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Author's Note: Here's chapter 5 of Syryn's Song. Thank you as always to all my readers for the comments, kudos, and thinking that my work is worth reading. Also thanks to the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a wonderfully supportive venue to read and post TG fiction ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 5: Logistics
 

It was a short hop over New York Bay to get to Staten Island and I slaved the navigation system of my skybike to Ian’s to make the trip. For one thing, he knew where he was going. For another, I wanted to keep a firm telekinetic hold on Rave, or rather Amy, during the trip. As soon as she had seen the ‘bikes she had been very eager for the trip, but she was still very weak and I wanted to be cautious in case she lost her grip on me.

We ended up landing in the backyard of a large two storey brick home, backed against Clove Lakes Park. There was a fairly tall fence and plenty of trees to keep prying eyes out, so it was with great relief that I helped Amy off the bike and we exited its cloaking field. “I can see why you wanted to enter by the back door,” I said with approval.

Ian smiled at me. “With neither of you wearing a disguise at the moment, I thought it would be best. It’s not exactly how I wanted to bring you home to meet my parents, but Kim is about the same size as Amy, so I was hoping she might be able to help with the clothes situation until we can get her some of her own.” He opened the door and called out, “Mom! Dad! We’re here!”

“We’re in the family room,” called out a woman’s voice. Ian led the way through the kitchen and we followed him into a comfortably furnished room tastefully decorated in cream and cocoa. There was a large brick fireplace, hardwood floors, and sitting on a comfortable-looking leather sofa was a slender blonde woman, just starting to go gray, and a fit man whose salt and pepper hair was just beginning to recede. Both were dressed casually, but fashionably and they smiled as soon as we followed Ian into the room and rose to greet us.

“Ian!” I had to assume that the teenage Chinese girl who suddenly ran down the stairs to glomp Ian was his sister Kim. She looked about the same age as Amy, wore her hair in twin pigtails and was dressed comfortably in a white crop top and skinny jeans. “It’s good to see you bro,” she said with genuine affection and then turned toward us to ask, “So who are your friends?”

“This is… uh… Syryn, she’s the leader of our team and the lead singer of our band,” Ian offered, seeming uncertain on which name that he should introduce me by without my disguise on. “And this is Rave, we saved her from some people who were after her. She’s been on the run for a while and her clothes are in bad shape, so I was hoping that Kim might have some things that she could borrow to wear while she recovers and we watch over her for a few days.”

The three of them hadn’t even raised an eyebrow at Amy’s and my appearance and I thought about that as Ian explained the situation with Amy. These were his parents and they had been supportive of him and kept his secret, in fact when he had Activated they warned him about what kind of treatment he could expect. Finally I gave them the best smile I could manage and once their son was finished his explanation I told them, “Please call me Candy, it’s not like we’re in the public eye at the moment and from what Ian’s told me you’ve been pretty good at keeping his secret, so I think I can trust you with mine.”

“I guess you can call me Amy too,” Rave offered, uncertainly following my lead. “It’s not like I really have a secret identity anyway, looking like this.”

“Prodigy will help you with that,” I told the younger Hyper. “Do you remember how I looked normal when we met? He made me that disguise and I’m sure he’s already got ideas in mind for one for you.”

“It’s good to meet you both,” Ian’s father offered with a smile. “Any friends of Ian’s are welcome here anytime. He’s a good judge of character.”

“Don’t worry about your secrets girls we won’t tell a soul, it’s nice to finally meet you Candy. Ian’s been careful not to use names, but you’re all he’s been talking about lately,” Mrs. Smith said with a smile of her own, causing Ian to turn a deep red.

Kim looked Amy and me both over for a moment before adding a grin of her own. “Yeah Ian’s always talking about you Candy, it’s good to finally have a name and a face to go with what he’s been saying.” Then she turned her attention to Amy. “It looks like you’ve had it pretty rough. We’re about the same size Amy, so I’m pretty sure I have some clothes that you can have. Would you like to take a nice hot bath before we pick some things out for you? If you’ve been on the run I’ll bet it’s been a while, and it’ll probably help you relax a bit.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ian’s mother agreed with a nod. “Oh! And you’ll all have to stay for dinner.”

“I’ll head to the butcher shop and pick up some things and then Ian and I can start up the barbecue. Are either of you girls vegetarian? I’d hate to pick up something that you couldn’t eat,” Mr. Smith chimed in.

Ian’s family was kind of like a whirlwind, and Amy and I looked at one another for a moment unsure of what to do. Finally we both just relented, and Kim took Amy upstairs to put her in a nice hot bath while she picked out some clothes for her. While they were doing that Mr. Smith headed out to the grocery store and the butcher shop to get some things for dinner as Ian and I chatted with his mother. It was kind of strange for me being in a home with such a friendly and supportive family and I had to wonder how Amy was handling it as Mrs. Smith pulled out the baby pictures and told me all about Ian growing up.

Mostly I just listened and commented when it was appropriate or answered questions, since I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t that I felt uncomfortable or unwelcome, in fact it was very much the opposite. While Ian’s family was bringing me and Amy out of our comfort zones, it was done in a caring and supportive way. Rather than pulling, pushing, or dragging us into their sphere of influence, it was more like we were being drawn into a protective and loving embrace, one that makes you reluctant to leave it.

Was this what normal families were like? I couldn’t really be certain anymore. It was possible that they were so accepting because they were adoptive parents, it takes a special kind of person to do that. My mother had been overbearing and restrictive, and then once I had changed I was no longer her child, just an abomination. Ian’s mother on the other hand, and in fact his whole family, was supportive and loving without being constrictive. They treated us as they would any other friend or family member, and it felt like they were doing it because they actually cared and wanted to see us feeling safe and happy.

After an hour I started to loosen up a bit and got to know Ian’s mother a bit better, I even started telling her about myself. When I told her how my own mother had treated me when I Activated she scowled and wrapped me up in a hug. “You Poor dear,” she said with a frown as she reassuringly took my hand in both of hers. “Disgusting that a woman should treat their own child that way, no wonder you’ve been so skittish. I take it that poor Amy suffered similar circumstances?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah she was treated the same way by her own family, from what she told me and Ian. Though she’s had it much worse than me what with living on the streets since and then being on the run from those Right Hand assholes.”

“Well you’re both welcome here any time, and your other bandmates as well, Ian has said nothing but good things about you all. If you’d like we could watch over Amy while she recovers,” she offered.

I smiled as I considered her offer. “I appreciate it Mrs. Smith and I think you’ll be seeing more of us in the future. We promised Amy that we’d watch over her until we could find a more permanent arrangement for her though, since she seems somewhat comfortable with me and Ian, and I don’t like to go back on my word.”

Ian nodded beside me and his mother smiled warmly at us. “A person’s word is their bond,” she agreed, “It’s nice to meet young people with such good values nowadays. I think you’ve found a keeper Ian dear.”

I blushed a deep lavender at that, but Ian and I were spared further embarrassment as his father chose that moment to come home and he and Ian went into the back yard to start the grill. While the men were in the backyard taking care of the lion’s share of dinner, Ian’s mother and I went into the kitchen to do our share. As she worked on making some potato salad and I put together a salad we chatted about music and singing. It wasn’t hard to see where Ian had gotten his passion for music from and it was nice talking about singing with someone who loved it as much as I did.

It was as we here happily chatting and finishing up that Kim and Amy returned from upstairs. Amy was looking a lot better, and a bit more relaxed, now that she was cleaned up and wearing decent clothes. Kim had managed to find the young mutant a pair of white low-rise jeans, a pink crop top, and some socks and sneakers that fit her fairly decently. Amy still looked like she hadn’t eaten in weeks, but nonetheless she looked markedly improved from when we had first met.

“Ta-da!” Kim gestured enthusiastically at Amy. I thought that Amy might be blushing a bit, but with her pitch black skin and glowing green lines and patterns it was really hard to tell. “I found a few other outfits and some pajamas I don’t wear for her as well, but we’ll need to go shopping for her at some point to get her some more clothes, especially underclothes. I found one set that I’ve never used, but she’s a bit bigger than me in the chest, so the bra is a bit tight on her.”

“Thanks a lot for helping her out with the clothes Kim,” I told her appreciatively as I finished tossing the salad. “Hopefully once Prodigy has her set up with a way to blend in while in public and we’ve figured out something more permanent for her living situation she’ll be able to go shopping.”

“Give me a call when you do,” Ian’s sister eagerly offered. “We could all go together, I’d love to hang out and get to know you both better. Or Amy and I can go on our own if you’re busy with band and team stuff, she should have a friend her own age to go shopping with.”

I looked uncertainly at Amy. With her trust issues around people in general, and the way that normal humans had hounded her in particular I wanted her to be able to make this decision for herself. Finally I looked over the other mutant and asked, “What do you think Amy?”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Amy admitted a bit uncertainly. “It’s been years since I had people that didn’t treat me like some sort of freak... I had Inverse and Eva and the others for a while, but we kind of stayed together through necessity, except for being mutants we didn’t have a lot in common and not many of them were the same age as me. We were talking a bit while Kim was helping me with the clothes and stuff and she seems cool. I forgot what it was like just being a normal girl and hanging out with a friend, and it was nice.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, I had been worried that Amy might just be too jaded, but it seemed like Ian’s family was having a similar effect on her as it was on me. Being seen as ourselves and treated normally was something we weren’t used to from normal humans, but I think it was something we both needed as well so, now that the initial shock had worn off, we were clinging to it and hoping that it could last. “That sounds like a great idea Kim,” I told them with a smile.

“Great! Just have Ian give you my number when you’re ready then,” Kim replied with an infectious grin. Then she seemed to remember something and reached into the back pocket of her jeans, producing her cell phone. “BTW Candy, Youtube is loving you right now.” She swiped the phone a few times and then handed it to me with a Youtube page on the screen. The video was entitled, “Who is the Blue Bombshell?” and in the past 3 hours since it was posted it already had over ninety thousand hits.

Wide-eyed, I pressed play on the video. It looked like it had been filmed from the pier and captured the whole incident with Smith and Company, from when the VTOL Landed to when I put out the fire and flew over to the crowd to calm the panic. Most of the video was a wide view range of the incident, but at the end it had zoomed in on me hovering above the crowd. The comments section was already filled with people buzzing about the incident. Most of the feedback was positive, though there were a few blaming me for the death of Smith and his men. There were even a few comments from girls on my “sexy sidekick” that confused me a bit, until I clicked on a similar video that had zoomed in on Ian in his bandana and sunglasses shielding be from the blast of the explosion with his force field.

“Omigod,” I finally managed to get out as I sank onto one of the kitchen stools.

“Maybe we should turn on the TV and check the local news,” Ian’s mother said as she gently pulled me to my feet and into the living room.

The four of us sat on the couch and Ian’s mother turned on the television, switching between several channels until she found a local news station. We had to wait nearly ten minutes, but once the world news was finished a picture of me floating in the air appeared behind the news anchor. “And in local news,” he began, “an incident between a pair of Hypers and what has been confirmed as members of the terrorist organization, The Right Hand, shook Coney Island earlier today.”

The video I had watched on Youtube replaced that of the news room as the anchor’s voice continued speaking. “The incident was recorded on a cell phone and has already gotten nearly one hundred thousand views since being posted earlier this afternoon.” Once the video had finished the view switched again to a podium where a police officer in a formal uniform stood and the anchor’s voice said, “We now take you live to a press conference with Lieutenant Anthony Russo, head of the NYPD’s Hyper-related Crimes Unit.”

“Good evening,” Lt. Russo said as he shuffled some papers in his hands. “Regarding the incident earlier today at Coney Island; the armored men were members of a terrorist organization called the Right Hand, and the cause of their deaths has been determined as a neurotoxin released into their bloodstream by their own organization to prevent us from getting any useful information. The two young Hypers involved are part of a team that is cooperating with the HCU and Aegis and were protecting an escaped prisoner of the Right Hand. They are in no way responsible for the deaths of these terrorists and their quick reactions prevented serious injuries or deaths among bystanders. Due to the ongoing nature of our investigation into this terrorist organization I will not be answering any questions at this time, thank you.”

I just stared at the screen, uncertain of what to think until Mrs. Smith turned off the screen and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “It was going to happen sooner or later dear, you’ve been training for this kind of thing and you were bound to start getting attention once you came to light. At least you’ve been publicly cleared of any wrongdoing.”

“I guess it’s not too bad when you put it like that,” I admitted, “And we did save Amy. I guess that I was just really hoping we could avoid media attention like this until after the Battle of the Bands.”

“The Battle of the Bands?” Amy asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

I nodded and started to explain, “Riff and I are training to do the whole superhero thing with some friends of ours, but we’re also all part of a band and we’re hoping to make a big splash at the Battle of the Bands at the end of August.”

“Really?! What kind of music do you play? Can I hear you play sometime?” Amy blurted out, firing the questions at me.

“You can sit in on our practice tomorrow, as long as you’re quiet and resting while doing it. Remember what Dr. Park told you. You’re supposed to be taking it easy while you get your strength back,” I told her.

It was then that Ian and his father entered the room, the latter calling out, “Dinner is ready.”

To be certain that nobody would accidentally see me or Amy, we ate dinner in the dining room rather than in the back yard. The meal consisted of the tossed salad, potato salad, iced tea, baked potatoes, barbeques ribs, and hamburgers and Amy was encouraged to eat her fill. As we ate we informed Ian and his father about the news and the Youtube video and Ian seemed about as uncertain about the whole thing as I was.

After dinner was finished, and much friendly jabbing from Ian’s family and Amy, Ian got an acoustic guitar from his old bedroom and we managed an acoustic version of In the Shadows. It probably would have been better with Leslie’s organ too, but they all seemed happy with it and Amy couldn’t stop staring at me. After that we had to leave though, with promises to come visit, since Amy was looking very tired and I wanted her to get some proper bedrest.

It was almost nine o’clock by the time we got home and I was very glad that I had kept a firm telekinetic hold on Amy while we travelled, since she had ended up falling asleep during the trip. I levitated her all the way up to the apartment that Leslie and I shared, careful not to jostle her, and then settled her on the couch, where I covered her with a spare blanket. I had Ian place the backpack full of spare clothes that Kim had given Amy on the floor and then I placed my purse and stuffed bunny on my bed and checked my phone, which had been buzzing in my purse for most of the trip home.

The call display showed Blake’s number, so while Ian went to find our bandmates I quickly tapped call icon and waited for Blake to pick up. I didn’t have to wait long, since it had barely rung once before my young Tinker friend picked up. “Hi Candy, how did things go with getting the clothes and stuff? How’s Amy?”

He was worried about her, it was so cute. I managed, just barely, to hold back a giggle as I replied, “Ian’s sister gave her a bunch of clothes and his parents made sure she had plenty to eat before we left there. We just got back and she’s sleeping on my couch now.”

I heard him let out a sigh of relief. “Oh good, I was a bit worried about her, I’m glad she’s getting some rest.”

“How goes the search for the evil lair?” I asked, hoping that they had found something.

His voice carried an angry and annoyed tone as he answered my last question first. “We found the place, but it was scrubbed and completely abandoned. Detective MacArthur thinks that they pulled up stakes after Amy escaped. The HCU is looking for clues, but it looks like it’s going to be hard to find anything. We’re going to help comb the place over, so could you let Brianna know that I’ll probably be back late? She wanted to do something tonight, but I’m probably gonna crash as soon as I get back.”

“It figures,” I grumbled in disappointment. “I’ll let her know for you. I saw the press conference on the news, did you and Travis have something to do with that?”

“Sorry about that, but Phil constantly monitors the internet for anything of interest and once that video started going viral we needed to start thinking about spin control. You and Ian did the right thing and even though it’s unofficial, you have ties to Aegis and thus the HCU as well. People needed to know the truth before anti-mutant flamers could start dragging your names through the mud. Lt. Russo also had a public warning about the Right Hand and how dangerous they are posted on the NYPD’s website along with video footage of HCU incidents with them and their sudden deaths to support your innocence.”

“We haven’t even met this Lt. Russo, so why the hell is he willing to go to bat for us like this?” I wondered aloud.

Blake laughed as he replied, “He trusts Aegis and Detective MacArthur vouched for you. It’s not common knowledge, but a lot of the cops in the HCU are Hypers, including Lt. Russo and Detective MacArthur. None of them have really flashy powers suitable for putting on a cape and tights, but Lt. Russo hand-picked every member of that squad.”

“They’re Hypers? What powers do they have?” I asked in sudden interest.

“I met them both last year and trust me, there’s a reason that Detective MacArthur never takes off her sunglasses,” he told me with another laugh. “She has a minor telepathic ability and these weird eyes that give her a sort of hyper-enhanced intuition and powers of observation. She’s like a modern day Sherlock Holmes, which is why Lt. Russo is willing to take her at her word and why she’s working this case. If there’s a clue to be found she’ll find it. As for Lt. Russo, he can sense other mutants and has low-level telekinetic abilities.”

“Those sound like useful abilities in their line of work, and having so many Hypers means that they’ll actually want to solve these cases instead of just pinning the blame on us when it’s convenient.”

“Yeah the HCU is a lot better about giving us a fair shake than a lot of agencies that deal with Hypers,” Blake agreed. “I should be getting back to the others though Candy, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later Blake,” I said, signing off. Then I headed for the studio, where I was hoping I would find Ian and the others.

Brianna and all of my bandmates were all crowded around the laptop that we used for sound editing when I walked in, and from the sounds of it Ian was showing them the Youtube videos and the press conference. “Hey guys,” I said with a wave as I entered the room.

“Well, lookie here, if it isn’t the ‘Blue Bombshell’ herself,” Mai teased. I could only groan as I realized that that nickname wasn’t going to be going away for a while. “You two are moving pretty fast, usually fighting mutant-hating terrorists and becoming a Youtube sensation is a third date kind of thing.”

“Ian sure knows how to show a girl a good time,” I shot back playfully. “And I even got to spend the evening with his family having dinner and getting to know them. There were baby pictures and everything.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” Leslie put in, giving me an appraising look.

“She’s... uh… not,” Ian admitted, looking just a little embarrassed. “My family wants to meet the whole band by the way, I was just never sure how to bring them up before since none of you have a good relationship with your families.”

“Wait… you actually had dinner with his family? For real?” Mai sputtered, her eyes going from me to Ian and then back to me again.

“Yeah they were really nice,” I admitted. “They didn’t even flinch at my appearance when I met them, blue skin and all. And as for our new houseguest, they were more concerned with getting her some clothes and making sure she ate a good meal to care about her appearance either. Luckily Ian’s sister was close to her size and had some clothes that she didn’t mind giving up.”

“Houseguest?” John asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ian and I kinda promised Dr. Park that we would all keep an eye on Amy, the girl we saved, for a few days while she rests and recovers. She’s kind of in the same family situation as me so she doesn’t have anyone else to turn to right now. She’s asleep on our couch now Leslie, so we’ll need to be careful not to wake her when we return to the apartment. Dr. Park wants her resting as much as possible and getting three solid meals a day.”

“Now that I’m settled in, I don’t mind keeping an eye on her while you’re all training for the day,” Brianna quickly offered. “I may be able to help more with her clothes situation too, and maybe I can get my little bro to help keep an eye on her too.”

“Thanks Brianna, that’s really nice of you. I don’t think it’ll be a problem getting him to help out, it looks like he’s a bit sweet on her,” I told her with a giggle. “Oh, that reminds me, Blake said that he likely won’t be back until late since he, Travis, and Dr. Park are assisting the HCU in their investigation of the Right Hand. He said that he’ll probably crash as soon as he gets home.”

“Thanks for letting me know Candy, I guess that means that we’ll have time to go over some of the ideas I have for your costumes then,” she offered with a grin.

I grinned right back at her. “I was hoping you might say that, let’s see what you got.”

We all had relocated to Brianna’s studio, a well organized room with a huge work table bearing her sewing machine and serger on one end, with a medium sized rotating rack between them that played host to spools of thread in a rainbow of different shades. The other end of the worktable was cleared for cutting materials or being able to lay them out flat. One wall was dominated by square cubbies hosting rolls of different materials of varying shades and textures, and in the corner there was a pair of adjustable mannequins, one male and one female.

Brianna had us all gather around the cleared end of the worktable and soon she had placed her tablet in the center to give us all a clear view of the ideas she had sketched while she explained them. So like I said before, I’m thinking mostly black in gothic styles with the team/band logo on your backs to give them a uniform feel. Each of you would have slight differences in style, an individual symbol over your hearts, and a signature color to go with your on stage personas.”

“Wait, we’re going to have to act like someone else when in costume? I don’t know if I can really do that,” Mai pointed out in concern.

“Trust me, they won’t be much of a stretch and most of the persona will be displayed in the costumes themselves,” the designer assured us, “but feel free to play it up as much as you like for the public.”

“Okay, so what are these personas?” Ian asked in interest.

Brianna pointed at me with a grin. “Okay first we have Candy. As Syryn, I’ve decided to make your costume sultry and seductive with a lot of gothic flair. Sirens in the Greek myths were known to lure in sailors and seduce them with their voices. You have the voice down, from what I’ve heard, so the sultry and seductive look will play on that. Your signature color will be cotton candy pink to go along with your hair and contrast the black of the rest of your costume. I haven’t really come up with definitive symbols for each of you yet, but for you I’m thinking of something music based with a lot of curves to suit you. Unlike the others, you’ll be showing quite a bit of skin to accentuate your differences, but all the vital bits will be covered with the bulletproof material I’m making all of your costumes out of. ”

I had been half expecting something like she was describing, so I quickly explained, “No worries about the exposed skin, I don’t really need to concentrate anymore to keep a TK shield up at all times. It’ll protect me from bullets and other projectiles. I was planning on keeping one up whenever we perform or do the hero thing anyway since I’m not wearing a mask and I’ll be putting a pretty big target on my exposed head for anti-mutant extremists.”

“Good, I knew that you wanted to be yourself on stage, but I was a bit worried about someone shooting you in one of the exposed bits,” she responded with a sigh of relief. Then pointing to the rough sketch on her tablet she continued explaining. “Now for your costume itself I was thinking of a studded collar with a front-lacing corset to hug your curves, show a good amount of cleavage, and leave your shoulders and upper arms bare. The skirt will be secured with a studded antigravity belt to match the collar. The skirt itself will have a hem at mid thigh on your right side that tapers down to just below the knee on the left with a crinoline in your signature color underneath to fill it out and bring attention to your legs and the curves that your corset is showing off. Elbow length fishnet gloves and ankle boots over thigh high fishnet stockings would complete the outfit and the lacing in the boots and corset would both be in your signature pink. I’ll also make you an optional leather jacket for those times when it’s a little colder.”

“Ooh! Do me next!” Mai blurted out eagerly.

The designer laughed, but flipped through a few images before settling on one. “For the rest of you I’ll be adding touches to your costumes to subtly, or in some cases blatantly, hide your real identities as well as add to the believability of your personas. For Starbright your persona is the sexy and flirty party girl.”

“I think she can handle that just fine,” Leslie teased with a laugh.

Mai stuck out her tongue at my roommate as Brianna continued her explanation. “Your signature color will be a pastel blue that contrasts the black and gets attention. You’ll be wearing a full skintight bodysuit that covers you from head to toe in that blue color and made from a bulletproof material. The only part of you that bodysuit won’t cover will be your ears and the area of the mouth, nose, and chin not covered by the mask. To preserve your secret identity I’ll be adding padding to the mask to make it look like you have more prominent cheekbones and strategic padding to the bodysuit to give you the more stereotypical superheroine physique since you’re so petite.”

“The body suit is just to disguise your features and keep you from being riddled with bullets,” the designer carefully explained while raising a hand to stave off Mai’s possible protests. “Over top that we’ll build your persona’s look. The bodysuit will have a built-in realistic looking wig to hide your normally long hair. I’m thinking black, since that’s your natural hair color; something short on one side with a side part and then shoulder length on the other, with light blue streaks and half covering your face. Over top the bodysuit you’ll be wearing a black crop top with a black three quarter sleeve leather jacket and matching miniskirt, gloves, ankle boots, and utility belt.

“I think I can live with that,” Mai said with a grin.

“Now for Twilight, we’re going to go dark and mysterious, with silver as her signature color,” Brianna said as she once again flipped through images until she found the one she was looking for. “You’ll be wearing a dusky silver bodysuit from ankle to neck with a black leotard overtop. We’ll accessorize with black knee high combat boots and elbow length gloves, both of which will lock firmly in place with a series of prominent silver buckles. The final touches will be a black domino mask and a knee-length black cloak with a deep hood that will obscure the features of your face and body.”

“Dark and mysterious huh? I like the look of it, it goes well with my codename,” my roommate stated with approval as she looked over the design. “So, who’s next?”

Brianna flipped one image over before turning to regard John. “Decibel may bring the noise, but you seem to be a fairly quiet person by nature, so we’re going to work with that and make you enigmatic and a bit intimidating. You have a good physique that’s not overly muscular and not toothpick thin, so we’re going to do a form fitting bodysuit from ankles to neck, black in the legs with a gradient fading into the red torso at the waist, with a black trench coat over top. The boots and gloves would be in your signature dark red. We won’t do a regular mask for you, but rather a helmet or something that will completely hide your face from view and distort your voice when you do speak. I’ll work with Blake to come up with something that works with the overall costume theme.”

“Feel free to make me look as badass and intimidating as you want,” John joked with a chuckle, “I’m not going to complain. I guess that just leaves Ian then. Feel free to make him look slightly less badass, he does have a force field after all, and we can’t have the sidekick outdoing the Blue Bombshell.”

“Thanks a lot dude,” Ian muttered, letting out an exaggerated groan.

“Well he is the ‘sexy sidekick’ Brianna replied with a laugh. “Plus he’s the lead guitarist so maybe we should use that, cash in on sex appeal for the girls, since Syryn will be holding the attention of all the guys. I was having trouble deciding on something for Riff, but I had a few ideas and one of them should work well with his newfound popularity with the girls.”

“What kind of idea?” Ian inquired cautiously.

Brianna looked thoughtful for a moment, flipping through several sketches before coming up with the one that she was looking for and making some quick alterations. “Like I said, we’ll make you Syryn’s opposite number. We’ll go with tight black pants and a military style vest fastened with four straps in the front with royal purple clasps and accents. We won’t have you wearing a shirt underneath to show off your chest and arms and make all your fangirls happy. To contrast the mostly black outfit a bit we’ll have a purple strip, maybe three inches wide, run down each side of your body from underarm to ankle. We could finish it off with pirate style boots and gloves, black with royal purple trim and a mask to cover up the upper half of your face, but open at the top to let your long hair hang freely.”

Ian thought about it for a moment and finally nodded. “That sounds okay, but Syryn gets a jacket in case it’s cold, so shouldn’t I too?”

“What? And disappoint all your fangirls?” Brianna said with a shocked and serious look on her face. She couldn’t hold it in place for long though before she broke down into a fit of giggles. “I’m… just kidding. I’ll make a male version of Syryn’s Jacket for you.”

“You’re almost as bad as Mai,” Ian muttered, though he was smiling when he did so.

The next day we spent mostly relaxing and watching over Amy since most of Aegis was still busy with doing work for their civilian jobs and Blake, Travis, and Dr. Park took the Ladybug to continue whatever work they had been doing before I had interrupted them the day before. Before they had left though Blake had stopped by to tweak a version of my second skin pendant and hair net that he had whipped up the night before for Amy that gave her the appearance of having lightly tanned skin and chestnut brown hair. She had been so happy with the results that she had hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Blake had left after that, just as happy and a bit red in the face.

After making sure that the three of us had eaten a good breakfast and that Amy was resting on the couch watching television, Leslie and I worked on a new song that I had an idea for since meeting Amy the day before. Our treatment from both our parents and many other normal humans in our natural forms had been very similar and it was a far too common reaction to obvious mutants like us that pained me inside. It wasn’t even just mutants, but anyone who was even the slightest bit different in some way ended up hated and ridiculed for things that were beyond our control.

We had finished working on the new song by lunchtime and so we decided to take Amy out for a brief walk to a nearby burger joint to get her out of the apartment for a bit and used to being, and blending in, in public. She was nervous at first, obviously worried about someone seeing through her disguise, but as we ate nobody paid any special attention to us, other than the looks that boys reserved for girls they thought were cute. She was a lot more relaxed by the time we returned to the apartment and it improved my mood immensely.

We had decided on an extra long practice during the afternoon since we had the free time and Brianna and Amy made themselves comfortable on the couch in the studio to watch while we ran through each of our songs several times. Amy was enraptured the whole time, especially after Brianna had explained that we were going to be super heroes and the world’s first openly mutant band. Finally we were about ready to finish for the day when I started handing out the music sheets for the new song. “Leslie and I finished this one this morning guys,” I explained a bit uncertainly, “I call it ‘Light the Darkness’. Now I know that it’s a bit slower than our usual stuff, but I had the idea running through my head all night and I wanted to give it a try.”

The tempo was slow, sad, and languid and Leslie started in on the organ almost as soon as John had started setting down the beat. Ian and Mai jumped in filling out the melody and I just let it take hold for a long moment, washing over me and our audience before adding my voice as the first verse began. I thought about all that Leslie and Amy had been through before I met them, how lonely and difficult it must have been for them, how much they had suffered. Being very careful to control my empathy and just let my voice itself convey those emotions, I started in on the first verse.

Some people play at being sharks
They prey on those alone or sick
Their biting seems to leave no marks
But how can people be so thick
All the scars are deep inside
Each day hiding them gets harder
Then one day it’s suicide
And bullies get away with murder

Sadness and disgust at that kind of treatment, and how it could have ended up so much worse for my friends or even for myself, colored my tone. I let that final word hang there as the interlude began and then when the tune slipped into the chorus I beseeched my listeners to hope as the words flowed from my tongue.

A single candle in the night
It doesn’t really seem so bright
But stand up tall and hold it high
So that others see your light
You might find not everyone’s so heartless
When that one candle is a sign
To call more candles in the darkness
And together you will shine

I let the final word carry, keeping that hope alive in my voice as long as I could before the next interlude. Then as the next verse began I though of my mother and how much her words and actions had hurt me since I had activated, pouring all of that into the next verse, while continuing to keep a firm hold on my empathy. I wanted the words and the emotions in my voice to carry the song, not my psychic ability. I wanted to provoke deep thought, not the depression and anger that those thoughts actually made me feel.

They say you’re a freak, they say you’re a loser
They call you so many hurtful names
Whoever they are they’re just an abuser
Don’t be a victim to their games
You’ve heard their side, now hear my side
It doesn’t matter what they’ve said
We may all be different on the outside
But in the end we all bleed red

I let the message and the words slowly ebb away, taking a moment to collect myself before the chorus began again and I once more put all the hope I could muster into those words.

A single candle in the night
It doesn’t really seem so bright
But stand up tall and hold it high
So that others see your light
You might find not everyone’s so heartless
When that one candle is a sign
To call more candles in the darkness
And together you will shine

The next verse was more insistent and I put my own confidence into the words as I started in. I had found good friends who accepted me for who I was and I had to believe that with the right push others could as well.

Who you are, where you come from,
Who you love, the color of your skin
It doesn’t matter, you’re still someone
And what counts is what’s within
Take it from someone who’s been there
Just hold high that candle’s light
There are others with a light to share
And together things can be alright

After carrying that last note I took a good silent breath of air. I was under no delusion that these simple lyrics could change the way that those who were different were treated, but if even one person who ever listened to this song didn’t feel so alone anymore, if I could change one life for the better than it would be worth it. I broke into the chorus one last time, hoping that that would be the case.

A single candle in the night
It doesn’t really seem so bright
But stand up tall and hold it high
So that others see your light
You might find not everyone’s so heartless
When that one candle is a sign
To call more candles in the darkness
And together you will shine

Yes, together we will shiiiiine…

I held that last note, reluctant to let go and then I let the others bring the song to a close, the melody growing ever more silent until it had faded completely.

I looked up to see Brianna and Amy smiling, tears in their eyes. My bandmates all wore similar expressions and John gave a nod of approval. Nobody really had to say anything at that point. The song may have been slower and more melancholy than our usual fare, but the message, that was something we could all get behind.

For the next two days, Brianna watched Amy while the rest of us trained for the day, but whenever we weren’t in training she was everywhere we were, following us, and particularly me, around like a little lost puppy. She seemed to have fully recovered, but we had no idea what to do with her now. I wasn’t about to let her go back to living on the streets, but putting her in the foster care system wouldn’t work out well for her unless the foster parents knew she was a mutant, and I didn’t want her to have to out herself either now that she had a way to blend in.

Brianna had taken a liking to Amy and had offered to see Tara at the Hyper Protection Program office in regards to becoming her acting foster parent. Amy was even keen on the idea, but there was one problem that I could foresee. Her obvious hero worship toward me and the other members of my team was pushing her to want to become more involved in what we were doing. She wanted to be a part of RevolveR and that made me nervous. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her or thought that she shouldn’t be part of the team because she didn’t play an instrument. We all liked her, in fact she was kind of becoming like a kid sister to us and there were other ways she could help the team than just as a band member. What bothered me was her age, and that what we were doing was going to be dangerous.

I had tried to subtly discourage her, but it hadn’t helped and at the end of those three days she spent recovering she finally got the nerve to ask what was on her mind. “I want to join your team.”

I sighed as I thought about how best to discourage her. Finally, I just came out with the truth. “This isn’t a game Amy, people die doing the superhero thing and you’re not legally old enough to make that decision for yourself.”

“I know it’s not a game and I know what’s at stake,” she stated, crossing her arms stubbornly. “I stayed alive for a month and a half with those Right Hand assholes on my heels, and ‘that decision’ was made for me the moment that I Activated. Besides, I could be so useful to you on missions with my powers, and I don’t need to be an actual part of the band, I’d be like the best Roadie ever!”

I hated to admit it but her points were valid, in fact similar thoughts had entered my own mind as I had considered the problem over the past day. The biggest problem was that her powers could allow her to accompany us on missions whether we wanted her to or not. She also had the determination and sheer stubbornness to do just that, and I could hardly keep her safe if she was jumping into missions and not part of the game plan.

Time and again it came back to one conclusion. The only real way to keep her safe was to allow her to be a part of things, but on my terms. I needed to be able to know what she was going to be doing and limit her involvement with anything potentially dangerous. Finally I said, “I’ll talk to Aegis about it, but there will be conditions. These are non-negotiable, you do this on my terms or not at all.”

She jumped and hugged me. “Name them! I’ll do anything!”

“First of all, since Brianna seems to want to be your guardian, she has to sign off on this. Second, you need to follow orders at all times. Third, you’ll be a probationary member until Blackout and Liberty can assure me that you’re not going to be a danger to yourself or anyone else out there. Blackout is going to work you hard and if he doesn’t see an effort to learn and improve you’re out. Fourth, come September you’ll start homeschooling; you’ve been out of school for two years and you’ll need to catch up to graduate. And last, but not least, no lone ranger bullshit; you stick with the team and where I can keep an eye on you at all times, unless I give you the order to leave.

“You got it! Absolutely! I’m gonna go talk to Bri right now!” With that she took off for Brianna’s apartment and left me wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

To say that Liberty and Blackout weren’t enthused by the idea is putting it mildly, but as team leader it was my decision and they couldn’t argue with my logic and my conditions had met with their approval. I think that Blackout was privately hoping that Amy would quit once the training got too hard for her, but I had the feeling that he was going to be disappointed on that score. Amy wasn’t the type to give up and I was fairly certain that she would work hard to make sure that every one of my conditions was met or exceeded.

Amy had convinced Brianna to endorse it as well, probably because Brianna knew as well as I did that without my terms she probably would have done it whether we liked it or not. She would be better off doing it with our knowledge and full protective gear. The designer had shown us the costume design she had come up with for Amy’s alter ego Rave as well; a full neck to toes neon green bodysuit that exactly mimicked the glowing lines and geometric patterns found all over her body, only they were in black on green rather than green on black. Over that she would wear a black crop top with her personal emblem over her heart, a short black skirt, knee-high leather boots, and black elbow length gloves with what looked like glow bracelets over top.

Rave’s suit wasn’t the only one that had gained a personal emblem either, since Brianna had managed to design a personal emblem for each of our costumes in our signature colors, as well as an eye-catching gold team logo that would go on the backs of our costumes and optional jackets. When she had shown us those they had been on a black background so we could see what they eventually would look like on the black material of our costumes. It would take a while for the costumes to be finished, but none of us was in any particular hurry. We were all still in training, and I didn’t plan on making any more appearances as Syryn in public until our debut at the Battle of the Bands, and that was still over a month away.