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Author's Note: Here's part 3 of a 3. This took a little longer than I was hoping since I needed to do a bit of research for a few things.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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Part 3: Confrontations

The noise had woken the others and they were all scrambling to get out of the beds as Bailey muttered, “What the hell?!”

“We’re under attack. Everyone stay back,” I warned them. Then I glared at the man and said, “You have exactly three seconds to start explaining yourself before I take care of you and the rest of your metal friends like I did the first one.”

To my surprise the man was staring at me intently. “There is no need for further violence. Call me Interface; I am a collector of rare and unusual things. To think I came here tracking a temporal anomaly, hoping to find something interesting, but to encounter one of the Fae… this is too perfect! That was an interesting spell you used there. My sensors showed you pulling in quite a bit of magic energy for that one. You will make a fine addition to my collection.”

~Be careful Terri, I can’t read his mind, there’s some sort of interference,~ Eddie warned me mentally.

“Your time is up,” I told Interface stoically, as I tried not to wrinkle my nose at the smell of burnt ozone. “I’m not interested, so if you know what’s good for you you’ll leave now.”

He stopped staring at me to laugh. “Mwah-hahahahaha! Who said I was giving you a choice? The race that created this technology I’m using had ways of making your kind more cooperative.” One of the metal men fired a tiny silver sphere at my feet where it exploded into a cloud of thick red smoke. He was using a smoke screen? The tactic confused me; if he really knew as much about my people as he seemed to think he did he should have known that I didn’t need to see him to attack him, my other senses were just as sharp as my eyes.

The smoke was annoying though, it smelled awful, it was making it hard to breathe, and it had a horrible taste. I could hear the clanking of the metal men moving and movement from the motel room as well. I needed to end this before things got out of hand and one of my friends got hurt. I reached for the magic in the earth and air around me and the sparks started to move along my skin in response… before promptly fizzling out. Sonnara utiel! I mentally cursed. I couldn’t feel the magic; that smoke must have somehow cut me off from it.

The smoke was clearing as the first of the metal men came at me. I needed to draw these things away from my friends while I figured out how to deal with them. I thought of my clan mark, but I couldn’t seem to change form either. “Danu preserve me!” I grumbled as I drew my sword and used it to knock aside the metal arm reaching for me. The metal man pressed its attack, getting inside my guard and trying to use its size and strength to push me to the ground. I would have used its own weight and momentum against it, but that would have sent it right into the room with Hope and the others.

The problem was solved for me when a blast of red light struck the automaton’s head, and left most of it a charred gaping hole. “So, that’s what the non-stun setting does, damn am I glad there's a scope on this thing,” Bailey’s voice said from behind me. I pushed the carcass away and turned to see her grim expression turn quickly to a grin as she winked at me. “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

Bailey used her blaster to put three holes in the body of a third attacker, as Becca ran past me, wearing the mask that Davis had given her, to intercept another of my attackers. She grabbed it firmly around one of the legs and it tried to pull away and pull her off, but it was having no luck. “Not going to happen henchbot,” she told it. “I don’t move unless I want to, and that means you don’t either. A little help here please?” she requested.

“With pleasure,” I replied as moved in. The machine was still trying to pry her loose from its leg as I aimed for an unarmored section of its neck and used my sword to sever the head from its body,

~We’ll need to finish this soon~ Eddie told us. ~I’m keeping the motel staff and guests asleep so they won’t come outside or phone the police, but sooner or later someone passing by is going to notice what’s going on here and I think we should be long gone before people wake up to find a parking lot full of damaged robots.~

“Got it Ed,” Becca responded as she grabbed hold of another ‘henchbot’ and ignored the blows it was raining down on her to try to dislodge her.

Bailey disposed of Becca’s new hostage with another two shots from her blaster before cursing. “Damn, looks like six shots is the limit in this mode.”

The last robot was laying down a suppressing fire with some sort of energy weapon in its chest that Becca just let hit her as she calmly walked toward it and tried to shield us. Bailey couldn’t seem to use her blaster anymore and I wasn’t too sure I could avoid all those rapid fire energy blasts to try and get close enough to do anything. I was about ready to get my bow out when Bailey called out, “Squirt! Use water gun!” Matt emerged from the doorway and let loose with a high pressure water blast that sent the robot flying back to land on the ground at the far end of the parking lot. The result caused Bailey to cheer, “Oh yeah! It’s super effective!”

Becca had taken the opportunity to quickly close the distance as the robot was trying to recover to sit on its chest. Interface looked at the robot trying vainly to get to its feet then toward me approaching him with sword in hand and Bailey right behind me. “This isn’t over! You haven’t heard the last of me!” he shouted. “You will be mine Fae-bitch!”

There was a loud popping sound as both Interface and the henchbot Becca had been sitting on vanished. “Yeah and we’ll kick your ass next time too,” Becca muttered.

“Ummm Becca…” Bailey began to say.

“What? It’s not like he was that tough,” she interrupted with a groan. “He’s like a B-list super villain at best. I hope he’s not going to be our arch-nemesis, because that would be pretty lame.”

“Becca!”Look down!” Bailey ordered the girl who was hovering roughly two and a half feet I the air, as if the robot hadn’t vanished at all.

Becca did look down and her eyes just about bugged out of her head. “Whoa! This is new. I can fly?”

“I don’t know, what were you thinking when you sat on that thing?” Bailey countered.

“What I usually do, that nothing would hurt me move me from that spot,” she answered with a shrug. “This is a little weird, I wonder what happens if I want to move but not fall…“ she got a look of concentration on her face, but nothing happened until a slight wind from the north blew in and she began to move. “Okay I don’t think I can fly, I just sort of get carried along by the wind.”

“We can figure it out on the drive, we need to get dressed, packed, out of here before the other people in the motel wake up or the police show up,” Bailey insisted. “How are you doing Terri?” she asked as Becca managed to get on solid ground again and we headed back to the motel room.

“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “I have no idea what that smoke did to me. I can't feel the magic around me, nor can I seem to gather it or use any abilities that are innately magical. I feel… disconnected and kind of empty inside. What do I do if his is permanent? I’ll stand out as much as Matt without my glamour, and how will I stop Null?”

We were back in the motel room and I helped Hope get dressed and as Bailey and the others started doing the same for themselves she suggested, “Give it some time Terri. You don’ know if it’s permanent, and you still seem to have your physical abilities. You were holding your own out there even without powers.”

I had to admit to myself she was right about that as finished dressing Hope and started packing all our things in the shopping bags from the day before. I thought that I probably would have been in trouble if they hadn’t helped though and I frowned at the thought. “I thought I told you all to stay back, you could have been hurt.”

“I find your lack of faith… disturbing,” Bailey responded, deepening her voice as she finished dressing and started stuffing bags as well. “Seriously though, we’re supposed to look out for one another, not hide when one of us is in trouble.”

We loaded up the SUV as quickly as possible and after a quick check to make sure we hadn’t missed anything we all climbed inside. Once we were all buckled in Bailey started the engine with a serious expression on her face. “It's 225 miles to Toronto, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of Pepsi, it's dark... and Becca’s wearing sunglasses. Let’s hit it.”

Bailey wasn’t too happy about driving while it was still dark out, but at least there was very little traffic during the drive to Toronto. Hope and Matt had fallen asleep not long after we set out and I decided to take the opportunity to get some rest as well. I had been worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the front passenger’s seat of the SUV, especially with everything that had happened, but I hadn’t slept much in days and apparently it was catching up with me because I was stirred from my sleep by Bailey’s voice calling out my name. “Terri!”

“Huh? What?” I tried to move, but I felt restrained and I almost panicked before I remembered where I was and that I was wearing a seat belt.

“Your skin is starting to spark,” Bailey told me quietly. “I thought it would be a good idea to pull over and wake you up so you don’t fry the vehicle’s electrical system or something.

There were indeed lavender sparks playing along my body so I concentrated on my seal mark and hoped for the best. I had never been so relieved to have the sense of the magic around me disappear since I had gotten that mark. I attempted to change out of my costume as well and that worked too as I found myself once again in the negligee I had won to bed. I breathed a slow sigh of relief, “Thank the Goddess that was only temporary.”

“Umm… yeah, I’m glad you have your abilities back, but you might want to change into something else at some point, that’s not exactly appropriate for anywhere but the bedroom, and it might be a little distracting. Maybe put on your coat to cover it until we get somewhere better for you to change?” she suggested.

I nodded in agreement and unbuckled my seat belt to shimmy between the seats and look for my coat among the sleeping kids in the rear seats. Once I had found it and was in the process of putting it on, I asked, “So where are we?”

“We should be in Hamilton soon, so we’re about three quarters of the way to Toronto. You’ve been asleep around two hours,” she informed me as I returned to my seat and put the restraint back in place. “We’ll make a stop in Hamilton so I can get some coffee and you can find a place to put some normal clothes on.”

Once I was belted back in she started the vehicle and pulled onto the road again. I didn’t feel like sleeping again if we were going to be stopping soon so I asked, “Did I miss anything?”

“Not much,” Bailey admitted, “Eddie may have figured out why Becca was floating though. He thinks that her invulnerability is actually the power is to prevent anything in the physical world from affecting her. She has to selectively allow things to affect her, and it looks like that includes gravity as well. She can’t fly; she’d need some form of thrust for that. Though when she’s negating gravity’s effect on her, but still letting herself be moved, she could float like a leaf on the wind. Even a weak flyer could carry her easily.”

“So why hasn’t she just floated off before this?” I wondered.

It would seem that this question had been asked while I was asleep as well, because she had an answer ready. “Because she’s always assumed that gravity affects her like everyone else, so she was sub-consciously allowing it to. It’s easy to think ‘I don’t want to be hurt by anything’ or ‘I won’t be moved.’ Becca’s never been in a position where she was falling and not wanting to though, and even then she’d probably just have made sure the impact didn’t hurt her.”

Fifteen minutes later we pulled into a gas station just outside Hamilton and Bailey went inside to arrange the fuel for the SUV and buy some coffee and a few other things. When she returned, she placed a coffee travel mug in the cup holder and a small plastic bag in the driver’s seat before handing me a key attached to a small and thin metal plate that bore the word ‘Ladies’. “This is the key to the rest room Terri; it’s just around the corner there. You can go change in there while I fill up the gas tank. Just take the key back to the guy inside at the counter when you’re done.”

“Thanks Bailey,” I said as I activated my glamour, gathered the clothes I had been wearing before changing to bed the night before, and made my way out of the vehicle. As late as it was, we were the only vehicle stopped there, so I figured I should have enough time to change while Bailey saw to the fuel. Still, I tried to hurry for one very simple reason. I discovered that gas station restrooms are both cramped and disgusting. The bathrooms at the mall and in the motel had been kept clean, but this one was filthy and it smelled like something had died in there. Being in such a confined space only made it worse. Between the horrid stench assaulting my sensitive nose and my already upset stomach it was a wonder I didn’t throw up.

Once I had finished changing, stuffed the negligee into my purse, and returned the key to the bored-looking man at the counter I joined Bailey in the SUV. The metamorph gestured to the plastic bag between our seats as she started up the vehicle. “There’s a bottle of water in there for you if you’re thirsty and I got some snacks too.”

“Thanks Bailey water sounds really good right now,,” I told her as I retrieved the bottle and opened it to take a sip. We were on the road again and starting to enter the city of Hamilton when I asked. “So do you have any idea where we’re going to stay in Toronto?”

“I don’t think we’re going to find any motels or hotels that will take cash, well at least not in any good parts of the city,” she replied with a sigh. “Becca and Eddie found us some options, but I’m not sure I like any of them. There’s a lot of abandoned buildings and homes, there’s even this place outside Toronto called the Seacroft Mansion that’s rumored to be haunted. Unfortunately I don’t think any of those places will have heat or electricity, and since it’s the middle of winter the pipes are probably frozen, so no plumbing either. Becca found out about a place on a message board. It’s an old church that has been converted to a shelter for mutants, and it looks good but I have my doubts.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Bailey was frowning as she replied. “It was purchased and is run solely on donations, and they take in any mutants no questions asked, so long as they follow some rules. That’s what bothers me, the no questions asked part. Sure we don’t need to answer any questions, but neither does anyone else. That would be pretty desirable to the criminal element and we have a lot of cash and some other valuables that we won’t be able to keep with us at all times.”

I had to admit that those issues had me concerned too from the way she spoke. If none of those options were going to work, what were we going to do then? We had camping gear, but camping in the middle of winter would be hard on those of us who weren’t immune to the cold, especially Eddie and Hope. “Maybe we should risk the shelter,“ I put in with a reluctant sigh.

“There is one other option, but it’s more of a person than a place, at least it’s a contact who might have a place for us to use,” she said, her eyes scanning the city streets.

It sounded strange, but not quite as ominous as the shelter had. “Is it someone they found on the internet?”

A shake of her head was her immediate reply as she seemed to be thinking about the answer before speaking. “Eddie contacted a telepath in Toronto, but she wants to meet us before she agrees to help us. He said that her name is Talia Arissa Friday and we’re supposed to go to her home to meet with her.”

“Why? And how are we supposed to find her? Did she give Eddie her address?” There were far too many questions involved in this option for my liking, but if Eddie had okay-ed it then hopefully the person was just being cautious.

It seemed that my thought on the matter was correct. “She’s willing to help us as fellow mutants, but she wants to get a read on us first before she tells us anything. Eddie says she wants to make sure we’re not criminals or something since Eddie is more powerful and could be holding something back, so the easiest way is by reading the minds of his companions. She doesn’t have Eddie’s power or range though so we need to go to her. As for finding her, she’s in the phone book, so all we need is to use the GPS to find the address.”

It was nine a.m. when we pulled up to a two story house on Beverley Street in what Bailey said was the University area of the city. It was made mostly of red brick, the trim was painted a dark green, and the walkway was cleared of snow. Bailey parked the SUV on the street in front of the home and we all piled out of the vehicle to make our way to the steps which led up to a covered porch with a pair of rocking chairs. Once we were all standing in front of the door Bailey rang the doorbell, because she felt it would be more polite than having Eddie call out, ‘we’re here’ telepathically. We had also stopped for breakfast before making our way there for the same reason; Bailey didn’t want to risk waking the woman by showing up too early.

We didn’t have to wait long for the inner door to be opened and soon a slim elderly woman with silver hair and glasses was looking at us curiously through the screen door before her eyes widened. “You’re all just kids… I knew Eddie was probably fairly young from the sense I got of him but…” she trailed off as she quickly opened the door. “Please come in, it’s cold out and we don’t need anyone seeing you. I do have to keep up appearances after all.”

She ushered us quickly inside where she had us remove our boots and coats and led us to the living room. As we walked through the house I noted all the pictures on the walls, some of our hostess with a large man similar in age, and some with both of them younger, her hair blonde and his black. There were also photos of them with a blond boy/man and solo photos of the younger man, who I thought might be their son. I noticed something else as well, a tantalizing smell in the air. Once she had us all seated I began looking around for any other residents of the house. I didn’t want to think it might be a trap, but one never knew. She seemed to notice my sidelong glances though and laughed. “Oh don’t worry dear, I live alone. My husband, God rest his soul, died a few years ago and my son lives in another city, though he often flies here to visit. I am expecting someone later though.”

I blushed at being caught out as I looked at the floor, “Sorry ma’am.”

“Oh no dear, I understand quite well, our kind can’t be too careful these days,” the woman replied with a sad shake of her head. “Please call me Talia. I must admit I’m surprised you’re all activated mutants; I’d wager that only you two older girls have even entered puberty. It just goes to show what a harsh world we live in when kids activate so young, sadder still that you’re all alone in the world.”

“We’re not alone, we have each other,” Bailey corrected her. ”I’m Bailey, and this is Terri, Eddie, Becca, Matt, and Hope. Eddie said you wanted to get a read on us Talia, if you need to read one of our minds, I’d like to volunteer.”

I was slightly confused when the old woman laughed. “Oh, there is no need for that. I’ve been reading the surface thoughts of all of you since you rang the doorbell. You in particular don’t even seem to entertain the idea of hiding anything though. Also your concern for the privacy of your friends’ minds is admirable.” She reached out a hand to pat Becca’s, “Don’t worry dear I’m only reading surface thoughts, I won’t delve into your personal matters. I’m willing to help you with a place to stay, but I’ll need Zoë’s approval as well before I can agree to anything. Would you kids like some milk and cookies while we wait for her?”

Matt’s eyes lit up and even Becca looked tempted by the offer. I think though that both Bailey and I still weren’t sure if we should trust her or not. It was Eddie who answered for us. ~That would be nice Talia.~ If Eddie was accepting I was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about.

“Oh good, I just baked some, the last batch should be cool enough by now. Why don’t you give me a hand dear?” she said looking straight at me. Soon we were in the kitchen and I was helping gather glasses while she fetched the jug of milk and moved the fresh cookies from the metal sheet onto a platter with others that were already there. “You’re very focused aren’t you?” she said conversationally.

“Pardon,” I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew what she was getting at.

“Don’t be coy dear, it’s a waste of both our time,” she answered with a laugh. “Since you came here your thoughts have been on looking for danger, protecting those kids you’re with, and apparently stopping some sort of murderer. It’s not healthy; you need to relax once in a while. All of you do, but especially you and Bailey. Those youngsters are looking to the two of you to take care of them and they’re children, they need to relax and have fun sometimes, but they won’t unless you show them that it’s okay to.”

“I can’t relax; I’m here for a reason,” I snapped. “Go ahead, look into my mind and tell me that you think I can afford to relax.”

A look of concentration passed over her face and I could feel a presence in my mind, not as strong as Eddie’s mind probe had been, but far more subtle. “Yes, that boy needs to learn some finesse,” she agreed with my unspoken thought as she continued to probe. Finally she sighed. “They have put you in a difficult position haven’t they? But I think you need to remember that your family sent you back here for two reasons. They want you to prevent this from happening yes, but they also wanted you and that little girl to live full lives. If the two of you don’t do that then you’re not doing everything you were sent here for.”

But I…. ummm… ahhhh, how am I supposed to… there’s no time,” I blurted out awkwardly. I didn’t have much time before the first assassination.

“I may know someone who can help you stop this man, or at least give you some support so you won’t have to worry about those kids trying to help. In a way this concerns him anyway. I’ll contact him later today,” she offered. “Now let’s take these cookies out to the others while they’re still warm from the oven.”

The chocolate chip cookies were perhaps the most delicious thing I had ever eaten. So warm, and chewy, and sweet. I know Hope and the others enjoyed them too and Hopes face had chocolate all over it. Talia laughed at my cousin’s enthusiasm as she used a wet cloth to wipe her face and brush the crumbs off her before doing the same with Matt. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had children in the house. I fear I might never have grandchildren, my son Tim hasn’t found the right woman yet and he’s so busy all the time.” She looked up and smiled before whispering something to Hope who nodded and grinned before vanishing from sight.

The doorbell rang and Talia left for a moment to answer it before returning to the living room with another elderly woman. “Kids this is Zoë Castillo. Zoë these are the kids I was talking to you about: Bailey, Terrilae, Becca, Eddie, Matt, and Hope.” She gestured to each of us in turn before adding, “Now where did Hope go?”

“PEEKABOO!” Hope shouted with a big grin as she dropped her shell and reappeared.

The new woman who was wearing a dark blue dress started in surprise before producing an ear to ear grin that nearly matched Hope’s own. “An invisibility user! Wonderful! She’s adorable, but she’s so young, all these kids are, but she’s what three or four?”

I nodded. “Yes ma’am, but she’s been activated since birth. There were complications and her healing factor saved her.”

“I am considering letting them stay in the Basement and use it to train while they’re in town,” Talia told her seriously, “I’d rather they didn’t try to find an abandoned building or something to sleep in.”

“Can they be trusted?” Zoë asked.

The other woman nodded as she responded, “They’re good kids, and they want to help people. Terri is here to do something very important on January fourth. I was thinking of asking Tim to give her a hand with it so she can finish it quickly. There are lives at stake,” she replied in a serious tone.

Zoë’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You really think it’s that serious?” When Talia nodded she frowned. “We’d better help them then. They just need a place to stay and train?”

“Yes, I thought that I might be able to teach young Eddie a thing or two, and that maybe you could work with young Hope while Terri and the others train.”

The other elderly woman smiled and nodded in agreement. “I’m sure I can keep an eye on her and show her a few things. At the very least I believe I can keep her entertained.”

“Show her what kinds of things?” I asked suspiciously. Hope was my responsibility, she was like my own sister, and as nice as it was for these ladies to offer to help us, I had to wonder if they had an agenda.

“I’ve been using invisibility for over fifty years girl, I’m sure I can teach her something. Like how not to give away her position and how to make the most of her gift. If not, then I can at least keep her occupied while you’re training.”

Talia’s voice entered my mind at that point. ~Remember what I said about relaxing earlier? I know why you’re so nervous, I likely would be as well in your place, but it is okay for you to let us help while you’re training. Please trust us, I have as much reason as anyone to want you to succeed.~

Finally I nodded in agreement; I really needed to stop assuming that everyone was out to get us. “Thank you, both of you”

“Well now it’s decided, let’s gather your things and head to the basement,” Talia said with a faint smile.

Once we had brought our things in from the SUV, with the assistance of Talia and Zoë, we took them downstairs to small basement with a concrete floor and wood paneled walls. Most of the basement appeared to be filled with boxes and other items. It was a damn storage room, and for a moment I just stared incredulously before directing my gaze at the two elderly women. What kind of ploy was this? There wasn’t even room for all of us to sleep comfortably in here, let alone train.

Bailey’s words echoed my thoughts, “This seems a little… cramped.”

“You kids really should know better than to just trust your eyes,” Zoë grumbled as she walked to an empty corner and pressed her finger against a knot in the wood. I could hear movement, the grinding and clicking of gears, as the entire wood panel swung inward to expose a doorway. I think the only one of us who wasn’t surprised was Eddie, judging by the smug look on his face.

They led us through the door into a tiny room and once we were all inside Talia pressed a button on a small metal panel to cause the door to close, followed by a second button. There was a jarring movement after she pressed the second button and it felt like we were going downwards. Bailey looked around and asked, “Are we going up or down? Feels like down.”

Down turned out to be correct as after several minutes we stopped and the doors opened to reveal a surprisingly well lit cavern with some kind of vehicle that looked to be a small train of some sort less than two meters away from the elevator. “What is that?” Hope asked, wide-eyed as she stared at the heavily armored vehicle.

“It’s a modified streetcar,” Talia explained. “We’re at the end of a tunnel. That streetcar will take us to the Basement. Everyone get on board.”

Bailey was the last to board as she took a long look around the cavern and at the streetcar. “Is something wrong?” I asked her in concern.

My friend grinned as she climbed on board, “Nope, it's nothing. I was just checking for the Umbrella Corporation logo.”

“I was a bit confused by this, but apparently Becca had understood since she let out an audible groan, “Bailey, you are such a geek.”

The streetcar trip only took a few minutes before we arrived at our destination. I had never been in anything moving so fast before and it made me feel a bit nauseous by the time we got there. We all stepped off the streetcar into another well-lit cavern with brick walls just big enough for the streetcar and a small platform. Then we stepped through a doorway into a much larger cavern and the elderly women smiled at us as Zoë said, “Welcome to the Basement, otherwise known as Lower Osgoode Station. We’re below the subway station. This was built as a station for a streetcar line in the late forties, but the city decided to go with a subway line that was being proposed at the same time instead, so this station and a few others like it were scrapped and mostly forgotten about.”

“That’s pretty cool, how did you find out about this place and how come nobody else does?” Becca asked as we looked around at the main cavern.

“The entrance was hard to find, most people think this place is just an urban legend. My husband John stumbled upon it in the sixties before we even met,” Talia explained. “When we formed our team he suggested this place as a headquarters so we fixed it up, hid the entrance and later added the tunnel to the house.”

“Team?” I asked raising an eyebrow in interest.

“We were inspired by the heroics of the Thrilling Threesome,” Zoë answered with a sigh. “They were one of the first super hero teams, and in 1969 we all met while fighting a villain calling himself The Destroyer. We decided to work together after that and ‘The Awesome Avengers’ was born. I went by the name Outtasight back then.”

“And I was The Spector,” Talia put in. “Let’s get you set up in the barracks and we can tell you more. We’re just in the entrance at the moment.”

I looked around as we made our way through the large area that seemed to be the original station. From the looks of the equipment and targets at the far end, I assumed that it was used as the training area. At least we would have plenty of space. They showed us where the bathrooms and kitchen were before taking us to another brick room with seven cots, a large couch, and a long table with chairs. On the wall behind the couch there was a black and white photograph with seven people wearing an assortment of costumes and masks, but each of them had an intertwined double A on their chest.

“We kept the barracks here in case we were too tired to go home or in case any of us needed to lay low for some reason,” Talia told us as we put our stuff near the couch. Then she directed our attention to the photo where she and Zoë pointed out their costumed selves before Talia pointed to the large dark haired man in the center. “That was my husband John, he was our leader. He had invulnerability, super strength, and flight so he called himself Mr. Impervious.”

They pointed out each of their comrades in turn. First there was a man who looked to be Hispanic, wore goggles instead of a mask, and had some sort of flame motif to his costume. I thought he might have had pryokinetic abilities or something until Talia said, “Jason was known as The Rocket, he was a super speedster.” She pointed next to a woman with leaf-patterned boots and gloves. “And this was Green Thumb; Molly had the ability to manipulate plants.”

Zoë pointed to the woman on the far left. She looked as much fox as she did human, right down to the bushy tail. “Donna was called Foxy-Lady, for obvious reasons. Besides her looks, she possessed enhanced senses, and super agility. And finally, there was also our Tinker, Disco-tech.”

The man in question had very dark skin and probably the biggest hair I had ever seen. Bailey echoed my thoughts as she muttered, “Damn, that is one huge afro.”

Talia laughed at that. “James considered that hair his superhero trademark. He did most of the work on outfitting this place: Providing us with power and such, creating a hologram that prevents people from finding the entrance in the subway access tunnels, and building the machines to construct the streetcar tunnels to the house and the other hidden exit in G Ross Lord Park.”

“We usually come down here once a month to dust and to make sure the exits are still hidden and usable, but this place hasn’t seen any real use since we disbanded in 1975. We haven’t put on costumes in decades and we’re the only ones from the old team still alive,” Zoë added.

~Why did you disband?~ Eddie asked as we all looked at the photo.

“John and I wanted to start a family and the others were thinking about doing the same. We didn’t want to always be wondering if some super villain was going to take our kids hostage or something so we felt it better to try and live normal lives for a while. We always figured that the base would still be here if we decided to take it up again,” Talia said with a sigh as she looked around the room.

The next four days were a bit of a blur for me and a bit strange for us all I think. The two elderly Hypers were helping as much as they could and even cooked meals for us to make sure we were all eating properly Talia had also been trying to contact her son to see if he could help me with what I needed to do. She too didn’t want me to kill null, but to try to find another way. As much as I wanted that, I was having trouble coming up with any options that could leave him alive and unable to use his powers. I had considered trying to reason with him, but my uncle had warned me that Null was a cold blooded killer, so I sincerely doubted that was going to work, even if I did think I could trust him.

During the mornings I was training Bailey, Eddie, Becca and Matt in some basic self-defense. They all needed it, but I wasn’t expecting much so the plan was to have them far away when I fought null. When their training was over I could quickly eat my lunch and move on to my own training. For most of that time I was training relentlessly with my electric powers, trying to get a handle on them. Until then I had been releasing all of the electricity had produced and stored whenever I directed it and now my goal was to be able to be able to control just how much of my stored electricity I released to suit the situation. I was also trying to manipulate the electromagnetic fields to create very basic constructs like the sphere I had been able to generate around me before I had left home.

In the afternoons while I was training with my powers the others were doing the same. Eddie was learning from Talia as Hope played her favorite game, hide and seek, with Zoë, who showed her ways to hide even better. Bailey spent a lot of that time trying to improve his/her empathic abilities and, but s/he and Matt both were using Becca for target practice as well. Bailey figured that they needed to learn to hit moving targets and neither Squirt’s water blasts nor the Blaster could hurt Becca. The Blaster seemed to have a limit of six shots on maximum setting, while the stun setting had around fifteen shots, and it took about eighteen hours for it to fully recharge.

The evenings we mostly just spent together since we were all pretty tired by then and I didn’t want to neglect Hope and the others. Bailey came up with a very basic red and white costume design for the body suit Davis had given her and was practicing switching between that and more casual outfits while Matt and Eddie played cards and Becca and I spent what Bailey had termed ‘girl-time’. The others had their costumes pretty much ready to go between the black body suits we had found in the storage place and the things Davis had given them. So it was during this time that Becca had used lavender colored glitter glue to draw a large eye on the front of the pink and white hooded tunic we had bought as part of Hope’s costume to complete it.

On the evening of the 31st Talia and Zoë had insisted we join them for a New Years Eve celebration and to watch some fireworks. It was a nice break, and Hope and Matt both were really looking forward to the fireworks. As the clock counted down to midnight I was holding Hope’s hand and wondering just what the New Year would bring us. Would I stop Null? How many new years were left if I didn’t?

I was distracted from those thoughts when the countdown was a few seconds from ending. Bailey, who was standing beside me in her female form, said, “Ummm… Terri… I…” Then, as the clock struck twelve and I turned to see what was making her so nervous, she kissed me.

My eyes opened wide in shock and I was hardly aware of the fireworks exploding in the air as I did the only thing that made sense at the time, I kissed her back. Even if she wasn’t interested in me then I was going to enjoy the moment. When our lips parted I wanted to speak, to say something, but I wasn’t sure what, so all that came out was, “Bailey I…”

She seemed to be having as much trouble as I was. “I’m so sorry Terri… I don’t know what came over me… I got caught up in the moment… I…”

Of course, that was it; she got caught up in the moment. Why would she be attracted to me, I wasn’t even from this world. It was probably just some custom I wasn’t aware of. I think it hurt a bit more than it would normally because she reminded me so much of my own people, she even looked like a Fae whenever she was with me. I tried to shove away the hurt as I said, “It’s fine, it is some sort of custom, right?”

She looked confused, pained, and uncertain as she tried to explain. “Sort of… but only with someone you want to do it with. I got caught up in the moment, and I did it because I wanted to, but I didn’t consider your feelings. You seemed to be enjoying it, but when we stopped you got all confused and then hurt.”

That was when the sheer magnitude of my stupidity hit me, there had been so many clues, and like an idiot I had missed them all. She didn’t normally look like a Fae, she was just like that around me. She as much as told me that her powers made her take a form that those she wanted to notice her would find attractive, consciously or subconsciously, and since I was mostly interested in people for who they were rather than what gender they were it was happening in both her male and female forms. I was well aware of how attractive I was and Bailey had displayed attraction to both men and women since we had met. That alone would have been enough, but I hadn’t batted an eye whenever she changed genders, and told her that the person was more important to me than the shape they wore. Of course she would be interested in me.

“Damn I’m an idiot,” I muttered. “I’m sorry Bailey; I’ve been so focused on stopping Null that I completely missed what was right in front of me. So that’s why you got all nervous whenever you saw me naked or in that negligee.”

“Ummm… in my defense, I think that would make anyone nervous,” she replied with a laugh. “So… where does this leave us?”

“I don’t know,” I answered uncertainly. “My first priority has to be stopping Null. I’m too focused on that right now to think past the possibility that I manage to do that and live through it.”

Concern for me was written all over her face when she next spoke. “I know. Are you sure you don’t want us, or at least me or Becca with you when you do that? I don’t think you should be doing it alone.”

I shook my head. I had been thinking long and hard about it and I didn’t want any of them nearby when I fought Null, they would be too tempted to try to help me. “I don’t want any of you in danger, and Null could cancel out Becca’s invulnerability. I don’t want anything happening to any of you. Besides, Talia is still trying to contact her son so I might not have to do it alone.”

We were silent for a moment before I added, “If anything should happen to me, it’ll be up to you and the others to find a way to stop Null and to take care of Hope for me.” I couldn’t say anything more, the fear and uncertainty of what was coming was just too intense once I had spoken those words, so I picked up Hope and held her tight in my arms while she watched the fireworks.

It was the morning of January fourth, the day when the future of two worlds would be resting on my shoulders. It would be my first chance to stop Null. If I succeeded then I would save the world, but if I failed and he found out I was after him then I likely wouldn’t get a second chance, even if I did live through it. I had done some recon in my pixie form the night before, but I hadn’t found anything unusual at either the church or the condominium tower. The condos on that side all had balconies overlooking the area though and Null would most likely be shooting from one of them, but I had also discovered that even just checking balconies for people or signs of movement would take quite some time.

With that in mind I had decided to check the roof first and then go from top to bottom as the higher locations would present the best line of sight for a sniper. When we were eating breakfast I asked Eddie if it would be possible for him to find Null telepathically, but the young psychic just shook his head. ~Not unless I’m really close. There are too many minds to scan in a city this size, even in just that area. There’s also the problem of my range. I may be able to contact other telepaths across the world, but that’s because both our minds are built for sending and receiving psychically. My effective range is only about fifty meters with normal minds and its better with line of sight. If I want to get into a mind any further than that it needs to be another telepath or someone I’m really familiar with.~

“Damn, I guess that means I’ll have to check windows and balconies after all,” I said with a sigh as I finished the last bite of my toast.

Eddie’s shoulders sunk at that. ~I’m sorry Terri, but I don’t know if you’ll be able to do that, even while flying. That building is really tall and most of the outer surface is windows and balconies. The odds of finding the one Null is using are…~

“Never tell me the odds,” Bailey, who was male again, interjected with a grin. Then he added with a more serious look, “If anyone can do it, it’s Terri.”

“Why don’t you all take the morning off from training and check out some of the tourist sites,” Zoë suggested suddenly. “CN Tower is very impressive and there are a lot of other fun tourist attractions in that area as well.”

“Can we?! Can we?!” Matt asked eagerly.

“We’ll be soooo good,” Hope added, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

I knew that everyone was sick of being stuck inside most of the time, but I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. I needed to concentrate on stopping Null today. Bailey was carefully not saying anything either, leaving the decision in my hands. That only made me wonder once again what I would do with my life if I managed to stop Null. Those thoughts were interrupted though as Talia’s voice slipped into my mind. ~Throwing yourself into training this morning isn’t going to change anything dear. You’re not going to be any more prepared this afternoon and you’ll be tired as a result. If I were as worried as you about this possibly being my last day alive, I would want to spend the morning with the people I care about most.~

I knew she was right, but still I faltered. ~I… don’t know,~ I thought back.

~Those places are also close enough that you can fly off to face Null while the others are engrossed in taking in the sites, and far enough away that you shouldn’t have to worry about them following you and showing up before your job is completed,~ the elderly telepath pointed out.

It was that which decided me. “It wouldn’t hurt to have some fun I guess,” I finally said to the cheers of Matt and Hope.

Much to my chagrin, when we were set to leave the Basement they were all in their costumes and planned on staying that way the whole time. It seemed that they had all discussed it while I was gone the night before and decided to stay in costume all day, to show me that they would be ready if I needed them. I had tried to argue about keeping a low profile, but Eddie said that anyone who looked at us would just see a group of Japanese tourists. Talia had taught him a trick that made nudging perceptions of large groups much easier. It was this insistence that they were ready to support me that made me all the more certain that I needed to keep them a safe distance away while fighting Null, for their own safety.

We had checked out the view from CN Tower first, to see Toronto spread out beneath us from the observation deck. It was lunchtime by the time we were tired of the wonder of seeing the city spread out beneath us and decided to have an early lunch at one of the nearby McDonald's before going to check out the harbourfront. I planned to leave them there around one thirty to give myself roughly an hour and a half before the assassination to find Null. The harbourfront wasn’t nearly as busy as CN Tower had been, probably due to the cold and the weather forecast. The skies were clear for the moment, but Bailey mentioned that there was a snow storm warning for the next day.

It was lucky that there weren’t very many people there since that was where we were attacked. With a popping sound and the sizzling of the air, Interface appeared out of nowhere, twenty feet away from us, accompanied by four of his robots. These though, seemed different from the ones he had used during our previous encounter; they were black in color where the others had been silver, were a bit larger, and I couldn’t see near as many exposed areas that could be weak spots at first glance. They were also much faster.

I barely reacted in time. “Move!” I shouted as I grabbed Hope and rolled aside a fraction of a second before the metal man landed in the space we had just been occupying. “Hide and keep as quiet as possible Peekaboo,” I told her as I got to my feet and stepped between her and my attackers.

My cousin looked scared, but she nodded silently and vanished from sight.

“Okay brats,” the green and black clad villain called out from behind the three machines that were still with him, “these aren’t like the collection drones I had before, these are advanced combat drones. Now either the Fae bitch gives herself up or they kill the rest of you and take her.”

“Or we could just kick your ass what’s-your-face,” Becca growled, clenching her fists.

“It’s Interface, and I think you’ll be a bit too busy staying alive to worry about me,” Interface snapped back before turning his gaze on me. “Whenever you’re ready to give yourself up just say the words, I wouldn’t take too long though if you value your friends’ lives.”

Why did he have to pick today of all days to attack us again? I switched to my costume, dropped the glamour, and deactivated the seal on my powers. It was just after one o’clock so I still had close to two hours before the assassination attempt, but we needed to finish this as soon as possible if I was going to have time to find Null and stop him. The combat drones were on us in seconds: The one that had attacked me was pressing again and I had barely managed to draw my sword in time to parry an attempt to grab me. I was hoping that the same trick I had used last time would work as well on this machine as the last so, as soon as I felt that I had produced enough, I let loose with all the electricity I had. Lavender lightning arced along its frame, but instead of frying it the energy was just dispersed. Dammit, I cursed mentally, it looks like they’re insulated or shielded somehow.

Another shot something at Becca; whatever it was couldn’t hurt her, but that didn’t seem to be the purpose anyway as when it impacted on her chest it expanded into a bunch of white tendrils that wrapped themselves tightly around her upper body, effectively taking her out of the fight. It had purposely been trying to keep her at a distance and then contained her. Apparently Interface had learned from our last battle, but he hadn’t seen Eddie or Hope last time, since they had stayed hidden in the motel room, so he wouldn’t know anything about their abilities. I also thought that he was seriously underestimating Bailey and Matt, the robots that were attacking them were only just keeping up with them.

The fight continued on like this for a while, a constant stalemate as we tried to gain an advantage. “Dammit, this thing isn’t giving me enough space to use my blaster!” I heard Bailey curse as she somehow managed to dodge another attack. “Any ideas Terawatt?”

“I’m open to suggestions,” I retorted through gritted teeth as I parried another grab attempt. The one that had been after Becca was after me as well now. It fired a gas pellet and held my breath before it went off to give myself time to leap out of the red smoke cloud. I tried countering with electricity again but it was just as ineffective as it had been on its companion.

~Despite his claim, I don't believe he intends on killing any of us,~ Eddie sent to us. ~ Those things could have easily killed Matt and Bailey by now but they’re just matching your speed and strength. They contained Becca first so she couldn’t immobilize any of them. He’s trying to make us lose focus, and keep us from using teamwork so he can capture Terri. Interface also hasn’t given any verbal commands yet, but that one switched from Becca to Terri right away, that means he’s got another method of directly controlling them. Given that, his chosen name, and the static I’ve been getting when trying to read his mind I’m guessing he’s a technopath. He’s controlling them mentally.~

“That’s wonderful to know Ed, but what so we do?” Bailey groaned as she got knocked backward.

~I’ll coordinate us telepathically; so try not to speak aloud so we don’t give anything away,~ he answered. ~We need to even the odds a bit and try to free Becca. Matt, this is the perfect location for you, so you need to get into the water.~

~It’s freezing out, that water could kill a person,~ I argued as I tried to counter one of the henchbots attacks with my sword. It used its other hand to grab the blade and snapped it in half. “Dammit! I liked that sword!”

~The water won’t harm Matt at all; he’s been swimming in colder weather than this~ the telepath quickly assured me. ~The metal that robot is made from though, is going to get very cold very fast. The joints on these ones may be reinforced but those are still the weakest points, so aim for those if possible. Hope, I need you to get close enough to Bailey to touch him and extend your invisibility shell around him. Terri you need to get some breathing room.~

That gave me an idea. I changed to pixie form, ignored my bow and quiver falling to the ground and flew up to dodge a blow. There were several advantages to this form in this situation. I was a smaller target, I could fly up out of their reach to give myself breathing room, and I could gather a lot more magical energy, and thus produce more electricity. I shot straight up into the sky and concentrated on dodging energy blasts as I pulled in as much magical energy as I could.

The view was also much better from up there and I got a good view of it as Matt made a break for it and dove into the frigid waters of Lake Ontario, with the henchbot right on his heels. Bailey got to his feet and was looking for an opening when I heard Ed’s mental voice say, ~Now Hope!~ Suddenly Bailey vanished from sight and the robot just stood there, unable to fulfill its command, until a blast of red energy erupted from seemingly empty space ten feet behind it, striking the neck joint and blowing the head clean off.

I rocketed downward and latched myself onto the shoulder joint of one of my attackers. At six inches tall, I was too big to get between the plates, but my hands and arms weren’t, so I reached inside and grabbed onto a cluster of what I hoped were wires. Then I put all that energy that I had gathered to good use. The smell of burnt ozone was heavy as the robot sparked and twitched; its limbs moving involuntarily and jerkily, almost in some strange sort of dance before it finally collapsed.

~Bailey, Matt’s going to come out of the water now, and that thing is still after him,~ Eddie pointed out. ~That metal is going to be pretty brittle though so feel free to finish it your way.~

~Oh good, my way. Thank you Eddie... what's my way?~ I heard Bailey’s voice reply.

~Any moment that robot is going to emerge from the water, the moment it’s in view, shoot it with the blaster.~ Eddie responded with a expectant mental sigh.

~My way's not very sportsman-like,~ Bailey answered with laugh.

Matt was emerging from the water now and I was only barely aware of Bailey blasting the henchbot emerging from the lake and blowing it apart. Pieces of the damn thing were flying everywhere as Bailey grinned and said, “Big badda boom!”

The only one left was the one on me and I was once again dodging my attacker’s attempts to grab me. It was between me and the waterline and reaching for me as I went between its legs, gathering energy for another strike when Eddie said, ~Matt, blast the one on Terri.~

The five year old replied, “I’ll get it good!” Then he spat out a massive blast of water. The robot was hit from behind and sent skipping along the ground until it crashed into a parked car. It was still trying to pull itself free from the wreckage when I delivered the finishing blow, with the energy I had gathered.

In the confusion of the battle, Interface had managed to grab hold of the restrained Becca and was kneeling behind her, attempting to use her as a human shield, but he wasn't as successful as he probably wanted to be since Becca didn't want to be moved. “Surrender yourself or I’ll take this one instead,” he threatened.

Bailey pointed his blaster at him, a grim expression on his face. “Let her go, or I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” the villain interrupted, “Shoot your own friend to get me.”

“Well, you asked for it,” Bailey said with a shrug as he fired the blaster and hit Becca dead on. The blast destroyed whatever it was that had been restraining her, but somehow didn’t so much as scorch her costume. We had thought that the body suits might be bulletproof, but what were that jacket and mask made from? Was it even the clothes or had Becca somehow figured out how to extend her ability to protect what she was wearing? I had no way of knowing, nor the time to figure it out as Becca made her move.

Interface barely had time to let out a confused, “What….” before she kicked his leg, causing him to yelp and let go. The instant she was free of him she reached for her mask and turned to face him.

A full minute passed before she turned back to us with the lenses of her mask back in place and Interface frozen in fear behind her. “That should keep him from moving ‘til the cops show up,” she grumbled.

I had had to leave the others in a hurry. That battle had lasted longer than I had thought and I didn’t even have an hour before the assassinations. I wouldn’t have the time to check both the tower at St. James and the condominiums so I flew as fast as I could for the latter and prayed to the Goddess that I was right. I checked the roof first and then started a balcony by balcony check hoping to catch a glimpse of suspicious movement.

There was only ten minutes left on the clock when I noticed movement two balconies to the left and three floors down. It could be anyone, just a person out to get some air and take in the view, but how was I going to know for sure? That’s when a voice behind me said quietly, “You must be Terrawatt. Sorry I’m late, sadly I can’t be everywhere at once. A mutual acquaintance said you could use some help.”

I turned to see a muscular blond man in a white costume and mask with golden boots, gloves, and cape. There was a great big golden “P” on his chest, but it was the face that caught my attention. He looked familiar, and as I tried to imagine him without a mask I realized why, he was the man in some of the photos in Talia’s home, he was her son. “Oh! You must be…” I started to say before stopping myself.

He nodded slowly. “Yes, and she told me that I need to help you do what you need to and make sure you don’t die. She said that my life is tied to yours.”

I wasn’t sure what she had meant by that, but I was willing to take any help I could get right then. I pointed to the balcony I suspected. “I have less than ten minutes to find the sniper, I think he’s down there, but I can’t be sure. If it is him I’ll need someone to keep the teleporter busy while I stop the sniper somehow.” I didn’t even know what I was going to do yet since I had no weapons now.

A look of concentration passed over his face before he nodded once again. “My psychic sonar picks up two people in that apartment. One just finished setting up a rifle on the balcony and the other seems to be waiting impatiently inside.”

“Let’s get them then,” I said as I flew off toward the balcony in question. Before I even got there though, Talia’s son had sped by me to land on the balcony, yanking the rifle from the hands of the man there and folding it in half. How fast was he anyway?

“I’m afraid I can’t let you use that,” he said calmly,

“Holy shit! It’s Paragon! Shift get me out of here!” the man said as he took two steps back. He wore all black, from his mask to his boots, even his short cropped hair was black. His left hand was moving slowly toward his back as he watched my white and gold clad companion intently. Was he canceling out one of his abilities? If so, which one? Was it his speed? Strength? Invulnerability?

I wasn’t about to test it. The instant I had landed on the balcony I returned to human size and leapt past Paragon to tackle the man. “Whatever you were planning just now, it’s not going to happen!” I shouted as we smashed through a pane of glass and into the apartment itself.

The second man, wearing jeans and a leather jacket, appeared on the balcony only to be grabbed and tossed into the air beyond by Paragon. “Short range teleporter,” the hero commented casually. “I can ‘hear’ the displacement of air before he appears, so I should be able to keep up with him. I’ll let you handle things here.” Then he was off.

A blow to the side of my head sent me rolling off my opponent, who stood up and sneered at me, as he backed off and pulled a gun from behind his back. “I didn’t know Paragon had a sidekick. You’re going to have to do a lot better than that if you expect to take me in.”

“I’m nobody’s sidekick, he’s helping me,” I shot back while unsealing my powers again. “And I’m not here to take you in; I’m here to take you down.” I gathered lavender lightning in my hands, but he fired his weapon first so I had to fire a burst at him as I dove behind a sofa for cover. My own blast went wide, shattering a wooden chair as he too dove for cover.

It went on like that for what seemed an eternity, the two of us moving from cover to cover as we took shots at one another. He was a nimble little bastard, and I wasn’t used to this type of fight. He had grazed my shoulder once, but I had scorched his left leg a bit and now he was moving slower. He was also breathing heavier as he spoke casually from behind the kitchen counter. “So, sidekick girl, what made you want to take down the mighty Null? Let me guess, I killed someone important to you? I assure you it was nothing personal; I kill a lot of people. I killed the man who lives here because I liked the view; he’s in his bed, sleeping the sleep eternal.”

“The name is Terawatt,” I answered calmly from the other side of the counter as I used my healing Eenuka mark on my shoulder wound. I couldn’t afford to give into anger or hate, especially right now. “You’ll kill more than you can ever imagine if I don’t stop you now. Almost everyone I care about is gone, because of you.” I bit my lip to keep myself from focusing on that. If I stopped him here, everyone could live full happy lives. He had tossed the gun when he left his last bit of cover so I assumed he was out of ammunition. I had spotted a combat knife on his belt, but unless he had some other surprises up his sleeve, the odds were in my favor. “Come out and face me you coward, let’s finish this.”

“I think you might have a slight advantage, with those electric powers of yours,” he said with a laugh.

“We both know that you can cancel out my mutant ability any time you want to Null. You’re pretty agile, but that leg wound is slowing you down, so I don’t need them to finish you off. I’ll even let you use that knife you have.”

“How could I possibly refuse such a gracious offer?” I could hear movement as he replied, so I got to my feet and took a few steps back and away from the counter to put some distance between us. I wanted to have time to react to any attacks and make sure he wasn’t going to try anything other than what he had just agreed to. He had his combat knife out and was giving me that piercing look that he had been using earlier on Paragon.

The sparks and electricity arcing along my skin dispersed, but for some reason I could still feel the magical energy around me. On an impulse I gathered some. It worked! I was surprised, but it actually made sense. My mutant ability was actually to convert the magic energy I gathered to electricity, he couldn’t do a damn thing about my innate Fae abilities themselves. It was so funny that I actually laughed as I gathered in more magic energy.

“What’s so funny?” Null asked, looking at me like I was a crazy person. “Did you only just now realize that you’re unarmed?”

I shook my head as I laughed again. “No, I was just thinking that you just made the biggest mistake of your life. Illora Fituonë Anphoduse!” I chanted the best concussive energy spell I knew, as I concentrated on the casting of it. Most Fae spells just require concentration and intent if you’re familiar with them, but the problem with the really powerful spells is that they require both concentration and chants to do them properly. This takes time and often gives your spell away to another caster.

Null may not have known what I was casting, but he was smart enough to try to stop me before I finished. He threw his knife at my head and I was forced to dodge as I fired the spell, making it go wide. It blew apart the stove and left a huge hole in the wall behind it, leaving behind broken concrete, exposed wires, and a strange smell like rotten eggs. “You fool, that’s a gas stove! It’s going to blow!” he screamed.

I was pretty sure I didn't want to be around when that happened so I changed to my pixie form and flew as fast as I could for the shattered window and was propelled outward by the force of the blast. Once I managed to right myself and start flying properly, instead of like a projectile I took some time to recover my senses. It took me some time for me to be able to hear properly and regain enough equilibrium to fly in a straight line again and I took a quick mental inventory before making my way back to the condo. It seemed that I had been moving quick enough to escape the full force of the explosion. I didn’t seem to have any burns or other major damage, though my ears were still ringing and I was probably going to be sore for a few days.

I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d been and I had to wonder if Null had somehow survived as well, as I noticed that I was generating sparks again and sealed my powers. The last I’d seen him he had been limping hurriedly toward the door, glaring at me over his shoulder. I was about to go check, but the apartment was an inferno, and I couldn’t even get close to the flames. Paragon’s voice stopped me. “You can’t go in there; you would never survive the heat. I evacuated the apartments on that floor and the floors above and below as soon as I heard the explosion.”

“Was he…” I began to ask uncertainly. Had the explosion killed him? The spell I had used was powerful, but I wasn’t even sure when I used it if I really intended to kill him. There were far more deadly spells I could have used; they would have been easier too. Concussive spells are far more suited to damaging than actually killing or destroying.

“He was alive, but, I’m not sure if he’ll live out the day. Even if he does, I doubt he’ll be in the condition to ever kill anyone again; he’s got severe burns all over his body and face. He’s at the hospital now. Shift is in police custody and wearing a new bracelet that will keep him from popping away. Emergency services are on their way and should be here soon. What happened in there?” he asked.

“Our fight got really intense; I was casting a spell, but I misfired when I had to dodge his attack. He said something about gas, I think some exposed wiring in the wall might have set it off,” I replied sadly. “By the time it blew we were both just trying to get the hell out of there.” Was he really going to die? If he lived was there even still a chance he could kill Stellar? Had I really prevented my future from happening? It seemed likely, but why didn’t I feel like celebrating? Because I had possibly killed a man, whether it was intentional or not. Even if I had not killed him, my actions had most certainly maimed him terribly. It was a terrible feeling and worse yet, I still couldn’t be certain the future was safe as long as he had the possibility of using that power.

Paragon left me with my thoughts to go and stop the robbery in progress. I offered to help him, but I was so tired that I could barely keep myself in the air. He seemed to sense that and declined my offer, telling me to go get some rest. I found a quiet alley near the subway station to change back to my regular clothes and activate my glamour. I should probably phone Bailey and let him and the others know I’m okay, I thought, reaching into my purse for my cell phone. My fingers brushed against the crystal and pulled it out nervously. The glow was gone.

Eddie’s voice slipped into my mind. ~Don’t worry about calling us Terri, I’ve been mentally keeping an eye on you, and I’m so glad that you managed to come through okay. I’ve let the others know too, but just so you know, Interface pulled his disappearing trick not long before you fought Null. I would have let you know earlier, but I didn’t want to distract you. Bailey says to hurry up and meet up with us at the Basement, so he doesn’t try and catch you on your own while you’re tired.~

~I’m on my way there now Eddie,~ I replied as I looked once again at the crystal. The second glance confirmed it, the glow was really gone. The future had changed, but I couldn’t be sure just how much until I was certain of whether Null lived or died.

The next afternoon Bailey, Becca, Eddie and I were sitting in Talia’s living room trying to decide what to do with our lives if my mission really was finished. Hope was sitting in my lap as she and Matt watched cartoons on the television. Null was in critical condition and the doctors still weren’t certain whether he would live or die. They would likely have to amputate at least one of his limbs and he had been facing the blast, so between the shrapnel and burns he probably wouldn’t ever see again. Did that mean it was over? I was having trouble believing it and it made me uncertain about planning my future, let alone that of Hope and these other kids. There was a lot to consider.

I was worried about my cousin still, she seemed to be adjusting well, but there were still times when she really wanted her mother. I kind of felt the same though, so I couldn’t really blame her. This was still a strange world to Hope and me; it was so different than where we had come from. Not all those differences were bad though and we were starting to get used to things here. There were some amazing things in this world; we had friends and a sort of family even with the Brat Pack. We could even search out our real mothers if we wanted to, but was that a good idea? How would they react to two kids saying they were their children, even if we could make them believe us? It might not be so bad for Aunt Crystal and Hope, but my mom would only be my age right now, how would she feel about having a daughter old enough to be her twin? Then there was the fact that I was Fae.

There were too many uncertainties. Should we maybe stay in Toronto? Talia and Zoë had offered to let us use the Basement as long as we wanted. We could try to go to school. We could also just keep traveling. How do adults decide what to do with their lives anyway? Whatever we did, I needed to consider my new family as well though.

I liked Bailey and the others a lot and I wanted to help him/her take care of these kids. Hope was comfortable with them too. Bailey was fun and quirky, and reminded me and Hope so much of the Changelings at home at times. Becca was both vulnerable and strong and was becoming sort of like a sister to both of us. Eddie was so smart and organized, and even with his great power he always seemed to be concerned for others. As Bailey put it, “The Force is strong with that one.” Then there was little Matt; he was often quiet, but eager to do his part, and he and Hope made such good playmates.

It was as I was thinking about them and our future that my cell phone rang. The display said Tim Friday, he had had us program the number into each of our phones the night before when we were having dinner with him, his mother, and Zoë. He told us it was in case we ever got in over our heads with the hero business. I pushed the button to take the call, “Ummm… hello Paragon,” I said uncertainly. I still wasn’t used to all this technology yet.

“I told you to call me Tim on the phone or when we’re not in costume,” he chastised me. “I just left the hospital, and there’s something you should know. Last night Null vanished from his room.”