West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide (8 page)

“Hey, Patrick, I’m
talking to you,” said Danny, kicking him again and he turned his attention back
to her. “So how did it go with Meteor Girl?”

“Big crater – me in
the middle.”

“You really
shouldn’t date supers – we’re all messed up,” said
Plastique
thoughtfully.

“Speak for yourself,
I don’t have super powers and am just a normal skinny girl from Mississippi,”
said Danny Chase. “Oh, and who is being drafted by West Pacific Supers, did I
mention that?”

As
Plastique
and Cosmic Kid prepared to assault her with
pillows again, one of the Super Draft handlers came in. He was a middle-aged
man who looked full of himself, which was probably a necessity to deal with
super teens.

“The two teams are
as follows,” he said. “Team One will be Cosmic Kid, Paradigm Shift, and
Plastique
. Team Two will be Epiphany, Neo-Mermaid, and
Wonder Boy. You may head out to the arena floor and you have 20 minutes to plan
and prepare.”

“Okay, I have to
admit you guys’ lives suck, because we’re going to crush you,” said Danny with
a big smile as she headed over to join Wonder Boy and Epiphany. Cosmic Kid just
shook his head and muttered, “Maybe God does hate me.”

The six
supers headed towards the arena floor. Danny had quickly left the Cape Room to
suit up in the NMX. It was a hefty piece of blue and green colored machinery
shaped like an eight-foot-tall fish-man, but bristling with technology from
missiles, lasers, and its underwater propulsion system. Cosmic Kid had seen
Danny in action lots of times, actually, mostly at shows in Orlando and now
that he thought about it, he had never seen her in actual heroics except for clips
she sent him online. She was good in water and a potent brawler, but Super
Draft team challenges were more nuanced and she would be at a disadvantage.
Which was good, as he was disadvantaged having to work with Paradigm Shift.

“Alright, they said
this was a ring challenge, so we just need to secure as many of the 66 rings
hidden in the area as quickly as possible,” said Cosmic Kid. “So Paradigm,
what’s your
powerset
for the month?”

“I’ve got some real
surprises in store for everyone,” said Paradigm Shift.

“Great, but we need
to coordinate,” said Cosmic Kid. He knew that Paradigm Shift’s powers changed
every month, but he wasn’t sure what he could do right now.

“No we don’t,” said
Paradigm Shift. “We all just do our best and we should trounce the other side –
the only trouble we might have is Wonder Boy.”

“Epiphany is a
psychic,” said
Plastique
. “Psychics are always
trouble.”

“Yeah, and
Neo-Mermaid is good as well,” said Cosmic Kid.

“Please, Danny Chase
is a non-mutant with a big toy,” said Paradigm Shift. “Power armor pilots are a
joke and I’ll take care of Epiphany.”

“This is only a
light-touch exercise,” warned Cosmic Kid.

“Right,” said
Paradigm Shift. “The audience wants a show so let’s give them a show.”

“Then let’s coordinate,”
said Cosmic Kid. “If we work as a team, it’s a win-win.”

“Unless I’m in
charge, I’m not coordinating,” said Paradigm Shift.

“Forget it then,
Shifty,” said Cosmic Kid.

“Typical, Kid, it’s
either your way or nothing,” said Paradigm Shift. “This is why Elle broke up
with you – you’re always on an ego trip.”

“You have got to be
kidding me! You’re a
–
”

“Shut up!” snapped
Plastique
. “I need to do well in this event – unlike you
two, I don’t have a team writing up a contract. So I’m in charge! Paradigm,
what the fuck are your god damn powers?”

“Ah… okay, okay,
Plastique
, I have a sonic attack and am nearly invulnerable
this month, which is why I haven’t been able to shave.”

“Good thing you
haven’t hit puberty yet or that would have been a real problem,” said Cosmic
Kid.

“Why didn’t they do
girls versus boys?” muttered
Plastique
.

A few
hours later and everything had changed. Cosmic Kid’s team had lost the event
but he had won the clip war. It had been rough, no doubt about it, but he gave
the media what they wanted: theatrics. The ring challenge had been complicated
with the addition of remote-controlled dirigibles with paint-pellet guns under
the control of teenagers who had won some video game competition the previous
week. While each super teen raced around the jungle gym tower they were
fighting on to collect rings, the dirigibles rained paint down on them, each
hit losing them points. Epiphany quickly targeted Paradigm Shift with her mind
control and was soon using him like a sock puppet to collect rings for her
team; while that was fun to watch, it cost them a lot of rings and points.
Finally, Cosmic Kid dashed in and broke Epiphany’s concentration by yanking on
her hair, which was why superheroes should never have long hair; it was worse
than having a cape. He, Cosmic Kid, had saved Paradigm Shift on primetime
television. But that wasn’t all. Every network was showing the clip of when he
leapt from the highest point of the jungle gym tower to grab and bring down a
dirigible. It was sloppy heroics but damn good television.

Danny hadn’t fared
well in the event, especially after he had crashed the dirigible into her, but
her team had won so it all balanced out. Then again, she wasn’t talking to
him at the moment; in fact, it seemed all the other super teens were pissed at
him. As was so often the case, even during a team competition the media would
only crown one winner and for tonight that was him. Corsair had even called and
set up a lunch date tomorrow, which meant Tampa Bay was back on board. Life was
good. Stephen was a happy agent and his dad had never looked prouder.

Cosmic Kid was right
now in their box, where he had just finished up an interview with ABC News. No
one was asking him questions about religion, vigilantes, Elle, or his mom – it
was just about his awesomeness. He couldn’t wait to check his
fansites
that night to see the reaction of his loyal
followers. There was a knock at the door and Stephen got up to get it. Cosmic
Kid looked up expecting another reporter but was surprised to see Epiphany
standing there.

“Cosmic Kid, could I
talk to you,” said Epiphany as she entered decisively.

Stephen headed back
to his seat to check his HoloBerry but John stood up. “Stephen, I think you and
I need to go check… ah… the arena for tomorrow’s events.”

“Why?” asked
Stephen.

“Because Mr. Minor
wishes to get you out of the room so I can speak privately with Cosmic Kid,”
said Epiphany with a bored sigh.

“Oh, right,” said
Stephen. “Okay, we’ll go check the arena then.”

“So Epiphany what
can I do for you?” asked Cosmic Kid as his dad and Stephen left. He doubted
that he really needed privacy for a talk with a psychic. He also wondered if
Paradigm Shift was giving Epiphany a hard time because she had mind controlled
him.

“I would not need
your help to deal with Paradigm Shift,” said Epiphany with a note of
exasperation.

“You know it’s a
little rude to constantly read people’s minds.”

“It is also rude to
think so loudly.”

“What?” asked Cosmic
Kid.

“The smarter a
person, the louder their thoughts,” said Epiphany. “While you certainly don’t
make the most of your intelligence, your thoughts are still quite loud.”

“I guess that’s a
compliment, but you do need to work on your delivery.” He wondered if she was
upset about him pulling her hair.

“Will you quit
trying to conjecture why I am here and let me explain why I am here!” said
Epiphany with growing annoyance. “Is your mind ever quiet? Perhaps I am making
a mistake coming to you.”

“Epiphany, just use
words and tell me what you want,” said Cosmic Kid with annoyance.

“Very well, I wish
to go out with you. This is purely for publicity purposes. I have had some
difficulties with the press and public, psychics are greatly feared, and I need
a…PR boost.”

“Ah…well…I…don’t know,”
said Cosmic Kid nervously. He wasn’t sure if Epiphany would help or hurt him on
the publicity front, but more importantly he wasn’t sure if he even liked her
or not. Not in a romantic way, but as a person.

Epiphany looked
pained and thoughtful. “Cosmic Kid, please do this as a favor for me. I will
try to be less…annoying.” She looked sad and Cosmic Kid instantly felt pity for
her and how hard it must be to be a psychic. She flashed him an angry look. “I
don’t want your pity – I just want your help.”

“Jesus! Epiphany,
you need to stop that – I mean, fine read my thoughts, but quit commenting on
them!” snapped Cosmic Kid.

“I’m just trying to
be honest with you – and as an atheist you shouldn’t use the Lord’s name in
vain,” she said with a smile.

“Whatever…okay…we
can go out, but let’s stick to words alright, so…out of curiosity, why did you
ask me out?” He figured it was his ‘nice guy’ factor, combined with his
impressive performance in the team competition.

“You’re still a
virgin, which is endearing.”

“What?!”

“Oh, my mistake.
Elle broke up with you because you didn’t put out so I suspected you were a
virgin,” said Epiphany. “I see you had sex with Vestige when you were 17, but
she dumped you – not surprising since she was four years older than you. Still
the fact you didn’t have sex with Elle I take as a sign of good judgment.
Witches will do anything and anyone.”

“Maybe this isn’t
such a good idea.”

“Also, Danny is gay,
tremendously gay, I have a better chance than you, so you might as well give up
on that delusion.”

“Do I need to pull
your hair again?” said Cosmic Kid angrily. “Wait? Are you after Danny?”

“No, I prefer men. I
am also not a virgin and having sex with a psychic is like singing with a choir
of angels,” said Epiphany. “I’ll leave you with those words and that thought.”

Cosmic Kid sighed as
she left the room. Nothing was ever simple.

12:07 p.m.,
Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Bayside
Boardwalk

West
Pacific, CA

Mr.
Awesome couldn’t escape the obvious truth: the new costumes looked better on
paper than on people. The blue and white swirls made the three supers look like
blueberry vanilla popsicles. It wasn’t a pretty sight and in a few minutes they
would be heading out to the Bayside Boardwalk for the official Costume Launch
where they would face the gathered fans and media. It was going to be a
slaughter. It didn’t help that Gabrielle was micromanaging the whole thing from
Milwaukee. He suspected that Matt
Ruhl
, the Deputy PR
Director, was going to either quit or throw himself off the boardwalk into the
ocean before the day was up. The only good news was that Pierre Le Pompous, or
whatever his name was, wasn’t here, though that was probably because after last
week’s dress rehearsal he realized that his first foray into designing costumes
for American superheroes was likely his last.

“I don’t know, Ben,
these costumes…well…I just don’t know,” said Meltdown whose costume was bulkier
than the rest of the team’s as it was designed to contain the low-levels of
radiation he sometimes sweated, especially when he was nervous.

“Relax, Jason, these
are state-of-the-art designs and we’ll all get used to the look in a few weeks.
It’s good to make a change every now and then,” said Mr. Awesome, trying to
believe his own words.

“At least your
costume fits,” snorted Starfish who was being assisted by two young women
trying to adjust his costume which was tight on his chest but baggy on his
limbs. His mottled orange skin clashed hideously against the blue and white
swirls.

“Come on guys -
these costumes are great!” said Matt
Ruhl
, who looked
as though he was about to cry. His face fell even farther when his HoloBerry
buzzed and he slowly picked it up. “Gabrielle again…I should take this.” Matt
headed out of the room to spare the team his further emasculation.

“I suspect Gabrielle
is a supervillain trying to destroy the team,” said Starfish as the two young
women finished pinning up his costume.

“Well, at least
she’s a good-looking supervillain,” said Meltdown.

“True, but right now
all we have to look at is Matt…and these costumes,” said Starfish.

“The costumes are
fine,” said Mr. Awesome testily.

“Hardly. You let
Gabrielle get away with anything, don’t you?” said Starfish with a big smile of
his even white teeth as he waved the two young assistants out of the room.

“She contributes to
this team as much, perhaps more, than you do,” said Mr. Awesome.

“I see,” said
Starfish with a knowing wink to Meltdown.

“Come on, Starfish,
if Ben was getting some Gabrielle action he would definitely tell us,” said
Meltdown. “Personally, I think that’s why Keystone is sitting out. I heard from
Tina that he made a move on Gabrielle and she shot him down.”

“I wish there were
more grownups on the team,” said Mr. Awesome, shaking his head. “You, Starfish,
and Keystone are going to get the team caught up in a sexual harassment suit or
something. Seriously, the two of you need to respect Gabrielle like you do
Annie.”

“I don’t respect
Annie, I tolerate her,” laughed Starfish.

“Relax, we would
never say this stuff to Gabrielle,” said Meltdown. “We just like picking on
you, Mr. A. You would never have an affair – you’re like some
uber
dude of goodness. I mean, I love Jessica, but
I’ve…well, you know, wandered off the reservation a few times. But you’re like
a saint; it’s sickening, but cool.”

“I don’t know if
it’s cool, but it is sickening,” said Starfish. “Gabrielle is so into you and
you don’t do anything about it – it’s pathetic.”

“Gabrielle is not
into me, she just finds the rest of you juvenile,” said Mr. Awesome with
growing annoyance. He wondered if Jessica knew Jason had cheated on her, but he
suspected she didn’t. In her eyes, Jason was perfect even though she was dying
from cancer caused by his radiation. He didn’t think Patricia was perfect and
he knew she didn’t think he was perfect, but they accepted each other for who
they were. He could no more cheat on Patricia then he could cut off his own
arm. It wasn’t that he was an ‘
uber
dude of
goodness’; it was just that he was happy with his life, though he was less than
happy with the new costume.

“Showtime,” said
Matt who came back into the room looking even paler than before. He opened the
doors and gestured for the superheroes to head down the hall to the big event.

Mr. Awesome led the
way followed by Meltdown, Matt, and Starfish, who was dragging a little farther
behind and still fidgeting with his costume. The costumes were not ideal, but
it was all about attitude really, Mr. Awesome thought. He would do some poses,
clown around a little, and try to make the best of the situation. If all else
failed he would joke about the new costumes and laugh with the crowd. That was
always the last resort of the… something was wrong!

They were nearly to
the double doors that led to the boardwalk where the stage had been set up and
everyone would be gathered. Mr. Awesome slowed his steps and looked around
quickly. There was a backpack sitting right in front of the double doors - one
of the school backpacks with the team logo that you could buy in the team’s
gift shop. It was out of place - and he heard something, an electronic buzz
that was climbing in pitch. “Meltdown!” he started to say, but it was too late.

The explosion was
massive. There was a flash of light, warmth, burning, pain, a hard impact, and
then screams and the smell of burning flesh. He tried to look, but he couldn’t
see, only his ears were working but the noise was quickly fading with his mind.

“Costume…popsicle,”
he said with his last breath and then the world went dark for him, forever.