Glow crouched down on the hilltop, trying to avoid being seen, though it wasn’t easy. Her eyes and shoulder length hair were not only electric blue in color, but also glowed in the dark. Since the sun had just set a short time ago, her eyes and hair stood out all the more obviously, making it impossible for her to hide in the shadows. Fortunately, none of her quarry were looking in her direction.

The hill overlooked a small park, one that was surrounded by trees so as to give it privacy. However, it was not the park that Glow was watching, but the small parking lot beside it. Currently, there were only two vehicles in the parking lot, an old muscle car, and a relatively new pickup truck. And of course, there were the three teenage boys who were hanging out next to their vehicles.

Todd was the tallest of the group, and the owner of the truck, which his father had bought for him when he turned sixteen. Mike, who was short and stocky, owned the other car, and he was famously proud of the vehicle, often challenging other people to race, though so far none had accepted. Steve was the last of the group, and was usually considered to be Todd’s sidekick and hanger-on more than a person of his own.

“I never thought I’d say this,” Todd announced with a grin. “But I’m actually looking forward to school starting up again…”

“Why the hell would you look forward to that?” Mike asked, digging into his car and pulling out a few bottles of beer, which he immediately passed around.

“Not bad,” Steve announced after taking a drink. “But can’t you ever get the good stuff?”

“My dad never buys the good stuff,” Mike reminded him.

Todd nodded, then continued what he’d just been saying. “We’re seniors now. When we go back to school, we’re gonna be the top dogs. This is gonna be an awesome year…”

“Damn right,” Steve agreed, quickly adding, “My dad always said that his senior year of high school was the best of his life…”

Todd just snorted at that. “Bullshit. This year is gonna be fucking awesome, and things are only gonna get better…”

Glow silently watched the three friends celebrate, though she kept careful watch to make sure no one else was in the park or parking lot. She didn’t want any additional witnesses, though she already knew that there wouldn’t be any. Those three boys had claimed this as their territory, and they were quick to chase anyone else away from it. This territorial aggression had only grown worse over time, as had their brutish hostility in general, until they’d finally gone too far.

Deciding that it was time, Glow stood up from where she’d been crouching, and suddenly vanished in a flash of blue light. An instant later, Glow reappeared in another flash of blue light, in the parking lot below. A faint blue glow surrounded her body for several seconds before fading away.

“What the hell?” Mike blurted out as he jumped in surprise at the sight of Glow’s sudden appearance.

Glow just stood still, without saying a word. She knew her appearance was a little odd, and that because of this, it could also be a little unnerving. She wanted the three boys to get a good look at her, because she didn’t want them to forget who it was who came after them.

For a moment, the boys just stared at the teenage girl who’d suddenly appeared. She was 5 foot 6, and she was quite pretty, even with the oddly colored hair and eyes. Her clothes consisted of a tight fitting blue and gray outfit, which resembled spandex and left little of her lean and athletic figure to the imagination.

“It’s a mutant,” Steve gasped, backing away from Glow.

Todd glared at Steve, contemptuous of the other boy for being afraid of this glowing girl. Even if she was a mutant, she was just a girl. He turned his attention to the girl and demanded, “Who are you?”

“I am Glow,” she stated simply. “And I have come to deliver an ultimatum.”

Todd stared at Glow for a moment in surprise, then burst out laughing. “What kind of ultimatum?” He moved towards her, trying to use his much larger size to intimidate the girl.

Glow looked up at him, though she didn’t seem the least bit afraid of him. “You will leave James Merrick alone,” she told him in an even tone. “James is under my protection.”

“Who?” Steve asked blankly.

“Wimpy Jimmy,” Mike pointed out with a smirk. “You know, that wimp we left bleeding in the ditch this morning?”

“Oh yeah,” Steve responded with a chuckle. “Him.”

Todd smirked, then quickly grabbed the girl by the shoulder. “How about we teach you a lesson instead…” However, before he could get a firm grip, she suddenly vanished in a flash of blue light, only to reappear a short distance away.

“Holy shit,” Steve exclaimed.

This time, Glow smiled faintly, feeling a certain pleasure in the knowledge that they had chosen to do this the hard way. She teleported again, momentarily passing through another dimension and absorbing some of the energies of that place into her body. She remained where she was just long enough for the boys to register where she’d gone, then teleported again. With each teleport, she absorbed more of the energies, becoming stronger, faster, and more powerful.

Suddenly, Glow appeared in front of Mike, punching him in the stomach and making him double over with a grunt of pain. She grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him back a short distance. Still glowing blue from the charge of energy, she appeared behind Steve, kicking his feet out from beneath him and driving his face into the asphalt below.

Glow turned and saw that Todd had grabbed a crow bar from the back of his truck, and was running right at her. Without saying a word, she teleported again, though when she appeared on top of the hood of Todd’s truck, she held a sword made of glowing blue energies. The blade had the recognizable curved shape of a katana, and the sight of it was enough to make Todd pause.

“Oh shit,” Todd whispered, feeling a cold dread in the pit of his stomach as he realized that he was in over his head.

Glow stared at him with her eerie glowing eyes, then drove the blade straight down through the hood of his truck and into the engine block beneath. A moment later, she appeared in front of him, swinging the blade. It sliced through the crow bar and cut it in two, then she immediately teleported again, this time appearing beside Mike’s card.

“No,” Mike cried out in horror as he realized what she was about to do. However, before he’d even finished uttering that word, the glowing blade sliced through not only the tire, but the wheel itself. “NOT MY CAR!”

“You will forget James Merrick exists,” Glow stated, dropping the sword which immediately vanished. Her firm gaze went to Steve, who cringed and scampered back, then to Mike who was still staring at his ruined car. Finally, she looked to Todd. “Should any of you ever harm him again, or even suggest a threat, I will return for you.”

Glow took one more look at the three terrified boys and their wrecked vehicles, satisfied that her message had been delivered. Since her task was now complete, she teleported one more time, vanishing from their sight.

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Saturday, Aug 11th, 2007

James Merrick stood on the back porch of his suburban house, staring at the bicycle that was currently sitting upside down in front of him. The chain was missing, having snapped off yesterday morning during his ‘accident’, and he had just removed the front wheel a short time earlier. Of course, several spokes were gone and the wheel itself was now bent and useless, so it might have been easier if he’d lost that along with the chain.

“Just great,” James grumbled in disgust. “What am I supposed to do now?”

This bike was his main form of transportation, and now it was ruined. He’d have to replace both the chain and wheel, and he couldn’t afford to buy new parts, at least not until he found a new job. Unfortunately, without the bike, he wouldn’t be able to get to and from any job he did find.

“Just great,” James repeated bitterly, silently cursing the jerks who’d caused this.

Yesterday, he had been out looking for a summer job, and had been submitting applications to a couple fast food places, when Todd, Steve, and Mike had shown up and ruined everything. Those three were well known as local bullies, but they’d become much worse over the last year, and especially over the last couple months. And then, yesterday, they’d definitely gone too far.

While James had been riding his bike, Todd had shown up in his truck, and had swerved to hit him, driving him off the road. James had smashed into the low guardrail, and had been flung over it and into the ditch below. His bike had been smashed up from the crash, while he himself had been left with a bloody lip and bruises over half his body. And then, to make it even worse, Todd had stopped his truck, just so the three of them could laugh at James. They’d nearly killed him…and had then laughed about it.

James picked up the bent wheel, staring at it for a moment before sadly shaking his head. As he tossed the wheel into the corner, he let out a long sigh. “I guess I can ask Dad for the money…”

However, James hated the idea of having to do that. After all, he was sixteen, which was old enough to earn his own money. Of course, he was also old enough to be driving a car instead of riding around on his bike. Unfortunately, that meant he would have to actually save up enough money to buy the car first, which was the entire reason he’d been looking for a job in the first place. So far, none of it had been working out very well for him.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, “Hey, there you are…”

James turned and smiled at the welcome sight of Melissa ‘Mel’ Terrance, who had been his neighbor and best friend for the last two years, ever since his family had moved in. She was a cute girl, slender with naturally bronzed skin, and short dark hair that she always kept in a pixie cut. Mel’s features hinted at her well mixed ethnic heritage, though James wasn’t sure what the mix contained since she gave a different answer every time someone asked.

“Hey, Mel,” James greeted her with a nod.

Mel came up and paused, looking over the bike with a disapproving expression. “Can you fix it?”

“Once I get a new chain and wheel,” James answered with a scowl.

“Those guys are assholes,” Mel stated firmly while James nodded his complete agreement. Then she began to grin and asked, “Did you hear what happened to them?”

“They got arrested for reckless driving?” James asked hopefully.

Mel just laughed. “No. Even better.”

James gave her a curious look. “Better than that?”

“You know how my dad is a deputy,” Mel started, but before James could respond, she quickly continued, “Well, last night, they called in reporting that some mutant supervillain attacked them and cut up their cars.”

“What?” James blurted out in surprise. “Where they drinking?”

“Probably,” Mel agreed with a snicker. “Anyway, my dad said that when he checked it out, someone really had cut up their cars, and both had to get towed…” She grinned cheerfully as she described what her dad had told her, adding, “Apparently, they didn’t tell the police anything about why some mutant supervillain would attack their cars…but get this. They said she had glowing blue hair.”

“Glowing blue hair?” James asked skeptically. “Those bozos probably just got drunk and messed up their own cars, and are just too embarrassed to tell anyone…”

“Maybe,” Mel responded with a shrug, not looking as though she believed it. “But you remember that biker gang last month? They said they were attacked by a girl with glowing blue hair too.”

“”Of course I remember the biker gang,” James responded in disgust. “They busted up the restaurant where I worked and put the place out of business. I lost my last job because of those assholes. But this is the first I’ve heard about a blue haired girl…”

“Oh, come on,” Mel exclaimed, giving James a look of disbelief. “I told you all about it last month.” When James gave her a skeptical look, she let out an exasperated sigh. ”Okay. So, after the bikers busted up Harry’s Burgers, the cops find them with their bikes all busted up. They told my dad and everyone else at the station that some girl with glowing blue hair attacked them.”

“Really?” James asked in surprise. Then he gave Mel a suspicious look and added, “I think I would have remembered you telling me about that.”

Mel picked up the bent bike wheel and looked at it for a moment, then looked back at James with a thoughtful look. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had a guardian angel.”

James gave her a curious look. “And why is that?”

“Well,” she pointed out rather smugly, pleased with herself for having caught the connection. “This blue haired girl beats the crap out of the guys who cost you your job, then she shows up again to go after the assholes who ran you off the road.”

“That’s ridiculous,” James started to say, then paused with a cold chill running down his spine.

If he really did have some kind of super powered bodyguard that he didn’t know about, then it could only mean one thing. His mom must have sent her to look after him. James hadn’t even seen his mother in over a year, but that sounded like the kind of thing she might do.

Suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, James abruptly asked, “You want to play a game of HORSE?”

“Sure,” Mel responded with a grin. “This time, I’m gonna cream your scrawny behind.”

A minute later, they in the driveway in front of the house, focusing on the basketball hoop that had been set up right above the garage. James grinned as he bounced the basketball, taking his time, and then making the shot. As soon as the ball went through the hoop, he announced, “That’s an H for me. Now, who is gonna get creamed today?”

Mel cheerfully flipped James off, then took a shot of her own. When the ball missed, she glared at James, silently daring him to laugh. “I threw it too hard,” she announced a moment later. “Sometimes, I just don’t know my own strength…”

“Is that what it is?” James teased. “I just thought you had bad aim.”

“Oh no,” Mel responded, shifting into a bad Scottish accent. “Ya see lad, I’m used ta tossin cabers instead of these wee little balls. This wee ball is just too light for me…”

James chuckled at that, then reminded her, “Too bad you’re not Scottish…”

“Then why does my dad like wearing kilts?” she replied with a smirk.

James took the ball, bounced it a few times, then took aim and made another shot. Once the ball was through the hoop, he finally responded, “Those aren’t kilts he’s wearing. They’re skirts. And that’s an O for me.”

A few rounds later, and James won the game, not having missed a single throw. As they began a second game, Mel pointed out, “You know, you should try out for the basketball team this year. You’d kill at the free throws.”

James shuddered at the idea, quickly reminding her, “I’m not exactly the tallest guy in school…”

“You’re five nine,” Mel replied, looking James over. “You’re not exactly the shortest guy either.”

James scowled at that, knowing that there was absolutely no way he was going to try out for the team. He’d learned a long time ago that he didn’t do well with any kind of competitive sport, because the more competitive it was, the more likely he was to freeze up. In fact, he was bad with any kind of confrontation, and had even been known to have panic attacks. There was a reason that half the guys in school called him Wimpy Jimmy behind his back.

“Look,” Mel said, giving him a concerned look. “You’re gonna have to get over this thing someday. You just need to get involved in something and push through it. I mean, you don’t have a problem playing out here with me.”

“It’s not the same thing,” he snapped in annoyance. Even after all this time as friends, she still didn’t understand that this wasn’t something he could just get over.

“It’s your turn,” Mel reminded James, easily changing the subject.

James nodded at that, taking a deep breath and then preparing to make another shot. However, just as he was releasing the ball, someone yelled out, “MISS!” He jumped in surprise, just enough so that the ball went off course and hit the garage instead of the hoop.

“You brat,” James exclaimed, turning to glare at his sister Dinah, who stood next the parking pad with a smirk on her face.

Dinah was fourteen, two years younger than James, though they’d always been very close. She had dirty blonde hair, the same color as his, though hers was shoulder length, while his was much shorter. She’d inherited much of their mother’s looks, and James knew that most of the boys she went to school with, considered her to be very pretty.

“And you suck,” Dinah teased James, though she was grinning as she said it.

James just grinned at that and gestured for to come over. “Wanna play? We can start a new game.”

Dinah recovered the ball from where it had rolled to after James’ miss, then went to find a good starting position for the game. “I’m gonna kick both your butts,” she promised.

After throwing the ball and cheering at the results, Dinah paused for a moment to watch James as he went to recover the ball. Without saying a word, she reached up for her hair, grabbing the single lock that she’d dyed blue, and absently twirled it around her finger while she stared at her brother in concern. But as soon as James looked back at her, she flashed a broad grin and continued the friendly taunting.

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Sunday, Aug 12th, 2007

Mel stood in the living room of her neighbor’s house, watching patiently as James and Dinah talked to their dad. Their father, John Merrick, was a stocky man who was only 5 foot 8, yet he somehow managed to look much larger and more imposing than he actually was. Mel wasn’t quite sure how the man did it, but she wished that he’d teach the trick to his son. James could really use a bit of that presence. If nothing else, it would keep people from messing with him at school.

“Thanks Dad,” James told his father, looking more than a little self-conscious. “I appreciate you giving me the money to fix my bike, but I don’t want to ask…”

“You didn’t ask,” John responded gruffly. “I offered it. Big difference. And if it still bothers you, then once you earn the money, you can pay me back.”

“Thanks,” James said, giving his dad an awkward hug.

“Hey,” Mel asked, getting their attention. She held up a set of car keys, borrowed from her parents, and shook them in the air. “You guys coming?”

“Of course,” Dinah exclaimed with a broad grin.

John chuckled at that, then told Dinah, “Keep your brother out of trouble.”

“Always,” Dinah responded before running out the door with a squeal of delight. “We’re going shopping. We’re going shopping…”

“We’re just going to the bike shop,” James pointed out, amused by her excitement.

Mel just grinned at that. “I don’t know,” she mused with a smirk. “Who said we only have to make one stop? I mean, I talked my folks into letting me borrow the car, so we might as well get some use out of it.”

Dinah gave her brother a smug look, then exclaimed, “I get shotgun…”

Half an hour later, the three of them stepped out of the bicycle shop, with James satisfied that he had what he needed to get his bike working again. He’d just bought a replacement chain and a new wheel, though they’d cost him more than he liked.

“Don’t worry,” Dinah told him. “Dad is the one paying for it, not you…”

“If you ask me,” Mel commented with a scowl, “Todd Perkins should be the one paying for it. After all, he’s the asshole who ran you off the road…”

“Well, your dad is a cop,” Dinah pointed out. “So, why doesn’t he arrest those assholes?”

Mel scowled at that, then admitted, “I wish he could, but they can’t do anything until James files a complaint… I asked him Friday.”

With that, Mel gave James a meaningful look, though she knew that he’d never do this. After all, if he filed a complaint, it would be his word against Todd’s…and Todd had two other boys to back up whatever claims he made. And even worse, she knew that kind of confrontation would just make James collapse like a house of cards. James was her friend, but she knew quite well, that he was also a bit of a wimp.

“You’ve got to learn to stand up for yourself,” Mel insisted. “If you keep backing down from jerks like that, they’ll just keep pushing…”

“So you’ve told me,” James muttered self-consciously.

“Look,” Dinah abruptly blurted out, pointing to the shop they were about to walk past. “Ice cream…” And with that, she rushed into the ice cream shop.

“Hey, wait for me,” Mel exclaimed before grabbing James’ hand and pulling him into the shop too.

When they emerged from the shop a short time later, each licking a cone, the mood was much improved. Mel grinned at James with a gleam in her eyes, saying, “I’ll have to thank your dad for buying us ice cream.”

“But I have to pay him back,” James pointed out as he stared at the scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream sitting atop his cone. “That means I’m the one buying the ice cream.”

“Not until you pay Dad back,” Dinah pointed out with a smirk. “We’ll thank you then…”

“If we remember,” Mel added cheerfully.

James rolled his eyes, then reached up to adjust an imaginary tie, and did his best Rodney Dangerfield impression. “No respect. No respect at all…”

Suddenly, Mel came to a stop and blurted out, “Shit…”

James was about to ask why she’d done this, when he noticed Todd and Steve walking down the sidewalk towards them. At first, the other boys didn’t seem to notice them, but then he caught the flash of recognition in their eyes. But oddly enough, Steve suddenly looked nervous.

“You owe James a new bike,” Mel accused, glaring up at the boy.

Dinah gave Mel a worried look, then stepped in front of James, as though to protect him. “Yeah. You should pay for the repairs.”

Todd gave a sneer of contempt, responding, “I don’t owe Wimpy Jimmy nothing but a busted lip…”

“Todd,” Steve warned him with a worried look. “Remember what SHE said…”

For a moment, Todd quickly glanced around with a nervous expression, though it was quickly covered back up with one of distain. “What a fucking pussy, having chicks fight your battles for you. You aren’t worth the effort.”

“What?” Mel asked in surprise.

Todd sneered at James, though Mel noticed that he looked around again before he quickly hurried off. Steve followed right behind his friend, not bothering to make any parting comments.

“That was weird,” Mel commented, just a little confused by how they’d been acting.

“Yeah,” Dinah agreed, watching Todd leave with a narrow eyed glare. “Weird.”

James just stared at the ground, feeling ashamed for the way he’d just stood there, letting Mel and his little sister both defend him while he remained silent. That hadn’t been anything new, and he had long since gotten used to the feelings of helplessness, but that didn’t make him feel any better. That only made it worse.

“Hey,” Dinah abruptly said, her voice turning serious. “I think we need to get going. NOW.”

“But they’re not coming back,” Mel said, only to notice the worried look on Dinah’s face.

“They aren’t the ones I’m worried about,” Dinah responded, giving a nervous look across the street. “That car is following us. I saw it across our house before we left.”

“She’s right,” James added with a grimace. “I saw them at the house…and when we stopped for gas.”

Mel stared at James and Dinah for a moment, sure that they were messing with her, but she vaguely remembered seeing that same care before too. She scowled and looked across the street, to where the car they were talking about was parked. To her surprise, someone was staring out the window, right at them. A moment later, the doors opened and four young men climbed out, all of whom were dressed like punks. Seconds later, all four started running straight towards them.

“Oh shit,” Mel exclaimed, suddenly realizing that this wasn’t some kind of joke.

“Run,” James ordered, grabbing his sister’s hand and half pulling her with as he began to do just that.

Mel immediately began running as well, demanding, “Who the hell are these guys?”

“How should I know?” Dinah responded, though Mel gave her a quick glance, sure that she knew more than she was saying.

However, James gave a frantic, almost desperate look back and blurted out, “It’s because of Mom… They’re coming because of Mom…again.”

“James,” Dina exclaimed, seeing the look of fear on her brother’s face, the one that was on the verge of crossing over to panic. “We’re gonna get away…”

A moment later, a gruff voice said, “I don’t think so…,” right as one of the men leapt forward and grabbed James.

James flailed and struggled to get away, enough so that the man’s grip slipped. However, he continued grabbing at James, getting a firm grip on his shirt and shoving him towards the ground. In desperation, James slipped out of his shirt, getting free from the man for a second before a second man tackled him, knocking him to the ground.

“JAMES,” Mel screamed frantically, caught between the need to help her friend, and the screaming voice of self-preservation that demanded she run away.

Then, Mel caught sight James’ bare back and gasped in shock. She suddenly realized that in all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him without his shirt on. Not even in the hottest days of summer. And in that instant, she suddenly knew why. His entire back was covered with scars, the most notable being a large one that was shaped like a hand print.

For a brief moment, Mel froze and stared at James’ scared back with a mixture of confusion and horror. That delay allowed the two remaining men to catch up and surround them. As soon as she realized this, she gasped, shaking in fear.

Without warning, Dinah screamed, “LEAVE HIM ALONE,” as she charged into the man who was holding her brother, ramming him with her shoulders and knocking him back a little, enough for the panicking James to get loose and run.

“HELP,” Mel yelled as loud as she could, knowing that there were plenty of people nearby, but none of them were doing anything. “Damn chicken shits.”

Dinah kicked the man who’d been holding her brother between the legs, and as he doubled over, she told Mel, “Run…” Mel didn’t need to be told again.

“Get them,” one of the men yelled, though a second one immediately followed that up with, “He’ll kill us if we come back without HER kids…”

Mel ran as hard as she could out of fear and desperation though when she glanced back, she saw that one of the men was chasing after her. It wasn’t until that moment, she realized that James and Dinah had run in other directions, and she no longer had any idea where they were. However, as worried as he was about her friends, at that moment, she was truly terrified for her own life so continued running as fast as she could.

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Sunday, Aug 12th, 2007

Glow stared down at the man, who was sprawled out unconscious on the ground in front of her. He had a broken nose, a broken arm, and probably some seriously bruised or broken ribs. This was no less than the man deserved. In fact, he deserved far worse punishment for his transgression.

“You will not touch James,” Glow stated, having stopped this man before he could capture her charge.

For a brief moment, she was tempted to finish the man, to ensure he would never again be a threat to James. However, she knew that was a line she could not cross lightly. At the moment, he was no longer a threat, and the injuries she’d given him would ensure he thought twice before coming after James again.

“But if I ever see you again,” she started, silently finishing the promise that the next time, she wouldn’t be so merciful.

Glow was about to turn and leave, but instead, she took one more look at the unconscious man, eyeing the black leather jacket he was wearing. It was a very nice jacket. Without a word, she relieved him of the jacket and put it on.

“Now for the rest,” Glow mused. She’d saved James from this man, but there were still three more looking for him. She would have to make sure that they never got close.

Glow turned to go look for the rest of those men, then paused as something occurred to her. James had escaped this man, thanks to her intervention, and was no longer in any immediate danger. However, he wasn’t the only one they had been chasing.

“Mel,” Glow said, remembering that James’ friend had been panicking, and she doubted the other girl had the clarity of mind to escape. That thought would have been amusing, since Mel always put on such a tough act, if the girl hadn’t been in real danger.

Her purpose was to protect James, and she had successfully fulfilled that purpose for twelve years. Mel was not her responsibility, and she owed nothing to the other girl. However, Glow knew that James would be devastated if anything happened to Mel, and she could not allow that.

Without saying a word, Glow turned and started to run, though vanished in a flash of light a moment later. She hurried in the direction she’d seen Mel running, hoping she could get there in time. In order to get a better view, she teleported to the top of the nearby building, then again to the far edge. A second later, she saw Mel, being grabbed by one of the men and thrown to the ground.

Glow couldn’t teleport very far, so it took her two teleports to reach Mel. She appeared in a flash of blue, using the energy she’d gathered to form a sword. An instant after appearing, she kicked the man in the face, sending him flying back, then she leapt at him, bringing the sword to his throat.

“Who sent you?” Glow demanded of the man. “Why did you come?”

“What the fuck?” the man exclaimed, staring up at Glow with a look of confusion and fear.

“Answer my questions,” she told him in a cold tone.

The man just stared at her with a defiant expression, and she was considering how much she could justify hurting him in order to make him talk. However, Mel blurted out, “Holy shit. You’re the one who went after Todd…”

“Yes,” Glow responded, turning to look at Mel, who was staring at her in shock. “I am called Glow.”

“Glow,” Mel repeated, as though testing the name. She smiled nervously and responded, “It seems appropriate.”

Glow turned away from Mel, focusing on the man again. She had questions, and he was going to answer them, one way or another. Since he’d already refused to answer her twice, it seemed she would need to encourage him. With that, she lowered her blade, then pushed the tip about an inch into his upper thigh. He screamed.

“Answer my questions,” Glow repeated in a cold tone. “Who sent you and why?”

“Look out,” Mel suddenly yelled, drawing Glow’s attention back to her. Then she saw what Mel had been warning her about. The two remaining men were running straight at them, and both appeared to be armed. “Not good…”

Glow frowned at the interruption and teleported again, appearing right in front of one of the men. She punched him in the face, and his nose exploded in a spurt of blood. Then, she swung her sword at his gun, slicing the metal in half. For a moment, she had considered taking his hand, though she didn’t want to traumatize Mel, who was watching.

“Who the hell are you?” the last man demanded, though Glow saw no point in answering him.

The last man froze and stared at Glow for a second, before abruptly turning and running the other way. Though she could have teleported ahead of him, she didn’t see any purpose in giving chase. Instead, she swung her sword, and released it. The sword immediately broke apart, with the glowing energy taking a new form as four glowing blue shuriken flew towards the man. One of them struck him in the back of the leg, slicing through the flesh, and causing him to fall face first into the concrete sidewalk.

A moment later, the man whose nose she had just broken, leapt at her from behind. Glow saw him coming from the corner of her eye and teleported to the side, then kicked him in the ribs had enough to crack them. He yelled in pain, but she silenced him with a punch to his solar plexus.

“Holy shit,” Mel exclaimed. “You’re a total badass…”

Glow didn’t acknowledge the compliment, and instead, looked back to the man she’d been attempting to question. She could hear police sirens quickly approaching, and she knew she didn’t have long at all.

“Oh my God,” Mel blurted out. “James and Dinah…”

“They are safe,” Glow assured her.

“Who are you?” Mel demanded, staring at Glow with burning curiosity in her eyes. “Why are you doing all this?”

“I protect James,” Glow answered her.

Mel gave her a look of surprise. “What? So, you’re his bodyguard?”

Glow just stared back for a second before agreeing, “Yes.”

Mel looked as though she was about to ask another question, but two police cars arrived, coming to a quick stop. Glow glanced towards the police, feeling annoyed at their interruption. Then, after giving one more glance to the man she had been questioning, she vanished in a flash of blue.

Glow hurried away from the scene of the police and would-be kidnappers, knowing that Mel was no longer in any danger. She teleported several times until she found an empty alley, just a short distance from where she’d fought the first man. Once she saw that she was alone and unobserved, she decided that this would be a good spot.

“I am done for now,” Glow said, releasing all the energy she had stored inside of herself in a flash of blue. Once she was empty, she was ready to leave.

With that, Glow closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, then her body began to change. The blue glow in her hair faded, as the hair pulled into her scalp, shortening and turning to a dirty blonde color. At the same time, her chest flattened and the rest of her body stretched and grew. Seconds later, James opened his eyes.

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Monday, Aug 13th, 2007

Mel rang the doorbell on her neighbor’s house, though she nervously watched the street, looking for any sign of an unfamiliar car or the men who had attacked her yesterday. Of course, those men were all either in jail or the hospital, and no longer an immediate threat, but she still didn’t even know why they’d attacked.

“Probably a bunch of perverts,” Mel muttered to herself.

Yesterday, after those men had jumped her and her friends, Glow had come to their rescue, kicking those men’s butts and saving them. However, Glow had vanished immediately afterwards, and then Mel had been forced to spend the rest of the day telling the police what happened, then being ‘comforted’ by her mom. This was the first chance that she’d had to get away.

“Come on,” Mel muttered, impatiently ringing the doorbell again. She had a lot of questions, and after what Glow had said about being James’ bodyguard, she suspected that he knew some of the answers. “I’m not getting any younger out here…”

Seconds later, Dinah opened the door and immediately grabbed Mel in a hug. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Mel responded as she went inside. “Just a bit shaken up. And confused.”

“Yeah, that was pretty freaky,” Dinah agreed.

“But I want to know why those guys jumped us,” Mel told her with a scowl

Dinah suddenly looked a little worried. “Why don’t you ask your dad. I mean, he’s a cop…”

“He doesn’t really know yet,” Mel admitted with a frustrated shake of her head. “Apparently, all of them have police records, but none of them are talking yet.”

“Yet is the important part,” Dinah pointed out.

“Maybe,” Mel said. “But I need to talk to James. I think he knows something about this too…”

A look of fear flashed across Dinah’s face, and she quickly asked, “Why would you think that?”

Mel paused, looking Dinah over and realizing that something was definitely up with her. Suddenly, she was pretty sure that James wasn’t the only one who knew something about what was going on.

“That girl who saved me,” Mel said carefully. “She said that her name was Glow…and that she was James’ bodyguard. Why in the world would James have some mutant girl acting as his bodyguard?”

“Oh,” Dinah gulped, her eyes going wide.

“I need to ask James about her,” Mel stated, glancing around, then starting towards James’s bedroom. Since she didn’t see him in the living room, she was pretty sure that was where she’d find him.

“He’s resting,” Dinah blurted out, jumping in Mel’s path to stop her. “You know how he deals with stress. He’s totally freaking out in there and just needs time to relax…”

Mel glared at Dinah and accused, “You know about this Glow girl too, don’t you…?”

“No,” Dinah protested, though not very effectively. “Please, just leave James alone…”

“I need to talk to him about Glow and those guys,” Mel started towards James’ room again. “I nearly got killed, and then she showed up out of nowhere and saved me. I think I deserve to know why.”

“No,” Dinah blurted out. “You can’t.” Then she stared at Mel with trembling eyes, begging, “Please… You can’t tell him about Glow. Please...”

Mel froze, stunned by the way Dinah was acting. For as long as she’d known Dinah, the younger girl had always been trying to protect her older brother, and now she was on the verge of freaking out over this. It was almost like she was trying to protect James from Mel.

Suddenly, the pieces snapped into place. “You’re her,” Mel blurted out. “You’re Glow…”

Yesterday, Glow had been very exotic looking, but something about her had seemed familiar. Now Mel knew what it was. Glow had a strong resemblance to Dinah. Of course, Glow had the glowing hair and eyes…and looked a little older and more developed, but the resemblance was definitely there. They even had the same hair style.

“You’re a mutant,” Mel accused her. “You turn into Glow…”

“I’m not Glow,” Dinah protested. “Please, forget about Glow. Please, just let this be…”

“What’s going on then?” Mel demanded, getting angry with getting the runaround. Her friends obviously knew something, and it hurt that they were keeping her in the dark about it.

When Mel started towards James’ room again, Dinah blurted out, “I’m not Glow. James is.”

“What?” Mel gasped, staring at Dinah in surprise and confusion.

“He has DID,” Dinah said quietly, her voice shaking. “Dissociative Identity Disorder.” Then at Mel’s blank look, she added, “Multiple personalities.”

Mel’s eyes widened at that. She gave Dinah a suspicious look, wondering if Dinah really thought she was stupid enough to buy something like that. That sounded like something out of a soap opera, not real life. Then again, being jumped by thugs and rescued by some girl with mutant powers was like something out of a movie.

“James,” Dinah said in a shaky voice, tears starting to run down her cheeks. “He… Please, just leave him alone and I’ll tell you everything. Please…”

Mel stared at Dinah, stunned and confused by the way the girl was acting. She gulped, realizing that whatever was going on, Dinah definitely wasn’t pulling some kind of joke. She was serious…very serious.

“What’s going on?” Mel asked her, a bit more gently. “Why are you protecting James so hard?”

Dinah went and sat down on the living room couch, though it was more like collapsing. She was silent for a moment staring at the floor, then at Mel with a desperate look.

“It’s because of our mom,” Dinah finally said, her voice tired and filled with emotion. “It’s all because our mom…”

“Your mom?” Mel asked as she sat down in the chair beside the couch.

Dinah nodded. “Mom is…she’s a superhero.”

“Wait,” Mel gasped. “Your mom is a superhero?”

Dinah nodded again, though her expression wasn’t a proud one like Mel might have expected. “When we were little,” she explained quietly. “I mean, really little. I was a toddler, and James was four… A supervillain found out my mom’s identity…and he came after us. He…he kidnapped James.”

“Shit,” Mel gasped, suddenly remembering something she’d seen the day before. “James’ back…”

Dinah winced. “Yeah.” She gulped, looking even more shaky. “Sinsear kidnapped James…and hurt him. He did horrible…aweful things to him…and broke him.”

“Oh my God,” Mel whispered, thinking about all the scars, and wondering who could possibly do something like that to a little kid…to a four year old.

“He BROKE James,” Dinah blurted out, rage filling her voice and mixing with the grief and desperation. “His mind broke…”

Mel just sat there, feeling stunned, horrified, and to her guilt…curious. She wanted to know more about what had happened to her friend, no matter how horrible.

“Mom found them and rescued James,” Dinah continued quietly. “A healer fixed James’ body…or at least most of it…but didn’t realize how bad his mind had been broken too. We found that out later.”

Dinah wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at the far wall, not looking at Mel. She looked haunted, not at all like the vibrant and energetic girl Mel was used to seeing.

“The doctors said,” Dinah continued, “that when a kid is really young, and their minds are still really flexible, that sometimes…if they experience something traumatic enough…they can create a new personality to deal with it. That’s what James did. The doctors said that he created a new personality to protect him from Sinsear.”

“Glow,” Mel whispered in realization.

Dinah nodded at that, but added, “She didn’t call herself that at first. For a long time, she wouldn’t tell anyone her name. In fact, for a long time, no one even knew she was there.”

Mel blinked at that. “How can you not have known she was there? She has glowing blue hair.”

This time, Dinah shook her head. “After Sinsear, James couldn’t handle confrontation. Anytime someone pushed him too hard, he’d just panic and freeze…” She paused at that and licked her lips, giving Mel an odd look. “But sometime, when bullies pushed too hard…he’d snap. He’d beat the crap out of the bullies, and afterwards, he didn’t remember doing it. Eventually, the shrinks realized that he had another personality, one that only came out to protect him.”

“That must have been pretty weird for him,” Mel said sympathetically. She’d known James for several years, and never would have guessed he had another personality. She felt a little hurt that he’d never even shared that fact with her. Didn’t he trust her? “It must be freaky, knowing you have someone else living in your head.”

“James doesn’t know,” Dinah said with a sigh. “We told him…and his shrink spent years trying to work with him about it. But…” She paused again and shook her head. “He doesn’t remember. He never remembers. Glow… She makes him forget. She makes him forget about her, and about anything else bad…like she’s protecting him from bad memories too. In just a week, he probably won’t even remember that he was there yesterday.”

Mel stared at Dinah before whispering, “Damn…”

“Yeah,” Dinah agreed. “We found out that if we keep everything nice, calm and safe for James, then Glow doesn’t have any reason to come out. As long as he feels safe, he can live a normal life.”

“So, that’s why you’re always so protective of him,” Mel said in understanding.

Dinah nodded at that. “Then about three years ago, things changed a little. They manifested as a mutant…but for some reason, Glow was the one who got all the powers. Now, whenever she takes over, James’ body changes and transforms into hers, and when she goes away, she changes back to him.”

“So,” Mel mused, “James is a mutant, but he can’t use his powers…”

“He doesn’t even know he has them,” Dinah responded with a wry smile. “The doctors think that the reason Glow has all the powers but he doesn’t, is all psychosomatic. Maybe Glow has the powers because they both see her as the powerful one…as the protector…or maybe, she intentionally hijacked them to protect him from being a mutant too. I don’t really understand how that works, but as far as James is concerned, he’s a baseline.”

“My God,” Mel whispered, trying to absorb everything she’d just been told.

It all sounded so far-fetched and unbelievable, but she knew James, and could see the evidence of it as well. That explained why he was the way he was, why he froze whenever a bully pushed him too hard. And of course, it explained the attacks on the bike gang, Todd, and those men from yesterday.

“Have you,” Mel started awkwardly, not sure how to continue. “Have you ever talked with Glow?”

“Sometimes,” Dinah admitted. “Sometimes she’ll talk to me and Dad, but usually not for very long. She’s kind of intense, and just about the only thing she cares about is protecting James.”

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like,” Mel admitted. “Living like this...” She shook her head sadly, wishing there was something she could do to help her friend. “Poor James…”

They were both silent for several long seconds, but then a new voice asked, “Is that all true?”

Mel and Dinah snapped around, only to see James standing in the hall doorway, staring at them with a haunted and horrified look on his face. He slowly stepped into the living room, looking shaky and on the verge of a panic attack, the kind he had when the stress became too much.

“Is that really true?” James repeated with a pleading note in his voice. “Do I really have someone else in my head?”

Dinah jumped to her feet, and she was already crying. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out, rushing over to her brother and grabbing him in a hug. “We didn’t want you to find out… I didn’t want you to have to go through this again…”

Mel just stared at James, unable to think of what she could possibly say to him now. After a few seconds, she stood up, then slowly went over and gave him a hug as well. It was the only thing she could think to do.

After they were done with the hugs, James staggered to the couch and collapsed into it, in almost exactly the same way that Dinah had earlier. He put his face in his hands, and silently remained in that position for nearly a minute. No one dared to speak.

Finally, James looked up, revealing his red and teary eyes, pleading to Dinah, “Tell me about Glow…”

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Wednesday morning, Aug 15th, 2007

James sat at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, staring down at the bowl of soggy cereal in front of him. He’d eaten about half the bowl, but had then become distracted and lost in his own thoughts, leaving the reset of the cereal virtually forgotten.

He was still stunned by what he’d learned the other day, about having another personality who lived in his head without his even knowing. The very idea seemed ludicrous, but at the same time, it explained some of the strange things in his life. It explained so much.

Just a few days ago, those men had jumped him, Dinah, and Mel, and one of them had chased him into an alley. After that, the next thing James remembered, was that he was standing in a different alley, wearing a leather jacket that reeked of cigarette smoke. He’d immediately thrown the smelly thing away, though that hadn’t answered any of his questions.

“And my shoes,” he muttered, remembering that he’d also been barefoot. At the time, he’d had no idea of what had happened to his shoes, but now, he realized that it was because Glow had smaller feet than him, and must have gotten rid of them after she took over.

Of course, that was only the most recent event. Now that James knew about Glow, he realized that there had been a lot of similar events in his life, times that he had no memories of, or things that other people had accused him of saying or doing, when he knew quite well he hadn’t.

In elementary school, his best friend Tyler used to joke around about how James had beaten up Billy Jones, which was why Billy never picked on him. James had always laughed that off, because he knew he’d never be able to beat up someone as tough as Billy. All he’d known was that Billy had been bullying him really badly one day, and then suddenly, Billy left him alone after that and never bothered him again.

“She beat up Billy for me,” James whispered, wondering how many other fights she’d gotten into in his place. How many other times had Glow protected him?

Then James thought of Sinsear, and his heart momentarily felt as though it was freezing in terror. James could remember Sinsear, at least a little. He remembered the supervillain who’d come into his home and kidnapped him, and he had a few vague memories of what had happened after that. However, he’d never been able to remember most of what Sinsear had done to him. He’d always thought this was a good thing, that his mind had blocked out the memories because they were too horrific. But now, now he knew that it had been a little more complicated than that.

“I haven’t forgotten about you yet,” James said, not sure if Glow could hear him or not. Dinah said that Glow seemed to be aware of everything that happened to him, so maybe she was listening through his ears.

James was afraid that he would forget about Glow again, and that she could simply take away any of his memories she wanted. How many things had he forgotten because of her? How much of his own life had been erased?

But at the same time, James had to reluctantly admit that he almost wished she would take away that memory. If he forgot about her, then he wouldn’t have to worry about her being in his head, and about what she’d done. He suspected that in this case, ignorance would be bliss. However, just because he didn’t remember Glow, that wouldn’t mean she was gone.

For the last two nights, James had written himself a letter and left it beside his bed. He’d written down everything Dinah had told him about Glow, so even if she did make him forget, he could still remind himself. But then, this morning, James had found something else sitting beside his bed. It was his dad’s camcorder.

James looked over at the camcorder that was sitting on the breakfast nook beside him, knowing that Glow had left him a message. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to look at it yet, but he had a strange certainty that she was the one who’d put it there.

“Glow,” James said her name, feeling an odd mixture of emotions when he thought of this girl, who was supposed to be a part of him. He felt grateful to her, yet afraid of her at the same time.

James finally decided that it was time. He picked up the camcorder, then got up and left the breakfast nook, the soggy cereal completely forgotten about. He went over to the computer, which sat in the corner, and plugged the camcorder into it.

Once James played the recording from the camcorder, an image appeared on the monitor of a girl. She was a very pretty girl, with glowing blue irises, and with glowing blue hair that went down to her shoulders, in a style that was very similar to what Dinah wore. In fact, the girl on the screen looked a great deal like an older version of his sister.

“Hello James,” the girl said. “I am Glow. Dinah has already told you much about me, and I know that you fear I will steal your body and life. I wish to assure you that I would never do anything like that. I would never do anything to harm you. My purpose in life is to protect you. That is the reason I exist.”

“Holy shit,” James gasped, staring intently at the monitor. He couldn’t believe that girl was really him…or a part of him.

“Kind of weird, isn’t it?” Dinah asked as she came up and stood beside him. “It’s even weirder to watch you actually turn into her.”

James gulped at that. “I imagine…”

Glow continued speaking. “In the past, I have removed my existence from your awareness in order to protect you. You were greatly troubled by my existence, and I had hoped that by removing knowledge of me, you could be happy and live a normal life. But now, as you have chosen to remember me, I will abide by your wishes.”

Dinah put a hand on James’ shoulder and offered, “It looks like you won’t have to worry about forgetting this again…”

“Lucky me,” James muttered in response, trying to make sense of his confused emotions.

“Remember,” Glow said from the monitor, “I am always with you, and I will do anything in my power to keep you safe.” With that, Glow bowed her head and the video ended.

James just started at the screen for several long seconds, then weakly joked, “I’m like Jekyll and Hyde.”

“More like Bruce Banner and the Hulk,” Dinah joked. “I mean, Glow is a total badass…”

“That she is,” their dad said as he came into the room.

He scowled a little as he looked at the computer screen, reminding James that his dad hadn’t been happy about Glow’s public appearances lately, or that Dinah had told him about her. However, instead of being angry, he seemed more worried than anything.

“Glow means well,” he carefully said, “but she does complicate things.”

James stared at the floor, not sure what to say to that. After a few seconds, he cautiously asked, “What does Mom think about Glow?”

James noticed his dad and sister sharing an awkward look, before his dad admitted, “She doesn’t know.”

“What?” James asked in surprise. “Why not?”

“It’s not like Mom has ever been around,” Dinah reminded him in a bitter tone.

James nodded at that, knowing exactly what Dinah meant. His parents had divorced when he was young, just months after he’d been rescued from Sinsear. Ever since then, James barely ever saw his mother, who usually only showed up once or twice a year. She had never really been part of his life.

“Sarah,” their dad started with a grim expression. “Your mother wasn’t around when you were growing up. For the first few years, I kept her appraised of your situation, of the odd behavioral issues…”

“But Mom would rather be a superhero than a mother,” Dina pointed out with a deep scowl that hinted at the old anger and frustrations.

Their dad scowled at that as well, but calmly continued, “We didn’t realize that you had another personality until you were nearly ten, and by then, we had very little contact with your mother.”

“And Glow insisted that we don’t tell Mom about her,” Dinah added. “She doesn’t trust Mom.” Her tone indicated that she thought this a good thing.

James stared at his sad, who had a somewhat guilty expression, and then at Dinah. “But if I’m a mutant, then shouldn’t Mom know? I mean, if anyone could help me…or Glow learn about our powers…”

“She’d probably take you away,” Dinah stated with a flash of anger. “Then we’d never get to see you either.”

“James is right,” their dad said, much to Dinah’s surprise. He looked to James and added, “Your mother does need to know, but not because you’re a mutant too. I’m pretty damn sure those men tried to kidnap you two because of her.”

James was about to ask more questions, when the doorbell began to ring. Their dad got up and answered the door, revealing Mel and her dad. Her dad was tall, lean, and had dark skin and hair. He was also dressed up in his deputy uniform, which suggested this wasn’t a social visit.

“Hey, John,” Phil Terrance greeted James’ dad. “I saw your car in the driveway and figured you skipped work today…”

“Yeah,” John Merrick agreed, glancing towards James and Dinah. “The kids were pretty shaken up by what happened Sunday, so I figured I’d stay close for a few days.”

“Good idea,” Phil responded, looking to Melissa, who’d hurried over to stand next to James and Dinah. “I wish I could do that myself, but the whole department is busy investigating those would-be kidnappers.”

“Did you find anything out?” John asked.

“That’s what I came to talk to you about,” Phil explained. “All four have records, and they admitted that someone hired them to grab your kids, though they refused to say anything more than that. Would you know of any reason why they’d be interested in you and your family?”

There was a long pause before John answered. “They’re probably here because of my ex…”

Phil suddenly looked even more intent. “Your ex?”

“Their mother,” John said, gesturing back to him and Dinah. “She…” He paused with a scowl, then carefully continued, “She sometimes works with law enforcement, so this may be because of that. I was just about to give her a call about all this…”

James watched his father, feeling a little worried because of the topic. Though his dad hadn’t said anything about his mom being a superhero, he might have given Phil enough to figure it out on his own. James wasn’t very happy with his mom, but he didn’t want to risk her being outed as a superhero.

“There is one more thing,” Phil announced. “That mutant girl who showed up…”

Phil scowled at that, and James knew that this was because the police were confused by Glow and what she was doing. This was the third time in the last month that she’d shown up and caused a bit of a scene. The police didn’t know anything about her, and were worried that they had a new superhero or vigilante in town.

“That mutant was questioning one of the men,” Phil continued, “and unlike the others, that one has said a couple things, not that they mean much.”

“What did he say?” Dinah blurted out, glancing to Melissa who had a grim look on her face.

“Well,” Phil answered with a deep scowl. “He keeps repeating two things over and over. They are, and I quote, he is sincere, and he wants the boy back.”

Everyone in the room suddenly went silent at that, though James was sure he couldn’t speak if he’d tried. He felt as though a hand had just clutched his heart and was starting to squeeze. A cold dread filled him down to his very soul.

“Are you sure that’s what he said?” John asked grimly.

“That’s what he said,” Phil agreed. “He keeps repeating them.”

John gulped, then gave a forced smile. “Thanks for keeping me in the loop.”

As soon as Phil left, a cold firm voice announced, “He has returned.”

John, Dinah, and Mel all looked to James since the words had come from his mouth, though the voice that spoke them had definitely been female. Then he lifted his head and they saw the glowing blue eyes.

“Glow?” Mel blurted out in surprise.

James’ features shifted and changed, softening and becoming more feminine. His hair lengthened, losing pigmentation and becoming clear, right before each strand began to glow, as though each was a fiber optic cable. At the same time, his body shrank, losing three inches of height while his chest began to push out into two B cup breasts. Mere seconds after the transformation had begun, James was gone, replaced with Glow.

“Sinsear has returned,” Glow snarled, her glowing eyes burning with fury. “This time, he will not touch us.”

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Wednesday late afternoon, Aug 15th, 2007

Glow stared out the window, her eyes darting back and forth as she looked for any sign of a threat. So far, she’d been keeping watch for hours and hadn’t seen any, but she couldn’t afford to lower her guard, not if Sinsear was back.

Though Glow hated to admit it, even to herself, she was scared. This wasn’t an emotion she was used to feeling, at least not since THEN, but Sinsear terrified her. He was the only thing that she was truly afraid of, but in spite of that, there was absolutely no way that she was going to let him touch James again. NONE.

“This is so weird,” Mel said, watching Glow in fascination. “I can’t believe she’s really James…”

“I am not James,” Glow said with a note of annoyance in her voice as she turned and gave Mel a flat look.

“Okay,” Mel responded, holding her hands up. “But you do share headspace with him…”

Glow just continued giving her a flat look, then finally turned away and looked out the window again. She frowned, tempted to teleport around the neighborhood for a better look, but John had warned her to keep a low profile, and she had to agree that this would be in James’ best interest, since it was easier to protect him if she had the element of surprise.

Mel continued to stare at her, as she’d done since Glow had appeared. Glow did her best to ignore the other girl, though Mel made this difficult.

“So,” Mel abruptly asked. “What was your name before you got your powers? I mean, you probably weren’t called Glow before you started glowing…”

“That is none of your concern,” Glow answered.

“Jane,” Dinah supplied with a smirk, only to earn a flat look from Glow.

“My name has never been Jane,” Glow stated.

Dinah grinned, then told Mel, “She’s NEVER told us her name… After she finally started coming out where we could actually SEE her, I named her Glow.”

“It is an appropriate name,” Glow admitted. Her real name was not their business, and was one she had never even uttered aloud. If she needed a name, Glow was more than suitable.

“Glow,” Dinah said carefully. “You’ve been out for hours. Shouldn’t you let James come back?”

Glow turned her attention to Dinah. “I am protecting him.”

“I know Sinsear might be back,” Dinah said awkwardly, trying to keep her expression even so as not to show just how afraid she was of Sinsear. She didn’t remember the supervillain, but she’d seen what he’d done to her brother, and that terrified her. However, it would be a bad idea to let Glow see that, at least at the moment. “But you can’t keep James locked up for the rest of his life.”

“She’s right,” Mel quickly added.

“If Sinsear or any of those men come back,” Dinah told her, almost pleasing, “you can come back out then. Please, let James come back…”

Glow stared at Dinah for a moment, considering her words. Admittedly, she’d been keeping watch all day, and had yet to see any signs of danger. Though she wanted to remain on watch, making sure that no threats came near, she couldn’t let James asleep forever…especially not after she’d promised him that she wouldn’t.

“Very well,” Glow reluctantly agreed.

Glow closed her eyes, steadied her breathing and allowed herself to feel James. She was always aware of James, whether he was awake and in control, or she was. With a small act of will, she pushed herself back, allowing herself to sink back to where she normally waited while James rose to the surface in order to exchange places with her.

While this occurred, Glow’s body began to shift and change, in a way that was uncomfortable for her, yet appropriate for James. The glow faded from her hair and eyes, while her body began to grow both taller and flatter of chest.

James opened his eyes and looked around, feeling a moment of confusion. Mel and his sister were sitting in different places than they had been a moment earlier, as was he. And there was no sign of his dad in the room.

With a nervous gulp, James asked, “Did Glow…?”

“She took over,” Dinah said, giving him a look of pity.

“That was…weird,” Mel admitted. “Did it hurt?”

“Did what hurt?” James asked, feeling confused until he realized that she meant the changes.

He shook his head, not sure how to answer her. Changing into Glow didn’t hurt, or at least he didn’t think it did. He didn’t remember changing, so for all he knew, Glow had just erased his memory of that too.

“How long was she here?” James asked with a sinking feeling. Then he saw the clock in the corner and his eyes widened. “No way…”

“About six or seven hours,” Dinah answered awkwardly, unable to meet her brother’s eyes.

James was stunned at the realization of just how long Glow had taken over for, and he felt a chill of fear at just how easily she’d done it. He hadn’t even been aware of it until she’d gone. For all he knew, she could take over anytime she wanted and for as long as she wanted, and there seemed to be absolutely nothing he could do about it.

After a few more seconds, James discovered another surprise. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing, a blue and gray outfit that covered everything from his neck down, and which fit his body very closely. He gasped in surprise before blurting out, “What am I wearing?”

“Glow’s costume,” Dinah answered with a wry grin. “I think she bought it from some devisor online…”

“Oh my God,” Mel exclaimed, rushing over and touching James’ arm. “This is awesome…”

“Awesome?” James gasped, staring at her in confusion, and with a little sense of betrayal.

“I mean, this stuff fit Glow perfectly,” Mel rushed out as she ran a hand over the costume material on James’ arm. “And now, it fits you too…”

“One size fits all,” Dinah agreed. “And when Glow first got it, she told me that it’s sort of bulletproof too…”

“Sort of bulletproof?” James asked skeptically, though Dinah just shrugged.

Just then, James’ dad came back into the living room and paused to give him a look of relief. “You’re back…”

“Um…yeah,” James responded awkwardly. He stared at the ground in shame. Not only was he crazy, but he had been for most of his life and hadn’t even known it. Compared to Glow, his cowardice was absolutely nothing.

Dinah was suddenly by his side, wrapping her arms around him and insisting, “This isn’t your fault.” Tears started running down her cheeks as she told him, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Then James realized that his dad was standing in front of him too. He expected to see shame on his dad’s face, but instead, he only saw concern. Without a word, his dad grabbed him in a tight hug and just held him.

Once the family hug ended, Dinah tearfully whispered, “I wish you hadn’t found out about Glow again…”

“Ignorance is bliss,” James quietly responded, feeling a little better for their obvious concern. Then, he took a deep breath and looked Dinah in the eyes. “But it would be a lie…and I think…I’d rather know the truth.”

His dad put a firm hand on his shoulder and nodded in approval. There was even a look of pride on his face as he said, “You can’t fix your problems by running away from them.”

James nodded at that, still feeling self-conscious from the fact that everyone was watching him. Then, he suddenly remembered what they’d been talking about right before Glow had taken over. Again, he felt the cold hand of terror gripping his heart and squeezing, and for a moment, he desperately wanted Glow to protect him. And to his surprise, he could almost feel her presence, prepared to come forward and do that very thing. However, he remembered what his dad had just told him and mentally assured her that he was fine…for now.

“Sinsear,” James gasped, barely able to get the name out. Though James couldn’t remember most of what Sinsear had done to him, the supervillain was still his boogeyman, the terror that haunted his worst nightmares.

“We don’t know that he’s the one who sent those men,” his dad told him, looking worried. “We don’t know that he’s involved. Hell, after what your mother did to him, it would be a miracle if he was even still alive…”

“You’re safe,” Dinah promised, grabbing hold of James and trying to reassure him. “If you weren’t, Glow wouldn’t have backed off. And even if something does happen, you can bet your butt that she’ll be back out to protect you in an instant.”

“She does seem pretty protective of you,” Mel offered, looking a little awkward as she watched them.

“And I called your mother,” his dad added with a deep scowl. “Just in case.”

“You called Mom?” James blurted out, staring at his dad in surprise.

“Yeah, he called her this morning,” Dinah told him with a grimace, clearly not happy about that. Of course, that was no surprise, since Dinah resented their mother even more than he did.

Mel laughed, and at James’ curious look, she explained, “Glow really wasn’t happy about it either.”

James just nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. The truth was, he wasn’t sure how he felt about calling his mom. Sure, she was a superhero, but when it came to protecting him, she didn’t have a very good track record at all. And even though he had a problem with someone else living inside his head, at least Glow had always been there for him.

“Mel,” James started uncomfortably. He hesitated a few seconds, not sure how to say this, then just blurting it out, “It might not be safe around us…”

“What?” Mel responded in surprise. “Are you telling me to leave…?”

“No,” he quickly told her, wincing and taking a nervous step back. “I mean, if Sin…if those guys come back…” James paused, shaking a little and unable to bring himself to look at Mel as he added, “I just don’t want you to get hurt because of this…”

Mel smiled faintly at that, then told him, “I’m not about to abandon my bestie… Besides, if anyone does come after you guys again, you’ve got a secret weapon.”

“Yeah,” Dinah added with a broad grin. “If anyone comes after us, Glow will kick their butts.”

James looked to his dad, who gave a forced smile and asked, “I was about to get dinner started. What does everyone think of burgers?”

“Do you have tofu burgers?” Mel asked, trying to keep a straight face. “I’m vegan.”

“Vegan?” James’ dad responded with a look of surprise. “I didn’t know…”

Mel just grinned and added, “And can you put extra bacon in it?”

James snickered at the look on his dad’s face, then had to point out, “She’s messing with you, Dad…”

“I figured that much,” his dad responded with a grumble as he hurried away.

“Did you see the look on his face?” Dinah blurted out before she burst into giggles.

James watched Mel and his sister, feeling a little better for this distraction. The fear of Sinsear was still knawing away at his guts, but it was a bit more tolerable now. Still, he was eager for anything that would help distract him from it even more, and this talk of food stirred some questions.

“Does Glow like hamburgers?” James abruptly asked, earning looks of surprise from Mel and Dinah.

It was freaky enough to learn that he had another personality living in his head, and stranger still to realize that he knew almost nothing about her. Apparently, Glow had been with him for twelve years, yet she was a complete and total stranger.

“I don’t know,” Dinah admitted after a moment. She gave James an apologetic look and explained, “I’ve only seen Glow eat a couple times, and she never really said if she liked something or not.”

James let out a sigh of disappointment. “Oh…”

But then, Dinah suddenly brightened up and blurted out, “Snickerdoodles.”

“What?” James and Mel asked simultaneously.

“She likes snickerdoodles,” Dinah announced rather proudly. “One time when she was out, she ate half a plate of snickerdoodles. She never said that she liked them or anything, but it was kind of obvious…”

“Snickerdoodles,” James mused. He’d never particularly liked or disliked that type of cookie, so it was interesting to learn that Glow did like them. It somehow made her seem a little more human to him. “Thank you.”

Mel had a thoughtful look on her face, then suggested, “You know, we should leave some snickerdoodles out for Glow. You know, to thank her for saving our butts the other day.”

Dinah nodded enthusiastically at that, cheerfully exclaiming, “Like leaving cookies out for Santa…”

“My mom has a good recipe,” Mel added, clearly liking the idea.

A short time later, they sat down around the dinner table. James looked at the hamburgers that were fresh off the grill, knowing that they would be juicy and delicious. No fast food place could ever match the ones his dad cooked, not even the ones from Harry’s Burgers, where he’d briefly worked.

Normally, James would be delighted by this dinner, but this time, he was far too distracted to enjoy it. He still had the knot of fear in his stomach, and even without the threat of Sinsear, he still would have felt overwhelmed. Learning about Glow was more than stressful enough.

“Thanks for inviting me for dinner,” Mel announced.

James smiled faintly at that since it would have been more accurate to say that Mel had invited herself. Of course, that was nothing new since she tended to do that about once a week, so his dad always made sure to have enough food ready, just in case.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass came from the living room, making everyone jump to their feet. James felt his heart leap into his throat, and he could feel Glow starting to come, much to his relief.

An instant later, there was an explosion of force and James was flung across the room where he slammed into the wall. The impact stunned him, and seemed to interrupt Glow, because she was no longer coming, leaving him to deal with whatever was happening.

“JAMES,” Dinah cried out, staring at him in worry, then relief when he sat up.

“I’m fine,” James said, fearfully looking around.

Then a new voice called out from the living room. A mocking female voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…”

“Run,” James’ dad ordered, holding up a shotgun that he must have hidden nearby. He had a grim look on his face and gestured to the back door. “Go. Now.”

“Helloooo,” the woman’s voice called out again, right before she stepped into the dining room.

The woman had tanned skin and long black hair, that was tied up in numerous tight braids, some of which had metal rings woven into the ends. She had a green and black costume that covered her entire body from the neck down, all except for her hands which were clawed and vicious looking.

“I FOUND you,” she teased, right before grinning broadly, revealing that her mouth was twice as wide as it should be, and all her teeth were sharp and vicious looking. “I win.”

James froze, staring at this woman in terror, unable to bring himself to move. Dinah grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the door, snapping himself out of it

“I don’t think so,” James’ dad announced as he pulled the trigger.

The woman was knocked back as her chest exploded in red. However, she didn’t go down. Instead, she grinned and began to laugh.

“That tickles,” she announced in a gleeful tone. “I do so love it when they play rough…”

“Oh shit,” John Merrick exclaimed, shooting her again and starting to back away.

The woman lunged forward, and an instant later, John was sent flying with blood exploding from his side. James saw his dad to down and screamed in horror.

“No, no, no,” James cried out.

The woman crouched down beside his dad and giggled. “Oh, I would so love to kill you right now, but that is against the rules. HE wants you all alive and well…at least for the moment.” Then she suddenly looked at Mel and added, “Except for you. I can play with you…”

“Run,” John ordered the kids.

“Come on,” Mel yelled, grabbing James and Dinah and yanking their arms.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” James cried out, feeling Glow in the background, wanting to come forth. However, he couldn’t afford to stop long enough for her to take over. He ran out the back door with the others, silently pleading to Glow to come rescue them.

“It’s PLAYTIME,” the insane woman yelled as she exploded out the back door. “Run all you want kiddies. I’m COMING!”

Then, the woman held out her hands and laughed maniacally, releasing a blast of force. An instant later, James, Dinah, and Mel were thrown away from her, and James hit the ground with a painful impact.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” he gasped, his heart racing with terror.

James’ eyes began to burn with blue energy as Glow switched places with him. Her body immediately began to shift and change, transforming back into the one she was comfortable and familiar with. Seconds later, she jumped back to her feet, her attention focused on the threat to James.

“Oooooh,” the intruder exclaimed, clapping her hands gleefully. “We have a new player. And since I wasn’t told to bring you in alive, I can play as rough as I want.”

Glow watched the woman warily, knowing that at the moment, she didn’t have any energy stored and was no stronger or faster than a normal girl. However, she also felt a strange sense of relief since the current threat wasn’t Sinsear, like she’d feared. It was just some insane woman, who happened to have powers. That was something Glow was prepared to handle.

Her eyes darted to the ruined back door, and she scowled as she thought of John. He was injured and had been left bleeding on the dining room floor. Fortunately, this woman had said she needed him alive, so he didn’t appear to have been hurt too bad. That was a very good thing, as James would never forgive her if she’d allowed his father to die.

A moment later, Glow glanced at Dinah and Mel, who were taking advantage of the distraction to run away. Or at least, Dinah was taking advantage of the opportunity and nearly dragging a stunned Mel along with her. Glow smiled faintly at that, not at all surprised. Dinah was good at thinking on her feet and quite capable of taking care of herself. And more than that, she was also good at taking care of James. She’d often protected him, keeping Glow from having to do that. Not only was Dinah her ally, but the closest thing she had to a friend besides James. Glow would keep this intruder distracted so that Dinah and Mel could get away and find help.

“Who are you?” Glow demanded of the intruder. “Why have you come to this place?”

“I’m Bombastic,” the woman stated with ridiculously broad grin. She gave an exaggerated bow, announcing, “And I am here to have a little fun…”

An instant later, Bombastic lunged at Glow with an impressive speed, and Glow just barely managed to teleport before the villain’s claws tore through where she’d been standing. Glow reappeared twenty feet away, staying just long enough to get Bombastic’s attention before teleporting again.

“Ooooh,” Bombastic exclaimed, licking her lips excitedly. “You want to play tag… That’s one of my favorite games. I’m it.”

With that, Bombastic flung out her hands and fired a blast of explosive force, which knocked down the fence to the neighbor’s yard. Glow easily teleported out of the way, smiling faintly as she had gathered enough energy to begin fighting back.

“I am called Glow,” she stated, right before teleporting again. The moment she reappeared, she formed all the glowing blue energy that she’d gathered into a half dozen shuriken, and flung them all at Bombastic. Bombastic leapt aside, though not quite fast enough. One of the throwing stars sliced right through her side before vanishing.

Instead of going down, Bombastic just laughed, as though her injury was amusing. She touched her bleeding side, then licked the blood from her fingers. “This is going to be a fun game…” Her eyes lit with a malevolent glee before she launched herself at Glow.

“Then come get me,” Glow announced as she turned and ran, leading Bombastic away from the others.

Bombastic ran close behind, moving with incredible speed. Every time she got close, Glow would dodge away or teleport, then retaliate just enough to keep the woman interested. Once they were far enough away from the others, by nearly two blocks, Glow decided that it was time to end this. She snapped around, forming her energy blade and slashing at Bombastic. Bombastic jumped back enough so that the blade just grazed her, leaving a thin slice across her stomach.

“My turn,” Bombastic called out in a sing-song tone , right before firing another concussion blast at Glow.

“No,” Glow responded, glaring at the woman who had attacked James in his own home, who had injured James’ father. That would not be allowed. “It is my turn.”

With that, Glow teleported again and again, passing through the other dimension half a dozen times in rapid succession so she could gather enough energy. Then, she came to an abrupt stop, her entire body covered with a blue glow. A moment later, she released all the energy she’d gathered at one time, pushing it out at Bombastic as a blast of blue energy that caught the woman in the chest. Bombastic was sent flying back where she smashed into a tree. The front of her uniform was burned off, and her chest was a charred ruin.

Glow stared at her defeated enemy for a moment, noticing that Bombastic’s clawed fingers were twitching, proving that she was still alive. Glow took mental note of that fact and briefly considered ending Bombastic completely. She deserved no less for attacking James and his family. However, Glow knew that James would disapprove, so instead, she turned and started back for the house. John had been injured, and she needed to make sure he received medical attention.

Glow was halfway back to her destination, when something suddenly slammed into her from the side and threw her to the ground. She hit with a painful thud that left her momentarily dazed, but seconds later, she realized that she was covered in some kind of metallic wire net, which seemed to cling to her and prevented her from moving much.

“You shall not be going anywhere,” a woman announced in what Glow thought of as a posh British accent.

Glow shifted her body as much as the net allowed her to, and stared at the woman who spoke. She was attractive, in a prim and proper way, with auburn hair that was tied up in a bun, and she was even wearing a very old fashioned purple dress. However, her outfit included a belt that appeared to be made out of bronze, along with matching wrist bracers and a shoulder pad. To finish off the odd ensemble, she wore a pair bronze framed goggles, and wielded a large rifle, that also seemed to be made of bronze. As Glow looked over the woman, a word came to mind that described the woman’s odd fashion style. Steampunk.

“You are my prisoner,” the unknown woman stated calmly. “Struggling will only cause you harm.”

For a brief moment, Glow wondered if this woman was stupid or merely arrogant. Did she really think that Glow would simply surrender? Glow decided to prove the woman wrong by teleporting out of the net, but as soon as she activated her powers, a surge of pain shot through her entire body, then everything went dark.

--------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Wednesday late afternoon, Aug 15th, 2007

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Mel blurted out as she ran, her heart racing in terror. She came to a stop and pointed back the way they’d just come, exclaiming, “That was a damn supervillain…”

“I know,” Dinah responded, stopping alongside her and looking back with tear filled eyes.

Mel gasped for breath, staring at Dinah in shock. “We left your dad… I can’t believe we left your dad…”

“I KNOW,” Dinah repeated with an angry snarl that covered her guilt. “He’s my dad…” She paused at that, looking back in the direction of the house and adding, “But we couldn’t do anything… I mean, we can’t fight a supervillain…”

“But James,” Mel protested with a look of horror. “We left him too… Oh God, he can’t even stand up to Todd without freezing…”

Dinah looked to the older girl and grimly reminded her, “Glow will protect him…and my dad too…” Her voice shook a little, hinting at how much she was praying for that to be true.

Mel hesitated for a moment, then nodded agreement. Once she’d calmed down enough to think, she reached into her pocket for her cell phone, then called 911. She shook a little as she reported the attack along with Mr. Merrick’s injury, thinking about what would happen if her dad was the one to respond. Her dad was a cop, but there was no way he’d stand a chance against someone like that woman. She closed her eyes, silently praying that she wasn’t sending her dad there to get hurt.

“How convenient,” a deep voice commented from behind them. “We retrieve one prize, only to find two more…”

Mel and Dinah snapped around, and both gasped in fear at the costumed man who’d spoken. He was dressed in a red and dark gray costume, which included a long cape and a full head mask. Pieces of golden armor decorated his belt, shoulders, and wrists, but there were also rings of glowing golden energy around his waist and ankles. This figure floated five feet above the ground, and he was not alone.

“DAD,” Dinah blurted out, staring at her father, who floated in the air beside the costumed figure. Like the costumed man, her father had a glowing ring around his waist, which seemed to be holding him in the air, in spite of the fact that he appeared completely unconscious.

“Ironworks,” the man spoke, looking to the side and making the girls jump as they saw another figure appear. “Do you know which of these two is the girl we seek?”

Ironworks was a massive metal figure that stood over eight feet tall, and was entirely encased in armor. The armor bore a vague resemblance to that of a medieval knight, though it seemed crude and brutish. In one hand, the armored figure held a massive war hammer that was seven feet in length. He took several slow steps forward, as if trying to get a better look at the girls, then he shook his armored head.

“Then I suppose we shall take them both,” the floating man stated with dismissive gesture. “Sinsear can have them both for all I care, so long as he fulfils his part of our bargain.”

Dinah’s eyes widened in terror at the mention of Sinsear, though she bit her lip to keep from saying anything. She glanced to Mel, knowing just how much danger they were both in. Dinah was tempted to tell these men that Mel wasn’t involved in this, and beg for them to let her go. However, she was pretty sure that this would only result in them killing Mel instead.

The floating man settled to the ground, and the glowing rings around his waist and ankles vanished. A moment later, two new rings appeared in the air in front of him, looking almost like a pair of halos. Then with a gesture, the rings suddenly flew at the two girls.

“Watch out,” Dinah cried as she leapt to the side.

Mel didn’t move fast enough, and the ring dropped down over her head, then shrink in size until it snapped firmly around her neck. She grabbed at the collar, then began tugging at it, but as soon as she realized that it wouldn’t budge, she became even more desperate in her attempts. Suddenly, the collar tightened again and she let out a gasp, unable to breath. That only lasted for several seconds before the collar loosened enough for her to breathe again.

“As you can see,” the mysterious man stated, sounding rather smug, “your life is in my hands.”

“MEL,” Dinah cried out in terror, alternately staring at the older girl and warily glancing to the ring that had come after her, and which was now floating in the air a short distance away.

“Make no mistake,” the costumed man told them. “You are both coming with us.” The massive Ironworks didn’t utter a word, but he nodded his head and lifted his hammer, making his position extremely clear.

Mel frantically looked back and forth between the costumed man and the massive armored figure, realizing just how much trouble she was in. James had warned her that it might be dangerous to remain with them, but she hadn’t believed him. “Oh God,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “Help…”

Before Mel could finish her plea for help, a shadow settled over her…over all of them. Her eyes were drawn to the figure that had appeared behind Ironworks, one that towered over his armored form. Mel let out a gasp of shock, looking up…and up…and up, only to a giant woman, who stood forty feet tall. The giantess was dressed in a tight fitting red and white costume, which included a mask over the top part of her face.

“Fee. Fi. Fo. Fum,” the giant woman called out, right before stomping on Ironworks and driving him straight into the ground.

“She’s enormous,” Mel blurted out with a mixture of awe and fear.

Dinah just glared up at the giant woman, and in a grim voice, responded, “No. She’s Ginormous.”

Ginormous bent over and slapped at the costumed man, who was sent flying back until he hit the side of the house next door, then collapsed on the ground. She straightened up and looked around, then to Mel’s surprise, she began to shrink. The giantess dwindled in size, reaching thirty feet tall, then twenty. In mere seconds, she had slipped below the ten foot height, stopping at eight feet tall, still towering over the girls.

“No way,” Mel gasped in stunned amazement.

Dinah was much less impressed and just continued to glare at the woman for a moment before saying, “Hi Mom.”

“Mom?” Mel blurted out in surprise.

If Ginormous was upset about this revelation of her secret identity, she didn’t show it. Instead, she rushed forward and crouched down to grab Dinah in a hug. However, Dinah wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about it.

“You always do this,” Dinah accused angrily. She pointed up at her mother, who was nearly three feet taller than her. “You always have to make yourself bigger than everyone else, just so you can intimidate them and make them feel small…”

Ginormous looked a little hurt at the accusation and shrank a little more, stopping at six feet tall, which was still larger than her natural size. “It isn’t like that,” she tried to explain awkwardly. “I have an image to keep…”

“Whatever,” Dinah grumbled. Then she suddenly snapped around, “Dad…” Her dad was still floating in the air where the costumed man had left him, and still appeared to be unconscious. Her eyes widened and she called out to him again, hoping he would hear her and snap out of it.

“John,” Ginormous said, her voice filled with concern. “He’s hurt…”

“Some crazy woman broke into our house and attacked him,” Dinah said, her voice filled with her own worry. Then she quickly added, “But she said they wanted us all alive, so I don’t think she hurt him too bad.” This was said more hopefully than anything.

“And James?” she asked, looking around with a worried look. “Where is he…”

“That crazy lady chased him,” Mel offered nervously, wincing a little when Ginormous looked at her.

“What?” Ginormous demanded.

Dinah grabbed her mom’s arm and quickly assured her, “He got away… He’s safe” Or at least, she desperately hoped he was. She had no doubt that Glow would do everything she possibly could to protect him, and she had a lot of faith in Glow’s abilities. A moment later, she looked to Mel, adding, “This is Mel…our neighbor.”

“Um…hi,” Mel squeaked out awkwardly.

“I need to find James,” Ginormous stated, then gently reached for her ex-husband. “And get your father to the hospital…” But just as she was about to try picking John up, he suddenly flew back out of her reach. “What…?”

The man in the costume stood there with his hand out, gesturing towards John who now hovered in the air near him. “I am not so easily defeated as that, Ginormous…”

“Ringleader,” Ginormous snarled. “I’ve heard of you…”

Ringleader just laughed. “I do have quite a reputation…” Ginormous snarled and took a step towards him, growing larger as she did so. However, Ringleader held up his hand and said, “If you take another step, he dies…”

“YOU,” she snarled again, her eyes blazing with fury. “Why are you after my family? We’ve never even met before…”

“I have nothing personal against you,” Ringleader said, forming glowing rings around his own waist and ankles and then lifting several inches off the ground, where he just hovered. “However, Sinsear does.”

“SINSEAR?” she demanded, growing another foot larger, her eyes flashing not just rage but fear. “He’s still alive?”

“Oh yes,” Ringleader responded with a laugh. “And he bears you and yours quite a grudge…”

Mel looked back and forth between the hero and the villain, seriously thinking about running. However, as scared as she was, she was also extremely curious and couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“MOM,” Dinah suddenly called out, though the warning was too late. A massive hammer slammed into Ginormous and sent her flying back. “MOM!”

Ironworks started walking towards Ginormous, who was getting back to her feet. At that moment, she wasn’t much larger than he was, so she was vulnerable to his power. That didn’t last long though, as she immediately began growing.

A second later, the ring around Mel’s throat tightened, cutting off her air. She gasped and frantically grabbed at the ring again, but it did little good. Then, the ring yanked her back, pulling her towards the Ringleaders.

“I may only have acquired one of the three targets I was after,” Ringleader said as he began rising up. “But this one should offer some additional leverage…” With that, two more rings snapped around Mel’s wrists and began lifting her up into the air by her arms.

“Help,” she screamed, too terrified to feel relief over the fact that she could breathe again.

“No,” Ginormous exclaimed, reaching twenty feet tall and bracing herself as Ironworks swung his hammer at her again. She lashed out, kicking him and knocking him back, though he was far too sturdy to be damaged so easily.

Ringleader rose up into the air with his two prisoners, with Mel screaming in frantic desperation. Ginormous leapt at them, only to have Ironworks slam into her and knock her aside. She turned to kick Ironworks again, growing larger as he did so. However, the armored figure stepped back and suddenly began to levitate as well. Without saying a word, Ironwork went up into the air, using his hammer to smack Ginormous’ hand when she tried to grab him. A few seconds later, both villains were gone.

“DAD,” Dinah cried out desperately, tears pouring down her cheeks. “MEL!” Then, she turned and glared at her mother, who’d failed them yet again.

A Glow in the Darkness part 2

Author:

Morpheus

Caution:

CAUTION

Audience Rating:

Mature Subjects (pg15)

Publication:

Fiction

Genre:

Character Age:

Teenage or High School

TG Universes & Series:

Whateley Academy by Maggie Finson, et al

Permission:

Posted by author(s)

Somewhere above Lake Michigan. Thursday, Aug 16th, 2007

Dinah absently tugged at the uncomfortable strap that held her in her seat, distracting herself by looking out the window at Lake Michigan, which was far below. There was quite an impressive view outside the windows, and at any other time, she would have been appropriately excited by it. However, at the moment, it was hard to feel enthusiastic about anything.

All Dinah could think about was how bad things had gone the day before. A lunatic supervillain had burst into their house, tearing her dad up right in front of her, and then chasing after James…and then Glow. Then when she and Mel had run away, they ran into two more villains, ones who not only kidnapped her dad, but Mel too. And her mom hadn’t stopped them.

Dinah glared at her mom, who was in the pilot seat, flying the odd aircraft. If she was aware of Dinah’s glare, she didn’t show any indication of it, remaining focused on the aircraft’s controls instead.

Of course, the worst thing that had happened, was that Sinsear had returned. Dinah shuddered at the very thought of that monster, and she started to cry whenever she considered what he might be doing to her dad and Mel. Though she didn’t know the details of everything he’d done to James, and she certainly didn’t want to know, she had seen the damage. That monster had shattered her brother and destroyed her family, and she absolutely dreaded what he’d do now that he was back.

After the fighting had all been over, Dinah’s mom had searched the town, looking or any sign of James, her dad, or Mel. She hadn’t seen any signs of them, or of the villains who’d taken them. She’d spent half the night looking, without any success.

“James,” Dinah whispered, her voice shaking. She’d been so sure that Glow would protect him, that she would keep him safe from the villains. But now, both James and Glow were missing too, and she was terrified that Sinsear had them. “Please no… Not again…”

“Are you all right?” her mom asked, giving her a worried look.

“I’m fine,” Dinah lied. After yesterday, she’d barely spoken to her mom, refusing to say more than a few words at a time. She had spent most of her life without talking to that woman, and saw no reason to start now.

“Did you know this whole thing is actually a devise?” her mother abruptly asked, trying to distract her from her worries. She gestured around the aircraft, adding, “There are only two of them like it in the entire world, and my team owns both of them.”

In spite of herself, Dinah looked around the cabin of the vehicle, which contained six seats, which were actually covered in leather and quite comfortable, though only two of them were currently occupied. The floor appeared to be wood paneling, and there were numerous polished bronze pieces available, which spoke of a very odd décor.

Though the inside of the aircraft was unusual, the outside was even more so. From the outside, it looked like a cross between an airplane and a helicopter, as if designed by Jules Verne. It was shaped much like an airplane, with wings and a cockpit, but it had three helicopter rotors, one on each wing, and one on the tail.

Dinah’s mom gave her a forced smile and added, “The woman who invented it, calls it a trithoptor.”

Dinah didn’t respond to that. At any other time, she would have been bursting with curiosity and asking countless questions, but at the moment, all she could think of was her family and just how worried she was about them.

“Well, there it is,” her mom said, gesturing out the window to a small island below.

As they began to descend, Dinah found herself looking out the window and watching the island get closer. She’d heard about this island for years, but had never thought that she’d get to see it for herself. Liberty Island was an artificial island in the middle of Lake Michigan, which her mom’s superhero group used as a headquarters. From there, the Liberty League could quickly reach any of the areas around Lake Michigan, or even the other Great Lakes.

A few minutes later, they landed on the island, setting the trithoptor down on a landing pad, just a short distance from an identical craft. Almost as soon as they’d landed, Dinah’s mom started for the single large building in the center of the island, and Dinah quickly followed behind.

Dinah’s mom, who currently stood at six feet tall, smiled down at her and said, “Welcome to my home.” Dinah merely grunted, which earned a look of disappointment.

Just as they entered the building, a woman said, “Welcome back, Ginormous.”

Dinah nearly jumped in surprise, then gave the woman a suspicious look. She was obviously a superhero, or she wouldn’t have been at the Liberty League’s headquarters, though she didn’t really look like the typical superhero. For one thing, she was wearing a dress instead of spandex. Of course, her dress was purple, and had some odd bronze decorations, which clearly announced that she wasn’t quite a normal person either.

“This is my teammate and friend,” Dinah’s mother told her, gesturing to the other woman. “The Bronze Lady.”

“Hello,” the Bronze Lady greeted Dinah pleasantly, speaking with a noticeable English accent. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Um…yeah,” Dinah responded awkwardly, not sure how to react.

“Do not fear,” the Bronze Lady assured her with a gentle smile. “You are quite safe here. The people who are after you will never be able to find you.”

Dinah’s mother nodded agreement at that, promising, “You’re perfectly safe. Sinsear and his people will never touch you.” Dinah scowled, remaining a little skeptical of that.

The Bronze Lady turned to Dinah’s mom and said, “As I told you, I managed to capture the woman who attacked your family. I’ve been trying to question her, without much success.”

Suddenly, Dinah’s mom grew a foot in height and looked much more intimidating, making Dinah nervously step back. “Then I’ll have to question her.”

Dinah gulped, thinking of the woman who attacked them, and to her surprise, she felt angry more than she did afraid. That woman had hurt her father, and had done who knew what to James.

“Can I watch?” Dinah blurted out.

Her mother gave her a look of surprise, and for a moment, she looked as though she was about to give a firm ‘no’. However, after staring at Dinah for a moment, she nodded agreement.

“I placed her in cell three,” the Bronze Lady said as she led them deeper into the building. “Between my devise, and the sigils my husband placed, she is unable to escape.”

“Good,” Dinah’s mother said in a grim tone. “Now, to make her tell us where my son is.”

Dinah looked around with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness as her mother and the Bronze Lady led her deeper into their headquarters. They went through several secure doors, and finally ended up in their jail, or what the Bronze Lady referred to as the ‘brig’. From the entrance, Dinah could see several different cages and prison cells, though each of them looked quite different. One was set into the wall, and was completely enclosed with a heavy door. Another was set into the wall, with the entire front being made of glass so that she could see inside. And there was even one that appeared to be a giant plastic bubble, which was set in the middle of the room and floated a foot off the floor.

“We only have five cells,” Dinah’s mom said as she gestured around the room. “Each one is unique, and is designed to neutralize different types of powers. This way, we can contain dangerous villains until we can turn them over to the proper authorities.”

“I have yet to notify Agent Winslow,” the Bronze Woman said. “I did not want to risk the MCO trying to take custody before we have finished our interrogation.”

“Good idea,” Dinah’s mom said.

Dinah merely scowled, noticing that from the cells she could see, each of them was currently empty, all except one. It was a cage that was set up in the open, with bars on all sides. On the floor, both inside and outside of the cage, there were circles with strange symbols carved in them. But as strange as the cage itself was, that was nothing compared to the surprise she felt upon seeing the occupant.

“Glow,” Dinah blurted out, running to the cage.

Glow had been sitting down on the cot, staring at the wall with an unreadable expression, but turned her head when Dinah spoke. Dinah had no doubt that if Glow was still in the cage, it was because something was keeping her from teleporting, and if she couldn’t teleport, she couldn’t gather enough energy to use any of her other abilities either. After a second, Glow stood up and simply greeted her, “Dinah.”

“Why do you have Glow locked up?” Dinah turned and demanded of the Bronze Lady.

The Bronze Lady looked surprised. “Is this not the villain who attacked you?”

“No,” Dinah exclaimed, looking back at Glow, angry to see her locked up like a criminal. “She’s the one who saved us…”

“Then, I fear there was a misunderstanding,” the Bronze Lady admitted in embarrassment. “I found this one at the scene, and believed her to be the attacker.” She gave Glow a curious look. “She would not answer any of my questions, not even her name.”

“My name is not your concern,” Glow stated, giving the Bronze Lady a flat look before turning her attention to Dinah’s mother. Glow’s eyes narrowed, and her expression turned to one of suspicion that bordered on hostility.

“Oh my God, Glow,” Dinah gasped. “Are you okay? I was so worried.”

“I am locked in a cage,” Glow responded, shifting her gaze to the Bronze Lady again. “I would not say this counts as doing well…”

“Let her out,” Dinah half demanded and half pleaded. Then as the Bronze Lady moved to unlock the cage, she asked, “Is James all right?” Suddenly, Dinah’s mother stiffened and stared at Glow suspiciously.

“He suffered minor bruising before I could intervene,” Glow responded with a scowl. Dinah knew Glow well enough to realize that Glow was blaming herself for the bruises, seeing this as a failure on her part.

Dinah’s mother stepped forward, growing a little more until she was eight feet tall again, and demanding, “My son… Where is my son?”

Glow scowled back and simply answered, “He is safe.”

“Where is James?” Dinah’s mother demanded again, growing even larger in an effort to intimidate Glow. “I need to bring him here so I can protect him…”

Glow looked up at her, clearly not impressed. “The fact that you do not know where he is, merely proves that you are not suited to protect him.”

“Mom,” Dinah cried out, seeing look of hurt and anger on her Mom’s face. She looked to Glow, who was also starting to look angry, much to Dinah’s surprise. Glow didn’t get angry. She got even.

“I am his mother,” she snarled.

However, Glow cut her off and snapped, “YOU were the one who led Sinsear to him. YOU were the one who let Sinsear take him. YOU were the one who did NOTHING while Sinsear beat and burned him.” Then her eyes narrowed and she spat out, “And when that was over, YOU were the one who abandoned us…”

“Glow,” Dinah gasped, stunned to see Glow acting like this.

Dinah’s mother was stunned as well, and had a look of confusion. “Us…?”

“I am the one who protects James,” Glow continued, her eyes blazing with anger. She stepped out of the unlocked cage, glaring up at Dinah’s mother with enough force that the larger woman took an instinctive step back. “I was the one who fought off Bombastic, not you. I was the one who dealt with those men who tried to kidnap him. I was the one who has fought off every bully who ever tried to hurt him. And I am the one who was beaten, burned and tortured by Sinsear, just so James didn’t have to experience it.”

“Glow,” Dinah cried out again, tears running down her cheeks as she stared at Glow.

“What are you talking about?” the towering woman gasped, stunned and confused by this anger and bitterness being directed at her, nearly as much as by the words themselves.

“I carry every bad memory and nightmare that James has ever suffered,” Glow continued in a hard tone. “Just so that he can sleep at night…so that he doesn’t wake up screaming every time he closes his eyes. I am the one who protects him…who has always protected him. We don’t need YOU or your protection.”

There was a moment of dead silence as everyone was too shocked by those words and the emotion behind them. Finally, Dinah’s mother demanded, “Who are you…and where is my son?”

Dinah gulped, wiping the tears from her eyes, though fresh ones continued to come. She stared at Glow, feeling the same ache she felt whenever she thought of how James had suffered. Until now, she’d thought that Glow was immune from that pain, that she was tough enough to shrug it off. But now, Dinah realized that Glow was the one who took the brunt of it. That she used herself as a shield, even more than Dinah had ever guessed. Without a word, she threw herself at Glow, giving the other girl a firm hug and crying on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Dinah sobbed into Glow’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry…”

“Thank you,” Glow whispered, hugging her back. Then as they pulled apart, Glow regained her composure and control, seeming perfectly calm as she promised, “I will continue to protect James, just as I always have. That is my purpose.”

Dinah nodded at that, then quietly asked, “Can you bring him back? We need to talk to him.” When Glow hesitated, she quickly added, “He’ll be safe here…I promise.”

Glow stared at Dinah for a moment, then glanced to the two heroes, scowling slightly. Finally, she nodded and told Dinah, “Very well.”

Glow closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, then her features began to shift and change. Dinah had seen this transformation on numerous occasions, but it never became any less amazing. In less than a quarter of a minute, Glow was completely gone, and James was standing in her place.

James opened his eyes and looked around in confusion before blurting out, “Where am I…?” Then he suddenly noticed the giant woman who was towering over him, and staring down with her mouth open in an expression of complete and utter shock. “Mom?”

--------------------

Location Unknown. Thursday, Aug 16th, 2007

Mel sat on the hard concrete floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, as if hugging herself that way could offer some form of safety, or at least comfort. She ignored the numbness in her butt from sitting that way for too long, and slowly around the room, which hadn’t changed from the last dozen times she’d done that. The walls were cinderblocks, the floor was concrete, and there were old pipes running along the ceiling, several of which were dripping. A single light bulb hang from the ceiling, being both a blessing and a curse as it provided light to see by, yet revealed just how trapped she was.

The room was completely empty of any kind of furniture, though there was a bucket sitting in the corner, and she’d already been forced to use it several times, much to her humiliation. The only comfort she had, was the fact that she wasn’t alone in this room. John Merrick was there as well, though he was sitting on the floor a short distance away, leaning up against the wall. The kidnappers had bandaged his wound, but hadn’t bothered doing much more than that for him.

Mel closed her eyes, trying to pretend that she was somewhere else, anywhere else, but the constant dripping from the pipes kept dragging her back to reality. She looked over at James and Dinah’s dad, feeling worried about him. At least she wasn’t hurt, though she was also scared since she didn’t know how much longer that would last.

“Were you really married to Ginormous?” Mel blurted out, more to distract herself than for any other reason.

At first, Mel didn’t think he heard her, but then he responded, “She wasn’t Ginormous when we got married. That came later…” There was pain in his words, and Mel suspected that it was more than just the physical kind.

“She was huge,” Mel said, remembering just how large the woman had been. She hadn’t imagined that anyone could be that big in real life, only in some old B movies.

“She was five foot six when we met,” John said with a weak chuckle. “But she liked adding a few inches when she thought she could get away with it.”

Mel listened intently, curious about her best friend’s mom, even if she hadn’t been a super hero. After all, James almost never talked about his mom, and from what Mel understood, Dinah barely even knew her. To find out that their mysterious mom was really a superhero was amazing, though it would have been much more so if Ginormous had been able to save them.

“Do…do you think she’ll come rescue us?” Mel asked hopefully.

There was a long pause before John answered, “I don’t know.” Then, in what was obviously just an attempt to give her hope, he added, “I’m sure someone will rescue us.”

Mel just stared at the thick metal door, which was locked shut. She’d already tried opening it but found it wouldn’t budge. After staring for a few seconds, she began to laugh, though it was bitter. When John gave her a curious look, she explained, “When I was a little girl, every year for my birthday, I used to wish I could be a princess…” Though this was embarrassing to admit, since she’d long since grown out of her princess phase, she continued, “Now, here I am, locked up and waiting to be rescued, just like some video game princess…”

“Be careful what you wish for,” John said with a weak chuckle.

“I wish I had superpowers,” Mel announced, thinking that at the moment, that was the wish she really wanted granted. “Then I could kick their butts and get us out of here…” Then she paused and let out a sigh. “With my luck, I’d get the power to make my hair change color.”

Mel was about to add something else, when the door began to open. The rusty hinges creaked and groaned, making it somehow even more ominous and frightening. Mel jumped to her feet, ready to run out the door if given the opportunity, though she strongly suspected that there wouldn’t be one.

Bombastic stepped through the door and Mel cringed, glad that she hadn’t tried to make a run for it as soon as the door began opening. That woman was both scary and crazy, and Mel didn’t want to go anywhere near her.

“Ooooh, look what I found,” Bombastic commented with a creepy grin that was just a little too wide for her face.

The Ringleader came in immediately behind Bombastic, and though he was creepy, he didn’t scare Mel nearly as bad as she did. Bombastic was a psychotic lunatic, while Ringleader reminded Mel a little of the uses car salesman her dad bought his last car from. However, the sight of him was enough to make Mel reach up for her neck, and then sigh in relief that his glowing ring was still gone.

“You said we don’t need this one,” Bombastic said, looking straight at Mel with a twisted glee in her eyes. “Can I play with her?”

“That would be up to Sinsear,” Ringleader answered in the same patient tone that most used when speaking to children. “But I think he wants to keep her for a bit longer.”

“But I only wanna play with her head,” Bombastic whined, sending a chill down Mel’s spine and making her thankful for Ringleader’s presence.

“Why are you doing this?” John demanded with a grunt of pain, holding his injured side and not bothering to get up.

“Because Sinsear asked me to,” the Ringleader commented. “Because you are a means to an end.”

“Sinsear,” John spat out, his voice filled with anger and fear. “Why? Why come back after all this time?”

The Ringleader merely gestured towards the doorway, responding, “Perhaps you should ask him yourself. He does want to see you.”

Mel froze at that, feeling a surge of terror rush through her very soul. She’d never met Sinsear, and had never even heard of him before a couple days earlier, but what she had heard was enough to fill her with dread.

Even with everything that Mel had heard about Sinsear, no one had ever said what he looked like. When she imagined him, she was certain that he would be a large and imposing man, probably wearing something like black armor with spikes and skulls. However, when Sinsear appeared in the doorway, he didn’t look anything like what Mel had pictured.

The man in the doorway was of average size, though very thin. His face was pale, with eyes and cheeks that were sunken in as though he was very ill. Instead of an intimidating costume, he wore slacks and a button up shirt. But most surprising, was the fact that he was sitting in a motorized wheelchair.

For a brief moment, Mel thought that there was a mistake, that this couldn’t be Sinsear, that this couldn’t be the monster Dinah had told her about. But then, she saw his eyes and the twisted malevolence within. A chill ran down her spine, and she suddenly knew without a doubt, that this man was indeed that monster.

“John Merrick,” Sinsear said, his voice low and tense. “Your wife and I have old business…”

“Ex-wife,” John corrected, glaring at Sinsear as though he could kill him if he willed it hard enough. “We’ve been divorced for a long time, so I won’t be a very good hostage…”

“I do not need a hostage,” Sinsear responded with a sneer. “I need bait.” Then he snapped around to face the Ringleader. “I still need her children…especially the boy.”

“NO,” John blurted out in horror.

Sinsear smirked, delighting in that reaction. “Your son and I have unfinished business as well. But this time, Ginormous will watch as I peel the skin from his body…as I sear the flesh from his bones.”

“And the toy?” Bombastic asked enthusiastically, pointing to Mel. “Can I play with her?”

“She could still be useful leverage,” Ringleader pointed out “Heroes value these bystanders, and this one is a friend of her children.”

Sinsear stared at Mel for a moment, making her cringe back and wish she could turn invisible, or teleport away like Glow. After several very long and terrifying seconds, he commented, “Yes, she can still be useful, as bait…and entertainment.”

“Entertainment?” Mel squeaked out.

“The girl and husband will serve as appetizers,” Sinsear mused aloud. “Their torments will set the mood. Then, her children will serve as the main course, and I will make Ginormous watch as I kill them very VERY slowly. And finally, for dessert, I will break that bitch in every way imaginable…”

Mel gulped, cringing down and desperately hoping that Sinsear didn’t look at her again. She quickly glanced to the doorway, but Bombastic was watching her, almost like a cat watching a mouse, silently daring her to try.

“Just remember our agreement,” Ringleader told Sinsear. “We are allies, not your servants, and we still have our own grudges to settle once you are done with yours.”

“Of course,” Sinsear agreed, holding out his palm, where a ball of fire appeared. He stared into the flame as he continued, “I played my part when we helped Caster take down the hero who vexed him.”

“Very true,” Ringleader responded. “Though I must say, it is a shame that Caster chose to renege on our agreement, as his magic could have been quite useful.”

“Caster was fun to play with,” Bombastic commented, staring at her clawed fingers with a smirk. “I kept his head to remember him by.”

“And on that note,” Ringleader told Sinsear. “Once you have your revenge, I would like to have mine next. Danger Man has humiliated me too many times, and I think that taking his wife from him will serve as sufficient payment.”

“Then ME ME ME,” Bombastic exclaimed, nearly bouncing with excitement. “Crucibelle was really mean to me, and she took my favorite toy away.”

As the villains continued talking among themselves, they turned and left the room, seeming to have forgotten about John and Mel. As soon as the door closed and locked behind them, Mel looked to John, shaking in fear and expecting him to offer some words of wisdom, or at least of hope. However, when she saw the look of dread on his face, she realized that he didn’t have much hope to share.

--------------------

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Thursday, Aug 16th, 2007

Ginormous sat by herself in the Liberty League’s recreation room, holding a large glass that contained half a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. At her current height of eight feet tall, it might as well have just been a single shot. Without a word, she downed the contents in one gulp, then shuddered at the disgusting taste. Though she’d never liked to drink, this definitely seemed a good time to start.

Sarah Coleman, formerly Sarah Merrick before she’d divorced and returned to her maiden name, removed her mask and then rubbed her temples. Normally, being bigger than everything around her gave her confidence, making her feel as though she was bigger than any of her problems. However, at that moment, she suspected that she could grow to her largest size, and it still wouldn’t do any good.

From the corner of her eye, Sarah saw the Bronze Lady entering the room. The Bronze Lady…Eliza was not only her teammate, but also her best friend. Sarah was thankful that when she’d received the call from John, telling her that their children were in danger, Eliza had chosen to go with her to help. Because of that, she and Eliza were the only two members of the Liberty League present, dealing with this issue while the rest of the team was off dealing with another mission. Eliza was the only member of the team that Sarah would have trusted with something this personal.

“Are you all right, Sarah?” Eliza asked, giving her a concerned look.

“How can I possibly be all right?” Sarah responded bitterly.

Sarah emptied the bottle of Jack Daniels into her glass, then downed the entire thing in a single gulp. She shuddered at the disgusting taste, wondering just how many more she’d have to take before her taste buds went numb. Her eyes went to the liquor cabinet, which she knew was fully stocked. Her teammate Adonis considered himself a connoisseur of hard alcohol, and insisted that they keep plenty on hand.

“How can I possibly be all right?” Sarah repeated, barely aware of the tears forming in her eyes or the tremble in her voice. “I just found out my son is a mutant. He manifested three years ago…and I didn’t have any DAMN idea.” She stared at the far wall, her voice so low that it was nearly a whisper. “I should have been there… I should have helped him learn to use his powers…”

Eliza put a comforting hand on Sarah’s arm, though she seemed almost like a child when compared to the much larger woman. “It isn’t too late. Your children are both alive and well.”

Sarah closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, hearing Eliza’s words but not listening to them. “And Glow,” she said, her voice shaking even more. “James has another personality, and I didn’t have the faintest clue. I knew he was traumatized, and that he had PTSD, but I had no idea it was that bad.” Sarah stared at Eliza with tear filled eyes. “My son has another personality, and she hates me…”

“This isn’t your fault,” Eliza tried to assure her.

“Of course it’s my fault,” Sarah snapped back, smashing her massive hand down on the table, which was sturdy enough to avoid shattering. The old and familiar feelings of anger and guilt were bubbling up inside of her, and she didn’t know how to release them. Not this time. “How is it not my fault?”

Eliza slowly stood up and went to the liquor cabinet, where she pulled out a bottle of brandy and poured two glasses. She made sure that Sarah was given the same amount as herself, as she didn’t want to risk the much larger woman getting drunk. In these circumstances, they would need to keep their wits about them.

Sarah accepted the glass of brandy, which was small in her hand. For a moment, she was tempted to shrink down, just so the glass would be larger in comparison. But instead, she took a tiny sip, wincing a little at the taste.

“When I married John,” Sarah finally said in a quiet voice, “he knew I was a mutant, though I misled him a bit about how strong my powers were. At the time, I just wanted to live a normal life.” She paused at that, taking another tiny sip of the brandy. “When James was just a baby, I began to get bored with my normal life…with just being a housewife and mother. I wanted more. I wanted some excitement in my life, so I started to sneak out every once in awhile to play hero. At the time, it was more of a hobby than anything. Then, when I found out I was pregnant with Dinah, I put the costume away and quit.”

There was a long pause, so Eliza gently asked, “Then what happened?”

Sarah gave a bitter smile. “I missed the excitement. I missed doing something productive and useful with my power, so I put my costume back on and went to work. This time, it was more than a hobby. After my break from it, I realized that this was my purpose. This was what I was meant to be doing with my life.”

Eliza nodded in understanding. “This life is a difficult one to walk away from. The exhilaration. The sense of purpose. The knowledge that you have the power to make a positive difference in the world.” She took a sip of her own brandy and admitted, “It is rather addictive.”

“Yes it is,” Sarah agreed with a sigh. She was silent for several more seconds before continuing. “For a time, I thought I could have it all. I could have a normal life with my husband and kids, and at the same time, I could be a hero…and keep it a secret from my family.” She gave a sharp and bitter laugh.

“Then I assume,” Eliza said carefully, “that Sinsear changed this.” The glass suddenly shattered in Sarah’s hand, and between that and the look on her face, Eliza knew that she had her answer.

“Sinsear,” Sarah spat out the name as though it burned her tongue. She scowled intensely and took nearly a minute to calm down. Finally, Sarah said, “Sinsear started off as a vigilante…” She gave a short and bitter laugh. “He would find sinners…people who were among the worst of the worst…and burn them alive.”

“Dear Lord,” Eliza gasped in horror.

“He said they were evil and deserved it,” Sarah continued grimly. “But the truth was, he’s a sadistic monster who got off on hurting them. At first, he was just trying to rationalize it…to justify it to himself. Eventually, he stopped even trying. Over time, his ‘punishments’ became even more cruel and sadistic, and his idea of who should be punished became a lot more flexible. In the end, the local police found his real identity and sent in a SWAT team to take him down. Since they knew he had powers, they asked me to come along to help deal with him…”

Eliza stared at Sarah, who’d paused her story and was staring at the wall with a haunted look. “So,” Eliza said with a deep sigh. “This is all about revenge, because you helped to capture him.”

“Yes…and no,” Sarah responded quietly. “We raided his home, attempting to catch him by surprise while his guard was down, but he still fought back hard…setting his entire house on fire. The entire thing was engulfed in flames, and he was still inside when it collapsed. At the time, we thought he was dead…” Sara shook her head sadly, and Eliza could see the tears. “We found out later, that Sinsear’s pregnant girlfriend was in there with him…”

“Dear Lord,” Eliza gasped in horror.

“He survived, of course,” Sarah said, grimly stating the obvious. “And he blamed me for the death of his girlfriend and unborn child. He followed me, learned of my real identity, and then he went after my family.” Then her voice was filled with long anguish as she added, “He took James…”

Eliza put her hand on Sarah’s arm again, staring up at her enormous friend, who at that moment, somehow seemed almost small and vulnerable. She gulped, then gently reminded Sarah, “But you did rescue him…”

“Six weeks,” Sarah blurted out bitterly. “That monster had James for six fucking weeks, and every one of those damn weeks, he’d send me pictures…” Eliza gasped at that, horrified by the idea that anyone would be that evil. “Ironically, those pictures were what let us rescue James… The detectives were able to follow the trail back to Sinsear…”

“And what of Sinsear?” Eliza asked grimly. She looked up at her friend and asked, “What happened to him after that?”

“I stepped on him,” Sarah answered in a cold hard voice. She stared down at Eliza and continued, “I stomped on him like the cockroach he is, and until now, I was sure I’d never have to worry about him again…”

“Quite understandable,” Eliza stated, patting Sarah’s arm reassuringly. “Quite an understandable reaction indeed.”

Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the old dread returning as she remembered the countless hours she’d spent, alternating between searching in frantic desperation, and curled in a ball sobbing. She remembered praying to any deity who would listen, for James to still be alive…yet hoping that her son was dead so that he could finally have peace. Those long and agonizing six weeks, had been the worst in her entire life, and not before or since had she felt so small and powerless.

Of course, Sarah hadn’t gone through that ordeal alone. John had been going through much the same thing, though he’d directed much of his rage and grief at her. After all, she was the one who’d become a superhero behind his back, who’d lied to him and put the entire family in danger. She was the one who led that monster right to their home and family. But as much as John blamed her, that was nothing compared to how much she blamed herself.

After James had been rescued, what had been left of her marriage almost immediately collapsed. She moved away, leaving her family, and cutting off contact as much as she could. At the time, she’d told herself that she was doing this to protect them, keeping her distance so that no other enemy would go after them the way Sinsear had. However, the truth was, Sarah couldn’t bear the crushing guilt that she felt every time she looked at her son.

“I failed James,” Sarah said as the tears began to flow freely. “I failed him then, and I’ve failed him every day since…”

Sarah knew that James wasn’t the only one she’d failed. She’d failed Dinah, abandoning her daughter along with her son, and not being the mother they needed. She’d failed John, first by lying to him about becoming a hero, then by leading a monster to their home, and again by letting him get captured. She’d even failed Mel, the girl who was Dinah and James’ friend. Now, John and Mel were both in the hands of the same monster who’d taken James, and who had hurt him so badly. Once again, she felt that sense of helplessness, as she had no idea how she’d find them…or what condition they’d be in once she did.

At that moment, Sarah’s body felt heavy. So very, very heavy. Without consciously realizing it, she began to slowly shrink, as though her size was being carried away on her tears. It didn’t take long before she reached her base height of 5 foot 6 and stopped. Over the last twelve years, she had almost never allowed herself to be that small, as it made her feel weak and helpless…and vulnerable to her own overwhelming sense of guilt. Without saying another word, Sarah turned and grabbed the now taller woman in a hug, and quietly sobbed on her shoulder.

--------------------

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Friday, Aug 17th, 2007

James stared blankly at the wall, just as he’d been doing for the last half hour. Though his body was still, his mind raced, going in circles as he thought about everything that had happened, repeating the events over and over. His emotions were a maelstrom of fear and confusion.

Though James was still trying to deal with the existence of Glow, and the horror of learning that Sinsear was back, what consumed him the most was worry for Mel and his dad. Sinsear had them, and if anyone knew what that monster might do to them, it was him. The very thought of them being in Sinsear’s hands, filled him with dread.

“It’s my fault,” James whispered, shaking as he finally broke the silence.

When those men had jumped them while he was getting parts for his bike, it had been because Sinsear had sent them after him. When those supervillains showed up, it was because they were trying to get him to. If he hadn’t run away…if they’d taken him…then Mel and his dad would still be safe.

Though James was desperately worried about them, a part of him was actually grateful that they were the ones that Sinsear had, instead of him. He cringed at that thought, ashamed of himself for feeling that way.

“I’m a horrible person,” James cried as tears of shame and guilt ran down his cheeks.

Suddenly, James froze as he heard a voice echoing in his ears, a very old voice that filled him with terror. “Your mother is a very bad person,” Sinsear had once told him. “You’re being punished for her sins…”

James gasped for breath, his heart racing frantically at those words. He remained completely frozen, unable to escape the memory that had somehow emerged from the depths of his mind. It was so real… He could hear Sinsear’s voice, as if he was really there.

James had no idea how long her he remained like that, only that he was snapped out of it by a loud knocking on the door. He blinked, gasping for breath and looked around the small bedroom he’d been given to use, then he looked for the door.

“Yes?” he gasped.

“It’s me,” Dinah announced as she opened the door and let herself inside. She stopped and started at James with a worried look. “Are you okay?”

“Define okay,” James muttered bitterly.

Dinah came over and dropped down on the bed beside him, grabbing his hand and holding it. She didn’t say a word at first, though she looked like she wanted to. Finally, she said, “I’m worried too…”

“He has Dad,” James said, his voice shaking. “And Mel…”

“Mom will rescue them,” Dinah told him quietly.

James gave a start of surprise, blurting out, “Since when are you a fan of Mom?” Then at the look of hurt on her face, he hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry.”

Dinah was always looking out for James, trying to comfort or protect him. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that she was his little sister, and that she was two years younger than he was. As the big brother, he knew that he was the one who should be looking out for her, but to his shame, he was fully aware of the fact that he couldn’t even protect himself.

After a minute, Dinah said, “Mom told me she has a bunch of people trying to find Sinsear… She’ll find Dad and Mel… She’s a superhero, and that’s what they do.”

James stared at his sister without saying a word, knowing that she resented their mother’s absence from their lives even more than he did. He understood that Dinah’s words were less about faith in their mother, and more about her clinging to a desperate hope.

“I’m sure she will,” James lied, giving a forced smile. For once, he could comfort Dinah. For once, he could do his part as her big brother. He put his arm around her shoulders and promised, “They’re going to be fine…”

Dinah just nodded at that and continued hugging him. “I hope you’re right…”

They sat there for nearly half an hour, neither of them saying a word. Finally, by unspoken agreement, they decided that they’d had enough of that bonding and got up to leave.

“I’ve gotta go take care of something,” Dinah said before she hurried off. James watched her go, seeing the way she was heading for the bathroom and chuckling faintly.

James looked up and down the hallway, feeling lost and unsure of what to do. Of course, he’d been given a quick tour yesterday, and he knew where the rec room was. Admittedly, it was a pretty impressive rec room, with three separate areas, including a bar section, a TV watching section, and even one that had a pool table and some old arcade games. However, at the moment, none of that appealed to him in the least.

Without having any destination in mind, James began to wander aimlessly through the headquarters. After a few minutes, he realized that he was looking for his mom, which caught him by surprise. In spite of what he’d told Dinah, he didn’t really have any faith that his mom would be able to save Mel and his dad in time.

James shuddered, feeling a surge of fear, worry, and guilt as he thought of Mel and his dad, and he tried to think of something else. Anything else. It was then that he found his mom, or at least heard her.

“Please,” James heard his mom’s voice from an open doorway. “If you find out anything…anything at all…”

James stopped at the doorway and peeked inside, keeping back enough to avoid being seen. His mom was sitting in front of some kind of communications console, talking to someone on the phone. She was smaller than he’d seen her in a very long time, with her mask off and a look of desperation on her face.

“I need to find Sinsear and his people,” she told whoever was on the other end, her voice pleading. “Time is of the essence…”

James stepped back, feeling guilty for eavesdropping on his mom, yet oddly relieved as well. He was thankful, to discover that his mom really was taking this seriously, that she wasn’t just shrugging it off because one of them was her ex-husband. At the same time, James was also a little concerned, as his mom was behaving less like a superhero, and more like a normal person.

“I can’t fail him again,” James’ mom whispered tearfully. “I can’t let that monster have John too…”

For a moment, James just stood there, feeling a bit shaken by what he’d just overheard. Then, he backed away and hurried down the hall before his mom realized that he was there. Still feeling a bit dazed, he decided he needed some fresh air, so left the building.

As soon as James stepped outside, he noticed the chill air and the wind blowing across Lake Michigan. It was just what he needed, and he took several deep breaths, trying to forget about everything else. Breath in. Breath out.

Once James had calmed down enough, he looked around the small island, which was only a couple hundred yards across. His eyes settled on the landing pad, and on the two oddly shaped helicopter things that had been invented by the Bronze Lady.

Then James saw the Bronze Lady coming out of one of the machines. She had a toolbox in her hand, so he guessed that she must be doing some kind of maintenance. After a minute of looking over the outside of the odd aircraft, she started back towards the building, and towards him.

“Hello, James,” the Bronze Lady greeted him politely.

“Um…hi,” he responded awkwardly.

James had talked to the Bronze Lady a few times since he’d found himself on this island, though he still didn’t know what to make of the devisor. She was nice enough, but a bit odd, which was to be expected of someone that obsessed with all things steampunk. However, the thing that really made him nervous around her, was the knowledge that she was not only his mom’s teammate, but also her best friend. This woman, who he barely knew, knew his mom far better than he did. He couldn’t help but feeling a little jealous of that.

“How are you doing?” the Bronze Lady asked him, looking genuinely concerned.

James scowled at that, since he thought it was a pretty stupid question. “I’ve been better.”

She gave a faint nod of understanding. “We will find your father and friend. We will rescue them.”

James gave her a skeptical look, knowing that she was offering him the same false promises that he’d given Dinah, and for the same reason. She wanted to comfort him, to make him feel better. However, she didn’t know Sinsear. She didn’t know what that monster would do to them.

“This island is square,” James blurted in attempt to change the topic.

“Indeed it is,” the Bronze Lady agreed. “Truthfully, Liberty Island is more of a large barge than a true island. It has subaquatic stabilizers, which allows us to maintain our position, though we can tow it to a new position when necessary.”

“Did you make this?” James asked her in surprise.

“No,” the Bronze Lady responded with a faint smile. “But I did upgrade the stabilizers. We don’t know who originally created the island, only that it was found long abandoned, and floating into shipping lanes. Afterward, it was donated to the Liberty League to use as our headquarters.”

James nodded at that as he looked across the island, then out into the lake. Lake Michigan was huge, and there was a LOT of water between them and the shore. “You’re safe here,” he finally said. “It’s like having a giant moat…”

“Very true,” the Bronze Lady agreed, removing her goggles and cleaning the lenses. “And though our location is quite advantageous for security purposes, that is certainly not our only reason for using this island. You see, from this location, we can reach much of Wisconsin and Michigan, and often serve as the primary superhero groups for places like Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids…”

“What about Chicago?” James asked curiously.

The Bronze Lady smiled faintly. “Chicago has several dedicated groups, and has little need of the Liberty League. We have a much wider area that we cover, but a less active one.”

“I guess, I never thought of that,” James admitted. He scowled, realizing that in spite of the fact that his mom was a superhero, he’d never given a lot of thought about them or how they worked.

There was a long pause, where neither of them spoke. They just stared out at the water in silence. Then, the Bronze Lady commented, “I don’t think that Liberty Island is what you were really concerned about.”

James hesitated a moment before admitting, “No.” He clenched his fists as he thought of Sinsear, and the people he cared about who were in that monster’s hands. “My dad,” he started, his voice choking. “Mel…”

The Bronze Lady gave him a gentle smile. “I assure you, that we are doing everything within our power to locate them. Your mother won’t rest until we have succeeded.”

James grunted faintly at that. He probably would have been skeptical of those claims, but he remembered what he’d overheard his mom saying, so nodded instead.

“Once the rest of the Liberty League returns from their mission,” the Bronze Lady continued, “we will have these kidnappers outnumbered and overpowered. And as my husband is a magic user, he may even have a spell to help us locate them…”

James barely paid attention to what the Bronze Lady was saying. Instead, his thoughts were on Mel and his dad. But as he pictured them, probably locked up in similar room to the one where he’d been chained up, he could also envision Sinsear standing in front of them, wearing that red and gray costume that he’d had on the last time James saw him. A familiar chill of dread ran down his spine, and James found his heart racing in fear. He could see Sinsear…hear his voice…

Suddenly, James realized that someone was holding his shoulder and repeating his name. “James,” the Bronze Lady asked with a worried look. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” James lied, but he could see from the look on the hero’s face, that she didn’t believe him.

“You spent the last two minutes staring off into space,” she responded with a scowl. “You didn’t respond to me.”

“I was…thinking,” James told her awkwardly, not sure what to say. He didn’t know her well enough to tell her that he’d been remembering Sinsear, and that it had been so realistic that it had almost been like he’d been there. He closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths to calm himself.

For several seconds, the Bronze Lady stared at him with a doubtful look, and one that was filled with worry. However, she finally let out a sigh, put her goggles back on to her head, though leaving them on her forehead instead of over her eyes.

“I must return to work,” the Bronze Lady stated in a casual tone. “If luck holds, I just may find a clue to your father’s whereabouts.”

The Bronze Lady stared at James for a moment more before turning and walking back into the building. He remained where he was, looking back out into the lake. However, what he saw in his mind’s eye wasn’t the lake, but the monster who’d destroyed his life…and who now held two of the people he cared about.

“No,” James whispered, clenching his fists as he thought of Sinsear. For perhaps the first time, instead of feeling the cold dread of terror when he thought of that monster, he felt something else. He felt a bubbling anger…a growing rage. “Not again…”

--------------------

Location Unknown. Friday, Aug 17th, 2007

The man once known as Geoffrey Clayton sat in his quarters, staring intently at the burning light of the candle on his desk. Geoffrey Clayton was a name that he no longer ascribed to himself, and rarely even thought of. He’d abandoned that name long ago, and was now known only by the name he had taken upon committing to his purpose. Sinsear.

Sinsear was in pain, though that was nothing new. He and pain were old friends. Old lovers. Over the past twelve years, he’d come to understand pain quite intimately, and he’d long since embraced it as the constant reminder that he yet lived.

Tearing his eyes from the burning candle, Sinsear instead looked at the photos that were spread out across his desk. They were pictures of that enormous bitch and her family. A burning hatred smoldered in his heart, though these pictures fed that hatred, letting it burn just a little hotter.

“Ginormous,” he said in a raspy voice.

Sinsear closed his eyes, remembering the day long ago, when he had been imbued not only with power, but with a purpose…to punish the wicked. He took to that purpose as though born to it, and the sheer joy he felt upon fulfilling it, assured him that this was what he had been created for.

At one time, Sinsear thought it was simple, that all he had to do was find those who were evil and deliver the punishment they deserved. However, it hadn’t taken him long to realize that everyone had evil in their hearts…that deep down inside, everyone was wicked. He himself was no exception, and once he’d accepted this truth…and embraced it…it made everything so much easier.

Sinsear picked up one of the photos, one of Ginormous in her civilian identity. It was an old picture, since she had long since given up that civilian identity and now lived as Ginormous full time. Ginormous had cost him the woman he loved, the only person he had EVER loved, along with their unborn child. This ‘hero’ was the one who’d opened his eyes to the truth, who’d forced him to accept the evil within mankind and himself. He was going to thank her for that…and punish her with every ounce of pain he could create. Admittedly, this was in service to his own vengeance rather than his true purpose, but he had absolutely no doubt that she deserved it. Everyone did.

Of course, Sinsear had sought revenge on that enormous bitch before, taking her child in retaliation for the loss of his own. Though the boy had been no more wicked than any other child, Sinsear had known that nothing would hurt Ginormous more than the suffering of her own child. He’d taken great delight in inflicting pain on the boy, and drawing it out longer than he’d ever done before. And every moment that he’d done so, Ginormous had suffered along with the boy.

However, as Sinsear well knew, all things must end. Ginormous had found them, and then she’d inflicted her own punishment on him. She’d crushed him beneath her heel, leaving his lower body in shattered ruins…and leaving him in constant agony.

For the last twelve years, Sinsear had been in hiding, and for half that time, he’d been confined to a hospital bed. However, once he’d recovered enough to focus past his injuries and pain, he began planning for his revenge. It had been easy to find Ginormous, as she’d joined the Liberty Legion and was often in public view. Unfortunately, her husband and children were a different matter. Ginormous no longer seemed to have contact with them, and they complicated the search even more, by moving every couple years. In the end, it only delayed the inevitable, as Sinsear had finally been able to locate them.

In spite of knowing where the husband and children where, Sinsear was no longer in any physical condition to take advantage of this knowledge. He feared that his revenge would go unfulfilled…until he found four like-minded individuals with similar goals. Each of them held a deep grudge against a hero, and each needed assistance in order to carry out their revenge. Because of this, they’d formed an alliance, where each agreed to help the others achieve their revenge.

Caster had been the first, and their success in destroying his enemy had proven how effective their alliance was. Unfortunately, once Caster had achieved his revenge, he’d attempted to leave the alliance and abandon the debt he owed the rest. Sinsear regretted that they no longer had Caster’s magic, but at least, the man had provided some amusement before he died.

“Now, it is MY turn,” Sinsear stated. His hand burst into flames, which immediately engulfed the picture of Ginormous. Then he reached down to touch a picture of the boy, who had once been in his possession. The picture smoldered and burned, bringing a faint smile as Sinsear anticipated their reunion. Years ago, that boy was to be his masterpiece, but they had been interrupted before it was finished. “We will continue where we left off…”

Sinsear thought about the prisoners they’d captured, the husband and a friend of the children. He nearly trembled in anticipation of the pain he would unleash upon them. The power to unleash such agony in others, was the only pleasure that remained for him, so he knew he would savor every delicious morsel of it. But for now, he would wait. He would wait until he had Ginormous, and could force her to watch. The anticipation would make it all the more enjoyable.

“Unfortunately, you will have to wait,” Sinsear mused, staring at another picture of the boy, who was now a teenager.

Though Sinsear desperately wanted both of Ginormous’ children, so he could torture them in front of her, this was no longer an option…at least for the time being. Ginormous had taken them away, and though he would find them again in time, this was time he currently lacked. His allies would not stay focused on the task of his revenge for long, and just as importantly, Ginormous’ team was away on a mission. There was no way that his alliance could defeat all of the Liberty League, but for just two of them, it should be quite easy. Sinsear knew that he had a very limited window of opportunity, and if he did not seize what he could of his revenge now, he would lose it entirely.

Sinsear picked up another photo of Ginormous, then stared at it with a burning intensity. Once he had Ginormous in his hands, he would force her to watch as he tortured her husband and the girl, making her listen to each and every scream until they finally died in front of her. Then, he would go to work on her, drawing out every ounce of pain possible, making her plead for release, and even give up the location of her children just so he would let her die. And with her final breath, he would promise her, that her children would be next.

“But first,” Sinsear said, setting the photo on fire, “I have to lure you into my hands.” A cold, cruel smile formed on his lips as he whispered, “Fortunately, I know exactly how to do that.”

--------------------

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Saturday, Aug 18th, 2007

James took a deep breath, focusing intently on the basketball hoop. A moment later, he threw the ball, and just as he thought it was going to go in, it hit the rim and bounced off.

“You suck,” Dinah called out as she ran for the ball.

“Bite me,” James responded with a forced grin.

He’d been surprised to discover that the Liberty League actually had their own basketball court inside their headquarters, though he realized that he probably shouldn’t have been. Most of the members actually lived here full time, and they needed something for recreation since they couldn’t run around in spandex all the time.

“This is how you do it,” Dinah announced, making her own free throw attempt, though her shot missed the hoop entirely.

“Loooser,” James teased his sister, thankful that at least for that moment, he could pretend that everything was normal. As long as he was focusing on this game, he could put all this worry and frustration out of his mind…at least for a short time. He gave Dinah a forced smile, saying, “Now, THIS is how you do it…” With that, he threw the ball, bouncing it off the backdrop and right into the net. Then he smirked at Dinah and added, “Now beat that.”

“Bite me,” Dinah said as she gave James the finger.

Suddenly, someone started clapping from the doorway, and a moment later, his mom said, “Good shot.”

James looked at his mom, who was dressed in her costume, though she wasn’t wearing her mask. At that moment, she was about seven feet tall, towering over him and making him feel like a little boy in comparison. Though James would never admit it, there was a certain comfort in having her be so large, as though she would be able to protect him from the dangers of the world. However, he knew quite well that this wasn’t the case. It was a false sense of protection, if anything.

Dinah glared up at their mother with a look of annoyance, almost making James smile faintly. His sister hated the fact that their mom always made herself bigger than everyone else, and he knew that she thought it was because their mom was trying to make everyone else feel small and intimidated in comparison. However, he’d always suspected that the real reason their mom always stayed big, was so that she didn’t feel small and intimidated herself.

“Can I play?” she asked with a false cheerfulness. James could see the exhausted look in her eyes, and knew that she was just trying to raise their spirits a bit, or at least keep them from being so worried. However, the fact that she thought she needed to do so, only worried James more.

“I hardly think that would be a fair game,” James commented, gesturing at his mom to indicate her distinct height advantage.

She shrunk down nearly a foot, stopping at six feet tall. “How about now?”

“You’re still using your powers,” Dinah pointed out with a clear note of disapproval.

“Then how about this,” their mom said with a faint smirk.

For a brief moment, James thought that she was going to shrink back down to her ‘real’ height, but instead, she grew to over ten feet tall. Then, she picked up the basketball, which looked to be about the size of a tennis ball in her hand, and she casually dropped it into the hoop. With a smug look, she took a bow, as though expecting applause. James gave a light clap, just to be polite.

As James went to retrieve the ball, he suddenly wondered if Glow liked basketball. He glanced at Dinah, about to ask her, but from what she’d said, Glow’s only hobbies and interests seemed to be related to protecting him…or getting even with the people who’d hurt him. It was scary enough having another personality, but to have one who was that obsessed… He was just thankful that she wasn’t dangerous to him or his family.

“So,” Dinah asked their mom in a tone that bordered on accusatory. “Did you just come in to show off?”

Their mom looked hurt at that but forced a faint smile. “Actually, I just finished making lunch for you…”

James saw that Dinah was about to say something, and from the look on his sister’s face, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be either polite or helpful. “Thank you,” he quickly said. He hesitated a moment, already suspecting the answer, but still asking, “Have you found anything yet?”

His mom hesitated a moment before shaking her head sadly. “Not yet.” She let out a sigh, and James could see the worry and exhaustion that was eating away at her. “Eliza is on the mainland, checking on a few leads in person. Hopefully, she’ll find something we can use.”

James nodded, trying not to show his disappointment. He knew his mom was worried, and saw no reason to make her feel worse than she already did. However, Dinah scowled, and her expression suggested that she blamed their mother.

As their mother shrunk back to seven feet tall and left the room, James put a hand on Dinah’s shoulder as a show of comfort. He knew that before long, she’d probably go back into one of her hopeful moods, and would once again try to convince herself that their mom would rescue Mel and their dad. Dinah gave James a faint nod, then the two of them followed after their mom.

When they reached the kitchen area, James found that his mom had made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. Since she was actually making an effort, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he didn’t like tomato soup. He also noticed a small stack of folder spread out on the counter, so it looked like his mom had been doing a little work while she’d been making lunch.

“What’s this?” James asked, opening one of the folders and seeing a picture of a man in a red and dark gray costume with gold trim.

Dinah leaned over and blurted out, “That’s the guy who took Dad and Mel…”

“He’s called the Ringleader,” James’ mom said with a deep scowl. She reached for the folder, but James snatched it away and started to look through it. “You don’t need to…” Then she paused and let out a sigh. “I suppose you both have a right to know who is involved.”

“Damn right,” Dinah exclaimed, glaring at her mom defiantly, as though daring her to argue.

Their mom shook her head faintly. “The Ringleader is a power gem user, who creates energy rings that he can move around. He’s fairly small time, though he has aspirations of being a mastermind. He first appeared in Detroit about seven years ago, united most of the street gangs in the city, and attempted a takeover. He came pretty close, until one of the local heroes stopped him. He’s repeated the same stunt several times, with even less success.”

Dinah opened one of the other folders and held up a picture of a large armored figure. “He’s Ironworks,” she announced, looking a little smug at knowing something that James didn’t.

“I couldn’t find out much about Ironworks,” the large woman said with a shake of her head. “Besides the fact that he’s a brick with a hammer. He first appeared about a year ago, and has since shown up in several different locations, causing a lot of property damage and then disappearing.”

“And this is the one who attacked our house,” Dinah said, holding up Bombastic’s picture. James scowled, remembering the way she’d burst into their house and hurt his dad. Shortly after that, Glow had taken over, so he didn’t know what had happened to the villain after that.

“Bombastic,” their mom said. “She’s a mutant with claws, regeneration, and concussion blasts. She’s also a certified lunatic, who has a long history of fighting the Seattle Supers and the Seattle Knights.”

James nodded at that, and glanced at the fourth and final folder. It sat on the counter unopened, and his mom made no move towards it. He gulped, knowing exactly who that file had to be for. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and opened the folder, seeing that he was right.

“Sinsear,” James whispered, seeing Dinah and his mom both wince.

James stared at the picture, feeling his heart race as memories bubbled to the surface until he felt like he was drowning. This was the man…the monster that had haunted his nightmares for nearly his entire life. Though James couldn’t remember much of what Sinsear had done to him, he remembered enough to still be terrified of him, twelve years later.

“James,” Dinah said, shaking him and knocking him out of it. “You were staring off into space again...”

“Are you all right?” his mom asked him, putting a worried hand on his shoulder.

“Just some bad memories,” he muttered, staring down at the table in shame.

To his surprise, his mom threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. “You’re safe now,” she promised him. “I won’t let him ever touch you again…”

Dinah picked up a grilled cheese sandwich and pointed out, “Glow is already taking care of that.” Their mother winced slightly at the reminder.

While they turned their attention to eating, James continued to stare at Sinsear’s folder, feeling angry and frustrated. The boogeyman had taken his dad and best friend, and he was helpless…powerless to do anything about it. James as sick and tired of feeling weak and helpless.

“Come on,” his mom told him gently. “Eat up while it’s still warm.”

James nodded, turning his attention away from the folder and to the food in front of him. The sandwich was good, the tomato soup, not so much. However, since his mom had gone through the trouble of making it, he made a show of eating half of it.

They were just finishing up with lunch with the Bronze Lady returned. She walked into the kitchen area, set some kind of odd looking bronze gun onto the counter, then handed a large envelope to her teammate.

“I have discovered several leads into our investigation,” the Bronze Lady said. “Unfortunately, it will take some time to follow those leads to the end.”

“And this?” James’ mother asked, holding up the envelope that she’d just been given.

“While I was on my errands,” the Bronze Lady answered in a pleasant tone, “I decided to check the Liberty League’s mail drop. This had been delivered to us, and is addressed to you.”

James watched as his mom tore open the envelope, and a moment later, her expression turned hard and grim. Without a word, she spilled the contents onto the counter, revealing that there were half a dozen photographs. It took him a moment to realize what they were pictures of, but as soon as he did, he let out a gasp.

“DAD,” Dinah blurted out in horror. “Mel…”

“No,” James gasped, quickly picking up two of the pictures. They were pictures of Mel and his dad, both bruised and bleeding, looking as though they’d been beaten up. Anger and frustration bubbled up again, and he grabbed the counter so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “What did he do to them?”

“They’re alive,” his mom told him in a firm tone, putting a hand on his shoulder. “This means that they’re both still alive…and that he plans on keeping them that way for a little longer.”

The Bronze Lady stared at the pictures, then mused, “He means to taunt us…”

James was surprised when his mom smiled, though it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “He’s made a mistake,” she stated, holding up one of the photos with a look of grim satisfaction. “You can see a business logo on the wall behind them. Sinsear just gave us the clue we need to lead us right to him.”

--------------------

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Saturday night, Aug 18th, 2007

James was in his bedroom, in the one place that was truly his and his alone…the one place where he truly felt safe and secure. He sat at his desk in the corner, trying to finish his homework, though it wasn’t easy. The writing on the page made no sense at all, and the writing kept shifting and changing as he looked at it. James wasn’t sure how long he stared at that page with a growing sense of unease, and the certainty that something wasn’t right.

When James finally looked around his room, he saw nothing wrong at first, but then it suddenly came to him. It was his room…but it wasn’t. The room itself was the same one where he’d lived over the last couple years, though it did seem a little larger. The bed and dresser were both from the last house where he’d lived. Posters and decorations covered the walls and shelves, but they included items that he’d lost or broken long ago. This was like every bedroom that he’d ever had, all mashed together into one.

For several long seconds, James continued to look around in confusion, until realization dawned on him. “I’m dreaming.”

With that declaration, the fog cleared from his mind, and he suddenly saw everything around him with greater clarity. For the first time, he also saw a curtain where the wall should have been. James stared at the curtain, both startled and curious as to where it had come from or why it was there. He’d never had a curtain like that in any of his real bedrooms. With only a moment of hesitation, he pulled the curtain aside.

James suddenly found himself standing face to face with a girl his own age, and he jumped back in surprise. She remained where she was, so he gulped and stared at her, noticing that she was quite pretty, though she did have a strong resemblance to Dinah. However, it was her glowing blue eyes, and her glowing blue hair, which told him who she was.

“You’re Glow,” James blurted out. Then before she could say anything, he demanded, “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Glow answered, gesturing behind her.

As James looked past Glow, he finally noticed everything else that had been hidden by the curtain. To his surprise, his bedroom was larger than what he’d previously thought, though this newly revealed section was definitely smaller, only about a third of the total room. There was a bed, a dresser, and a book shelf, but the colors were all dull, and there were very few decorations or personal items. The only ones that James could see, were a plate of cookies on the dresser, along with a photo of him.

“What…what is this?” James asked, though he already knew the answer.

“I am your roommate,” Glow told him with a sad smile. “I have been for a long time.”

James just stared at Glow, feeling a little uncertain and not sure what to make of this strange girl. He’d known about her for less than a week, though she had known about him for far longer. For most of his life, she had been there, protecting him without his even knowing it. And though James didn’t know much about Glow, other than what Dinah and his dad had told him, he still felt the connection between them.

“You’re real, aren’t you?” James asked her in surprise. “You’re not just a dream… You’re the real Glow…”

“I am real,” Glow responded with a faint smile. “Though some would argue that point…such as the doctor who tried curing us.”

“I…I don’t really remember him,” James said quietly, not wanting to admit that he didn’t remember her either. According to Dinah, Glow was the one who took away those memories, and James wasn’t sure whether to be angry or grateful for that.

Glow nodded her understanding and gestured to the book shelf, which was filled with photo albums that James hadn’t noticed until then. “Much of our sessions with Doctor Simmons are in there.” At his blank look, she explained, “These are our bad memories…the ones that are too painful to remember…or that you needed to forget.”

James stared at the book shelf, shocked by how many photo albums were on it. “How many things have I forgotten?” Glow didn’t answer, nor did she need to. The sheer number of photo albums was answer enough. “Oh God…”

“It has been a long time since we have spoken like this,” Glow told him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder and leading him over to his bed, where they sat down next to each other.

“I’m sorry,” James told her, giving a faint smile. “But I don’t remember…”

“I know,” Glow responded, looking sad. She stared across the room, at the book shelves, then gestured to where the curtain had been. “You were ashamed of me and what I represented, so hung a curtain to hide me from your view.”

James stared at Glow, a little startled at that since he’d been under the impression that she was the one who was hiding from him. “But…”

However, Glow continued, as though James hadn’t spoken. “You still come to this place in your dreams, yet you do not even look in my direction. You act as though I do not exist…” She paused at that, looking as though she was hurt by this, but trying not to show it. Still, James could see her eyes were watering. “On rare occasion, you have noticed the curtain, but after a quick glance behind it…you turn away in fear, and once again forget me.”

“I…I’m sorry,” James told her, beginning to tear up himself. He wiped at his eyes, feeling guilty for how he’d been treating Glow, after everything she’d done for him, even though he didn’t remember doing it.

Glow gave him a gentle smile and pointed out, “This time, you saw the curtain. You did not hesitate to look beyond it. And, you did not turn away from me in fear. Something has changed. Something has given you cause to seek me.”

James squirmed self-consciously, realizing that she was right. When he’d gone to bed, he’d been thinking about leaving a message for Glow, about asking her to help. “My dad,” he said quietly, his voice cracking a little. “Mel…” He stared at Glow for a moment, annoyed that she could look so calm with everything that was going on. “But you already know that…”

“Yes,” she responded with a faint nod. “I know the trouble they are in, and I deeply regret it.”

“Then help them,” James urged her. “You have powers. You can rescue them…” When Glow didn’t respond, he tearfully begged, “Please…”

“I am sorry,” Glow told him apologetically. “My purpose is to protect you, not your loved ones. I do care for them, and would help them if I could, but I cannot risk us falling into Sinsear’s hands again. I will not allow Sinsear to ever touch us again. To intentionally go to him, would be to betray the very purpose of my existence.”

“We have to do something,” James blurted out with a mixture of worry, anger, and frustration. “Sinsear’s gonna hurt them… He’ll do WORSE than kill them…”

Glow just calmly stared back, looking like she wasn’t even bothered by the idea, which only made James angrier. “But here on this island,” Glow told him, “you will be safe. Sinsear cannot find you here…”

“I’m tired of hiding,” James yelled as he jumped to his feet, tears running down his cheeks. He glared at Glow, the one person he thought he could trust, and snarled, “I’m sick and tired of hiding…of running away. I’m tired of doing NOTHING…” James’ whole body trembled as he thought of Sinsear, but the fear was overshadowed by his anger and desperation. “I can’t let them go through that… I have to do something.”

Glow watched him with a curious expression, asking, “And what can you do?”

“I don’t know,” James admitted, clenching his fists and glaring at Glow. “But I can’t just run away… For once in my life, I want to fight…”

“What did you say?” Glow demanded, getting to her feet and staring at James with an intensity that would have made him instinctively step back, if he wasn’t so angry.

James met Glow’s stare and defiantly stated, “I said I want to fight.”

To James’ surprise, Glow smiled and exclaimed, “FINALLY!”

“What?” he gasped in surprise, as well as a little confusion.

“I cannot rescue Mel or your father for you,” Glow said, putting a hand on James’ shoulder. “But if you are determined enough…if you are strong enough and willing to fight for it…I can give you the power you need to do so.”

“What do you mean?” James asked, stunned by this sudden turnabout. “How?”

Glow was silent for several long seconds, her expression turning grim. “Remember,” she said in an even tone, “my power is your power. You can claim it as your own, though it will not be easy.”

James stared at Glow for several long seconds as he absorbed what she’d said. According to Dinah and their dad, he’d manifested as a mutant three years earlier, though he’d never been able to use his mutant abilities. Glow was the one who had the powers, and she was the only one of them who could use them. However, she had just made it very clear that it didn’t need to be that way.

“What do I have to do?” he asked, taking a deep breath and bracing himself. From the way she was acting, he was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to like the answer, but he was determined to do it anyway. He had to if he wanted any chance of helping his Dad and Mel.

“If we succeed,” Glow warned him, “there will be no going back. If you succeed…then things will never be the same.”

James hesitated for only a second before repeating, “What do I have to do?”

Glow bowed her head faintly in acknowledgement, then instructed, “Say my name.”

“Glow?” James answered, a little confused by why she’d told him to do that.

“No,” she shook her head. “Not the name that Dinah gave me. Say my true name…the one that has been mine since my creation.”

“But, how should I…,” James started in surprise, wondering how he could possibly be expected to know her name. Before last week, he hadn’t even known she’d existed, and according to Dinah, Glow had never told anyone what her name was. But in spite of that, a name suddenly came to him, and he knew without a doubt that it belonged to her. He took a deep breath, then said, “Rachael.”

As soon as that name passed his lips, James felt a chill, realizing that he knew exactly where that name had come from. Rachael was his mother’s middle name. A moment later, he let out a gasp, suddenly remembering that Rachael had also been the name of his imaginary friend when he’d been a little boy. She’d been there whenever he felt scared or alone, playing with him and promising to protect him.

James’ eyes shot wide in surprise and he blurted out, “You’re her…”

Glow bowed her head and smiled faintly at that. Before James could ask any of the questions that came to mind, an old memory bubbled to the surface and completely overwhelmed him.

Suddenly, he was nine years old again and Billy Jones was bullying him on the school playground. “Come on,” Billy demanded as he shoved James, who froze in fear. Billy saw that and began laughing, as did the other boys, who began taunting, “Chicken. Chicken.”

“Who are you calling a chicken?” Rachael demanded as she suddenly appeared beside James. Then without saying another word, she punched Billy as hard as she could. James watched in awe as Rachael protected him, giving Billy a fat lip and a black eye, and convincing him to leave James alone.

The memory shifted and began to replay itself, though this time, from a different perspective. This time, James was the one who demanded, “Who are you calling a chicken,” right before punching Billy. As the boy went down, James leapt on top of him punching him several more times.

The next thing James knew, he was thirteen years old, and was surround by three of the bullies from school. As usual, he was too frozen in fear to fight back or even run away. While he absorbed the situation, Rachael took over for him, and as with the last memory, he was now Rachael. Without a moment of hesitation, Rachael leapt forward and began to fight the boys, though even as she did this, she realized that her body felt…different. Somehow, it felt…right.

Once the fight was over, and Rachael had chased away the three bruised and bloody boys, she looked down at herself and gasped in surprise. Instead of James’ familiar but uncomfortable body, she actually saw her own. She was a girl. For the first time in her life, her body actually matched who she was.

James was at his psychiatric appointment with Dr. Simmons. A moment later he was curled up on his bed, sobbing because he was a crazy freak who heard who heard voices in his head. Then he was Rachael, teleporting around a parking lot and driving a blade of energy into the engine block of Todd’s truck.

New memories kept coming, one after another. Some were his own memories, ones that had been lost and forgotten, while others belonged to Rachael. They came so fast and so quickly that he felt like he was going to drown beneath them, yet he held on and tried as hard as he could, just to stay afloat in his own mind.

Though James was lost in these memories, he could still feel when Glow embraced him in a hug. She didn’t say a word, but he knew that she couldn’t protect him from what was coming, only offer what comfort she could.

Eventually, James was struck by the memories he’d been expecting, yet dreaded the most. Memories of Sinsear filled his world, and James screamed in terror and agony.

James was a small child, no match for an adult man, much less one with powers. Sinsear grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him to the ground. His heart raced with terror and he sobbed uncontrollably, calling out, “MOMMY,” but she didn’t come.

“Your mother has wronged me a great deal,” Sinsear snarled, scaring the young James even more. “The sins of mother shall be visited upon the son…”

With that, Sinsear placed his hand onto James’ back, and the boy screamed as his flesh was blistered and burned. He cried out with every fiber of his being for someone to come protect him, and when his mother failed to appear, the seed of a new protector was formed.

A thousand nightmares struck James at once, ones that had been locked away in the depths of his mind until that very moment. Every instinct he possessed, screamed for him to pull away…to push those memories back into the dark depths where they belonged. However, he somehow knew that if he did that, then he’d fail. He wouldn’t get the power he needed.

“I have to help them,” James told himself, sobbing as he did so. “I can’t give up…”

Terror, shame and agony ripped through James’ mind, threatening to drive him insane. He felt a nearly overwhelming desire to run and hide from these memories, like he had been doing for the last twelve years, but he couldn’t afford to do so now…not when others would pay the price. Instead, he gathered every ounce of willpower he possessed, braced himself against the onslaught, and screamed in defiance.

--------------------

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Sunday early morning, Aug 19th, 2007

Dinah rolled over in bed, trying to get back to sleep, though without much success. Over the last couple nights, she hadn’t been able to sleep more than an hour at a time, before the nightmares would wake her up. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined what Sinsear must be doing to her dad and Mel, and it left her insides all knotted up with worry.

“That’s it,” Dinah grumbled as she sat up in bed, giving up on the idea of getting back to sleep at the moment. She let out a yawn, wondering if a glass of warm milk would help her go to sleep. After all, their neighbor Mrs. Brunner, always swore that a glass of warm milk helped her go to sleep, though Dinah suspected that the old woman also used a few pills in addition. “It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

While Dinah was trying to decide whether or not to make the trip to the kitchen, she suddenly heard a scream from the room beside hers. It came from James’ room, and the walls were thick enough that she barely heard it. However, she knew her brother had plenty of reasons for nightmares, and wasn’t too surprised, though she was worried.

“JAMES,” she yelled through the wall, hoping to wake him up, though he continued to scream.

Dinah was wearing the pajamas her mother had given her, so she didn’t hesitate before rushing out into the all, and then to the room next door. She pounded on James’ door, but when he didn’t answer, she opened it and let herself in. A moment later, she stared across the pitch black room…freezing as she saw two glowing blue dots in the dark.

“James?” Dinah asked, suddenly feeling very nervous.

She flipped the light switch, and was relieved to see that James was the only other person in the room. He was still in his bed, screaming with his eyes opened. But when Dinah ran to him, she froze again, stunned to see that his eyes were glowing blue…just like Glow’s.

“Wake up,” Dinah commanded as she began shaking her brother.

James stopped screaming, but he didn’t seem to wake up, even if his eyes were still open. Then, as Dinah watched, his features shifted and changed, becoming a little softer. She let out a gasp and tried waking him again, but he remained unresponsive. After a few more seconds, she turned and ran out the door, going straight to her mom’s quarters down the hall and pounding on the door.

When the door opened, Dinah stared up at her mom, who was seven feet tall and wearing an enormous bathrobe. “What are you making all this noise for?”

Dinah bit down her annoyance over the fact that her mother stayed that large, even while asleep, and blurted out, “James… There’s something wrong with him…”

Her mother’s eyes immediately went wide, and without saying a word, she ran down the hall to James’ room. Dinah followed close behind, though by the time she went back into the room, her mom was leaning over James’ bed, checking on him.

“His eyes are glowing,” her mom said, looking to Dinah. “Is this normal?”

“No,” Dinah responded, shaking her head emphatically. “He was screaming, and when I came to wake him up, I found him like this. He won’t wake up…and he’s turning into Glow…and they NEVER change this slow…” She was starting to tear up. “There’s something wrong with him…”

Her mother pulled her into a hug, promising, “It’s going to be all right…” Then, she turned her attention back to James and tried to wake him up, to no effect. “I need to take him to the infirmary.” And with that, she picked James up off the bed, cradling him in her arms as though he was a small child, and carrying him out the door.

Hours later, Dinah was in the infirmary, sitting beside an unconscious Glow. Dinah silently watched over the other girl, occasionally even reaching over to brush her glowing hair or hold her hand. Glow was her friend, and in an odd way, her sister as well. But as worried as Dinah was about Glow, she was even more concerned about James.

“Come on,” Dinah pleaded. “You’ve got to wake up…”

Dinah didn’t know why James had suddenly started screaming, though she strongly suspected it had been because of a nightmare. However, what she was even less certain of, was why he’d begun changing into Glow. The process had been slow, much slower than Dinah had ever seen, and it had taken about an hour before it was finished. During that time, James had curled up and sobbed for awhile, though he’d still been completely unresponsive when she or their mom had tried to wake him. But once they’d finished changing, Glow had closed her eyes, and now appeared to be peacefully asleep, except for the fact, that Dinah still couldn’t wake her.

“Physically, she seems to be quite healthy,” the Bronze Lady said from a short distance away. “But admittedly, I am not a doctor. My talents and interests lay more towards the mechanical then the biological.”

“But she’s still asleep,” Dinah exclaimed, standing up and stretching her legs. “Why did they change?”

“Maybe Glow was trying to protect James from a nightmare,” her mother suggested from the doorway. She came in and crouched down beside Glow, hesitating a moment before running her hair over the sleeping girl’s cheek.

Dinah scowled, not at all satisfied with that answer. “Then why won’t she wake up?”

“I don’t know,” her mom admitted, looking pained. “I wish I did, but there is so much about Glow that I don’t know…”

“It is possible that this is a side effect of their power,” the Bronze Lady offered. “But considering the fact that James has been under a great deal of stress lately, and with his...condition…I suspect that this is psychological rather than physical.”

Dinah stared at Glow again, then yelled, “Come on you lazy bum. Get your butt out of bed…”

“Dinah,” her mom said, giving her a disapproving look. “I don’t think…”

But to Dinah’s surprise, Glow began to move. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Dinah was immediately by her side again, grabbing her in a hug and exclaiming, “You’re awake…”

“Of course I’m awake,” Glow responded, rubbing her eyes and then looking around the room with a confused look. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the infirmary,” the Bronze Lady answered. “You wouldn’t wake up, and we were concerned that something was wrong…”

Glow stared at her for a moment, then looked down at herself. Suddenly, she grabbed her breasts as though surprised to find them there, blurting out, “I’m a girl…”

“Of course you’re a girl,” Dinah responded a little confused by the way Glow was acting.

A moment later, Glow abruptly looked up at Dinah’s mom, her expression turning grim as she asked, “Did you find out where Dad is yet?”

“Not yet,” her mother responded, though her eyes seemed to burn with a fierce determination. “But we’re close. Very close…”

“Wait,” Dinah blurted out, staring at Glow in surprise. “You called him Dad. You NEVER call him Dad…” She paused for a moment, staring at Glow until everything suddenly made sense. “James?”

“Yeah,” Glow responded, giving her a self-conscious smile, the kind that definitely belonged on James’ face more than Glow’s.

“But you look like Glow,” Dinah exclaimed, stunned by this revelation.

Glow, or at least the person who looked like her, looked confused for a moment, then responded, “But I am Glow…” However, a moment later, she added, “But I’m James too…”

“What are you saying?” their mother asked, giving Glow a worried look.

“I…I remember,” Glow whispered in a shaky voice. She licked her lips and seemed to stare off into nothing as she continued, “I remember all those sessions with Doctor Simmons…when he was trying to help me with the missing time and my repressed memories. I remember fighting Bombastic…and those men who attacked us downtown. I remember freezing in panic when Jessica Barnes said I was cute and kissed me. I remember learning how to use my powers. And I remember…” She froze, her skin going pale as a haunted expression appeared on her face. “And I remember Sinsear... I remember…everything.”

“Stop being such a freak,” Dinah weakly teased her, feeling nervous by how strange Glow was acting. “You’re starting to scare me…”

“Sorry,” Glow responded with a faint smile. “It’s not my fault you’re so jumpy.”

“I’m a little confused,” their mother said, putting a gentle hand on Glow’s shoulder and looking down at her. “Are you James or Glow?”

Glow hesitated for several second, then with a gasp of realization, she answered, “I think I’m both.” She stared down at her body, then at her hands, which were familiar yet strange at the same time. Tears of joy began to fill her eyes, and in a tone of awe, she gasped, “I’m…I’m whole.”

--------------------

Location unknown. Sunday, Aug 19th, 2007

Mel sat on the cold hard floor, wanting to get up and move around so she could stretch her legs, but feeling too sore and tired to bother. Half her body was badly bruised, including her face. The other day, one of Sinsear’s goons had worked her over, then took pictures. But as bad as that was, she was just thankful that Sinsear himself hadn’t been the one to do it.

“How are you holding up?” John asked her from where he was leaning up against the wall a short distance away.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Mel asked.

John looked just as bad as she felt, if not worse. He had two black eyes and a swollen lip, and that didn’t even take into account all the other bruises she couldn’t see, or the gash in his side that still hadn’t healed. As much as Mel was hurting, she had no doubt that John had it worse, though he refused to complain about it. In fact, she was pretty sure that he was trying to put up a brave face, just to make her feel better.

“We’ll get out of here,” John promised her, not for the first or even tenth time. “Sarah is going to come for us…”

“Because she did such a good job rescuing James,” Mel muttered under her breath.

A minute later, the heavy door creaked open and Mel got to her feet, though she no longer had any illusions about being able to run for it. The Ringleader stepped into the room, with six glowing rings floating in the air around him, each a weapon that could take her out if she tried anything. Mel gulped in fear at the sight of him and those rings, and took a step back.

Two days ago, the Ringleader had come into the room in the same fashion, and before Mel had known it, one of those rings had snapped tightly around each of her arms and legs. She’d been thrown up against the far wall and pinned there, helpless to do anything while the supervillain had punched her, over and over. Once he was done with her, he’d done the same thing to John, and then he’d taken pictures of them both.

The Ringleader stared at her for a moment before snorting in disdain. “I am not going to hurt you, girl,” he said as he set a plate of food onto the floor. “Not unless you cross me.”

Mel just stared at him, too scared to speak or move. Suddenly, she wondered if this was what it was like for James. Was this the way he felt, every time he got into a confrontation with someone? She shuddered, having a much better understanding of her friend. However, she didn’t want to be like that. She couldn’t bear the thought of being so terrified that she wouldn’t even stand up for herself.

“Yeah, right,” Mel responded, knowing that she couldn’t curl up and hide like she wanted to. She thought of James again, afraid that if she did do that, then she might never stop. “Then what about the other day?”

“Sinsear’s instructions,” Ringleader answered dismissively. “It was necessary to bait the trap…”

“You certainly seemed to enjoy yourself though,” John added with a grimace.

“This abuse does not suit me,” Ringleader stated. “If you are going to kill someone, it should be done and over quickly. However, this is Sinsear’s operation so the choice is not mine.”

When the Ringleader turned to leave, Mel blurted out, “Wait…”

“What?” the villain demanded, making her want to step back.

Mel was terrified, but she had an idea. It was a stupid idea…a desperate one. However, it was the only chance she had.

“Please,” she begged. “Don’t let Sinsear kill us… I don’t want to die that way... I know what he does to people…”

Ringleader nodded in understanding and came closer. “I would do you the favor of killing you quickly,” he said, sounding almost sympathetic. “But I won’t cross Sinsear, not when I still need him.”

“Please,” Mel begged, moving closer to Ringleader. “You have to…” Then she drove her knee right into his groin as hard as she could. The supervillain let out a yelp of pain and dropped to the floor. She followed up by kicking him in the head, he collapsed completely. “Sucker.”

“Good job,” John said, grinning in approval, then gesturing to the still open door. “Now run…”

“Come on,” she urged him, glancing back and forth between him and the door.

“I can’t,” John said with a pained look and a shake of his head. “I can barely stand, much less run…”

Mel gasped, growing frantic as she knew they didn’t have the time for this. “But…”

“NOW,” John ordered. “Go. Get help.”

Mel hesitated only a moment more before she nodded and promised, “I’ll be back,” right before she ran for the door.

The building was large, old, and mostly empty. Mel didn’t know what the building had originally been used for, whether it was a factor, a warehouse, or something else entirely. All she knew was that she had to get out before the supervillains found her again.

Several minutes later, Mel found the exit and ran through it as fast as she could. However, she suddenly found herself facing the massive metal form of Ironworks, who was looking straight at her.

“Oh shit,” Mel blurted out, pretty sure that what she pulled on Ringleader, would not work on that monstrosity.

Ironworks slung his massive hammer over his shoulder, then to Mel’s surprise, he turned and walked away. She watched him go in stunned disbelief, unsure why he was ignoring her, but thankful that he was.

“I’m free,” Mel whispered, feeling giddy from the triumph.

Then, Mel looked around, seeing an old train track a short distance away, with several rusty rail cars on it that looked like they hadn’t moved in decades. There were old cargo containers scattered about, some stacked upon each other, many of them covered with old graffiti. However, she couldn’t see anything else beyond these. She was free, but had no idea where she was, other than in the middle of nowhere.

A Glow in the Darkness part 3

Author:

Morpheus

Caution:

CAUTION

Audience Rating:

Mature Subjects (pg15)

Publication:

Fiction

Genre:

Character Age:

Teenage or High School

TG Universes & Series:

Whateley Academy by Maggie Finson, et al

Permission:

Posted by author(s)

Liberty League Headquarters, Lake Michigan. Sunday afternoon, Aug 19th, 2007

The girl with the glowing blue hair stared into the mirror, into her own glowing blue irises. Her face…her entire body…was familiar and comforting, but at the same time, it felt strange and a little surprising.

“Who am I?” she whispered.

Glow was the one who stared back from the mirror, yet she thought of herself as James. Of course, she was James, or at least, she had been James. At the same time, she remembered being Glow. Still, the James part was definitely stronger than the Glow, at least mentally. She supposed that this was because Glow had less of a life than James, and had less opportunity to exist on her own. Her entire existence had been focused on protecting him.

For the first time since she could truly remember, she was one person. The two personalities had merged together, but they weren’t a perfect fit. She had two different pasts…two different perspectives, and it was just a little confusing for her. However, she still felt an incredible sense of rightness, at once again being whole and complete.

“Well, I look like Glow,” she said as she turned away from the mirror, smiling faintly to herself. “And if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”

Glow smiled, then on a whim, she teleported out of the bathroom. The burst of energy she felt as she teleported was incredible, though when she reappeared in front of Dinah, her sister let out a shriek and punched at her.

“Hey,” Glow warned she leapt back. “Watch it…”

“You watch it,” Dinah exclaimed. “You’re the one who suddenly appeared in front of me…”

“Sorry,” Glow told her.

Dinah nodded at that, giving her an odd look before blurting out, “This is so weird…” At Glow’s curious look, she said, “You look like Glow, but you don’t act like her…”

Glow nodded at that, smiling faintly since that observation was so close to what she herself had been thinking just a minute earlier. “Physically, I am Glow,” she said, gesturing down at her body, since that much was quite obvious. Then she tapped her forehead and added, “But up here, I’m still mostly James…”

“Mostly?” Dinah asked.

“I’m Glow too,” she pointed out. “It’s just… Well, I…that is…Glow me…didn’t exactly have a well-rounded personality.”

“True,” Dinah agreed, giving her a suspicious look. “But you…I mean…James you…had a lot of weird quirks too.”

Glow nodded agreement. “I think the Glow parts are filling in a lot of the holes and cracks…” Then she shrugged and admitted, “I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

Dinah stared at her with a strange expression that seemed to be a mixture of curiosity and worry. “Do you really remember…everything.”

“Yeah,” Glow responded with a sigh. Then chuckled faintly, adding, “I even remember making you and dad promise, not to tell me about me, because I’d forgotten and I didn’t want to freak me out…”

Dinah blinked in confusion for a moment, then shook her head. “I think you need to watch your pronouns. You’re getting a bit confusing…”

“Ooooh,” Glow teased. “Someone knows what a pronoun is.”

“Bite me,” Dinah responded, sticking out her tongue and then flipping Glow off. Then she grinned. “Yeah, James is definitely still in there…”

“I told you,” Glow replied, looking a little smug, which was an expression that Dinah wasn’t used to seeing on that face.

However, Dinah was giving her the odd look again, and there was clear concern in her expression as she asked, “Do you remember…?”

“Sinsear?” Glow responded after a few seconds. When Dinah nodded, she nodded as well, then let out a deep sigh and admitted, “Yeah. I…I remember everything.”

“Oh my God,” Dinah blurted out with a look of horror.

“They’re just memories,” Glow told her sister, trying to convince herself just as much as Dinah. “Memories can’t hurt me unless I let them.” Then after a moment, she admitted, “But I’m trying not to think about it.”

Glow closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, feeling a little sick as she thought of all those memories. Six weeks of pain, terror, and humiliation. There was a good reason why she’d repressed them for all these years. However, she also understood exactly why she had to take them back.

As Glow, she’d spent years protecting James, even letting him forget that she existed, just so that he could try to live a normal life. Unfortunately, a normal life wasn’t truly possible for someone like them, and she’d realized that ignorance couldn’t protect him. The best way she could truly protect him, was to give him the ability to protect himself, and she couldn’t do that until he was ready…until he was strong enough to face his own demons and nightmares.

Dinah threw her arms around Glow and gave her a firm hug, not saying a word as she did so. Glow was startled for a moment, but hugged back, definitely feeling better. Once Dinah finally pulled away, she changed the subject by abruptly asking, “How do you like being a girl?” From the look on her face, Glow suspected that Dinah was looking for an opportunity to tease her.

“Well,” Glow responded, considering the question. “The James part of me thinks it’s kind of weird, but not bad, and the Glow part of me has always been a girl, and feels perfectly normal.”

For several seconds, Dinah stared at Glow with a thoughtful expression, then an evil grin began to form. “You know,” she said with a look that made Glow a little wary, “I’ve always wanted a big sister to go shopping with…”

“Shopping?” Glow responded in surprise.

“And help me with makeup,” Dinah added cheerfully.

Glow blinked, not having considered that aspect of being female, and what it would mean for social expectations and her relationship with Dinah. As Glow, she might have been female, but she’d never been interested in shopping or makeup. Neither of those things had ever had much appeal to her, even after she’d manifested as a mutant and gained her own form. They had been…irrelevant.

“A shopping trip sounds great,” another voice said.

Glow quickly looked to where her mom stood in the doorway of a nearby room. She must have been in there working, when she’d overheard their conversation. Her mom ducked her head as she came out of the room, which seemed silly to Glow, since the woman had intentionally made herself large enough that the doorway was a problem.

“Mom,” Glow greeted her, feeling a bit awkward and self-conscious.

“When this is all over,” her mom said, looking at Glow and then Dinah with a faint smile on her face and a pleading looking look in her eyes. Once John and your friend are safe, “I would like to do something with you two. I…want to start spending more time with you…and get to know you better.”

“A little late for that,” Dinah responded, the bitterness clear in her voice. Their mother winced slightly, as though she’d been hit.

Glow frowned for a moment, not sure how to take that offer. Her old Glow self had always resented their mother, much more than her James self had. Of course, this was because her Glow persona was the one that had to deal with their worst memories, all of which had occurred because their mother had failed to protect them…and had then abandoned them afterwards. Glow still felt some of that anger and resentment, but she couldn’t forget that their mom had come running a few days ago, as soon as she’d learned that people were after them again. And at that moment, her mom truly seemed sincere about wanting to spend time with them.

“Maybe,” Glow responded cautiously, still not sure how much of a relationship she really wanted with her mom.

“Of course,” her mom responded with a scowl and a look of fierce determination. “Before anything like that, I need to rescue John and your friend.” Then she quickly added, “And we’re very close to finding them. I can almost guarantee that we’ll have their location today.”

“Good,” Dinah said, looking relieved, though still worried.

Glow nodded agreement. Then, she tried to keep her voice calm and even as she said, “The sooner they’re away from Sinsear, the better.” Dinah and her mom both gave her a sympathetic look.

“What should I call you?” her mom abruptly asked, looking down at Glow with a curious look. “You don’t look anything like a James anymore, and it seems silly to call my own son…daughter by a codename…”

“Glow doesn’t have another name,” Dinah offered, and looked as though she was about to say something else. Glow suspected that her sister was about to try giving her another name, perhaps ‘Jane’.

“I have another name,” Glow said quietly, getting a look of curiosity from her mom and one of surprise from Dinah. She looked at Dinah and gave a weak smile. “I…the old Glow me, had a real name but didn’t want anyone to know… I…she just didn’t want to use it.”

“Really?” Dinah asked, suddenly looking quite interesting. “Why not?”

Glow hesitated for a moment, considering the fact that her mom was right. She might think of herself as James, at least for the most part, but she certainly didn’t look like a James anymore. She needed a new name, besides Glow. A real name. And since she already had one that just wasn’t being used, that seemed the perfect choice.

“Rachael,” she stated, carefully not looking at her mother. “My name is Rachael.”

“But that’s…,” her mom started, then paused with her eyes wide in realization. “Oh…”

“Rachael,” Dinah repeated before flashing a grin. “I like it…Rachael.”

“I do too,” her mom added, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked just a little teary eyed, which made Glow…Rachael feel a little self-conscious.

Without saying anything, the three of them walked down the hallway together, and by silent agreement, ended up in the recreation room. Their mom went to the bar area and pulled three sodas out of the fridge, setting them on the counter before opening one herself. Rachael watched her take a drink, emptying half the bottle in a single drink. She wondered why her mom didn’t shrink down, just to make the soda last longer, if nothing else.

“It’s gonna be weird having a sister,” Dinah finally commented, giving Rachael a curious look. “I mean, you…the old Glow would show up every once in awhile, but you…she never acted like we were related.”

“I…she didn’t think of you as family,” Rachael admitted a bit awkwardly. “But she did like you, and thought of you as a friend.”

“Oh my God,” Dinah said with a worried look. “What’s Dad gonna say when he finds out? Or Mel?”

Rachael winced slightly at that, having a feeling that it would be a very strange and uncomfortable conversation. However, she desperately hoped that she could have it, because the alternative was too horrible to think of.

Before Rachael could think of a response, the Bronze Lady rushed into the room, calling out, “Sarah…”

The Bronze Lady came to a stop, and was breathing hard as it looked like she’d been running. She had a weapon in her hand, something that looked like a steampunk blunderbuss, though Rachael suspected that it might be something a little more powerful than that. However, the fact that she’d come running in with a clear sense of urgency, and had serious look on her face, made it clear that this was not a social appearance.

“We have located our quarry,” the Bronze Lady announced.

“You found them?” Rachael’s mom demanded, suddenly growing another six inches.

“REALLY?” Dinah jumped to her feet in excitement.

“Indeed we have,” the Bronze Lady responded with a satisfied smirk. “Our contact tracked down that business logo we found in the photographs. It belonged to Bartrum Shipping, which went out of business over twenty years ago. Most of their holdings have long since been dissolved, but one of their primary transport facilities still exists, and has been abandoned for two decades. I believe we have found where Sinsear is holding his hostages.”

“Thank God,” Rachael’s mother exclaimed. “We found them…”

The Bronze Lady nodded. “Indeed. Now we merely have to rescue them.”

Rachael felt relieved and excited, and though she wanted to jump up and down the way Dinah was, she appeared almost calm as she commented, “I have a feeling that rescuing them is easier said than done.”

“She’s right,” her mom agreed with a grimace. Then she told the Bronze Lady, “I wish we could wait until the rest of the team returned, but time is of the essence…”

“Agreed,” the Bronze Lady said, raising her weapon “Then let us proceed.”

“You two will be safe here,” Rachael’s mother said as she started for the door. “We’re going to get your father back.”

However, Rachael immediately stepped forward and stated, “I’m going too.”

Her mother gave her a look of surprise before responding, “No, you are staying here where it’s safe.”

Rachael stared up at her mom, who grew a couple inches taller, as though unconsciously trying to make herself look even more imposing. However, Rachael didn’t care how big her mother became.

“I thought you were scared of Sinsear,” Dinah blurted out, surprised at the way Rachael had volunteered.

“I’m terrified of him,” Rachael admitted, not taking her eyes from her mother’s. Both of her previous personas had been scared of Sinsear, and that was one of the few things that they’d fully agreed on. “But I have to go…”

Her mother scowled, looking confused, worried, and frustrated at the same time. “You have no idea what Sinsear…”

“I know EXACTLY what Sinsear is capable of,” she snapped in response. “And there is no way in HELL that I will let him do that to anyone else…especially not Dad and Mel. Yes, I’m scared of Sinsear, but I’ve been running away from him…from the very memory of him…for most of my life. Well, I’m not running anymore. Not now.”

“Holy shit,” Dinah blurted out, staring at Rachael with a stunned expression, but also one of respect. “Yeah, the old Glow is definitely in there…”

“I know you have powers,” her mom started to say, suddenly looking awkward and unsure of how to handle the girl who was less than half her size. “But this is far too dangerous for amateurs.”

However, Rachael clenched her fists in anger and continued staring at her mother with a fierce determination that made the much larger woman take a hesitant step back.

“I AM going,” Rachael stated as though this was a simple fact. “I’m going to help them. I HAVE to. That’s the reason I was able to pull myself together…”

The Bronze Lady watched this exchange with an unreadable expression. “Glow,” she said carefully. “Ginormous is correct. This is a job for professionals.”

Rachael was determined to help, but she knew that getting into an argument wouldn’t do any good. “I’ve already fought Bombastic and won,” she stated, holding up one finger. Holding up a second, she added, “I know what Sinsear is capable of, and have spent more time with him than anyone you are likely to find alive.”

Her mom suddenly had a guilty look at that and quietly started, “Ja…Rachael…”

However, Rachael wasn’t finished. “You’re outnumbered,” she added, holding up a third finger. “We know that Sinsear has three people working with him, but we don’t know if he has any more. That means, the best case scenario has you outnumbered two to one. You need all the help you can get.”

“I’m afraid she’s correct,” the Bronze Lady admitted with a wince. “We are outnumbered, and it would be foolish to underestimate our opponents.” She gave Rachael a pained look, caught between the realization that they needed help, but not wanting to risk a teenage girl.

“And last,” Rachael said, holding up a fourth finger. “I’m going whether you agree or not. If you leave me behind, I’ll just teleport there on my own.”

“What?” her mother gasped while Rachael calmly stared back.

Of course, Rachael was bluffing, since there was no way her power would let her teleport that far, even if she did know where the location was. Her maximum range, if she pushed it, wasn’t much more than fifty yards, though she was pretty confident that her mother didn’t know that.

For several seconds, Rachael and her mother stared at each other before the taller woman let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” she snapped. “But you’re going follow my orders.”

With that, Rachael’s mom turned and left the room, ducking through the doorway. The Bronze Lady gave Rachael a curious look, then followed right behind her.

“I can’t believe that,” Dinah blurted out. “That was awesome. I never thought I’d see you talk to anyone like that…”

Rachael gave a self-conscious smile and responded, “I’ve never had as much reason.”

“Be careful,” Dinah said, standing there with her hands on her hips and giving Rachael a firm look. “You’d better be careful, and bring everyone back.”

“I will,” Rachael promised her, trying not to show how nervous she actually felt about intentionally going to Sinsear.

Dinah nodded at that. “Good, because that’s the only way I’m gonna forgive you for leaving me on this stupid island all by myself.” Then she threw her arms around Rachael in a firm hug and quietly added, “And make sure you bring that overgrown show-off back too.”

“I will,” Rachael promised her with a grin before ruffling Dinah’s hair. Dinah tried to punch her arm, but Rachael teleported to the doorway and gave her sister a wink. “You’ll have to be faster than that slowpoke.” Then as Dinah flipped her off, Rachael laughed and hurried after her mom.

--------------------

The sky above Michigan. Sunday afternoon, Aug 19th, 2007

Rachael scowled as she looked out the window of the Bronze Lady’s trithoptor, a strange machine that looked like Captain Nemo’s attempt to build a helicopter. The anachronistic aircraft definitely didn’t appear modern, and Rachael wasn’t even sure it followed the laws of aerodynamics, though she had to admit, it was actually very fast and quite comfortable. Still, as she watched the ground pass below, she was quite thankful that she’d been unconscious when the Bronze Lady took her to Liberty Island.

“What are you thinking?” Rachael’s mom asked from the next seat over. At that moment, she was six and a half feet tall, big enough to look imposing yet small enough to fit in the seat.

“That I never realized I was afraid of heights until now,” Rachael answered deadpan, hoping that whatever devisor power kept the trithoptor working didn’t fail, because she was pretty sure the whole thing would then drop like a rock.

Her mother chuckled faintly, apparently guessing what she was thinking because she said, “I’ve ridden in the trithoptors over a hundred times, and we barely ever crash.”

“Barely ever?” Rachael asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Bronze Lady, who was sitting in the pilot seat, sounded a little offended as she stated, “You know quite well those incidents were the direct result of attack or sabotage, not from any failure in my design or maintenance.”

“And how often do these ‘incidents’ occur?” Rachael asked, glancing out the window again.

Rachael’s mom put a comforting hand on her knee and assured her, “You don’t need to be nervous. This thing is actually pretty safe.”

Rachael just gave her mom a flat look and pointed out, “I’m on my way to see my own personal boogeyman. Trust me, that makes me far more nervous than this thing ever could.”

“You insisted on coming,” her mom pointed out.

“Yes, I did,” Rachael agreed. “And I haven’t changed my mind.” Her mother gave her a worried look, but didn’t say anything more about it.

A minute later, the Bronze Lady announced, “We’ve almost reached our destination. I’m beginning descent.”

Rachael immediately checked her belt buckle and looked out the window, not liking the sight of the ground so far below, but hoping she could see where they were going. She scowled, focusing on what she was about to do so that she didn’t have to think about the rapidly approaching ground, or how easy it would be for this large metal monstrosity to fall out of the sky.

Once the trithoptor landed, quite gently at that, Rachael didn’t bother climbing out of the machine. Instead, she looked out the window and teleported herself outside. She felt a small surge of energy as she did so, and knew that she’d need to jump a few more times if she wanted to gather enough energy to be at the top of her game.

As soon as the Bronze Lady had left the trithoptor, she opened a compartment on the bottom of the machine, and something began to emerge. A robotic spider appeared, unfolding its bronze legs, then standing on the ground beside the Bronze Lady, at its full height of 4 feet tall.

“Come Beatrice,” the Bronze Lady said as she held up an odd looking weapon, that vaguely resembled a blunderbuss. “We have a task to perform.”

“Now that I have some room to stretch,” Rachael’s mother announced, growing until she was nine feet tall. “Much better.” Then she looked down at Rachael and said, “Glow,” which immediately caught Rachael’s attention, since her mother hadn’t called her that since learning of her ‘normal’ name. “From this point out, we stick to codenames.”

“But they already know your real identity,” Rachael pointed out, curious as to why a codename would make any difference in that situation.

“True,” she responded with a deep scowl. “But the image is still important. Someone named Ginormous, who dresses in a uniform, is inherently more intimidating than someone named Sarah, who wears a skirt and blouse.”

“Understood,” Rachael responded, glancing down at her own blue and gray uniform, and briefly wondering if she should get a mask to go with it…not that it would do any good with her glowing blue hair.

“Be on guard,” the Bronze Lady announced she began walking off with her robot spider Beatrice. “They may have seen us arrive.”

Rachael…Glow nodded, then teleported up ahead, deciding to scout their path while building a charge. About a hundred yards ahead, Glow could see a large building, which might have once been a factory or warehouse, but which now looked pretty old and broken down. Between them and the building, there were more than a hundred old cargo containers, scattered around and stacked two or three high, and most of which were covered with rust or graffiti. She could even see some old train cars as well, though it looked like they probably hadn’t moved anywhere since before she’d been born.

The three of them carefully made their way towards the building, with Rachael continuing to scout ahead. She teleported to the top of a stack of shipping containers, looked around, then teleported back. “I don’t see anyone else out here.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice cried out, “GLOW! Over here…”

“Mel?” Glow demanded, snapping around in surprise.

“Perhaps you should look closer,” the Bronze Lady commented wryly.

Glow teleported to the top of a nearby stack and looked down at the direction she’d heard her name being calling. Then she saw Mel, hiding behind one of the shipping containers and looking around frantically.

“Glow,” Mel called out again, looking up at the spot where Glow had been perched a minute earlier rather than where she currently was.

Glow grinned, disappearing in a flash of blue and reappearing a moment later next to Mel. “I found you,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the surprised Mel. “Where’s my dad?”

“I would like to know that as well,” Ginormous said as she joined them. She was currently ten feet tall and using the height to look around with a deep scowl.

“Oh my God,” Mel exclaimed holding Glow tightly. “You’re here. You’re really here…” She pulled away, stared up at Ginormous with a look of surprise, then down again at the Bronze Lady.

“As you may have guessed,” Ginormous said, crouching down but not bothering to shrink. “We are here to rescue you…

Glow nodded at that, staring at Mel in relief. Mel was bruised up, and looked like someone had taken great delight in smacking her around, but other than that, she seemed all right. Considering what Sinsear could have done to her, a few bruises were nothing.

“What are you doing out here?” Glow asked. “And where’s my dad?”

Mel winced, her eyes watering up a little as she stood there with a guilty expression. “I got away,” she answered awkwardly, “but John…Mister Merrick was hurt too much to come with.” Glow and Ginormous both gasped at that, but Mel quickly continued, “I’ve been out here, hiding from them for the last couple hours…”

“A couple hours?” Glow asked in surprise, giving Mel another look and feeling impressed. She’d been Sinsear’s prisoner for six weeks, and hadn’t been able to escape even once during that time. Of course, she’d been a little boy at the time, but this was still impressive.

Mel nodded at that, then looked around nervously. “Ringleader is out here somewhere… He’s pissed at me…”

“We’ll protect you,” Ginormous promised, before repeating the question again. “Now, where is John?”

“There,” Mel finally answered, pointing to the building. Then she looked up at Ginormous again and gulped. “But they’re waiting for you…”

“We suspected that they would see our arrival,” the Bronze Lady commented.

However, Mel shook her head, looking extremely worried. “No. It’s a trap. Ringleader said that Sinsear was leading you here to trap you…” She pointed to the building again and quickly added, “He said there isn’t enough room in there for you to grow, so you’d be easy to catch…”

The Bronze Lady nodded at that, then told Ginormous, “Confined spaces do limit you.”

Glow focused intently on the building, feeling her heart race with a mixture of fear and excitement. That was where her dad was. That was also where Sinsear would be waiting. She held out her hand and used the energy she still had remaining to form a katana. She wouldn’t be able to keep it for very long before she burned away all the energy, but it made her feel more secure to have a weapon in hand.

“Fortunately,” the Bronze Lady mused, reaching out and putting hand onto her robotic spider, “confined spaces are of little concern to me. And now that we know these miscreants have been lying in wait, I suggest we spring their trap on our terms.”

“Good idea,” Ginormous said, standing back up. “Glow,” she said, looking down at her daughter. “You’ll need to stay out here, protecting your friend.”

Glow started to argue, then paused, realizing that her mother was correct. Mel might no longer be Sinsear’s prisoner, but she was hardly safe and clear, not until they were well away from the supervillains. She scowled, knowing that she needed to go rescue her dad, but that she also couldn’t leave Mel.

“I won’t have any problems in a confined space,” Glow started to point out, trying to convince Ginormous to be the one who remained behind to protect Mel. However, even as started to suggest this, she knew that it wasn’t completely true. In a confined space, she wouldn’t be able to use her teleportation very effectively.

Suddenly, Ginormous let out a loud yelp of surprise as her leg was yanked out from beneath her, and she turned upside down, being lifted into the air by a the glowing ring around one ankle. Four more golden rings appeared in the air, flying towards her other limbs.

“Ringleader,” Mel cried out in fear, drawing Glow’s attention to the costumed man who was floating in the air a short distance away.

“Since you have learned of our plans,” the Ringleader announced. “I thought I should spring our trap early…”

“Is it time to play?” a new voice asked, as Bombastic appeared on top of another shipping container. She looked around with a freakishly broad grin, her eyes gleaming with a twisted glee. “Ooooh. New toys to play with…”

“Play all you like,” Ringleader told Bombastic. “But we have to keep the big one alive. Remember, Sinsear wants to play with her…”

“Of course,” Bombastic agreed cheerfully. “I remember our deal.” Then she looked straight at Glow, adding, “And I remember you…”

Bombastic leapt straight at Glow, who raised her sword to cut the attacking villain. However, she’d burned up too much of her energy, and her sword was already starting to dissipate, so the teleported out of the way instead. Bombastic immediately charged at her, but Glow was quick to move again.

“BOOM,” Bombastic called out, right before she fired a concussion blast at Glow. Glow teleported out of the way, so the blast hit the side of a shipping container and smashed it in. “You’re pretty fast,” Bombastic said, sounding as though she approved.

“And you’re pretty slow,” Glow responded, suddenly appearing beside Bombastic and slicing at the supervillain with her energy sword. Bombastic immediately moved to the side, but not fast enough. The blade sliced several inches into her side, though Bombastic giggled.

“That tickles,” Bombastic stated, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Now it’s my turn…” She leapt at Glow, who teleported away. However, as Glow reappeared a short distance away, she was immediately hit with a concussion blast that sent her flying back. “Tag. You’re it.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Ginormous exclaimed, from where she was still hanging upside down in the air. She swatted at the rings that were swirling around her, though one of them snapped around her wrist while another went over her head, where it shrank around her neck.

Ginormous started to grow, but the rings didn’t grow with her, so she was immediately forced to stop. Then with a grin, she started to shrink out of the rings, however, they began to shrink with her.

“No,” Ginormous cried out, stopping at seven feet tall as she realized the trap she was in.

“Begone,” the Bronze Lady exclaimed, shooting at one of the rings, which exploded into sparks. She took aim at another of the rings that had yet to grab hold of Ginormous, firing two shots until she hit and destroyed that one as well.

Suddenly, there was a booming thud, right before one of the shipping crates was picked up by the massive metal figure of Ironworks. The armored man threw the shipping crate at the Glow, who saw it coming in time to teleport out of the way.

“What is that?” Glow demanded, though she remembered reading Ironworks’ file.

“I believe I may have a solution,” the Bronze Lady announced. “Beatrice.”

The robotic spider immediately dropped into a crouch, and the back of its bronze body opened up. What appeared to be a gatling gun popped up from the opening, like a slice of toast from a toaster. A second later, the gun opened fire, blasting Ironworks and sending deep dents all through his armored form.

Ironworks lifted his massive hammer, throwing it straight at Beatrice. In an instant, the impact smashed the spider, destroying it almost completely. The Bronze Lady winced at the sight, then glared at Ironworks before shooting at him with her own gun, which was no more effective than the spider’s weapon had been.

“Let me go,” Ginormous demanded, struggling against the rings that held her in the air, preventing her from getting any leverage or even growing.

“Continue to struggle,” Ringleader announced. “It will do you little good.”

Glow looked back and forth, suddenly caught between the realization that she needed to deal with Bombastic, help her mother, and keep Mel safe…all at the same time. But when she looked for Mel, she didn’t see her. The other girl had completely disappeared, or had at least run off during the distraction, which was probably the smartest thing she could do.

“You’re fun to play with,” Bombastic commented, right as she leapt at Glow again. Glow jumped to the side, using the energy from her sword to form a half dozen shuriken, which she flung at the insane mutant. One of the shuriken hit her shoulder and another grazed her leg, though neither slowed her down. Instead, she just flashed a broad and frightening grin, which would be enough to give most kids nightmares. “When we’re done playing, I’m gonna keep your head for a trophy.” She said it as though she considered that to be a great honor.

Ironworks slowly started moving towards the Bronze Lady, his feet thudding heavily and sinking into the ground a little with each step. The Bronze Lady shot at him again, looking worried as she backed away. Then the large armor figure stopped, bending over to retrieve his hammer from where is sat in the middle of clockwork debris.

“This is quite problematic,” the Bronze Lady commented.

A moment later, Ginormous yelled, “Let me go…” She still hovered in the air, held aloft by the glowing rings. Then she began choking, grabbing at her neck with her free hand.

“I believe a change of tactics is in order,” the Bronze Lady announced, turning and firing her weapon at Ringleader. She hit him in the chest and he dropped from the air, hitting the ground hard. However, the rings holding Ginormous didn’t vanish.

Glow paused, staring at her mother in worry, but a blast of force caught her from behind and sent her flying face first into the ground. She scrambled to get to her feet, only to feel a sharp pain in her side as Bombastic’s claws tore through her uniform. With a grimace of pain, she teleported, getting away from the lunatic, though Bombastic immediately fired another concussion blast at her, forcing her to teleport again.

“Damn,” Glow winced, grabbing at her injured side with one hand and holding an energy sword with the other.

Bombastic leapt at her again, and Glow responded by dodging to the side and swinging her blade. However, Bombastic just laughed maniacally and fired another concussion blast right into Glow’s face. Glow saw it coming, and just barely managed to teleport in time.

From the corner of her eye, Glow saw Mel, emerging from behind a shipping container with a metal pipe in her hand. A moment later, Mel swung the pipe like a baseball bat, hitting Ringleader from behind and sending him face first into the ground. The glowing rings holding Ginormous in place vanished, and Glow’s mother dropped to the ground, where she immediately began growing.

“Thank you ,” Ginormous told Mel, while gasping for breath. “Now, get away from here and find a safe place to hide until this is over.” The twenty foot toot tall woman stood up to her full height, looked around the area, then grew even further and stomped on Ironworks.

“And thank you,” the Bronze Lady exclaimed, turning and shooting at Bombastic, who dove to the side.

“Missed me, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me,” Bombastic taunted back. Then with a manic gleam in her eyes, she charged straight at the Bronze Lady.

Glow knew that the Bronze Lady couldn’t avoid Bombastic’s attack nearly as well as she could, so she teleported to an open space right beside the hero, and released every bit of energy she had gathered. The blue glow around her body vanished as a burst of blue energy exploded from her hands, catching Bombastic in the stomach and sending her flying back.

“Well done,” the Bronze Lady commented, giving Glow a nod of approval.

“Idiots,” a new…yet terrifyingly familiar voice exclaimed. “You were supposed to lead her inside…”

Glow’s heart suddenly felt like it had jumped up into her throat, and cold chills shot all through her spine. She knew that voice. She could NEVER forget the voice of the monster that had haunted her nightmares for most of her life. She slowly turned to face Sinsear.

The sight of Sinsear, her own personal boogeyman, filled Glow with shock and confusion. She remembered him as huge, powerful, and absolutely terrifying, but the man she saw a short distance away, didn’t fit that description at all. The first thing she noticed was that he was sitting in a motorized wheelchair, which caught her by surprise. He was wearing his familiar costume, but he’d lost a lot of weight, becoming skinny and almost gaunt, so the fabric hung loose on him. Since he hadn’t bothered with his mask, she could see his face, the one she immediately recognized, even as gaunt and haunted as it had become. However, the look of twisted cruelty that burned in his eyes was exactly as she remembered.

“Are you gonna play too?” Bombastic asked, giving Sinsear a curious and almost eager look.

“Idiots,” Sinsear snarled. “We had a plan…”

“A plan that failed,” the Ringleader responded as he got back to his feet, looking pretty shaky. “Your little hostage escaped…”

“And whose fault is that?” Sinsear snapped, looking up at Ginormous, who towered over him.

“Sinsear,” Ginormous stated, staring down at the supervillain with a look of rage…of pure hatred on her face. Glow had never seen that expression on her mother’s face before and would have been surprised at its intensity, if she didn’t feel the exact same way herself.

Without saying another word, Ginormous stomped down on Sinsear as hard as she could, though the massive Ironworks rushed in and caught her foot. The armored figure twisted Ginormous’ foot, forcing the superhero to slam into the ground. Bombastic immediately leapt on Ginormous, slashing out with her claws, while Glow watched, once again frozen into inaction.

“Begone, mad woman,” The Bronze Lady exclaimed, shooting at Bombastic, who jumped out of the way.

“You missed me,” Bombastic called, turning and firing a concussion blast at the Bronze Lady. “You’re bad at this.”

Ginormous slammed her hand down between them, taking the concussion blast in her palm and then yelping in pain. She clenched her hand and began to sit up, but Ironworks charged straight at her, swinging his hammer.

Sinsear watched this from his chair, seemingly forgotten about by everyone except Glow. “Enough,” the villain snarled. “I had hoped to save my strength until it was needed, but it seems now is that time…”

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, flames started to flicker over Sinsear’s body. He burst into flames, then began to float up into the air, out of his chair. His legs dangled lifelessly beneath him, no longer necessary to support him.

Glow stared up at Sinsear, feeling the old fear returning until she was drowning in it. She’d thought she was done with it…that she’d beaten the fear. However, the sight of Sinsear floating in the air, suddenly seeming just as powerful as ever, was enough to bring it all back.

“Not again,” Glow whispered, her voice shaky and weak.

“BURN,” Sinsear yelled, throwing out his hand and firing blast of flame straight at the Bronze Lady. The devisor dove to the side and just barely avoided being hit, but dropped her weapon in the process.

Ginormous snarled in anger and threw herself at Sinsear, trying to swat him out of the air. However, Ironworks leapt up, slamming into her stomach with enough force to knock her back and off her feet. Then the armor clad villain immediately swung his hammer at the large target, forcing her to defend herself against his assault.

Suddenly, Glow noticed something coming at her from the corner of her eye, and she snapped out of her paralysis just in time to teleport, avoiding the claws that would have torn through her side, right where she’d already been injured. Bombastic immediately changed course and charged Glow again, looking as though she was enjoying this ‘game’, which only annoyed Glow. However, Glow was also thankful for Bombastic’s attack, since it distracted her from the flaming demon that was floating above them.

As Glow dodged a concussion blast, she saw the Ringleader floating up into the air, forming a half dozen glowing rings which orbited his body. Instead of focusing on the fight, he seemed to be looking for something. “Where are you hiding, girl?,” he called out, suddenly making Glow realize, that he was looking for Mel, probably because she’d nailed him from behind with that pipe a short time earlier.

“It seems I will have to kill you much more quickly than I’d intended,” Sinsear told Ginormous, who was still trying to get Ironworks off her. “But rest assured, after you are gone, I will go for your husband and children… I promise you this, that they will die, cursing you were ever born…”

Sinsear fired a blast of flames at Ginormous, but she grabbed Ironworks and lifted him up, using him as a shield. Once the flames stopped coming, she threw the armored figure at Bombastic, who barely managed to avoid being hit. Then with a grimace of determination, Ginormous picked up one of the shipping containers and held it in front of her like a shield to block Sinsear’s next attack.

“You’re getting boring,” Bombastic complained, glaring at Glow, then abruptly charging straight at the Bronze Lady.

“I don’t think so,” Glow responded, teleporting above Bombastic, and dropping down to slice through the villain’s back.

Bombastic fell face first into the ground with a loud yelp of pain. However, she immediately rolled over and began getting to her feet again, grinning broadly as a manic glee filled her eyes. “That’s more interesting…”

The Bronze Lady held out something that looked like bronze baseball, and commented, “Traditionally, lunatics are kept in straight-jackets.” She threw the sphere at Bombastic, and it exploded into a mass of metal wires that engulfed the villain, entangling her in a net that Glow immediately recognized. “Hopefully, that should contain you.”

Bombastic snarled as she struggled with the net, growing more frantic when she couldn’t tear her way out with her claws. Then she released a concussion blast, which shattered the ground, sending shards of stone everywhere, and which tore some of the strands of the net. Bombastic began to giggle, and was obviously about to continue her plan of blasting herself free. Suddenly, a giant foot kicked Bombastic, sending her flying into the side of a shipping crate hard enough to leave a large dent. Bombastic remained motionless afterwards.

Glow saw that Ginormous was still trying to fend off Sinsear’s attacks, while dealing with Ironworks at the same time. The armored figure was going after her legs, trying to hit her knees with his massive hammer. Ginormous alternated between kicking him back and stepping out of the way, but she couldn’t do much more while Sinsear continued blasting her.

Glow winced at the pain in her side, though it was almost nothing compared to what Sinsear had put her through. She pushed it aside, trying to ignore her growing exhaustion as well. Physically, she was fully charged and ready to go, but while teleporting might recharge her body, it took a different type of energy to use that power. She’d never fought or used her powers for this long, and she knew that she couldn’t continue at this pace for much longer. It wouldn’t be long before she could no longer teleport, and shortly after that, the rest of her abilities would fade as well.

“I’ve got to help Mom,” Glow told herself, taking a deep breath and teleporting behind Ironworks. Without any hesitation, she slashed out with her blade, slicing a deep gouge through the metal of his back. Unfortunately, that merely drew his attention to her and he turned around, raising his hammer. Glow looked up at the massive weapon and gulped, “Not good…”

Glow was still bursting with physical energy, courtesy of all the teleports, but she wanted to hold back on teleporting any more than she had to. She lunged forward, slashing another gash through his stomach, then dodging to the side when he slammed the hammer down where she had been. The energy from her sword was already burning away, and she only had one or two more strikes with it before it was gone, and she wanted to make them count.

Ironworks didn’t say a word, though his armor creaked and groaned as he moved. He started to raise his hammer again, but that took time, and for a little longer, Glow was fast enough to take advantage of that opening. So with a grimace of determination, Glow rolled to the side, leapt into the air, and struck with her sword as hard as she could. The glowing blade sliced through Ironwork’s neck with surprising ease, completely severing his head. For several seconds, the armored figure remained standing, almost as if he hadn’t yet realized he’d lost his head, then his body fell and crashed to the ground.

“I did it,” Glow gasped, a little surprised as she hadn’t really believed that attack would work. She felt a moment of triumph, which crashed a moment later when she suddenly realized what she’d done. She’d just cut off a man’s head and killed him. “Oh God…”

“Good job,” Ginormous called down to Glow, which startled her since she hadn’t expected that reaction after she’d just killed a man. Then again, Glow quickly reminded herself, Ironworks was working with Sinsear…and had helped to kidnap and beat her father and Mel. That immediately helped to ease the budding sense of guilt.

Ginormous took advantage of the fact that Ironworks was no longer a problem, by throwing the warped and melted shipping container she’d been holding, right at Sinsear. However, Sinsear flew out of the way and responded by sending a blast of flames at the ground, forcing everyone to jump back, even Ginormous.

Suddenly, Ringleader exclaimed, “I found you, you little rat…”

Mel’s scream filled the air, and Glow snapped around to see her friend floating up into the air, held aloft by a glowing golden ring around her waist. She scrambled and struggled to get free, but was helpless as Ringleader pulled her closer to where he was levitating.

“You’d better let me go,” Mel yelled at him defiantly. “I come from a long line of ninjas, so you don’t want to piss me off…”

“You are an annoying little pest,” Ringleader told Mel. “I actually considered killing you quickly, as an act of mercy, but now I’ve changed my mind.” He looked over to Sinsear and asked, “Would you care to finish her?”

“Of course,” Sinsear responded with a cruel laugh. “Unfortunately, I do not have time to enjoy this properly, but I shall still take some pleasure in the act of killing this vermin. Now girl, burn for your sins…”

For a brief instant, Glow froze with a renewed surge of terror…and in horror at what was about to happen. However, burning rage pushed the fear away, and with a furious scream, she teleported. Glow no longer had her sword, and a single teleport didn’t give her enough energy to reform it. When she reappeared in the air next to Sinsear, she ignored the intense heat and punched him as hard as she could. Sinsear and Glow both dropped towards the ground.

“NO,” Ginormous screamed, diving for Glow and catching her before the girl hit the ground.

Glow gave her a weak smile as she was gently set down on the ground. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Mom?” Sinsear demanded, from where he’d caught himself before hitting. He rose back up into the air, glaring at Glow with the darkest of expressions. “So, you are the other child…the daughter…”

“Enough,” Ringleader called out, holding Mel in front of him, where he indicated the golden ring around her throat. “Fall back, heroes…unless you wish to see the girl die.”

“You were gonna kill me anyway,” Mel pointed out bitterly, trying in vain to hide her terror. Ringleader glared at her and the ring tightened, choking her into silence.

“This endeavor is a failure,” Ringleader told Sinsear. “I think it is time to cut our losses and depart. You’ll have another opportunity for your revenge…”

“NO,” Sinsear yelled, suddenly blasting his ally. Ringleader was engulfed in flames, then screamed in agony as dropped from the air, along with Mel.

“I’ve got her,” Ginormous called out, already diving for the girl and catching her the same way that she’d caught Glow a minute earlier. “You’re safe…”

“None of you are safe,” Sinsear exclaimed, the flames around his body burning even brighter. “I will sear the flesh from your bones and you will all die screaming in agony.”

“LOOK OUT,” Ginormous warned an instant before Sinsear seemed to explode.

Ginormous threw herself over the others, using her own body to shield them from the waves of flame. She yelled but held still until the heat was gone.

“MOM?” Glow blurted out in worry.

“I’m fine,” Ginormous responded with a wince. “Just a little singed.”

“Holy shit,” Mel gasped, staring up at Ginormous. “That was intense…”

Glow nodded agreement, looking up at her mom in relief. “Yeah.”

The Bronze Lady nodded as well, commenting, “It is fortunate our uniforms are fire resistant, or you might have been seriously injured.”

“Maybe,” Ginormous responded with a deep scowl. “But it was too spread out…too dispersed.” Her eyes suddenly went wide and she snapped around. “It was a distraction.”

Sinsear had taken advantage of their distraction to leave, but not to escape. Instead, he’d flown straight to the building, and as they watched, the supervillain fired a massive blast of fire at the roof, setting it on fire.

“DAD,” Glow yelled in horror as he realized that his dad was still locked up inside.

“He’s trying to kill John,” Ginormous yelled with a note of panic, already running towards the building, which Sinsear was still blasting.

Glow stared at Sinsear with a swirling mass of fear, worry, and absolute fury. Sinsear had tortured her, had broken her, and now he was trying murder her dad. She snarled in determination and teleported.

Glow teleported once, twice, and a third time, gathering energy with each leap. Physically, she was fully charged and ready to face anything, but with each jump, she used up another energy, one which was leaving her teleportation powers exhausted. Then with an act of pure determination, she made one final teleport, appearing in the air above Sinsear.

“What…?” Sinsear gasped, turning around in the air to stare at her in surprise.

With a scream of rage, Glow released every ounce of energy she’d just gathered, pushing it out from her hands in a single burst that exploded right through Sinsear’s chest. The villain was blasted back, dead before his body fell onto the burning building.

“RACHAEL,” her mother yelled, diving to catch her before she hit the ground, just as she’d done a short time earlier.

“You’re making a habit of this,” Glow said, suddenly feeling completely and totally exhausted.

“I’m not going to fail you again,” her mother promised her with tears in her eyes. “Not again…”

Glow smiled faintly at that and whispered, “He’s gone… He’s finally gone…”

“Yes he is,” Ginormous told her with a faint smile as she carefully set Glow on the ground.

In spite of barely being able to stand, Glow stared at the burning building which was quickly being engulfed in flames, gasping out in horror. “Dad…”

She started to stagger forward, but giant hand was suddenly blocking her path. “NO,” her mom said with a look of fierce determination. “I’ll take care of this…” And with that, she began shrinking, becoming small enough to fit through the door.

“Ginormous,” the Bronze Lady called out as she ran to catch up. “I’ll come with.”

Mel, who’d been following a short distance behind the Bronze Lady, stopped, gasping for breath. “That way,” she managed to get out, pointing to the door she’d escaped from. “The left hallway…halfway down.”

Ginormous nodded, already running into the burning building. Glow watched in fear, knowing that she should be going in too, that she had to help her dad. However, she’d pushed herself too far and couldn’t continue.

“Please,” Glow whispered, her voice shaking. She was stuck, helpless and unable to do anything again, and she absolutely hated it. All she could do was hope…and have faith that her mother would be able to save her dad…that they’d both come out safely.

“They’ll be fine,” the Bronze Lady insisted. “Ginormous will bring him back.”

A minute later, a wall suddenly exploded outward as Ginormous rammed through it with her own body, still growing in the process. She kicked at the wall, then shrunk enough to come through the hole, carrying a man in her arms.

“DAD,” Glow exclaimed in relief.

“He’s all right,” Ginormous announced, setting Glow’s dad onto the ground and then shrinking until she was seven feet tall. “Just banged up…”

Glow threw her arms around her mom, hugging her tightly and tearfully saying, “Thank you…”

“Glow,” her mom started to respond with tears running down her own cheeks. “Rachael…”

Rachael smiled at her, then pulled away and said, “Dad…”

“What?” he responded with a confused look, since Glow had never called him that before. “Glow…?”

Without saying another word, Rachael grabbed her dad in a tight hug, crying tears of joy into his shoulder. The confused man hugged her back, not sure why Glow had suddenly become so affectionate, but being more than happy to hug the girl he’d always thought of as his second daughter.

--------------------

Abandoned shipping yard. Sunday late afternoon, Aug 19th, 2007

The massive metal form of Ironworks was sprawled on the ground, his decapitated head resting a five feet away from the body. In spite of this grievous injury, there was not a single drop of blood, either on the body or the ground around it. Suddenly, Ironworks’ chest cracked and split open, and a moment later, a girl began to climb out of the hollow cavity within his torso. She was petite, with long magenta hair, pointed ears, and fine delicate features that some might call elven.

Once Maxine Granger was standing on solid ground, she stood up to her full height of four foot eleven and brushed off her dress. She slowly looked around the scene of the fight, then at the burning building and tower of smoke that poured out if it, shaking her head as she did so. In a soft lilting voice, she commented, “Well, that was a fucking waste of time.”

Maxine turned her attention back to the massive armored form on the ground and frowned. Ironworks was her creation, having been formed and animated entirely by her ferrokinetic powers. The damage to her armor was entirely superficial and could easily be repaired in less than a minute, including the severed head, which was merely decorative. She could have easily continued the fight had she wanted, but she’d seen no point in doing so, and had taken the opportunity to play dead.

After a moment, her thoughts turned to her father, who was the entire reason that she’d been there in the first place. As always, thinking about him stirred up feelings of grief and anger. Maxine had no illusions about her father. He’d been a career criminal, who’d spent most of his life working as a thug, a legbreaker, and professional henchman for a string of different supervillains.

Her father had not been good man, but he’d been good to her. After her mother had run off with another man, her father had done everything he could to protect her, and to show her that she was both loved and wanted.

When Maxine had first manifested as a mutant, a little more than a year ago, instead of being afraid, her father had been excited for her. “One day,” he’d told her proudly, “you’re gonna be the bigshot supervillain, ordering around a bunch of mooks like me.”

Maxine smiled bitterly, thinking about the fact that it had been almost an entire year since he’d died. Afterwards, she’d been left all alone, and had done the only thing she could think of. She took care of her father’s unfinished business, settling old grudges and paying off old debts. And now, there was only one outstanding debt left. She would have to get revenge on the superhero who was responsible for his death.

Though she had a great deal of power, Maxine hadn’t been confident in her ability to deal with an experienced superhero by herself. That was why she teamed up with several other people who had similar goals. They all wanted revenge against a superhero, so it made sense to work together.

“Fat lot of good that did,” Maxine muttered, thinking about how Caster had broken the agreement, and then Sinsear had drawn too much heat. “I guess I’m on my own again.”

As Maxine stared at the severed head from her armor, she remembered one of the most important pieces of advice her father had ever given her. “When things go to hell or the boss starts going batshit crazy,” her father had often told her, “don’t fight to the end out of some misplaced sense of loyalty. Take advantage of the distraction to haul your ass out of there, because it’s easier to find a new boss than it is to get out of prison or the grave.”

“That’s what I’m doing,” Maxine stated as she turned away from the armor.

Maxine suddenly noticed movement from the corner of her eye and snapped around, staring at the wrapped up bundle that was Bombastic. Bombastic was awake and moving again, and obviously trying to get out of the net. There was an explosion as Bombastic used her concussion blast, followed by two more. Finally, Bombastic tore her way out of the shredded net, grinning broadly.

“I hate getting put in timeout,” Bombastic complained to herself. “But it was an interesting game. I just might have to demand a rematch sometime…”

Bombastic paused as she noticed Maxine, giving the girl a curious look. Maxine gulped, suddenly realizing that her ally had never seen her outside of her armor before. None of her allies had. And at that moment, Maxine was quite aware of the fact that outside of her armor, she was vulnerable.

“Ooooh,” Bombastic purred, slowly starting towards Maxine with a curious expression. “Are you a new toy to play with?”

Maxine fought the urge to run, reminding herself that even without her armor, she wasn’t helpless. “No,” she answered carefully, knowing that she could easily set the crazy mutant off. “I’m not a toy. I’m a player.”

“Do you want to play with me?” Bombastic asked, her eyes lighting up with eager anticipation.

“Not today,” Maxine told her with a forced smile. “This game is over and I’m tired.” Then seeing the disappointed look on Bombastic’s face, she quickly added, “But we can play another time. Maybe even team up. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Bombastic hesitated a moment, watching Maxine with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe,” she reluctantly agreed. “But I don’t know if I want a little girl on my team...”

“I’m not a little girl,” Maxine protested, standing up as straight as she could to stretch out what little height she had available. She looked Bombastic straight in the eyes and proudly announced, “I’m thirteen…”

Bombastic nodded at that. “That’s different then…” She suddenly held out her hand, announcing, “I’m Bombastic.”

Maxine hesitated for only a moment before she reached out and shook Bombastic’s hands, being wary of the clawed fingers. “I’m…Lodestone.”

“Lodestone,” Bombastic repeated the name slowly, as if trying it out. Then with a broad grin, she said, “I look forward to playing with you, Lodestone.” And with that, she turned and ran, leaving Maxine behind.

“It looks like I have a new name,” Maxine mused as she considered the codename she’d just made up on the spot. It might be useful, since she didn’t want people to know that she was Ironworks.

Maxine glanced back towards the burning building, realizing that she would have to hurry if she wanted to be gone before the heroes returned. Though it would be quite easy for her to climb back inside her armor and simply walk away, Maxine thought that it would be more useful remaining where it was. After all, two members of the Liberty League could confirm that Ironworks was dead, which would end the trail for anyone trying to follow ‘him’.

The young mutant turned and stared at her discarded hammer, focusing all her attention on it until the large weapon crumbled away into a gray metal sand. With a little more effort, the sand began to shift and move, taking a new shape before once again hardening into a solid piece of metal, a flat disk that looked much like an oversized manhole cover. As soon as she stepped onto the disk, it rose from the ground, held aloft by her ferrokinesis.

“Oh yeah,” Maxine exclaimed, staring down at Ironworks’ armored form. “I can’t forget to lock the car.”

Maxine concentrated on her armor and the chest began to close back up, so that mere seconds later, it looked as though it had never been opened. She smiled faintly, knowing that this empty armor would confuse anyone who tried to investigate, since there was little evidence that a body had ever been inside. Let them wonder who or what Ironworks had been.

With a faint nod of satisfaction, Maxine willed the disk to carry her away from there. The alliance had been a failure, and Sinsear’s revenge a disaster, but whether or not she had help, she still had a debt to collect. Once she was ready, Ironworks would return.

------------------

Hapsburgh, Michigan. Sunday, Aug 26th, 2007

Melissa Terrance sat in her bedroom with the door closed and her music playing loudly. Mel barely listened to the music though, or at least not to the lyrics. Her thoughts were on other things, such her best friend James.

The house next door, where Mel’s two closest friends had lived, was now empty. A supervillain had burst into the house and caused a lot of damage, but it was the aftermath of that attack which had forced the Merricks to move. Because of what happened, half the town was asking why supervillains would attack them, which meant there was a lot more attention than they were comfortable with.

And then, there was what had happened to James. It had been shocking enough to learn that her wimpy friend had another personality, that there was a Hyde to his Jekyll, a Hulk to his Banner, but then to discover that the two personalities had somehow merged. Mel was happy for James…for Rachael, but confused as well.

Mel wasn’t sure what to think of Rachael. Inside, she was still the same James that Mel knew, but she was also quite different. The new Glow…Rachael was far more capable and confident than James had ever been, and much more personable than the old Glow.

Though Mel didn’t want to admit it, she felt uncertain as to her role in their friendship. She’d always been the brave one, the confident one who pushed James to stand up for himself. Now, she felt like she was the wimp in comparison, and that if Rachael was now a hero, that pushed her into playing the role of damsel in distress. She’d already played that role once, and she absolutely hated it. Mel NEVER wanted to go through anything like that again.

Mel closed her eyes, shuddering at the memory of what had happened to her. She’d been kidnapped and beaten, suffering a couple of the worst days in her life. And that had only been two days. She couldn’t even imagine what six weeks with Sinsear would have been like.

“But Glow came after me anyway,” Mel reminded herself, knowing just how scared her friend had been of that monster. No matter how much James…Rachael had changed, he…she was still Mel’s friend, and that rescue certainly proved it. They would just have to figure out how the balance of that friendship had changed. “Maybe we can talk about it the next time I see her.”

James…Rachael and her family had moved away, but that certainly wasn’t going to be the end of their friendship. Between e-mail, the phone, and the ability to make frequent visits, they’d be able to stay in contact, though it wouldn’t be the same…and not just because of the distance.

“I guess I’ll just have to get used to having a badass mutant girl for a best friend,” Mel told herself with a chuckle. “If nothing else, Rachael won’t be boring…”

Mel suddenly imagined what it would have been like if Rachael hadn’t moved away, if she had to go back to school in James’ place, when it started up again next week. The image of Todd, Mike, and Steve running into Rachael in the middle of the school hallway was enough to make her burst out laughing. She was pretty sure that when she told Rachael, she’d laugh about it too. After all, James would.

While Mel thought about this, chuckling even more as she envisioned the look on Todd’s face, she picked a round piece of amber off her desk and began to absently roll it between her fingers. It was smooth, vaguely shaped like an egg, and was her souvenir from her damsel in distress experience.

“I got kidnapped by a psycho supervillain, and I all I got was this rock,” she weakly joked. “Sounds like a t-shirt.”

Mel held up the stone, remembering how she’d found it. After everything was done and over with, and they were just about to leave, she had found it sitting on the ground, just a short distance from where she’d nearly been burned to death. It immediately caught her eye, so she’d picked it up and kept it.

Suddenly, a ring of golden energy appeared in the air in front of Mel, looking like an angel’s halo. As soon as she saw this, she let out a shriek and jumped back, dropping the stone in the process. The ring instantly vanished, and when she looked around, there was absolutely no sign of the Ringleader.

“What the…?” Mel started, still looking around nervously, but growing less worried and more confused. Her eyes settled on the piece of amber and she gasped. “No way…”

Mel cautiously picked the piece of amber up again, and when she focused on it, another glowing ring appeared in the air in front of her. Her eyes widened at the sight, but this time she felt amazed instead of afraid.

A wicked grin began to form as she mused, “No more damsel in distress for me.”

--------------------

Chicago Illinois. Monday, Aug 27th, 2007

Rachael settled back into her comfortable chair and silently looked around the office she found herself in. A large bookshelf was set against the wall, filled with titles that ranged from Alice in Wonderland to Zubacker’s Analysis of Neurosis. Several diplomas were hanging on the wall, along with paintings of natural scenes. There was a desk on the other side of the room, but at the moment, no one was sitting there. And of course, the woman who probably should have been sitting behind the desk, was sitting across from Rachael instead, in an identical chair.

Doctor Caroline Brooks was a beautiful woman, with long platinum blonde hair that was pulled back into a long braid that went all the way down to her waist. She wore a pair of glasses, which Rachael suspected were more for image than because she needed them, and she was dressed in a professional suit and skirt. At the moment, she was watching Rachael with a friendly smile.

Rachael frowned, not happy about having to see another psychologist, though admitting to herself that she probably needed it. In spite of the fact that her personalities had finally reintegrated, it hadn’t been a perfect mesh and occasionally she’d get momentarily confused from two conflicting past perspectives. However, it was getting easier, and she was starting to see herself as a new person…as Rachael instead of the old James or Glow. That helped a great deal.

Of course, reintegration hadn’t healed her entirely, though it had been a large and important step. Her mind was no longer broken, but it was still chipped and a bit cracked. She suspected that after everything she’d been through, she’d never be fully healed, but hopefully, Dr. Brooks could help her repair a few more of those cracks.

James had spent years working with Dr. Simmons, their previous psychiatrist, and it hadn’t done much good. As James, she’d seen him as a constant reminder that she’d been broken, while as Glow, she’d seen him as meddlesome and intrusive. Though she knew that he meant well, she was just thankful that she didn’t have to deal with him again.

Her mother was the one who’d recommended Dr. Brooks, and who’d arranged the appointment. Apparently, Dr. Brooks specialized in working with patients who had powers, and she frequently acted as a consultant for the Liberty League, whenever they needed help profiling a villain. So far, she seemed all right, but the appointment had only just begun.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rachael,” Dr. Brooks said pleasantly. “Your mother has told me a little about your unique situation.”

“I imagine she has,” Rachael responded in an even tone and a controlled expression, which Dinah and her father would have immediately recognized as belonging to the old Glow.

Dr. Brooks didn’t seem bothered by Rachael’s guarded response. Instead, she gave Rachael another friendly smile and said, “In the name of fairness and disclosure, I think I should tell you a little about myself. Like you, I am a mutant. I am a low level exemplar and I have enhanced senses.”

“Enhanced senses? Rachael asked curiously.

Dr. Brooks smiled again, gesturing towards her office door. “If I focus, I can hear the receptionist from two doors down, complaining about a client.” Then Dr. Brooks tapped the side of her nose and added, “And I can smell her perfume.”

“That sounds…useful,” Rachael commented, though she thought that power sounded better for invading other people’s privacy than anything else.

“It can be,” Dr. Brooks agreed before continuing. “Let’s see… I briefly tried my hand at being a superhero, until I realized that I didn’t like being shot at, and decided to help people this way instead.”

Rachael gave Dr. Brooks a curious look, trying to imagine her as a superhero, and wondering what her codename was. However, she just said, “Being a hero is pretty dangerous.”

Rachael absently felt her side where Bombastic had sliced her open, though fortunately, the wound was now completely healed. The Bronze Lady’s husband, who was a magic user called the Gentleman, had used some spells to heal all the injuries caused by their encounter with Sinsear and his people. Even Rachael’s dad, who’d been in pretty rough condition, had quickly made a full recovery.

Dr. Brooks said a little more about herself, mostly about where she received her degree and what her professional qualifications where, then she gently asked, “What about you? Can you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Everything?” Glow asked, becoming a little defensive.

However, Dr. Brooks gave her a gentle smile and replied, “Only what you’re comfortable with.”

Rachael hesitated a moment, then slowly started, knowing that Dr. Brooks probably already had a good sized file on her. She started telling Dr. Brooks about being kidnapped as a little boy, which didn’t seem to surprise the woman in the least, though Rachael kept it very vague. Dr. Brooks listened intently, making it perfectly clear that she was giving Rachael her full and undivided attention. That made it easier for Rachael to continue talking.

Though Rachael couldn’t bring herself to give any details about her time with Sinsear, or about any of her real problems, she found it much easier to talk about her current situation. She was quite happy to tell Dr. Brooks about her involvement in the rescue attempt, though she did gloss over how she’d killed both Ironworks and Sinsear. Somehow, she didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell the shrink, how happy she was to have killed a man, even one like the monster.

“Because of all this,” Rachael complained, happy to get past all the awkward conversation bits, “We had to move to another town. I mean, it would be really weird trying to explain why James disappeared and I showed up instead.”

“I can imagine,” Dr. Brooks responded, giving Rachael a nod to continue.

“And because of this,” Rachael added as she reached up to touch her glowing blue hair, “I can’t even go to a normal school anymore. My parents are trying to find some tutors so I can be homeschooled…”

Rachael let out an exasperated sigh, not wanting to admit it, but she was actually going to miss school. As James, she’d never done very well in school, not with her tendency to freeze up under pressure. That had made her the target of bullies and mockery, though as Glow, she’d done her best to deal with that. What she was really going to miss, was being able to talk with Mel between classes…and sometimes in the middle of them. On the plus side, a couple of the tutors being lined up sounded like they might be interesting.

“Apparently,” Rachael continued, feeling a little self-conscious. “The Bronze Lady offered to tutor me in math and science, and her husband, the Gentleman, said he could help with English and history.”

“That sounds quite interesting,” Dr. Brooks said with an amused look. “Not everyone can be tutored by superheroes…”

“I guess not,” Rachael responded with a shrug, then reluctantly admitted, “But Mom said she’s also getting me a tutor for my powers.”

Rachael scowled at that, feeling offended that her mom actually thought she needed someone else to teach her how to use her own powers. It wasn’t like she’d just gained her powers either. She’d had them for three years, and had spent a lot of time learning how to control them. However, after that fight last week, her mom had firmly insisted that she get some real training, whether she wanted it or not.

“I already know how to use my powers just fine,” Glow grumbled.

Dr. Brooks nodded at that, giving Glow a sympathetic look. “I can understand how that might be frustrating for you.” Then, she looked at the clock and said, “Well, I’m afraid that we’re out of time for today. The next time you come in, perhaps we can talk about this tutor.”

“Um…thank you for listening,” Rachael self-consciously told Dr. Brooks.

To Rachael’s surprise, she actually felt a little better after talking about some of those things, and almost in spite of herself, she was actually looking forward to coming back. It was nice, just being able to talk to someone who really listened to her, and who didn’t seem to be judging. Rachael left Dr. Brooks’ office with a faint smile, and made her way down to the lobby.

Rachael’s mom was waiting for her in the lobby, sitting down with a book in her hands. She looked up at Rachael’s return and smiled, then carefully put her book away before standing up. Rachael gave her a self-conscious smile, then realized that Dinah and their dad were missing. Though she had to come to Chicago for her appointment with Dr. Brooks, and her mom had been providing transportation, her dad and sister had tagged along, mostly so they could do a little sightseeing around Chicago.

“Dinah and your father went for a walk,” Rachael’s mom told her. “We’ll meet up and have dinner together.”

“Okay,” Rachael responded, running her hands through her hair and nervously wondering how well the restaurant liked mutants. After all, unlike her mom, even when she wasn’t using her powers, it was still quite obvious that she was a mutant. Normal people just didn’t have glowing hair or eyes.

Then Rachael suddenly noticed something and stared at her mother in surprise. Her mother didn’t look quite as tall and imposing as normal. In fact, if it wasn’t for her mom’s heels, they’d be the same height.

“You’re…short,” Rachael blurted out in surprise.

Her mom blushed, looking self-conscious and a bit awkward. “Your sister dared me to stay at my base height for twenty-four hours.”

Rachael just stared at her mom for a moment, still a bit stunned since she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mom this short. She NEVER went below six feet tall, even when trying to pass as a normal person. It wasn’t until then, that Rachael realized just how uncomfortable and nervous her mom actually looked, which said something about why she’d agreed to Dinah’s dare. Rachael was certain that her mom wouldn’t have shrunk like that for just anyone.

For most of Rachael’s life, in both of her previous incarnations, she’d been dealing with the severe mental and emotional damage that had been left from her time with Sinsear. However, it wasn’t until that very moment, that she truly realized she wasn’t the only one who Sinsear had left with emotional scars.

“That height looks good on you,” Rachael gently told her mom, right before grabbing her into a tight hug. Her eyes began to tear up a little as she thought about how good it felt to actually have a mom present too hug.

“Thank you,” her mom responded with her own teary eyes. Then, once they’d both regained their composure, she gave Rachael a gentle smile and suggested, “Let’s go meet up with John and your sister. Your father made reservations at a very nice restaurant, and I’m getting a bit hungry.”

“I know,” Rachael responded with a faint smirk. “You have a ginormous appetite.”

--------------------

Milwaukee Wisconsin. Tuesday afternoon, Aug 28th, 2007

Sarah Coleman stepped through the doors of the Flying Stag, a brewery and restaurant that was known in certain circles as being welcoming to mutants. Several steps behind her, Eliza Morgan followed, pausing to look at what appeared to be an antique pocket watch.

“The area is clear,” Eliza stated a moment later. “We should be able to speak freely.”

“Thank you,” Sarah responded with a nod.

The last time they’d come to the Flying Stag, three of the tables had been bugged with listening devices. Later on, she’d learned that some gadgeteer had bribed one of the waiters to plant them, hoping to get blackmail material from some of the customers. Of course, the restaurant’s owner had NOT been happy about that and had taken steps to ensure it didn’t happen again, though it always paid to be careful.

“We’re a little early for our meeting,” Sarah commented, gesturing to a table in the corner. “Let’s get some drinks while we wait.”

“A very good idea,” Eliza agreed with a smile.

A minute later, they were sitting at the table, sipping their drinks and glancing at the door. Sarah let out a sigh and shook her head, hoping that this worked.

“You’re worried about your daughter,” Eliza observed, taking a sip of her Guinness.

“Both of them,” Sarah admitted with a shake of her head. She was silent for several long seconds, then continued, “Dinah is easy to understand. She’s angry at me…resents me for being gone for her entire life.”

“You’ve been doing important work,” Eliza said carefully.

“I was running away from my family,” Sarah responded quietly. “Dinah is a fourteen year old girl, and she doesn’t care that I was saving other people’s lives. All she cares about is that I wasn’t there for her.”

Eliza nodded sympathetically. “This hasn’t been easy for her, but I know she’s happy that you’ve been around.”

“But she doesn’t trust it,” Sarah pointed out with a sigh. “And she doesn’t trust me. If I want to earn her trust, I’m going to have to work for it.” She hesitated a moment before adding, “Rescuing her friend and her father was a big step.”

“Is that why you’re still at your real height?” Eliza asked curiously. “I’ve never seen you stay at this size for very long.”

Sarah looked down at herself, feeling self-conscious and a bit vulnerable. “I feel a bit like a midget,” she admitted. “But Dinah dared me to stay at my base height for a full day, and time isn’t up quite yet.”

“So, you’re humoring her,” Eliza commented with an amused smile. “Well done.”

“Dinah is easy to understand,” Sarah repeated. “Earning her trust won’t be easy, but at least I can understand her. Rachael… Rachael is a lot more complicated.”

Eliza smiled wryly. “That is an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”

Sarah chuckled at that. “I…I’m not sure what to do with her.”

Eliza took a sip of her drink, then offered, “There is a school for young mutants like her…”

“Whateley,” Sarah said with a faint smile. “I’ve heard some good things about that place, but it isn’t an option.” At Eliza’s curious look, she explained. “For one thing, Rachael is a little too old to start there. If I’d known James was a mutant when he’d first manifested, then maybe…”

“But now you think it’s too late,” Eliza said with a nod of understanding. “But you just said ‘for one thing’, which suggests you have other reasons.”

“I’ve just started to reconnect with my children,” Sarah admitted, “so there is no way that I’d send one of them away just when I was getting to know her, even if I could get her father to agree. I’ve spent too much time away from them as it is.”

Eliza took a drink of her beer before responding. “I see.”

“Saturday,” Sarah abruptly said, “I took Rachael to the DPA for power testing, and to get her MID. As we already knew, she’s a warper and energizer, with her energizer abilities tied directly to her warping.”

“I knew you were taking her,” Eliza said, giving Sarah a curious look. “But this is the first time you’ve spoken of the results. What of her shifter abilities?”

Sarah hesitated for a moment, then answered, “She didn’t show any sign of them during the testing.” She shook her head. “John and Dinah said that the only time they’ve seen that power, was when they changed back and forth between James and Glow, and Glow’s form is obviously based off her own self-image. She hasn’t changed since her integration, and during her power testing, she couldn’t change again.”

“She lost her power?” Eliza asked in surprise. “How is that even possible?”

“Caroline thinks it’s purely psychosomatic,” Sarah said, letting out a long sigh. “From Rachael’s perspective, James had always been weak and helpless, while Glow had been the one who was strong…who could fight and take care of herself. Caroline thinks that this is why the integrated personality has Glow’s form instead of James’, and she’s pretty sure that Rachael has subconsciously locked herself into that form.”

“That…makes sense,” Eliza responded with a thoughtful look. “She’s avoiding the form that makes her feel weak and helpless.” She gave Sarah a knowing look.

Sarah scowled, recognizing the similarities to her own situation. For years, she’d avoided her original size as it made her feel weak and vulnerable, while Rachael seemed to be subconsciously avoiding her original form for the same reason.

“I…I talked to Caroline about Rachael’s session yesterday,” Sarah said. “Of course, she didn’t tell me any details of what they talked about, but she did say that Rachael isn’t concerned about her gender change, and acts as though it is no big deal.” She gave a wry smile as she added, “Caroline thinks that Rachael may be in denial.”

Eliza nodded at that. “That shouldn’t be surprising. Rachael has…many issues. I know that she’s made quite significant progress on her own, but…”

“She won’t go through it on her own,” Sarah stated firmly. “I won’t abandon her to deal with it by herself. Not again.”

Eliza looked at her pocket watch, then glanced to the door again. “It seems our appointment has arrived.”

Sarah turned and saw the young Asian woman who’d entered the Flying Stag. The newcomer looked around, so Sarah held out her hand to get the other woman’s attention. With a faint nod, the woman started coming straight at them.

“Hello,” the Asian woman greeted them pleasantly. “I’m Twist.”

“I am the Bronze Lady,” Eliza responded and gestured to Sarah. “And this is Ginormous.”

Twist gave Ginormous a curious look, then admitted, “With a name like yours, I was expecting someone taller.”

“I usually am,” Sarah responded with a wry smile. “But today, I’m keeping a low profile.”

Eliza gestured for a waiter to come over, then told Twist, “Order a drink, and we can begin.”

“I’m afraid that I’m still underage,” Twist admitted with a shrug. “I’ll have to make due with a soda.”

Once Twist had ordered her drink, Sarah shifted gears and got down to business. “I asked you here for this interview, because I am taking a leave of absence from the Liberty League, and I would like to nominate you as my replacement.”

“What?” Twist asked in surprise.

“You are one of three people who recently applied to join the Liberty League,” Eliza explained. “One is a girl named Wraith, who just graduated from Whateley Academy, and one is an experienced solo hero named Powerfist. Ginormous thought that you might be the best match for the team, and I agree.”

“Um…thank you,” Twist responded. “I know that I don’t have much experience, at least not compared to someone like Powerfist, so I’m a little surprised.”

“Powerfist is moderately powerful,” Sarah agreed. “And he does have years of experience, but he has his own way of doing things.”

“He also has a poor record of working with others,” Eliza added with a faint smile.

Sarah smiled faintly at that understatement. “In your application, you said that you graduated from Whateley two years ago, and have been going to college since…”

“At the University of Wisconsin,” Twist agreed. “After two years, I decided that it wasn’t for me. I want to use my powers to make a difference.”

“I understand that completely,” Sarah told her in an approving tone. “You don’t have much experience, but you do have a character reference from Cornflower of the Sioux Falls League.”

Twist smiled at that. “We went to school together, and even lived in the same dorm.”

Sarah nodded at that and watched Twist closely for a few seconds before saying, “Admittedly, your powers were the deciding factor. Your mobility and offensive abilities on the battlefield could be quite useful for the League. And…I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but they caught my attention on a more personal level.”

Twist gave her a curious look. “What do you mean?”

Sarah hesitated, uncomfortable with talking about such personal issues with someone she’d only just met, but considering what she was about to ask, Twist would have to know. “I recently discovered that my son…daughter is a mutant, and…”

“Wait a moment,” Twist interrupted, giving Sarah a sharp look. “Aren’t you sure of the kid’s gender?”

Sarah winced at that, then quietly admitted, “He…she changed gender as part of her mutation. It’s…complicated.”

Instead of being shocked or horrified by that, Twist suddenly looked even more interested. “So, she’s a changeling?” At Sarah’s confused look, she quickly continued, “I’m…I was friends with several changelings back at Whateley. That kind of thing isn’t unheard of.”

“Thank you,” Sarah responded, relieved that Twist was taking the information so well. It made the rest of this easier. “Well, like you, she is an energizer and a short range teleporter. When I saw the video you sent us with your application, I was surprised, because your fighting style is also similar to my daughter’s.”

“Really?” Twist asked, giving Sarah a thoughtful look. “Why do I have the feeling that you aren’t just telling me this, just because?”

“It seems that you have good instincts,” Eliza commented.

Sarah bowed her head in acknowledgment. “I took these similarities as a good omen,” Sarah admitted. “And perhaps, as a sign that this was meant to be. You see, I’m not only interested in you as a prospective new member for the League, but I was also hoping that you might be interested in helping my daughter with her powers.” Then, to make sure that Twist didn’t get the wrong idea, she quickly added, “Of course, your membership nomination is not at all contingent on this. If you aren’t comfortable with this, it isn’t a problem.”

“I’d be happy to work with her,” Twist said, her eyes gleaming with interest. “A changeling and a teleporter… I look forward to meeting her.”

“Thank you,” Sarah told her, smiling in relief. “We still have to introduce you to the rest of the team, and take care of a few more formalities, but as far as I’m concerned…welcome to the Liberty League.”

“Quite right,” Eliza agreed proudly. “I look forward to working with you.”

Sarah gave Twist a welcoming smile, then let out a sigh of relief, thankful that this had gone so well. In fact, her interview with Twist had gone even better than she’d hoped, and she was suddenly certain that she’d made the right choice in picking her. For some reason, she was sure that Twist was the perfect choice to help train Rachael.

As Sarah thought about Rachael, she felt a little worried for her daughter. Rachael’s life had not been an easy one so far, and she’d survived things that would break most adults. And though Sarah desperately hoped that Rachael’s troubles were over, she knew better.

Rachael had a history of getting involved in dangerous situations, and Sarah was certain that this wasn’t going to change, especially since her glowing eyes and hair marked her as an obvious mutant. Sarah knew that her daughter would never be able to live a safe and simple life, and there was no way that she could protect her from everything that was to come, no matter how hard she tried. However, Sarah could prepare her…could make sure that she had the training and tools she needed to face those challenges. This time, Sarah would not fail her.

The End