Power Outage

Chapter 2

            Carol, in a surprisingly calm but still tone, says, “ Sorry, I haven’t practiced flying while carrying someone in a while.”

            “Tell me that before you suggest flying to the front of the line!”

            “I probably should have…” Secretly, I just wanted an excuse to hold him, teehee~ Carol sighs, “Alright, hand me my purse.”

            Damian hands it to her, “I really hope you have a parachute or something in there.”

            “Even better.”

            “Don’t tell me…”

            “Yup, plants from sis,” she says pulling out two small seeds and a pair of leaves the size of a small house rolled up. She puts the seeds in her mouth and spits down. Then she passes a leaf to Damian and they both unroll them quickly, grabbing on to opposite ends, using them as parachutes.

            The two seeds land right in front of the entrance and spontaneously grow in to 40-foot stalks with spring-shaped vines. The pair land on their own stalk and use the vines to hop down to the ground.

            “Ta-dah,” went Carol, making a pose as she hit the ground.

            Of all the plants you could’ve given Carol, you give her the Spring-Stalk and the Air-leaf. Why not the Giant Dandelion? Thanks sis, thanks a lot… thought Damian getting on all fours, thankful that the landing was actually successful.

            Another man, not exactly overweight but still above average, approaches the two from the building and says jokingly, “Excuse me, but I’m gonna have to ask the both you to step away from the Stalk.”

            Damian saying apologetically, “Yeah, sorry  about that.”

            “Don’t worry about it, in fact you just gave me an idea. Do you have an Infinitool on you?”

            “Uh yeah,” Damian says while sifting through his pockets, he pulls out a steel plate the size of and as thin as a dollar. He hands it to the stranger, “So what do you need it for?”

            The Infinitool is a handheld device that is absurdly light and easy to use, despite its various functions. The Infinitool uses nano-technology in order to alter its form into any handheld tool known to man from something as simple as a screwdriver to something complex like a jackhammer, through the use of two words: the name of the tool you wish to use, and the word ‘form’. There have been concerns that the Infinitool would be used for malicious intent, but the nanobots are installed with a failsafe so finished property and people will not be affected by the Infinitool. Order yours fast, before the sale ends December 25th. That entire message was announced on an ad screen by a generic model in front of the entrance.

            The stranger turns on a walkie-talkie and says, “Kamren, I told you to play the seemingly convenient infomercial AFTER I use the product,” he puts the talkie away, “Anyway… Chainsaw-Form.”

            The Infinitool takes the form of a chainsaw and the man down the stalk with no difficulty, two tow trucks take away the stalks. The man says, “Huh, pretty weak, definitely your sister’s from six years ago…”

            “You know my sister?” after some thought, Damian says, “Oh you’re umm… James, right?”

            “Yup, Original-Form,” the Infinitool reverts back to its plate form, the pulp from the vine still on it. James wipes it off and hands the Infinitool back to Damian, who puts it back in his pocket. James places a hand on what is left of the stalks and they suddenly set ablaze. James shouts to the crowd, “Hello, my name is James and I am the owner of Power Outage! As soon as the flame dies, the building is officially open! Fair warning though, anyone that tries to start a commotion using powers will be dealt with swiftly and painfully!”

            James heads back inside the building. Damian a little unsure of what just happened says to Carol, “Let’s just get in line.”

            “Kay~” said Carol, who was bored of waiting.

           

            “I don’t know what just happened, but that was… amazing!” Alex said with excitement.

            Marvin is complaining that the burning is slow, while Allen stays silent, mostly because the projector’s battery died during the speech. Alex was laughing at Allen, exclaiming, “Allen your power is so weird. You can speak six languages, but understand only two of them and use each one only for an hour a day.” She laughs again, “Anyway, I wonder if the guy that fell works here, he was kinda cute.”

            “I really doubt that,” Marvin stated, pointing at Damian, who is next to them in the crowd.

            “Did I do something wrong?” Damian says confused.

            Alex’s face is flushed red from embarrassment and is unable to say anything. Marvin steps in from bluntly saying, “No, she just thinks you’re cute.”

            “R-really?” Damian’s face starts to turn red as well.

            “A match made in heaven,” Marvin says sarcastically. He notices Carol, who is still in her human form, peering from behind Damian. Marvin extends his hand and smiles, “Hello there, who might you be?”

            Carol shakes Marvin’s hand while staying behind Damian, introducing herself, “I’m Carol, Damian’s boyfriend.”

            Alex’s expression changes to a depressed one upon hearing that statement. Damian flicks Carol in the forehead and says, “She’s my dog, and a copier, I’m Damian by the way.”

            Trying to regain composure, Alex replies, “I met a copier once. Is it true that they can change the form of individual parts of his or her own body?”

            Carol nods, and Damian has an epiphany, “That explains why I don’t recognize her human form.”

            “I mixed and matched parts of pictures of girls on your sister’s computer before she left,” Carol stated bluntly, moving next to Damian.

            Allen, bored of not being able to say anything while waiting, jumps into Carol’s arms. As a reflex, Carol throws Allen to the ground. He lands on all fours.

            “Damn cats…”

            Allen makes a cute face, but notices that the stalk-roots have completely burned. He jumps into Marvin’s backpack. The crowd behind them, already riled up from the wait, rush into the building. The entire party is swept up by the crowd. Someone yells, “Call when the crowd riot ends!”

            And with that the group gets to go in first(?)