The rainstorms of the previous day had retreated to leave blue, open skies and a stifling heat. Despite the temperature, Logan again wore a backpack as he walked with the gang down a winding strip of road. Homes dotted the hill to their right, while their left opened up on a nice overlook of the downtown below.

“C’mon, man, you can’t do this to us," Wade said. "You gotta let us know.”

“Now now, I told you guys, I’ll show you what it does after I buy myself a bite to eat," Logan replied. "I’m starving.”

Skinny turned around and stopped in place, arms crossed. “Come on, you know what all of ours do. It’s not fair to keep it secret, especially something like this.”

The rest of the group echoed their agreement, unable to wait any longer. Logan looked around, checking for passers-by. "Not here, at least," he said, heading off down a private driveway to the right. The lengthy narrow road led to the Jacobson residence after about a quarter mile of switchbacks. The gang peeled off a short distance down the drive, entering the wooded hillside. After a minute's walk, Logan felt satisfied that their place offered enough privacy from prying eyes. "So, you really wanna know?" he asked, fishing into his backpack. He removed the device, which had a non-glowing battery inserted into its rear terminal.

"Do we really wanna know? Nope, we were just kidding, what a prank, let's pack it up and go home," Wade said sarcastically.

"Just stop teasing and come on, man!" Skinny said.

Logan looked to the device and then eyed Skinny. Logan's expression was mischievous, with just a hint of a challenge behind the smile he now issued.

"Fine, since you asked, you get to be the demonstration."

Logan passed the device into his left hand and walked towards Skinny. He put a hand up, as though going in for a high five, but then threw a sudden punch right at Skinny's face. Logan held back this time compared to the punch thrown at Wade, but, still, it hit with all the impact of an unexpected strike. Skinny yelped and began to fall backwards, but Logan caught him and jabbed the device into Skinny's side. He pressed the button and the device let out a hiss as Logan gently set Skinny onto the ground.

The group swarmed in in protest, but Logan raised a single finger in a gesture that said wait. Skinny's demeanor suddenly shifted as he picked himself up, cradling his head. The battery in the back of the device glowed a fierce and fiery red.

"That was wild," Skinny said through a daze.

"Wait, what happened?" Parker asked.

"Now watch this," Logan said, stepping over to Shaun. The younger boy flinched away, but Logan raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not gonna hit you," he said. He pressed the device to Shaun's arm and pressed the button. With a hiss, the color drained from the battery. Shaun immediately closed his eyes and cradled his head, and in a sudden fury he punched Wade in the face. Wade bounded back instantly.

"That didn't hurt!" Wade declared proudly.

"Logan, what the hell?" Parker asked.

"Ohmygosh Wade, I'm so sorry," Shaun stammered, on the verge of tears and cradling his hand.

"And now, let me help," Logan said. He walked up to Shaun and pressed the base of his device to Shaun's arm. With a push of the button, the device hissed and the attached battery turned a deep ocean blue.

"Better?" Logan asked, with a hint of a smile at play.

"…Strangely, yes." Shaun said with an unexpected sudden measure of composure. "What is that thing?'

"I think I understand," Ronnie said, shaking his head.

Logan ejected the blue battery with a smooth, practiced motion and flicked it into his backpack. He reached in for a fresh one and added it into the machine. "This thing right here? It can withdraw and store himan emotions into batteries, and then inject them back into humans… probably animals, too, though I have't tried that yet. I call it The Empathizer. Kinda neat, huh?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Neat is one way to put it," Skinny said, "but I don't know how I feel about that little stunt there and this here gadget."

Logan pressed the Empathizer to Skinny and then pressed the button. He then held up the green glowing battery for all to see.

"From the looks of it, I guess jealousy is the answer!" Logan said. Wade and Parker snickered at the exchange.

“Hey, cut it out man!" Skinny protested. "Now you’re just starting to piss me off.”

Popping the green battery out and slotting in a new one with a gunslinger's reloading finesse, Logan placed the Empathizer once again to Skinny's arm and pressed the button. The battery began to glow red.

"All better!" Logan said with a bow of feigned magnanimity. "You are hereby released of your anger, my child," he said.

Skinny's reply was even, but determined. “C’mon. Stop messing with us. I don’t go prodding around all y’all’s heads, so I expect you to leave our emotions be. I'm sure there's a good and non-invasive use for that thing.”

Logan's smile faded a bit. “Eh, fine. You asked to see what it did anyways. But, now, more importantly: this thing can’t extract hunger. Let’s go get a bite to eat before I starve to death, pretty please?”

“That does sound pretty great right about now,” Ronnie said, patting at his own rumbling stomach.

“Yeah yeah, I gotcha," Skinny said. "We’ll head over to Clawson-Burnley Park, and hit Nelson’s on the way there. Nobody makes a turkey sandwich like Nelson’s… Last one there is buyin’!”

With that, Skinny gave Logan a playful shove and took off running, all of the others running past Logan in good-natured pursuit. With a chuckle, Logan donned his backpack and took off running behind them.

* * *

Clawson-Burnley Park was a community-favorite open space with picnic pavilions, athletic fields, and a great variety of forest trails. The nearby woods were teeming with secret alcoves and nooks to find and explore, making it a common fallback location for the gang while the weather was tolerable. They marched through the park now, sandwiches and drinks in hand, seeking an open pavilion in the shade. Finding one, the group plopped down onto the benches and began to much their ways through their lunches. The gentle breeze in the shade carried the scents of roast turkey and freshly baked bread.

While munching on a particularly sizeable bite, Skinny spoke up. "So, guys, I'm sure—" he paused to swallow some food. "—you've all thought of it by now, so why aren't we doing it?"

"Thought of what?" Parker asked.

"Using these things. Helping people. Saving lives… if we put the six of us together there's probably little we couldn't do," Skinny said.

"You mean like superheroes?" Shaun asked, ever the comic-book lover.

Skinny took another massive bite of his sandwich and nodded his head. He spoke up through mouthfuls of food. "Pretty much. I mean, we have the power to do some real good here! I mean, look: I dunno where these things came from, but I like to think we found them for a reason. Six gadgets, and six friends, you can only pass off so much to coincidence."

"It was destiny," Parker said with reverence.

Shaun came alight with excitement. "We could make cool costumes and everything!"

"We could!" Skinny agreed.

"And where do you propose we get said costumes?" Ronnie asked.

"Hmm?" Skinny asked, still chewing.

"Where or how would we get these costumes?" Ronnie repeated.

"Uh, I dunno. Shaun! How did Spider-Man get his costume?" Skinny asked, deferring.

"Uh, I think he stitched it himself," Shaun answered.

"How on Earth does a newspaper boy know how to stitch a whole costume together?" Wade asked.

"Spiders can make webs," Shaun replied. "Maybe it rubbed off on him!"

Skinny washed down a mouthful of sandwich and spoke up. "Guys, that doesn't matter. No costumes, then. It's all the same."

"I don't know if I agree," Ronnie said. "We'd be swallowed by mobs of supporters and envious onlookers both who might just want to take these things for their own ends."

A temporary stillness fell across the table as the boys reckoned with the fear of losing their newfound gadgets for the first time. To imagine someone taking them and stealing their powers? It was simply unthinkable.

Skinny finally broke the silence. "Okay, fine, costumes it is again. We could keep it simple for now, even just a paper bag over the head with eye holes. We could get cool matching costumes later. It doesn’t really matter. All I know is this: when we picked up these objects yesterday in the woods, we were guided by a higher power. We’ve been granted the ability to do some great things, and to waste that ability would be criminal. I don’t care about the details of costumes or not, or if we should do this or that, but all I know is we gotta do something. Who’s with me?”

The boys lost themselves in the fantasy of heroism, imagining saving patrons from a burning movie theater or preventing a bus from falling off of a bridge. Their eyes lit up as their hands crawled to pockets and felt the devices within for reassurance, feeding the fantasies further. Skinny placed a mustard-stained hand on the table at its center.

"I'm in," Shaun said, placing his hand on top of Skinny's.

"Me too," Logan said, reaching towards the others. And one by one, the boys piled their hands together.

"Let's go do some random acts of heroism," Skinny said.