Kenny sank into the infirmary bed. Half of his face was covered in bandages. Aaliyah had put all her energy into the star-cross so his injuries had to be treated the scientific way. It hurt too much to move, so he lay there, stared at the ceiling fan, and got lost in his thoughts.

Was he telling the truth about what happened? Time dilation? Did Todd get a revelation like that? Did Hannah and Aaliyah? Is that what he does with all the mutants? What about that ceremony he mentioned? Is he gonna get other people’s powers? That might be a pain, but it didn’t seem like it was strong for now. But if he can train others then he can probably train himself. Not like there was any way to beat him regardless. This final boss is imba af. I want to say life is unfair but I’m the one born with time powers apparently. Man, this sucks.

Thunderous footsteps could be heard from the hall before the door was opened. The cubicle curtain was yanked to the side by Hannah who had a smoothie in the other hand.

“Oh, they gave you my bed,” Hannah grabbed a seat.

“I could tell when I sank in.”

“Did you just call me fat?” asked Hannah before taking a big, loud, swig of the smoothie and then smacked her lips even louder.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier. It must be hard for you too, to fight someone that’s like a brother.”

“Nah, we used to fight all the time, this isn’t a big deal,” she went back to her smoothie.

“I’m serious. I was worried about how you were feeling…” Kenny’s words were drowned out as Hannah slurped louder than he could speak. The smoothie spilled out over her lip and dribbled down her chin even as she sucked air. She set the smoothie down on her knee.

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“I’m not sure. When you talked about fighting villains before, I said that I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt in the first place. Yet, it does feel exciting to use my powers, even when I do get hurt. Ty… Tejieue seems unstoppable but it's because it's him that I want to win. I don’t know how to put it all together. But enough about me, I was surprised WhiteOut let you talk and train with him. I feel like she thinks me and Aaliyah are compromised as is.”

“She said it was fine because I wanted to be a hero for social gratification so there was no risk. That is what made me the safe pick to begin with.”

“She really has the gall to say things like that when she’s the one who traded people like a draft, huh.”

“No, she was just speaking facts. I wanted to be a hero to be popular and have fun. I didn’t have any real reason. Because of that, I,” the pool of blood flashed in Kenny’s mind and he reflexively cusped his mouth, “I killed those people for nothing.” Hannah lept to his side, her empty cup fell to the ground, lid and straw sent across the tiles.

“It’s not your fault!” Hannah took Kenny’s hand, “You shouldn’t have been there to begin with!”

“I know. Max wanted me to leave. I was the one who came back.”

Kenny slumped in his bed. Hannah did not know what to say or do but when she tried to move her hand, Kenny did not let her go.

“Y’know,” started Kenny, “I thought of what Max said. He said the worst part was not knowing when it ends. I didn’t get it then. But when we heard about what Tyler’s mom said, and what he was saying about his friends, I thought of Max. And a part of me felt bad for him. Is that weird?” asked Kenny. Hannah held up his hand with recharged enthusiasm.

“That’s great! You understand and care about others even when they hurt you. That’s the kind of quality a hero has!”

Kenny managed a faint smiley that was punctured by that stabbing sensation in his ribs. He released his grasp on Hannah to hold his side.

“I’ll… leave you to get some rest. I’m sure Aaliyah will get to you as soon as she can.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” grunted Kenny.