Supercharged

Chapter Two

'Why're you always bloody late?' Lilli snaps, a little away from the falling buildings.

It's a giant lizard.

I don't know how I missed it before but it's a goddamn gigantic lizard.

Classic Keaton.

Classic classic Keaton.

I almost applaud her. It must be hard to be so fucking boring that lizards bigger than houses is all you have to go on. Especially when you know one of the Protectors is called Lilliput. Meaning she can make anything gigantic tiny.

It does mean something though. It means she's trying to get our attention. And christ, has she got it.

'I had school.' I shrug, my mask securely in place. 'I have my mocks next week.'

'Sweet.' Lilli shakes her head. 'Don't let this bitch bring you down.'

I grin. 'I won't.'

Bang.

The lizard reaches up its arms and pulls on a church rooftop, bringing the entire thing crashing to the ground.

'Why the hell do you need me? Can't you just shrink it?'

'Exactly.' Lilli smiles. 'And God does she know that.'

The lizard turns. Sees us. And the electric excitement shoots a smile to my lips. It takes a swipe at us, misses, and I jet back nearly tripping arse over tit on a goddamn car, denting it in the process. I can feel my fucking hair standing on end as the static pumps through me.

Lilli throws out her hands, shrinking the lizard with one strike, and it melts down into the ground until it is no bigger than a hamster.

'Could've done that earlier, you know.'

'Get it then!' she calls and I race after it, slamming my foot down and crushing it under my heel. It crunches, a small horrid squeak reaching my ears. I look over my shoulder, the twinge from where I hit the car rippling down my body, fixing my gaze with Lilli's.

I can't really see her. I'm too aware of the people flooding back towards us. The people who'd sheltered in buildings when the lizard was attacking were now clapping. Cheering.

But this couldn't be it. Keaton did this to get our bloody attention and she got it. So what's next? It's not safe.

My body buzzes. The power that I've managed to save up is itching to get up. I don't know what to do with it. It's consuming me, making me feel wrong. Different. Making my belly swirl and pull and any minute I'll explode. I lift my arms above my head and shoot it into the sky.

'Beth! Christ. We might need that,' Lilli scolds, her mum brow back on. It's the look she gives her two-year-old when he's trying to colour in the walls. I look at her, my jaw clenching. She knows I can only hold onto it for so long. Nobody taught me how to bend it, how to even use it. If it wasn't for her, I doubt I'd be in this gig anyways.

I roll my eyes. 'Are we done here?'

Lilli challenges me, shaking her head and grabbing my arm so I have to face her. The crowd still whoop despite our obvious domestic.

'Keaton drops a goddamn gigantic dinosaur in the middle of the city to lure me here and you're asking if we're done?'

''Cause it's all about you.'

I don't want to fight with Lilli. It's true that Keaton was trying to summon her with this, anybody could tell you that.

Lilli's older than me, been in the game a lot longer. Been dealing with super villains a lot longer than me. She even came back off her maternity leave early one year because some bastard had given a bunch of cars brains and they were smashing up the town. That was a weird few months.