RECKONING -8- Gifted, Assemble!

FROM CATHY: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. A computer problem is to blame, but all is fixed and here we go!

An incident prods our heroes to jump into action. Chapter 9 will follow very soon, I promise.

THE PLAYERS

Janet/Graviton
Meagan/Starshield
Molly/Aura
Elise/Winter
Tess/Tesseract
Tanisha/Friend of Tess, owner of the castle.

AN ADDRESS FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

My fellow Americans. As you are undoubtedly aware, an unprecedented event has occurred this week. I, of course, refer to the appearance of the alleged alien who called himself 'The Observer.' This so-called alien supposedly appeared to every person on the entire planet and spoke every conceivable language and dialect so as to be understood by everyone. I might add at this point, that no recording of any kind exists of this appearance or the speech he delivered, anywhere in the world, to the best of our knowledge.

Your government and, for that matter, every government in the world is researching the allegations made by this 'Observer,' and, at this time, there are no confirmations of any kind of immediate or even long term threat to this world. The finest minds on planet Earth are working solely on this problem and have denied knowledge of any known threats, further referring to this so-called alien as a complete hoax, perpetrated by some unknown agency to promote unrest and panic. I assure you, that to the best of my knowledge, and that of every scientist in the world, no such threat exists, and there is no 'Observer.'

I strongly implore every person within the sound of my voice to return to their everyday lives and occupations. Panicked buying and hoarding of resources will only have a negative effect on the economy and mental well being of everyone, accomplishing only unrest and mistrust between all of us. I have consulted with every scientific organization, as well as with the military regarding this event, and I can tel you with absolute assurance that there is no known threat to this world.

There are, I will admit, several theories that coincide with the given date of December 21st of this year. They vary from perceived religious portents, to ancient calenders, to rogue planets and asteroids or meteors, but at this time, none of these so-called threats show any scientific indication that they might be true, and the thought that some unknown alien might be telling us of an immanent threat is the sheerest fantasy of some science fiction writer's imagination.

I want to reassure you that, at this very moment, the finest minds on Earth are working at re-confirming that there is no credible, immanent event that could threaten mankind or the world upon which we all live. If, and I say again, if, any information to the contrary should be discovered and verified, we will cooperate with all of the governments of the Earth to avoid the event, or escape it.

I want to make a brief statement about these supposed 'gifted' people the Observer alluded to. Since we conclude that the alien was indeed a fake, we also do not believe that any of these so-called heroes exist. I know that there have been rumors of sightings of supposed people with abilities, but I personally do not believe any of them, and again, my scientific advisors have assured me that no such heroes could possibly exist, since they would be flying in the face of acknowledged physics. I'm afraid that 'superheroes' only exist in the comic books or cartoons, and the minds of science fiction writers.

I will end this press conference with this final statement. Such things as we have discussed here today do not, cannot happen in this day and age. We have learned much about our planet and much about our nearby neighbor, the moon as well as a bit about Mars. We are still learning more about those planets and moons in our own solar system and I will not dismiss out of hand, the possibility of the existence of life other than that of which we are presently aware. To believe, on the other hand, in some otherworldly, Godlike beings, who come to warn us of some catastrophe is, again, in the realm of fantasy and science fiction.

I wish to thank the members of the press who have attended this address, as well as the members of the various religious organizations and those of the scientific and military communities who are also in attendance. I will not, at this time, take any questions from anyone, but you will all be given a press handout which contains the body of my speech and statements from the various committees who have been working on this since it's advent.

Good night, my fellow Americans. Trust in your government and in yourselves. There is no threat. Return to your different lives and I wish you all good fortune and prosperity.

BACKSTAGE AFTER THE PRESS CONFERENCE.

“Do you think they'll buy it? The President asked his Chief advisor.

“I believe so, sir.” The advisor said. “In any event, we'd better hope that they do. This whole thing could blow up in our faces, making us all look like fools and worse, liars, if any of these heroes turn up in the public eye.”

“Well then, you better hope that none of them do show up publicly, because it will be your ass and, more importantly, my ass if we don't keep the tightest lid on this thing that there ever has been! Now I want every damned agency we have, working on this thing! If anyone with any kind of unusual abilities does show up, we damn well better be the first to know about it, you got that?” The President threatened.

“Sir, do you think your decision about finding and detaining any of these 'heroes' is a wise one? Remember that the Observer said that the world's reaction to these heroes and how they are treated, will be a deciding factor in their success or failure at keeping the world from being destroyed. Can we take that risk?”

“Charlie, if you are telling me that we have to make nice with some super powered freaks to save the world from some damn fool threat we don't even know is the real deal, I might have to re-think your appointment to the position you hold. Do I make myself clear? I want these super people, if there are any, locked up tight and under our control. This world end bullshit is phony and you know it. The real threat is that, if any unusually powered people do show up, we need them on our side, not auctioning their abilities to the world! It would be political suicide to allow any such threat to be bought and used against us! Now get your ass in gear and get your people out there, looking!”

Charles Duncan, the President's Chief Advisor, was beginning to have doubts. On one hand he could understand the President's point of view, but on the other, possibly larger hand, he realized that the future of the entire world would, without a doubt, depend on the good will and co-operation with the designated heroes the Observer said he'd provide to save it, to preserve it. 'Is it worth my job to go against the President?' he asked himself. 'Yes, it is! It's worth my job, my life, the life of the Earth itself! But I gotta be very careful about this. If I'm wrong, I have to make sure I have plausible deniability, and a damned good excuse to save my own ass!'

JANET/ GRAVITON

By the time I got out of the shower and dressed, most of the girls had either gone to eat, or were working on practicing their new abilities. I'd noticed that, since I'd experimented with mine, however inadvertently, I was stronger and faster than I thought I'd be. Once I remembered that my main ability had to do with gravity and the control of it, things I'd thought impossible became easy to accomplish.

I located Meagan in her room, but she was really busy doing something that seemed important, so I left her alone. I saw a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on Tess' door, so I left her alone as well. That left Elise and Molly. I found Elise taking it easy, relaxing and playing with making ice shapes.

“Hey Elise.” I said. “Sorry if I'm interrupting you, but the other girls are either busy or sleeping. I didn't see Molly though. Any idea where she might be? I worry about her. I get the feeling that she's very uncomfortable around the rest of us and, like the rest of us, she's fascinated and scared at the same time about her new form and what she can do.”

“No Janet, I haven't seen her. Did you look around?”

“Not a lot. Maybe I better wake Tess and see if she can get a read on her.”

I ran back upstairs and knocked on Tess' door. I heard a sleepy sounding, “Who is it.”

“It's Janet, Tess. Can I come in?”

“I guess so Janet. Give me a minute to get up and put on a robe?”

“Sure thing Tess.”

I waited a couple of minutes and then I heard, “Come on in Janet.”

I entered and told Tess that Molly seemed to be among the missing, asking her to see if she could get a read on her whereabouts. She concentrated for a few seconds and then said, “Oh no! She seems to be on the move toward Atlanta! I'd better get her back here before she does something to expose us and where we are. Also to keep her safe. I don't think she really realizes just how powerful she is.”

Tess concentrated for a few seconds more and then just...vanished! I thought about waiting for her to return, but I knew Tess was fully capable of doing what she needed to do, so I went back downstairs.

MOLLY/AURA

I flew above the suburbs of Atlanta on golden wings at least thirty feet wide. It didn't take much effort but the more effort I put in, the faster I seemed to go. Being up high scared me a bit so I kept fairly low, maybe a hundred feet above houses, trees and telephone poles.

I knew I could be seen but it didn't occur to me until later that people would be taking my picture and making videos with their phones. I also didn't know until much later that I showed up on the airport radar like a plane five times my size. I was having fun, being a superhero was kind of neat when you could fly, even if you had to be a girl to do it.

I must have been halfway to downtown Atlanta when I became aware that someone was following me; only they weren't flying. It was that girl Tess, she was appearing on rooftops using her teleportation, I guess. She kept waving at me and at first I just waved back. Duh!

Obviously, she wanted to talk to me so I swooped down to where she was standing on the roof of a church, holding onto the steeple for balance. My wings automatically shrank and beat faster as I hovered above her. "Hi!" I called. "I know you." Amazingly, my wings made very little noise, about like an air conditioner in the next room.

"Yes, Aura, you do. Call me Tesseract when we're out in public. But really, we don't want to be announcing where we are so -- so soon. How about you land here and I teleport us back to headquarters."

"Uh," I hadn't thought about what people might think or do about us. Maybe some of them wouldn't want the world saved or wouldn't want us to try in case we messed up. "Okay," I said.

Landing was harder than it looked but I managed and when I straightened up after catching myself from pitching off the roof, my wings shrank back to nothing and I grabbed Tess's hand for balance.

I guess she took that as being ready to teleport and we did. That bothers some of the others, they get upset tummies but I don't I think because I am full of the golden force fields that I use all the time. It only took a moment, we went through the Room Between Places and came out in the little courtyard lined with roses beside the big house that looked like a castle.

"Sorry if I caused any trouble," I said, feeling like a little kid now that I thought about everything that could have gone wrong.

"Don't worry about it, Molly," said Tess. "We will all make mistakes and this wasn't that big of one." She gave me a quick hug and I hugged her back.
Still holding my hand, she started into the house through the same door I had sneaked out of and I followed her, kind of embarrassed but feeling pretty good, too.

And hungry, I realized. I was very hungry for some reason.

MEAGAN/STARSHIELD
After having dinner with the girls, I wandered back up to my room. Revealing my secret to Elise made me think. Looking back into my beloved mirror caused me to smile. Before the mirror had not been my friend, but now we were best buds.

It took me only a second to decide on a subject. Another second and I was done. There, perched upon my head, was a black baseball cap with a bright yellow patch that proclaimed, CAT Fusion Power.

What can I say? I've always been a big SF fan and Aliens was a right decent movie. However that was besides the point. I was about to make history!

Taking a deep breath, I reached up and took it off. Then I tossed it on my bed.

It didn't derezze! However, I did feel a sudden drain like I'd been lifting a heavy box. Okay, that answered that. I could permanently create things, well, clothing items at least, but it was tiring. However, there was a cost. That pointed the way to experiment number two.

Taking one of my water bottles, I chugged it down, concentrating on charging that internal battery of mine. It did help, but with a bit of practice, just putting it to my lips was enough. I watched as the water level dropped like I was pouring it down a drain and never felt a drop on my tongue.

Baseball cap; energy to matter. Water; matter to energy.

On the other hand, there was a heck of a loss. It took three bottles to make up the difference of a cap that weighed only a couple of ounces. I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but there were necessities.

Superheroes with superpowers or not, we were going to need equipment. Tactical gear wasn't cheap and the good stuff was restricted to law enforcement and the military. A little more experimenting informed me that I could duplicate any fabric I'd touched. Once I had it in, call it my memory, I could shape it into just about any kind of garment. That's me baby, Super-Tailor.

Then I sat down with my pad of paper again. This was going to require a shopping trip...and thought I added, a lot of thought.

ELISE/WINTER

After the conversation with Meagan, I just kind of sat there on the bed for awhile to think about things.

I really hadn't had time to stop and do that since my transformation.

Since I hadn't specifically asked for powers, like the others had, it stood to reason that what the Observer had given me was important in some way. If I could understand why that was, other than the precog thing it might give us another valuable clue about what we were really supposed to be doing.

I was worried about Molly, but then again I was worried about me, and the rest of us, too. Molly had been a kid, but from some of the things she'd said, I got the idea that she had been a kid, but a street kid, and smart enough to generally stay out of trouble then. Hopefully she could do that now too.

I had abilities other than that damned precog, and I needed to find out more about them. But not in the house. I shuddered when I thought about that. I think I'd frozen half the pipes in that ratty apartment building I'd lived in the first time I tried much of anything. So it would have to be outside.

But first, I was tired. A little nap wouldn't hurt at all.

I stretched out on that nice big bed that was more comfortable than any I'd felt in some time and dropped into sleep before I had time to realize it.

* * * *

It was dark when I woke up and I was hungry. Getting up I turned on the bedside lamp and changed out of my rumpled clothes, got into my runners and quietly went downstairs to the kitchen in search of breakfast.

Coffee and toast seemed like more than enough, though I'd never really eaten much right after getting up and I noted that it was four-thirty in the morning. Well, I'd had jobs where I needed to be up earlier than that, so it didn't seem to strange to me. I hadn't been paying attention to the time before I dropped off to sleep so wasn't sure how long I'd been out, but it seemed like it had been enough. At least I wasn't tired out any longer.

I cleaned up after myself then went outside into the back yard and found a convenient bench to sit on while I went back to considering what it was I could, and more importantly was supposed to do.

“Well.” I stood up after a few minutes and shook my head with a little smile. “I'm sure not going to find out anything sitting here and just thinking about it.”

After moving far away enough from the house that loomed in the darkness like an old castle, to be fairly sure I wouldn't damage anything there I stood and just let myself feel my surroundings. The humidity in Georgia was heavier than in Kansas, the air warmer while the near lack of any breeze was different for me,too. In Kansas, if the wind wasn't blowing at least a little something was wrong but here I sensed that the quiet was normal.

I also sensed more, so much more, than that. I could almost feel the life around me as something I could reach out and touch in some way, though I wasn't sure how to do that other than just take it all in as I stood there. Sensing all the small life in the area wasn't all either. Something just let me know that some of things were going to die soon and I knew I would even be able to pick out which ones.

Unsettling as that was, I could also almost see what would come from those impending deaths, that something else would benefit and grow because of it, and what could emerge from the whole thing.

“Whoa.” I shook my head and that sense faded away, thank goodness. It may have been reassuring in a way but it was very weird. “That had to be my imagination.”

I let myself drift back into that feeling and state of mind, and it happened again. Then a third time.

“Okay, so I seem to have a sense for the things around me, and the other I'm not going into right now. That kind of ability would be a mood killer for sure.” I muttered. “So what else can I do that I haven't tried?”

I pulled the surrounding moisture in, a lot more of it than I ever had before, and just let it gather around, and on me for a few seconds. While I did that I could feel the temperature drop in the general area quite a bit. I wasn't sure how far that went in a circle around me but didn't even feel as I was putting any effort into it at all yet. So I pushed and felt the area grow. A lot. At first it had been only a few feet, that grew int yards, then reached out far enough to make a pretty good sprint distance for a runner. Fifty yards, maybe more? It was hard to judge the distance but I could feel the heat leaving the entire area and that fueled what I was doing even more.

The moisture left in the surrounding air precipitated, first into rain, then to sleet, and even to snow. There I was, Close to Atlanta Georgia, standing in the center of a snow storm. A very localized one, but it was still a snow storm and the temperature differences in the area caused wind, so the stuff was blowing like a blizzard.

With me in middle of it and feeling as if I was just enjoying a warm spring breeze. I didn't feel the cold at all.

I raised a hand to make sure it wasn't just freezing to death and got another shock. It, and the rest of me as I continued the self examination, was sheathed in a coat of ice that was flexible as any clothing I'd ever worn, and comfortably warm to me.

I had no idea if it could serve as effective armor, Id need someone else to test that out along with not flinching at the idea of just letting someone hit me with things. But at least I was beginning to feel less vulnerable with each thing I was finding out.

I was still the center of a localized storm and it occurred to me that weather satellites and other sensors would be very likely to pick that up. I shut off the power that had been making the storm and stood there feeling vulnerable all over again. “Crap, I hope I just didn't expose us all to the Powers That Be with that one.”

Another thought, almost unconscious and my icy covering just kind of evaporated into the air. Once again I was standing in a quiet little meadow in the spring like weather of earl morning. Except there was melting snow all around me for at least a hundred yards in any direction I looked.

“Great.” I sighed. “I'm my own air conditioner, freezer, storm generator, and can water lawns. I could probably make a fortune renting myself out to ski resorts all over the country if I wasn't being hunted by just every government agency in the books, and some that probably don't get on any books at all.”

I already knew I could project ice in areas I wasn't standing in. So I tried doing it right from my hands so I could actually aim it.

A stream of hailstones erupted from just in front of my outstretched hands to pepper at a nearby bush, shredding the leaves, flowers and more than a few branches away like it had been sandblasted.

“Oh man.” I kind of moaned that, but at least I knew I could hit things in a fight if I had to do that.

I could do the same thing with icicles that I could vary in size from about an inch long to five inches or so before they were too clumsy to use. Those hit a nearby tree like a ton of thrown daggers or needles.

“Just call me the ice ninja.” I sighed after that one. “No, given the way I look and what my powers do I suppose they'll be calling me something like The Winter Queen, or Ice Queen, or something else stupid like that.”

I moved away from that spot and absently touched a flower on my way. Without shutting down the cold projection thing. It froze solid at my touch. So much so that it shattered when I touched it again.

Shaken by that one more than anything else I realized that I very well could kill something, or someone, with a simple touch. “Or maybe they'll call me Lady Death.”

I could see some copyright problems in my future if anyone did things like that, I wryly thought while walking back to the house.

I really needed to think about some of the things I'd done out here, and though not tired, felt an overall sense of foreboding. If the kind of powers I seemed to have were going be as needed as the Observer evidently thought when giving them to me things weren't going to be nice at all in the near future.

In fact, I'd already had visions of Hell turned loose on Earth. Worse, my range was so pathetically limited in the scope of things that I couldn't begin to protect more than a very few, let alone save the world.

“But it's a start.” I told myself while starting to shake off that mood a little at a time. “With practice, maybe my range will grow enough to be a real help.”

A few minutes later I was back sitting in the kitchen with another cup of coffee in front of me but just staring into it without really doing much else.

Others came and went, probably even spoke to me. But I was somewhere else for more than a few hours there.

I had spent most of my adult life helping people, working to make things better for them in some way. The powers I had weren't simple party tricks. The could cause a lot of harm, and could very well be lethal if I couldn't find some way to limit them when I needed to do that.

I was like a hermit even with the others around for the rest of that day, and the next, as I thought, experimented, and worked on things while working others out in my head.

MEAGAN/STARSHIELD

The next morning I was up early. I considered checking to see if any of my teammates to be were alive yet, but decided against it. Tanisha, our hostess, thankfully was and helpfully directed me to the nearest Walmart.

I remembered to leave my number with her, just in case some emergency came up. I wasn't expecting anything, but with this bunch who knew what trouble they could get into. Cranking up my Escort, I left on my mission.

A few hours later, I was back at the castle, exhausted. There was my internal battery and then there was my mental brain power. While the one was fully charged, the other was completely wiped. Wally World was the easy stop.

The previous night I'd finally located the first of my goofs in what I'd asked the Observer for. You see, trying to think ahead, I asked to paid for my efforts in saving the world. That wasn't being greedy. If I was off doing what had to be done, I couldn't work, and a girl still had to eat.

The goof was, silly me didn't specify how much. Before all of this, I was working at minimum wage, as well as working my butt off with overtime. The Observer added about 16 grand to my account. One year of pay for me at min wage, but without my usual overtime, Doh!

So I get to save the world while being chased by the Feds, along with other hazards I can't even guess at right now, for minimum wage. Someone needs to to tell the world it's getting a bargain!

No matter, we needed this stuff, and it appeared that Janet had been more thoughtful about her finances than I. The first stop at Wal-Mart was a big stop. A laptop, more phones, office supplies, and just about anything else I didn't think I could replicate with my powers.

Then was a pit stop for breakfast as I got my new, ready for the internet laptop, really ready for the internet. Cleaning up all the junk off the hard drive and downloading the stuff that was really needed took longer than I wanted to think about. However, I needed just the necessities right now.

After my first search, I was back to Walmart, this time for one of those Magellan GPS things to help me find the place. Let me tell you, navigating the city was a real experience, however soon enough I was there, 'Dan's Safety Supplies.'

On the outside it was a plain looking building that gave no clue it was the local law enforcement supply retailer. Being paranoid, I parked a few blocks away and walked back. I'd altered my appearance to an older, stockier woman. Instead of lying, I told part of the truth as the helpful clerks did their jobs. I was part of an new group my department was forming and was in town for a meeting. Having some time I was taking the opportunity to window shop and get a handle on what kind of gear we would be needing.

That was enough to get me in the door and let me get my mitts on the stuff I needed, the bullet-resistant armor. Sure, while everyone calls it bullet-proof the honest truth is that it isn't. Most the good stuff will slow, or even stop most pistol rounds, but really the goal is to make getting shot survivable. Getting back up and walking out, not so much, but being still alive, even if hurt, is good.

Touching the material and getting a feel for the fabric made me smile. I could do this! The salesman was full of information about all the latest stuff, including something called Goldflex, which was the latest armor fiber on the market. A bomber jacket of it was able to stop most pistols, and provide some protection from the heavier stuff. Hey it was a bargain at only $900 bucks a piece!

I looked at the designs for boots and gloves, as well as their other clothing items too. Picking up a catalog, I felt the trip had been well worth it. Making another stop for some lunch, since my window shopping had taken up the whole morning, something else caught my eye, shoes.

No, I don't mean heels, although, I've wondered if my fascination for sexy shoes was a fetish. In this case it was Nikes, or more specifically, Flyknit high tech, light weight, running shoes. They were said to be so light it was like wearing a pair of socks.

That led to another stop. The store was sold out, but the display item was still there. Just a touch was all it took. I grinned all the way out, walking in my my new Flyknits.

Okay, I guess it was stealing, intellectual properties and all of that. Even worse, I was planning on using it and giving it away to my teammates. I rationalized it as the toll Nike paid for getting its butt saved, along with the rest of the world.

Once back at the castle and dragging everything upstairs, I didn't see anyone else around. Except for Tess who was looking very wiped. She mumbled something I couldn't make out and went back to bed.

That was fine with me. It'd been a long day and I more than ready to grab a bit to eat and zone out. First however, remembering we were all new at this, I dragged out one of my purchases, a large, briefing sized, white board and easel. Using an improvised straight edge I marked out a sign out form. Marking down my name, Meagan, I put my phone number down and that I was 'IN' and resting. The finishing touch was attaching the box of markers everyone would hopefully use. Adjourning upstairs, I wrote down some outfit ideas as well as some for other projects before bed.

JANET/GRAVITON

When I got up in the morning, I noticed that Meagan's car was not in the lot, so I asked around and was told that she had talked with Tanisha, then got in her car and took off. I found Tanisha and she told me that Meagan wanted directions to the Wal-Mart store nearby.

I wondered what Meagan was up to, but knowing a bit about what her powers were, I figured it had something to do with her ability to impersonate just about anybody. Maybe she was also thinking about getting us some communications stuff, like Trac Phones...prepaid cell phones, like she had before. Maybe even a couple of computers as well. I wished she had asked me before she left. Part of my request to the Observer had been for a secure means of financial independence, so I had lots of money in a couple of different accounts at my bank.

I noticed that Tess wasn't around, but she was probably back in bed, recovering from chasing Molly down and bringing her back.

I went down to the kitchen and fixed myself some breakfast and was just sitting down to eat when I heard someone thundering down the stairs. It was Meagan, and she was almost breathless!

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MEAGAN/STARSHIELD

In the morning, I booted up the laptop and hit my old sites I hadn't been to in long while, like the local Tampa news. Most was the usual reports where you had to read between the lines for the real story. I got a chuckle reading the transcripts of our President's Address to the Nation. So there weren't any superheroes huh? I couldn't help, but hear Jack Nicholson misquoting, 'Wait till they get a load of us!”

I checked out what the weather was back home as compare to Georgia. The heavy fog warning had me nodding my head, been there, done that. Sometimes it was so thick you would just dull your knife trying to cut it.

I was looking at just the right place at just the right time. A breaking news flash hit. Huge multi car pile up in heavy fog on the Tampa Bay bridge. Barely remembering I was still modeling Elise's form, I switched back to me. Wincing, I plugged in the bare wires I had prepared in case I needed them.

Instantly I was back at a full charge. Healing the damage from the 'juice', I hit my door at a run, “Hit the Deck Girls! Emergency!”

JANET/GRAVITON

I got up from the table to see what was going on and Meagan skidded into the kitchen. She gasped out; “Huge accident on the Tampa Bay Bridge! We gotta do something!”

We ran back upstairs and woke the rest of the girls, telling them we had a mission and to get up and dressed pronto! When we had all gathered back in the kitchen just a few minutes later, Meagan told them about the accident, and we all agreed that we had to help out if we could, but that we'd try to remain anonymous as much as we could.

Winter said she might be able to increase the fog and mist around the accident scene so we'd go a bit less noticed. Meagan gave Tess the co-ordinates and off we went!

Chapter 9 sees our heroes in action together for the first time! Don't miss: Help Is on the Way, or: A Bridge Too Far?