Hannah invited Kenny, Garrick, and Max to volunteer at Mrs. Fran’s food pantry. Mrs. Fran put out a request for volunteers because the usuals were unavailable. To Kenny’s surprise, Garrick agreed; usually, it was the badges that got sent to do this kind of stuff. Especially with the whole Immortal thing, he thought that everyone would be too busy for something so low-level.
Kenny and Hannah were waiting in the back alley outside the pantry’s steel doors while Garrick and Max drove the vans full of food with Mrs. Fran. Mrs. Fran got some of the food from friends and donations and had to buy the rest and rent a van with her own money, but with Garrick, expenses weren’t even an afterthought. Having real superheroes around also comforted her, Fran had said, as they never had security to rely on before.
A place that has both Fatman and GalvanGal as protectors would be either the most safe or the most lethal place on the planet; a part of Kenny wanted to see what the latter would look like.
The convoy arrived. Drones perched onto the rooftop parapets like gargoyles. When the van doors opened, the cardboard boxes within threatened to burst forth. Mrs. and Mr. Fran came out of her van and unlocked the pantry’s door.
Inside were rows of empty shelving units, and refrigerators. Max waved at Hannah and she waved back. There was no way everything in the vans would fit the shelves; instead, the leftovers would be used to restock the shelves at the end of the day to keep them full for once.
For now, Mrs. Fran would set up her makeshift desk—a plastic slab set on empty crates stacked up in front of two high chairs—on the asphalt to check people in and out while the rest put up the food as labeled: grain, seasonings, commercial drinks, cans, and snacks go on the shelves; milk, water, cheese, eggs, yogurt, meat, produce, and anything else that requires refrigeration obviously goes in the refrigerators.
Hannah’s strength and magne- Sparking Shimmy allowed her to move many boxes and stock multiple shelves at the same time with her mind and muscles. Kenny’s superspeed, in short bursts, allowed him to keep up with her pace.
A line of people built up before they were finished stocking. They talked to Hannah, Hannah, and also Hannah. A lot of people weren’t even clients of the pantry, they just came to see Hannah. It probably helped that she had on her GalvanGal costume for the occasion, unlike everyone else who dressed casually. To say that she stole everyone else’s thunder would imply that there was any left for the goddess of thunder to steal.
Kenny would have been in the crowd if he was not part of the pantheon now. He felt a little pathetic imagining it. Part of a faceless mass fawning over someone they barely knew. Then he felt a little ridiculous for that thought. If everyone’s having fun then it probably doesn’t matter much.
The fan crowd whittled down as people got their autographs and the ones that tried to stay were dispersed by the drone sirens so that Hannah could get back to work.
That just left the actual clients, who were different from what Kenny had thought. He had expected people looking for handouts of food in a back alley to be the scruffy, drug-addled, homeless bums he held an image of in his head his whole life.
But these were college students, construction workers, old people coming from hospitals and retirement homes, people he didn’t imagine to be desperately in need. Again, he felt ridiculous about that thought; has he really been that sheltered?
Mrs. Fran started signing in the clients with color-coded bags assigned to them. The color of the bags represented the category of food they were allowed to carry based on the client's needs. The volunteers would distribute a set amount of items as the client was not allowed to touch the items before they went into the bag. It was pretty simple if a bit tedious. This did not seem like a job for heroes yet here they were. Of course, Hannah continued to have the advantage in how she socialized with the clients along with her ability to easily reach the top shelf.
Whatever made Mrs. Fran wish that she had security didn’t have the gall to appear today. That deterrence is what made this the safest place to be. Now, the person who would be undeterred by the strongest heroes in the world would be the person who makes anywhere they are the most dangerous place to be. If that person exists, Kenny knew for sure he wanted to see that fight.
While the line went by swiftly enough, the last person was coming late. Garrick tried to move a heavy bag of rice by himself, but an imperceptible tear on the bottom suddenly ripped open when he did. Mr. Fran had just got out the broom and dustpans when the latecomer arrived. She was an old asian woman who spoke a language that no one understood. Max and Garrick looked to Kenny then turned away like they didn’t just do that. Wow guys.
Mrs. Fran said that Mrs. Morallo usually had either her son with her to translate. The Frans played charades with Mrs. Morallo to figure out what she wanted, Max and Garrick cleaned up the rice, and a lightning bolt struck Hannah’s head. She took out her phone to text someone. After a moment where she tapped her foot on the pavement, she rocketed up, up, and away.
She came back a few minutes later with some large guy in her arms, carried in the same bridal position she always used. The guy was able to communicate with Mrs. Morallo perfectly and filled her bags. Hannah said his name was Tyler Deimos. After he escorted Mrs. Morallo to her car and filled her trunk for her, Tyler came back to the pantry to have a little chat with the people who disturbed him.
“What exactly are you doing here, Hippo? This is a waste of your time. On top of that, why didn’t you have someone here that could accommodate filipino speakers if you knew one was a client?” he asked Hannah, who was pushed on the back foot. She stammered her words and even seemed to tremble a bit, like she was about to cry. Kenny never fathomed that he would see GalvanGal get like that, especially just from a conversation. Hippo? Thought Kenny. Max was the one to step in for her.
“Helping people is never a waste of time. There is nothing beneath a hero’s notice. That’s exactly what you wanted us here, right Hannah?” said Max. She nodded in agreement. They dodged the second question, but he seemed to accept that answer with a sigh and turned away. That was when Hannah snagged the bottom of his shirt, her grip as sure as an anchor to stop him from leaving.
“What are you doing, do you want to die?” Tyler said without looking back.
“It’s been five years, bro, a lot's happened, you don’t even pick up my calls,” said Hannah.
“I picked up this one, and I already regret it.”
“Come on, stay with us and help out. We should hang out more anyways.”
After the crowd worshipped the air she floated in, it was surreal to see Hannah get talked to like this. The only other person who got like this with her was Garrick.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Fine,” he answered. He walked to the vans as she squealed and skipped in glee alongside him. Now she acted like a fan towards him. Who is this guy?
A friend of mine taught me that the best way to get rid of nerves is to jump into the deep end Kenny remembered. No, there’s no way that’s it, right?
Kenny went back into the pantry just when Garrick and Max finished their clean-up of the rice. Max carried out the trash bags while Kenny went through the inside door to bring the brooms and dustpans to the closet in the front of the building. The Frans were in the front of the building to fill out their report. When Kenny came back, everyone else was already at work filling the stock in each section.
From this view, Kenny noticed something that the others were too busy to see: while each was at their own shelf or fridge, Tyler subtly fixed the other stations by redistributing weight, pulling old products to the front, and moving miscategorized items. Kenny had noticed some of that stuff, but assumed it was fine since Mr. Fran did not correct them; perhaps, he was not comfortable enough to tell Pantheon members they did something wrong.
“So, Hannah, this is the same guy you and Aaliyah know. You must be pretty close,” said Garrick when he saw his shelf get adjusted. This guy knows Aaliyah?
“Oh yeah! We have been BFFs since forever. Was it that obvious?”
“You went to him for help first and you seem to be used to his… manners.”
“Yeah, I always look for him when I need help; whenever there's a hard problem, I just think about what he would do. If I can’t do that, I just get him to do it,” she was proud to admit.
“Hannah, is he the friend you mentioned before? The one about throwing to the deep end?” asked Kenny.
“Yeah, he is! My dad tried to keep me homeschooled and we both were just kinda hoping the problem went away but he gave me the push I needed to control my mutation,” she was proud to admit. Tyler let out a loud sigh and rubbed his temples. Max and Garrick eyed each other to make sure they just heard that.
“Hannah I don’t think you were supposed to say… all that,” said Kenny.
“Why not?” she asked innocently. A lightning bolt struck Hannah’s head and her cheeks reddened, “Oh my gosh, I had a lot running through my head it just slipped out!”
Kenny regretted that question. This is the guy who taught Hannah how to use her powers?
“So, uh, Tyler,” started Garrick as he was inspecting a bag of rice.
“No.”
“You have valuable knowledge and experience that would catapult our understanding of mutations. Your answers could save countless lives.”
“Not in your hands.”
“Excuse me?”
“Here’s a question for you: is turning dads into terrorists an expense or an externality?” Tyler said. Huh? What’s that about? Thought Kenny.
“I can take you in right now if you want. Army of drones, right outside.”
“And you are inside.” He stated as he looked down at Garrick.
Max took his place at Garrick’s side with his arms folded. Hannah pulled on Tyler’s cheek and told him that she was the one he should be mad at so he should hit her instead.
The stand-off between them persisted for only a moment before it was disrupted by the return of Mrs. Fran who thanked them for coming here today. Hannah detached to shake her hand and thank her for having them. Only then did Fran realize that there was some kind of confrontation and promptly scurried back inside. Nonetheless, with most of the tension diffused, everyone returned to their stations though the work was pretty much done.
“Hannah, dear, could you tell us more about the ‘push’ he gave you? I swear I won’t get mad.” said Garrick. Hannah shifted nervously between Garrick and Tyler. “You’re supposed to be Kenny’s teacher, hearing about your own master may be good for him.”
Kenny did not appreciate being brought back into the conversation.
“Well, it was a long time ago, but I remember that it was pretty simple,” said Hannah, “I was focused on holding back my power but he got me to use it up all at once. In the moment, it was like I had nothing to worry about anymore.”
“Okay. How did he do that exactly?” asked Garrick. Hannah put her hand on her chin, then both hands on the sides of her head to brainstorm the memory back. Then she snapped her fingers.
“Oh yeah! He punched my dad in the gut but Aaliyah had him in a bubble so in the heat of the moment I threw out my first Amethyst Promenade by accident. He threw my dad out of the way before it he got hit,” she, once again, was proud to admit this. Garrick threw his hands up in the air.
“Wait, he took an Amethyst Promenade from you? Like, directly?” asked Kenny, sidestepping the Aaliyah comment.
“Yeah, I stuck my hand out and the next thing I knew the whole mountainside was torn up. I was worried that I killed him but he had strength to spare. It was pretty scary because he was half skeleton.”
“When was this,” asked Max. When Hannah answered childhood, Max rubbed the bridge of his nose. Max and Garrick went out through the metal doors to huddle together.
“He must be pretty strong then,” tittered Kenny.
“He’s the strongest man in the world! In fact, that gives me a great idea!” said Hannah. Tyler finally snapped his head to her at that last sentence. Kenny had only been with Hannah a short time, but he also recognized that nothing good comes from those eight words. “How about we have an arm-wrestling match between the strongest man and the strongest woman!” proposed Hannah.
This must be her way of dodging the problem at hand. When it was pointed out that they did not have a proper table at hand, she suggest using the makeshift desk instead. Tyler agreed, and the three came outside to the back alley. They placed the high chairs across the length of the crates from each other and took their seats. They clasped their hands together, elbows on the plastic slab. Hannah's excited yet nervous smile was met with a death glare from her opponent. Referee Max Force stood to the side and put his hands over the competitors.
“Before we begin,” started Max, “just to be sure: are you a supervillain?”
“Is the name ‘Max Force’ your punishment for being born?”
Max let go of their hands and started the match. As soon as he did, Tyler kicked the chair out from under Hannah. She plummeted into the asphalt, cracking it. She lay there as he took his time leaving his seat.
“Hey! You cheated!” said Kenny, also desperate to shift attention away from the important topic.
“Why wouldn't I cheat?” Tyler answered, “Listen kid, the best way to always win is to never get into a situation where you can lose. If she chose a better spot, I would have said no. On that note, you should be careful around her, she’s a maneater.”
“Huh!? What are you telling him!?” protested Hannah who shot her head up from the cracked asphalt.
“You see, she acts like a child because she never had a childhood. Unfortunately, that complex also means that she’s attracted to little boys. She might abuse her stardom to groom impressionable fans like you.”
“Hey, someone might hear you and not realize you’re joking.” Hannah pleaded on the verge of tears. Now she was on her knees and tugged at Tyler’s sleeve.
“Let me know if she tries anything. If she does touch you, remember: it’s not your fault.” Tyler stated deadly seriously.
“Um, thank you for your concern?” said Kenny.
Unable to handle the circumstances as they stand, Garrick left to get some cheap drinks. Since they were outside now, the drones surrounded Tyler and Hannah. The lightweight Saber drones seemed obese when side by side with the Stilletos.
Neither type could harm GalvanGal but they were all he had to enforce her detainment. Hannah did not pay any mind to the encirclement. She was excited to tell Tyler all about life in the Pantheon and living in Olympus. It was like a dad listening to his little girl talk about the school day.
Kenny wondered what he would tell Todd when they saw each other again. Because they will see each other again. One day.