Warning: This story is a bit rough with suicide attempts, mental illness, self-harm and a few more things. 

IF you have a serious problem with reading about suicidal thoughts and similar, you can skip the part of the story showing Forte's origin which is one big chunk, and just read the present day stuff. They're connected, but not so closely that you'll be confused with the present day plot and actions.
The present day storyline will be important to the next story, and only involves some self harm, so it should definitely be read.   

Christmas Duet (Part 3)

By

Domoviye

December 18^th, 2016
Chandler Greater Phoenix Area
Fanak's Home
Late Evening

Faiza Sabri sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest, trying not to think. When she thought about anything, all she could see was her friend, Alexa on the ground screaming in pain, holding her leg with the reddish bone sticking through jeans that were quickly becoming stained with red. The smell of blood hadn't been that strong, but from her rescue of Azar the month before, she knew it far too well. All evening she'd been smelling the thick, iron scent, tasting it in her mouth, felt it coating her hands and tongue.

Everyone called her a hero for grabbing Alexa when she tripped and fell into traffic, if she'd hit the road it would have been fatal. They'd gotten a call from Alexa's parents an hour ago, telling them that the surgery to fix her leg had been a success, but it could be a year before all the damage was healed, and more surgeries might be needed.

There was a knock on the door, and her seventeen-year-old sister Layla came in. “Hey khti, how are you doing?” she asked in English, while using the Moroccan word for sister.

Fai shrugged, not sure what to say. She had too many thoughts and memories in her head to make much sense of it all. 

Climbing onto the bed beside her, Layla wrapped an arm over her shoulder and held her tight. “You want to talk about it?

That got a half-hearted shake of the head. Layla wouldn't understand.

“You used to tell me a lot, and I'd keep it a secret from mama and baba. I'll listen, and maybe I can offer you some help. And I won't tell our parents.”

“I-” What was she supposed to say? That she should have done better saving Alexa? That she was a superhero and she'd failed to protect one of her best friends? That she still woke up with bad dreams, tasting blood in her mouth a few times a week. That she was going to become a real superhero and was terrified about telling their parents. She shut her mouth, burying her face in her knees.

Layla realized she wasn't going to get anywhere waiting for her to talk.

“You've been acting differently for a while, so this isn't just about Alexa, is it?”

It really wasn't just about Alexa, her friend had just set off a lot of things Fai had been hiding from. She forced herself to nod.

“OK, is this about a boy?”

Fai shook her head, not bothering to look up. If it was a boy, it would probably be easier.

“All right that's good. Are you being bullied?”

Another firm shake of her head answered that question.

There were a few moments of silence. “Are you doing something illegal?” Layla finally asked.

That made Fai pause. Technically her being a vigilante was illegal, but the Phoenix Warriors knew about it, and they had only told her to wait until she was eighteen. So it couldn't be that bad. Finally she shook her head.

“Taking that long to say no, is not exactly reassuring,” Layla said with a sigh. “Is someone trying to make you do something you don't want to do?”

Fai was able to shake her head much quicker that time. She'd only really talked with her friends and heroes, and they wanted her to do good things.

“Did...” her sister paused for so long that Fai turned to look up at her. “Did you hurt someone?” Layla finally asked.

Hearing the words coming from her sister was too much for her. Covering her face, she began to cry even as she fought to hold it all inside. When Layla wrapped her up in a hug, Fai tried to push her away, but couldn't bring herself really fight against the embrace.

“Someone was trying to hurt you?”

“Y-yes,” she said, so quietly it was almost impossible to hear through her sobs.

“Can you tell me about it?” Layla asked, kissing her hair.

She shook her head.

Layla held her even tighter, humming a lullaby and gently rocked her. “Could they hurt you again?”

Fai once again shook her head. The criminals couldn't hurt her, she'd beaten them, and Thulia had set the whole building on fire with them still in it. She started crying even harder, at the thought.

"Hey, it's OK. I'm here for you, khti.” Layla waited patiently, still rocking her, still humming the lullaby until the crying to return to quiet sobs. “Did they try to... rape you?” she asked in a whisper.

Shaking her head hard enough to actually hurt her neck a little, Fai almost vomited at the thought.

“Can you tell me what they did?”

She pulled herself into a ball, hiding her face in her knees again. She didn't want her sister thinking she was a monster for biting and clawing the guards, or seeing her as a failure for letting Alexa get hurt.

Sighing again, Layla kept holding her. “Can you tell Mama and Baba? They're worried.”

Flinching, Fai shook her head again. She couldn't tell them. They'd make her stop being a hero, or they might think she was a failure, or they might hate her for what she did. They wouldn't understand.

“OK,” Layla finally said, “I'll keep quiet until you're willing to tell me what's happening. But remember, I've got your back, khti. You can trust me with anything.”

Fai nodded, still not willing to talk, as her sister tried to support her.

Outlaw's Tavern,
Nighttime

Forte yawned loudly, then took another large gulp of her black coffee that tasted like an espresso, mixed with a few dozen energy drinks, motor oil and sludge. On the menu it was called Devisor's Brew, and there were a few health warnings beside it. So, it wasn't something she had tried before. But after spending the last six days mostly in her lab, with maybe twenty hours worth of naps, she needed it.

“You've found the mad scientist's elixir of life, I see,” Big Guy said with a smirk as he sat down across from her. 

Not feeling up to using what little energy she had for talking, she grunted questioningly and took another sip of the vile concoction.

“Pretty much every tech guy I've worked with has their own version of coffee that would knock a brick on their ass. Some practically live off the stuff.”

“Bleh. I prefer tea, but I've been busy.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a large knuckle duster, that had strings of silver and shimmering yellow threads made of sonic metal running through it. “Spent most of a day figuring out how to direct the sonic blast in these things without using material that would shatter from the punch. The rest of the day was making electronic earplugs to protect your hearing without leaving you deaf.”

Big Guy picked up the knuckle duster, putting it on, flexing his fingers and making a fist. “Not bad, it's a good fit.” 

“Custom made for your hand, I wasn't measuring your fingers for a ring. Don't use the blasts if you need to be quiet.” She put down a pack of earplugs and a small sheet of paper, then sipped her drink forcing her taste buds to accept the sludge. “Your earplugs and the instructions for the knuckle duster. I'm too tired to want to explain it, and it has everything you need to know.”

Nodding, he slipped the stuff into his inside pocket. “Thanks. It's nice to have some holdouts people won't expect.” 

She gave him a small smile and took another sip of the wretched brew that was making her wake up a little. The pleasant silence went on for a few minutes as she slowly became a bit more conscious, and Big Guy studied his new toy and the instructions. Then Book showed up, still looking like a runaway, but with a different set of worn jeans and hoodie.

“I'm not late, am I?” the odd-looking girl asked.

“Right on time,” Big Guy said.

Grunting, Forte handed over the sleeper whip along with a charger, to Book. “Hit the button and if you hit someone in the head, they're going to sleep. Keep it charged up, and it will work for an hour or about twenty hits.” She yawned cutting herself off.

Taking the devise, Book smiled for a moment before her expression turned to concern. “You look terrible.”

Sipping more of the extreme coffee, Forte waved off the concern. “Just need to catch up on sleep.”

“Devisors get like that sometimes,” Big Guy said. “Work too hard and then either load up on energy drinks and caffeine or collapse for a day or two. She'll be fine.”

“Hate my power,” Forte muttered, while motioning to the waitress to get her another glass of the sludge.

Forte listened while the other two talked about little things, mostly going over what to do if something unexpected happened. She thought about adding her own two cents a few times, but her brain still felt all foggy, and definitely not ready to provide anything useful.

She perked up when their current employers, Ptolemy and Cassandra appeared in their regular costumes of matching black suits and black masks. Ptolemy had a briefcase with him, which almost made it look like a regular business meeting, if it wasn't for the masks at least.

“Good evening everyone, I'm glad you could all make it,” Ptolemy said. “We have the final plans for Da Chief's party, and it is very close to our old information.”

“But first,” Cassandra said, looking at Forte, “how are we for the devises?”

Trying to stifle a yawn, Forte reached into her bag, pulling out a small folder full of receipts and a few notes. “Done. I'm using a variation of my boomers, they'll leave security and guests vomiting for several minutes, giving us plenty of time to get the money and get out. I have twenty-five of them made to get maximum coverage in the house and outside. And I have devises for Book and Big Guy that will protect them.”

She handed out thin speakers that had clearly been worked on, to her accomplices. “Turn them on when we arrive at the house, and the second they detect the boomers sound waves, they'll activate and counteract them. Just make sure you haven't had much to drink or eat, you'll still feel a little sick for a few seconds.”

Her employers nodded in satisfaction. “Very good. You and Book should be able to place them where needed with her 'don't notice me' spell. Now here is what we know of the security company Da Chief hired, as well as how many will be there, what weapons they'll have, and the party staff,” Ptolemy said, handing each of them a folder.

“The best ways to get out seem to be over the wall, and these three routes through the house itself,” Cassandra said, laying out a blueprint of the property. There were blue marks showing the most direct ways to exit, and rooms like the kitchen that were to be avoided on the escape, were shaded in red.

Taking a large gulp of her coffee, Forte forced her sleepy brain to follow along, remembering the details for the big event.

December 19^th, 2016
Mesa, Greater Phoenix Area,
Claremont Street
Early afternoon

Sitting in a corner booth of Cool Cat Creamery, Fai poked at her chocolate sundae while Port dug into his berry parfait. It wasn't the first time she'd eaten with Port, or a superhero, but it was the first time she'd had her human face while doing it. She'd called him that morning, asking if they could talk, which was how they'd ended up at the nearly deserted ice cream parlour.

“OK, Fai, you said you needed to talk, but you've been pretty quiet for the last ten minutes,” Port said, smiling gently. “So, what do you need to talk about?”

“Yesterday, a friend of mine fell and got hit by a bus. I-I grabbed her and yanked her back, but her leg was broken really badly.” She shuddered at the memory. “The doctors say healing it will take at least six months, maybe a year, and she'll have to go into rehab for a while. They're doing more exams this week to decide if they might have to put a metal rod in to make sure the bones heal properly.”

Port nodded in understanding. “And you're hoping that I might know someone who can help her heal faster.” 

She nodded. “I know I shouldn't ask. Her family doesn't have the money to hire a healer, but there has to be something I can do to get someone to help her. I'll work for them, owe them a big favour, whatever they want."

The hero raised his hands, motioning for her to calm down. “Eat your sundae, Fai, it will help you relax a little.” Watching her take a bite, he started talking. “You don't have to work for anyone, I want to make that very clear right off the bat. The problem we have is that there aren't many high-level healers in Phoenix. We've had a bad few years, so most of the remaining healers are focused on life or death situations, or wouldn't be able to do much more than speed up the healing by a few weeks at best and would be visiting repeatedly.”

Shoulders slumping, Fai nodded. She wanted to call Thulia, but the dragon hero was probably really busy fighting supervillains and she couldn't just ask her to come all the way to Phoenix to help a friend.

“Hey, Fai, I didn't say it was impossible. There are a few people I can ask, and I'll talk to the Warriors. They might be able to work something out that I can't. They have a new member who hasn't been introduced to the public yet, and she's a magic user. She might be better at healing spells than Old Scratch. So I'll look into it, and see what I can do. I just need to get your friends name and what hospital she's at.”

Feeling a small surge of hope, she gave him the information. “You really think someone will help?”

Smiling like he knew something she didn't, Port just said, “I'm hopeful. It's Chri- It's the holidays, miracles are supposed to happen around now, so don't give up hope.”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Right. I'll wait and see if someone can help, In Sha Allah.”

“What does that mean?”

“It's Arabic for 'if Allah wills',” she explained.

“Hm... I didn't know that,” Port said, looking her over. “There aren't many Muslims in the city, once you get old enough you could become a really good role model for people.”

Blushing, she wished she had her scarf to play with. “I'm not sure about that. Some of my family back in Morocco have said I'm a terrible Muslim.”

“Well, I can't say if you are a good Muslim or not, it's definitely not my place. But speaking as a person with lots of experience around heroes, I think you'll be an excellent superhero one day.”

Her blush got worse, and for a few seconds she was able to forget about her best friend and all of her worries.

“Now,” Port said, “have you told your parents yet?”

“... No,” she finally said. “My baba is busy marking exams and preparing for the new term. And my mama is setting up dinners and things with friends over the holiday. I promise I'll tell them once school starts up and everything calms down again.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “You do know the longer you don't tell them, the harder it will be to admit the truth, right?”

Her eyes went to her melting sundae. “I know, but it's hard. My baba teaches literature at college, and my mama is a seamstress. They won't understand why I want to be a hero.”

“OK. But I want you to tell them when school starts back up, you can't put it off forever.”

“OK. Once school starts things will calm down and I'll tell them about what I've been doing and planning,” she promised.

He gave her hand a quick pat. “Good. Now I've got to get back on patrol, do you need help getting home?”

She shook her head. “I'm going to the hospital in an hour to say hi to my friend.”

“All right. I'll see what I can do to help her. Don't give up hope, and try to enjoy your holiday,” Port said. Opening a portal beside the table, he gave her a smile and stepped through with a final wave.

Fai sat at the table alone, trying to eat her sundae but she didn't have the appetite. Things were just moving too fast for her.

Phoenix, Arizona
Late afternoon

“So that's the situation,” Port said to Lolomi, the leader of the Phoenix Warriors. “Fanak thinks she's to blame for not being faster to help her friend, and is desperate to help. 

Sitting on the edge of a building, Lolomi stared out over the city. “She really needs to learn how to not take everything that happens onto her shoulders. If she doesn't get that figured out, she's going to end up burned out or dead.”

“Yeah. She's young yet, so there's time for her to learn how to keep things at arms length before she jumps any further into the deep end.”

Not bothering to look at his friend, Lolomi thought about the problem. “I'm not sure if having her do more with the team would help her or not. I don't want to see her trying to keep up with us and getting hurt. Still if we could make her see that being a hero isn't just about fighting and saving the day, but thinking things out and knowing when to take the mask off, it would be a big relief for me and help her.”

Port sighed and nodded. “And there isn't much we can do until she tells her parents. I'm really tempted to tell them myself.”

“As much as that would help us in the short term, it would make her stop trusting us. She's stubborn in a few ways that are annoying. I don't want her getting stubborn in a way that will hurt her. For now, we sit things out, giving her space and a friendly ear to work through her issues.”

“OK. I'll keep doing what I'm doing,” the young hero replied, not happy about it but not having a better idea. “And her friend?”

Lolomi smiled. “That at least is easier to deal with. We're visiting the children's hospital on Christmas Eve, just like every year. I've got the new girl set up with the proper papers, I'll ask her if she knows any healing spells. If she does, I can make some quick arrangements with the hospital to heal some of the kids, and make sure Fanak's friend is mixed in with them.”

“You can get it set up that fast?”

“Yeah, we've worked with the hospital before when I've had a healer willing to help out. It's fantastic PR, and right now we need all the good publicity we can get.”

“So is this girl really not human?” Port asked.

“She's not even from Earth. I've been having her learning as much as she can about our laws and basic customs and it's a bit of a challenge. At least she knows how money works. You should have seen her trying to negotiate for a soda yesterday. If she ever buys a used car, I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer gives her money.”

He had to chuckle at that. “I can't wait to meet her.”

Chandler, Greater Phoenix Area
Late Evening

Mandy watched her twin brother, Randy, toast a sandwich with his hands, the melting marshmallows and nutella smelled delicious. He was making it in the living room, since their parents were out on a date night, so no one was there to tell him to go to the kitchen. 

“I'm getting stronger,” he said, smirking at her.

“Yeah, good for you, you're a human toaster,” she said. He'd been showing off his power for weeks now, acting like he was so special because he could heat up his hands. Compared to her best friend, Fai, Randy was just a wimp.

Why couldn't she get her powers too? Twins were supposed to manifest close together, but she was left powerless and lame, while her best friend was getting to be a superhero, and her brother was an annoying pest.

“Why don't you make yourself a sandwich, sis? You'll just have to use the toaster oven,” Randy said, still smirking as he bit into his gooey treat.

“Just go and die already!” she snapped, storming off to her room and slamming the door.

Away from her brother, Mandy paced her room. She wanted to do something, but didn't know what. Her body was telling her to move, to act, and she felt different. She wanted to scream, but knew that wouldn't be enough. She wanted to hit something.

She'd never been a really angry girl. She could talk big, but she'd never done anything beyond throwing a pillow or stuffie. Now she wanted to grab her brother and throw him as hard as she could. A part of her was scared, realizing that she wasn't acting normally, but the rest of her couldn't stop thinking about how satisfying it would be to just smash something.

“ARGH!” she screamed, bringing her hand down on her bed.

There was a crack of wood, followed by a thud.

Looking down, Mandy saw her bed was broken in half, the hard wooden frame snapped and splintered, the thick mattress completely flattened where her fist had hit it. The rage was pushed back by shock.

Raising her hand, she stared at the damage she'd done, remembering the overpowering anger.

“Oh god!” she sobbed, sinking to the floor.

December 20^th, 2016
Chandler, Greater Phoenix Area
Mid-morning

Knocking on the door to her friend's house, Fai jumped in surprise when Mandy opened it immediately and dragged her inside so quickly she was nearly jerked off her feet. “Whoa! Slow down.”

Her friend didn't say anything, just kept dragging her. Seeing her friend's mom in the kitchen, she waved hello, but didn't have a chance to say hi, Mandy was pulling her along so fast her wrist was starting to hurt. They reached Mandy's room in record time, where Fai finally got her hand and wrist back.

Shaking life back into her limb, she asked, “OK, what's the wrong? You- What happened to your bed?” She looked at the ruined bed, the sleeping bag on the floor, and then her friend.

“I manifested,” Mandy said.

“And you got superstrength. That's awesome!” Fai hugged her friend, happy that something was going right this week.

“Yeah, yeah it is. But what about the MCO?” It sounded like she was about to cry.

“What about them? You haven't done anything wrong, and they treated your brother properly. Just tell your parents, set up an appointment and start thinking of codenames.”

Her friend bit her lip looking away. “Randy can only heat up his hands. That's small stuff. I can probably smash a car to pieces. I'm the type of mutant they'll want to disappear.”

She hugged Mandy, who refused to hug her back. “It'll be fine. Port would have taken me to them for testing if I hadn't gone out and done all that hero stuff. I can't say they're nice or anything, but they aren't the bad ones you hear about.”

“Can you call them, one of the heroes, and have them come with me,” Mandy asked. “I-I'd feel better if they were there.”

It was Fai's turn to look away. “I don't know. I- yesterday I asked Port if he could find a healer to help Alexa. I don't want to keep calling them all the time.”

“It's just a little favour!” Mandy snapped, before quickly turning around to look out the window.

“What about...” she wracked her brain for a solution. “What about if I go with you?! Not as me, but as Fanak? I have my MID saying I'm with the Phoenix Warriors. You can tell your parents you're a mutant and need testing, get an appointment all set up and then say you called the Warriors for some support. I'll come over as Fanak, and no one will know who I really am. You get support from a hero and a friend, and the MCO won't want to risk anything.”

Mandy kept looking out the window silently for a minute, before turning around with a small smile. “OK, lets do that. Do you mind coming with me while I tell my mom?”

“Sure! It'll give me some pointers on how to tell my parents.” Taking her friend's hand, they walked out to the living room together.

Phoenix Warriors Headquarters
Afternoon

Lolomi knocked on the overnight room which Laysa was currently calling home. She answered it quicky, dressed in billowy translucent purple pants and an elaborately embroidered vest that left much of her stomach exposed.

“Lolomi, I was not expecting you,” she said with a small bow. “Please come in.”

“Thanks,” he stepped inside and took a seat at the small table, placing a folder down. “I have your documents making you a legal superhero and temporary worker in America. Fortunately I know some people and was able to get you fast tracked.”

She sat across from him, and he opened the folder so he could give her an MID, work permit, the paperwork to be a registered hero, and documents showing she was a legal temporary resident of the country. It wasn't the first time the DPA had had to work fast to deal with some non-Earth person who decided to call the US home and had the pull to push things through.

Laysa listened carefully to everything, putting them into her brand-new wallet and then into her shoulder bag which could double as a backpack. Once he was done, she shook her head seemingly in bewilderment. “You people have so many forms and papers. In my home we may have to give our names and get approval to enter a city or building, but it is easily and quickly done when you enter.”

“I wish it was that easy here,” he replied honestly. “But our government likes to dot every I and cross every T, so they can claim they need more money to keep track of it all.”

“So now I am a superhero?” she asked.

“Yes you are, which will make your life very interesting soon. And I'm here to talk about your first act as a hero.”

She leaned in, her large dark eyes gleaming with interest and a hint of fear.

“This one should be easy, it just requires a smile and your healing spell. Every Christmas we have some of our members go to the Children's hospital. Usually we just try to cheer the kids up, give them some happy memories and encouragement. This year I want you to come along and heal a few of the children,” he said.

“I'm not a healer,” she said.

“I know, but you have a healing spell. And from the tests we ran it's pretty good at easing pain and speeding up the healing process. I've already spoken to the hospital and they're asking parents for permission to heal children with broken bones and physical injuries that are within your capabilities. Normally I'd wait a bit before putting you in front of the cameras, but there are two things that I have to consider.”

Laysa looked at him curiously, silently motioning for him to go on.

“First, we've gotten quite a bit of new blood this year, and taken some big hits. The public isn't sure if we're up to keeping the city safe. Getting you into a hospital healing a few kids, will give us a lot of goodwill, and get you off to a running start at winning the public over. Being a superhero isn't just about protecting people, but making them feel safe and secure.”

“I understand. Like a dancer needs to win over the crowd, a superhero must do the same.”

Smiling in encouragement he nodded. “Exactly. If you heal even a few kids it will help a lot. And there's the second reason. A young lady who has helped out a fair bit with stopping crime, has a friend at the hospital who has a badly broken leg. We have her set up as one of the kids you'll be healing. We want to make it seem like she's just one person in the crowd who got lucky, so no one goes after her. You're our best option to do that.”

“Your, our team owes a debt, and I can help pay it back,” she said in understanding. Looking much more confident she nodded and tapped the table. “Very well, I will do it.”

“Thank you, Laysa. You have been to a hospital before, right?”

She nodded. “My family has performed at healing temples for nobility and wealthy merchants looking for entertainment to take their minds off their pain. And my grandfather is a skilled healer. I don't know the healing dances nearly as well as he does, but he taught me enough for the job at hand. However, if I am to heal several children, I will need more essence. I am still not used to the limited essence here, with what I have I can only heal a handful at best.”

“OK, I'll have Old Scratch provide some for you.”

A scowl came to Laysa's beautiful face.

“Is that a problem?”

“Demon essence is foul.” She sighed, “But it will allow me to heal more children, so I will bear it.”

“Thank you again. I'll see what we can do for getting you cleaner essence in the future. Now that business is over, we're having a small Christmas party at six. I know you've heard about it, I hope you'll be there. It's at a nice restaurant, and you can meet some of our families. I'll drive you and a few others.”

“Will Old Scratch be there?” she asked, the concern clear in her voice.

“No, he really doesn't like Christmas, so he'll be on patrol taking his irritation out on anyone stupid enough to commit a crime tonight,” he assured her.

A real smile came to her lips and her eyes seemed to glow. “I will be there. What should I wear?”

“Something comfortable, we're not worried about formalities.”

He saw her eyes go to the closet and she bit her lip uncertainly.

“How about I have Kasa,” he caught her look of confusion and realized she had probably mostly heard his niece's codename, “Road Runner come up and help you out. She's got a much better eye for fashion than I do.”

“Yes, that would be nice. Thank you,” she replied, sighing in relief.

“She'll be back from patrol soon, I'll let her know you need some help. And thanks for agreeing to helping out at the hospital,” he said.

“It's my pleasure, Lolomi.”

It was fun being Road Runner, but Kasa was quite happy to be out of her tight uniform and helmet after a day of patrolling the city. In her favourite baby blue sweater and a nice pair of warm tights, she felt wonderful. Her feathers were still a bit rumpled after her shower, but they'd be dry before she had to put on makeup for the party.

She found Laysa in the quieter common room, which was set up like a reading room, unlike the large one with the surround sound and a holographic entertainment system. The new girl was reading a textbook of some kind, which was all she seemed to do most of the time when she wasn't training.

“Hey Laysa, got time to talk?” she asked, taking a seat across from her.

“Yes I do. I need a rest from reading.” Laysa wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Your rules are almost as hard as the rules for priests in the Temple Cities.”

Having no idea how to respond to that, Kasa decided to just smile and get on with the topic at hand. “I was told you might need some help figuring out what to wear at the party tonight, so if you want I'll be your guide to looking sexy and not making a fool out of yourself.”

Relief filled the odd woman's face. “I would appreciate that. The clothing here is very different from my home, and there are so many suggestions that contradict each other. The homunculus I was given has not been very helpful either.”

“Homunculus?” she asked, totally lost.

A small multi-coloured bird made out of pixels appeared. “I'm trying my best. I wasn't programmed for fashion advice,” the VI chirped in distress.

“Oh your Virtual Intelligence," Kasa said, still having no idea what a homunculus was. "Yeah, I keep mine silent and mostly just use it to record things when I'm out on patrol and to deal with messages and paperwork. They're useful, but can get annoying, and very literal.”

“I can't help it. I'm programmed this way,” the VI replied, shaking it's feathers.

“Go to sleep, little one,” Laysa said, pressing the button to make it go away.

With the little voice out of the way Kasa motioned to the door. “How about we go look at what you have to wear. It'll be nice to talk about something that isn't work with you, this team is a bit of a sausage fest, so I almost never get to talk about fashion.”

“Sausage fest?” Laysa asked looking confused.

“Mostly men,” she explained. “My uncle, Lolomi, didn't plan it out that way. There were a few more women at the start, but retirement, injuries and... other things, over the years needed filling pretty quickly, and there are just more more male superheroes than women. So we're in the minority here.”

Laysa nodded in understanding, but there was still a bit of confusion on her face. “What about Shadow? He usually looks like a man, but sometimes he is a she. At least I believe it's Shadow, it is hard to tell sometimes.”

“Shadow, is... Shadow,” Kasa said carefully, her albino white feathers rose a little as she tried to think of how to explain things to her teammate. “I've known him for a while, but until I became a member of the team last month, I didn't really see him very much. I'm pretty sure he was born male, and right now he likes being called male. But last year while Shadow was dating Laughing Man, he mostly appeared as a woman, and went by she. When her partner died, Shadow went masculine pretty hard for a few months only looking like a woman for missions. So having him switching between the two is actually a pretty good sign he's recovering.”

“OK,” Laysa replied. “He is like some air and water spirits who change when they get bored of one form or need to interact with a group that prefers one sex over the over.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” she replied.

Getting out of her chair, she started walking with her teammate to the temporary living quarters. “Now tonight is pretty relaxed, we want to look nice, without being uncomfortable. So for me, it's a nice sweater and tights,” she waved a hand over her outfit.” I'll put on makeup before we head out. I'm a pretty casual girl, so this is about as dressed up as I get unless I'm on a date or doing something for work.”

“I believe most of my outfits will be too flashy or not flashy enough,” Laysa said, unlocking her door.

“All right, this will be a challenge. I don't get to do this very often,” she said with a grin. Going to the closet she opened it up and was stunned by the amount of very exotic, and beautiful, clothing stuffed inside. “Wow! This is... a lot of clothes. You seriously need to get an apartment with a walk in closet so these clothes can be treated properly.”

Giggling, Laysa said, “My family travels everywhere and performs for everyone. Clothing is important to fit in and to stand out.”

Taking out a sky-blue dress that glimmered in light and felt lighter than silk, Kasa whistled. “You are definitely going to stand out, girl. Let's get started, and after we're done I'll tell you about Sun Hawk, you'll be meeting her tonight and she's pretty fragile right now.”

Mesa, Greater Phoenix Area
Early Evening

“Look good?” June asked, stepping out of the bathroom in a good pair of blue woollen trousers and a dusty red blouse. Her makeup was simple, mostly covering up the dark circles around her eyes and giving her skin a healthier colour, with red lipstick. Her hair was in a crew cut, and there was nothing anyone could do about that. Even with her BIT making her hair regrow faster than a baseline she'd had her head shaved after her injury in the fight with Forte, it would take time to get back to it's normal pixie cut.

She still looked beautiful to Dae Jung. Striding over to her, he leaned far down to kiss her head to avoid smearing her makeup. “You look great, baby. How about me? Sorry I didn't shave, but we don't have all day for that.”

June laughed at his joke. Trying to shave his entire eight foot tall and very broad body would be a lesson in futility and make him look like a naked Sasquatch, which no one wanted to see. So he was just his shaggy old self wearing tailored black jeans and a black sweater. “You are very handsome, fluffy,” she said, managing to get all the words right without slurring.

“All right, lets get going. We don't want to be late.” He watched her slip on her shoes by herself, ready to catch her if she fell. Once she was steadied and ready to go, he flipped on the holographic projector for both of them, making himself look abnormally large but baseline, and turning June into a pale blonde. Handing her her purse followed by a cane, he wondered how long it would be before she recovered enough to become Sun Hawk again.

She held onto his arm as they left their apartment, her hand engulfed in his bulging muscles. He kept his pace slow, moving at a crawl compared to how fast he normally moved. They didn't talk as they walked the short way to Claremont Road, June kept most of her attention on walking, and he was busy watching her and everything around them. It probably wasn't necessary, his presence kept every sane baseline criminal from trying their luck, but it was habit. And with Sun Hawk so weak, he wasn't going to take any chances.

They reached The Odd One Restaurant twenty minutes after leaving, normally it would have taken about five minutes. The hostess led them straight to the large back room, reserved for the party, once they were out of the public eye, he and June turned off the holograms. While June's secret identity had been blown, the other members on the team still had theirs to worry about. Taking a seat, they waited for everyone else, June dozed leaning on his arm. She'd been doing that a lot thanks to her brain injury, it was getting better, but the walk had taken a fair bit out of her.

A few minutes later Desert Rat walked in with is wife and three year old son. “Hey Mog, June, glad to see you could make it,” he said walking over to pat Dae Jung on the shoulder.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world, Rat,” he said, not getting up because June was still sleeping on his arm. “Hi Izzy, Sebastian, how's life?”

Rat's wife helped her son get into a chair, then turned to say hi, giving the dozing June a sad look. “Same old, same old. How are you and June doing?”

“Taking it one day at a time. She's getting better, but it'll be a while yet before she's back to normal.”

“Well if you need anything at all just give me a call. I've got plenty of recipes for stews, casseroles, salads and enchiladas so you two can eat for months without having any repeats. And I can come over to help around the house while Sebastian keeps June entertained,” Izzy said with a thick Spanish accent, heavily hinting that she expected a call soon.

“Once June wakes up from her nap, you two can set something up.”

At that moment Magma Man and Shadow walked in. Shadow looked like a male model with wavy black hair wearing a tight suit with the jacket open and a frilly white dress shirt underneath, it was his usual look when at a party, and popular with the ladies and some guys. He had an expensive bottle of wine and another bottle of something with him, and started pouring drinks.

Magma Man hadn't gotten dressed up for the party. He was in his usual tight long sleeve white shirt showed off his muscles and contrasted with his dark black skin,  old dog tags hung from his neck. He smiled, a cheerful enough grin that never reached his eyes. 

June woke up from her nap at the noise, and looked around, taking her time to figure out who everyone was. Magma Man took a seat beside her. “Merry Christmas, June. It's good to see you on your feet.”

Grinning she let go of Dae Jung's arm and hugged her former mentor. “Cole! You keeping Fluffy safe?”

Dae Jung looked away, scratching his head in embarrassment as she used his pet name, much to the amusement of everyone there.

“Yeah, I'm keeping Fluffy out of trouble,” Magma Man replied. The way he grinned at Dae Jung made it clear he now had a new nickname.

Shadow came over handing out wine to everyone except Sebastian and June. “Here you go Sun, it's not wine, but it's a really good sparkly grape juice, just what the doctor ordered. Drink up and be merry.”

Smiling, Dae Jung sat back and watched as everyone made June the centre of attention. It was his first Christmas with the team and normally he would have been nervous, despite having worked with everyone since the summer, but June was having fun. That was pretty rare since she'd woken up from her coma, and with the team doing their best to make her smile, he could relax a bit.

The rest of the team, except Old Scratch arrived soon after. Lolomi led the way, with Road Runner, Janet and Laysa on his heels. Road Runner and Janet both immediately went and hugged June, making it clear they were happy to see her. Laysa held back looking out of place in a red and white cloak that mostly hid a long blue dress.

Dae Jung bit the inside of his lip. Normally June would have no problem meeting new people, but this wasn't normal. With her emotions scrambled from her brain injury, there was a chance she'd see Laysa as taking her job. There had been a small meltdown at the hospital when she learned Road Runner had been hired, and she knew Kasa, with a totally new person, it was a coin flip if it would go well or not.

Once the hugging was done, June looked curiously at the newest member of the team. “Who you?” she asked.

Lolomi stepped in to do introductions. “June, this Laysa, she's going to be your partner when you get back on patrol. You'll finally have someone up in the sky with you.” Dae Jung noticed how he stressed the word partner.

“Hello, June,” Laysa said very formally, giving a little bow. “I have heard a lot about it. It's a pleasure to meet my new partner.”

For a moment June frowned, then her blue fairy VI appeared whispering in her ear. Everyone tried to look like casual, not quite sure if they should say something. Then June smiled again.

“Hi,” June paused, and the VI whispered something else. “Hi Laysa. It's good to see you. So you fly too?”

There was a light breeze and Laysa was floating a few feet in the air. She did a graceful spin and landed gently on the floor. “Yes I do. Dae Jung and the rest have told me how good a flyer and a hero you are. It will be an honour to fly with you soon.”

From the corner of his eye, Dae Jung saw Road Runner give the newest member a thumbs up. Looking down at June she was grinning and from the look of concentration on her face she was working on a reply. Breathing a sigh of relief, he made a note to thank Road Runner and Laysa for wording things properly to put June at ease.

December 21^st, 2016
Chandler, Greater Phoenix Area
Morning

Fixing her trousers and button up shirt as best she could, Fanak took a deep breath and rang the doorbell of her best friend's house. She'd had to go out and buy a new set that looked a little more professional then the cheap hoodie and jeans she normally used when walking around in the day as a were-fox. She held her MID ready to show it, and thought about what she was planning to say. It was going to be difficult acting like she didn't know Mandy or her parents, but her friend had insisted on it.

The door opened and Mandy was there looking nervous. “Hi, you must be Fanak, come on in.”

“Yes, and you're Mandy Chalmers?” she asked, starting up her act.

“Uh-huh. And this is my mom,” Mandy said, as her mother came down the stairs.

“Hi, Mrs. Chalmers,” Fanak said, glad that her voice was completely different in this form. She held out her MID. “I'm Fanak with the Phoenix Warriors, we talked on the phone yesterday.”

Mrs. Chalmers paused at the sight of her, clearly not used to seeing a were-fox in her entrance way. She recovered quickly and looked at the MID seeing the Phoenix Warriors listed under associations. “Thank you for coming, Fanak. Sorry about making you spend the day with us. I'm sure everything will be fine, Mandy's brother was tested by the MCO last month, but Mandy was insistent on having support.”

“It's not a problem, ma'am. We like to make sure new mutants feel comfortable and do things correctly.” She really hoped the Phoenix Warriors wouldn't hear about this and get angry with her.

“Well I still appreciate it. Shall we go?”

Stepping back outside, she headed for the car followed by Mandy who looked really pale. They both got in the back seat which was a bit of a pain for Fanak thanks to her tail, and Mrs. Chalmers began the long drive to the MCO office.

“If you don't mind my asking, Fanak, how old are you?” Mrs. Chalmers asked.

“I'm eighteen, I'm just really small when I shift into a were-fox. I started working as an intern for the Warriors a few months ago. Right now it's mostly office work, but I'm also training and learning quite a bit about the hero business. And I help out with things like this.”

“Do you do any hero work?”

“Not really. I'm not an official hero yet, and once I'm done interning, I'll probably go to another city to work with a smaller team, the Phoenix Warriors are one of the best in America, and I'm not ready for that type of challenge just yet. I'm just thrilled they let me be an intern,” she said, sticking to the story she'd made up last night.

“OK, I was just curious because of the rumours of the Chandler Monster that have been going around.”

“Most of that was just me jogging around the city. I need to practice in this form, so I run at night and people sometimes get startled.” She said a silent prayer that Mrs. Chalmers would stop asking questions.

Mandy leapt to the rescue. “Mom, can we just stop talking? I'm freaked out enough.”

“You wouldn't stop asking questions when your brother had his testing,” Mrs. Chalmers said.

“Yeah but his power was really simple. I have super strength, if the MCO is going to make someone disappear it will be someone like me.”

Grabbing Mandy's hand, Fanak gave it a comforting squeeze. “The MCO won't do anything to you. The ones here are professional, and I'm here with you. I promise you'll be totally fine.”

Her friend took several slow, deep breathes, calming herself and regaining a bit of her regular colour. Fanak kept a tight grip on her as they drove into Phoenix.

Stepping into the MCO building, Fanak looked around nervously, she'd never been there, and it was a lot larger and busier than the Dallas MCO. When she'd been to the Dallas office, she'd had a superhero beside her to handle everything, now she was supposed to be the superhero, why had she agreed to this?

Wishing she had something to do with her hands, she led Mandy and Mrs. Chalmers into the short line, where people, some obviously mutants and some who looked baseline waited for their turn. Her ears easily picked up the chatter. One woman needed a new MID after hers was lost in a purse snatching. A boy was there for power testing to see if he was a mutant. Someone else had to pick up their brother who was apparently getting out on bail. And then it was Mandy's turn.

The MCO receptionist looked at Fanak. “How can I help you?”

Standing on her toes to look more easily over the counter, Fanak held out her MID so the receptionist could see the words Phoenix Warriors. “I'm actually just here to offer support to my friend, she has an appointment under #1046.”

Yesterday on the phone she'd told Mrs. Chalmers that they shouldn't give Mandy's name to the MCO, unlike what they'd done when Randy had gotten his MID. She'd also given some other advice she'd picked up during her own testing, so Mandy was better prepared.

The receptionist got a good look at the MID, her eyes widening a little. Then she got down to business signing Mandy in and getting her into testing. All Fanak could do now was wait with Mrs. Chalmers.

“Do you want to come with me for a coffee?” Mrs. Chalmers asked.

“No thanks. I need to wait here until your daughter is all done. But you can go, I have a water bottle and a phone. We'll call you when she's done.”

“OK, if you’re sure.” 

Finally alone, or as alone as she could be in the waiting area of the lobby, Fanak breathed a sigh of relief at not having to keep up the charade any longer. Taking out her phone, she began playing a game, keeping an ear out for anything interesting.

After several long minutes, there was a lull in visitors, and she heard the receptionist she'd dealt with say she was going to the back. The woman sounded a little excited, so pausing her game, Fanak focused on listening to the woman's particular pitch and tone.

Very faintly her ears picked up bits of a conversation. “Mike, ... a werefox ... Fanak... Looks like ... vigilante.”

A man responded, his voice was deeper and easier for her to hear. “Fanak?” There was a long pause. “She's ... Phoenix Warriors. ... MID in Dallas. Leave her alone.”

“But she ... vigilante before ... MID. It's a crime.”

The man was even louder this time, and he sounded a bit shocked. “You want us to arrest a cuddly looking were-fox for maybe stopping a child getting beaten and a date rape. And she's connected to the Phoenix Warriors? Evolution Rocks and their journalist buddies will love that.”

Fanak couldn't make out the receptionist's response, it was so quiet she could barely hear the mumbling. 

“Right, that's a bad idea,” the man said. “Ignore her. If she commits a crime that won't make her a media darling we'll do our job. Until then, she's off limits.”

Trying to act like she hadn't heard the conversation, Fanak went back to her game. She had been worried that her bit of crime fighting might get her in trouble, but it seemed like that wasn't going to be a problem. And even the MCO thought she was cute looking. Sitting up a little bit straighter, she allowed her tail to wag just a little.

Several hours later Fanak waited off to the side, as Mandy got her picture taken. Five minutes after that, they were waiting by the door for Mrs. Chalmers to return. Something didn't feel right though, Mandy didn't seem excited, interested, or anything Fanak would have expected. Sniffing the air, she was sure her friend was so sad she'd start crying any second.

“So what's your rating?” she asked, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Mandy didn't look too happy as she handed over her MID. Looking at it, Fanak's jaw dropped, her worries for her friend forgotten. “You're a PK 5 and Regen 5! You could beat up superheroes with this!”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Mandy said, with all the enthusiasm of finding out she was doing a pop quiz.

“I'm not even close to your level!”

Her friend grunted and didn't say anything.

“And your codename is...” Fanak's ears went flat and her jaw dropped again. “You called yourself Spinach.”

This time Mandy shrugged.

“Why Spinach?”

“I couldn't think of anything except Popeye when they asked. So I said Spinach,” Mandy said, still sounding like her world was ending.

“Oh. That makes sense. Now that you've explained it, that makes a lot of sense. I like it,” Fanak lied.

“Whatever,” Mandy replied. “My mom's here, lets go.”

Jogging to catch up to her friend, Fanak grabbed her hand, holding it tight as they walked to the car. She didn't know why Mandy was so upset with powers like that, and there wasn't anything she could do at the moment to dig for answers or make her feel better. But she vowed to get to the bottom of things.

December 24^th, 2016
Phoenix Children's Hospital
Early Afternoon

“This is your healing temple for children?” Wind Dancer asked, as they pulled into the parking lot of the children's hospital.

“Yeah,” Mogollon Monster said. “We call it a hospital. Do you have them in your... plane?”

She nodded. “There are hospitals for people, but they are few and only in the cities. Most of us travel, following the winds. My family and those like us, look after our own, our friends and those who request help in the proper way.”

Lolomi parked the plain white van and turned around in his seat. “All right, we're here, get your game faces on. Wind Dancer, remember only heal the patients the doctors tell you to, we have permission from their parents and they have injuries you can heal. Don't push yourself, no one expects miracles and we don't want you getting hurt.”

“Yes, Lolomi,” the woman said.

Mogollon waited while everyone else got out. They were all in costume, but Road Runner had a simple domino mask rather than her helmet, so her white skin and feathers were on full display. Desert Rat, the geokinetic, took a moment to fix his trench coat which was full of holdouts and rocks. Wind Dancer seemed to float as she stepped down, and then he practically crawled through the door, ducking low to avoid hitting his head or back.

When his feet touched the ground he saw the holographic displays they all had were working, making all of them looked like regular baselines. Well almost everyone looked regular, he was still a massive eight feet tall, but to anyone looking he was hairless and just looked like a very strong pro basketball player.

Following Lolomi into the hospital there was a group of doctors, nurses and patients, along with a small camera crew waiting for them. The holograms surrounding them turned into smoke that seemingly blew away a moment later, revealing them in all their glory.

“Hello there,” Lolomi said, “it's wonderful to see all of you.”

Following the plan, Mogollon grinned and seeing a little boy who had a feeding tube up his nose looking up at him in awe, he walked over and knelt down, holding out his hand. “Hey there, what's your name?”

“Carlos,” the boy said quietly, his eyes wide.

“Hi Carlos, I'm the Mogollon Monster. Have you ever met a superhero before?” he asked.

Shaking his head, the boy reached out to touch his furry forearm. “You're hairy.”

Chuckling, he nodded. “Yeah, I am. Give yourself a few years and you might be as hairy as I am.”

Talking with the boy and another brave little kid, he listened with half an ear to Wind Dancer being introduced by Lolomi as the newest member of the team. A warm breeze moved through the hospital lobby, tickling several kids who giggled as the mage did a little dance. Desert Rat had a rock in his hand which was rapidly changing shape, while leaning against a wall talking to an older teen boy who was trying to look bored. And Road Runner was chatting with a few girls using her quick hands to do some tricks with some chocolate coins.

Soon enough they were heading upstairs to see the kids who couldn't get out of bed or weren't part of the welcoming committee. They split up trying to meet as many kids as they could. Mogollon did his usual tricks of taking a short piece of metal from his costume and letting kids try to bend it, then when they failed he twisted it into a knot, flattened it out, and other things to wow them with his strength. He had over fifty of the little bars on him, so he wasn't at risk of running out, even as he signed them and handed them off to the kids.

He came to a room where a young teenage boy was lying in bed, his arms and legs tightly bandaged, clearly high on painkillers but still able to look around and smile a little at seeing him. Stepping inside the fragrant odour of rotten meat filled his nostrils. He'd smelled a few decomposed bodies since becoming a hero, and this was only slightly better.

“Hi there. I'm Mogollon Monster, you can call me Mog. What's you're name, dude?” he asked.

With a slow, slurred voiced, the boy said, “Mateo.”

The kid closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep for a moment, when the cup beside his bed rose in the air. Mogollon watched it move smoothly towards the boy, the straw going into his mouth. After sipping some of the water, it went back to the tray and Mateo opened his eyes again.

“Mutant power?” he asked.

The kid nodded. “Yeah. My limbs started rotting off and I began moving things with my mind. Some fucking deal right?”

Nodding Mogollon took a moment to think about what to say. “Yeah, sometimes life's a-,” he paused then just kept going, not knowing a politer way to say it, “bitch. I knew a few kids at my school who got shafted like that.”

Mateo snorted and closed his eyes. “Right. Your school was just full of freaks.”

“It actually was, it's a school for mutants. Every single kid had some kind of power, and even my ugly mug was barely worth a second glance. I was part of the superhero club along with Sun Hawk, she whipped my butt into shape when I was a freshman and she was a junior.” He grinned a little at the memories of Sun challenging him to prove he wasn't a moron when he'd been so lost in his own head he had almost flunked out. “I could come visit again soon and bring some of the brochures and my old pictures. Once you're healed up it might be a good place you to learn about your powers and get a great education with kids who have an idea of what you're going through.”

Scowling in pain, Mateo shifted, and the rotting smell grew, making Mogollon's eyes water. “I'll be lucky if I survive getting my arms and legs cut off,” the teen said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“When are they doing that?”

“A week and my legs will be gone. If I survive that, they'll do my arms as soon as possible.” There was a beep and the pain left Matthew's face, as his eyes became glassier from painkillers.

“I'll talk to your parents. You pull out of this, I'll do what I can to help you,” Mogollon said, very gently patting the boy's shoulder.

Mateo nodded, eyes closed, his face going slack. The medication pulling him away from consciousness.

Mogollon waited a minute, making sure the kid wasn't going to wake up again anytime soon. With a sigh, he got to his feet and left the room, making sure to remember the name and room of the boy. He'd make some calls tomorrow and set up something with the parents.

Walking to another patient, he stopped to look in a room where Wind Dancer was doing a slow, intricate dance for a young teen girl who had her knee and lower leg in a cast. He could actually see the air moving in time with her movements, encircling the leg and disappearing as it touched the fibreglass cast.

Hiding a sigh, he went to the next room, wishing he could do something like that for the kids. He was happy to make them smile and forget about their pain for a little while, but hospital visits always wore him out. And having to go home to June, seeing her still broken... it was going to be a tough Christmas.

Laysa struggled to keep her smile in place. She was a dancer of the third rank in her family, she had danced for monsters, capricious rulers, heckling mobs, merchants and mages who had seen a thousand wondrous sights, and creatures who would have her and her family killed if they were not entertained. And now she had to concentrate to keep her serene appearance.

This was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Moving around in a body adapted to this plane, she felt heavy and clumsy with every movement. The grace that was so natural to her, now required actual effort to achieve, and moves that should be effortless slowly drained her endurance.

The lack of essence was worse. It was like travelling through the doldrums where the wind barely blew, and the essence of life was so low it felt like death was walking beside her. Back home when her family had had to travel through those areas it was always a time of wariness and fear, everyone had to be ready for an attack by the ravenous predators that called it home.

And now she was constantly feeling that same fear.

This hospital place was so different from anything Laysa was used to as well. Her family had seldom gone to healing temples, if someone was injured or became sick they were healed by the family, or a healer, or they died. Travelling the winds between temples, towns and trading outposts was long and lonely, and you had to rely on your skills and those of your relatives.

The last time she'd been in a healing temple had been to entertain the dying Rashtramata of The Cloud Forest City of a Thousand Songs. That had been a holy place carved out of the living wood of the city, filled with music and incense that made all who walked through it's winding corridors feel healthy and at peace.

This children's hospital was nothing like that.

She could see the children were being cared for, but little of it made sense to her. What were all the machines for? Why didn't they use magic to ease the pain? Why did they fill the children with tubes and needles? Why did everything have to feel so sterile and dead?

Bowing to the little boy who was swathed in bandages that protected his burned flesh, she felt some happiness at the way he was breathing easier and seemed to be in less pain. Her healing dance wouldn't have him on his feet soon, but it had sped up the healing and his scars would be far smaller. Leaving the room, Laysa wished that her grandfather was there. His healing dances were so much stronger than hers. With enough essence and time, he could heal most of the children in this hospital.

“How are you holding up?” asked the nurse who was escorting her to the children she was supposed to help.

Keeping her smile in place, she remembered what she had been told, superheroes were supposed to be role models, not merely guardians. That had helped her understand that her new role was like being a dancer, even if your body ached, and you needed sleep, you had to keep going and never show it while in front of the audience. Weakness would ruin the performance. She forced her feelings down, intent on being a role model. “I'm fine, thank you. Where is the next child?”

She followed the nurse down the hall, smiling and acknowledging everyone she walked past, then she saw an older woman come out of a room crying into her hands and slumping against the wall. Peeking into the room a young woman was in bed, eyes closed, a tube down her throat, needles stuck in her flesh, hooked up to a plethora of machines.

“What happened to that girl?” she asked quietly once they were far enough away from the grieving mother.

Quietly the nurse explained, “Amanda broke her back in a cheer leading accident, and suffered multiple organ failures. We're trying to keep her comfortable while they find recipients for her healthy organs.” 

It took her a moment to understand even with the translation spell. “You will give her body parts to someone else!”

“Yes we will. We can't do much for her except keep her alive and in pain for a few more weeks. Her parents have agreed.” The nurse sighed, “The best we can do is try to get some good out of this tragedy. We'll be able to help three or four people with her healthy organs, keeping them alive and making their lives better.”

Laysa slowly nodded in understanding. She had seen her family make similar decisions about who to help and who would be lost or lamed. It was never an easy one. Looking around she saw some of her fellow heroes playing and talking to children who might not leave the hospital, trying to give them a happy memory during this winter festival. Then she looked back at the mother who was wiping away her tears and going back into the room to be with her daughter.

“I want to help her,” she said. 

“I don't think that's possible. From what we were told your magic isn't capable of healing someone that badly injured. And there are procedures and forms we need to go through, it will take a few days at least.”

Calling up her essence, Laysa moved her hands and arms in a twisting pattern she seldom needed, entrancing the nurse. “Go get a drink,” she whispered, the faint sound of bells echoing in both their ears.

Silently the woman went to get a drink, leaving her alone. Walking back to the room with the dying girl, Laysa knocked on the door, startling the mother. “May I come in?” she asked.

The mother looked surprised at seeing Laysa, but after a moment she replied. “You're one of the heroes here for Christmas, aren't you?”

Nodding, Laysa stepped into the room. “I'm here helping heal some of the children. I would like to try to heal your daughter.”

“They told me Amanda was too injured to be healed,” the woman replied. Despite her words a tiny bit of hope flared in her eyes.

“I have never healed someone this badly injured, but I believe I can. Do I have your permission?”

Seemingly unable to speak, the mother squeezed her daughter's hand and nodded.

“I'll need privacy and room for this. Please wait outside.”

Once she was alone with Amanda, Laysa closed the door, using a touch of essence to ensure it wouldn't open until she was done, and turned to look at the bed. Ever so gently, she removed the blanket and the loose gown covering the girl. She'd seen several children here dying of diseases she couldn't heal. Problems with the body growing too fast and chaotically, others with body parts that were malformed and refused to work properly. She didn't even know if there were spells to help them. But this girl, she could help.

Her VI appeared, fluttering it's wings nervously. “Wind Dancer, this is bad. You need to talk to Lolomi before trying to heal her.”

Without a word she tapped the VI's case, shutting off the little helper. She was supposed to be a hero and a role model, trying to save a life was the least she could do.

Reaching into herself she felt the essence Old Scratch had given her. She hadn't wanted to use the filthy essence, it felt slimy and rotten from being inside the demon. Yet it would do what she needed, and for this healing, she would need all the essence she had.

Breathing in, she filled her body with air, mixing it with the essence. Exhaling, a glittering, essence laden mist filled the room. Closing her eyes for a moment, focusing all of her concentration on the spell, she began dancing. Twisting and turning, following the ancient dance taught to her by her grandfather, she flowed around the room, making the essence swirl and glow even brighter.

Her long, delicate fingers caressed the girl like a lover. The golden breeze followed being absorbed into the body, making the pale, sickly skin glow.

Everything she did required more essence. Shaping the healing energy took all her concentration. Each gesture, every movement of her fingers, her footsteps, expression, eye movements, and twist of her hips, had to be perfect. She rose into the air dancing silently over Amanda, no longer pretending to have the same body structure as a human, or even bones like they did.

Breathing hard, exhaling mist as more and more of her essence and being was thrust into the spell, Laysa didn't hear someone banging on the door demanding to be let in. The dancer couldn't allow herself to be distracted while performing.

She could feel the healing magic suffusing the girl, repairing the grievous damage. Even with her eyes closed, the golden light was blinding. She kept dancing, collecting the last of the essence hanging in the air, and thrusting it into the girl's broken body.

The door smashed open and Lolomi yelled at her, only to stop mid-shout.

It was all a distraction, easily ignored.

She spiralled to the ground, hands moving over the girl, forcing the essence that was pooled in the limbs and pelvis to flow towards the neck and most essential organs. Finally she kissed the girl on the lips sealing the essence firmly inside, where it would continue the healing process until it was used up.

Opening her eyes, knowing she'd done her best, Laysa finally allowed herself to stop performing. She saw Lolomi glaring at her, and doctors and nurses rushed inside, shoving her aside so they could check on the girl.

It was at that moment she realized how weak she felt. Unable to hold herself up, she crashed to the floor, exhausted and spent. Her essence was nearly gone. People were speaking, but she couldn't understand them, her translation spell had stopped working as her body tried to conserve what little essence she had left for basic survival.

Darkness overcame her.

Chandler, Greater Phoenix Area
Forte's Lair
Late Afternoon

“Second Worst Christmas ever,” Forte muttered to herself.

She was sitting in her small kitchen, eating a microwave turkey dinner, watching a Christmas concert on her tablet, utterly alone.

Taking a bite of the rubbery meat, she tried to ignore the windowless walls, they were making her feel trapped. Instead she opened up the gallery in her tablet and flicked past the pictures of her devises and blueprints, going to something she hadn't looked at in months, her old photos.

There weren't any from the time of her accident or after it. She had loved having her picture taken while singing, and videos were even better. But after the explosion, she hated how she looked, small, lopsided, broken, useless. She'd been told it was body dysmorphia, and with time and therapy it would go away.

Months of therapy hadn't made it hurt any less when she looked in a mirror.

She reached the photos from when she'd been normal and not a freak.

The first one was a picture of her little brother Micheal messing around with one of her old guitars. It took her a moment to remember he would have been around eleven in the picture. It shook her that so much time had passed, most of it in a blur.

His hair was the same brown hers had been before she dyed it. Looking at his eyes he looked so happy pretending to sing. He couldn't play or sing, being practically tone deaf, but he liked listening to her. His thing was sports, track and field, baseball, even basketball, and she'd gone to a lot of his games. Usually she'd just sat off to the side writing music, but she'd made sure to pay enough attention to know when to cheer.

She hadn't seen him smile like that since her accident. And she hadn't seen any of his games. “I don't even know if he still plays,” she whispered to herself, realizing she'd been so lost in her own misery she'd practically forgotten about Micheal.

Flipping to another picture she stared at her parents. It was from her very last concert, a small one where she'd performed for a local event set up by a vinyard. It had paid well, and she'd had a lot of fun. They'd wanted her playing pop songs she'd learned to play before she'd turned twelve, so she had barely considered it work. Just set up her guitar and the background music, than mess around for three or four songs in the afternoon and evening.

Her parents were thrilled though, thinking it was a huge deal that people were paying her and it hadn't been set up through some program. So they'd taken plenty of pictures and videos. Forte's mind went back to her getting outed as the supervillain Forte, and the video of her mother telling reporters to go away. Her mom had lost a lot of weight. She'd always said she wanted to lose forty or fifty pounds, it looked like she'd finally managed it.

Touching the screen, she thought about the last call she'd had with her mother just after the news revealed her identity. Crying, apologizing, on the edge of slitting her throat.

Tears rolled down her cheek.

Getting up from the table she went to the old fashioned phone that hung on the wall, it was supposed to be completely untraceable. Taking it, she slowly dialed her parents landline, her hand shaking, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

It rang once, twice, three times, before someone picked it up.

“Hello,” Micheal said.

“Hi Micheal, Merry Christmas,” she said softly, almost whispering.

There was a long, long pause. Finally he said, “Natalie?”

“Yeah, it's me.”

“What do you want, Forte?”

Forte had given up her name when she became a criminal. She hadn't used it in months and didn't plan on using it anytime in the future. But hearing her brother call her by her new name hurt. The flat cold voice he used made it even worse.

“I-I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. Let you guys know I'm still alive.”

“I'll tell mom and dad your alive when they get back from shopping,” he said.

From his tone she expected him to hang up on her, but he didn't. Instead they both stayed on the line, silent, trying to think of what to say.

She finally broke the silence. “How are you doing?”

“I came in first in the half mile race at the track meet in November.”

“That's good. I'm glad you're still running, you're really good at it.”

“Yeah.” he didn't say anything for a several long moments. “Everyone keeps asking what it's like having a supervillain for a sister. A few ask if I'm going to become one too.”

“Sorry about that. I... I didn't want people finding out who I was.”

Micheal snorted. “Right, it was so much better thinking someone had kidnapped you and you were probably dead in the desert or the sex slave of some pervert.”

Wiping her eyes, Forte tried to think of what to say. “I'm sorry. I just- I just couldn't stay. I was going insane.”

It sounded like Micheal was crying when he replied. “Fine, you made your choice, stay away. Have fun killing heroes, Forte.” He hung up on her, leaving her listening to the dial tone.

She stared at the phone, not sure what to do. If she looked away she would see the grey, windowless walls. They seemed to be closing in on her, wanting to trap her. Ready crush her. It was getting hard to breathe. The air was too hot, too dry, making her gag.

Slamming the phone down, she ran to her lab, letting the music that drove her creations take over. Getting her tools, Forte allowed the fugue of devising to envelope her. If she was creating she wasn't thinking, she wasn't feeling.

As she tore apart a speaker, she didn't notice the tears pouring down her face.

December 25^th, 2016
Phoenix Warriors Headquarters
Infirmary
Afternoon

Looking down at the newest member of the Warriors who was slowly coming out of her near coma-like slumber, Lolomi wondered how to play this. If Laysa was a regular employee, and human, he would lay into her for her actions the other day at the hospital. Anyone with a bit of sense would know what they did was wrong and there were proper ways to heal the girl.

But the young woman wasn't human, wasn't from Earth, and hadn't become a member of the team willingly. “I should have kept an eye on her,” he muttered to himself.

There was a faint groan and he watched as Laysa opened her dull eyes, wincing at the light, clearly in pain and exhausted. Picking up a cup he brought it close and put a straw against her lips. “Drink this. I'm not sure how it works, but I was told this would make you feel better,” he said.

With another groan, Laysa took the straw in her mouth and started drinking. Whatever had been added to the water by Old Scratch seemed to be good, as she eagerly slurped it down, draining the large cup in half a minute. Her pale skin regained a lot of it's colour turning a somewhat healthy brown, and her eyes were no longer glazed over.

“Are you feeling up to talking?” he asked.

She started to nod, winced in pain and said, “Yes,” instead.

“According to Old Scratch you nearly killed yourself yesterday. He had to give you a fair bit of his own essence again, and he's not very happy about that.” The old man had spent an hour keeping her alive after they'd gotten her back to the small infirmary, all the while muttering and cursing in at least twenty different languages, only eight of them had been confirmed as human, five of those were extinct or nearly so. Out of the rest, three might be ancient human languages, the rest were definitely not from Earth. Linguists from several universities were poring over the recording with great interest.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I am not used to having so little essence around me. I did not think it would be so hard.”

“So what were you thinking yesterday, healing that girl? You were told to only heal the children the nurse said you could.”

“I-” the young woman started to speak, then stopped. “I have never seen so many sick children before. You said it was a hospital, not that there would be dozens and dozens of children, most of them who I could not help.”

Biting back a curse, Lolomi started getting an idea of what he had done wrong. “How many people did you think you would see?”

“A dozen, maybe two. And of those, most would be injured in accidents or attacks, easy to heal with just a bit of time. I have been to healing temples before. They are... not like your hospitals. Old people go there to be cured of pain, or pass away in peace. Adults and children go only if badly injured or sometimes if they are sick and their family cannot cure them or hire a proper healer. Temple healers have the essence and spells to cure all but the worst things. There are no machines, no needles, no tubes,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.

Giving her hand a squeeze, Lolomi softened his look and his voice. “OK, this is a case where I messed up. I should have thought about the differences between Earth and your home. Don't worry you aren't in trouble. The hospital is angry at you for not following procedure, but you kept a girl from dying, and asked permission from her mother beforehand, even the bureaucrats aren't going to push too hard to punish you.”

That got a weak smile. “She's OK? I wasn't sure if the spell would work.”

“It did. At least a little,” he said, returning the smile. “Amanda is recovering. Her most important organs seem to be mending properly, and she has regained some feeling in her hands and upper body. It will take time to know how much more she'll improve, but her mother has assured me that she'll keep us informed. And at some point she wants to meet you to properly thank you.”

“I'd like to meet her too,” Laysa said, her voice getting faint, and her eyelids drooping from exhaustion.

“One last thing and then you can go back to sleep. You need to learn patience, and the rules about how to do things here, but as long as you are willing to learn, I think you'll make a very good superhero.” He squeezed her hand once more. “Now get some sleep. Tomorrow you start a crash course on American bureaucracy and laws.”

She nodded and smiled sleepily. “I will do my best, Lolomi.”

“I'm sure you will. Rest up and if you need anything tap the button beside you, someone will be here to help you.” Walking to the door, he turned off the lights and shut the door. It seemed like despite the somewhat rough start, his Christmas might be OK. He didn't say it out loud of course, there was no way he was going to jinx it.

Da Chief's House Party
Late Evening

Checking her bag of devises one last time, Forte was ready to go as the mansion came into view. She was rested from sleeping most of the day away after pulling an all nigher making a variety of simple devises. And after yesterday's oh so fun call home, she was ready to make some money.

Book was muttering a spell in the front seat, her bloody hand held tight against the dashboard. Big Guy turned onto the winding driveway to Da Chief's house, going right past the two guards who were supposed to be keeping anyone not on the invite list out. Watching the guards talking to each other without so much as glancing at the car had Forte looking at Book with new appreciation. It seemed like her 'don't notice me' spell really did work.

Parking at the edge of the little parking area, it was time to get their game faces on.

“Here,” Book said, handing a small sheet of paper to her and Big Guy, “put this in your pocket or somewhere on your body, it will keep anyone except us from noticing you.

Looking at the paper, a black symbol tinged with a dark red was drawn on it. “This is your blood isn't it?” Forte asked, noticing a pattern of cutting and blood with the girl's magic.

“Yeah. Don't worry, it's dry, I did it last night. I figured you guys wouldn't want me drawing bloody runes on you, this is the next best thing,” Book said.

Big Guy shrugged and carefully put the page in an inside pocket of his jacket. Ptolemy and Cassandra had come through with appropriate clothes and the car which made things easier. He was dressed like a server, just in case the spell was broken, he could act like he was supposed to be there. Grimacing, Forte put hers in the waistband of her designer skinny jeans, bloody side out, and adjusted her very tight shirt to cover it up. It wasn't the best place, but it was the only place she had until she put her armour on, and she wanted to save that for when they were ready for action.

“OK, we have fifteen minutes to scout it out and place the devises. Anything goes wrong, we activate whatever devises we can, get the money and follow the 'run like hell plan',” Forte said. Big Guy had far more experience committing crime, but he had made it clear he was primarily the muscle and driver. So Forte had taken it upon herself to be the coordinator.

Her partners nodded and headed up to the house, both carrying a small bag with her devises. Big guy wasn't going to place many of the things but he had a few just in case he saw a spot that needed coverage. They weren't being particularly stealthy, instead trying to move fairly normally and quietly. The 'don't notice me' spell was good, but acting too out of the ordinary or actively interacting with people could spoil things, which was to be avoided at all cost.

Forte strolled towards the guards at the start of the driveway, trying not to panic when they looked her way. They were staring right at her for a moment, then they turned back to the road as if a young woman dressed for a party, with a silver right arm that had glowing yellow lines all along it was perfectly ordinary. She put a devise down about five feet away from them, at the base of the stone wall that ran along the edge of the driveway. It probably wouldn't be noticed there.

Going back up to the house, she gave the door man plenty of space. If her spell failed, she looked like she could be a party goer, but her arm might cause problems, and none of the guests had a backpack full of devises and power armour. Picturing the layout of the house, she followed her pre-planned route, dropping devises in any convenient out of the way place. It was a lot like her first heist, placing her traps in the best spots, trying not to get caught. A few people bumped into her, but it was brief enough that they didn't really notice her.

Through a window she saw Book, who was dressed up in a fancy long sleeve slit dress that covered practically everything but her hands and face. The girl was already placing a few devises around the large backyard, where most of the party seemed to be happening. Even in the cold weather people were splashing around the heated pool, listening to music, getting drunk and high, and a fair number seemed to be making out.

Shaking her head, Forte kept at her job, reaching her final destination, a home recording studio. Da Chief was in there with some friends singing drunkenly, the smell of marijuana thick in the air. Placing a red coloured devise against the door, she set it to go off if disturbed. There was no way to get the thing inside without risking breaking the spell, so this one was more like a landmine waiting for a poor, unfortunate soul to set it off when the door opened.

Forte took a moment to look at Da Chief singing and having fun with his friends. That had been her dream once. She'd just wanted to make music, to see people dancing to her songs, to share the joys of music with the world.

“Get your head in the game, idiot,” she snapped. Turning away from the scene, she took her burner phone out of her bag. There were two messages on it, they were just one period each, signaling that Book and Big Guy were ready to go. She replied with an exclamation mark, everything would go off in one minute.

Counting down the beats in her head, Forte whistled. Her sonic metal armour flowed out of her bag, connecting to her legs and arm, covering her clothes and fleshy body in the tight metal. It only took her a moment to adjust to being taller and much stronger. Grinning behind her all concealing helmet, her silent count reached sixty. Snapping her fingers a signal went to the devises.

All over the property sonic waves erupted, they were almost too deep to hear, but people felt them. The rhythmic thumping hit flesh and kept going, making bones and organs vibrate. People groaned and hunched over, grabbing their stomachs, fighting against the urge to vomit and worse. They all failed as the room spun and their stomachs and bowels heaved. In seconds everyone who wasn't protected was on their knees, too busy being sick to worry about anything around them.

Relaxing at the edge of the heated pool, sipping some champagne, Wave, captain of the private superhero firm The Elementals, wished she was back home with her partner and not at some jackass's party where he was showing he had more money than sense. Earlier in the evening, she'd finished a really nice Christmas supper with her friends, teammates, and most importantly her girlfriend, when it had been time to get to work. And it was just her, no one else.

Da Chief hadn't wanted to spend the money for the whole team, just one member was good enough, he'd said, and out of the team, Wave was the best option for a Christmas Day Party. Blossom's severe GSD would have stuck out too much. Wick with his fire powers was the last person to have at a crowded party, guarding a million dollars in very flammable bills. Notus could have worked, his wind power wouldn't burn anyone if it came to a fight, but he was a family man with a five year old, unless it was an emergency, she wanted him home for the holiday. And Quicksand, being a massive pile of sentient wet dirt, was not an option, unless she came in her baseline look, which would spoil her entire secret identity.

So it was up to the boss to make the big bucks that paid everyone's salary, while listening to repetitive music about screwing women, breaking laws, and hating police and heroes. Taking another sip of champagne she had to admit at least her client had splurged on the drinks. She'd still rather be home in comfy pyjamas, cuddled up to her lover, watching a sappy, romantic Christmas movie.

Emptying her glass, Wave looked around for one of the servers. Being an exemplar she could drink a lot without having to worry about getting drunk, so she might as well get what enjoyment she could from this job.

Halfway to the ladder, she felt a rumbling in her guts and the water began to ripple unnaturally. Well honed instincts sent her diving under the water. Slapping her chest, the holographic projector deactivated and her disguise as a bikini clad brunette faded away, replaced by her rippling blue and white superhero outfit. The sonic induced rumbling moved through the water, making her want to vomit, but it was distorted enough that she could force it back down and only felt nauseous.

A few seconds later it came to an end and she surfaced to see most of the party-goers, plains clothes security and servers on their hands and knees, noisily making a mess from both ends. A nine foot tall man in jeans, leather coat and a motorcycle helmet was shoving the entire glass case holding the million dollars, into his bag. She knew the criminal, Big Guy, a size warper and muscle for hire. There was no way he was working alone, the nausea devise wasn't his style, and he didn't do heists alone.

She couldn't see anyone else in costume, and the money was the most important thing. Raising her hand, she sent several hundred gallons of pool water slamming into the super-powered criminal hitting him in the lower back, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Concentrating on the pool water, rather than wasting energy manifesting her own, Wave created a large and very dense liquid ball, ready to hit the downed criminal again with the equivalent of a pile driver. Then, over the retching of the crowd, she heard a loud whine behind her. Not even looking at what it might be, she dove under the water again. It still felt like she'd been hit in the back with a sledgehammer.

Cursing, Forte watched as the superhero dove under the water. She kept her arm pointed at the pool, trying to see the woman, but the water was frothing and roiling, sending people who had been busy vomiting in the pool flopping onto the deck, and keeping her from seeing the hero.

“Big Guy! You alive!” she shouted.

Her partner in crime got to his feet, shaking his head while tightening his grip on the bag of money. “Yeah! You got her?”

“I don't think so. That was Wave, why the fuck is the leader of the Elementals here?!”

“No clue. I'll get the money to the car. Keep an eye on the pool, as soon as I'm out of sight get away and meet me at the second pickup point,” he told her, turning to run into the house and out of the line of fire.

“Will d- AHH!” Forte screamed as the pool exploded into two pillars of water.

One pillar clobbered Big Guy sending him to the ground again. The second one hit Forte, but instead of pounding her flat, it engulfed her in a ball of water. Her feet were knocked out from under her, and she couldn't breathe. Currents in the water kept her from swimming to the surface, or even knowing which way was up. Bringing her right hand close to her head, she set her sonic cannon to maximum and fired. Part of the ball of water blew away, and her sonic armour absorbed the sound waves that would otherwise batter her into unconsciousness. With her head free, she gasped for air, filling her lungs. Then the ball reformed and once more sent her spinning in the watery prison.

Trying to think of a way out of the water, Forte realized she had no idea what to do.

Standing at the back of the party, Book's phone beeped with Forte's message, letting her know that it was go time. The devises went off as planned, making her guts rumble uncomfortably. Fortunately the counter devise she'd been given worked and kept her from vomiting up her stomach like everyone else was.

Looking over the crowd, she gasped as one man didn't just fall and start vomiting. He hit the ground hard and began convulsing like he was having a seizure. Without thinking Book ran over to him. She might be a demon, and a supervillain, but she didn't want anyone to die.

Dodging the growing pools of vomit she knelt beside the man who was bleeding from the back of his head where he'd hit the floor. She heard water splashing which almost made her look over, but the man needed help and only she could do it.

Whispering the words of her healing spell, she took a knife from her pocket slashing her palm. Placing it against the man's mouth she felt her essence filled blood flow from her body into the man. Watching his convulsions slow and stop, she kept whispering the spell, willing it to heal the injury to his head. Only when his eyes fluttered open did she pull her hand back.

Smiling at having saved the man, she turned to see what was happening with her companions and gasped.

A woman in a rippling blue and white costume was standing in the middle of the half drained pool. She was waving her arm sending geysers of water at Big Guy, knocking him down even though he was a fifteen foot tall giant. He grunted and lunged back to his feet holding the bag of money, trying to get away only to be hit by another watery blast. The hero's other hand was pointing behind her, at a frothing and whirling ball of water that seemed to be holding a silvery object in the middle of it.

The ball of water exploded once then twice, and Forte's upper body came into view. From twenty feet away Book could hear her partner in crime gasping for air before the ball reformed around the girl.

“Oh crap!” Book cried. She hadn't wanted to fight, and she really hadn't wanted to fight a superhero. For a moment she thought about running away, it would be the safest thing to do. They hadn't expected to fight a hero.

Biting her lip, she fought down the fear. She had to help her partners, they'd been nice to her and treated her normally even though she looked like a monster. And she needed the money. Once again the knife sliced into her flesh. Speaking inhuman words, the blood moved like a slug towards the pool, mixing with the water, turning it black.

With a thought and spitting out one last syllable, she made the water erupt in tentacles. They encircled the surprised hero, pulling her arms down to her side, wrapping her in slimy, shifting bonds, reforming even as Wave broke some of them.

The water ball around Forte exploded again but this time it shattered completely and the supervillain fell to her knees gasping. Book ran over, grabbing her arm to help her up. 

“Can you walk?” she asked.

Sounding like she was spitting out water under her all concealing helmet, Forte nodded. “Yeah. Just help me get started.”

Together they headed for the exit quickly turning their walk into a jog. Big Guy groaned as he stood up, shrinking to only eight feet tall so he could fit through the doors, and looked back at the pool where the hero was fighting against the tentacles. Limping with the large bag under his arm, he caught up to them, and all three ran to the parking area where their car was waiting for them.

Throwing the money in the trunk, they got into the car. Big Guy got them onto the road and drove very calmly down the street, taking his helmet off, even as sirens came closer. Two blocks away from the mansion three cop cars drove past, lights flashing, without giving them a second look. Going another three blocks with no sign of pursuit, Big Guy finally breathed a sigh of relief and they all started to relax.

“That could have gone better,” Forte said, still gasping a little from the near drowning. Her armour flowed off of her body into the backpack, pouring pool water on the seat as well as revealing her drenched hair and clothes,

“We got the goods, got away, and only need some painkillers. I'd call it a good day,” Big Guy said.

Looking down at her lap, Book said, “Sorry it took me so long to do my spell. There was a man having a seizure and he was bleeding from the back of his head. I was healing him and didn't... didn't know you were fighting her.”

“We didn't die. I didn't have to learn how to breathe underwater, and you trapped her. I'm not going to bitch about it,” Forte said with a wan smile.

Big Guy turned to look at her as they stopped at a stoplight. “You kept a guy from dying or going to the hospital?”

She nodded.

“OK, you did good. Robbing gets the cops and heroes annoyed with us. Having someone die or get badly injured gets us on the shit list. You healing him won't make them forget about us, but they won't come guns blazing. And you dealt with the hero. You did good for a first timer.”

Even with her emotions not feeling as strong or as real as they should, Book broke out into a real smile.

“Now,” Big Guy said, “lets drop the money off and go home. Tomorrow we can meet up at Outlaws and celebrate.”

“Sounds good to me,” Forte replied, then coughed a little, spitting up some more water. “I think I have fifty pounds of water in my arm and legs, and a gallon in my lungs.”

Sitting back in her seat, Book thought about what she could buy with her share. New clothes were definitely on the list.

Forte's Lab
Late that night

Sitting in her bath chair, Forte soaked in the warm water, letting the tension and pain from the heist fade away, while the classical Chinese song 'Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank' softly played. Her right arm and legs sat beside the bath, cleaned and waiting for her. 

She didn't have the money from the heist in her bank account yet. It had to be deposited where no one would ask questions, or check the serial numbers to see if it was stolen. But she'd been told by Big Guy and Delaney that Ptolemy and Cassandra were trustworthy, so in a few days she would have a very nice payday, getting more money then most people made in a year.

All it had cost was some materials that would be paid back along with the rest of the money, a bit of a scare, and drinking in a fair bit of pool water. It was definitely a lot easier than her last heist. And she'd gotten off a bit better than Big Guy. He'd barely been able to walk by the time they'd gotten to the drop off place. Book had offered to heal him, but the whole blood drinking part of the spell had made Big Guy turn green, so he said he'd survive with painkillers, beer, and a long shower.

If she'd gotten hit as hard as he had, Forte definitely would have taken the healing. Wave had been hammering the guy's hips and legs to keep him in place. If she'd been able to concentrate all of her attention on him, she probably would have broken his leg or dislocated his knee.

And if Wave had focused on her, Forte really didn't want to think about what would have happened.

It was her regular problem, she needed to improve her equipment and become a better fighter. But to do that she needed more money and more time.

“Well at least I have the money now. Even with the cash I still owe Doc Morris,” she said with a grin. “This is getting fun.”

Leaning back, Forte started thinking about what she needed to build next to be an even better supervillain.

December 26^th, 2016
Beach Outside of Monterrey, California
Early Morning

Spitting up sea water, the boy gasped for air. His clothes were plastered to his body and the surf lapped at his legs and hands as he knelt in the sand. Slowly, painfully, he began to crawl towards his parents who were lying dead on the beach, each one with a bullet in the back of the head.

A man was screaming a few feet away from him. The killer had dropped his gun when he'd ripped out his own eyes, trying to make the terror go away. Another man lay face down in the water, unmoving. Two more were sprawled half in the water, one dead from a heart attack, the other from a stroke. The boy ignored all of them.

He looked down at his rapidly cooling parents, his tears mixing with the salt water on his cheeks. Taking a handful of sand, he placed it gently on his mother's back. He did the same with his father.

Getting to his feet, he staggered towards the dirt road leading to the isolated beach. He had to get away. He didn't know where he would go, but if he could get to the Amtrak station or a truck stop, he could sneak on and disappear. He had to escape. He had to survive. His parents had tried to protect him, he couldn't let them die for nothing.

That thought propelled him through the darkness.

The End

Coming Soon

Bad Memories

Happy (slightly late) Valentine's Day!
I hope you enjoy this happy and delightful little story of a boy and a girl, young love, and change.

No Heroes
Part 7: After the rain

A Whateley Academy Tale

by null0trooper

"Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose"
— Leonard Cohen, "Everybody Knows"

Adam Smith sold by his father and expected to be tortured to death in the pursuit of twisted science. This is her tale and how she started on her path to becoming the heroine known as Astral.

Or how not to do security in secret labs.