It took Mike and I about two or three minutes to get to Toronto General Hospital.  The street and parking lot was packed with ambulances, a few police cars, and a dozen or more civilian vehicles.  There were a lot of people about – busy with patients, for the most part – and a few very tired looking nurses having a quiet smoke during a moment of calm.

 

                “Looks like we’re here, Mike.  You okay?”  I asked as I put Mike down.

 

                Mike nodded, and smirked.  “That was awesome!  Any chance of it happening again?”

 

                “Not bloody likely,” I answered, grinning.  “Now, go check on your grandmother.”

 

                “Yeah, I will.  Thanks for trying to save her.”

 

                “It’s no problem, Mike.  Now you have to be there for her.”

 

                Mike nodded, and headed inside the hospital emergency doors, waving goodbye as he went. 

 

                I watched the young man go, and I sincerely hoped his grandmother would be alright – and that he would be able to keep his flames under control.  I took a moment to take stock of my situation.  It was past 2am – I had spent a large part of the night fighting fires and searching for survivors in the burnt buildings.  I stunk like smoke, and I desperately felt like I needed a shower.  I was also pretty damn tired!  Apparently, experimenting with all sorts of powers is draining, I thought to myself.  I suppose I should have seen that coming.  I walked over to one of the police men, and waved.

 

                “Hello?  Mr. Officer?”  I called out.

 

                The officer, who looked like he had been doing some paperwork in the driver’s seat, looked up.  “Can I help you, miss?” 

 

                “I hope so.  My name is Guardian, and I’ve been going around all evening helping Toronto police and fire services.  It’s getting pretty late.  Is the chaos starting to die down?”

 

                The officer looked a bit surprised.  “I’ve heard about you, kid.  Thanks for your help so far!”  He thought a moment.  “There haven’t been any calls about mutants or people using powers in about a half-hour, and with what you’ve done with the fires, the Fire department has things pretty much under control at the moment.”

 

                “Thank goodness.”  I replied.  “I’m getting really tired – and I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”

 

                “Yeah, well, you’re not the only superhuman to be helping the police tonight.”  He said.  “There’s a humanoid white tiger man in Scarborough who has been taking it to the bad guys, and saved a lot of cops and fire fighters in the process, and there’s a man with a turban – I think he’s a Sikh – who has stretchy powers like that dude in the Fantastic Four.  He’s been helping get people out of burning buildings when the ladders don’t reach, and I heard he also stopped some super powered thugs from hurting some civilians.  Neither of them gave code names as far as I know.”

 

                “Hey, that’s really cool!”  I said, meaning it.  It was good to see other people stepping up and helping out. 

 

                “I don’t suppose you three are looking for a job, are you?”  The cop joked.

 

                “Maybe,” I laughed.  “I am out of work at the moment.”

 

                The cop turned to Karen and looked her straight in the eye.  “Think about it.  With all the crazy stuff that happened last night, we need people like you now, more than ever before.  Can you picture a group of normal cops taking out three or four empowered thugs who can huck energy bolts?  I can’t – but I’d try if I didn’t have a choice.  If the government has half a brain, it’ll try and recruit you and people like you to help keep the peace.”

 

                I thought about it, but I was too tired to make a snap decision.  This was something that needed thought, and sleep.  “I’ll think about it, Constable.”  I replied, yawning.  “I promise.”

 

                “Thanks.  My name is Don.  Don Wilson.”

 

                “Thanks, Constable Wilson.  I’ll mention you if I do get recruited.”

 

                “Heh.  Thanks.”

 

                I walked away from the police car and over to a bench to sit for a moment.  Maybe it was time I headed home?  It was certainly too late to go back to Eddie’s, unless he was still awake.  I took a look at my phone and sighed.  At some point during the evening – probably during my fight with Rhino – I had cracked the screen.  “Dammit.”  I said to myself, cursing.  Getting it replaced would be a giant pain in the butt.  I tried turning it on to see if it still worked, and to my surprise it did.  I had four missed messages, all from Eddie.

 

• Hey, Kevin! You’re on the Internet! I saw you fighting some raccoon dude and a rhino-man.  It was pretty shaky, but you’ve got like 1000 hits already!
• Looks like you’re not the only one out there helping tonight! Some guy who can fly and huck energy bolts was blasting a dangerous mutant in Oshawa, and I’ve heard rumors on TV of other metahumans helping out in Toronto tonight too.
• It’s getting pretty late, Kevin. Could you text me and let me know you’re okay?
• Why can’t you keep your phone on? Argghhh! Please let me know you’re all right!

 

                The first text was around 10pm, and the last was only 20 minutes ago, so I figured Eddie was still up.  I texted him back.  “Hey buddy.  Just finished for the night.  Do you still want me to come over and tell you how it went?  I’m okay.  Bruised, sore and tired, but okay.”

 

                The phone went silent for about 20 seconds, then bleeped with a reply.  “Hell yeah. Come on back to my place and let me know how it went… I mean unless you’re worried about Pepsi being alone?”

 

                I smiled.  Eddie was pretty thoughtful, in retrospect.  Pepsi had food and water out – she’d be okay.  “Nah… It’s fine.  I’ll come over and talk.  Pepsi should be fine.”

 

                “Awesome.”  Came the texted reply.  “I’ll throw a frozen pizza in the oven and make some garlic bread.  I’ll bet you’re hungry.”

 

                Now that he mentioned it, I was hungry… almost ravenously hungry.  I guess my heroics took a lot out of me.  I texted back a reply.  “Sounds good.  I’ll be there in a little bit.”

 

                I looked about, and saw a pair of yellow cabs parked near the entrance to Emerg.  I could walk, I thought, even at super speed, or I could relax and let one of these guys drive me.  I voted for relaxing, and went over to one of the cabs.   Soon I was on my way to Eddie’s apartment in the Village.

 

 

*              *              *

 

                My stomach was growling something fierce by the time the cabby dropped me off at Eddie’s building and I made my way up to Eddie’s apartment.  He lived on the 8^th floor, in 801.  I knocked, and the door opened.  Eddie was there, looking concerned and tired at the same time, and my stomach felt like I had butterflies instead of ravenous hunger for a moment.  “Hey Dorkus!”  I said cheerfully.  “I said I’d be okay.”

 

                Eddie smiled.  “It’s Dorkus Maximus, and I’m glad.  You still want dinner?” he asked, motioning me to come inside.

 

                “Definitely!”  I replied, as my stomach took up the plaint by growling fiercely.  “I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

 

                I came inside, and sat on his couch – it was arranged so that a few people could sit and watch TV in the living room, while they ate.  He had a nice ‘student’ coffee table in front of the couch which served as his dining table most nights – I remembered a few times we had shared pizza while binging Netflix.  They were good times.

 

                I could hear Eddie getting something from the kitchen – and smiled as he carried in some foil-wrapped bread that smelled of cheddar cheese and garlic butter!  “Is that your home made garlic bread, Eddie?”

 

                “Yep!” he laughed.  “I made a few at the beginning of the month and froze them.  This is the last one until payday.  Be honored.”

 

                “I am!” I smiled, and took the proffered plate from him, and gently peeled back the foil.  Normally I would take care to not singe my fingertips, but tonight – since my change – the warm foil didn’t really hurt.  Inside was a half-loaf of Eddie’s custom made garlic bread and cheese.  I’d had it once before, and loved it.  I dug in, not waiting a moment longer.  Delicious!  I enjoyed it so much I may have moaned a little.

 

                After finishing off a piece, I looked toward Eddie, to see him still standing nearby instead of having sat down on the couch.  He was a bit red-faced and flushed. 

 

                “Um… Eddie?  Is something wrong?”  I asked.

 

                He startled, and shook his head. “No… It’s just the way you look, Kevin… and that moan you made.  It’s not going to be easy to be normal around you for a while.”

 

                Now it was my turn to blush.  “Sorry, Eddie.  I guess I was really hungry and the food was really good.  I’ll try to keep the moaning to a minimum, okay?”

 

                He smiled.  “Thanks.  It’ll be good for my sanity.”

 

                “Also,” I continued.  “I think I’ll be going by Karen from now on.  Karen Castle.  Okay?”

 

                “No problem.  Karen is a nice name – a bit like “I want to see your manager”, but a good enough name.”  He smirked.  “Still, all joking aside, it’s a nice name.”

 

                I smiled back.  “Thanks.  I like it too.”  Turning back to the food, I started eating another piece of garlic bread – this time being careful to NOT moan in pleasure.  Even if I wanted to.

 

                The TV was tuned to CP24 Rollover news – and the coverage was mostly of what was happening in Toronto tonight – but there was significant mention of this “Emergence” as the newscasters were calling it happening all over the world.  The military was fighting a giant dragon in New York City, and it had already leveled half of Manhattan Island.  There was also news of new mutants being shot or killed by normal people – even some police officers – out of fear or misunderstanding.  I felt my eyes tear up at that, and worried about all those normal people who’d had their life upended – like me, but instead being arrested and killed.  This was not right.

 

                “Eddie, can we change the channel.  I think I’ve seen enough news for tonight, okay?” 

 

                “Okay, Karen.  We can watch whatever you want.  The pizza won’t be ready for about 15 minutes.”

 

                “I don’t care… Anything other than the news is okay.”  I replied.

 

                “Okay.”  Eddie flicked through the channels, and eventually turned on Netflix.  He grabbed a piece of the garlic bread from the foil on my plate, and took a bite.  I didn’t begrudge him – he made it for me after all!

 

                He was watching one of Netflix’s custom sci-fi shows I hadn’t gotten into – with cyborgs and alien tech and ninjas and so forth.  I let the pictures dance in front of me, but I was paying more attention to the food than towards what we were watching.  The stove in the kitchen beeped just as I polished off the last of the garlic bread, and Eddie paused the show, and headed to the kitchen.

 

                “Mind if I have a piece or two?” He called out.

 

                “Nope – that garlic bread was filling.  Knock yourself out.”  I replied.  It was a bit curious, I thought.  Normally I could polish off an entire frozen pizza and some garlic bread myself – but after eating all that garlic bread I was very close to full.  I smirked.  I must have a smaller stomach, I thought.  I’m going to have to be careful, or I’ll gain too much weight.  I guess I’ll need to jog or go to the gym or something.  I thought of what I’d look like, in this body, wearing spandex workout gear and grinned. 

               

                My sexy imaginings were disrupted by Eddie, who returned to the couch with two plates of pizza. 

 

                “Hey!” I remarked.

 

                “Hey yourself.  I’m a bit hungry too.  I spent all night worrying if you were okay.”  Eddie looked a bit embarrassed, but still happy.  “I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

                “Me too, Eddie.  I guess tonight could have been a lot worse.  I think I helped some people… No, I know I did.  I made a difference.  It felt good.”

 

                Eddie smiled back at me.  “I’m glad.”  He paused a bit, looking at my face – was he looking in my eyes?  I looked into his for a moment.  They were soft and brown, like chocolate.  Suddenly, that odd butterflies feeling was back in my stomach again.  We sat that way for a few moments, and I could feel my cheeks go pink.  I looked away, biting my lower lip shyly.  Whatever had happened, just now, seemed too personal to share.

 

                “Umm.”  Eddie remarked, obviously not knowing what to say.

 

                “Yeah, so that’s going to be different.”  I answered.

 

                “Karen, can I ask you a personal question?”  Eddie asked, looking unsure of himself.

 

                “Sure.” I answered, equally unsure of myself.

 

                “Did anything happen… I mean, did anything change inside you?”  Eddie stammered.

 

                “You mean, besides the obvious?”  I said, motioning to my new body.  “I don’t know.  I feel normal.”

 

                “I mean… do you like…  Umm… Are guys interesting to you now?”  Eddie was blushing furiously, and I could tell he was seriously embarrassed for having asked.  I also wasn’t immune to the subtext: Was I finding Eddie interesting now?

 

                I thought about it, and realized I was.  Oh – I’d always thought he was handsome, but I’d never done anything about it.  After my marriage went sour, I had realized that I didn’t feel comfortable lovemaking with anyone, when I was in my old male skin.  It felt weird, and wrong.  Now, I had no idea how I felt about things.

It was simply too soon.

 

                “Umm… Well this may sound a little weird,” I began.  “But I always liked boys.  Girls too, to a lesser degree.  I guess I’m bisexual, but I think its 60/40 with men coming out the winner.  At least, that’s what it was – I’m not sure what I am now, but it feels like nothing has changed in that department.”

 

                Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise.  “You mean, you were into guys before your change?”

 

                “I just said that, you dope.”  I laughed.  “Get the wax out of your ears.  Is that a problem?”

 

                “No!  No… I mean.”  He paused.  “I guess I don’t know what I mean.   What I was trying to say is ‘that’s awesome, cause I was wondering if you might be interested in a jackass like myself?’”

 

                I couldn’t help but smirk.  “If it helps, doofus, I already was, at least a little.  I just didn’t say anything cause I thought it might weird you out, and I wasn’t about to do anything in my old body.  It made me too uncomfortable.  Now?  I guess I’m still interested, but I have no idea where to go from here, and I think I need time to get my head and my new situation sorted out.  Can you give me a couple of days at least?  Maybe a bit more?”

 

                Eddie looked like he had been holding his breath.  “Whew…  Sure thing, Karen.  Sorry – I know this probably isn’t the right time – but I wanted to throw it out there – how I felt, I mean - before someone else came along.”

 

                “Eddie, I can appreciate that – but give me some time to adjust.  I haven’t even had time to really see my whole body, or figure out who or what I like.  A few days, like I said.  Then we’ll talk again.”

 

                “Okay.”  Eddie seemed satisfied with that, and sprinkled some salt on his pizza.  He seemed to think it enhanced the flavor, but to me it seemed overkill – there was a lot of salt in pre-prepared food already.

 

                We turned our attention towards the food, and tried to relax.

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                About a half hour later, Eddie and I had finished dinner. 

 

                “You know, Karen, you can crash on my couch if you want to.”  Eddie offered.

 

                I thought about it – but I didn’t want to sleep in my stinky clothes.  “No thanks, Eddie.  I think I need to really take a shower, and then wash my clothes so they don’t stink – and no offence, but I think doing that here might not be the best idea until I sort myself out.  Besides, Pepsi is going to be going crazy without me there, and I need to feed my little girl.  I’ll take a cab, and get home – and I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

 

                “Okay.”  Whether Eddie looked grateful or relieved that I was leaving, I couldn’t tell. 

 

                “Okay.” 

 

                With that, he began taking dishes to the kitchen, and I called a cab to get home.  It was really late – after 3am, so even the bar crowd was done for the night.  I suppose it doesn’t matter, I thought.  I’ll be in a cab, and get home no problem, feed Pepsi, and get a shower.  I’ll let tomorrow take care of itself.  I’m going to need more clothes, too.

 

                I said my farewells, and waited for the cab.  It was time to go home.