I was going to kill my idiot boyfriend.
Okay, maybe not. I hadn't decided yet. I could have ignored the phone buzzing—the clock read 2:50 AM—but I had to know if it was him texting.
His survival was in serious doubt. He knew my plans for tomorrow night already. Packing. At least the messages weren’t from Riverside’s greatest—and only—supervillain, though.
I groaned, silenced his number, and rolled over. The cool night breeze off the river blew in, filling the room with the smell of freshly-watered grass and early autumn flowers. I shut the window. Curling into a ball, I tried to set aside the threatening text. Maybe I could ignore it all. Maybe this time, he wouldn’t follow through on his threat. Maybe I wouldn’t have to suit up and stop him. My eyes drifted closed.
My phone buzzed again. I glared, grabbed it, and jammed my finger against the unlock buttons.
Or maybe not.
[Casting Call]
[Episode: Professor Panic’s Payout Plan! - PG]
[Role: Teen Heroine! Do you accept the role? (Yes/No)]
[Role Focus: Drama > Flamboyance]
I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed quietly into my pillow. The idiot had started an Episode? Of course he’d pull something like this tonight! I hugged my plushie cat, wishing I could just sleep.
Then I pulled myself out of bed and felt my way to the light switch. It wasn’t fair. I didn’t want to answer the [Casting Call]. I wanted to sleep. But I was the only hero in Riverside—aside from my sidekick Collidus, and the kid needed his sleep more than I did. I flicked on the light.
I’d been in other girls’ rooms throughout high school but never invited anyone over to mine. Except Peter. He understood. It was frozen in time–the perfect early-middle-schooler’s room. Pink bedding covered my twin bed, and the frame around my mirror was a bright purple. Posters of superheroines—all signed and old and yellowed from Mom’s secondhand smoke—adorned the walls. A framed picture of my high school play’s cast sat on the nightstand. And on my pillow lay a white cat plushie with pink-and-blue star-button eyes and two limp cloth tails.
I didn’t want to do this. I needed my sleep before the big move. But someone had to stop Professor Panic and his Panic Pals, and the police couldn’t compete with the young mad scientist’s inventions. Or, if I was being honest, his sense of presentation. Of Cunning, Drama, and Flamboyance, which the System wanted so badly. Neither could I.
At least, not in my pink footie pajamas!
“Wake up, Tails,” I said, pointing at the plushie and accepting the [Casting Call]. “There’s a new episode at the bank, and Peter needs our help. We have to go now.” If I hurried, I could stop him before he did something really stupid.
[Professor Panic’s Payoff Plan: Act One in Progress]
A pink, star-shaped spark slipped from my finger and touched the cat plushie’s head as I pointed. Its star eyes glowed and started spinning, and it stretched just like a real cat.
“I know, Tails. We don’t have time,” I grumbled. Quietly. Then I grabbed the cat plushie and held it over my head.
“I swear on my family, who I love very much, that I’ll stand up against Professor Panther, his minions, and evil all over Riverside! I’ll fight for justice, peace, and hope! And I’ll never stop ‘til evil does first!” I never, ever called Peter Professor Panic during an Episode. Nicknames were too much fun!
I’d made my oath up when I was thirteen, and it was suited for the little leagues. But I was eighteen now, and super-cringy, and I didn’t want to be a little leaguer anymore. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried not to be too embarrassed for myself. At least no one could see what came next. My [Transformation Sequence]. Even though they might hear it…
Choral music swelled, and I winced against the sudden noise and lights. It was way too loud—it was going to wake someone up—but I was committed now. Pink and cerulean lights flashed across me as I spun, my stuffed cat struggling in my hands. It leaped free and landed on the bed. My foot traced a wide circle onto the shag carpet as I pirouetted. My body glowed brighter and brighter, and I lifted off the ground. White thigh-high tights sprang up my legs, and matching gloves covered my hands and forearms.
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Then the dress replaced what pajamas remained.
Poofy off-shoulder sleeves. A pink bow with a sapphire in the middle across my chest, with a little black loop around my neck. Two pink stripes running down the front. Then the skirts and petticoats—blue, white, and fuschia layers, patterned with white laughing and crying mask buttons. Why did this always take so long? I had things to do!
Pink ribbons tied themselves into my hair as a golden-white wand with a brilliant pink gem at its tip slapped into my left hand. Pink and blue stars jumped from finger to finger on my right hand before fading away. The song and dance were finally ending.
My boots touched down on the carpet. When I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror, my pupils had gone star-shaped, and my hair was strawberry blonde. A fuschia-and-white domino mask sealed itself above my nose, completing the Costume. The music cut off, the flashing lights stopped, and everything quieted.
Except for my mom’s sleepy-sounding mumbles! “Annie…Annie, what was that?”
I froze. My heart pounded, and I swallowed nervously. If my mom walked in right now, it’d be a disaster! “Oh, [Beep],” I whispered.
[Rating Warning #1! Episode Rating - PG! Censor in Effect]
Whoops!
“Don’t fear Magical Girl Understudy is here I swear to defend the weak against evil and uphold truth and love,” I whispered in a long, breathless string of words. Who’d made this oath, anyways? Oh, right. Younger Annie. “I’m fine, Mom. I couldn’t sleep, so I got on my tablet to watch a video or two. Go back to bed!”
Mom didn’t say anything. I didn’t mind. I needed a moment to think.
I could untransform, but that’d take time. If I wanted to stop Peter before he did something terrible, I didn’t have time for two more [Transformation Sequences]! Not to mention finding a place to do them discreetly.
Or…
It’d be faster, for sure. And I’d be on my way to stopping Professor Panic.
I made my choice—the window it was. I popped it open and coughed. Wisps of smoke rolled into the room and through the gap under the door.
Then I quickly pulled the screen off my bedroom window and stuck a leg through. I listened as Mom staggered down the hall, hacked a smoker’s cough, and knocked on my door.
“Annie, why does it smell like smoke in here? Are you smoking!? Come out here and talk to me!”
“We’ll talk in the morning, Mom. I’m tired,” I yawned, threw my other leg over the window frame, and dropped onto the dirt. Dusting off my dress, I picked myself up. Then I ran, weaving through her trailer park’s twisting streets and sprinting toward the cottonwoods along the Winter River’s banks.
If Mom went back to bed, everything would be fine. Probably. And if not, I’d get in trouble for sneaking out two days before I left for college. What was the worst that could happen? Grounding? Keeping me home from the mayor’s speech? Taking away my phone? Peter could still talk to me without it. The phone just made things easier—except when he texted me at one in the morning, the jerk!
I had more important things to worry about anyways. I scratched Tails’ neck, receiving an overly-loud purr as I caught my breath. The smokey smell filled my nostrils and stung my eyes. Whatever Professor Panic had planned, it probably had something to do with the fire. Which meant I needed to go faster.
“[Starwave Sail],” I shouted, spinning into the air. A translucent pastel sailboard shimmered under my feet, catching me before I could hit the ground and rocketing forward on a glowing pink and blue light trail. The sailboard raced along the river’s bank toward a bright orange light downtown, sail flapping in the wind next to me. I leaned back, pushing the board’s nose up, and windsurfed into the sky over Riverside. Tails sprinted along, her plushie body extending and compressing as her legs churned at the sky.
The first chrome camera drone met me mid-air, humming along behind me. A moment later, a pack of blue-steel Panic Pal robots zipped by, playing the villain’s stupid theme song as they gnashed their metal teeth and spun in the air. I turned to follow them toward the bank, my glowing trail lighting up the sky over Riverside with proof I was on my way!
[Showoff! +1 Flamboyance Point Pending]
The little message in my peripheral vision got me thinking. Was I close to a Flamboyance skill roll? I’d finally filled out all six skills, so now I could roll an upgrade to one of my skills, a useful new skill for my build, or something that just…sat in [Skill Storage] until the end of time. Flamboyance was also special because it was my [Signature Skill’s] style. I pulled up my Flamboyance Style point total.
►Flamboyance (lvl 2; 45)
I was! Maybe I’d roll something that’d finally let me use my [Signature Skill]. I’d been sitting on [Adaptive Armoire] for a long time, but either Tails didn’t know how it worked, or the stuffed animal wouldn’t say. It didn’t matter. If I played the Teen Heroine role right, I’d have a new skill to roll by the Episode’s end. Maybe even by the time Act One closed—especially if I could force an early end by stopping Peter.
Could I force a Short, or would the System demand a full Episode? I’d never tried it before.
I closed my point total and returned to tracking the Panic Pal bots toward Carver Street.
My hometown sprawled below me. The town’s brick-and-wood main street ran straight beneath me, its restaurants and shops closed for the night. I recognized the pizza place that Peter had taken me to before prom. I’d paid. He hadn’t paid for a date since I realized who he really was. And where his money came from. A few seconds later, Riverside High’s gravel track zipped by. I’d never competed past sixth grade. It wouldn’t have been fair.
I only had eyes, though, for two sights.
First, the bank. It was surrounded by fire trucks, police cruisers, and a crowd of bystanders—Extras in the Episode, though they didn’t know it yet. As I watched, the firefighters on a hose hustled away from the front door. A moment later, the faux-stone pillars collapsed, along with the roof, blocking it.
The sailboard angled for the ground, disappearing as it touched down. I ran, sprinting to bleed off momentum, and skidded to a halt on the asphalt.
[Showoff! +1 Flamboyance Point Pending]
A firefighter ran up to me, screaming. “The bots grabbed people! They’re still inside!
A small part of me nodded and said my line the way I knew the audience wanted it. “Don’t fear; Magical Girl Understudy is here! I’ll get them out. Just keep fighting it!”
[Intense Line! +1 Drama Point Pending]
But the rest of my mind focused on the words I’d seen while flying in.
The message Peter had scorched into the grass outside the bank. The message for me.
One last time for old times’ sake?