He screamed like a little girl and tried to scramble back, making me wonder what it was that he saw. A second pixie flew into the middle of the group and exploded, knocking all of them back long enough for Crucibelle to finish disarming them.

“I’m glad you’re all right,” Crucibelle told me with a smile. “Now, let’s get you out of there.”

**

Seattle Wa, Thursday early evening, Dec 27th 2007
Roulette

“Stay here,” Crucibelle had told me. “Under no circumstances are you to get involved any more than you already have.”

She’d already made it perfectly clear that the only reason I was allowed to help with Gwen’s rescue, was because I was the one with the tracking spell they needed to find her. Now, I was at the site of the rescue, keeping my distance as I watched everything unfold.

Between my spell and Crucibelle being able to fly above everything for a better look, it hadn’t taken long to find the MCO transport vehicle. It took even less time for Kyle to pull out in front of it with a ‘borrowed’ truck, bringing them to a sudden and complete stop. And as soon as they had stopped, Crucibelle flew down and tore the back door right off the transport.

“Come on,” I urged, desperately hoping that we weren’t too late.

While Crucibelle was dealing with those armed men in the back of the transport, the driver hopped out and drew his weapon, one of those energy rifles that they’d been using. I noticed that this one wasn’t wearing goggles like I’d seen them all wearing before.

Kyle climbed out of the truck that he’d used as a barricade and opened fire, forcing the driver to dive for cover. Then the driver spotted me, in spite of the fact that I’d been keeping my distance. Then again, my purple hair was rather noticeable, and he must have recognized me from the ambush because he began shooting at me.

I dove down behind a parked car for cover, wincing as I did so. Then, I took a deep breath and activated my current ability, the one that I’d almost forgot I now had. Gold metal quickly formed and spread over my body until all of my skin and hair were covered.

“Now I’m even more noticeable,” I muttered.

I stared at my golden metalic hand, absently wondering how I could incorporate this with my other power sets. Then I shook off that thought, knowing that this wasn’t the time to get distracted with that kind of thinking. I could do that later, when I was home and safe.

“But first,” I muttered, “I need to get out of here.” I hesitated a moment before adding, “With Gwen. Alive.”

As I’d already seen earlier, my manifested shell seemed to be strong enough to stop their weapons, but I wasn’t about to test that again. Instead, I stayed where I was, using the car as cover.

For a moment, I considered drawing my needle gun and shooting back, but I quickly discounted that. The attacker was too far away for me to hit, which only made me wish that I had my coil gun with me instead. Or better yet, my even larger and more powerful rail gun.

When I peeked around the corner a moment later, I saw that Kyle had moved positions and was opening fire on the attacker again. The energy blasts from his guns did more than my flechettes did, because the attacker dropped to the ground and began twitching as though he was being tased. Then again, I didn’t know how Kyle’s weapons worked, so maybe he was being tased.

Crucibelle seemed to be finishing up with the back of the transport at the same time. One armored woman came out and staggered around, no longer wearing goggles and looking around at things that weren’t there. Gwen had obviously gotten to that one.

Before long, all of the men in grey were disarmed, degoggled, and laying on the ground while Kyle stood over them. It was at this point that Gwen emerged from the back of the transport and I came out from behind my cover, dropping my shell at the same time.

“Absinthe,” I called out, careful to use her codename since there were numerous people about. “Are you okay?”

“More or less,” Gwen responded as she slowly came over to me.

She paused long enough to stop and glare at the prisoners. Several pixies appeared and moved over to them, hovering in the air as though they were guarding the prisoners along with Kyle.

“You know,” Gwen told me with a sigh. “I am getting a little tired of people coming after me. It’s like, every time I go out in public, something happens.”

“I get what you mean,” I replied, nodding sympathetically.

She gave me a curious look, then asked, “What was up with that gold look? Trying to impersonate an Oscar? If you are, you’ve definitely got the wrong build.”

“New power,” I answered with a chuckle. I held out my hand and let the gold metal shell start to form over it, though only for a few seconds before I stopped it. “Yet another one to learn.”

Gwen chuckled at that. “At least your powers aren’t boring.”

“That is true,” I agreed, though I wished my powers were at least a little less exciting. I could definitely do without the burnout part. Then I remembered something. “Oh yeah… I think you lost this…”

I held out Gwen’s dagger, which I’d found on the ground where she’d been captured.

“Needle,” Gwen said, accepting the dagger with a sigh of relief. She examined it for a moment, nodded in satisfaction, then slipped it into its sheath. “Thanks.”

“You know,” I told Gwen. “After this last week, I’m almost looking forward to getting back to school. It will nice and quiet in comparison.”

She stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Yeah. And just how messed up is that?”

**

Seattle Wa, Sunday early evening, Dec 30th 2007
Absinthe

I was in Hell. Technically, I was at Sunday dinner with my parents…and Collin. Dinner with my parents was good. Time with Collin was good. But when you combine them both, it might as well have been Hell.

“So,” Mom asked Collin with a deceptively friendly smile. “How did the two of you meet?”,

Collin squirmed under the attention, not having expected the interrogation disguised as a family dinner. Most people thought that my dad was the scary one, but those were the people who didn’t really know my mom.

Dad sat there with the faintest hint of a smile on his lips as he pretended not to notice. He was amused by the dinner entertainment, even if he’d never admit to it.

“We met at school, “I answered for Collin, mostly to get Mom’s attention off him. “My old school. Before I manifested.”

Of course, Mom already knew this. I’d already told her that much. What I hadn’t told her was that Collin was the kid who used to bully me. Our relationship was…a little complicated at times.

“When I first met GWEN,” Collin said, emphasizing my current name. “I didn’t I didn’t know who she used to be. I just thought that she was Adam’s sister.”

The conversation continued on for a bit longer, making me squirm a bit uncomfortably the entire time. Dad just remained silent, with that faint hint of a smile, apparently enjoying the fact that someone else was getting the business end of Mom’s interrogation for once. Eventually though, Mom relented in her questioning and dinner turned to easier topics.

Once dinner was over and the table cleared, Collin and I retreated to my room for a little privacy. I was told to keep the door open, which was a strange thing for me.

“Your mom is kind of intimidating,” Collin confessed. “But nice too…”

“You have no idea,” I responded with a sigh, thinking about the times she’d asked about my report cards.

“And to think,” Collin joked. “I was worried that your dad would be polishing a shotgun or something.”

I laughed at that. “Not exactly his style.” I let it sigh at that for a few seconds before adding, “He prefers pistols.”

Then I shook my head and sighed. It was strange having my parents become so overprotective of me now that I’d turned into a girl. Of course, that was actually one of the easier things about adjusting to my new gender, but it was still weird for me.

Then I noticed that Collin was looking a bit distracted. “What’s up?” I asked.

Collin hesitated for a moment, then admitted, “I was just thinking about this last week and everything that happened.”

“It’s been a lot,” I agreed with a frown. “But I guess, that’s why they make us do combat finals and BMA.”

“It does make a lot more sense now,” he told me with a shake of his head. “And so does that team tactics class that we’re all signed up for. I’m pretty nervous about it though.”

“Oh?” I asked.

Collin shrugged. “My powers aren’t exactly the most impressive.”

“Impressive enough,” I told him. “You can stop speedsters and teleporters like that…” I snapped my fingers. “And remember, Kyle told you that you’d also be great for stopping cars too.”

“My powers are kind of specialized,” Collin said. “Probably a bit too specialized. I guess, I need to figure out how to work around that.”

“BMA and team tactics,” I said. “Both should help with that.”

“I’ve also been talking with Aunt Leah,” he told me. “She has a few ideas of how I could become a bit more flexible.” He hesitated. “And a little less useless the next time trouble pops up.”

“You were the one who caught Slippery,” I reminded him. “So, don’t you ever think that you’re useless.”

Collin smiled at that. “Thanks.”

“We’ll be back at school soon enough,” I told him a few seconds later. “So, we can worry about that kind of stuff later. For now, I just want to enjoy being home for a bit.”

“I agree completely,” Collin responded, taking my hand in his. He glanced towards my open door, then let out a frustrated sigh. I giggled at that as we just sat there talking.

**

Portland Or, Wednesday evening, Jan 2nd 2008
Roulette

I sat on the couch beside Kara while Mom, Beth, and Kyle had their own spots in the living room. Kyle was heading back home tomorrow, so I’d invited everyone over for dinner.

“So, you were back in Seattle again yesterday?” Beth asked her brother, apparently surprised by this.

I was a little surprised as well. Ever since that last attack by the men in grey, I’ve been avoiding Seattle. Two attacks within a few days was more than I needed. I didn’t want to press my luck any further.

“You know,” Kara offered. “I’m just glad that they didn’t want us all to come back for another debriefing.”

That made me chuckle. “I don’t think they wanted to press their luck with another attack.” Then I let out a sigh. “And I never even got that extra lesson with Witchling.”

“You can still e-mail her, right?” Beth asked.

“Yeah,” I responded with a shrug, “but it isn’t the same as in person.”

Beth gave her brother a curious look. “If it wasn’t for a debriefing, why were you back up there?”

Kyle hesitated a moment, then muttered, “Just taking care of some stuff.”

“Stuff?” Beth asked suspiciously.

Kyle hesitated a moment, then grudgingly admitted, “I was meeting up with Crucibelle.”

“Oh?” Beth encouraged him.

“We just talked over some coffee,” Kyle reluctantly added.

Beth and Kara shared a look and a grin. “Do tell,” Beth and Kara both said almost as one.

“It isn’t like that,” Kyle quickly insisted, though his blush suggested otherwise. “We just met and talked about…what had happened. And a few other things.”

“So, are you going to meet her again?” Beth asked with a grin.

There was a moment of hesitation before Kyle let out a sigh. “Probably not. Maybe. I just don’t think anything can happen between us. Our lives are just too different.” He paused at that, then chuckled. “And as an associate of mine would say, we’d have a professional disagreement.”

Beth gave him a blank look. “What kind of professional disagreement would a superhero and a mechanic have?”

“She probably thinks his rates are criminal,” I commented, earning a giggle from Kara.

The truth was, I’d seen and heard enough during those fights to be convinced that Kyle was more than just a mechanic. In fact, I suspected that he probably worked on the other side of the law as Crucibelle and his sister, but I didn’t know for sure and wasn’t about to say anything. After all, he’d risked his life to help save Gwen.

Kyle, eager to change the subject, asked me, “So, you’re heading back to Whateley in a couple days. Do you have anything big planned there?”

“Just some training with my team,” I responded. “We’ve all signed up for this team tactics class. Apparently, we’re all classified as ‘trouble magnets’, so they consider us a high priority for that class.”

“Trouble magnets,” Mom commented wryly. “I wonder where they could have possibly gotten that idea from.”

“No idea,” Kara said with a giggle. “Maybe it has something to do with you finding supervillains every time you step out the door.”

“Maybe,” I agreed wryly. Then I considered my friends and chuckled. “Honestly, I expect that a couple of my friends will have gotten into a bit of trouble too.”

“Trouble magnets,” Beth commented with a smirk. “It sounds appropriate.”

“We’re called Shenanigans,” I said, which earned another giggle from Kara.

“Same thing,” Mom said with an amused look. “And probably an appropriate name.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “You have no idea how hard I work trying to keep the others out of trouble.”

“You always were the responsible one,” Beth told me, giving Mom a meaningful look.

Kara nodded at that, then grinned evilly at her uncle. “So, what else did you and Crucibelle talk about?”

Kyle groaned at that while everyone else smiled and waited for the answer.

**

Seattle Wa, Friday afternoon, Jan 4th 2008

Miles Wylann stepped into the room where Leah Reynolds, better known as Crucibelle, was waiting for him. She was wearing her uniform, though she was a little more casual than she usually was when on duty.

The two of them had known each other for several years, though their relationship had been completely professional, even a little adversarial until recently. Then, he’d asked her for a favor regarding his son…daughter, and he’d trusted her with information that could have gotten Gwen killed. But Crucibelle had come through for him, and she’d proven that the trust hadn’t been misplaced. That had permanently changed their relationship, and for the better, as far as Miles was concerned.

Crucibelle took one look at Miles, then she grabbed a bottle of bourbon and poured two glasses. This was more symbolic than anything, an acknowledgement that this was not an official meeting. Miles wouldn’t drink if this was official. His professional ethics wouldn’t have allowed it.

She looked…tired. No, not really tired. Crucibelle was an exemplar and she didn’t get tired easily. This looked more like frustration.

“Bad day?” Miles asked, more as small talk than anything else.

“You have no idea,” she answered with a grimace. “I spent half the day searching the Seattle Underground for an escaping villain.”

Miles gave a sympathetic wince at that. The Seattle Underground had started off as the leftover parts from an older incarnation of the city, but over the decades, multiple people…villains, heroes, and miscellaneous organizations, had set up their own lairs and tunnel systems, eventually connecting them all until they became a large and complicated labyrinth beneath the city.

“I hope you caught them then,” Miles offered.

“Eventually,” she responded with a sigh. “But it was easier to catch the Narrator, and he’d convinced a bunch of bystanders to help him escape.”

“To difficult tasks accomplished,” Miles offered, holding up his glass.

“I’ll drink to that,” Crucibelle responded with a chuckle. “To difficult tasks accomplished.”

“You have to take job satisfaction where you can,” Miles mused. “Sometimes, it isn’t easy to find at all.” She stared at him for a moment before nodding agreement.

“You know,” Crucibelle commented as she took a seat. “I had a very pleasant coffee date the other day, and no offense, but I’d much rather go back and repeat that.”

“I understand completely,” Miles said as he took his seat, opposite of Crucibelle. “And no offense taken.”

“So,” she said carefully. “What can you tell me about those…kidnappers.” She spat the last word out.

He nodded, appreciating the fact that she’d not only saved his own daughter, but that she took the kidnapping attempt so personally. It was good to have someone like Crucibelle in his corner. It was good to have an ally…maybe even a friend…within the hero community.

“I can give you the names and identities of each one,” Miles told her. “But you already have that information.”

“I was hoping for a little more than that,” she responded with a scowl, taking a sip from her glass. “Considering that this was an MCO operation.”

“Officially, they are all former employees of the MCO,” Miles explained. “The organization had no knowledge of their activities since departing. They aren’t even being acknowledged as rogue agents.”

“And unofficially?” Crucibelle asked with a bitter note.

“Unofficially,” Miles answered grimly. “They’ve been disavowed. I see the hand of some higher up in this operation, but I can’t tell who. Yet.”

Crucibelle snorted at that and took a sip of her bourbon. “Let me guess… A few bad apples?”

Miles grimaced at that and grudgingly admitted, “There are more than a few bad apples.” He stared down into his drink and let out a sigh. “I’ve spent years trying to get rid of the bad apples, or at the very least, keep the rot from spreading. And to be honest, I’m starting to wonder if it might be easier just to save the good apples then burn the barrel.”

“Now THAT sounds like a difficult task,” Crucibelle said after a pause. “Both, scrapping the bad apples and saving the good ones.”

“I knew that when I took it upon myself,” Miles told her. “But some tasks are worth accomplishing, no matter how difficult.”

Crucibelle stared at him for several more seconds before holding out her glass. “To difficult tasks accomplished.”

“To difficult tasks accomplished,” Miles agreed to the toast. He had a feeling that this would become a normal toast for the two of them.

The End