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Author's Note: Here's chapter 4 of Syryn's Song. It is so good to be back and posting again. Thank you as always to all my readers for the comments, kudos, and thinking that my work is worth reading. Also thanks to the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a wonderfully supportive venue to read and post TG fiction ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 4: Adventures in Dating
 

Friday evening found us cutting practice a little short when there was a knock at the door of the studio. “Hey guys,” Blake said somewhat sheepishly as I opened the door to let him in. “Sorry to interrupt your practice, but I wanted to introduce you to the person I’m getting to create your costumes since she’s visiting tonight.”

“I thought you were making our costumes though?” Ian asked uncertainly as we started putting our music gear back in their usual resting places.

“Nah, I just designed the materials the costumes will be made from, and I’ll install all the tech once they’re finished, fashion really isn’t my thing. Modiste though, just earned her associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and is starting towards her bachelor’s in the fall. Her powers lend themselves to this kind of thing too,” the young inventor explained as we made our way out of the studio and toward to his apartment.

“Oh thank God!” Mai said with a playful smile. “I thought we were all going to end up performing and fighting crime in jeans and t-shirts.”

Blake looked down at his current outfit and shrugged as he opened the door to his apartment to let us in. “I go for comfort over fashion, but I knew you guys would want your costumes to be really good so I called in the professional. Guys, I’d like you all to meet Brianna Bowman, or as Lisa likes to call her, Modiste. Bri, this is Candy, Leslie, Ian, Mai, and John.”

“Isn’t Bowman the name Lisa has you registered under as her foster child?” I asked Blake before I got a look at the young woman sitting on Blake’s sofa. The young woman in question was dressed in a green and white sundress and looked like a twenty year old female version of Blake, with those same green eyes, though her brown hair was longer and straight rather than shaggy. She also looked a little shorter than Blake, maybe about five foot three, though it was hard to tell with her sitting.

As I was staring at her she said, “Bowman was our mom’s maiden name.”

“How come you never mentioned having a sister?” Leslie asked.

“Technically he’s only my half-brother, but it’s a good half,” Brianna corrected Leslie with a smile. “Mom married Ron when I was four and had Blake when I was five. My real dad died when I was a baby, but Ron has always been good to me, he always treated me like his own kid, even since mom died.” Her expression turned sad as she sighed, “If I’d been there when it happened maybe I could have helped.”

“You had your own problems Bri so stop beating yourself up about that,” Blake said with a sad shake of his head. Then he began to explain, “I was kidnapped during dad’s first term as Senator. They were going after me and Mom, but one of the kidnappers had an itchy trigger finger and shot Mom,” Blake explained sadly. “She didn’t even have time to try and use her powers. I’d probably be dead too, but Lisa rescued me and I Activated.”

Your mom was a Hyper too?” John asked.

Brianna nodded slowly. “She was a low level Tinker and had some small magical abilities; she could see auras and had an alchemical touch that let her change what things were made of, even her own body. We both got our powers from Mom; Nick says my abilities are magical in nature and Blake got the tinkering gift.”

“So what are your abilities?” I asked after a brief awkward silence. “Blake says they’re useful for costume design.”

“I’m the clothes-fairy,” she joked.

Blake sneered at his older sibling and rolled his eyes. “She magically creates and alters clothing. She just needs to picture an item of clothing or an outfit in her mind and she can make it reality, and she can change whatever someone is wearing the same way. She can also resize, make alterations, change the color, and even change the material they’re made from.”

Mai’s eyes lit up as she smiled. “Oooooh, she is the clothes-fairy.”

“The materials have to be something I’ve touched before though, and my ability only seems to work for clothes,” she specified with a sigh. “We’ve tried other things, even curtains and bedclothes, but the only time it worked was when I wore a bed sheet as a toga. I seem to be limited to things designed for people to wear or that they are currently wearing. Accessories and jewellery are doable too, but they can be a bit tricky, it’s actually a bit easier if I create a whole outfit rather than piece by piece.”

“That is so cool,” Leslie said with a grin as she and Mai exchanged looks.

“Anyway,” the mutant seamstress said, “My little bro here says you guys are Aegis Jr. and you’re looking for costumes.”

“We call ourselves RevolveR,” I put in, “and we might have an interesting challenge for you. We’re not just going to be doing the whole saving the world thing in these costumes. We’re a Gothic Rock band and we’re hoping to be the first ever openly mutant band.”

“So you want costumes and masks to be sort of a blend between Superhero and Goth?” she asked in sudden interest.

“Yeah, only I won’t be wearing a mask. The others will, they look normal and have identities to protect so they need disguises, but I’ll be going out there like this; blue skin, pink hair and all. Candice Graham is my disguise; I only wear it when I need to. I’m Syryn, this is me, and I’d like to be me on stage.”

“I like this one Blake,” she said with a grin.

“You would, you have a lot in common,” Blake said with a shrug. “So do you think you can do it?”

“Of course I can do it, I have some ideas. I’m thinking mostly black with Goth influences and differences for each of them to give them different personas. Do you guys have a team/band logo yet? Or personal symbols you want on your costumes, or can I just go wild?“ she asked with a grin like the one Blake wore whenever he had an idea for a really cool invention.

I shook my head. “We don’t have anything like that planned yet, so feel free to make any suggestions. We don’t even know what we’re going to do about an agent or manager yet. I did it for my old band, but our agent needs to be able to blend in, not to mention have the time for all the business aspects involved. Even if I did have the time, I don’t want people connecting my civilian identity to us. The others can’t do it for the same reason.”

“Let me worry about a manager and agent for you guys,” Blake volunteered. “I may know just the… umm… person for that and Bri is minoring in graphic art so she can come up with something cool for a logo.”

“Will you contact us through Blake when you come up with something?” Leslie asked.

“I suppose we could do it that way if you really want to…” she trailed off with a pensive look on her face. Then she broke out in a grin, “Or you could just come up and see me on the top floor. That’s the reason I came by in the first place, I asked Lisa if I could have my old apartment back. I’m gonna start moving my stuff in tomorrow.”

Blake looked as surprised as the rest of us. “You’re moving back in? What about your apartment by the campus?”

“Our lease is up at the end of the month,” Brianna answered with a look of relief. “Gina asked if I wanted to find another place with her, but I swear if I have to live another day with that slob leaving her clothes all over the place, she’s going to find them all three sizes too small, including whatever she happens to be wearing at the time. Why look for a new place when the apartment upstairs is already furnished and my studio is still set up in the spare room? Besides, I miss being around you and Lisa and everyone and it’s not too far a drive to campus from here.”

“Not to mention, you won’t have to concentrate all the time to keep yourself looking normal at home,” Blake suggested. “Not that I’ll mind having you back here,” he quickly added.

“Looking normal?” I asked as I thought about Blake’s earlier comment about us having a lot in common.

“I usually look like this,” she said as her features began to change color, her skin and hair both becoming a shiny gold color. Only her bright green eyes remained the same color. “Like our mom I can change what my skin and hair are made of, and their color, to materials I’ve touched before. I Activated looking like this and it took a while before I was able to get normal looking and feeling skin and hair down.”

“Normal feeling?” Mai asked, staring at the other mutant.

Brianna extended her hand and offered, “Touch me and you’ll see what I mean.”

The guys seemed reluctant to try, but Mai, Leslie, and I all cautiously reached out to touch her skin. “Is that…” Leslie began to ask in wonder as we gently probed the smooth and soft texture.

“Silk, definitely silk,” Mai said with a smile.

“Well at least you can look normal on your own,” I put in with a sympathetic smile. “I don’t mind looking like I do so much anymore, but I wouldn’t be able to go out and blend into a crowd at all if it weren’t for your brother.”

“It took me a while to be able to do it,” she admitted, “but I had to stay in hiding after I Activated. What with me looking like this, my powers being on a hair trigger, people thinking I was dead, and then Blake’s kidnapping and Mom’s death Ron wanted us both safe and out of the public eye. He had Tara make us new identities under Mom’s maiden name, gave us the money from our trust funds, and had us stay here with Aegis while Blake got this building fixed up for them and I waited to start college. I met Dr. Park while living here and she helped me figure out how to do it.”

“Dr. Park is awesome,” Leslie agreed with a smile. “I wouldn’t be able to go out in sunlight without her help.”

“Yeah she is, she helped me a lot,” the silky-skinned Hyper agreed before pausing a moment. “Umm… speaking of help… I… hate to ask this of people I’m meeting for the first time, but do you think some of you could give me a hand tomorrow when you’re done training for the day? I really want to get moved back in tomorrow if possible, I wasn’t kidding about my roommate. I was hoping to have Lisa’s strength available for a few things, but she’s putting the finishing touches on her new manuscript before having dinner with her publisher on Sunday."

All of the Aegis members had day jobs that allowed them to mostly set their own hours: Nick occasionally escorted Hyper criminals to prison as Blackout to keep them from using their powers to escape, Travis had a very popular tech blog and did product reviews, and Jason was a security advisor. Even Tessily had some sort of work, translating old texts in dialects that she was familiar with for Empire State University under her civilian identity of Tess O’Brien. Lisa though, wrote tawdry romance novels under the nom de plume Elsa Tremblay. “It seems like the whole team is catching up on work this weekend,” I said with a nod. “Tessily mentioned having to go to the university as well, so we have the weekend off.”

“I’m afraid that I can’t Bri,” Blake said apologetically, “I’ve been working on something with Travis and Phil, and since they have the time we want to get as much done as we can this weekend.” This wasn’t really terribly surprising since Travis, his onboard AI, and Blake had been taking every chance they could to slip away in the Ladybug for hours at a time the past few weeks while Lisa, Tessily and the others had been training us.

Mai quickly spoke up, “Candy and Ian can’t help either, they have a date, but I’m game.”

Ian was blushing at that and I was pretty sure I was turning a dark lavender as Blake looked at us both and grinned, “It’s about time.”

Mai grinned at our embarrassment, but mercifully she got back to the topic at hand. “How about you sweetie? Are you up for helping out?”

The last was asked of John of course, and he quickly nodded. “Sure, I don’t mind helping out. But if there’s anything really heavy we might need Leslie’s strength.”

“And you shall have it,” my best friend agreed. “I’d love to see some of the things you’ve designed Brianna, and maybe we can talk about what kinds of ideas you have for our costumes.”

“You read my mind,” Mai agreed with a smile.

“That sounds good to me,” Blake’s sister said after some thought. “I don’t really have much to move, just some clothes, a couple dozen boxes, a trunk of personal items, and all my design and sewing gear. It shouldn’t take us long, and once it’s all here and the dock and peripherals for my tablet are set up I can work on more detailed logo designs. I’ll do some sketches of logo and costume ideas tonight before bed while they’re fresh in my mind. I can show you those tomorrow.”

“I’m not so sure about this,” I said as I stood in front of my mirror late the next morning. It had been strange having a morning off, but I had put it to good use by emailing our entry to the voting committee for the battle of the bands. The file was a recording of us playing In the Shadows, since that was the song we had the most practice with. Following that I had hopped into the shower to get ready for the big date. Once I was out of the shower and dried off, I was immediately hijacked by Mai and Leslie, who insisted on helping me find the perfect outfit for my first date with Ian, before they left to help Brianna.

So now I was wearing this little dress, though I thought calling it a dress was being generous. It was sleeveless halter dress made of a white lace with a sheer pink under layer. The V shaped hem of the damn thing barely covered my thighs and butt, and beneath that I was wearing a tiny hot pink bikini that made the dress look down-right respectable. Leslie had bought it just after we had come to New York, hoping that wearing something like that would help me come out of my shell a bit. Completing the outfit were a pair of sunglasses, my second skin pendant, white open-toed sandals with two inch heels, and a large matching purse containing all the necessities and my slim silver anti-gravity belt.

The date or the outfit?” Leslie asked in response to my uncertainty.

“Both,” I replied with a sigh, “And this isn’t an outfit, its underwear.”

“So it’s a little revealing,” Mai said with a roll of her eyes. “I’d totally wear that if I had your body.”

“That’s because you’re an extrovert, I’m not,” I retorted. “I don’t want a bunch of guys looking at me like I’m dessert and they have a sweet tooth.”

Mai shrugged my complaint off. “You probably just want Ian looking at you that way, but honestly, guys look at you that way no matter how you’re dressed, so this shouldn’t be any worse for you than any other trip out in public.”

“A little attention isn’t a bad thing, so long as it doesn’t go past looking, it can make a girl feel confident,” Leslie put in. Then she added, “Besides, didn’t Dr. Park say you’re so pretty and have features that stand out so much because you wanted attention?”

I groaned and sneered at my roommate. “You would have to remember that, you traitor. Maybe the attention isn’t so bad, it’s kind of nice sometimes if the guys don’t go too far, but I think this might send the wrong message, I want to get to know Ian better, not drag him to my bedroom.”

“Are you suuuuuure?” Mai teased. My inner conflict on that must have been written all over my face though, because she quickly became serious again as she gently put her hand on my shoulder. “Ian knows that Candy, and he’ll respect that you’re probably not ready for a physical relationship yet. He’s as into you as you are him, but he won’t rush you. You just want to look your best for him to show him you do like him, and believe me this does the trick.”

“I don’t even know what we’re doing on this date though, what if we’re just going out for burgers and a movie?” I said while casting another uncertain glance at the mirror.

“Candy, stop it. Calm down girl,” Mai said with a serious expression and a tone that would brook no arguments. “I want you both to have fun and relax a bit. Do you really think I’d have you dress this way if it were something like that? I asked Ian what the plan was for the date and this should be appropriate.”

There was a knock at the door and I almost panicked when Leslie said, “That’ll be Ian.”

Mai frowned at my reaction and started pushing me toward the door. “Just relax Candy. Ian’s a fun guy, he already likes you, and there’s no pressure. Go have some fun, be yourself, and get to know him better.”

I could see Ian’s jaw physically drop as he got a good look at me once Mai had gotten me to the door and I had opened it to greet him. He was looking pretty damn good himself though, with that dark red tank top and shorts showing off his well-toned body. He also wore a dark blue bandanna covering his long brown hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. “You look great Candy, are you ready to go?” he managed to blurt out as he smiled at me.

“I think so,” I replied uncertainly. “So… uhh… What exactly are we going to be doing?”

“Well, I originally thought of dinner and a show, maybe take in Phantom of the Opera, but when I found out we had the whole day available I thought we could start out at Coney Island and see where things go from there. There are some great restaurants there, and we could walk along the boardwalk, go swimming at the beach, go on some rides, play skee-ball, and whatever else looks fun. I think you’ll enjoy it,” he said hopefully.

“Sounds like fun,” I agreed. “I’ve actually wanted to go there since Leslie and I came to New York, but I haven’t been able to find the time yet.”

“Cool, let’s get going then,” he answered with that smile that never ceased to make my heart flutter when it was directed at me.

“Have fun you two, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Mai said sweetly from my doorway.

“There’s things you wouldn’t do?” I heard Leslie tease Mai as we departed.

Since Ian had loaned his pickup to John to help with Brianna’s move and I no longer had a civilian vehicle we decided to take the sky-bikes to Coney Island. We flew in stealth mode, staying in contact through the communications gear in our helmets and he gave me a sort of aerial tour before we came in for a landing in an empty lot by the Parachute Drop and parked the bikes in a small stand of trees. He told me that the Parachute Drop was a historic landmark originally built for the 1939 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows in Queens, In 1941 it was moved to its current site as an attraction for the Steeplechase Park amusement park which closed in 1964. The ride is the only portion of Steeplechase Park still standing today and has become a historic landmark.

The lot wasn’t just close to the Parachute Drop though, it was near the amusement parks, the beach and a lot of interesting shops and restaurants on the boardwalk as well. Before leaving the bike’s stealth field I hurriedly smoothed out my dress so I wasn’t showing Ian, or anyone else, any more than I already was. Then, once we had re-cloaked the bikes, we slipped casually out of the lot. Since we had all day we decided to just take our time looking around for a bit, so we started out by just walking along the boardwalk and checking out the sights at ground level while Ian pointed out anything of particular interest to me.

Before long we had made our way to the amusement parks so we started on some of the rides and games. The Cyclone was exhilarating and, even though I sucked at it, skee-ball was kind of fun. I could have done a lot better if I had used my powers, but that would have been wrong and taken the fun and the challenge out of it. Ian though, turned out to be some kind of skee-ball genius and earned enough tickets to get me a pink stuffed rabbit. I felt kind of silly carrying around a stuffed toy, but at the same time it was from Ian, and he had won it for me, and that made me feel kind of gooey inside.

After the amusement park Ian bought us lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk called Paul’s Daughter. It had this big hamburger man statue on the roof and apparently is one of the oldest businesses on the boardwalk. We had clams on the half shell, wedge shaped fries and nice cold sodas and sat in a quiet corner to eat while we got to know each other. It was nice because of all my band mates, I knew the least about Ian. I noticed though that he only talked about his interests and his life now that he was part of RevolveR, or since he had met Mai and John, and that worried me.

I needed to address this before it really started bothering me. “Ummm… Ian...” I said in a hushed tone that wouldn’t carry to the other diners, “I thought we were supposed to be getting to know one another better. Look, if anyone gets how hard it can be being… different it’s me. My Mom freaked out and wants nothing to do with me and my whole life turned upside down, so if you… ummm… need to talk…”

Ian let out a long sigh and shook his head with a conflicted expression on his face. Finally he spoke just as quietly. “Yeah I know you went through hell with the stuff with your mom and all the physical changes when your life already sucked. Mai accidentally blinded her brother and a bunch of other people and her parents want nothing to do with her either. Leslie’s parents were killed when assholes set her house on fire, after she confided in someone she trusted. John grew up in foster care and his foster parents tried to kill him when his pow… puberty hit him in a big way. You’ve all had it hard, that’s exactly why I don’t talk about my family or my past much.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I wondered why he didn’t seem to want to open up.

“You really want to hear my Activation horror story?” I barely heard Ian ask as he looked down at our mostly finished lunch. “I was fifteen and I was taking my little sister Kim trick-or-treating for Halloween. We nearly got hit by a car when we were heading home and, even though he managed to swerve in time to avoid us, my life flashed before my eyes and my gift made itself known for the first time. When we got home we told Mom and Dad what happened, mom made some hot cocoa, and the four of us had a family meeting. They didn’t disown me, or try to kill me or anything like that, they just wanted to make sure that we were okay, that I knew what kind of things I might be in for, and find out what special needs I might have. You guys all have these horrible origin stories, and what’s mine? I have a supportive family that loves me.”

“Are your parents… like us too?” I asked quietly. I didn’t really want to make assumptions about it.

Ian shook his head. “No, at least not the parents who raised me, but I don’t know about my biological parents. They knew enough about how… people with differences were treated to be concerned for my safety though, especially when it became obvious that I had trouble controlling my abilities when I was stressed. They were worried that I might be bullied in school if someone found out, so Mom decided to homeschool me and found private music teachers she could trust.”

“So you’re adopted then?” I wondered aloud. He could have been a foster child, but I had a feeling he wasn’t.

“Mom couldn’t have kids, so I was adopted at birth,” he confirmed. “They adopted Kim when I was seven; she was one of those Chinese baby girls. If she wasn’t adopted she probably would have ended up dead, in prostitution, or in the slave trade. We grew up in a nice house on Staten Island, and I was still living there when we met. I didn’t want to bring it up because I didn’t want to seem like I was rubbing my perfect little family in your faces.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard a smart guy say,” I snapped, barely remembering to keep my voice down. “There is not one of us who wouldn’t be happy that you haven’t had to go through what we have. Sure we might be a little jealous, but you and your family prove that we can be accepted and live somewhat normal lives. Did you really think we’d hate you for giving us hope?”

“No… but I…”

I countered before he could say anything more. “No buts, we’re getting to know one another better so I want to hear all about your ‘perfect little family’ and what you were like growing up,”

“Mom and Dad met during rehearsals for a Broadway musical,” he began uncertainly. “He was the director and she was cast in the leading role. They just clicked. A year and a half later they got married and adopted me a year after. Dad’s a producer now, and Mom is an acting and singing coach. She started doing that when they adopted me so she’d be at home more and never looked back. Kim and I both grew up watching rehearsals though, and I guess the bug bit us both. I found my love for music and Mom got the best teachers for me that she could find. Kim wants to be a lead in a musical like Mom was, so Mom’s teaching her singing and acting, and she’s studying dance whenever she’s not in school.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. “That sounds so cool; my mom never really understood my love for singing. She only paid for lessons because she would rather I pursued that than sports or something where I could have gotten hurt.”

To my delight he finally cracked a smile of his own again, God damn he had an incredible smile. “I told them about you and the others, they’re really happy that I’m learning to control my abilities better and that I’ve made some good friends to pursue music with. They’d like to meet you all when we have some spare time, especially my mom and Kim. I just didn’t want to push you, with what happened with your Mom, and the others’ family baggage as well.”

I shook my head and told him sternly, “I am not going to let her run my life. She’s decided she wants nothing to do with me, then that’s fine. I don’t need a Tyniehl like her in my life anyway.”

Ian gave me a confused look, “What is a Tineel?”

I blushed as soon as I realized I had said that. We had both been trying to keep our conversation quiet and not mention obvious words like mutant or Hyper too much since we were in a public place. We hadn’t seemed to draw anyone’s attention though and the other diners were still going about their own conversations loud enough that they likely couldn’t hear ours. “It’s a… umm… Fae word. When I told Tess what happened with my Mom, she called her that. She said it’s one of the most offensive words in their language, it’s meant to refer to a parent who has no honor and abuses their children.”

“The shoe does fit if you count emotional abuse,” he said thoughtfully as he took another sip of his soda. “I don’t really see it though, Tess seems a bit distant, but she’s really polite too, she doesn’t seem the type to say things like that about people.”

“She’s not distant; she just takes her duties seriously,” I quietly clarified. “Beneath that she’s really sweet and caring once you get to know her. She’s been really great to me since I came here. I like learning from her and spending time with her. It’s weird and kind of nice at the same time.”

“What do you mean?” he asked looking a little confused.

I answered as quietly as I could and still be heard by him. “She’s still not used to living here yet, in our modern world. It’s been two years and she said she still finds things strange and confusing sometimes, people most of all. A lot of people hide who they really are inside and pretend to be something they’re not. Her people don’t do that because they’re all accepted for who they are, no matter what shape they wear. There’s no pressure to conform to be something you’re not. She treats me like that.”

“You’re saying that she accepts you for who you are? I can see why you would appreciate that more than most.” He reached out and took my hand uncertainly. “It’s got to be hard having your genetic heritage so obvious to everyone.”

“It is, but I don’t want to let it bother me anymore,” I countered quickly. “Sure it was a bit hard at first, but then I think of John, Mai, and all those other minority people who get discriminated against every day because of the color of their skin. I’ve had to deal with it for what, six weeks? And I have a way to hide my differences when I want to, so it would be pretty shitty of me to complain when others have been facing the same treatment for generations. As for Tess, I think she relates to me better because of my looks, and it helps her feel more natural and at ease. She sometimes slips into her own language with me. She lets down her guard, she can be herself, I can be myself, and there’s no social bullshit getting in the way.”

“I think I know how she feels. You’re a beautiful person, and I don’t just mean skin deep; you have this sense of honour, you’re a sweet person who cares about others, and I think anyone who takes the time to get to really know you can see that. I know I…” He was leaning forward now, we both were, I hadn’t even been aware that I was moving closer and now that I was my heart was beating wildly. He had such gorgeous eyes, there was his sweet and musky scent, and my lips were trembling as they were about to meet his own.

*EEEEEEEEEK*

Our near kiss was quickly aborted as we both stood up and looked toward the sound of the woman’s scream. Ian was the first to speak. “What the hell was that about?!”

“I don’t know, but I think we’d better find out,” I replied as I grabbed my purse and bunny.

The scream had come from the boardwalk just outside the restaurant. When we got there after Ian had hastily paid the bill, several people were gathered around a middle aged woman who appeared to be having some sort of panic attack. “What happened?” Ian asked of the crowd in general.

The young man who answered didn’t even look our way as he watched others trying to calm the woman down. “A big circle of light opened up just up there,” he said pointing a few feet above the heads of the crowd, “then some black and green freak jumped through and landed on that poor woman. By the time anyone thought to do anything it had already gotten to its feet and took off.”

“Did you see where it went?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady as I wondered whether it was a Hyper, or something else.

“It ran off in that direction,” he responded, pointing off to our right.

We made our way off the boardwalk and onto the beach and began to look around; keeping our eyes peeled for anything fitting the man’s description. We were approaching the water’s edge near the pier when we heard it; the sound of someone yelping in pain. “Did you hear that?” Ian asked as he looked around for the source.

I nodded as I removed my sandals and tried to pinpoint where the sound had come from. This stretch of the beach was pretty quiet with a few people nearby being spread out on the beach, but most were on the pier itself. At first I thought it might be coming from the crowds on the pier, but it sounded like it was coming from underneath. I was within ten feet the pier when I thought I saw something moving in the shadows beneath. “Over there,” I said as I began walking quickly in that direction. Ian joined me, and we heard a voice muttering, “Ow, goddamn fucking glass… who drinks beer under the pier… they could have at least cleaned up their fucking trash,” as we moved closer and saw a sort of green glow.

“Are you okay?” Ian called out.

“Do I fucking sound okay?!” the voice snapped as a pair of glowing green eyes turned toward us. Whoever it was, they were hidden in a clump of rocks under the pier, half in and half out of the water. All I could see of the person though was those eyes, a glowing green mass that I thought was hair and a few strange geometric patterns and lines all over their body that glowed as green as the eyes and hair. It sounded like a girl and, whoever she was, she sounded very tired. “If you don’t want to get hurt, get the hell out of here,” the voice warned.

“You don’t sound like you’re in any condition to hurt anyone,” I responded candidly.

“Not me, the assholes following me. They’ve been after me for a long time, since I escaped. No matter where I go, they find me.” Now that I was closer, I could see her in better detail. She looked human, definitely female, but it was hard to make out details at first since her skin seemed to be pitch black where it wasn’t glowing green. She sat on the sand clutching her bare foot, and once I was within a few feet of her I was close enough that I could make out more detail. She looked about fourteen years old, far too skinny to be healthy, and the skirt and top she was wearing were torn and filthy.

Now that we were somewhat hidden from prying eyes underneath the pier, I carefully removed my pendant and hairnet, placed them in my purse, and handed Ian my sunglasses. “Put these on in case there’s trouble.” If someone was after her then I wanted to be ready in case they showed up. I removed my anti-gravity belt from my purse and managed to stuff my bunny in its place, though its head was still sticking out. As I was putting the belt on slowly, hoping not to panic the girl, Ian removed his bandana and used it to cover the lower half of his face before adding my sunglasses. It wasn’t a great disguise but it would have to do. I slowly offered the girl my hand. “We can help you, we’re Hypers too.”

The glowing eyes narrowed as she looked at me suspiciously. “So, that’s the plan now? They send in a friendly face or two to bring me in? Nice touch, sending in people I don’t know. You got here quicker than normal, usually I have at least an hour to catch my breath. Is whoever’s in charge getting tired of me making fools of their regular goons?”

“We’re nobody’s goons, just calm down and let us help you,” Ian said with his hands raised so she could see them.

“I’m not sure who or what you’re talking about,” I told her calmly. “I’m Syryn and this is Riff. We heard the commotion on the boardwalk and came to see if you needed help, nobody sent us here bring you anywhere. Why don’t you tell us what’s going on?” I kept my tone calm and as I spoke I made sure to project that calm.

She relaxed slightly, though her eyes made a quick scan of the beach beyond us. “You probably wouldn’t believe me,” she finally said uncertainly.

“I’ll be the judge of what I’ll believe,” I told her, still projecting calm. “You said it usually takes whoever’s after you a while to catch up? You have until they get here to tell us what we’re dealing with, so you should fill that time with words.”

“Or I could just teleport away,” she countered, as she tried to get to her feet, visibly shaking from the effort.

“You don’t even look like you can stand right now, and I think that if you had the strength to teleport again you’d have done it already,” I shot back. “If I’m wrong then go ahead, do it and we won’t be able to help you. Otherwise, tell us what’s going on, and start at the beginning.”

The girl was fifteen and her name was Amy Quinn, but she had taken to calling herself Rave. She was at a dance party when she was thirteen, when someone had slipped something into her drink and it was enough for her to overdose. Her H Chromosomes had activated as a result and she had run away from home when her parents reacted much like my own mother had. Since then she had been living on the streets of New York City and sleeping in abandoned buildings since the homeless shelters wouldn’t let her stay there. Roughly three months ago she had been staying with some other mutants in an old brownstone that was slated for demolition. The building was raided five weeks ago in the middle of the night by people in armour. She had been asleep at the time and, before she had woken up enough to realize what was going on and teleport away, someone had hit her on the head from behind.

“If it weren’t for that, they’d have never caught me,” she said with a grimace. “The next thing I knew, I woke up in some sort of high security doctor’s office. I was lying on a metal table, there were all sorts of machines, and the walls and door were like steel or something too. I think they had some hidden cameras, because the moment I sat up a man’s voice came through a speaker on the ceiling.”

“Did he explain why you were there, or say what he wanted or anything like that? Riff asked.

Amy shook her head, still frowning. “He didn’t ask my name, where I was from, or anything like that. He just wanted to know what powers I had. I think that was why they had the machines and steel walls, it’s like they expected all mutants to be like Eva.”

“Who’s Eva?” I queried.

“She was one of the other mutants in the brownstone,” the young Hyper explained, and I thought that I could see tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. “Her name was Eva before she activated so, because of her powers and looks, some of the others nicknamed her Eva Destruction. She hated that nickname, the poor girl wouldn’t harm a fly, but she was like seven feet tall and built like a Sherman tank. She was covered in silvery-black scales, had wings like a dragon, and fire for hair. I never saw anything that could hurt her, she could fly, and she threw exploding fireballs; she was damn scary until you got to know her.”

She sniffled, pausing as she took a nervous look around, then she let out a sigh and continued to speak. “Anyway, he asked what my powers were so I created a portal and got the hell out of there. After my escape I tried to rescue the others, but they were all dead, even Eva, and those goons have been on my tail like bloodhounds ever since.”

“Amy, I know a doctor who can help,” I told her as I sat on one of the rocks beside her. I kind of wanted to reach out and hug her, but she obviously had trust issues, and with good reason. “She’s like us and you can trust her. She can take a look at that cut on your foot and make sure you’re not sick or anything. No offense, but you look like hell.” I turned to Riff and said, “I’m going to call the Doc, do you think you could go grab her something to eat and drink and bring it here? She doesn’t look like she’s eaten in ages and I don’t think she should be exerting herself too much. I’ll stay here in case those people following her show up.”

“You got it, just please be careful” he replied with a worried glance before lowering his bandana around his neck and taking off at a run.

As he started to run across the beach I leaned over to have a look at Amy’s foot. She had a nasty cut there, but at least she had managed to get the glass out. I quickly fished a sanitary napkin from my purse to staunch the bleeding. I needed to find out why she was on the run though so, after instructing her to unwrap it and hold it firmly on the cut, I asked, “Can you think of any reason those people might be after you, or why they raided the building you were in? Did you or the others there use your powers to do anything illegal?”

She shook her head and crossed her arms in denial. “No way! Insight wouldn’t let anyone live there if they used, or planned to use, their powers to commit crimes.”

“Insight? Was she a psychic or something?” I asked, hoping for clarification.

“She was a telepath and she ran the place,” the young mutant girl responded. “She interviewed anyone who wanted to stay there to keep us all safe, and she organized everything so that we could all contribute without breaking laws: She and some of the others who could blend in got day work or went panhandling when things were bad, others helped with cooking and cleaning, Eva scared off the troublemakers, and I helped with transportation. I guess some of the people she wouldn’t let stay were pretty pissed off though.”

I frowned as I thought about how people like H8, with egos far exceeding any powers they might have and no qualms about committing crimes, would react to being cast out by people they saw as weak. That wasn’t as important as the girl’s current condition though, so I took out my phone and searched for Dr. Park’s name in my contacts, quickly selected it, and hit call. It was several rings before she answered, “Hi Candice, how are things in the Big Apple?”

“Hi Doc, things are pretty good here, but I have a bit of a problem,” I explained. “Riff and I are at Coney Island and we ran across a homeless mutant girl. She’s been on the run from some sort of armoured goon squad for over a month, she’s injured, and very weak. I was wondering if you could have a look at her, we could bring her to you if you’re working this weekend.”

“No need for that,” she quickly replied, “it’s my weekend off. I’ve actually been helping Blake and Travis with something, so we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Great, thanks, we’re hiding underneath the pier at the moment, but the girl seems to think that those goons will show up again soon. Every time she escapes they seem to find her again within a few hours from what she’s said.”

“They could have placed a tracker on her,” she suggested after a moment. “Blake and I will see what we can do about that, but it’s probably best to stay where you are at the moment. If you took her to the base, you’d likely just lead them there. We’re on our way.” She disconnected the call and there was nothing more I could do but wait.

For the next five minutes we waited in relative silence, as Amy occasionally cast nervous glances around us. Riff soon returned with a pair of hot dogs and a soda, which Amy thanked us profusely for and then quickly devoured, and I wondered again just how long it had been since she had had a proper meal. As she ate I informed Riff of the situation and he put his disguise back in place in case the goons showed up before our friends. Then we waited under the pier until the sounds of the people on the pier and the beach were drowned out by the whine of turbines and people shouting.

People were running from the beach as a black VTOL with a military look came in for a landing at the water’s edge, perhaps 100 feet from the pier, and blew sand all over the place. As soon as the turbines had stopped, eight men jumped out of the aircraft wearing some sort of light weight black body armour and helmets with white faceplates covering their faces. They also carried weapons and, from the way they were waving them around, I was pretty sure they weren’t there to surf or get a tan. Other beach-goers seemed to be under the same impression, as they ran for their lives, leaving the stretch of beach to the goons and us. On the pier above us I could hear some people running off while others seemed to be getting in a better position to see what was happening on the beach. The three of us ducked behind the rocks as we watched the men.

“Shit,” I thought I heard Amy curse as she looked warily at the men. “We need to get out of here, fast,” she said in a whisper as a look of concentration appeared on her face. The green glow coming from her seemed to become brighter and a glowing green disc a few inches in diameter appeared before us, slowly growing before suddenly fizzling and vanishing. She collapsed against the rock, looking almost ready to pass out as she grumbled curse words. It looked like she still didn’t have the strength to teleport, and even trying had badly drained her.

“Come on out freak! I know you’re hiding under there,” called a man’s voice. His tone when he spoke was one of undisguised loathing, and the pistol he was carrying was moving from side to side, panning the general area we were in, as he and the other men approached the pier. The one brandishing the pistol was looking at a device in his other hand before looking directly at our hiding spot, seemingly confirming Dr. Park’s tracker theory.

It seemed that Amy recognized the voice. “Is that you Smith? They haven’t sent you after me in weeks.”

“You cut off my arm you little bitch! It took them a while to make me a cybernetic one. I’m a freak now thanks to you,” the man snapped back angrily.

I looked around for possible telekinetic ammunition and reached down to activate my belt while Amy kept Smith talking. She sank further back against the rocks that we were hiding in, and Ian shielded her with his body, as she spoke again. “I was wondering whose arm that was. You shouldn’t have tried reaching through my portal when it was closing. I guess, all that metal on one arm probably makes you look all asymmetrical now. If you want them to match again, I can arrange that. So what’s the plan now Smith? Looks like you assholes have given up on subtlety. You used to wait until dark, but the last few days it’s been every few hours. I hope you guys are getting paid overtime.”

“You know that we’re going to find you wherever you go freak, and each time we come closer to catching you. Just give yourself up now and we won’t hurt you… too badly,” he responded.

“Fuck you Smith,” she shot back, “If you want me come and get me asshole.” She was trying to sound tough and defiant, but she was obviously tired and scared as she shrank against the rocks, hiding under Riff’s larger frame.

They knew exactly where Amy was with that tracker, and they were brazen enough to act in broad daylight at a popular location like this. If they just wanted her dead, they would have just riddled the area with bullets and been done with it No, the men obviously wanted her alive, so I was relatively certain that the weapons they had drawn at the moment were of the non-lethal variety and that would give me a slight advantage. “Let us handle this,” I told Amy sternly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Then I whispered my plan to Riff as he activated his force field.

Two of the men were coming toward our cover while the others were fanning out, probably in case she tried to bolt. I floated up to the wooden planks above me and kept myself flat against the underside of the pier as I waited. I could hear the approaching men say something about seeing a green light as they stopped and pointed their weapons in Amy and Riff’s direction. After several seconds the two men slowly approached, each moving to one side of their hiding place before jumping forward and training their guns on them yelling, “Freeze!”

I was enough of a performer that I knew a good time for an entrance when I saw one. I floated down behind the pair and whispered, “Boo.” The pair didn’t even have a chance to turn around before I relieved them of their weapons and telekinetically hurled them away from the pier, right past one of their companions, and into the water beyond.

“We’ve got hostiles!” one of the other goons shouted, causing the others to scan under the pier waving their guns left and right.

“Come out with your hands up and surrender the girl!” Smith shouted.

I handed the one of the weapons I had confiscated to Riff and the other to Amy and told her, “Hold on to this for me.” Then I began concentrating on the sand of the beach as I watched the six remaining armed men and replied, “I don’t think she’s interested in going with you, so maybe you should all leave, while you’re still able to.” I was really glad that I had been practicing my shrapnel shield and working on my fine control and multitasking, because what I had planned was going to take a lot of focus. Sand began to rise and move at my mental manipulation and, once I felt that I had enough, I let loose.

I battered the men, raining down blows that seemed to do little more than sandblast their armour. I could have hit them a lot harder, but I didn’t want to seriously injure or kill them, besides it was mostly just for show while I used the sand to carry out my real plan. After a few minutes I released my control on the sand, letting it all just drop to the ground harmlessly. Once it had hit the ground I smiled at reassuringly at Amy and Riff as I stepped out from under the pier to confront our adversaries.

Smith was laughing as he stepped closer and kept his gun trained on me. “That all you got freak? You’re going to have to do a lot better than that to hurt us.”

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you… yet,” I told him with a glare as I walked toward him.

“Too bad for you that I can’t say the same, this isn’t going to kill you, but it’s going to hurt a lot.” He pulled the trigger on his weapon, but all that happened was a clicking sound. “Wha…”

I grinned at him. “Don’t you just hate it when you go to the beach and sand gets into everything?” His comrades were trying their weapons now, with the same lack of results. I just kept grinning and shrugged as I taunted, “That’s what you get for relying on hardware.”

“Get her!” Smith shouted. The three closest to me drew combat knives and tried rushing me, but only one actually got close to me. Amy had stood up from her cover under the pier and fired the weapon she was holding at one of them and he fell to the ground screaming and writhing in pain as soon as the energy blast hit him. Meanwhile Riff had shot the other one, who was contorted in a similar state of agony. The one who did get close I stopped in his tracks, holding him in place telekinetically, before throwing him into one of his companions like he’d been shot out of a cannon. The two fell to the ground in a groaning heap as Riff fired the weapon again at the fifth combatant, who was making a break for the VTOL.

The only one left standing was Smith and I made certain he wasn’t going anywhere, levitating him a foot off the ground and giving his throat a telekinetic squeeze to show him I meant business, as Ian ran to check out the VTOL and make sure nobody else was hiding inside. “Now you’re going to tell me who you’re working for, and why they want this girl so bad, or you’ll find out what it does feel like when I try to hurt you.” I was bluffing of course, since I really didn’t like the idea of seriously hurting someone who was already disarmed and at my mercy, but I was really hoping he wouldn’t call that bluff.

He made a gurgling sound that I discovered was laughter as I released the grip on his throat. “It doesn’t matter what you freaks do, you will never escape the reach of the Right Hand.”

“That would sound a lot more intimidating if you weren’t at my mercy right now, and if I didn’t know that the kid you’re chasing has been doing just that for over a month.”

“Don’t be cocky just be cause you’ve managed to defeat one unit mutie,” he retorted. “The Right Hand’s reach is far and we’ll…” He didn’t finish that sentence, as he began to gurgle and shake and finally went limp within my telekinetic hold.

“Syryn, what the hell did you do to him?” Riff asked as he returned, staring at me in horror.

“Nothing! I swear that wasn’t me!” I replied in a panic as I lowered the limp form to the ground and began checking for life signs. Smith was dead though, and a quick check of his nearby men showed that they all shared that condition. It was around that time when the VTOL exploded.

Riff threw himself between me and the blast, covering me with his body and shielding me as his force field took the brunt of the blast. He looked at me in concern as he held me close and my heart fluttered in my chest as he asked, “Are you okay?”

At first I could only nod, but after a moment I managed to reply, “Yeah, I think I’m good.” We quickly scrambled to take stock of the situation. The VTOL was mostly obscured in flames and a cloud of black smoke, but it looked like the two of us had been the only ones close to the explosion. We needed to put that fire out, and I was worried about any bystanders. So while I took to the air to do what I could, Riff went to make sure that Amy was safe and unhurt, and to phone 911 with a cell phone snatched from Smith’s body.

As soon as I was in the air I took an aerial survey of the damage, then I began prioritizing and got to work. First, I gathered up as much water as I could, using it to smother the VTOL until the flames went out. Next, I took a good look for anyone who might have been hurt. Thankfully, since people had fled the immediate area when Smith & Co. made their big entrance and started waving their guns around, there was nobody close enough to get hurt by the explosion itself. A few had been hurt in the panic that had followed on the pier, but the injuries were minor and I was more concerned about the panic as I used my empathy and spoke to calm the crowd.

When I returned to the pier to rejoin Riff and Amy, the Ladybug had arrived, the police and fire department were busy cordoning off the area to the public, and the paramedics were caring for the injured. I joined Silver Spirit, who was coordinating with the first responders, and he informed me that Riff had already taken Amy inside the ship, where Dr. Park had begun looking her over. I quickly gave the details of what had happened, only omitting Rave’s real name, to Spirit and the officer in charge, a woman in her mid-twenties with long auburn hair who was dressed in black slacks, a white blouse, and sunglasses.

The police officer smiled as I finished giving her my account. “That was nice work, I got to see the whole thing on a cell phone video. You took down an entire squadron of the Right Hand, and with no civilians seriously hurt or killed in the crossfire.”

“Syryn, allow me to introduce Detective Serena MacArthur, she’s with the N.Y.P.D’s Hyper-related Crimes Unit,” Silver Spirit offered in introduction. “Serena, this is Syryn, She’ll be the one leading that new team that Liberty has been telling your team about.”

“It’s nice to meet you Detective,” I said offering my hand.

“Likewise, and please call me Serena,” she replied with a smile as she shook my hand. “It’ll be nice having another team in the city that’s willing to work with us. It really sucks that we couldn’t have interrogated one of those guys though.”

“Yeah, they’ve been hounding that poor girl for over a month. Do you have any idea what killed them?”

“Both the HCU and Aegis have dealt with the Right Hand before,” the detective replied with a grim expression, “and every time we capture one, they die before we can get more than a word or two out of them. Those face plates have camera’s built in to monitor operations, and every one of their operatives has a tracking implant just below the left shoulder that contains a powerful neuro-toxin, which kills within a minute of being released into the body. The self-destruct on the VTOL served the same purpose, to keep anyone from finding out too much about their organization.”

“We suspect that they operate in cells and are involved in the mutant slave trade as well as the disappearances and/or murders of several high profile Hypers,” Silver Spirit added. “Police forces all over the country have reported encounters with them.”

“I’d like to interview the girl as soon as possible,” Serena requested, with a glance toward the Ladybug. “She might have some actionable Intel and Lt. Russo will want to act on it as fast as possible if she does.”

“It might be better if I’m there when you do,” I suggested. “She doesn’t seem to trust people, but I think she’ll talk to me.”

It was over two hours later that Dr. Park finished with Rave. “I’ve cleaned and bandaged her foot and I removed this from just beneath her left shoulder,” she explained, displaying some sort of microchip in a small plastic bag which she handed to Serena for evidence.

Serena frowned at the sight. “That’s… how in Hell is that girl still alive? If they thought that they were going to lose her to Syryn, they would have activated the neurotoxin. Hell, I would have thought they’d have used it as soon as she escaped.”

“They likely did,” Dr. Park replied candidly. “I only found very faint traces of the toxin that Spirit told me about in the device, but she has an incredible resistance to toxins, some sort of hyper-accelerated immune system. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, it creates antibodies to attack any foreign elements in her body instantly, so aggressively that I had to use a local anesthetic when I removed the device. I tried both injection and aerosol anesthetics before that, but they had no effect whatsoever. I believe it has something to do with the circumstances of how she Activated.”

“Maybe that’s why they were so eager to capture her, to find out how she survived, although it could be for her teleportation as well. It’s a useful and uncommon ability,” the detective suggested.

“Both are possible,” I agreed before asking in concern, “how is she?”

“Except for exhaustion and malnutrition she seems to be in good health. She should be fine after a few days of rest and proper meals, but I’d like for someone to keep an eye on her while she recovers.”

“I’m sure we can arrange something,” Riff offered. “She seems to be somewhat comfortable with me and Syryn, and I might be able to get my hands on some clothes for her that don’t look like they were found in a dumpster.”

I smiled at him at him, nodding in agreement before turning back to Dr. Park. “Our team can take turns watching her. Are you sure that was the only tracking device?”

“Prodigy and I did a full work up of scans on her, that was the only device,” she confirmed before turning her gaze on Detective MacArthur. “You can speak with her for a few minutes, but please try not to get her too upset, she’s been through enough.”

“I’ll try to keep it short,” the detective promised.

Serena and I entered the small med-bay on the Ladybug together to find Rave reclining in a bed while Prodigy sat in a chair nearby watching over her. It was a little strange seeing Blake in the blue and white exo-suit that served as his costume, and I couldn’t be certain, but I had a feeling that our resident inventor might just be a bit smitten with the other young Hyper as he leaned forward in the chair watching over her.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as she looked up at us.

“I’ve been better, but I’m a lot better now than I was when we met,” she replied candidly, before looking down at her clasped hands. “Thanks… y’know for stepping in and taking care of those guys. Not a lot of people would’ve done that.”

“There was no way we were going to let them take you,” I told her without a second of hesitation before sitting on the bed beside her and squeezing her hand. “The Doc wants you to rest for a few days and get some proper meals, so my team and I are going to watch over you for a few days until we can decide how best to help you. Riff mentioned some clean clothes too, but first Detective MacArthur here would like to ask you a few questions about those men and the people they work for, are you going to be okay with that?”

The Hyper’s green-eyed gaze focussed on the policewoman for a long moment, before making it’s way back to me, uncertainty written all over her face. I gave her an encouraging smile and a nod and finally she let out a deep sigh before saying, “Okay, but I don’t really know much. I was sleeping when they captured me and I didn’t really get to see anyone’s face in the brief moment before I was knocked out.”

“It’s alright,” the policewoman answered reassuringly. “I’m sure that this was a very traumatizing experience for you, and I don’t want to make it worse, but any information you can give might help me in my investigation. The rest of my unit and I have been itching to take these guys down for a while.”

“Do you promise? That you’ll take them down, I mean?” Rave asked, expressions of uncertainty and hope warring for dominance on her face.

“I promise,” she replied with determination. “We’ll do everything we can, but it would be easier if we had more information. Syryn said that you called the leader of the unit who came after you today ‘Smith’, why was that?”

“Once in a while I would hear the unit leader radio whoever was in charge to let them know that they had found me and such. It was always ‘Smith to base’ or ‘Gates to base’, or ‘Carlson to base’, but those are the only names I remember, and I never saw any of their faces.”

Looking a bit discouraged, Detective MacArthur asked, “What do you remember about the place you escaped from? Could you tell me anything about the location?”

“I was in a big steel room, at least for the time I was awake, and I used a portal to get out of there so I didn’t really see anything outside that room,” Rave admitted sadly. At the disheartened look on the detective’s face she seemed to come to a decision. She took a deep breath as she looked between myself, the detective, and Prodigy, who had so far remained a silent watchful presence at her bedside. Finally she suggested, “I could open a portal there.”

“What?! Really?!” Serena was half leaning over the foot of the bed in sudden interest.

“Yeah, I can open portals to anywhere I’ve been, seen in photos or video, or close to anyone I’m familiar with.”

“Are you sure you’re up to that?” Prodigy asked, his voice tinged with concern even through the distortion of the exo-suit.

“I don’t know if I can open one big enough for a person or how long I can hold it open for right now though, I’m still really tired.” Rave sat up and her expression turned focussed as the green patterns on her body began to glow softly and a small glowing green disc began to form near the med-bay’s door. It was less than two feet wide and began flickering almost immediately in synch with the patterns on her skin. “I… I’m trying, but…”

She collapsed back onto the bed as the glow faded from her markings and the portal vanished, but not before Prodigy had stood up and fired something through it from the forearm of his exo-suit. He quickly moved to the bedside to look her over as I put her messed up blanket back over her. “No more portals for a while, you need to take it easy. Don’t worry I made sure that one counted,” he quietly assured her.

Serena looked away for a moment, her shoulders slouching a bit as she bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so eager… you didn’t have to do it immediately, the Doctor said that you were supposed to be resting.” Then she turned to Prodigy and asked, “What do you mean, you made it count?”

“I fired a tracking device of my own through the portal before it closed,” the young Tinker said before standing once again, removing a device from his forearm and handing it to the police detective. “This will track the signal, it has a range of roughly sixty miles, so you may need to search a while by air before getting a signal, but we should be able to help with that.”

After that arrangements were made. Dr. Park, Silver Spirit and Prodigy would help Detective MacArthur to find the location with the Ladybug in stealth mode while Riff and I took Rave with the sky-bikes to get a few things and a solid meal before taking her home so she could rest properly. Serena would also be contacting Lt. Russo regarding the new Intel so they could organize an HCU raid. Once we had picked up our sky-bikes and brought them back to the Ladybug I asked Riff, “You mentioned clothes, but Modiste can’t make clothes from nothing, so it would take her some time and I don’t want to assume, besides, they may still be busy with the move. We aren’t exactly low profile at the moment, so where to?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine where we’re going,” he assured me as he pulled out his cellphone. He tapped a number in his contacts and after a brief wait he finally spoke. “Hey Mom, I was wondering if you and Kim could help me with something… Okay, great I’ll be there soon, but I’ll be coming in by the back door and I’ll be bringing a couple friends.”