Deicide didn’t know exactly where this Amanda Sanvers was, of course. That would have been too easy. Instead, she had a list of possible last locations, along with people who had spoken to the girl somewhat recently and might be able to give a better idea of where she was. Apparently Deicide was worried that if she or her people dug any deeper than that, Sanvers herself would hear about it and go even deeper into hiding out of paranoia that they were somehow working for the monster who had traumatized her so much years ago.
She also told us a bit more about that situation, about how a very early Pencil, before even taking up leadership of the Scions, had taken this girl’s family prisoner. Apparently, on camera, he had forced Amanda’s parents to shoot each other in order to save the lives of both Amanda and her brother. Nick Sanvers had completely disappeared within a year, something about going to an Alaskan oil rig to work. But Amanda had stuck around for one reason or another, mostly going underground, changing her name repeatedly, that sort of thing. From what Deicide knew, it sounded like the girl was staying specifically to testify against Pencil if they ever managed to catch him. So the police and Star-Touched kept her somewhat informed about how their various investigations into the Scions were going. It wasn’t really by-the-book, but they were impressed by how tough she was to not take off for another continent. And honestly, so was I. If she had experienced Pencil firsthand and still wanted to stick around to testify against him given the chance? Yeah, she was pretty brave.
Brave, but not entirely stupid. Hence the whole changing her name and disappearing thing. A couple of the authorities knew how to contact her, but even they had to jump through certain hoops to do so. She refused to go into normal witness protection. Something about not trusting it and wanting to manage on her own. Which, apparently she was pretty good at if the girl was still alive after all this time. So yeah, kudos to her.
Which, of course reminded me of a certain other person who had stayed hidden from the Scions for a long time now. Robert–Bobby Parson, my old driver and the man who had apparently saved me back when my own grandfather had sent his men to kill Anthony and his family, and to abduct me. Yeah, Bobby was another one I needed to find. I had the feeling that he would be able to answer even more questions about my family. Especially considering everything I’d already found. Like the toys in his cabin with the code that had led me to find out more about Paige. Why did he have those there? And where was he now? Had he just gone deeper after finding out Pencil had gotten so close to finding him? And why was Pencil really after him? If the psychopath was that obsessed with tracking him down, it had to be something pretty important, right?
Whatever, the point was, I had a lot to deal with. Right now, I really had to focus on finding a different member of the ‘stay the fuck away from Pencil society.’ I had to focus on finding Amanda Sanvers.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly the immediate concern. That, at the moment, was looking at me from across the roof both of us were standing on a few minutes after Cavalcade had dropped us off. She was just finishing the sandwich that the mercenary had insisted on picking up for us. I had one too, but wasn’t eating it yet. It was still wrapped up and tucked into one of the pockets of my suit for later.
Taking a breath, I focused on Peyton. “Look, you really don’t need to be involved in any of this. Trust me, you don’t want to. Like I said, you don’t owe Deicide anything. And you definitely don’t owe me enough to put your neck anywhere near this shit.”
Peyton just stared at me. “Dude, you’re like… what, a thirteen-year-old kid? You shouldn’t be anywhere near this shit either. But you are, for some reason. Maybe that paper chick’s right about this Sanvers girl talking to you because you’re not a threat. But like, that brings up a good question. If Amanda Sanvers has been like… you know, cooperating with the authorities and trying to bring Pencil down, why does Deicide think she’s got this top secret information about his power or whatever?”
“I asked her about that when you went out with Cavalcade and I stayed behind for a minute,” I informed her. “Apparently this Amanda girl thinks that the only reason Pencil hasn’t like… totally gone after her is because he believes she doesn’t know anything important about him. According to Deicide, Amanda saying she’d cooperate with the cops and then supposedly not being able to tell them anything useful is her way of letting the Scions know they don’t need to come after her. I mean, think about it. Pencil doesn’t really care about leaving witnesses. They know what he is and what he’s done. It’s not like he’s thinking ahead that much to a trial or whatever. The only thing that would make him come after her hard is if he thought she knew something dangerous about him, something that could bring him down or expose a weakness. So, Amanda makes it clear she’s trying to help the cops but can’t tell them anything helpful. Which reassures Pencil so he has no real reason to expend that much effort looking for her, because if she did know anything, she would’ve told them.”
Peyton considered that for a moment, running it through in her head before nodding. “I guess that makes sense. But what makes Deicide think this girl actually does know something big?”
I shrugged at that. “Something about hearing it through a friend of a friend of a friend, or whatever. Amanda said something to someone that made it sound like she might know a secret about Pencil’s power, and it got back to Deicide.” With that, I shook my head. “But seriously, like I said, you don’t need to be involved in this, Peyton. This is way, way too much to ask.”
She, however, shook her head. “I’m not going after the Scions, dude. No fucking way. I don’t–I’m scared. Yeah, I’m too scared for that. But if this girl–if she really does know something that can stop those assholes from–” She choked a bit on her words, blanching while her arms folded across her stomach. The floating marbles that weren’t part of her armor hovered protectively in front of her. “Everyone knows what Pencil does to people. If this Amanda girl really does know something that can help stop him? I don’t care if it’s Deicide or the Star-Touched, the military, or the freaking Smurfs who pull it off. Getting rid of that bastard is a good thing. And if I can help do that just by helping you track down this girl? Then… then I wanna be a part of that.”
Squirming on her feet, the girl quietly added, “I was… scared–terrified when that asshole and his friends abducted me, and they didn’t even have any powers. Then yesterday with Juice and those fucking–” Cutting herself off, she gave a quick shake of her head, eyes closing briefly as she pulled it together. “I’ve been really scared, so I know what that’s like. But I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be one of his victims. I can’t–” The girl swallowed hard, clearly afraid even as she pushed on. “Even if all I do is help a little bit, I wanna help stop other people from feeling as terrified as I was before. No, even more terrified, because… because the Scions are worse. All the things they’ve done, everything they like to…” Again, she trailed off, taking a moment to collect herself before forcing the last words out. “ Please. I just want to help.”
Well, shit, what exactly was I supposed to say to that? No, you’re not allowed to be brave? No, you can’t contribute to helping people, only I’m allowed to do that? Wait a minute, was this how people like That-A-Way had felt about me throwing myself into danger while refusing to join their team (before she understood why I’d done that)? Hell, was this what people felt in general about me doing this sort of stuff? Or worse, since as far as they knew I was like, twelve or thirteen?
Eesh, how did they deal with it?
Shaking that off, I finally agreed, “Okay. I mean, I’m not sure how it’ll go, but yeah. If you wanna help out, that could be cool. And we can like… talk about doing some other Star-Touched stuff together, if you still want. You know, to help people and to help you figure out exactly how your power works.” Taking in a breath and letting it out as I struggled not to show my own nervousness about this whole situation, I faced the girl. “If you really want to join me and my friends, and just… help people without being part of a real team, then… then that’s cool.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I wasn’t going to tell her the full truth about the Ministry. Not yet. But I could ease her into things, take her to meet Trevithick and the others there. Which would also, hopefully, mean Wren would have another person to come help in case something bad happened at the shop. Yeah, yeah this was a good thing. And if eventually it turned out Peyton really could be trusted with the Ministry information, that had to be good too, right?
Anyway, it was the best plan I had right now. Yeah, it wasn’t perfect and there were definitely still ways it could go wrong. Not to mention the guilt I would feel if Peyton got hurt specifically because she was hanging around me and all my problems. But it wasn’t up to me to tell her she couldn’t help. And I couldn’t bring myself to send her off to the Minority while knowing what I did about how she would likely be exploited and used. So, this was the best compromise I had.
While Peyton was about to respond to that, the Touched-business phone in my pocket buzzed. Turning a bit, I took it out and glanced at the screen. There was a text from Wren, saying she really needed to talk to me asap, along with a few ambulance and police emojis. Then there was an added note that there were no cops and that she and the others were fine but it really was super-important bordering on emergency and–yeah, she went on a bit in several texts. Clearly, something big had happened but it wasn’t to the point of active gunfire or anything, and they weren’t in immediate life and death danger. But it was still an emergency. One she apparently didn’t want to get into over the phone for whatever reason.
So, exhaling, I sent back a message that I would be there soon and that I was bringing our new friend. With that, I looked back to Peyton. “Well, I guess I’m needed back at… okay, there are some things I need to tell you. I’ll do it on the way. That is, if you still want to come?”
Peyton, in turn, nodded quickly. “I’m in. I mean, I’m as in as you want right now, I guess. I mean–” Cutting herself off, she simply shrugged. “I wanna help. I wanna participate. I um, hold on.” Pivoting, she took her own phone out, which had apparently started buzzing as well. Transforming the helmet to expose her mouth so her voice wouldn’t be muffled at all, she started talking brightly. “Hey, Mom! Nope, like I said, I’m just fine. Uh huh. Oh right, the password is peppermint patty. Uh huh. Yes, I’m positive. Thanks. Yep, I’ll be good. Bye. Bye!” Repeating the last word emphatically, she hit the disconnect button and exhaled. “Sorry, Mom’s been a bit… protective ever since the you-know-what happened. If I don’t give her the password she thinks someone’s holding a gun to my head to make me say everything’s fine.”
“So, definitely not gonna tell her what you’re up to now, huh?” I put in mildly.
Blanching, the girl shook her head quickly. “Not on your life. She’d never understand. I mean, I love her, she loves me, all that stuff. But she’d never really understand that… that I have to help make sure no one else feels helpless like I did.” Squaring her shoulders, Peyton faced me, the mask returning to cover the bottom of her face once more. “I’m ready to go.”
With a nod, I turned to the edge of the roof. “Right, let’s get–” I’d taken two steps before stopping with my leg raised. Pivoting back, I blanched a bit. “Uhhh, right. I’m not sure how we get you over there. Think you could run alongside me and I could paint you to places once we–”
“Dude,” she interrupted. “Check this out.” With that, the girl looked toward the marbles hovering nearby. “Show him, guys.”
Immediately, the gold and white marbles flew into one another before starting to shift and grow. Soon, what looked like a gold surfboard with white trim literally hovered there in the air beside the girl. Peyton, in turn, floated up off the roof herself. She literally floated up a foot or so in the air. “I can make the armor lift me up,” she announced. “Sorta like flying. The armor floats and I go with it. But I don’t really um, have the hang of it yet. Hard to keep focusing on it while the armor pulls and pushes my–yeah. It’s easier to do this.”
With a gesture from one hand, she sent the floating surfboard under her feet before landing on it. “See? My armor bonds to it, so…” To demonstrate, she flew up another few feet before the board turned upside down with Peyton still attached. She dangled there, hanging from her feet. Or rather, from the boots of her armor, which were firmly attached to the board. “Can’t fall off!”
“Hah, dude…” Despite myself, I was grinning. “That’s cool.” It seriously was. I’d wondered if the fact that her marbles and the things they made could hover would mean the armor could actually fly, but it made sense that the armor yanking her around through the air wouldn’t be super comfortable. Maybe she’d get used to that or learn to adjust how she made it move so that she could actually fly normally with it eventually. In the meantime, the hoverboard (or was that flyboard?) was an amazing compromise.
“Right?!” Clearly grinning behind the helmet, Peyton flipped herself rightside up. “Now I can keep up with you.”
“Oh, can you?” Feeling myself start to smirk, I glanced toward the edge of the roof. “Let’s find out.”
First, of course, I texted Izzy to let her know something came up over at Wren’s that I had to check out and that she should definitely go see that second movie.
That done, I told Peyton what area of town we were going to, using a landmark she was familiar with. Then I gave her a short nod, a thumbs up, and took off running while activating the green wings I had painted onto my shoes. Behind me, Peyton shouted something about cheating, before taking off on her board just as I reached the edge of the roof and used blue paint to spring up and forward through open air in a long flip. Instantly, as soon as my body righted itself, I used red paint to yank myself the rest of the way to a billboard, adding a bit of blue against the sign itself to spring up and forward even further.
As I landed on the next roof, Peyton on her flying surfboard was just gliding past the sign I had bounced off of. She was crouched a bit on bent knees, urging the board to go faster to catch up with ‘that dork.’ The girl was clearly saying the last part loud enough for me to hear, so I painted a face with its tongue out on my back just before activating another bit of green I had pre-painted to keep my speed boost going as I popped my skates out and practically flew along the edge of that roof.
That continued over the next few buildings. I built up a lead while running with the green paint active, but I couldn’t keep it going forever. Peyton would close the gap with her steady speed and ability to fly straight over or around any obstacle, while I used red paint to pull myself ahead every time we hit the edge of a roof. Once in awhile, she pulled ahead, then I would use a combination of blue, red, and green paint to regain the lead.
It was… fun. That’s all there was to it. We laughed, teasing each other and making up ridiculous claims or faux-threats while she flew upside down over my head and swatted the back of my helmet, or when I used red paint against her board to propel myself past her in one spot where there was a large gap between buildings. I could see some people on the street stopping and noticing, but mostly I was just paying attention to trying my level best to stay ahead of Peyton.
Then she got creative. Just as I was increasing my lead again, something thin, long, and metallic went flying past me. It looked like a whip with a grappling hook attached, which latched onto the corner of the building I had just been about to jump to. Twisting around, I saw Peyton still on her board. She had one hand extended, while the black and bronze marbles had combined to transform into that whip-grapple thing. Even as I watched, flatfooted for a second, the grapple-whip (it was a good fifty feet long, just very thin) retracted, yanking her forward and past me even faster than she could fly. Now she was getting the benefit of the two marbles that made up the board and the two that made up the whip-grapple.
“Wha–hey!” Just as the girl flew past me with a cackle, I sprang to leap after her. “Totally cheating, you’re not supposed to figure out new tricks to your power before I get to beat you!”
Her response, of course, was more cackling.
From there, things were even closer. Peyton had worked out that she could separate the black and bronze marbles into separate but shorter whip-grapples, lashing them forward to either side of her to catch hold of things and then pull herself forward. Or she could combine them for the longer one whenever it was needed to reach something further away. She used them not only for additional speed, but also for fine course corrections. They let her spin around corners much faster. It was pretty damn cool, honestly. What she was doing was kind of a mix between hoverboarding and like… grappling her way from building to building.
Still, I had been doing this for a bit longer. I knew my way around the city like this, especially when it came to getting over to Wren’s place. So, at the last second, I took an alley shortcut that was practically invisible until you were right on top of it, coming out to land on the roof we’d agreed to meet at just barely ahead of the other girl. There, I jumped up and down with my fists up even as Peyton landed beside me, her board and whips turning back into marbles.
“Next time!” she declared. “I am so gonna beat you when we go again.”
Snorting at that, I headed for the edge of the roof. “Yeah, we’ll see. Come on, whatever’s happening, Trevithick made it sound pretty important.
“So let’s go see what’s on fire this time.”