Saving a Superhero

7: Powers+Blame

Rory was rummaging through Grace's kitchen cabinets for something to eat, Harper was heating up a package of ramen in the microwave, and Kennedy was helping herself to a glass of milk. When we found Grace it would be difficult to explain why her once fully stocked kitchen was now empty, but that was a hurdle we would deal with when the time came. 

As for the conversation, the bickering had returned in full force. It was a miracle we ever got anything done between the four of us. Harper liked to antagonize Kennedy until her voice went squeaky. Kennedy liked to be right. Rory was stuck on re-becoming superheroes. I just liked to sit back and watch the show.

But we didn't have time to argue like children. We had a clue that was clearly pointing us back to Nova City and none of them were going to shut up and listen to reason anytime soon. So I took matters into my owns hands. 

Just like I had during the robbery, I steeled myself and my voice. My words carried a certain weight to them that they usually lacked. I was the voice of reason and they would listen. "We need to go to Nova City now and find Grace."

All three of them stopped in the middle of their scavenged meals. Unblinking eyes stared at me until it became unnerving. 

"You've been keeping a secret, Juliet." I wasn't sure who had said it, but the idea seemed to bounce through the group. It made cold sweat collect on my temples. "You know how to use your power."

I choked on my words as they lost any authority they had seconds before. Using my persuasion felt so natural that I forgot it was a power sometimes. Sure, everyone can be persuasive, but to convince anyone—except Rory, Harper, and Kennedy—to do what ever I want held real power. "I mean, it wasn't difficult. Trying out all the powers. None of you had that idea?"

Kennedy and Harper looked down in shame. So I wasn't alone.

Back in the good old days of our vigilante careers, we began working overtime to catch the Scholar. A few hours every other weekend and a few random encounters weren't going to catch a criminal mastermind. But our superhero personas left notes for us. Asking for information that could be found out throughout the week. It led to too much time scanning local papers and odd looks when we low key interrogated the witnesses the Scholar left behind.

We were so close when the Scholar caught on. 

It started with Rory being followed home by a couple of thugs. Then I got a rock thrown through my window. To the outside eye it looked like random crimes, the kind that happened in every district of the city everyday. To us, it looked much more sinister.

After Kennedy was threatened by the Scholar's goonies, I decided that I was going to figure out my power instead of relying on the others to be around. So far none of us had been able to tap into them and remember it. Without our memories of being vigilantes, we were powerless.
It was dumb. Our blackouts obviously happened for a reason. Someone wanted us to keep our lives separate, but I wasn't one to play by the rules of someone else's game. 

From our research, we'd gathered enough information to speculate what our black magic powers could be. Someone had the ability to control plants, someone had a super brain, someone could slow down time, someone's words were impossible to resist, and someone else knew how to fight in nearly every martial arts style. As far as we knew, none of us had those abilities. That led to late night talks about who could do what, arguing for the best powers and convincing others of what suited them most.

In the end we had a pretty reliable register. Grace could control plants, the least violent and most nurturing power. Not that it didn't mess the odd criminal up. Rory, though she didn't always act like it, was easily the smartest of us five. It only made sense that she would have a super brain. Kennedy could slow down time. We always joked that that was the reason she was so fixated on creating and maintaining the schedule. Harper had a silver tongue that was already more persuasive than most. Adding on a layer of voodoo and it would make her words impossible to argue against. That left me with arguably the best power. I was the one who had left half of the bad guys in the city with black eyes and bloody noses. 

Having killer offensive tactics would have definitely been useful during the time. I decided the only way to master them in real life was to sign up for a self defense class. I expected to excel. After all, I was an undercover ninja. It only took the first half and hour of my first class to realize I had made a grave error. My form was terrible and the movements felt unnatural and useless. Even though it was obviously not what I used to fight crime, I stuck with it until I left the city.

Fast forward to me trying to control plants by speaking to my window box garden and making my mother worry for my sanity. Me failing tests that I didn't study for because I was sure I already had a super brain. Me trying to slow down time during my first date with Hudson so I could think of something witty to say and straining so bad I almost threw up. 

Before I got around to testing my silver tongue, I got cornered in an alley in Old Terrace, my home district. Contrary to popular belief, Terrace had the lowest crime rate in the city. Our melting pot of cultures breeded acceptance, great smelling food, and multilingual vocabularies. A mugging was as uncommon as a meal without friends and family.

But it happened. I tried ducking out of the path of two big guys from Business District by hiding in an alley that connected to an internal labyrinth that led all around Terrace. They weren't so easily fooled and chased me until I was caught between them and a graffiti covered brick wall. 

My self defense training was yet to kick in and a part of me thought that it was the end. The other four would have to avenge my memory and kick the Scholar's butt in my name.

But a subconscious part of me woke up and I told the two thugs to turn around and head home before I handed them over to the police with a few broken ribs. My threat was empty on my part, but they couldn't tell. Not from the quality my voice took on. The way it sounded so unlike me. Like the little voice in the back of my head that always knew what to do. 

Thus, I made a discovery that could have changed the lives of all five of us. We could learn to control our powers and stop the blackouts. It would be up to us to balance our identities and decide when to fight crime and when to just hang out as friends.

But I didn't tell them. I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard to figure it out in my waking hours because I had been right from the beginning. Someone didn't want us to remember, and our lives were safer with the blackouts. 

So I did what I do best and kept my mouth shut during our next phone call.

Apparently I hadn't been the only one. 

"All three of you know! And you didn't think to tell anyone!" Unlike her usual outburst complete with a flushed face, Rory was radiating anger. We had made a big mistake a long time ago and it was finally coming to bite us in the metaphorical butt. "We could have done so much more if we all knew!" She reverted back to Icelandic while she ranted. I had never had much experience with the language except for Rory's occasional untranslatable words, but it was clear that she wasn't saying anything nice. It was the same way I slipped into Spanish while visiting home or cursed in the language of my neighbors.

We let her tire herself out before anyone decided to speak. Before anyone tried to explain their logic. Before I tried to make her see from my point of view. 

"It's what was best for everyone. It kept our lives separate and safe," I said in the most soothing tone I could. It would have been so natural to slip into the irresistible language and make her see it from my point of view. Something told me she wouldn't have appreciated it and that it wouldn't have worked even if I had tried. This was the first time someone had called me on my power when I used it.

"Safe?" Rory's anger turned to mocking laughter. Unfortunately, her words switched back into English so I was able to understand each sardonic word. "It kept us safe? Look at the four of us. The three of you are safe because you knew. Grace isn't. She didn't know. You could have saved her."

Aren't superpowers fun? And writing about Juliet's is as much fun as fighting crime myself! I am curious though. Now that you have a list of powers, who do you think does what?

Also, that new cover, amiright? It took me way too long to figure out how to make the overalls yellow in Photoshop, but I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Remember: Don't talk to plants.

-m burton