My Super-powered Diary Chapter 27 Sleeping Beauty By Amethyst When Maddock Ainsley gets involved in a rescue operation with his unit things go horribly wrong and his life is forever changed. Can the newly minted Merida cope with being a girl and a teenage super hero?

I awoke in my bed with no screaming, nightmares fresh in my mind, or the explosion of my powers going off. I couldn’t recall having any nightmares at all since that wave of exhaustion had hit me and I passed out mid-conversation with Mei. A look at my alarm clock showed the time to be ten minutes after o-six-hundred and I realized that I had been asleep for close to twelve hours. Twelve hours with nary a nightmare or flashback.

I was too tired to move much yet, so I just continued to lay there for a time. I wasn’t sleepy tired, as after all that sleep I felt awake and fully rested, but more of a deep down in my bones, post marathon run exhaustion. I couldn’t really describe it any better than that since it wasn’t a physical exhaustion, or even an emotional one, but almost like I was exhausted down to my very soul. I was also starving, and I figured that, even if I didn’t feel up to our usual morning workout and training session, I should try to get up to get something to eat.

I tried to maneuver myself into a sitting position and noticed two things. The first was that somebody had undressed me, put one of my nightshirts on, and placed me under my blankets, so at least I woke up comfortably. The second thing I noticed was that there was something under the blankets with me, and it wasn’t Fawn, something that was beginning to move. I squealed in surprise and scooched away, the sound and my movement waking Fawn from her slumber on one of my pillows.

“Thank goodness you’re okay Merida!!” the Fairy called out as she kamikaze-hugged me. “Everyone was so worried and Mei feels terrible, she didn’t think that would happen.”

“Whoa Fawn, slow down a wee bit aye? Wot ‘appened tae me, an’ why did it make Mei feel so terrible? An’ more importan’ly wot’s movin, in ma bloody bed?!” I asked uncertainly, looking from the Fairy, to the movement, and then back to my Fairy friend.

“Oh, that’s the egg, Mei said we should try to keep it warm and near you until morning,” Fawn replied, answering my last question first. “I think that Mei brought it from Neverland for you, like she did with us Fairies, but I’ve never seen an egg like that before. Mei said that it was your birthday gift, and something about trying to link it to just you, rather than you and her, but she didn’t expect you to fall asleep instead of her. She was really worried when that happened, but your Mom said that you were just in a very deep sleep when she checked on you.”

So Mei had tried something different with her powers and I ended up passing out instead of her, I guess that explained it. If Mei felt like this every time she summoned something permanently though, I had to wonder why she had kept doing it at all. I already knew that though, Mei had wanted her sisters to share the joys of having Fairy friends as well. She was just that kind of person, she wanted to share her joys with those closest to her, or those who had none for themselves.

Still, Fawn’s mention of an egg had me curious and I gingerly reached out to lift the blanket and take a look. As I moved the blanket aside I discovered a purple egg with pink spots and I needed to use both hands to pull it into my lap. It was almost too big for me to hold in both hands and, though I had never seen its kind before, there was something achingly familiar about it that I couldn’t quite place at the moment. It wobbled and shook in my lap and I was glad that I had it securely in my lap rather than holding it, as when the first cracks began to appear on the surface I may have jumped a bit in surprise.

Suddenly the egg burst apart leaving a tiny pink dragon laying in my lap. It was tiny of course, no more than a foot long from its head to the tip of its tail, with four legs, a serpentine tail and neck, and large wings with a wingspan of maybe a foot and a half. It was also adorable, like a little chibi anime dragon brought to life. It blinked its large and bright golden reptilian eyes open and then stared up at me for a moment before making an excited sound and nuzzling me. “Peaches?!”I sputtered as I looked at the tiny little dragon in my lap. “Fawn, this is… this is…”

“A very small dragon?” my Fairy friend supplied helpfully.

“Oh aye,” I replied after taking a very deep breath. “Tha’ egg, an’ the way she looks, she’s jus’ like the baby dragon in ma fav’rite story, Princess Peony an’ the Amazin’ Egg.” I had never even told Blair this, but I had always wanted to find an egg just like that and have it hatch when I was a kid, and now Mei had made that happen for real. I was still staring at the baby dragon, curled up in my lap and nuzzling against me, when I heard a knock at my door.

I carefully placed the dragon on one of my pillows near Fawn, who was very curious about the newly hatched creature, and got through the curtains and out of bed to shuffle toward the door. I would have just called out for whoever it was to come in, but with my room being soundproofed they wouldn’t have been able to hear me without the door being slightly ajar. Whoever put me to bed the night before must have closed it when they left so that the expected explosion when I awoke wouldn’t bother anyone.

Almost as soon as I opened the door I found myself being glomped by the twins, with all the Fairies close behind, as Tasha and Vanessa stood in the doorway. “I’m so sorry Merida! I thought that it would be me who passed out, I never expected it to happen to you!” Mei half screamed and half blubbered as they nearly knocked me to the floor.

I hugged the pair as the Fairies all swooped in to give me tiny hugs. “Oi, dinnae go beatin’ yuirself up aboot tha’. Ya were tryin’ tae dae sumthin’ nice fer me, aye?”

“Yeah,” she replied as she sniffled against my shoulder.

“Well ya did tha’ Mei. Peaches is the best birthday gift e’er, an’ I go’ a full night’s sleep wi’ no nightmares, e’en if’n I dae feel like I’ve been through the spin cycle on the washin’ machine,” I replied as I held the twins tight.

“Yeah, even when I wake up I’m usually a bit drained for a few hours, and really hungry,” Mei admitted. I had to wonder though, if this was a bit drained for her, what was exhausted? Well, her body was probably build for whatever it is that she does.

“Aye, I’m starvin’, bu’ ‘tween this an’ the healin’ thing wi’ Lindsey, we’re really goin’ tae need tae try an’ fin’ out ‘ow exactly yuir powers work. There’s go’ tae be more tae it than jus’ creatin’ livin’ matter,” I told her seriously.

“I know,” she admitted with a sigh before changing the topic back to Peaches. “So did she hatch yet? I tried to time it so she’d hatch around when we thought you’d wake up.”

“Aye, she did Mei, I decided tae name ‘er Peaches, jus’ like in the story.” I gave the twins one last squeeze before ending the group hug. “An’ I’m fine, jus’ hungry an’ a wee bit tired, so all o’ ya kin stop hoverin’. I dinnae think we’ll ‘ave our trainin’ session today though, jus’ tae be on the safe side. We are celebratin’ birthdays after all,” I added for the Fairies and my other sisters, who were still standing in the doorway.

“Well, since we don’t have training, you might want to get ready to go out then Mer,” Tasha pointed out. “You said that you’re hungry, and last night Paul told Andy to bring us all over to the restaurant for yours and the twins’ birthday breakfast. He said that it’ll be free of charge for the birthday girls.”

“I’ll help dry your hair when you’re done your shower Mer, so we can get breakfast sometime today,” Vanessa added.

“We’ll take turns watching Peaches for you while we get dressed,” Shu quickly offered as she and Mei went to part the curtains and sit on my bed.

“Tae the showers Fawn!” I said as I ran to snatch up my bathrobe and made a run for nearest of the three bathrooms.

“Aye aye Merida!” Fawn answered, snapping a salute as she flitted past the twins and through the curtains toward her little house on top of my dresser and her own shower therein. As I left the room I could hear my sisters and the Fairies squealing in delight at how cute my new pet was.

I felt slightly better after my shower, though my hunger was becoming almost painful. The others, and their Fairies, were all dressed already, the Fairies in their usual clothes, while my sisters matched them. Tink and Mei were in Tinker Bell’s signature green strapless dress, and slippers with pompoms on the toes. Shu and Periwinkle were both clad in an aqua strapless dress, dark icy blue pants, and aqua colored shoes with white pompoms on their toes as well. Vanessa and Silvermist both wore a dark turquoise lily-patterned single-strapped dress with blue shoes, while Iridessa and Tasha sported dresses that looked like they were made of sunflower petals, decorated with a large sunflower seed on the front, and yellow shoes.

Once we had joined the others, Tasha brought me a large peeled orange and some leftover ham to tide me over until breakfast, and I shared the latter with Peaches, making sure to break it up into small pieces so the tiny dragon wouldn’t choke. While I enjoyed my light snack and fed Peaches, the Fairies helped Fawn get ready while my sisters helped me. Vanessa and Silvermist pulled the water from our hair, helping to dry it faster and then the twins set about braiding my hair, while her fellow Fairies did the same for Fawn. I had gotten used to wearing my hair loosely styled, but we all figured that if we were going to dress like our Fairy friends then we should try to replicate the hairstyles too, as best we could. Vanessa had even used her shifting ability to lengthen her hair and change the color to a dark blue so she could imitate Silvermist’s long tresses.

Finally, the others left so we could get dressed, once we had our hair braided. Fawn and I quickly shed our bathrobes and got into proper undergarments, then we both got dressed in the variation of one of her normal outfits that Fawn had chosen for today, an orange-and-amber dress with orange-yellow boots. I felt like a neon sign, but I forced myself to admit that it was fairly comfortable. Once I had slung my purse over my shoulders we headed downstairs, with Fawn riding my shoulder and Peaches cradled in my arms, to where Mom and Andy were waiting with the others.

“It’s good to see you awake at last Merida, Blair was worried about you,” Andy said with a smile and a nod, winking at me before he headed out the door to get the SUV started.

“I was no’,” Mom objected to his retreating back, an objection which countered the relieved look on her face. “Ya were just sleepin’, there wasn’t anythin’ physically wrong with ya, so I figured tha’ ya would just wake after a good long rest.” Then she promptly changed the topic to the little pink dragon in my arms. “So, tha’s what was in the egg, Mei wasn’t tellin’ anyone, bu’ I suspected tha’ it would be Peaches. No’ quite like I pictured ‘er, bu’ she’s adorable, an’ the color is right. Now let’s get goin’ girls, Merida’s probably starvin’.”

On the way to the restaurant, Mei explained why Peaches looked a little different than in the stories. Apparently she had been planning this gift since she heard about us celebrating our birthdays together, and while we had been staying in our dorm rooms, while waiting for us to have a new home to live in, she had done her research. She had gone to the school library and did a bunch of research in the section on magic and magical creatures on the various types of dragons. She had looked at pictures of all the various types and read details on their biology, abilities, and how they reacted to other creatures.

When it was all said and done, she decided on a cross between a salamander for their inherent abilities and the equally small feydragon, for their intelligence and for the fact that they are omnivores rather than carnivores. Besides their size, the most important feature of salamanders is that they are technically fire elementals; unaffected by fire, heat, and explosions. Mei had thought that would be a good match for me since Peaches wouldn’t be bothered even if my force field went to white-hot plasma while holding her. Peaches’ own flames could probably get that hot as well if she tried.

Feydragons on the other hand aren’t quite sentient, but they are a lot smarter than most other dragons, smart enough that some mages have been known to buy eggs, to raise them and train them to do a wide variety of tasks. There was also the fact that they imprint on the first creature they see as their mother. Both types of dragon were about the right size and the feydragon looked a lot like Peaches from the story and could come in various colors, including pink. With the cross of breeds Mei thought that I could expect Peaches to get to about three feet long with a wingspan of just over four feet when she reached her full size.

Peaches wasn’t an ordinary salamander/feydragon crossbreed though, even if such a thing did already exist in nature, as Mei had taken the best traits of various types of dragons and stuffed them all into that cute little package. She had the magic resistance of the great dragons, the hardened scales and sharp claws of the drakes, the powerful wing muscles of the wyverns, and the short range teleportation ability of the coatyl. She would probably be a very useful pet, but it also explained why Mei had thought I would need an Animal Fairy. Training and caring for a baby dragon wasn’t going to be easy.

We had a nice breakfast with Hiro and his parents, though Paul was kept busy at times acting as host to the customers. We were all able to eat our fill and Peaches seemed to enjoy the kids’ platter I got for her. Being omnivorous and born with a mouthful of teeth Mei figured that she could eat whatever we could, since her studies showed that all dragons ate solids as soon as they were born. We did have to be careful feeding her though, as some of her teeth were very sharp and she tended to snap food up quickly and not chew as much as she should, which could be dangerous for me, and deadly for Fawn, if we weren’t careful. So Fawn and I decided that cutting it into bite sizes and then just letting her go at the plate would be best for her for now.

“Where in the hell did you get a dragon anyway Merida?” Hiro asked with a grin as he watched the little pink beastie eat. “Just wait until Lindsey and Michelle see her, they’re gonna flip.”

Hiro’s talk of Lindsey and Michelle only served to bring to mind the very awkward offer that Lindsey had made in her room in the clinic the day before and I blushed, quickly returning my attention between eating my own breakfast and making sure that Peaches didn’t choke on hers. “I… uhhh… dinnae ken, Mei gave me the egg as a birthday present an’ it hatched this mornin’.” We really needed to think of a way to excuse this without making Mei’s powers public knowledge, especially in a public place like this, but I wasn’t really thinking very clearly.

“I summoned some feydragons a while back and one left an egg behind when they were de-summoned,” Mei explained with a smile. “I’ve been keeping it warm for her since, and since it was so close to hatching I had to give it to her today. I heard that they’re really smart, and Merida loves dragons.” She lowered her voice and leaned in to say in a quieter tone, so that even I barely heard her, “We’ll tell you the truth about that, and everything else later at the party. There are too many people here right now.”

I glanced over at Mei and smiled, she really seemed to have had this whole thing planned out. We had talked about what to do after what Mei had done yesterday by healing Lindsey. Healing didn’t really work all that well with our cover story of Mei being a summoner type mystic. We would have to edit future versions of that story, but after discussing it with Mom, we had decided that it was probably best to bring the members of 4-Ward, Hiro’s mother, and Lindsey’s cousin Jordyn into our confidence at the party later that afternoon and hope for the best. We would allow Hiro and his mother to tell his dad Paul as well.

Hiro’s brows rose in interest as did his mother’s, but they both nodded as Hiro kept the conversation going. “Lindsey is going to be so jealous, how is she doing by the way?” There was concern in his tone, but now that Lindsey had explained their relationship I could see that it was just concern for a very close friend. Still that meant that Lindsey was probably serious about the whole double date thing as well, and that made me nervous. He looked over at me and I blushed and quickly finished my meal.

“She was much improved las’ night when I left the clinic,” Mom supplied. “I’ll be goin’ to check on her after we’re done ‘ere, bu’ she an’ her cousin should both be free to go after tha’. So ya can all come and collect them if ya like. The party will start after lunch, so ya should all ‘ave time to hang out ‘til then. Just make sure tha’ yuir all at the house by two o’clock."

We finished our breakfast after that and then while Andy, Mom, and Kasumi all drove together to the school to get a bit of work done before the party, we decided to walk there with Hiro. He was going to call Michelle and Garret so they could meet us there and we could all be there together when Lindsey and Jordyn were released. We all chatted cheerfully as we made our way to Pacific Seaside Academy, though my sisters and I got more than a few strange looks for the way we were dressed, though those could have been for the Fairies that we currently matched riding on our shoulders, or the tiny dragon cradled in one of my arms. Hiro seemed to notice my discomfort and said, “Don’t worry Merida, you look great,” as he smiled at me and took my free hand in his own. I found myself only able to blush and look away as my heart thrummed violently in my chest and my breath caught. I silently held his hand for the rest of the walk to campus.

Saber sifted through news reports and security footage of superhuman incidents just as she had been for almost the past two weeks. If it had been the subject of her own interest, she would have long ago given up. This was a task set to her by Shade though, and one did not quit or fail a task that he appointed, not if that person wished to live. So she continued searching, until she saw the security camera footage from the day before at the train station in Costa Verde, California. There was the redhead with the bright red force field, the mermaid, the young black woman and the Chinese twins. Their faces were somehow blurred to the cameras, but she was certain that these were the girls that she had been set to find.

The footage was poor, and only barely showed the girls at all, but her job was completed, or rather it would be once she called in Code Pink and handed this task over to them. She sent the data packet via email and then picked up her phone with a tired sigh as she tapped the number for her contact with Code Pink. A moment later a far too cheerful voice answered, “Moshi moshi.”

“It’s Saber, Shade has an assignment for your team,” she replied, getting straight to the point. “I’ve sent you the details on the recruits by email.”

“Hai,” the voice on the other side replied, “So it’s a recruitment drive then?”

“Yes, recruit them if you can, if they won’t come willingly then you’re free to have some fun with them, just be sure to kill them when you’re done if they turn you down.”

A very girlish giggle erupted from the voice on the other end. “I’ve got the data now, so you’ve found us some other girls to play with huh Saber-sensei? This is going to be so much fun.”

“Yes, just try not to bring too much attention to yourselves, and remember that recruitment is preferable. You don’t want to disappoint Shade,” she replied with a sigh.

“Don’t worry Saber-sensei, we’ll handle this just like any other mission,” the girlish voice replied.

Saber sighed as she disconnected the call and muttered, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Regens. Regens are one o’ the simplest categories o’ Hypers. There’s no’ really any various categories, an’ the type o‘ power itself is fairly self-explanatory. Regens ‘ave the ability tae heal rapidly an’ regen’rate from injuries. The range an’ effectiveness depen’ on ‘ow powerful they are though.

Mos’ly Regens ‘ave the power tae recover quickly from damage, ‘cause their bodies use their Archetypes as a template fer their healin’ powers an’ try tae restore them tae tha’ template as quickly as possible wi’ their power level. A Cat’gory one or two Regen may ‘eal quickly from bruises an’ scrapes an’ the like, an’ mebbe ‘eal broken bones faster, while a Cat’gory three or above may be able tae regen’rate lost limbs. Some may ‘ave jus’ regen’ration based on physical injuries, while others may have accel’rated immune systems, resistance tae poisons, or all o’ the above, dependin’ on ‘ow aggressive their healin’ factor is.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Regens today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Teleporters. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.