After being paid for the delivery Xander began to make his way back, not knowing whether or not Loki was still following him. He felt a bit awkward while at Reyna's apartment due to it being a doubled order, but also he felt some connection with her. It was not romantic at all, or at least he did not think it was...No, it was much closer to the one he felt with Lindy right before she threw him through his own wall.

"Maybe I'm just confused..." the fire bender sighed as he slowly made his way back to Lucky Star. He did not feel like bringing up her Alzheimer's so he simply handed her the money and headed back to his loft.

Once inside he changed out of his work uniform and headed down stairs. "This place really needs some cleaning too..." the martial artist groaned before grabbing some old bricks and plaster. With that he began to at least try to repair the wall that he had been thrown through earlier that very same day.

Morgan had enough when he was done with the dinner with Nalini. They both were it seemed. He had left telling her he had to finish up the project tonight as he had an idea. It was true but also a lie as he did have an idea but also it was more just an excuse to get away. She was hurting and so was he. He couldn't comfort her anymore and as he got into the elevator to get to the main floor hot tears stung his cheeks. He had cried many times this week and he still didnt know if this would work. He wanted to bring the people who had orchestrated the gas attack to justice one way or another. After that he would find out more about his parents deaths. After all he had been given gifts and the worlds of his grandfather still rung in his mind.

The bell of the elevator dinged and he stepped out. Leaving the small lobby he entered the street. People bustled by in the dead or really more accurately the live night. He began to scratch at his wrists again where the webbing came out. He wasnt sure why but that always happened when he kissed Nalini. The skin almost looked as if it would heal closed. "Ah who the hell knows what it could be. These fucking powers and shit keeps going wrong." He punched a wall and some stone broke off. Then he continued on in silence till he reached the workshop.

It was a large building with no fancy framework and it served its purpose. Inside his workshop was on the third floor containing various projects and doodads that he had working on. Setting the keys on the counter and flipping the light switch he went over to where a clothes locker stood. Opening it too out her coveralls and behind those he pulled out the patch work experiment of a suit. "This thing is going to get me killed..." he sighed and tossed it in the trash. Going over to a work bench he slammed his hand down making a slight dent in the mental. "This will never work if I don't get it together." Then as if a light bulb came on he had an idea.

Morgan wasnt much for messing with clothes but he began to see this as an engineering problem rather than a tailor problem. First got to work on the boots. With enhanced friction and energy he would generate he would have to have them durrible plus be capable of many things. Then he decided that the whole suit would have to be the same way.

Thirteen hours later using all he had available he had a prototype mark two. He rubbed his tired eyes and flipped the switch on one of his tesla coils. Lightning or energy flickered between the two coils then without warning he touched one. Energy flowed into Morgan then he was wired awake. As if he had slept eight hours he had a pep in his step again. Putting on the suit he smiled a wicked smile. Then something else happened he wasn't expecting, a sense or tingling sensation made him more alert. "That's odd. It's never happened before. Made it was just feedback? Either way it's time to test this baby out."

Morgan had crawled out of. The window and only the roof by hiding in the shadows if the alley as he had exited the window. Shooting the web to a nearby building he took off swinging.

He tested his powers further making sure the new capacitors worked. Then he landed back on his building again preparing to go back in. Suddenly the sensation was back. It hit morgan so hard that his body reacted as if a threat was about t ok action. He lep into the air then his body just floated there above the roof. The wind blew and he drifted lightly. Then with an understanding like no other he glided down a few buildings. He had suddenly felt the ebb and flow of the electromagnetic forces of the earth and how to control his body in the glide. He also felt those forces touch his own natural force he gave off. Was that what he felt earlier? Something invading or brushing his bubble? Further experimentation would need to be done he thought then his charge ran out and he dropped like a stone to the roof he hovered over with a smack.

---

Crime doesn't pay.

"You know," Clara postulated, counting a stack of bills between her fingers,"I think some gangster a long time ago came up with that. That way it would scare kids so they wouldn't become gangster too, you know?"

AJ nodded, transferring stolen data onto her computer. "Sure, I can see that. Like how the vikings named the icey land Greenland, and the green land Iceland."

Clara smiled. "You know, I wish more countries were named like that. Like...Russia could be Hotland. England could be Dryland. Nevada could be Wetland, and Hawaii could be Bigland."

"Nevada and Hawaii are states, not countries."

"Well, hey, sorry I don't know the weather of all countries in the world, AJ."

"It's spelt W-E-A-T-H-E-R, not W-H-E-T-H-ER, Clara."

"Well- you-, what?" Clara shoved AJ back onto her sleeping bag and the younger girl giggled. "Smartass. That shit doesn't even make any sense." She shook her head, placing the catch in a purse. "That's 200 right there. A damn good haul, damn good haul. I knew all I needed to do was be a bit more, I dunno, risky. We got the talent, if we just push ourselves. Don't forget that, AJ."

AJ nodded, rolling her eyes. "Thank you, sensei."

Clara shrugged, "I'm just sayin'! You dump on yourself too much."

"Okay, sure. But, speaking of pushing ourselves, how did things go? You kind of brushed off my question when I asked earlier."
"Hey, sorry, but that's because nothin' happened."

"Nothin', huh?" AJ asked flatly, propping her self up on her right elbow.

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"Well-"

"Here it comes."

Clara threw up her arms and fruitlessly shoved AJ's knee, laughing. "Don't be like that! It's just...hard to explain."

AJ sat up, furrowing her brow. "Okay, well...Try."

Earlier that day.

Clara Cabello was on a roll. Perhaps it was because any shred of worry or doubt she normally had when pick pocketing had been replaced. Whether it be by fear, confidence, or perhaps stupidity, Clara was aggressively picking pockets and swiping cash. A sizeable expertly folded wad of cash was growing in her back pockets. The excitement was palpable. But she had to contain herself, otherwise she would look suspicious. Peoples eyes were drawn to grinning idiots, right?

But as a handsome rich business man made his way down the street, his phone just pratically HANGING out of his back pocket, Clara couldn't resist. She grinned and dexterously swiped his phone and stowed it away.

Atleast, she tried too. What happened instead was what was currently stumbling future Clara's words. Her finger stuck to the guys ass, to put it crudely. A more accurate statement would be to say that yeah, her spider powers were activating, and this was just an embarassing and potentially dangerous coincidence. But Clara didn't know that. From her perspective, her fingers stuck to the bottom of his rich guys pants.

Clara tried walking away and the man stopped in his tracks. The two of them halted their momentum, and both turned around in surprise to look at the other. Clara looked with wide-eyed shock, and the man turned with righteous indignation. Gasping, he slapped her across the face, causing her sunglasses to fall off onto the concrete. Her mouth a small "o", Clara brought her fingers to her stinging cheecks. The man was flabber gasted that the woman assaulting him had yet to remove her fingers from his back. He tried to turn around but couldn't, somehow this woman was strong enough to prevent him from turning.

"Get off of me! What are you doing!?"

"I'm...I'm grabbin' your ass, dude." She said numbly, explaining the situation outloud to both herself and the stranger. At this point, several people stopped to look. How did this happen? Wasn't she supposed to be good at this? The man coughed in confusion, choking on his own words.

"Let go!" He palmed her face and started to push, but nothing happened.

"Uh...no." She mumbled into his palm, trying to let go. Her fingers were not caught on his belt loop. She wasn't grabbing him. The very tips of her fingers were pulling the fabric of the pants toward her. Okay. Time to get violent. Something was wrong. She raised her foot and planted against his leg, pushing as hard as she could. Too hard. Harder than she could have imagined she could ever push in her life. Fortunately, the fabric gave way before the man's leg did, and her fingers had three different patches of pants on each one. Clara and the man went flying backwards several feet.

"What the fuck!?" He cried out, scrambling away and clutching the back of his now bruised head.

"Hey, sorry," She managed to shout out, dashing into a nearby alleyway. Her elbows were a little scraped. Like she had touched some wet bread in the sink, she frantically wiped away her fingers tips in an attempt to remove the fabric form her fingers. She succeeded after a bit and sprinted away, eventually assured she lost the trail. Breathing heavily, her cheeks red with embarassment, (so much for not having shame), she pressed her back against an alley wall and burst into genuine laughter. What the hell was that? Curious, she tried to glance down at her hands. Only to find that she couldn't remove them from the alley wall.

"Aw, sick, dude. Nice." She articulated her internal feelings outwardly as she tried to push away. Okay, okay. What was going on? This is just too weird. First the guys pants, now this wall. Was eveything she touched super sticky now? She sagged against the wall, exasperated. After a moment of this, her hands came free. Prancing away from the wall as if she had suddenly discovered a roach on the wall, she wiped her hands off on her hoodie. They didn't feel sticky. Her hoodie wasn't sticky. So, what's the fucking deal?

There was a discarded syrofoam cup on the ground. Gingerly, she kneeled down and extended her index finger towards it. It bounced off, rolling a few inches. Giggling, she did the same thing again. This time, it stuck. Wonderously, she brought the cheap cup up to her face and exanimed the fact that the tip of her finger was lifting this cup all by itself. I want. To let go. She thought. Let go of the crappy cup. Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. Let...go. No this wasn't working. She sighed, and the cup fell lightly to the ground. She felt it, then. A conscious effort. A relaxation of some invisible new muscle she didn't know the exact location of.

Curiously, she approached a nearby wall. Clench. Somewhere in her mind, the command word rang true. Her hand stuck to the wall. Release. And her fingers came away. Glancing around, she saw the sidewalk on her left. Receding further into the abandoned alleyway so no one could see her, she placed her hand on the wall. Pulling herself up- woah, pulling herself up was impossibly easy. Did she weigh nothing? She was a few inches of the ground. Instinctively she kicked out her feet, and lo and behold they two stuck to the wall. Right through her shoes. Laughing, she raised her left hand higher. Clench. Right hand and left foot up. Release. Left hand and right foot up. Release. She was two feet off the ground, now. Holding onto nothing. Tears came to her eyes and she held her forehead with her left hand, she laughed.

"What the fuck!?" She cried out in disbelief. Her heart began to soar. This was incredible. Was she dreaming? Had that man slapped her so hard she was sent off to la la land? One hand infront of the other, she ascended up the wall, a bug in an alley. Eventually she summited onto the roof and she rolled onto it, staring up at the sky and breathing heavily. She yelled victoriously, wiping her eyes and sitting up. What the hell, man? Why can she climb up walls? Was there no explanation? How was this possible? Her mind and heart were going a million miles a minute. Handstand! She thought. Easy. So easy, she could do a handstand. Her hands clung to the floor and she walked around. Was she stronger? More agile. Her hoodie fell upwards, revealing her abdomen. After a few seconds Clara fell to the ground and began to reset her hoodie when she thought of something. Her fingers brushed against her abs. Furrowing her brow she lifted up her hoodie and looked herself over. Damn! Was that a six pack? How had she not noticed before? Letting her hoodie fall down she examined her arms. Ripped! She was fucking shredded, dude! Since when?

Grinning, she jumped up to her feet. Time to get home. Question is...how does she get down?

Easy. Fucking easy. Climb. Thinking that confident thought, she pointed her head towards the ground below her and, adrenaline pumping through her veins, began climbing down the side of the wall, staring at the concrete as it approached. Daringly, she reached the ground and detached her feet. Bending her heels over her head she front flipped off the wall and landed on her feet, throwing her arms up in the air like she saw the olympians do.

"Ta-da!"

Alan tilted his head at how nonchalant Lindy was being about her injuries. Either this girl had nerves of steel, or she was just really good at putting on an act. This only served to make him further suspicious of what was going on with her...of course, he could be overthinking this whole situation. How long did it usually take for morphine to be flushed from one's system again?

However, he was distracted from those thoughts by her question,"My glasses?" Instinctively, he felt around his face and, sure enough, they were still gone. For a moment, he was silent, thinking of how to explain this. What was he suppose to say? That he'd somehow managed to get corrective eye surgery in the midst of a flipping terrorist attack? Anybody in the know was aware that Alan and his Mom only had enough to make ends meet.

...But the young man knew in his heart that he couldn't lie his way out of a paper bag. As such, he let out a sigh before going to fetch a bottle of water for himself and some of his homemade cinnamon rolls which he set on a tray before his guest,"Lindy...what I'm about to share with you does NOT leave this room, understand?"

He looked her in the eye with as serious a face as he could give before laying back in his chair and gulping down some water,"...You know that bio-terrorist attack at the local university?...I was there," Alan would watch for her reaction before continuing,"I got caught in the blast but...somehow, I'm still alive. I know. I look pretty good for someone who should be a walking tumor right about now. As for "how"? Well...guess I was just lucky..."

The baker shook his head,"When I recovered, I started noticing these...mutations going on with me. I had perfect vision, and I could...do things..." He let out an empty chuckle,"I must sound like a madman, don't I? Honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you felt that way...except.."

He picked up a hand-held mirror and looked at himself, focusing on letting his power out. As he did so, his hair changed to a dark brown, then blond, before fading back to normal. Even his eyes briefly changed color to a soft green. After this, he sighed and laid the mirror back down, "See?"

Lindy simply watched Alan closely. He felt his face, as if he hadn’t even realized he wasn’t wearing them. That was weird, to say the least. Were they unnecessary? Did he just wear them to look cute? There were plenty of possible answers, Lindy was certain. But he didn’t seem overly confident in saying anything. Was it an uncomfortable topic? She was starting to regret asking, she was just trying to get attention off of herself. She didn’t realize it’d put him on the spot like this.

She wasn’t going to press; But admittedly was surprised when he just walked away. She tilted her head and watched him, eyes widening from her squinted expression at the sight of those beautiful cinnamon rolls. He was good at tempting, and if this was his way of distracting her, she wasn’t going to argue with it.

”H-”

She didn’t have time to respond; As her mouth opened to speak, Alan spoke to her instead. Not to leave this room, huh? She knew it. He was faking the glasses! All this time and she thought he had legitimate eye problems, though with how they looked on him she could understand. He rocked the look pretty well. Maybe it was the slight babyface.

”Your secret is safe with me.” She replied, in a knowing tone. Here came the admittance; She’d hear him out and not tell anyone. Simple as that—

Why was he staring at her so seriously?

She relaxed as he sat down, listening to what he had to say, Her eyes widened at the revelation that he had been at the university attack: She couldn’t even tell he had been to a hospital or anything, with how healthy he looked. Though considering her, that wasn’t too farfetch’d…

… Wait, no.

Mutations? Alan was claiming after the attack he could see clearly, and beyond that, he was claiming other things happened too? Lindy momentarily looked down at her hands, before Alan’s talk of being a madman drove her to look back at him. No, he wasn’t a madman. But this was something Lindy didn’t expect… And wasn’t liking one bit.

Eyes scanning him and the mirror, she let out an audible gasp as she witnessed not only his hair changing colors, but his eyes as well. Lindy usually would play this off as an illusion or trick, but these things seemed too real. The way it changed was strange, beyond any effects she’d ever seen right in front of her eyes. He presented this to her with trust, and she felt pain in her lip as she bit down on it, unsure of if she could do the same.

… What the hell was she saying? He trusted her. She couldn’t betray that.

”My god… Alan,” She spoke softly, standing. She gestured towards her head bandaging, finding herself needing to explain. ”I was there, too. I don’t know exactly why, but emergency dispatch found me on the steps outside with my head busted against the stairs. All I can even remember from that day is what doctors and my mom told me.”

She hesitated. The way she threw Xander… That had to mean she was strong, right? That’d be easy enough to show off. ”I was hospitalized. I didn’t notice much was weird except for how easy my recovery ended up being. But— I… I discovered something awhile ago. Don’t get up, don’t panic. Be quiet,”

His mom was asleep. She’d make this quick so there’d be no witnesses. Lindy gripped both sides of Alan’s chair; And with ease even she didn’t expect, she picked both it and him up off the ground. She raised him up somewhat, though not to the point of going over her head. She held him in place momentarily before lowering him back to the floor as gently as she could.

”That was like holding a textbook.” She boasted, backing away a little, with a small smile curving on her lips. It was kind of fun, but also terrifying. If they had both been in that attack… God, had Xander been there, too? He went to that university. And that fire…

Three people. Herself, and two she knew. This attack, what the hell had it done? Changing eye and hair colors? Super strength? Fucking self-igniting? How many people were like this? The attack had a lot of victims, a lot didn’t make it… But the three she knew had made it all came out with weird abilities, apparently.

It didn’t take a genius to consider it the cause.

”Alan… I think whatever that was? It changed people. It can’t be a coincidence that we both were there and we changed, right?” She questioned to him, the thought again rushing through her head: That terrorist attack. It changed people.

How many people it changed was the question.

---

Scott was half holding his breath as he walked up the steps towards Marcus’s place. Every step saw him shuffling his thoughts over and over. The moments that could have possibly lead up to the gas being released on ESU grounds playing and replaying in his mind.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he was standing in front of the door to Marcus’s apartment. A slow breath was let out, before drawing another back in. Pap pap pap, his knuckles rung against the door.

There was barely a pause before a voice rang out from inside the apartment. ”Be right there!”

Some rummaging sounded, along with some clinking noises for a second or two, before the door opened, revealing a haggard-looking and slightly ruffled Marcus. Despite how exhausted he looked, he smiled warmly, stepping forward and giving Scott a big hug.
”Thank God you’re alright. When those bombs went off, the whole time in the hospital, I was worried… uhh, never mind, come in.”

He turned and walked back into the modest living room, a pair of mismatched glasses sitting on the coffee table; one in front of the couch, the other closer to the chair in the corner. Both were empty. Marcus looked at the glasses, then to Scott.

”I, uh… did you want anything? I left ‘em empty, ‘cause I didn’t know what you wanted. If you wanted anything. I’ve got water, milk… some cold brew. Maybe. If… y’know.”

Rather than continue to ramble, Marcus decided to walk over to the chair, but didn’t sit down just yet. He cleared his throat, ”You… you said you needed to talk to me.”

Scott allowed Marcus his nervous rambling. Sometimes people just needed to let it out. He put a hand on Marcus’s shoulder, making eye-contact for a firm moment. He meant to tell him it was okay. He should have said that. But the words didn’t come. Probably because it was technically a lie.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t get sick like anyone else did. Which… is kind of exactly what I wanted to talk about,” Scott moved to a seat, and gestured to another nearby, “I really think you should sit for this.”

Marcus paused for a moment, before nodding slightly. ”Yeah. Okay.”

He sat, unnerved by how serious Scott was acting. And whatever weird buzzing was currently humming in his head periodically. Whatever, he could ignore it.

”So… talk. What did you need to say?”

“So, I wasn’t affected by… whatever that stuff was, because I...” his voice lowered a touch, “already have super-powers; and now I think you have super powers too. And they’re basically mine.”

”...”

Whatever Marcus had been expecting, it wasn’t this, clearly. He blinked, his expression becoming one of mild concern as he stood back up.

”Uhh… Scott. Mate. I get that this whole thing has been troubling an’ all, but… you sure you’re feeling okay? Maybe we should see a doc, just in case?”

“Okay, you’re taking this better than I thought… I mean, all things considered. But I’m… well. I’m not fine, per se. Some things are bothering me, a lot to do with, well, what happened. And what’s going on now. It’s complicated, and I know- I know I should have told you before, but things are… complicated now. More than they were.”

”I mean, a chemical attack on a university would shake anyone up, but… come on, Scott. You’re not serious? Superpowers… they’re not real, are they? This isn’t…” It was getting hard to concentrate on his words, with the periodic buzzing pressure in his skull. Fucking sickness must’ve taken more out of me than I thought.

“I’m Strand.”

”...” Once again, Marcus was at a loss for words. Strand? The Strand? That vigilante that the Bugle harped on about every so often?

”You… huh…?”

Scott simply nodded, reaching into his pocket and producing the bandana-mask he wore as Strand, holding it out in an open palm.

Marcus stared, shocked for a moment, before turning it into a skeptical frown. ”Prove it. Do… something Strand-like.” He pointed at a particularly blank wall in the living room.

”Climb up the wall.”

With what could only be described as a preternatural grace, Scott back-flipped over the chair on which he sat, and sprang onto the wall, in the process removing his shoes. His fingers pressed firmly against it, holding him there by some incredible method. Instead of turning around to face Marcus, he shuffled about to be facing down the wall, and leaned his head what would normally be back, so at least his eye level wasn’t up-side-down.

Marcus was glad that he hadn’t been holding anything. He’d have dropped it. And it would probably be something fragile, given his luck. It took him about a minute to find his voice.

”...Alright. You… have my attention, but… but this still doesn’t make any sense. What makes you think I got powers at all? Much less… yours?”

“Catch,” Scott prompted, before flinging his phone at Marcus in a fluid motion.

Marcus started to flinch as the phone rocketed toward him, before the strangest sort of reflex kicked in. Time went… liquid, somehow. Thicker. Slower. The phone went from baseball pitch to lazy drift through the air in a heartbeat. In a second heartbeat, Marcus found himself reaching out, plucking the phone out of the air as easily as he’d pick up a jar of pickles out of the fridge.

And then time went back to normal, and Marcus blinked, almost losing his grip on the phone in shock. What…

”...the HELL WAS THAT??” he exclaimed, standing bolt upright.

Scott removed himself from the wall, which involved him rolling down and planting his feet on the ground before letting go, then unwinding his arms.

“That, my friend, is my real super-power. Also, it’s how I can tell you have the same power to begin with. ”

Marcus stared at Scott in shock, feeling his eye twitch start to come on. And now that he mentioned it, the buzzing still hadn’t stopped. And it felt… strangely familiar. And similar to how time went liquid before, at the same time? Which was weird, that it could feel like so many things at once, but… there it was. He walked over, slightly shaky, handing Scott back his phone, still trying to keep things straight as his head continued to buzz and pulse periodically.

”This… this isn’t… this doesn’t—”

And then, suddenly, a connection was made. Marcus paled.

”The university. The gas, the attack. Th-they… you don’t think…?” He left his sentence trailing, hoping his friend wouldn’t pick up the thread he’d left lingering.

“That’s the other thing we need to talk about. There are more of us now. I can feel them, like how you felt the phone coming. You can probably feel them too. It’s like… you ever get a directional headache? Well, it’s like that, but like, a pull, like some sort of string in the air.”

Marcus thinks to himself for a moment. He understood the directional headache part. The reaction, the warning. But… a pull? Threads?

”I kinda get what you’re saying, but… I don’t think mine is working quite the same way as yours. Mine is kinda… spotty, I guess? I don’t see any threads, or feel any pulls. Except when you threw that phone, but that was more just, like, some kind of alarm. A warning- something’s gonna hurt you, from this direction. Nothing more.”

“Okay, so… maybe your… that-power is weaker than mine, which means maybe your wall-crawling is stronger? Yeah, I don’t have a name for that feeling. I never had to talk to anyone else about it, so I never felt the need,” Scott admitted.

He then pocketed his phone, as well as the mask, then took a seat again. It was only then that it became obvious how tired he was. He allowed his face to sink into his hands as Marcus took the time to process what was going on.

“Yeah, they got a sample. Of me, Marcus. I don’t know how, or when… but, like, since I was there? It seems it was very, very deliberate.”

Marcus’ heart fell at Scott’s current despair, though it was understandable; he’d feel pretty trashy too, if a terrorist had gotten a hold of his DNA. But, then…

”Now… now we don’t know for sure, that they got some of… you. Maybe they had it from before. Like, when you got your powers. Which, speaking of, how did you get your powers, anyway?”

“I’m going to be real with you, I don’t have a clue. I felt some kind of sting on my hand, went to sleep thinking I was going to puke to death. Then I woke up on the wall, and I could like, tell where anything was coming from, where it could go, and where not to be. Still feels like a dream some times.”

Shit. There went that lead. Marcus turned and sat back down in his chair, suddenly exhausted. ”So. What now? What do we do with…” He gestured between the two of them. ”...This?”

“Find the others?” he offered, sounding rather exhausted, “Make sure they’re not doing anything stupid? I mean, I know this isn’t my fault, but I kinda feel a little responsible for, well, them. Like, I already know you. You’re not going to try and like, rob banks or anything. Other people? I’m not so sure. That’s sort of why I do the whole, you know, Strand thing.”

Marcus nodded, ”Makes sense, I guess. It is what you do. Just… be careful, okay? These people have powers, like you— er, us now. If they don’t want to be convinced… might be better to stand down for now?”

“Catch more flies, er- spiders, with honey than the big-house,” Scott replied, “But yeah, I get what you mean. But if I get close enough, I’ll have to take the shot before something goes bad… Also, please, don’t worry about me doing my thing now. Even if you’re faster than me now, somehow, I don’t think you could land a hit on me if you tried. Probably the same with anyone else with powers like ours.”

Marcus still didn’t look convinced, but he really didn’t have it in him to argue. ”If you’re sure. Still, just be careful. Even if you’re already careful, just… be more careful. With all the shit we’ve gone through already, there’s no telling what else is out there waiting for us. For you.

“...I don’t want to lose you.”

“Yeah, I… I’m sorry that I didn’t get to you sooner. I just… I could feel a lot of what was going down.”

”N-no, I get it. You’ve had a lot to deal with. Based on how things work with you, and your…” He raised a finger to his temple and tapped on it. He still didn’t have a word for the buzzing, yet. He’d have to brainstorm. ”Anyway, you’re welcome to stay for a bit, if you want. Hector should be back in a little while. We could all go get a bite to eat, or something.”

“Yeah, that sounds… honestly, I need a break,” Scott remarked.

---

September 9th

---

“Good Morning, New York~

“It is 8:32AM, Tuesday, September 9th and I am your host, Nicole Silver with your Channel 9 news report. It has been a week since the tragic gas attack event at the ESU grounds where over 70% of the roughly 2000 infected, died in the horrifying display or soon after hospitalization. Those lucky few that overcame the symptoms from the attack were temporarily hospitalized and quarantined until they were deemed non hazardous by medical officials. Authorities are still actively investigating the site and no further information has been divulged at this time.

“As a respect to those who have lost their lives, a memorial service is being held this afternoon for the victims of this heinous crime. It has been a week in the planning and is said to be a time where all the loved ones affected can come together, start to heal together and know you are not alone. It is said that some of the people that have sponsored and provided support for various charities or clean up of the damaged area will also be in attendance. We at Channel 9 will be airing the event itself and will be getting one on one interviews with some of the attending audience. Stay tuned for the 6PM news report for the full story.

“We now go live with Chuck Blakely at Oscorp where Mayor Norman Osborn is holding a press conference about the event. How are you, Chuck?”

“We are good here, Nicole. We are going over the attack and asking the important questions on how this will be handled and what the next steps are.”

The camera switched views, now locked onto a podium set up outside Oscorp tower with Norman Osborn in full view. “We are all diligently working on the situation at hand and the fine men and women of this city have been working tirelessly around the clock for everyone. We will stand up in the face of this adversity and overcome the trails before us. We will not rest until justice is found. Thank you everyone for your time, support and effort.” There were many reporters gathered, still reaching out and asking questions. They were greeted with no further answers at this time before he briskly headed back inside.

“Well, you heard it here folks. It appears we are in good hands. Back to you in the studio.”

---

”...'In good hands,' eh? We’ll see about that.”

---

AJ looked up at Clara. Now, normally, that wouldn't be an unusual thing thing to write. Afterall, Clara is taller than AJ and in order to make eye contact with Clara, the smaller woman would have too, if only slightly, look up. However, in this particular instance, further clarification is required. When AJ looked up Clara, she really was craning her neck, gaping up at the upside down girl posing triumphantly in a gravity defying maneuver that would make Isaac Newton roll in his grave.

Currently, the two of them were gathered in an abandoned warehouse within Hell's Kitchen. The red-headed latina was upside down about thirty feet up, her ponytail dangling down and swaying in the wind.

"Okay, okay, it's time for you to get down now, Clara." AJ said nervously, her brain conjuring image after image of Clara shattered on the concrete floor infront of her.

"Why? I can't fall. I already told you yesterday. You saw me stick on the wall." She said, gesturing at the floor. No, the ceiling- she was standing on. It was odd to talk to someone upside down- the gestures she made were all wrong relative to AJ.

"It's one thing to show me five feet up on an alley wall. It's another to show me thirty feet up, upside down and oh my God!" AJ said, cupping her face with her hands as Clara started doing cartwheels on the ceiling.

"Wheee-hee-heee!" Clara childishly announced her excitement with a giddy shriek-laugh. As long as she kept at least one limb attatched to the ceiling she should be fine. Normally it would be kind of hard to such feats of gymnastics, but Clara was finding she was stronger, nimbler, more flexible, and more agile than ever. By a lot. She wasn't even breaking a sweat. What a rush! After a few cartwheels she paused, breathing heavily- not from exhaustion, but from joy. Clara hadn't felt this good in a long time. No, Clara hadn't felt this good, ever. Her mind was dazzled, boiling over with possibilities she was barely even beginning to comprehend. Only now, after about two days of this power, had her thoughts returned to her job. What kind of crazy shit could she pull off with being able to climb anywhere? Holding onto the celing with the tips of her fingers, casually kicking her legs, she looked at her younger friend beneath her.

"Clara! Clara stop doing crazy shit and just come down!" AJ called out, holding the edge of her shirt with her balled up fists.

"Hey, sorry, but no way. I'm havin' way too much. You're just gonna have to get used to seeing me do this stuff, because I'm gonna do it until I die." Clara responded, her voice echoey and distant.

"Could you not phrase it like that? That could be thirty seconds from now for all I know!"

Clara suddenly swung her legs forward, going a considerable distance. Her feet touched the ceiling and she sat down, staring in disbelief at the spot she was just at mere moments ago. The concrete chunk she was holding onto plummeted thirty feet to the ground and shattered, AJ leaping back and shrieking.

"Woah!" Clara exclaimed. "That was close."

AJ responded with an incomphrensible series of desperate cries and shouts, alternating between extreme concern and volatile fury. Clara furrowed her brow and glanced down- up? at AJ.

"Hey, sorry, AJ. I'm alright. See? No problem." She began to do a slow windmill breakdance, moving slowly and deliberately while keeping at least one part of her body on the ceiling. Almost hyperventilating, and embarassed that she was so outwardly concerned for her dumbass older sister's safety, AJ pouted and calmed herself, crossing her arms.

"That's enough! I'm not gonna stand around here and watch you splat," AJ called up defiantly.

"I won't splat," Clara denied, almost numbly, as if she was coming to some kind of realization.

"You don't know that! I can't handle this! Come back when you're not being-"

"Hey, shut up a minute, would you?" Clara said, staring blankly at the floor beneath-above her. How did she know that concrete was going to fall? How did she have the reaction and speed to avoid it, even if she did know? There was more. Something in her was telling her to...let go.

AJ began to get angry again, but it faded out as the odd tone in Clara's voice registered. "Clara?" She asked, staring up.

"Just..." She trailed off. She stood to her feet. Extending her arms upwards, fingers splayed out.

"Clara." AJ said seriously. Clara didn't respond. Instead, her feet came loose from the ceiling.

"CLARA!" AJ cried out in despair and fear as she watched her only real family in the world come crashing head first to the concrete. Instead of a splat, there was nothing. Hardly any noise at all. Clara's hands caught her, and she rolled forward, coming to a stop after a few feet. As if she just did some a parkour stunt, diving headfirst over a railing onto to catch herself and dispering her momentum. Only it was a death drop, and she had almost no forward momentum. Trembling, Clara stood to her feet and turned around, an almost maniacal grin on her face. She held her hands out infront of her, staring. They were fine. It was like she hadn't fallen far at all. All she had to do was...catch herself. There was no issue. Somehow she knew she wouldn't be hurt. AJ, on the other hand, looked faint.

Unaware of the extreme emotional turmoil she had just put her best friend through, Clara sauntered up to AJ and slapped her on the shoulder. "Well? Whatcha think? Pretty cool, huh?"

AJ returned the favor by attempting to slap Clara across the face, but the red-head casually dodged it without even blinking. AJ looked offended and frustrated and whirled around, turning to leave. Rubbing the place where she would have been hit, Clara called out after AJ with a confused look on her face. "Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to dodge it. You can try again if you want!" Clara offered, not exactly helping. While she meant only to keep pace with AJ, Clara found herself infront of her younger sister. Turning around she placed her hands on each shoulder and tried to think of something to say.

"Hey," she began. Blinking in surprise at the tears streaming down Alejandra's face, she said nothing for a moment. Wiping away her face with the end of her sleeve AJ sniffed and glared up at Clara. Clara wasn't sure what to say, so she said nothing.

"You're a real asshole, Clara," AJ said after a moment of silence. Clara had a tick where she apologized often, but it wasn't a real apology. It was a fake one, a mocking one, as if the idea of Clara Cabello saying sorry was a joke in and of itself. Clara rarely truly admitted a mistake. Maybe she would, this time. But it didn't come; instead, Clara's face broke out into an irritating smile and she shook AJ lightly by the shoulders.

"You should lighten up, AJ, for real. This is great! I just, well, I knew I wouldn't die. I have superpowers," Clara was still riding her high of exhilaration.

"Yeah, I know. You have superpowers." Alejandra responded plainly, shrugging Clara's hands off her shoulders and rubbing her temples.

"Like in those comics I get for you." Clara said.

"Yeah. Except usually, the person in those comics become a superhero. Or a supervillain. They aren't just...some random asshole."

Clara grinned. "Well, this is real life. And in real life, apparently random assholes like me are the one's gettin' powers."

AJ put her face into her hands. "I can't believe the universe gave Clara fucking Cabello superpowers. Of all the fucking people." Her voice was muffled and exasperated. When she pulled her face out of her hands, she had a small smile on her face. It was pretty exciting. There was a lot to take in. But this was just Clara trying to distract AJ from the fact that she had scared her half to death without warning. So why was AJ playing along? It was too late, though. She had smiled and made banter with her older sister, so that means that Clara was forgiven, even though Clara hadn't apologized. At least, that's how she must have seen it, as her grin grew bigger and more irritating. Clara glanced around. No one was around in the morning, in this part of town, with it's poor quality streets and dusty warehouses.

"Think of all the cool shit I can do. Nothing can stop us now. Payin' off that debt? Only the beginning. You an' me, AJ. We're gonna kick some serious ass." She knuckled AJ on the shoulder again, and AJ smirked.

"We are going to have to thoroughly test your capabilities. No more jumping off roofs, okay?" AJ asked, her voice turning serious again. Clara's smile left her eyes for a moment, but then she shrugged.

"Okay, whatever. For you, I guess. Come on, let's get back to the tent," She turned and began walking, AJ following behind, wiping her eyes a little when Clara wasn't looking. Clara put her right hand into her pocket, her left arm swinging forward and backward. A moment passed in silence. Clara knew the way back, and AJ followed, getting out her phone and beginning to swipe and tap with expedience and practiced skill. The early morning sun painted the two of them in a red-orange light that casted long shadows behind them. AJ had her eyes downcast, but Clara squinted against the light.

"Hey, AJ, got my sunglasses with you still?" She asked, breaking the quiet.

"Sure," AJ replied, reaching into the inside of green heavy coat and withdrawing them, handing them to Clara without looking. Clara placed the orange tinted, black-rimmed sunglasses on her nose and her eyes relaxed, no longer being assaulted by the sun.

"Okay, so," Clara began, "Where do you think I got these powers from?" AJ scrolled through the news. There was going to be a memorial service in an hour, in order to remember those lost in the attack.

"Well, probably from the gas attack. You recovered faster than most people, and really it's the only thing I can think of."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Musta put some crazy shit in that gas. Wonder why only I got powers?" Clara wondered.

"If you got powers, it stands to reason that others did aswell. Unless, you really one one in 8 billion and are the only person on the world with superpowers. In which case, God help us all."

Clara nodded. "That makes sense. Still, lotta people died, and not a lotta people who survived got powers, I guess. So I think we're in the clear for now. Wow. I got superpowers. That's crazy. For a little, I thought I was dreamin'."

"More like a nightmare."

"But, no, it's real. Really, real. I can do all sorts of crazy shit. Stickin to anythin? Falling thirty feet onto hard concrete without a scratch? Head first? We're gonna be rakin' in the cash, AJ. I can steal from anybody. And I'm discoverin' new powers all the time, who knows what else I got." Clara rambled on, clearly excited.

"And once we get the cash, AJ, I'm gonna buy you all sorts of cool shit."

AJ was still looking down at her phone. "Oh, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah! Who knows what you could do with real money. What we had before? Pocket change. Nothin'. I mean, shit, look at this." With that, she crouched, gathered her strength, and pushed off the ground with all her might. Much to her surprise, she leapt fifty feet into the air, screaming. AJ startled and stared up at her older sister who was now a distant shape, flailing her limbs wildly in the air. Clara fell down to the ground and did a nimble roll, coming to a stop, her legs far apart, one hand spread on the ground and the other high in the air. Standing, she cracked her back and turned to face AJ, eyes wide, smile huge.

"Holy, shit. Didn't expect that. Hey, sorry if you got scared again." She said breathlessly.

AJ blinked. "Uh, no. I'm now totally numb to the idea of human suffering. Thanks, Clara."

"Aw, no problem." Clara patted her on the shoulder. "This day just keeps getting better and better."

AJ shook her head. She had read in a science fiction book, once, that humans were the most adaptable creatures in the galaxy. They could take in information and plan new strategies in accordance to that new information at a rapid, almost instantaneous rate. It's what compelled humans to explore new lands. It's why in horror movies, it takes the person only a matter of minutes to readjust their reality in accordance to the fact that there is a real life ghost chasing after them. And in that novel, it's why the humans adapted so quickly to the alien invaders, and turned the invaders own weapons against them. It was our greatest trait, according to that book. Well, AJ thought, she guessed that was what she was going through now. Super powers were real, and her dumbass best friend had them. That was her new reality. She didn't just pass out or die of a heart attack, and she hadn't committed herself to an insane asylum. Because, by all accounts, her friends powers made no sense. Not according to modern science. But hey, fuck it, what else was she gonna do? Proof's in the pudding. Anyone who says superpowers aren't real haven't seen Clara Cabello jump 50 feet into the air and land without a scratch on her.

"Anyway, they're holding a memorial service to the victims of the attack later today. Wanna go?"

"Nah," Clara responded simply, shrugging her shoulders. Feeling AJ's laser eyes dig into the back of her head, she turned. "What? Why would I want to go there?"

"Because you almost died in that attack? And it would be the decent thing to do?"

"It's just gonna be some corporate fatcat talkin' fake shit about justice and friendly shit or whatever. Last thing I need is some soulless Osborn shithead tellin' me how to feel while people like you an' me don't even know if they gonna have dinner tonight." She said, once again shrugging her shoulders.

AJ rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure, I don't like Osborn any more than you do. But that is such a simple and unnecessarily cynical way of looking at it. We wouldn't be going there for Osborn, we'd be going there to support the families who lost people. People like me. If I hadn't been so lucky." AJ said.

Clara turned over her shoulder once again. "Okay, fine, I guess." She said, throwing her hair to the side with a rolling of her neck.

"You shouldn't pick pocket from anyone there, either."

Clara looked offended. "Like I would ever steal from grieving families!"

AJ smirked. "Sure, sure. It's like you said, we're going to be making a lot of money. We can take a break from stealing for an hour or two, can't we?"

"Sure, I guess, for you." Clara compressed her lips. "We still have a few hours. I can get my pick pocketin' quota done for the day early to make up for the memorial. How's that sound?"

"Sounds fine. If you can crawl up walls I have a hard time imagining how people are going to catch you."

"Right? For real, no one can catch me."

"Try not to sexually assault anyone today."

"That- was a fluke. And an accident." Clara said, the words catching in her throat. "Now, I can control what's stick and what's not."

"Gross." AJ made a face.

Clara's face turned redder than her hair. AJ laughed. "Wow! You're really embarrassed about that, aren't you?"

"I never shoulda told you that story," Clara lamented.

"I thought you said shame was for pussies, or something like that?" AJ pushed on, sensing her opportunity.

"Well-"

"I guess you're usually pretty good with guys, huh? Not your smoothest moment, I imagine."

"Man, AJ-"

"Probably doesn't help that he was hot, huh?"

"I never said-"

"If he was ugly, you would have told me and laughed about it. You know, 'cause you're a scumbag like that."

Clara gritted her teeth. She had her there. "He was just some rich asshole! Who fuckin' cares?" She defended herself.

"You do, apparently." AJ teased. It wasn't that long of a walk home. Later that day, the two women would turn up at the memorial service, AJ dragging Clara there. Of course Clara wanted to spend the entire day exploring the limits of her new powers- even the rush of pick pocketing and thievery wasn't comparing to her new jump height. But work, and apparently memorial services, came first today.

Between deliveries and waiting on tables at his grandparents' restaurant along with working on his new suit Xander had just finished repairing the wall that he had been thrown through a couple of days ago. Regardless he made sure to get a quick shower in this morning before beginning to make his way over to the memorial of the gas attack that he had survived. 'Odd that the same incident that gave me super powers killed thousands, including my old math professor' the martial artist thought to himself with a soft sigh as he jogged over to the event. Even though he knew it would most likely be televised the six foot two teen would have to be there in person since he did not own a television.

As soon he arrived the young Asian man stopped to look around, trying to see if there was a crowd already. With that he slowly made his way as close to the stage as physically possible.

The morning had started off fine enough. Adalbert had woken up and seen the news; The memorial service was a great thing, and he planned to attend. But getting ready for the event was another trial from just going. It got him curious, too. His father had been quiet thus far about the whole attack, what did he plan to do with this whole service deal going on?

“Son, you ought to have been up an hour and a half ago -and- ready.” A voice rang in Adalbert’s ear as his father already began to bog down his morning. Ah, yes. Father’s perfect routine. Despite his recent discoveries of what he could do, Von was still playing a bit tired and worn. And in his mind, he honestly was kind of worn out. Not that his father really cared.

”I’m not coming in this morning,” Adalbert responded, phone in his hand as he made his way into the bathroom. He popped open the door to his walk-in shower, reaching in and twisting the hot water knob before quickly pulling his hand out, closing the door back. ”There’s a memorial service for the victims of the attack. I assume you won’t be there.”

“Not the proper time or place, though there’s announcements to be made that might raise good publicity.” His father spoke calmly; Casually, even. “If you find you must skip work, I suppose your arrival will make for good publicity at the memorial. Do comb your hair, don’t look too ragged, son.”

Adalbert held back the urge to shout between his gritted teeth. ”Yeah. I’m sure I’ll make a big splash. You ever consider doing it yourself? Your fatass could use the exercise.”

”Do try to be mindful while talking to your boss, Adal. Your mother never taught you to have a mouth like that.” His father lectured, still in his ever-so casual voice. “And remember what I’ve always told you--”

”Myeh bidness hadhs nwo playce fwour fauwures!” Adalbert mockingly predicted in the dumbest tone of voice he could manage, rolling his eyes so severely he thought they might pop out of his skull. ”Trust me, this business will be better one day.” He added, without actually mentioning that it’d be without his father being the pain in the ass Hardt he knew too well.

There was a moment of silence on the phone, before his dad finally spoke a few final words:

“Goodbye, Adal.”

The young man almost threw his phone, but instead let his father hang up. Sack of shit. He left his phone on the sink as he got ready for his shower; The steam of the bathroom already making the place a blurry mess. It was short, and sweet: But effective. He washed up and was out before seven minutes had passed: Towel around his waist as he wiped the mirror to see himself well enough to comb his hair. It was here that he began thinking; By going like this, he’d be doing what his father wanted. And doing what his father wanted was the last thing he wanted to do during this memorial service, as taking any attention from it would be disrespectful.

He took a moment to think to himself, before deciding on something: He couldn’t be himself. If not for the memorial service, then to spite his dad for being a dickhead. He went and opened up a cabinet within the bathroom; Digging through a few things before finding some unused hair dye. He had wanted to dye his hair for awhile, but never for an excuse until now. This ought to be fun.

He had enough time; So he went ahead and dyed his hair. It gave him time to think about a few things. One, specifically, were the events of yesterday: Rather than freak out over the fact he could crawl on walls, he had taken it as a confidence booster; Maybe that was why he was able to be such a dick to his dad now; Realizing he had something greater going on. Did he want an explanation? Yeah, because he had none. Last thing he was doing was vomiting blood and getting hospitalized, unless that journalist somehow gave him this ability. Which that was just stupid, right? Whatever the case, his thoughts of somehow putting them to use ran wild since he discovered it: Everything back at the workshop was developing nicely; It was all functional, he just wanted to test it to ensure nothing would backfire on him. His inspiration from yesterday went wild and paid off; He was willing to say the stuff was actually ready for use, but at the same time, he didn't want to use them at the moment unless he truly had to do so. He'd get the bag stuff and memorial service done, then go from there.

Auburn-colored now instead of his blonde, perhaps it was a bit of an extreme but to him he liked the change. After he was finished, he made sure to take a look in the mirror at his impressive new look, a smile crossing his face. Of course, just some hair-changes weren’t going to be enough. Probably. His attire needed adjusting, so he’d focus on that next.

Baggy pants; Cotton linen, wide leg. Normal white undershirt, but maybe something a bit heavier over it? Not terribly so, but perhaps a hoodie. He had a few of those. Nahh… He found a better shirt: A grey one, with the word ‘PRINCE’ printed on it in a fancy border, then he threw a black coat over it, leaving the ‘PRINCE’ text visible. Mixing blacks and greys, mhm. That’d work. A pair of shades felt like too much though… Maybe a hat? He had some ballcaps; Barely worn, but he found one that fit snug enough; Matching with his pants while going well with his new auburn hair.

He took a look at himself in the mirror, and felt a little smug. He didn’t look like himself, for sure. Rather than some rich boy he looked like he was maybe trying a little too hard? Or he was just attempting to look like the kind of person he actually was. Perfect in his opinion. What was missing, though? He wasn’t sure, but it felt like it was something or other. Oh well.

He brought out his phone and snapped a photo of himself with a grin and a peace-sign. He’d need that as he decided to text that Reyna woman; If she was going to be at the memorial, it’d be a great place to meet up. She’d need to know he was looking a bit different though. While he wouldn’t fit in with the civil suit-and-tie crowd anymore, he’d blend just fine with the crowd that’d be there, right?

Hey, it’s Von. Would you happen to be heading to the memorial service today? I thought that would be a good place to meet up this afternoon. A little warning, I’ve changed appearances a bit. Don’t hold back any opinions~

Memorial Service Day

---

The sizzling sound from a hot skillet rang out through the small apartment, the only other sound to be heard coming from the TV that played in the background which had been turned on earlier for a bit of white noise. A spatula gave a quick stir to the contains inside the skillet before an egg or two was added into the mix, working to scramble them in with the potatoes, bacon, peppers and onion that had previously been frying. Reyna hummed happily, half way listening to the news report that had popped on. It seemed that was all anyone was talking about for the last two days though she couldn’t blame them. Of course she wanted to honor those that had been lost but it also felt awkward to be one of the lucky ones that had survived. It was like a slap in the face to hear the numbers, knowing how close she has really been to losing her life and never having done much with it. At least, nothing she could truly be proud of. She frowned a bit at that thought, shaking her head which caused her ponytail to sway from side to side. ’No, I can’t think like that. I have to keep moving forward and just be thankful I am here....that there has to be a reason for that.’, she thought with a nod and scooped her freshly prepared breakfast on a plate.

Reyna carefully sat down on the couch, placing her plate on the coffee table before grabbing the remote to flip to a new channel. ’That is enough of that. Let’s see what else is on.’, she thought as she flipped through the favorited stations and just left it on a random movie. It was at least a better choice than the news since that bored her to pieces most of the time. ”Hey mister! What do you think you are doing!?!”, Reyna scolded the black cat that was leaning near her plate, sniffing and half way to licking or stealing her meal. ”I know you think I made this for you but that is mine.”, she stated before picking up the furball that ended up meowing at her and swishing his tail in irritation at the treatment of being placed on the floor.”Don’t give me that sass. You know better!, she replied, picking up her plate and taking a bite which made Jiji turn and snub her. ’Fine, give me the silent treatment. See if I care...., she pouted in her thoughts and tried to enjoy her meal.

In all honesty though, she was just glad it didn’t taste weird like most things had since the attack. It seemed soft foods or things with less biting tasted normal. Soups and drinks being the most delicious by far as well as the most fulfilling in her opinion. It was like everything else was just strange and she just didn’t know why. The pain in her mouth had faded completely now and she just had to hope that everything else would fix itself. She placed the dirty dishes in the sink once she was finished and headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. Reyna grabbed a hold of her toothbrush from the cup on the sink, opening up the medicine cabinet and snagging the toothpaste before depositing it onto the brush.

She scrubbed her teeth thoroughly, spitting into the sink after a couple of minutes. She went to turn on the water but paused looking at the foam in the sink. There was an odd dark color mixed in and not one that she would say was blood.”What the hell?....”, she muttered softly. She shut the medicine cabinet so she could see the mirror, poking around in her mouth and looking at her teeth to figure out what the hell that weird crap in the sink was. It was when she pushed at her canine that the same weird goo but now a purer color popped out. Reyna literally flinched back in surprise, tripping on the bathroom rug and could do nothing more than close her eyes. She waited for the fall, to hit the wall, anything really but nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself stuck halfway from falling by a single strand of god only knew what that was now connected to the ceiling but also her wrist.

This was where she was in full blown panic. One, what the fuck was this!?! Two, why was this coming out of her wrist!?! Three, how the hell did she get rid of it!?? She carefully pulled on it with her free hand, testing its strength carefully before using it to stand up properly. ’Am I dreaming? Did I actually hit my head and this is some realistic dream I am experiencing?’. She couldn’t think about that now, she needed to get this....this thing off her. She started pulling, wincing as it just tugged at her wrist unpleasantly. Reyna gritted her teeth, placing her free hand on the sink and yanked harshly. She was determined to get herself free. She heard a snap as it finally let loose, almost falling again but was able to keep on her feet this time around. ”Yes!!!”, she called out in triumph, throwing her hands in the air or at least she would have but her hand on the sink didn’t move an inch.

She groaned, looking at her hand with a glare as she tried to move it. It just stayed there as if super glued to the porcelain and no amount of effort or tries would get it from the surface. It didn’t stop her from attempting anyways but each one was met with failure. In a last ditch effect, Reyna placed her foot on the skin, the other hand on the wall behind her for leverage to yank the stuck hand free. It finally gave way from being stuck, making her stare at it and wonder what in the name of Sam Hill was happening to her. She tried to straighten up once more, only to find she was now not just stuck to the sink by her foot but her left hand was also stuck to the wall. ”You have got to be kidding me!?! I am sick of this!?!”, she hissed angrily. She had no clue if she had said the magic words or what but she suddenly was able to move her fingers again. She slowly placed her foot back down, curling her fingers and toes to make sure they weren’t doing the sticky.

”Nope, I can’t handle this! I don’t know what that was. I don’t want to know. I must have a fever or something......yeah....oh come on Reyna, I know that is bullshit. What the hell is going on with me!?!!, she whined and yanked out her ponytail just so she could run her fingers through her hair. There was no way she could tell anyone about this. Whatever it was was definitely not natural. She pulled the string from the ceiling, shoving it into the trash before turning on the shower. She let the water heat up while she stripped out of her pajamas and jumped in. Reyna scrubbed her hands and feet like crazy, trying to just rule out that nothing she had touched was the issue. She found herself just relaxing in the hot water after that, letting her thoughts drift on everything that had happened as well as the unanswered questions roaming there and let time just escape her. She didn’t even noticed she had been so deep in thought until she came out of it, yelping at standing in what was now icy cold waters.

She quickly shut it off, drying off and wrapping into a fluffy robe to dry her hair. Reyna moved to her closet, taking a look at what to wear and found herself wanting to be comfortable. She pulled on a pair of black yoga pants and a loose blue plaid button up shirt that stopped at her elbows. She pulled on a pair of socks while making her way to the bedroom and jumping onto the bed instantly. Her arms dig under her pillow, pulling out her phone before unplugging it from the charger. Reyna unlocked the screen, noticing a notification from labeled ‘Von’ and clicked it. She had been debating on whether to go to the Memorial ceremony or not but now she guessed the decision was made. He needed his laptop back and honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad seeing him again. The events of this morning had rattled her a bit but there was nothing she could do. She would just have to deal with it on her own like she had with most things.

I have been debating on it but you’ve convinced me. It does seem like the perfect place to meet up. Oh wow, you look different but a good kind of different! I would be lying if I didn’t say I missed the blonde but auburn really suits you or maybe I am just bias since red is my favorite color.

Well if you miss it, I may have to go back~ But I'm glad you like what I've got going on right now. I've been contemplating it for awhile, I thought it'd be a good change of pace for me. There's a lot going on right now, and a new me is the perfect way to reflect that. Sorry, kind of rambled for a second there: But yes, meeting up would be great. We can sort out our business, and pay respects.

Don’t change on my account! A new style for a new you sounds like a wonderful way to look at things. I would never want you to be anything less than yourself. It is always better to be who you are. Anyway, I look forward to meeting with you and paying respects. Catch ya later~

---

Memorial Service Day

---

---

Adalbert had picked himself up a few hotdogs while making his way towards the memorial service; It surely hadn't started yet, but he did have to meet Reyna there. He was somewhat sloppy with his eating but made sure none of the relish or mustard ended up on his clothes; Despite trying to hide himself, he didn't need to have to worry about mustard stains or something. He could see the crowds building up ahead; There were quite a few people out for the memorial service, and he was glad that he'd be able to join alongside them without turning heads. Giving any publicity to the Hardt name at the moment was just an irritating thing for him to think about: He'd rather avoid it to spite his father after what he had to say. So, spite him he would. Now all he had to do was initiate this meetup.

Though with a crowd like this, he felt like Reyna might be difficult to spot. Maybe it was smarter to keep to the outskirts of the crowd to be easier to spot? God help him if he had to dive in and look around for her; She'd never be found in the waves here. At least without some unnecessary shouting and scene-making. He finished off one of his hotdogs as he glanced around for the girl, fingers trailing up to his lips so he could lick off a small amount of mustard he had gotten on them.

"Perhaps I should call...?" He pondered to himself, before deciding against it. She possibly wasn't even here yet; He wasn't a psychopath that was going to harass her. He'd be here until after the service was over, so there was plenty of time to see her-- To, to... Get his stuff back. Of course.

She slipped in between people, trying to slowly make her way out of the crowd that was forming the closer they got to the start the Memorial Service event. She knew she had arrived ahead of time but as they say, the early bird gets the worm...or something like that. Besides, Reyna was on a mission and she was gonna try her hardest to follow through. She adjusted the laptop bag on her shoulder, eyes scanning for a tall man in a baseball cap. She assumed that he wouldn’t be in the middle of the pile since that would be impossible way to anyone in that mess which would mean it would be a silly choice to wait. It had also come to her mind that he might not even be here yet. She knew she could always call but the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself by leaving her another voicemail or showing as multiple missed calls. If she had been smart, she would have texted exactly where to meet when they spoke earlier but too late now.

She continued to wander almost aimlessly for quite awhile until a single person caught her eye. Reyna pulled out her phone, looking up the pic that she was sent and held it up to do a bit of a comparison. ’Yup, that’s him alright.’, she nodded to herself before stashing the phone back into her pocket. It didn’t seem like he had noticed her yet and she felt her mischievous side tempting her. She lightly bit her lip, debating with herself before she decided. If worst came to worst and he couldn’t handle it then that meant that any possible friendship wouldn’t make it anyway and if he could take a joke or small prank then this could be that start of something beautiful as they say.

Reyna lightened her steps, weaving through the crowd gracefully until she was just behind her target. She looked him up and down for a moment before her eyes locked onto his hand with a bit of a grin. She skillfully slipped by, one hand snagging the hotdog he held and spinning lightly so her other one could boop him in the stomach gently before skipping backwards a bit so she was still facing him. Her ponytail swayed with her movements, a large grin on her face as questioned,”Did you miss me?”, while enjoying his initial reaction. Reyna moved the hotdog to her left hand, noticing some mustard on her palm where it had bumped slightly from the grab. She stared at Von, slowly licking the mustard from her skin with a soft moan of delight. ”Well, I was planning to give this back but seems like I accidentally claimed it so....”, she trailed off threatening to take a bite.

Adalbert felt something; Like back in the alleyway, when that man tried to come at him. His mind spoke of danger, but he didn't really take notice of it until after he found a finger poking his stomach and his hotdog removed from his hand. He was doing that thing where he began to think way too fast; His concern for his hotdog overridden by this sense he had felt multiple times now. If he had just listened to it and reacted, the hotdog would still be in his hand. It was like some sort of defense mechanism; Did this have to do with the whole crawling thing he discovered yesterday? Did he have more powers?! As freaky as it was, it was amazing: If he just reacted to that sense instead of just standing around like a dope, he wouldn't get hit! Why was he always thinking in a repetitive manner? He needed to snap back to reality.

... Fuck, his hotdog!

As Adalbert turned around, he momentarily froze at Reyna's actions. On one hand, it had just been her; Clearly a joke. On the other, her licking the mustard from her skin, and the sound that came with it, left Von's face scrunching as a reaction. He was embarrassed; Eyes shifting away from her for a few seconds as he tried to process the event in front of him without much success. Clearly she got under his skin with that one; But he wasn't about to take it poorly. It was just a joke; Even if she was saying she 'claimed' his hotdog. Ceasing in his hesitation, he approached Reyna and reached out; Hands pinching the hotdog and pulling it into two halves. He made sure to take the side with the smeared mustard, smiling down at her.

"I don't know what you mean; Still seems perfectly edible to me." He commented, eyes not leaving her as his tongue lightly lashed the edge of the bun, clearing away the mustard she smeared everywhere. Rather than speak further, he simply nodded at her and took a bite from his half, figuring if she wanted to lay claim to it in the first place, she could have the other half of it: A small smurf had a smaller stomach anyways, right? She'd be fine. He needed some of this lighthearted interaction after his irritating start to the day; Yet again she was proving to be a lifesaver for him.

Reyna raised an eyebrow as he approached without a word and waited to see exactly what he planned to do. It was easy to say that taking half of the stolen hotdog back had not been one of the options she considered so not only was that a surprise in itself but it was actually startling to see what side he had chosen. If she had any protest, it instantly died on her lips at his statement which caused her eyes to widen for sure but it was his next motion that made them even bigger. ’Well, that isn’t sinful as fuck...note to self, be careful with my future jokes’, she thought, fighting back a soft blush by grinning ear to ear which actually made her cheeks hurt but in a good way.

”That isn’t fair, you weren’t supposed to beat me at my own game.”, she chuckled before playfully punching his arm and taking a bit of her own side of the shared food. ”Anyways...., she started, a hand going up to the strap on her shoulder to lift it off before holding out the laptop bag. ”I do believe this is yours, my good sir.”, Reyna teased happily before taking another bite out of the hotdog in her free hand.

He held back a laugh as to not choke while he was finishing eating; But this girl was hilarious! Just like before, she had him smiling; He had to give her props to managing to spark up a positive mood quickly. They needed it in times like these. "What can I say? Maybe it's just beginner's luck." He replied, body shifting with the punch to mock injury from her rough play. She was quick to get on topic about the bag; Which he was glad to address now, as he didn't need that laptop in other people's hands. Accepting the bag, he tipped his hat with his free hand. "Your kindness is appreciated, ma'am." He spoke politely, slipping the bag onto his shoulder. He'd check the contents later; If anything was missing, it could be replaced. The heft of the bag made it clear his laptop was in there, and that was the only real important thing. If anything else went missing he'd... Just have to overlook it.

He meant what he said; He did appreciate her doing this for him. Losing the laptop was bad enough in itself, but if his designs leaked out? Hoo, that could be nothing short of a personal disaster. He owed her more than she knew for this. "I mean it; Thank you for this." He said with a genuine smile, tilting his head as he observed her: What would she like, anyways? He wasn't sure what to offer, though then the other day clicked back in his head: Ah! It was so simple. "Next time, the tea and muffins are entirely on me."

She chuckled and shook her head lightly at his statement. She was just glad that he had taken her mischief in stride and while she hadn’t thought he would dish it back out, she was glad he did. It was nice to be able to joke with someone and not have them take it the wrong way or be uptight about it. He tipped her hat to her so she did a sweeping bow in return and answered in a serious tone and face,”It was my pleasure.”, before her face broke in to a smile as she straightened upright and waved her hands gently in front of her. ”But in all seriousness, like I said before, it was no trouble at all. It was the least I could do.”, she said.

It made sense to her why he was so thankful, losing a laptop was nothing to laugh at since they were expensive as hell. Heck, if she lost hers...there was no way in her current situation she would be getting another but it would extremely problematic not to have one at the same time. She didn’t know what his situation was so it could be the same kind of thing. It could be that he has something that was meaning for priceless to him that was on it. Her own contained a few pictures of her mother so she could get that. She felt a little awkward though, not used to being thanked so much but obviously trying to get around it was not working so instead when she was thanked once more, she smiled brightly in return and replied with, ”You’re welcome.”. Reyna watched him tilt his head which made her look down for a moment, trying to see what he was doing before tilting her head slightly to the side as well to mirror him. She blinked, a bit surprised by the offer he had presented since she thought he would honestly just want his stuff back and that would be it. It was in no way an unpleasant offer and one she was glad to receive but it was unexpected. That seemed to be a theme when she was around this guy. ”Oh, so there is a next time, is there?”, she questioned with a small smirk that she had to fight hard not to turn to a smile.

"I-- Uh, I mean..." Adalbert slipped from his cool personality at that response; He maybe hadn't thought too much into what he said? Her smirk was comforting yet at the same time, nerve-wracking. How could one girl play both sides so easily? If not for her kindness he was interested due to her more foolhardy personality; Her remarks and jokes were definitely something he was enjoying. "Of course there'll be a next time," He began trying to bring himself back after that slip-up. "Who wouldn't want to spend another day with you?" He ended up with a big toothy grin for a moment, until he blinked and shrunk it down, adding: "Well, without all the pictures, and such this time I'd hope."

She chuckled lightly as he stumbled a bit on his words before pausing. It was nice to know she could actually fluster him or do something he didn’t expect for once. It seemed he wasn’t one to be thrown long though as he started to explain that of course there would be a next time. ’This oughta be good.’, she thought as she raised an eyebrow waiting for the rest. A blush dusted on her cheeks instantly and she quickly looked anywhere but at him. Reyna really wasn’t sure what to do with that one but she found herself looking back to Von again when he brought up the picture. What had that even been about? It had been a little creepy that was for sure. ”I hope so, I am not really one who likes their picture taken. It kind of creeps me out that some random stranger has it.”

Hah, she was still worried about that picture? It made him scoff at the concept of him letting that guy escape; As if! He took care of it, and that was something he probably should have already told her: But now was better than never. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I chased him down and took care of it; No creep taking pictures of you got away with it, I can promise you that." He spoke with confidence; The news hadn't exploded and neither had his father, so this obviously meant he was in the clear. Thankfully that also meant Reyna was in the clear; Not having to deal with being inflicted by his life any. She didn't deserve that; And if it had happened, he wasn't sure how it would have went. Would they have been able to meet up like this? He doubted she was petty, but a nice woman like her was surely hiding something scary. He'd hate to end up on that side of her.

For a moment, he looked over at the crowd: So many people, so many grieving families. Would his father have even grieved for him? He probably would have showed up if he was dead, honestly. That just made Von feel even more sick to his stomach than he had felt this morning: That old bastard was pretty ruthless, despite his smile. What he'd give to find a decent anonymous source to talk a load of shit too. But this wasn't the time or place, he'd figure it out later. The focus was on respecting the fallen that weren't as lucky as he was: It was unfortunate the whole attack ended up being so deadly. How did it go from killing those people, to sparing him? And perhaps causing him a rather crazy after-affect? He couldn't wrap his head around it clearly.

Honestly, she felt relieved to hear him say that it wasn’t a problem and that it had been taken care of. It had been stewing in the back of her mind that some random and possible creep out there had a photo of her. She didn’t like people she knew to have pictures so that would have been a hundred times worse for a stranger. ”Thank you, that is a relief to hear and means a lot that you took care of it. I didn’t realize that is what you were doing when you rushed out.”, Reyna said genuinely thankful and appreciative that he had taken that effort.

She watched his attention move to the ever growing crowd and started watching herself. How many families had been effected? How many loved ones did they lose in just a single moment? What about those they just knew? It was insane to think of on a grand scale but the numbers showing up made it all the more real for her. Reyna felt a chill crawl up her spine at the thought and suddenly she felt small and alone in the sea of people. Would anyone have truly missed her if she had disappeared? She knew people sure but it wasn’t like she had many friends if any that were still around or stayed connected with her. Her dad probably wouldn’t mourn her or even care if he had the knowledge of her death.

She found herself crossing her arms a bit to hug herself. She didn’t feel like she deserved to be one of the lucky ones. There had to be someone that had been more worthy than her but no, it was her. She didn’t even know what to do. She was practically a failure if she explained her life. Now, she also had something strange happening to her and no one to even talk to about it. If she did, they would probably think she was crazy anyway. Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, that was enough self pity. She was here and the least she could do was not think of herself. This was for them, the ones that had been lost because of whoever had done this attack. She would love to track down the bastard that did this. She would like to know the reason why. ”I’m glad I came here today. I almost didn’t because I thought it would be strange to stand here alive while knowing so many hadn’t been as lucky as me. It feels better to be here, to honor them. I hope justice can be found for them., she found herself saying out loud, her eyes still locked on the crowd as she did.

Adalbert noted her appreciation; Glad to have cleared the air on that situation involving the photo. His reflection on the situation that caused this whole memorial service made him sad despite the laughs he was having; This whole situation had been no joke. Whoever caused that attack, and whatever the hell was in it that caused such an effect and bodycount, needed to be handled. He wasn't entirely a person who could fix such a thing; But if he ever found who did it... Even if he wasn't friends with his fellow students or the teachers, they didn't deserve this.

Listening to what Reyna had to say, his eyes widened as he looked back at her. A survivor...? So she had been in the attack as well? She looked incredibly healthy, not much different to Von himself in that regard. He supposed it wasn't crazy to know another survivor, but if they met at the memorial service it'd of been less strange; It was their encounter from the other day that made it more interesting. He contemplated what to say, hand slightly moving as he considered placing it on her shoulder as a comforting sign, but maybe now wasn't the time. This was all strange, but he couldn't truly vocalize something like that at the moment.

"You..." He trailed off for a moment, blinking as if still processing it. "You were there? During the attack?" He presented it as a sort of question despite knowing the answer; Perhaps a slight disbelief. But what reason would anyone have to lie about something like that? He saw none, and honestly, being able to talk to someone else who survived it would lighten the load on his own mind. "I was, too. Kind of thinking the same way, honestly." He glanced back towards the crowd, readjusting his cap. "All those people dead, yet I'm still here. Kind of made me appreciate my life a bit more."

Reyna nodded gently at the question and wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t believe her. She looked completely healthy and normal when most would think she should be frail and weak having been in the hospital not so long ago. She didn’t have the heart to even look at him until he said he was a survivor too. That made her snap her gaze to him instantly. She would have never thought she would meet a survivor like herself. She didn’t think she would be able to find someone that understood but he did. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. ”Yeah...yeah, it really does.”

Silent at her response, Adalbert looked back towards the crowd. Not much else to be said on the subject; And he felt a moment of silence was fitting as he spent time thinking about his luck further. They were both lucky, weren't they? A true second chance after all that chaos. He slipped his hands into his pockets, a deep inhale being the lead into an exhale of breath that flushed out some of his emotion. At least things seemed to be going smoothly; The service seemed like it'd be a peaceful one, at least.

"Alright, you're good to go. Enjoy."

Alan smiled as he handed over a box of pastries to his latest customer who thanked him profusely before walking to the door and taking a bite out of a cupcake, relishing every bite. At this, the young man just shook his head. Ever since he'd started offering free whipped cream or icing in his baked goods, he tended to see a lot of the same visitors at least twice a week.

Some might say this was a bit excessive...but he had yet to tell anybody he made sure the fillings were fat free, and he had no intentions of revealing that tidbit anytime soon.

As for why he was here and not home relaxing? Well, the young man wasn't one for staying in a single place for too long. Besides, he and his Mom needed the income this brought, even if she insisted they had more than enough to make ends meet.

Seeing that he was finally alone in his little shop, he took a seat and sighed with relief before finally paying an ear to the television on the wall. Alan didn't really pay much attention to the news these days as he found it too depressing most times, but after recent events he felt he should at least give it a chance again.

...Needless to say, he was being quickly reminded why he originally dropped it. Just a lot of talking and talking and no real action. Still, at the very least he should perhaps pay a visit to that event today and pay his respects.


2000 people affected....70 percent of them dead...and I was one of the few who made it out alive. He massaged his temples to relieve the frustration building up. Knowing that you were alive but so many others weren't was quite the burden to bare.

Thankfully, his Mom had been a big help and had been a real sport about the whole "superpowers" thing. The young man walked to a nearby window and, seeing the state of his face, willed himself so as to appear cleanly-shaven and with his hair in place. He also let his muscles get a bit more toned out.

A bit of a vain use for said powers, but it made for good practice.

Hearing the bell over the door ringing, Alan turned to address the newcomer only to stop himself, "Mom?"

"Hello sweetie," She greeted with a smile,"Are you ready to go?" He nodded and scooped up the packages of baked goods from the freezer before heading on out. As soon as he set them down in the backseat, she put her hand on his shoulder, "Hey...if you don't feel like going, you don't have to. I can drop these off myself and then we can go do something fun like go to a movie or something."

"Mom, I-" He stopped himself at seeing the serious face she was giving him and decided to bite his tongue,"...I appreciate the offer, Mom, but...I can do this. I got to...if not for myself than...for all those who didn't make it."

"Alan..." His Mom began but instead of lecturing him again about taking the whole world on his shoulders, she just gave him a one-arm hug before ushering him into the vehicle,"I'd advise you to check under the seat. I got something for you."

Curious, the young man did as he was told and found a backpack with what looked to be some sort of mask and a bulletproof vest underneath,"What the??!" He looked to his Mom with his face now white as snow,"M-Mom. I swear I'm not thinking what you're thinki-"

"Alan!" Mom raising her voice was enough to stop him. At seeing this, it was now her turn to compose herself,"I'm...I'm sorry. I just...I know you, Alan. I know that when you see someone in trouble, you're not going to think twice about the consequences!"

She shook her head,"You're a grown man now, and you're free to do whatever you want. Even so...at the very least this way I can still..." His Mom started to tremble.

At seeing this, Alan immediately reached over and pulled her into his arms,"Mom...no matter what happens...I will always come back to you. That's a promise...and you know I always keep my promises."

'I know...I know.." She held him back and they stayed like that for a bit. Eventually, his Mom gathered herself and dabbed her face with a tissue,"Ok...let's be on our way."

With that, she started the car and they were off...

Lindy had quite an experience. Things had been rough coming home; But she had managed to slip past her parents and not let them see her bandaging. Even now, she was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt to cover her arm as for her mom and dad to not discover what had went down. Everything involving those events were still going through her mind; The fight with Xander, Alan's help, and dread from realizing that this whole terrorist attack was potentially breeding people with super-powers. It was a lot for Lindy to take, but she was managing. Maybe it was absurd to even think about, but honestly, what else could be the cause? It was all lined up in a way that made it look like the obvious answer. Things always raised more questions than they answered though; What the hell did she do to deserve this insanity? And how was that whole attack really involved?

The day of the attack: Lindy had essentially no recalling of it. One minute she was calling for help; The next, she was on the ground, head busted open. She had no answers as to why; Neither did her mom, who was furious at what had happened. The only reason she knew as much as she did was because of a playback of her emergency call, and even that provided pretty much no clue what happened. She hung up the phone before anything got serious it seemed; And unfortunately for her, that left everything essentially in the dark. She wanted to know what happened, but was glad to be alive despite what she went through: Maybe it was better she didn't remember that day, just what she'd been through already shook her up a bit; Remembering everything seemed like a miserable thing to go through. But at the same time, she felt that need to know in her mind. Or maybe that was just a headache. Those seemed a lot more common since the attack happened.

A scent caught her nose; Lindy and food had a sort of primal relationship. The scent of bacon and sausage was more than enough to attract her downstairs; Dressed for the day already. It was a pleasant surprise to come downstairs and see both her mother and father in the kitchen; It was less common nowadays, with her mom keeping so busy with work. It was odd though; Both of them seemed dressed this morning, as if they had somewhere to be at the moment. Usually they waited until after breakfast at least. The only choice at the moment was interrogation. Though her mother caught her first, it seemed.

"Good morning: You almost gave me enough time to fill my plate with some of your food." Her mother teased, approaching and embracing her daughter in a small hug, before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"As if dad would let you do that!" Lindy replied, grinning. Her mom teased her a bit, but it was a regular thing. Lindy was used to it; Neither of them had thin skin when it came to this sort of thing. Though Lindy had her temper outside the household, she tried to keep respectful with her parents. Didn't always work, but hey, had to try.

Lindy's father glanced over and decided to respond to their remarks; "Linda, you can take all the food once you don't leave the bacon half-raw."

"O o o h h !" Lindy held back laughter as her mother got an expression that was a mixture of amused and betrayed as she glanced at her husband.

"David, it was one time!"

"And I'm not going to let you live it down, 'hon. It's why I still do the cooking to this day." David Audrum's grip on the pan he was using to cook was nearly lost as his wife punched him in the arm as a retort. She always did end up resorting to a bit of bullying instead of a reply, that was probably where Lindy's avid need to fight came from. That, and the whole police woman situation. He let out a playful "Ouch!" Along with a laugh, despite his thoughts trailing towards the path his daughter wanted to take. He just wanted her to be safe; Her mother had such a dangerous job, and despite the fact she did help people, she would be putting her life on the line. David stressed enough about Linda going out there every day, he didn't want to have to worry about his daughter as well! No attempt to change her ever had any effect though; That's another trait his precious daughter got from Linda. Stubbornness.

Lindy leaned against the counter, watching her parents momentarily before deciding to begin questioning them. "So what're you two dressed up for? It's a bit early for a date night, isn't it?" She knew her parents liked to go out when they had the chance; But if they were doing that this early in the day, that'd be crazy. Usually they went to dinner or something.

"I'm glad you're dressed for today, because you're coming with us." Linda responded, gesturing for her daughter to sit at the table with her as they waited for their plates to arrive. "There's a memorial service for the casualties from the university. You're coming along with me and your father to pay respects."

A memorial service... Lindy figured something like that would be in the works; But she hadn't realized anything was happening today. "Of course! I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity." She survived this whole ordeal, it seemed only right to pay respects to the fallen. She knew everyone wasn't as fortunate; So she'd go for certain. Too many people died in that attack; As Lindy thought about it irritably, she saw a similar emotion in her mom across the table; Who had a fist clenched, resting against the table. Lindy's gaze went to her own hand; Realizing it was clenched in a similar fashion. Sharply exhaling out of nose, she felt comforted; Being like her mother was something she always aimed for; And everyday she could see small tidbits of information that pointed towards them being extremely similar. That made Lindy smile.

"Let's not worry about that just yet," David cut in, placing plates at the table. Bacon, sausage, eggs, two slices of toast and butter was already on the table. "Two most wonderful ladies in my life have to eat to keep that police-woman vigor up, you know." He added, earning a smirk from his wife and a small laugh from his daughter. Soon enough he got his own plate and joined them in their meal. Chattering the entire time, as best a family could.

---

---

Time passed, and eventually the trio set off to the memorial service. Lindy would've walked, but her mother suggested they take the car. Walking would've been faster she felt, but arguing wasn't something Lindy wanted to do today; Rather, they'd just arrive and do what they came to do. Despite not saying anything about it, Linda wasn't only going to pay respects. She wanted to be there, in case anything were to happen again. It wasn't more than paranoid thinking, but she wanted to be around if there was another emergency. Last time she wasn't there in time to help anybody... This time, it'd be different if something were to happen. Though she prayed, as she drove along, that nothing would.

They arrived without issue: Stepping out and approaching the crowd gathering for the service. Lindy glanced around at the mass of people out of curiosity; Surprisingly enough catching sight of Matty Jaeger, one of her better friends. She usually saw him at Krav practice twice a week, but it'd been a bit since they saw each-other with all the attack stuff going on.

"Matt!" Lindy called, waving her hand with a smile.

Matty turned with an eyebrow raised, a big grin crossing his face as he spotted who was calling him. Without hesitation he turned on his heel and jogged up to her; Fist extending out for a bump with his best partner. "Lindy! Mr. Hassan told me what happened, we've all been worried!" He exclaimed, blue eyes bright with excitement to see her in good health. "You look pretty good for someone who just got put through this crap. Can't expect less than that from someone I call a rival though, right?"

Lindy had known Matty for awhile; Even before joining Krav. They hung out sometimes, though not terribly often as they both kept to routines. But he was kind and compassionate despite his highly competitive nature, and Lindy appreciated that about him. Nervously she reached out and lightly bumped her fist with his, not wanting to put any force behind it or else things could get... Bad. "Looking pretty good, huh? Is the sweater that much of a change?" She questioned, grin forming as Matty instantly looked ready to backpedal his statement.

"Hey, come on. You know what I mean! Though it is strange to see you out of the tanktop look." Matty replied, hands sliding into his pockets. His grin faltered a bit, though less out of his mood worsening and more out of concern. "You really okay though, Lind? This was a real rough situation. If you ever need to talk--"

"I'm okay, Matty." Lindy assured, trying to douse the concerns. "I came out of it a lot better than I expected. I'm just thankful for that." Yeah, and... With strength unmatched. She hadn't tested it much yet, but considering her feats yesterday... She had become some sort of monster.

Matty nodded, accepting her words. "Right. But if you need to talk; Me and the others are around. We're really looking forward to having you back, especially Mr. Hassan!"

Having her back...?

Lindy's gaze went towards the ground. She couldn't go back to krav; Not with strength like hers. What was she supposed to say? 'Sorry, can't. I can lift grown men like school textbooks.'??? Sheesh, this was going to be a difficult one. She didn't want to deal with it right now. "Y-Yeah... That reminds me, I have to call Mr. Hassan later. Thank you for the concern, Matt. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, anytime! I've got to go, but I'll catch'ya later!" Matty said as he began walking backwards momentarily, beginning to turn but ceasing as he thought of one other thing. "Oh, right. Don't forget to tell Lee that I want that rematch still! He was pretty good at the tournament, but next time I'll bring not just my A-game; I'll bring my A+ game!"

Lindy's blood ran cold at his comment.

"Right, Matty... uh, I will." She managed to croak out, watching him run off. A deep sigh escaped her as she suddenly thought about that rematch Matty wanted with Xander: He could not do that, he'd tear Matty a new charred-asshole with those powers of his. She stood there, arms crossed as she thought about that can of worms and how she wanted to just break such an idea off before Matty got hurt. She managed to keep her cool with yesterday; She hadn't said shit to anyone. But if Matty got hurt? She'd be pissed. Matty was clearly nowhere near the attack if her talk with him was any indication; She had to assume he was still normal. Which made things dangerous...

Lindy stood there silently, letting her thoughts roam.

---

The week hadn't been kind to Ripley Hayes. Of course there was nothing new in that. Most weeks weren't, but usually Ripley's weeks didn't involve being hospitalized due to an unexpected terrorist gas attack, losing contact with one of the two people who gave a shit about how she was, and coming to realise that this said gas attack had changed her. Changed how? The girl didn't know if she was being honest. She just... knew. Felt it in her bones or something. Something was different, and Ripley wasn't sure she liked it.

"Happy birthday, Rip," she murmured to herself, staying curled in her unmade bed for a few extra seconds before getting up to face the day. 19, what an odd number. Both literally and figuratively. Ripley didn't feel older, that was for sure. She wasn't sure if she was meant to even feel like that -- if anyone did, or if it was just something people expected of you. Age was an arbitrary number, after all.
Ripley's morning went much like any other of her mornings. She got dressed and ate breakfast in her cramped dorm room, listening music as she did so. Aside from a 'happy birthday' text from her grandmother, Ripley hadn't recieved any new messages. Her mom was probably still sleeping, being in California and all. Her father, though... Ripley wasn't sure what the sudden silent treatment was about, but it stressed her out. Sure, she hadn't called her parents to let either of them know she was in the hospital after the attack, but she hadn't wanted to worry them. The last message between Ripley and her dad was her mentioning she'd been released from the hospital and her father getting kind of angry for not being told sooner.
"Whatever," Ripley huffed with determination as she buttoned her plaid shirt and braided her teal hair like usual. "If he thinks he can act like a child, I'm not going to be the adult either."

The rest of the day was kind of a blur. Ripley spent most of her free day studying, emerging from her room only to go grab something else than cold leftover pizza for dinner. She got a lovely call from her mother wishing her happy birthday. She told Ripley it was a lovely weather out in California, and the girl smiled ruefully at that.
"That sounds awesome! If only it wasn't so gray here," Ripley replied as she glanced out the window of her dorm. Ripley's mother must've heard the tone in her voice, since she became solemn over the line.

"Is everything okay with you there? You're not having second thoughts about the program?"

"What- no! New York's the best, I love it here. Seriously, don't even worry," Ripley protested quickly with a laugh, "Me and dad are going on a birthday dinner tonight, actually. It's going to be amazing," Ripley continued, smiling cheerily even though her mother couldn't see it.

"Oh, that's nice. I'll let you get to it then. Love you, Little Fishie~"

"Love you too, mum." Ripley let her smile fall as she heard the noise of her mother ending the call. The teal haired girl sat up straighter, the silence ringing in her ears annoyingly. With a sigh Ripley turned to her tamagotchi, which was hanging out next to her on her bed and all the text books.
"What?" Ripley asked as if it was looking at her pointedly. "I might not be eating out with dad, but mum doesn't have to know that. I've got you, Kip," she declared, putting a piece of paper between her book to mark the page she'd been on. Ripley put down the book from her hands and grabbed her tamagotchi - Kip, she called the current one - and stuffed in in her pocket.

"Time to go on an adventure! We're going to feast tonight, you and me."

---

---

"I'm telling you, it's not the same! I hate those places, all slippery tiles and boring scenery. If my only option is to swim indoors I might as well not swim at all," Ripley argued as she walked down the street. She was talking to Kip -- well -- really she was talking to herself, but it felt nice to feel like she was having a conversation. Had it not been New York where people largely minded their own business, Ripley might've earned a few strange looks. Of course she had her headphones in so people might assume she was just having a phone conversation. Not that anyone did care. It was New York, after all. Places to go, places to be.
The real source of the argument was Ripley's desire to go swimming again, maybe even diving. But with the weather being what it was and indoor swimming pools not being an option, Ripley's options were very limited. There was always that part of her that wanted to be near water, but oftentimes it got outweighed by the other side of her that set her standards.

Ripley walked down the street, nearing the place she knew the memorial service would be held. No one close to her had passed away in the gas attack, but Ripley did know some students from her year that had died. It felt almost surreal, to think that some of the people she was in the same space with daily were no longer there. Just... gone. No longer breathing, or waking up to see a new day. The thought made Ripley uncomfortable, for more reasons than one. The girl had an unique relationship with death and how she viewed it, but it wasn't without fear. Fear of the finality of it, or the unknown that would follow if such existence after death was possible.

However, there was also a part of Ripley that felt guilty. She didn't like to examine it too closely. She knew the attack hadn't been her fault in any shape, or form. Yet she felt guilty for being one of the lucky ones that got to survive. That gas had killed most of the people exposed to it, but not her. There was this small portion of people who had survived, seemingly random. So why them?
The mystery of it was maddening to Ripley. She loved a good mystery, but now with the very real guilt of surviving when some of those in her year hadn't... it got to the girl more than she liked to admit.

So, she was on her way to the memorial service. Not because she'd known the victims, but out of respect.

"You know what... I'm sorry about this, but today I have no room for wandering thoughts. Thanks for listening, but now..." Ripley pressed two buttons on Kip simultaneously, setting him on pause so she wouldn't have to worry about feeding him. What a crappy pet owner she must've been, really. Fortunately virtual pets didn't depend on you like real ones did. Ripley pocketed Kip and looked up as she neared the crowd of people gathering around the memorial service location.

Most people seemed to be there with their friends and families or loved ones, at least that's how it seemed to Ripley. Her gaze followed a few hollow looking individuals here and there. They'd clearly lost someone in the attack.
Ripley bit her lip and looked around for a place to stand around in. A part of her wanted to go over to those people and apologise for... for what, exactly? For overcoming the symptoms? Or for not being able to save anyone unlike some quick-thinking heroes? Rationally thinking Ripley knew there was nothing to apologise for, but she just felt for these people. It must've been quite hard.

Thump!

Ripley took a hasty step backwards to steady herself as a man tried to squeeze himself through between Ripley and the other person standing in front of her. People had been gathering and they were everywhere, so it was impossible to avoid bumping into anyone. That was the case for Ripley too, as her back hit someone's side in the chain reaction. Spinning around with her hands ready to steady the person out of reflex, Ripley stared at the girl behind her, eyes wide.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like that--" the taller girl blurted automatically, eyes locking with the read haired, blue eyed stranger.

What Ripley had failed to notice was that in her sudden movement Kip had managed to fall out of her pocket: now it was on the ground, where it was immediately walked on by other people shuffling in the gathering crowd.

Morgan, in the Lab

Morgan had woken up the next morning after his testing of the prototype suit feeling like he had been hit by a bus. He felt like he was under ground after being hit by said bus which honestly could have been due to sleeping in his lab, on the floor. Poor choice he knew but he made tweaks mostly through the night into morning. Only reason he was up was his alarms had gone off, so annoyed he got up took off the lab coat then donned his suit putting regular clothes over it.

"The memorial is today..." He hadn't known anyone but Nalini in the attack and they had both survived but some classmates had died so out of respect for them he was going. Though he wouldn't be joining the crowd. He felt rather than knew that he might not harm anyone but to make certain he wouldnt just out right shock someone by accident he was going to stay high up and away. That and he didn't care for huge crowds.

Lights flickered in the lab and a chill ran through the room. Then a pressure in his head directionally to his left made him wince. "What is going on? These weird headaches are getting annoying." He took out a small tape recorder. "Headaches continue at random times. This seems to be unrelated to how much charge I'm holding at a time as these pains have come at varying joules of power I contain. Further analysis and hopefully I can find someone I trust to go over my findings." This was not his field of expertise. Biological stuff wasnt something he had a knack for but machines, technology, and electricity was another thing. Sighing he grabbed his keys and walked put the door holding his head.

Merlyna, Drifting

Merlyna didn't even know she was Merlyna at this point. She had spend a better part of the week floating around New York City as what she thought was a ghost. She had heard about the event that caused so many to die and found that she might be a ghost from that event. Cursed to wander NYC all because some stupid asshole released some gas. There were a couple of things bothering her though. If she was a ghost why was she allowed to wander? Weren't ghosts supposed to be tied to a certain area? Also didnt they have some semblance of who they used to be? For fucking real what she the only ghost with amnesia!?

So she just kept floating and peaking in on people's lives. Hell what else was there to do? She could have devoted more time to figuring out what that beeping noise that seemed to come from nowhere was and who was crying. It sounded like a man and she could hear muffled words as if she was watching an old cartoon that had made the adult's words into nonsense.

Finally she had decided she was going to devote time to figuring out who she was and maybe that would settle her...spirit? Ghostlyness? What ever she was she knew things had to change or she was going to go crazy.

A day after she had decided this she floated passed the where a group was setting up for the memorial service and thought this would be the perfect place to maybe find out! But it would be several hours more so she decided to off and poke into a few bulldings.

Merlyna passed through wall after wall just grazing the conversations until she came to a building with an electrical buzzing. Curiously she floated inside to see what's was going on. Inside was just a young adult male whose name tag read
Morgan Ward on the lab coat. The male winced in pain as she stared at him and watched as he starred back at her or where she was and saw him record something. She was about to try something when this Morgan was grabbing keys and walking out the door. Fuck...she was just going to have to follow him.

Morgan, Traversing rooftops.

Morgan had taken the stairs to the roof and the sensation and pain moved with him and around his head. This was extremely weird. He sped up and burst through the door to the roof. Looking over at the back up generator for the elevator he thwiped a web at it then sent a pulse down the strand. Seconds later it was like a kid had sucked a juice box dry except there was no crushing this thing. Feeling a good charge he ran and leapt to the next building using his abilities to coast over lightly. Morgan had a new thrill as his adrenaline pumped hard in his veins and the electricity was alive in his eyes.

Morgan did this for most of the day only stopping to drain a few sources of power and to have a hot dog. The pain only lessened when he was moving but if he stopped it got worse as if something was chasing him. Getting annoyed he stopped finally atop a low building overlooking the memorial.

Merlyna, Chasing lightning.

Damn this boy was something else! First he ran up the stairs and then did that thing with his wrist. Then he started jumping buildings! What was he!? Then again what did know about normal. She followed him almost losing him twice before he stopped a couple of times then he seemed to grow frustrated and stopped. Merlyna looked at where they stopped and realized they were at the memorial. He was watching the crowd below and listened to everything. She sighed and sat down wishing she could do something to talk to someone. Then for the hell of it she mimicked his wrist thing and pretended to do what he did at his head. A glowing substance shot from her and smacked against Morgan's head and she screamed.

Morgan, I hear dead people.

Morgan jumped so hard he almost fell off the building as he heard the scream. What the fuck and where the fuck had that come from. His head was pounding now. He heard random things next but mostly a girl repeating "omg omg I'm sorry I'm so sorry" over and over till the sound stopped. Then his head stopped hurting. Just out of nowhere as if a cloud had shifted and he could clearly see the world for the first time he saw a girl sitting beside him.

This time he did fall but before anyone could see he reached put and snagged the wall jerking to a stop by just his ginger tips. What..the..ever loving hell was what and how was he crawling on a wall!?

---

Kim and her mother, Maligaya, arrive to the memorial service with no trouble, Kim mother say that Kim doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to, Kim wasn't thinking about going but she insist that she go, to pay respect to those who die and comfort their love ones. Kim mother have been keeping a close on eye Kim ever since that neon sigh exploded, even though that normal thing that her mom do, Kim is getting a little annoyed just a bit.

After prayed and all that, Kim starting to feel a little uneasy and her mother notice "You ok, sanggol? Maligaya say "No, I'm fine, mom. Just a little tired, that's all." But that not true, Kim just feel bad cause she just one of the lucky one that have not die from the attack. People die and their love one can't do anything but grieve for their loss, Kim is not even a student from the university, she was just a kid that just skip and just want to visit a friend from there. "You sure? You know I can just take you home if you want" "Mom, it ok. Don't worry abou-Off!" Kim felt someone bump her from behind, Kim turn to face to the person "Hey, watch where you go-" "Oh! sorry, didn't mean to bump into you" Kim stop herself from talking cause the stranger look and sound oddly familiar but she can't put her finger on it. "Wait, Kim?" the stranger say. How does this stranger know Kim name? "Mrs. Aikyo?" Maligaya say, Kim memory pop inside her head. Mrs. Aikyo, that was her name, she's the nurse that took care of Kim while she was at the hospital after the gas attack, Kim guess that she look so different without her nurse uniform.

"What are you doing here?" Maligaya ask Mrs. Aikyo "Well, I just want to be here. you know, to pay respect" Mrs. Aikyo say "Doctors and Nurses are here too, we try everything that we could to help the people who got attack but...but..." Mrs. Aikyo eyes are starting to tear up and choking on her words. Maligaya place her hand on Mrs. Aikyo shoulder "Hey, don't be hard on yourself. You and Doctors and Nurses did the best that you could and everyone is very grateful for that." Mrs. Aikyo wipe her eyes and smile at Kim mother "Y-You're right, you're right, thank you. How is Kim been doing after she left the hospital?" "Oh well, she been doing fine but one day, we were eating at Lil’ Peppers and then-" While they are talking, Kim starting to look around at the mass of people and see a familiar neighbor, it was Ray. Eager to show Ray her new discovery about her powers, she just about to walk toward him but Maligaya hand stop her from walking "Kim? where are you going now?" Maligaya ask Kim with one eyebrow "I saw Ray and I just want to talk to him." "I'm not sure that about, Kim. After that neon explosion, I'm afraid you will ran off and get hurt." Maligaya say "Mom, I'll be fine. There no neon sign here and I just ran off cause I got scare but i'll be ok. I promise." Kim say to her mother, Maligaya sigh and nodded to her daughter. Kim walk toward Ray and ready to show him her new power ability.

Dink!

...?

It felt like someone lightly flicked her; Despite her shorter stature, Lindy hadn't budged from where she was standing. Rather she turned with a somewhat confused expression; A single eyebrow raised at the taller girl that had apparently bumped her. Her hair was such a unique color that Lindy actually just stared at her through the apology, not realizing that could have come off as a bit rude, or maybe intimidating. As she finished, Lindy offered a small smile, shaking her head.

"It's no problem, don't sweat it." She replied, eyes momentarily wandering awkwardly towards the ground: Her eyes catching sight of something on the ground. It wasn't tiny but whatever it was it wasn't there when she walked over here. At least she thought so? With a small _{"'Scuse me~"} Lindy stepped around the taller girl, wincing as a man passing by almost stepped directly on her grounded target. Thankfully he narrowly avoided it so Lindy could bend over and pick it up, glancing at it with utter confusion for what it was, before standing upright and turning on her heels to face the girl that bumped her.

"Uhm..." Lindy bit her lip, feeling slightly awkward if just for a moment; If she was wrong about this it'd just be weird, right? But if it was hers it was better than it wasn't spending time on the ground getting crushed. Whoever dropped it wouldn't appreciate that, she figured. So regardless it was safe if the owner came looking for it. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait around to see if someone else lost it though.

Exposing the small item in her hand, Lindy spoke up: "Did'ja drop this?" A simple question, kind of direct but that was usually Lindy's style. The girl seemed nice, she at least apologized for bumping her. Not everyone in NYC would do that, just because it's such a normal thing. Or because said person was an asshole. Neither of those groups mattered in this situation though; Sooo, whatever!

Lindy smiled once more, head slightly tilting to the side as she kept her eyes on the taller girl. Lindy realized she didn't even ask her name... Maybe she should've done that first? She always kind of was actions before words, so maybe this was just natural. She was just trying to be helpful; Though she had no idea what she was holding, that didn't mean it couldn't be important to her.

Scott's head was buzzing and flickering. Well, that was new. The base of his palm pressed against the point where the bridge of his nose and his brow met. Rising from the remnants of toast upon a paper towel, he balled up said paper towel and tossed it into the garbage. Taking a moment to look around the familiar, modern looking apartment with white walls, Scott let out a sigh. He had seen the news report earlier. Now it was around nine, and he began making his way out.
"G'morning Scott," a somewhat older man in a suit with frilled epaulets waved as he stood by the door.
"Morning George," Scott replied to the doorman, giving a slight wave.

---

While walking down the street, smelling the scent of baking pizza and hearing the sounds of old washers and dryers running- a combination of sensations so familiar that it was lost on Scott how bizarre a pair it really was- he suddenly froze. He felt a sense of danger, concrete cracking and falling from under his feet. But wait, everything was fine. Scott's heart stopped for half a moment as he looked around. Despite everything being fine, he was sure he had sensed a threat of falling from a ceiling while climbing, despite being on the ground. Then again, only minor. He saw, well, someone falling, much more slender than himself, landing safely beside some scruffy looking dark-haired girl, then nothing.
Scott took in a breath, then let it out. He was a little confused, well, more than a little. Continuing to walk, Scott began to look around. He hadn't actually heard anything, nor seen any plume of dust. It was barely even visual. He idly flicked himself in the head. Was his super-power malfunctioning?
A few minutes later, as he approached the crowd- hotdog. 'What?' He shifted his gaze. There wasn't even a hotdog stand in sight, nor did he have one. But he could have sworn that he detected an attempt to take food from his hand. He let out a sigh, then continued to approach the stage, falling in line with the crowd.
He expected to see someone with whom he was familiar, so he was keeping an idle eye out for someone he knew. Suddenly, he heard the sharp clacking of dress shoes behind him. Despite the crowd, the cadence of the gait was rather distinctive.
"Oh, Mr Yi, so glad you're alright," a voice spoke.
Scott turned around to see ESU's mathematics department head, Curt Connors.
"Professor Connors, I'm glad to see you're okay," Scott remarked, extending his hand.
In response, the man's shoulder rolled, the suit shifting with an odd sound. The sleeve began to extend, only for it to fall in front of him. There was a look of something akin to remorse on the professor's face, shock spreading on Scott's visage.
"I'm... I'm so sorry," he remarked, sheepishly offering his left hand instead, which the professor then took, giving a welcoming shake.

---

Alejandra glanced around, scratching at her beanie. The two girls had woven into the crowd, moving from person to person to get to the front. AJ had Clara by the hand was leading the way, excusing and pardoning herself forward. She wanted to hear what was going on, and be closer to the event. Standing on the outskirts meant she might as well not even be there. It was showing her support, sure, but why not actually hear what was going on, too?

Clara didn't think it was worth it at all. She would have much preferred to stay on the outskits. All these people around her, with no stealing allowed? It was making her claustrophobic. She stopped and turned around, her eyes scanning the faces behind her.

AJ, who was dragging Clara by the hand, was forced to a stop. "What is it?" She asked. Clara wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"Nothin'," Clara responded idly. For a moment there she felt like she was being watched. But there was nothing but a sea of people who hardly even noticed she existed. Anonymity. Clara loved vanishing into crowds. So why was she so on edge? Maybe it was because the last time she was in a place she didn't belong, she puked up blood. Either way, the young thief was on edge. AJ, being omniscient and all powerful, noticed this.

"You have to relax, Clara. We're here to pay our respects." AJ said.

Clara shook her head, scratching the back of her neck. "I dunno, AJ. Maybe you're not thinkin' this through. Ain't you the one who said other people could have new powers? What if they showed up here, too? What if they find me?"

AJ considered this and furrowed her brow. "I don't- I don't, I don't think that'll happen. How could they know? That, look, that doesn't matter. Just chill out for a second. We're here to show solidarity."

Clara frowned. "I don't feel solidarity. I feel too crowded," Clara complained.

AJ tsked her tongue, letting that one slide. "We're here to show support. Lots of people lost someone, and lots of people almost lost someone, including me. You said you would do this, remember?"

Clara rolled her eyes and then looked down at her earnest sister. "Yeah, I did. For you, I guess." With that, she shut up. AJ smiled and found a small clearing. Then they stood there, waiting for the event to start. Clara crossed her arms and put her weight onto one leg. AJ was right. She just needed to chill out. Nothing was going to happen. Everything would be fine. It would be rude and disrespectful to do anything other than mourn. Sighing, the young thief began, for the first time, to genuinely think about the attacks and the negative pyschological effect it had on her. Was she traumatized? Would this memorial help her heal? Clara didn't feel traumatized. The gas attack did suck, though. A lot. The worst pain she had ever felt in her life. Now imagine all the kids her age choking on that stuff, and not getting superpowers, or even waking up again. That was pretty sad. Clara wiped her right eye and cast her eyes downward, kicking at some grass growing between the concrete.

<sub>|Ft. The Talents of Sassy1085...|

Slightly Earlier...</sub>

---

“You still there, youngblood?”

A gruff man’s voice bellowed from Ray’s cellular device. The grown boy shrugged to the question, knowing well the man on the line couldn’t see him. The man on the phone only accepted honesty, and if Ray was honest, he wasn’t sure. Over the past days from his time in the hospital, everything was changing so fast.

Even in the two days since his last encounter with Kim. He was a little taller, it was hot all the time, and there was an incident when he literally crushed his custom PS4 controller in his hands. NBA 2KXX was bad, but it wasn’t that bad. What kind of changes were these? How could he explain them to the man on the phone, whose name he wore?

“Baby Ray!” Raymond barked at his son from over the phone. The voice shook him back to reality and warranted his answer.

“I’m still here, Pop.”

“Then talk to me, man. You know damn well I don’t got the minutes for all that.”

“How the fuck you want me to answer that, Pop?! I got bombed!” X-Ray bit back probably a little harder than he meant to. The burst of emotion almost sent him falling off the edge of the four-stories-high attorney office building that he was sitting on. Oh yeah, because he could fucking CLIMB walls now. But how could his father know that?

They both sighed at the exact same time. “Look, I know I don’t know the full story right now, youngblood. I just wanna make sure my son is still kickin. After all, Our--”

“--family doesn’t run from things.” Ray rolled his eyes a little with a nod at the family saying.

“That’s right…” There was another pause, and Ray rubbed the back of his neck; watching cars drive down on the street below.

“You said you were piecin down in brooklyn. How’s that--”

|”Your call has 30 seconds remaining.”|

“Well...looks like it’s gonna have to wait.”

“Yeah...I was...Gonna go to the memorial thing downtown anyway.”

“Aight. Hold it down, and keep ya head up. For you and ya Momma. I love ya kid.”

“Yeah, I know, Pop. Talk to you later.” Ray finished the conversation, hanging up the phone and staring at it for a bit. It had been a long time since he had heard that voice. Not because he didn’t call...but because he didn’t always answer it. The relationship between Baby Ray and Sugar Ray was a strained one. The reason was....complicated. Whenever the younger talked to his father, the only thing that happened were the recurrence of memories. Memories that Ray didn’t want to relive again.

So, instead of dwelling on that, he moved his thoughts elsewhere. Though, not literally. He was actually right across the road from the Oscorps Tower, simply watching as varying news crews were getting set up. X-Ray wasn’t really a fan of the high and mighties up there in Oscorps, but out of respect for the people that didn’t make it, he made sure to show up. It was ironed into him by the man he just hung up with, to make it early to important meetings. This probably wasn’t what he had in mind, but the habit stuck. He took notice of people gathering and he figured it’d be better if he went to ground level.

So, he got up and put his phone in his pocket. Making sure none of those cameras were pointed in his direction, Ray took to an edge of the roof facing an adjacent alleyway. There was a fire escape, but, instead of taking that, Ray leaned down just slightly out of reach of the thing. Hanging from the ledge by one hand, he looked down. There was a decent drop, and less conscious thinking made him want to test out this wall sticking thing some more. The average person’s senses would scream not to. But Ray was never average.

So down he fell, and as the brick started the mesh together in a blur, Ray took a deep breath in. The idea was to reach out and stick to the wall when he got low enough. The backup plan was to just reach out and grab one of the rails of the fire escape.

A few seconds in though, the fall seemed to be happening a little too fast. He jutted a hand out in front of him. Unfortunately for him, his hand only grazed the wall and only slightly slowed him down. It was something, but as he tried to pull the rest of his body closer, a loose piece of brick broke off leaving him back at a freefall.

Now his heart was pumping, because the ground was only getting closer. He tried for plan b, but found himself out of reach of both the wall and the fire escape. He had to think quick if he didn’t want to be a puddle in this back alley. It’d be a stretch, but he tried it anyway. Aiming his hand upward toward the building he jumped from, he concentrated and a stream of silver silk shot from his wrist. His teeth grit as his eyes drifted down again.

Just as the kid was prepping for the X-Ray on his brand new broken legs, he felt his wrist tug and the line coming from his arm lock. His body stopped from its downward motion, and his back slammed into the wall. Looking up, Ray saw that his on the spot thinking saved his skin. Whatever this stuff was that he shot out was strong...his eyes looked outward to the only opening from the alley. The people of New York, oblivious as always kept walking without even a glance at his plight. Grateful, he sighed in relief.

Glancing back down this time, the distance wasn’t so bad, so, relaxing his arm, the thread was released and he landed on all fours in a cat like position. A cool breath pushed out of his lips as he stood up. Surveying what he just survived, Ray merely shook his head. Seemed that he still had a lot to learn about how this stuff worked...but, enough for that for now. He pulled his hood over his head and walked out among the developing crowd of people with his hands in his pockets. Looked like he was right in time, Osborn’s loaf of bread hair having ass was gonna start talking.

Now...to endure listening to this dude…

---

_{Current Time}

Kim walked toward the sea of people and then to Ray. Instead of saying hi to Ray, she just says "Boop!" when she poked his cheek. The childhood friend of hers seemed lost in thought amidst all those people. The pang in his brain to announce her presence is what broke his trance, followed by her finger. Ray looked down to Kimi and a corner of his lip turned upward.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Doing good, doing good." Kim say happily while she look around "But I feel great after what I just discovered the other day" she quietly said. Ray casually tuned out whatever Osborn was going on about and took notice of her statement. He was at least glad that she was adjusting to this better than he was, but her discovery made him curious.

"Discovery?" Ray matched her volume, as it clearly wasn't something to talk about amidst a bunch of nosy people.

"Come on, Ray. Follow me." Kim say as she grab Ray hand as they run past the crowd and into the alleyway. Ray chuckled some and followed.

When they finally made it to the alleyway, Kim pick up a empty soda can and place it on the top of a trash can "Ok, remember that glowing power that I have? Well, it turn out that is not my only ability. Check this out." Kim step away from the trash can and stand right next to Ray, her hand mimic a handgun, point at a soda can and then a little blast came out from her finger and hit the soda can, the can fly and fall to the ground.

He leaned against a wall of the alley as she began about her glowing thing, mentioning that she had something else. It honestly made him curious what her abilities would be next. They were clear as day different from his own. Though, he anticipated what it could be, he still found his expression jumping when she blasted the soda can. That right there, was something else.

"Holy shit." He interjected.

"I know right?!" Kim say excitedly and starting to pace around little bit "I wonder what another abilities I have. Can I shoot big blast from my hand? Do I make a big flash from my glowing powers? Can I make neon claws? Can I-" Kim stop on her tracks as a little idea pop in her head.

"Ray...Feel free to think about this but what if we become....superheroes?"

Ray watched on as she started to ramble about it. Clearly she had been thinking hard about all this. Much harder than he initially thought she did. Though, he stood up straighter when she talked about the possibility of becoming a superhero. In retrospect, this all seemed to be something straight out of a comic book for real. That part of it was actually kind of cool to think about initially.

While a lot of people around them did die, they survived the bombing. Not only did they survive, but with no recurring conditions...like disease or a limp. Hell, the doctors didn't even prescribe them any medicine. Then on top of that, they gained these super abilities...Though, the thought of that was kind of getting to him. Keeping it 100, superheroes typically had super problems...Super problems he didn't want for his fam to have to go through.

"I mean, this all does seem kinda cool Kimi...it's only been a few days since we got out of the hospital nd all that type of shit...We should probably figure out more about how all this works first..." Ray managed to put it lightly. Especially with the fiasco from earlier, he didn’t want to go trying to play hero out in these streets. Don’t nobody got time for that.

At least, not right now.

Nothing felt right anymore.

Nalini stared listlessly outside her bedroom window. Tides of morning fog had rolled through the streets and trapped every building in a thick haze. Rooftop spires vanished into a layer of looming, grey smears. Her own thoughts too were lost in a bitter fog and desperately trying to find a way out. It was hard to think, let alone get out of bed.

She heard her phone chirp with a new update. Out of habit, her hand hand fumbled for it. She brought it closer and squinted at the bright screen.

The alert began:
“Memorial Service at City Hall. Mayor to give...”

She groaned. “I barely knew any of them.” She couldn’t finish the thought, even if she wanted to. The memories still haunted her: Bobby’s cheerful expression slowly twisting into something pale and desperate, watching her own reflection in those steel grey eyes slowly dull as Bobby became breathless and still.

Nalini’s chest tightened as hot tears warmed her cheeks. She turned and buried her face in her pillow.

“I don’t know her…”

She didn’t sob, but the tears flowed all the same. She felt a wailing scream rise in her throat and make a muffled escape into the quiet of her room.

“I don’t know her!”

She repeated the words. Over. And over. Like a prayer that might save her from the pain.



The minutes marched by with the slow and steady precession of time. The next thing Nalini remembered was the thumping of footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Nalini, I’ve been shouting your name for the past fifteen minutes. Now, I told you-” Her door swung open in a fierce rush.

She opened her eyes weakly and stared at her father, his broad frame filling the doorway. Her face was warm and swollen, and her eyes still burned. The shocked expression on her father’s face told her she probably looked terrible. She stared at him quietly, her lifeless gaze burrowing through the silence.

Despite racing up the stairs in a fit, all of Andre's bluster had evaporated. He took a cautious step back and froze, frightened by his daughter's hollow stare, but it didn't last long. His expression softened as he calmly stole the distance between.

Nalini looked up at her father as he bent down wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. It was solid and warm, and she clung to him like a child. She felt her cheeks swell again, but no tears came. She wasn't sure she had any left.

"Tell me… What must a father do, if his daughter has such a face?" Andre asked in a low, consoling tone. His Afrikaners accent hanging on each word.

Nalini hugged him tighter, not knowing what to say.

"It's ok. It's ok. I'm not going anywhere."
Andre breathed in a deep breath as he felt tears dampen his shirt. "What can I do? Name it, and it's done."

"Nothing." She whispered hoarsely.

Andre clicked his tongue defiantly. "Bah! Your father is a great man, remember? Great men can do anything! Come on. Tell me, so I can make it better."

"You can't." She whispered again.

"Is this about that boy?" He was grasping at straws now. Even as Andre embraced his daughter tighter a sinking feeling in his gut was rapidly stealing his confidence.

Fresh memories of her and Morgan arguing stabbed at her, but she was too tired to cry anymore. "No." She said, her voice somehow smaller than before.

Realization furrowed Andre's brow. A brewing storm of helplessness, frustration, and worry conspired against him. Slow and deliberate, he took a breath and heaved deep and somber sigh. "Do you remember when you were little?" He began. "When we were in Johannesburg to visit your Oupa?"

The mention of her grandfather stirred old memories of dusty roads, blistering heat, and a sore bum.

"You walked into the yard where the boys were playing rugby and threw a half-dead pofadder at them. No one knows how you got it, but you did. You scared all the boys and your auntie too. And got me in plenty of trouble with your uncles, yeah? Your oupa used to tell us that if we didn't keep you tied up, you would run into the bush and beat up the lions." He chuckled at the memory.

Nalini felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth ae she sank into the memory.

"You may be bigger now, yeah, but when I look at you, I still see that fearless little girl who would rather play with vipers than dollies."

Eventually Nalini pulled back, and wiped at her eyes.

Andre gave her a solemn look, still worried. He kissed her head and got to his feet. "You can't be sad on a full stomach." He said with a grin, and turned to leave. "I'll bring you something."



After eating breakfast, albeit late, the rest of the morning wasn't too much of a struggle. Her face was still a little puffy, but after an hour in the delicate work in the bathroom , she felt safe to go out in public.

She was sipping tea in the kitchen when her phone chirped again. She eyed the message. It was one of her old classmates, Rheanna.

"Hey, r u comin? There's a memorial thing at City Hall…"

"Maybe? I haven't decided. "

"Fair, but it's totally worth seeing in person."

The message had a picture attached. In it, a gazebo stood in an open courtyard and everything was bathed in sunset hues of orange and red. It took a moment for Nalini to recognize it. It was a picture of the courtyard outside city hall, less than a hundred feet from the white arches framing it's entrance.

Small portraits, flowers, laurels, and candles had been placed neatly beside along the walls lining the sidewalk. In the evening light, the darkened silhouettes of the visitors looked more like patrons offering their prayers at an ancient shrine.

She stared blankly at the message, trying not to get lost in thought. "Yeah, I'll be there!"



The crowd was even larger than Nalini expected. Dozens of faces swarmed the sidewalks and park tables. She recognized some, but not many.

Standing in the courtyard in her light jacket, skirt and tights, she felt both comforted and lonely being around so many people. Any other day they would be strangers to her, but today they were familiar. In each expression, she saw her own feelings reflected: anguish, despair, frustration, helplessness.

She looked for any of her classmates to keep herself distracted.

---

---

Marcus stirred, early in the morning, sighing deeply. He sat up, still running the conversation he'd had last night over and over through his head. Powers. He had powers. Weird, spider powers. Not what he would've picked, but... he'd get over that. And it wasn't just the warning signs in his head, either. He'd checked. He could do the wall sticking thing, too. His balance also seemed better, though that was harder to gauge more... in-depth testing. Which was what today was for. And with the school still closed, he had plenty of time to himself while his classes and internship decided on how to handle things.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a pair of arms weaving around his shoulders, and a kiss against his cheek. In spite of the turmoil in his head, Marcus smiled as his boyfriend nuzzled up against him.

"Penny for your thoughts," said Hector, still shaking off his own sleep. "You were pretty restless last night. Couldn't sleep?"

Marcus sighed again. "Lot on my mind. With the bombing and the hospital and the school and... yeah."

"Yeah," agreed Hector, peppering another couple of kisses on Marcus' cheek and temple. "It's okay to be worried about things. Something... really bad happened to you." His arms tightened around Marcus' shoulders. "...I thought I'd lost you."

Marcus, after a pause, reached up, taking one of Hector's hands and weaving his fingers together with his. "I came back, though. I came back, and I'm not leaving again."

And for a while, they sat there, basking in each others' presence. And for now, that was all either of them needed.

---

"So, work is still kinda fucky for me. How's things at the Bugle?"

Hector shrugged, pushing his glasses up as he finished cooking his own breakfast, Marcus having satisfied himself with just a bagel, jam, and cream cheese. Bacon was deposited next to eggs as he sat down across from his boyfriend, ready to tuck in.

"Getting there, little by little. I'm pretty much a shoo-in once I graduate, but still just as an office monkey. Clerical stuff. Moving files. Still gotta work your way up to things like writing and junk."

Marcus shrugged in return. "Still better than the place you were interning before."

Marcus stopped chewing, eyes narrowing. "Don't be too harsh. J. Jonah Jameson is still a respected journalist with years of experience in the field. I learned a lot from him."

Marcus scoffed. "Sure. I'm sure you learned very well all those long prescription names he had you fetch. Or exactly how many sugars he liked in his coffee. And especially all those fancy and colorful swear words and insults he came up with." He chuckled as a piece of bacon beaned him in the forehead, grinning at his now-sulky boyfriend.

Hector glowered into his coffee mug. "...At least he paid me. And despite how crazy that podcast of his is, his name looks good on a resume."

"Hey, I'm not arguing that. But don't pretend it was anything else just 'cause you regret it."

His lip was rewarded with another food projectile bouncing off of his forehead. English muffin this time.

"Joke's on you, you're just giving me more food."

"I can live with that. Hitting you makes me feel better."

---

---

Marcus parked his motorcycle blocks away from City Hall, grumbling as he fed quarters into the parking meter.

Bullshit spider powers, and I'm still stuck dealing with traffic. What a joke.

Yesterday's testing had gone well. Not only was he much faster and agile than even his peak days in high school, but now he was strong enough to leap across rooftops like he was in the Matrix. He could clear city blocks in a fraction of the time it used to take him. Sure he'd spooked a few pigeons. And a homeless guy or two. But it was... exhilarating, to say the least. Everything felt so effortless now. Which, to be fair, had its ups and downs.

...He still wasn't sure how he was going to explain the alarm clock to Hector. Not much he could say to cover up exploding the goddamn thing into plastic shrapnel. Which was why he was riding today, not running. Convenient or not, things were busy today with the memorial. And the less attention he drew while everyone was on high alert, the better. He wasn't sure if there were any men-in-black types loitering around, but for his and Scott's sakes, he'd rather not find out.

He huffed as he walked, glad it was still warm outside for things like this. He'd come to pay his respects to the ones who weren't as lucky as he was, but that didn't mean he wanted to be uncomfortable while it happened. Though, to be fair, he had other reasons for being here.

His head started to thrum, slightly. Like the faintest pluck on a guitar string, especially as the crowd grew more dense. He was still trying to figure out if it was just people he was sensing with his new "Strand-sense," or if, as he suspected, there were more "unique" types about.

Also on the agenda, thinking of a better name than "Strand-sense." He looked around, wondering if he'd be able to tell as easily as Scott when there was someone "like him" wandering about. He supposed he'd have to find out when he got there.

He kept his eyes open, hoping for... something. Did he want to find anyone else? Or did he hope he was miraculously the only one affected? Hard to say.

But he was certainly going to find out.