My Super-powered Diary Chapter 48 Welcome Wagon 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?

For a while Hana and I just stood there holding one another, enjoying the contact and trying to ignore the knowing smiles of our families. Well, at least until my stomach growled again. Hana’s Dad took our orders and promised to have it out as soon as possible and I found myself flushing at all the attention on Hana and me as we took our seats. I just tried to play it cool as I asked, “How was Peaches? Did she be’ave ‘erself?

“Yeah, she was a good little dragon,” Hana replied as she reached down to stroke between the Meidragon’s stubby little horns, causing her to preen and croon. “She was agitated and had a bit of trouble sleeping though.”

“Aye, she was prob’ly pickin’ up on ma emotions. It was a stress-inducin’ night,” I offered with a sigh.

“So, what are the plans for the day?” Vanessa asked.

Hana’s mother looked thoughtful for a moment before replying quietly, “Well, the guests should all be arriving around three o’clock, but Alana called earlier to let us know that she and Kendra should be here soon. As soon as the breakfast rush is over she wants to take Hana upstairs and cast wards over the building so she can cast Hana’s transformation spell. She doesn’t want any other mages sensing what’s going on and interfering and she’d like to see if it works properly so we know if Blair will need to try an alternative therapy. We’re anxious to have it done before school starts tomorrow if possible. You girls can all go upstairs to hang out with her until they’re ready to start, but when she starts you’ll have to keep your distance.”

Hana nodded. “Yeah, Dr. Edwards said that she’ll have to take precautions, besides the wards. She’s going to have to set up a clean space and can’t have anyone else or any other DNA types in there other than me and the sample because if there were it could cause problems with the spell. She wants to get this done right the first time.”

I tried not to look disappointed. I really wanted to be there for her for the whole thing, and hold her hand if needed, but I figured that it was probably better if we could avoid her possibly becoming some Merida/Hana hybrid, or whatever it was that Dr. Edwards was worried about. “Aye, I kin understan’ tha’.”

I think that Hana’s mother realized how nervous that we both were about her daughter’s upcoming magical gene therapy so she artfully changed the subject to school since we would all be starting tomorrow. We all talked about classes and Hana and Kasumi told us how things worked at the school while classes were in session. It seemed that Kasumi was really looking forward to putting me through my paces in our private advanced combat class and I found myself just as eager to start learning from my childhood hero.

We continued talking through breakfast until Dr. Edwards and Kendra showed up. Kendra wasn’t letting little Dawn out of her sight and it was really nice to see her so happy. Of course Kasumi and Hana were a little surprised to see Toxin with a newborn baby, but once we let them in on the secret they were only too happy to fawn over Dawn along with everyone else.

In my head I tried to think, “So what? All she does is sleep, eat, and soil herself and Peaches does all of that too.” I tried to play it off as no big deal and like I was being cautious because, hey it was still Phantom’s spirit in there and it would be a while before she let go of those memories completely. Until then anything could happen so I should still consider her a threat, right? Wrong. I found myself getting caught up in watching her as much as everyone else, as much as I tried to hide it. She was tiny, cute, and a baby and somewhere deep inside I just wanted to hold her and keep her safe, and that confused me greatly. Did I get a maternal instinct when I lost my Y chromosome?

It was while I was trying very hard to make it look like I didn’t care about her one way or the other that Dr. Edwards turned to me and smiled. “Don’t you look lovely today, Merida. That’s very fortunate because Kendra and I would like to ask you for a favor.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the Headmistress of our school. “Wot kind o’ favor?” I asked cautiously.

“There is a new student arriving at the train station this morning and I’d like for you to go with Kendra to meet her and give her a tour of the school.” I was about to object when she raised her hands to cut off my unspoken protests. “I know that you want to be here for Hana, we all know that. But what can you really do except watch and wait with everyone else? This girl is a lot like you, she’s powerful and has no control and possibly worse impulse control than you and Mei.” Okay, I had to agree, that could be concerning.

“Her name is Scotia Lewis and her train arrives in forty-five minutes. Since most of the students will be arriving later today or at the airport she should be the only student we’ll have to worry about. We were thinking that the school should put our best foot forward and, since you know what it’s like to have control issues and be uncertain about being here in a new environment, we thought that you would be the perfect girl to represent the school and help her adjust,” Kendra added as she shifted Dawn in her arms.

Dr. Edwards pulled a paper bag from her purse and handed it to me. “How the hell did she fit that in that tiny purse? Probably something like Shu does with pocket dimensions,” I thought to myself before looking in the bag. "Ya wan’ me tae go play tour guide an’ wear the stoopid school uniform?” I complained.

“This is a perfectly acceptable uniform for a private school,” Dr. Edwards pointed out as she sighed. “I got Meghan Taylor to whip one up with your measurements since you won’t have time to go to your Dorm room to change. They didn’t have the time to put your usual enchantments on it, but you’ll just be going to greet Scotia and take her to the school and Kendra will be with you the whole time so I don’t think even you could find a way to get into too much trouble. You should be back around the time that I finish with Hana and then you can spend the rest of the day relaxing.”

“Why jus’ me an’ Kendra?” I whined. Yes I realize I was whining but at that moment I didn’t really care. This was not what I wanted to be doing today, especially since I was all glammed up and girly looking. I’d be giving this Scotia person a completely wrong first impression and I didn’t like getting ‘volunteered’ to play tour guide.

“We need to handle her carefully,” Dr. Edwards said patiently while rubbing her temples like she had a really bad headache coming on. “She only Activated a few weeks ago and when we first heard about her she ‘accidentally’ destroyed part of a mall while looking for something. You and your sisters and the Fairies all showing up at once might be a bit much for her. Fawn can go with you, there’s a uniform for her as well, but she should stay hidden until you can be sure she won’t spook this girl. Now hurry, you only have forty minutes to change and get to the station.”

Knowing that I wasn’t going to talk my way out of it I snatched up the bag. “Fine, I’ll bloody well dae it, but if anythin’ goes wrong dinnae say tha’ I did’na warn ya.”

Hana took me upstairs and let me and Fawn use their bathroom to change. I didn’t have the time to wash off all of the makeup and stuff and barely had time to change into the uniform before I realized that they didn’t bring me any shoes for it. I was going to have to wear the stupid heels with it and between that, my intricately braided hair, and the make-up I looked far more girly than I would have preferred. I put my dress in my portable portal with my costume and after refolding the portal I put it in my tiny little clutch purse with my ID and other essentials.

I felt so ridiculous as I went back down into the restaurant with Fawn. I didn’t care what Dr. Edwards thought though I wasn’t leaving Peaches behind, I felt bad enough leaving Hana to dragon-sit her the night before on short notice. I took her baby sling from Hana and put it in place before settling the baby dragon inside. Fawn would ride my shoulder until we got to the station and then hide in the baby carrier with baby Dawn to keep an eye on her while Kendra and I talked to the new student. If I needed her or felt it safe to reveal her presence she’d come out quick enough.

“I’m ready tae go, are ya ‘appy now?” I grumbled as I settled Peaches in place.

“It won’t be so bad Merida, think of it as meeting another potential friend who could benefit from your experience and self-control,” Kendra offered weakly as she picked up Dawn’s new car seat and we headed out to her cute little blue Ford Escort.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at Costa Verde’s train station/bus depot where my sisters, the Fairies and I had fought the Reaper and Lindsey had nearly died on us. This place made me uncomfortable and I tried my best to calm myself down as we waited by giving myself over to sweet familiar military discipline. Peaches was asleep and Fawn was in the baby stroller with Dawn as Kendra held up a bright pink sign saying ‘Scotia Lewis’. I wished that I’d thought to wear my dog tags or my team ring today, but I was trying to look pretty for Hana and I thought that I would be spending the whole day with the rest of G-Force and 4-Ward so there had been no reason to bring the latter. The only adornment I was wearing was my school ID bracelet.

After about ten minutes of waiting, a girl seemed to see the sign and I could have sworn she cringed before walking determinedly toward us. She was about five foot three and had dirty blonde hair that looked like she had tried to dye it darker and failed, which was tied back in a haggard looking low ponytail. She seemed slender with a smaller chest than my own, though it was hard to tell with the baggy flannel shirt she wore over a black t-shirt and ratty-looking jeans. She looked uncomfortable and kept pulling at where her bra strap would be. I wondered if the tiny downy gray wings had anything to do with that or if she was just a tomboy. “Seriously? She arrives like that and I have to be all prim and proper Miss PSA? How in the hell is that fair?!”

I tried not to grumble and maintained my parade ground stance as she approached and gave me an obvious once-over. It almost looked like she was trying not to cringe at the sight of me. Then her appraisal turned somewhat more pensive as she took me in again and then leaned in close enough to whisper, but not close enough to invade my personal space. “Is it sergeant or major?" she asked.

“It’s Captain,” I replied automatically at first. I was so floored by her unexpected question and my response that I stumbled over my words while trying to save face. “Ah… I mean… ah… classified... I mean… ma uncle was a Captain an’ he taught me e'erythin' he knew?” Okay, that totally came out more as a question than as the cover-up explanation that I wanted to give.

The girl didn’t look like she believed a word of it and I mentally face-palmed. This was not starting out well. What else could go wrong today? She did reply though. “Oi a little outa your area eh lass? Call ma Scotty!”

How hadn’t I noticed that accent when she first spoke? And why did she look as confused as I was? I shifted my stance nervously and tried to play it casual. "Oh, aye. I'm no' used tae playin' welcome wagon fer the school, I'm a new student maself. I'm Merida, wot area o' Scotland are ya from then? Sounds like north tae ma ears."

Scotia, or Scotty, looked even more confused now. “Eh I ha’ naver been to da highlands. I'm from up north of na york!” Then she took in my clothes and shoes again and muttered, “I blooming well ‘ope ya dinna expect ma to wear that getup?”

The accent was horrible, like some horribly twisted version of my own. That, and having to wear said 'getup', was getting on my nerves. What the hell? Was she making fun of me? I could feel my eyes narrowing at her in my anger as my force field snapped on. “Are ya makin' fun o' me then? Havin' yuirself a fair laugh a’ ma expense? If'n I 'ave tae wear this stoopid uniform, you kin wear it tae. The heels aren't standard, I didnae 'ave much time tae change afore meetin' ya."

The girl’s eyes widened in wonder at the red glow surrounding me and she looked as annoyed as I was. “I dinna know wha’ you is friggin’ talking abou’. Bu’ there is na fraggin way I be a wearing a kilt lie tha’.”

Toxin put her pink sign down on the cover of the stroller and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, Merida. Think of the city, and what might be left of it if you lose your temper."

I started counting down in my head, trying to be the good little PSA poster girl. “Oi, its the school dress code. I didnae write it, an’ I dinnae like the skirt either, it's no' e'en a proper Scottish tartan.”

“Oi so ya be an Irish lass then?” she asked.

Irish?! How dare she?! I had never been so insulted in all of my life and I was starting to lose my patience with her. “Bloody 'ell! Are ya tryin' tae piss me off?!”

“Nay,” she said stepping back with a shocked expression on her face. “I jas wish one of ya would quit makin’ me speak funny. Tis one of ya doin dis to ma?”

“We're no' doin' anythin o' the sort,” I snapped angrily. “Toxin's power is tae kill people with a touch an' mine is tae create a force field an' make thin's blow up. We dinnae ‘ave any speakin’ funny powers dammit!”

“Sorry, I’d offa ta shake ya hand but I might crush it. I has a bit a trouble with me strangth,” she offered in a placating tone.

Even being friendly that stupid parody accent of hers was pissing me off. I counted down again and grumbled, “Oi, Cat five force field ‘ere, if'n I'm glowin' red nothin' kin hurt me, 'specially no wee ‘andshake.”

“If ya say so,” she replied with a shrug. Her eyes seemed to catch sight of the baby sling I was wearing and she gave me a questioning look. “What be that around your front?”

“Tha's ma baby dragon, Peaches,” I replied as I reached down to calm the little pink dragon. It would seem that she had picked up on my animosity and woke up.

“Oi!” Scotia exclaimed as what looked like blue and gold scales shifted around her neck to form up into a mini dragon. Just the way that the tiny dragon held herself and looked around imperiously made it look like she was trying to let everyone know that they are beneath her. “Tha be Princess, she is a dragon... with a wee problem.”

‘Princess’ began to hiss and click as she looked over Peaches, but my baby was more interested in getting back to her recently interrupted nap now that it didn’t look like something interesting, like world war three was going on. It looked like the other dragon didn’t much care for being ignored either as she started to get agitated.

I was interrupted form my perusal of the other dragon as Scotia asked, “Oi, another friend of yours?”

I looked up to follow her gaze toward the bus arrivals and found myself looking at an obviously lost girl in a white skirt suit and red blouse hauling a huge suitcase. She had blonde hair with the tips dyed pink. Either that suitcase was really empty or she was stronger than she looked. I didn’t recognize her so I shook my head as I replied, “Nae, I dinnae ken who tha' is. I wonder if she's a new student tae.” Since we were already there, I was stuck playing tour guide anyway, and she seemed lost I called out to the girl, “Oi there!”

The new girl looked around anxiously for some reason. I didn’t think that I was that scary, but it looked like she might have a headache or something, did I yell too loud? She turned to look behind her but there was nothing there and she suddenly moved in our direction just as a very familiar girl in a white and pink Japanese schoolgirl uniform appeared where she had been looking an instant before. It was Sapphire and she was looking around but hadn’t seen me yet as the blonde girl with the huge suitcase practically ran into me and Scotia. “Uh... Hi, I’m Gwen. I’m supposed to go to a school here. I hope to hell that is not a bloody uniform for the school or I'm going back on the bus, and who is the pink girl? Is she a Sailor Moon cosplayer? Cause I gotta tell ya, she has it all wrong!”

I gave Kendra a glare to say just how I felt about the uniform, but that was when Sapphire locked eyes on me with a murderous expression and vanished again. Since she hadn’t reappeared immediately to attack me I had to assume that she was going to get her friends. I tried sending a message to my sisters and Mom via the psychic network but something was interfering. Maybe it was the wards that Dr. Edwards put up?

I had to get ready for an attack and I didn’t have much time to do it so I grabbed my spare mask from the little clutch purse I had placed with Peaches in her baby sling. I didn’t think I would have time to change into my costume or get any reinforcements. “Work with what you have Merida,” I told myself sternly as I turned to the Gwen girl. “I’m Merida, this is Scotia, an’ tha’s Kendra one of our school counsellors. You’ll meet Fawn in a minute. Right now we need tae ge' people out o' here. Sapphire will be back wit’ the rest o’ Code Pink.”

Kendra looked at me in concern, apparently she hadn’t seen Sapphire, not that she’d recognize her anyway. “I have Sam Jackson and Tiny on standby outside the station, I’ll call them in.” It seemed that she and Dr. Edwards were more prepared for trouble than I had given them credit for.

Gwen, on the other hand, just looked confused as she asked, “Da what ta what?”

I let out a sigh and tried to send my thoughts to Fawn, but that was a no-go either it seemed, since Tasha was our relay and she was with the others at Hana’s and under those wards. I removed the sling with my snoozing dragon and handed it to Kendra. “Kendra, ya need tae take Peaches an’ ge’ yuirself an’ Dawn out o’ here. If those psycho’s manage tae spill one drop o’ yuir blood, this whole station becomes a bloody biohazard. We’ll ‘andle this. Fawn! Hit the closest fire alarm, an’ start’ evacuatin’ people! Try tae keep any kids from panickin’.”

I heard Fawn’s tiny voice say, “You got it, Merida!” as Kendra put on the sling, told us to be careful, and then turned the stroller with Dawn inside and quickly made for the nearest exit. Fawn managed to slip out of the stroller without anyone noticing and pulled a fire alarm as Kendra reached the main doors and the relative safety beyond.

I turned to my two fellow school newbies and said, “Any minute now, a group o’ pink clad psychopaths are goin’ tae appear in this station. They will kill everyone still here wi’out any hesitation. Time tae join the big leagues girls, I’m deputizin’ ya.” I just hoped that the pair had somewhat useful powers or I’d just be putting them in danger.

Scotia actually started grinning wildly at my announcement as people around us ran for the exits. “Oi a fight then! Good, I has some blooming steam to fugging let ga!”

I tried not to groan at her language and ridiculous accent. I shook my head and muttered, “Aye, you an' me both. An' if'n yuir goin' tae swear, a’ leas’ dae it right 'n proper. Yuir embarassin' yuirself.”

“Tis not ma blooming fugging falt. I canna fugging swear any fuggin modder fuggin more!” Scotia looked angry, but I wasn’t exactly super-happy myself knowing that Code Pink could be showing up any minute.

Gwen on the other hand seemed nervous and went to introduce herself again, reaching out to shake my hand. I gave her hand a firm shake in my force field enhanced grip just to make sure I had her attention as she said, “I’m Gwen… ouch!” She looked shocked by my grip but I think I was the more shocked of the two of us as some sort of white gunk sprayed from her wrist and managed to trap both of our hands together in a sticky white ball. Her face turned as pink as the tips of her hair as she mumbled, “Oops, sorry.”

"A' leas’ I had ma bloody force field on. Did tha' come from yuir body?" Okay, that was kind of gross. And it was sticky like spider silk or something. I quickly generated a knife construct to cut at the webbing or whatever it was. "O’ all the bloody times..."

This was just not my day. Of course, that is when Sapphire decided to reappear with the rest of Code Pink. They were all there; Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald and it looked like Emerald had some sort of scythe at the end of her right wrist to replace the hand that Packrat had removed. And that look in her eyes, she was even crazier and more bloodthirsty now and I hadn’t thought that possible during our last meeting.

That was when I noticed another girl with them wearing the same stupid uniform. It looked like they had all escaped the HAA and found a replacement for Brooke. Of course, because the HAA couldn’t possibly catch any real criminals, they were too busy coming after people like me. Their new recruit was a slender girl in her late teens with bright blue hair and a bunch of gaudy jewelry who was chanting something. Goddamn it, they had a mage now.

“Make sure not to kill her, Opal,” Quartz ordered with a manic grin. “We want to humiliate her first and then when her little friends show up we can kill them all together.”

“I want the little bitch who took my hand,” Emerald said with a crazed look as she brandished her scythe toward me.

“Wot? So she kin take the other one tae?” I taunted. “Ooh, yuir sooo scary wi' the scythe ‘and. I think tha’ two o’ them would make it a wee bit ‘ard tae wipe yuir arse though.”

Emerald was furious but Quartz held her back. “No, we’re going to take this slow and enjoy it. We’ll humiliate her and kill her friends first and then when the rest of those bitches arrive from wherever they're hiding we’ll kill them all.” Oh yeah, they were totally focused on the revenge thing and while that may not be great for me or the girls with me at least they were too busy planning my humiliation and demise to care about the innocent bystanders who were now mostly cleared out of the station. Fawn was leading a group with some children outside and I hoped she finished with the evacuation soon because I didn’t know Gwen’s or Scotia’s power sets and I could probably use the backup from my trusty Fairy friend.

It was Gwen who noticed our new predicament as I was sawing at the weird webbing sticking our hands together while trying to keep one eye on the members of Code Pink. “Uhm...look down,” she suggested. Our clothes were melting and, while she had some sort of white and black spider-themed costume underneath, I was quickly down to my sexy little aqua-hued panties and bra and those damned heels.

It seemed whoever this girl Opal was she wasn’t powerful enough to get past Melanie’s enchantments. Not that she wasn’t trying from the look of concentration on her face. I really wished Melanie had time to put them on that damned uniform, because now I was going to have to fight in my bloody knickers. And of course I had put that stupid clutch purse, with my portable portal and its access to my dress and costume, in Peaches’ baby sling with her so I didn’t have to hold the damn thing. And Peaches and the sling were now outside somewhere with Toxin. This day just kept getting better and better.

At least the spell dissolved that sticky white webbing that was keeping me and Gwen locked in mid-handshake. I had barely managed to contain my anger enough so that I hadn’t blown the webbing apart and probably Gwen’s hand along with it. Now my force field was bubbling dangerously as I glared at Quartz, who was looking positively gleeful. “Okay, if’n ya wanted me pissed off, ya go’ yuir bloody wish. Now yuir goin’ tae wish tha’ ya’d stayed in the bloody hole tha’ ya crawled back out o’.”

Gwen took the opportunity now that her hand was free to hurriedly pull on her mask and hood and to adjust the rest of her costume, though she either forgot she was wearing heels or just didn’t care in her rush to protect her identity. Scotia though, was spoiling for a fight as much as I was now and I could see Tiny and Garret’s dad pushing against the crowds leaving the station and making their way toward us. It was then that the world seemed to lurch. Shit. Sapphire had teleported all of us. But I didn’t see Tiny or Sam Jackson as I looked around and tried to get my bearings. Then I heard Quartz give that annoying psychotic giggle of hers. “Thanks Sapphire, this is so much better. What’s the use in humiliating her if nobody gets to see it?”

I heard the helicopter before I saw it. It was a damn news helicopter and there was more than one of them. At least the electronic interference field generated by my mask would keep any video from getting a clear image of my face. As if the presence of helicopters and other news cameras wasn’t bad enough I also realized where we were. We had considered attending before going to the party at the restaurant/home of the Forresters. It was the biggest Labor Day party in Costa Verde, and concerts and events were being held almost all day at Paradise Beach Park to celebrate the holiday. And for those who might miss it, the whole thing was being televised all day long.

The concerts weren’t set to start for another half hour, but the park and the beach had already filled up with people celebrating the holiday with the fair-like atmosphere of games, rides, and food stalls. At any other time I would have been embarrassed to be standing in the middle of all that in my underwear, but I had switched my mind to mission mode and at the moment my pride was a secondary concern. Now we had even more potential innocent bystanders than at the train station and we were literally center stage.