=== KARI ===

I didn't want to go toward the light. I didn't. I wasn't ready. Until a voice in my head called out. Damn it, Kari! Help me out here; these things are really fucking strong. I froze for a moment. Chuck? It took a few seconds for him to respond. I ain't the fucking Easter Bunny, girl. Come on. With his resistance, I had enough room to really flex my muscles. And by God, do I have some muscles. I burst from the Grignau's hand and flew out. One of my attempted captor's friends was bothering my good friend Professor Mind, in his bright blue and white costume, who dodged admirably. But what kind of friend would I be if I just let someone attack him? I threw myself off a panel made mid-air and slammed the Grignau into the ground. It hit face first, and the land under it crumpled. I had barely managed to remember to control the shockwave from my hit.

  The Grignau that hit me next showed no such concern. It slammed back to me, and I could hear the impact of the hit shatter glass. I went flying into another building. I passed through and shattered glass and went through walls. I had to stop myself, but I was being jostled so much that it was hard to concentrate. I could hear people screaming and trying to get out of the way. Sometimes, I think I could feel myself hit flesh. But I was going so fast that I went straight through whatever I hit. I . . . I might have killed people there. I closed my eyes and cried out in frustration and in pain. Not from the hit. Well, not just from the impact.

=== FLASHBACK ===

This was much worse than the first time I had accidentally gone through a building. It was on my sixteenth birthday. I had been trapped inside for almost two years and hated it. "I'm bored! Can't we do anything for my birthday?"

  "No, honey. We have to do more tests. And you need to study. You only got a B on your last math test."

  "None of the other kids are taking calculus right now! I'm supposed to go to dances and have fun with my friends. Not be stuck in some stupid lab. On my birthday!"

  "Honey, I know it's not fun, but it's necessary. You know that, right?" My mom asked, putting her arm around me and pulling me into a hug. "We'll get you some cake."

  "I . . . I just want a normal life! I don't care if I can lift a tank!" I screamed. After taking a breath and wiping the tears from my eyes, I continued. "I'll be careful. Can't I go back to school? I miss my friends. I miss Curtis. I miss Missi."

  "No," daddy said sternly. It was the end of a conversation. "You are getting better at controlling your strength, but you're far from perfect. You could really hurt someone. And we don't know that that's the extent of your abilities."

  "We've tested everything you think they can do. I can kind of do little forcefield thingies, but I don't have their super-speed. Or their super-perception. I can't even shield myself with the force fields like they can. I'm just strong. And I'm getting better. Can I go back to school if I get it fully under control?"

  My parents both looked at each other. They were doing that thing that couples that have been together for way too long, because they're so old, where they were talking without talking. My mother stepped forward. "We'll see, sweetie. We need to run more tests."

  I groaned and sat down in the observation chair, shifting uncomfortably. I sat there for what felt like ever. While they poked and prodded me with different tools, most of which they had made special. Since I broke the drill they used to get a blood sample, they have had to devise creative ways to test things. And suddenly, everything was too much. The sound of electricity was humming all around me, in the lights, and the walls and tools. I could hear their heartbeats. I could hear the heartbeats of birds outside. I heard the grinding of gears. When I opened my eyes, they focused on the wall that was forty feet away, and I could see each tiny crenelation, no bigger than a nail mark. I could see every imperfection of their skin. They started shouting. No. They weren't shouting; they were just so loud. It hurt. I closed my eyes and grabbed my ears.

  "Honey? What's wrong? What's going on?"

  "Everything . . . Everything is so loud and bright! It hurts," I managed. I stood from the chair and started jogging, but I tripped and fell over, crashing into a table and sending it flying. I stood up and started again before crashing straight through a wall. I slammed hard into it. Through it. I didn't stop when I got into the darker parking garage, though that was some relief. I actually sped up and crashed straight into one of the pillars holding it up. It cracked, and once again, I didn't. I stood up and looked around; my parents were coming out; their footsteps echoed loudly in the garage. And in my head. I stood up. "S-stay back! You're all so loud!"

  I turned and ran, forgetting about the pillar I had just crashed into, and went straight through it. In a few seconds, I'd run straight off the edge of the garage and was running on the air. And falling. Quickly. I crashed into the ground, leaving a massive crater beneath me. My knees shook. I looked back. I had accidentally jumped two hundred feet. I frowned. They were right. I couldn't be around people. Not yet. But I missed them. I wonder if Curt remembered my birthday. He wouldn't forget. My parents hadn't told me about any recent emails he had sent.

  I started to run again. Not back towards my parents' lab, but to home. I passed cars, and I think I must have broken the sound barrier because before I knew it, I was a few states over. I was in my old neighborhood. I had crashed into a few trees and tripped a few times, which sent me flying, but other than some dirt, I was okay. Nothing could hurt me. But turns were really hard. I managed to stay out of the way of cars, that was hard, and I think I might have caused a few accidents. I hope everyone's okay. I thought, grimacing. I ran, and in the next instant, I was in front of Curt's house. The one with the small cracked steps leading up to the run-down little building. I got there just in time to see Curt burst through the door and slam it. He was still terribly thin; he had grown, but I was still taller than him. He looked at me for an instant; he had the same intense eyes, but he looked angrier. A lot angrier. He wore a scowl. His father came stumbling out of the house.

  "An' where the fuck d'ya think yer going, ya little fucker?"

  "To a place with less drunk morons." I started to step forward when his father lunged at him, but Curt dodged and actually slammed his foot into the side of his father's head. I don't think he could do that before. His father went down, and he hurried off. Curt had always been angry, but nothing like that. It was scary.

  "Curt," I said softly, reaching out. Dirt and rubble were coating my arm. I thought about what I could do to him if I made a mistake. I . . . I have to get control over all of this. He's. . . He's doing fine. He doesn't need me anymore. I'll. . . I'll find him later. I blasted off again, and I was home within an hour or two. This means that I definitely was going at least Mach 1.

=== PRESENT DAY ===

I've found him again. And he wasn't as good as I thought he was. He needs people in his life. So I have to stop this. I have to be in control. After a second of concentration, I brought up a wall of force that stopped me. I charged through the hole I had accidentally created and over to the Grignau. Two of which had grabbed the Prof. and were pulling him apart. He was only resisting by clamping down on himself with his psychokinesis. I slammed a kick into one of the arms holding him, again controlling for a shockwave, and it flew down. Chuck hung limply for a moment but clenched his jaw and used his psychic power to burst from the other's grip. He then floated there weakly. The two and two more beyond that started circling. They started attacking, and I pushed the Prof. out of the way and slammed a kick into one of the hands, barely dodging through the rest of them. That one stumbled back but caught itself, and I was slammed down by another fist. This is bad. I don't think I can take them.

=== CURT ===

We arrived in Wan En on the same floor where I had stolen the flesh reconstructor since it was the place closest to where I wanted to be. Cherry pulled her arms out from around my neck and slipped out of her slinky dress. I was right. She was not wearing anything underneath except for stockings. Damn this woman. She pulled those off too and handed them all to me, grinning. She then put her hand to my chin and closed my mouth. "Stare later, work now, my love."

  "Is there any way that we could just forget that? Slip of the tongue. Didn't mean anything by it," I said, pointedly not looking at her as I walked over to the door and opened it. It was very after hours, and no one was there. Security might be around still, but most likely, they were off keeping the Grignau out. At least, I hope that's what they're doing.

  "Freudian slips count," She said with a smile. "You know, it took you longer than most men. A lot longer. Two years. I've had men propose after the first kiss. Offer me kingdoms after one night."

  "Never had a ring ready. Or . . . A kingdom, really?" I looked back at her, and she just smiled that ineffable smile. "Tell you what. We get my stuff; we might save your life. Is that worth a kingdom?"

  "I don't like that word."

  "What word?"

  "Might."

  "Well, at the very least, I'm going to kill Marcelli."

  "That's a little better. But I'm going to kill him. You can help. If I feel like it." She pushed past me and walked down the hall. I took a deep breath. I was really hoping that there weren't security measures that I didn't know about. We got up a couple more floors.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  And there had been some security measures I hadn't accounted for. But when your partner can phase through floors, short circuit brains, and microchips, they're less of a big deal. We got up to the level we needed, and I started digging through drawers, looking for the prototypes I needed. They were scattered all around. Cherry walked around, watching me.

  "Do you remember how we met, Essy?"

  "Yeah, you broke into my apartment. Thought you were going to kill me," I said absently.

  "You did?"

  "I mean, we had some bad luck, and I figured that would cause bad blood. Who would've guessed we were going to hit the same museum on the same night? You were almost caught. I didn't know much about you, but I figured you'd disapprove of that."

  "And I didn't. But I was curious. For one, you had never stolen from a museum before."

  "Yeah, well, I had a client."

  "A rich client."

  "The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. Who wanted her grandmother's art back. The museum shouldn't have had it in the first place."

  "And you were paid handsomely for it," she said, watching me.

  "Less handsomely, after you took 'your 'cut."

  "Well, you did almost get me caught." She stopped me for a moment and looked me in the eyes. "But you were going to give all of that money away anyway. What does it matter?"

  "Money helps people," I responded simply. We've had this conversation a time or two. We had this conversation that night, really. "It allowed an apartment building to operate rent-free for a few years. All of the tenants' lives were improved by that. Could have maybe gone an extra year with your cut."

  "Yeah. You're a bleeding heart." She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss. "You know, I don't disagree with you on any of that, right?"

  I pushed her back and looked her in the eye. "No, you don't. You just want to serve yourself first. You like the finer things in life."

  She opened her mouth to protest, but I kissed her again. "And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, exactly. It's just . . ."

  "Not noble enough."

  "I'm not noble. I'm a thief. I'm here to steal things. I could turn over this technology, which would probably do some good in the world. Hell, I'm planning on using it for surgery. A real doctor, like Des, might be able to use this to teleport tumors out of people. I steal because it's fun. I justify it by stealing from the rich for the poor. I'm doing what I have to do to sleep at night." I turned away from her but could still feel her eyes on me. She was thinking about what I said. I finally found the needed materials and started modifying a unique pair of glasses.

  "We broke into a superhero's company, one of the best-guarded places, to steal glorified Google Glass?"

  "Google wishes."

=== KARI ===

"Kari!" I heard my name from somewhere up above me. "Kari, get up! We need you."

  I struggled to my feet and wobbled, almost falling. I did manage to catch myself, but only after I was already on my knees. I shook my head. I had never been hit like this before. I looked around in the crater I was in. They had flattened me straight through like eight layers of the street. I could see the subway in a hole that I think my face made. It was face-shaped; my mask was broken; my costume was ripped and torn. I heard a grunt of pain and came back to myself. I charged out of the hole I had made and spun around. They had grabbed Chuck again. My breathing started coming out in short, heavy bursts. I can't do this. These things . . . They're not like anything I've faced before. I'm too new at this. I'm not strong enough. I can't do this, I can't. . .

  Kari! A voice cut through my own self-defeating monologue. Get your ass down here and save me! Save the city. Save the fucking world. Tears streamed down my cheeks and down and out through my shattered mask. I shook my head. "I can't! I'm not strong enough."

  Gods damn it, girl! You can't do it because you're holding back! There was a cry of pain, and the voice in my head faded for a moment. Did they . . .

  I know when you're holding back, girl. You try to kill Esvanir, and you hold back on these fuuuuucking . . . His thought was dragged out as pain ripped through our connection. "I-I can't control it when I go harder than I already have. I can't stop the damage."

  Better damage from you than damage from them. They'll kill me, Kari. Please. Save me. I stared down at the three Grignau, trying to rip my friend apart. I liked him. I liked him a lot. I hadn't felt this way since . . . Oh my God. I have a crush on him? Fuck! I charged down and slammed down on the hands of one of them. It dropped its hold on Chuck, and he fell limply from one side. The Grignau tried to strike me, but I was already in motion, kicking the next one aside. A shockwave burst out. I tried to contain it, but my psychokinesis is not up to Professor Mind's level. It shattered, and I could hear the asphalt below cracking. Glass shattered. That one went down. It struggled to get up. I blasted off and did a flying ax kick I had seen in a movie once, and it sliced straight through his head. I was an ax at that moment. It went through the street and concrete underneath, and the force could be felt throughout the ground as it cracked. I had killed a Grignau.

  I turned to the other two, both of which had cruelly dropped Prof onto the ground like an abandoned toy. They both attacked, and I barely managed to brace through one of their hits. My forcefield took the brunt but shattered, and I went flying again. This time though, I stopped myself before I got to any building. There was no reason for all that. I'm no drama queen, flying forty feet from a love tap. Both of them came at me, and one tried to capture me in a psychic field. I punched it, and the force reverberated back at me, and I collapsed; I felt something wet on my lip. I put a finger and brought it away. Blood. I was bleeding. I don't bleed. But I also don't usually hit myself. Or get hit this hard.

  But I had killed one. And that means that they're just as mortal as the rest of us. I wasn't going to risk punching the forcefield again. They're too strong. But steel and concrete are a lot weaker. I know that because the reverberations of my punch broke some underneath me. I leaned down and punched the street. It shattered. And not just under me. The entire road shattered for a few blocks. I guess I know why those silly DragonBall cartoons always took people to a desert. The city is no place for these kinds of fights. I dropped into the subway, flew like twenty feet, and burst through the street above. I grabbed one of these jerk Grignau as I was going and took him with me. I threw him in front of me, which was a feat, considering we were flying as fast as I could. He caught himself mid-air and laughed, flying back down at me. The other one was giving chase.

  I collided with the one I had thrown, and the shockwave burst every cloud in the area. I slammed my fist into it, and we struggled. The other one was catching up to us. At the last second, I threw myself out of the way, and the two slammed into each other. They growled and screamed in a language that I couldn't have possibly understood the phonemes of, and I smiled. "Learned that one from an enemy. I guess I can learn things from people like Esvanir. You might have too if you hadn't come around smashing stuff."

=== CURT ===

Most of Bion's security forces had been dispatched into the city to help people. That made sense. He was a trillionaire in part because he's a hero. So, it was just good press, really. EnGin's security forces, however, had been tightened. Which was a problem. Probably to stop potential looters. Which was a problem. Because I was a potential looter. We snapped into the middle of an elevator with ten guards. Which was mildly inconvenient. Only slightly more convenient was that Cherry was hanging onto me when she came with me. Benefits of teleporting, I guess I get the pretty girl to hang on tight, and the pretty girl can stop me from becoming Swiss Cheese when they opened fire. Which killed a lot of them. I'm sure some might have survived, but they really should have been less panicky as security guards. We became substantial again, and I pressed a floor button. I'd let the front desk know that their men were in bad shape. Soon. If I remember. Gunfire makes me forget things, sometimes.

  We got to the floor I needed. I had not had time to grab the special wires I needed last time since everything was so slipshod. But to make sure my machine could keep track of the computations I would be doing on the fly, I needed to ensure that the wires were transmitting the connections as fast as the calculations were going. And they had some super durable superfiber here. Sent everything about as quickly as physics would allow. When the elevator reached the floor, there were already men there, and they fired at us. Because it worked so well last time. Morons. This time, I just snapped us behind them. Now that I had my glasses back and synced with Popp, I was back in business. But I didn't have the complete blueprints for this building.

  Cher snuck up behind one of them and zapped him. She has this thing she can do with nerves. I don't really understand it, but it basically disables all but the strongest minds from doing critical things. Sometimes those critical things are breathing. More often than not, it was just keeping your legs under you. In this case, he collapsed, but not before pulling the trigger, firing out, and taking down a few more guards. She was an excellent thief, but now she was just showing off. The guards not downed aimed and fired, and my eyes tracked their guns as quickly as my muscles would allow, marking them down. On four of the eight remaining guns, I opened a portal to accept a bullet and a second portal to fire it back down the barrel. Those guns exploded in the hands of their owners, and they screamed. From there, I dived behind a desk. I felt a bullet tear through my shoulder. Fuck! That really hurts. What I wouldn't give to have Smash Gal's skin right now. I grabbed my shoulder and started making my way over to the lab I was pretty sure had the wires I wanted. Cherry cleaned up. She zapped two others, and they collapsed and knocked the remaining two out with their own guns. She was very good at martial arts, to her credit. Specifically Aikido. I was more of a Judo man myself. Mainly because that left me with the option of throwing someone through a portal and closing it. Which usually finished the fight. I should have done that this time. I gotta calm down. My anger is clouding my judgment. Heh. Easier said than done. I found the wires pretty quickly and started installing them immediately. They were pretty modular, and my rig was the same way. Part of the reason that I wanted them. It took only a few minutes to change them out. Which was helpful.

  Cherry was in the background doing her Danny Phantom routine. One of her favorites was to hide in the floor, grab someone by the ankle, make them insubstantial, pull them through the ground, and throw them down somewhere. It usually wasn't lethal. As long as you didn't piss her off. I rebooted Popp and the Glasses to finalize the changes. Everything seemed to be in working order when they booted back up with the new nano-chip. With this, I would no longer need to snap my fingers to activate the teleport. I still probably would, though. It's iconic. I snapped next to Cherry just as she finished the last one, wrapped my hand around her waist, and she yelped.

  "Watch your hands, Essy."

  "I know where they are." Reality changed in the next instant, and we were on the street. This would also make the energy use more efficient. Which was good because technically, I was stealing the power from some generators of some rich asshole, and he might catch on eventually. We walked out onto the street. I heard a scream from up above, and I instinctively teleported Cindi and I a few feet to the side as a woman came falling from the sky. Just before she crash-landed, she stopped mid-air. It was Smash Gal; her mask was broken. She must've been fighting the Grignau. Which was confirmed a second later when they came crashing down to earth. I sighed. Then I looked back at her.

  "Kari?"