Entanglement
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Dad pulled himself from his still-running car and made his way toward us. I looked down at myself. Yep. Very visibly a girl. Why did my boobs have to be so big?!

“Delilah!” he called, jogging up the short drive to the house. Chills went up and down my spine as he approached. Fuck. Fuckity-fucking-fuck. Why did he have to show up now of all times? In a panic, I looked to Mom for guidance but found her more preoccupied with scanning the edges of the scene unfolding around us. It wasn’t hard to figure out why -- Car stopping abruptly, a man jogging up to the house with us frozen in place. If there were no-capes nearby, they were surely watching.

“Marv,” Mom finally replied in a low, patient voice. She looked me over quickly. “What brings you here?”

He stuck his hands into his suit pant pockets. “I got a call earlier from Gavin’s school, said he got his alter form or something. Couldn’t get them to cough up what his power was, though. Super strength? Turning things into gold? Mind reading?”

“It’s, uh,” Mom struggled to say past his excited voice.

“No, no, don’t tell me, I’ll ask him myself,” he cut her off. “Best for a father and son to discuss something like this alone. So? Where is he?” His eyes rolled over me somewhat sleazily, giving added intensity to the chill in my spine. “And who’s she?”

I opened my mouth to answer, to say anything, but nothing would come out. I bunched the fabric of my sweatshirt in my hands while I grasped for words. If he found out, he would go absolutely nuclear. An endless screaming session telling me why I was worthless and wasn’t living up to the family name, as meaningless as that was. Why couldn’t the ground just swallow me now?

“Gabrielle. She’s Gavin’s girlfriend,” Mom suddenly blurted out. I must’ve been giving her too incredulous a look because she gestured for me to go along with it behind her back. For his part, Dad seemed equally suspicious and continued to study me.

“Girlfriend? He never told me about a girlfriend.” He extended his hand to me. “Marv McArthur, and yes, of Colonel Copperside fame,” he proclaimed. I shook his hand gingerly, fearing any wrong step would immediately out me. 

“Copperside Advertising, right?” I responded, hoping to stay on his good side.

His eyes immediately brightened. “Yes! Best advertising agency on the west coast. Smart girl,” he said in a smarmy, pride-filled tone. “And don’t worry, that news report yesterday was chock full of fake news. Our security has no idea where that ranting loon came from. Swear he must’ve been a junkie, even starting screaming about the skyscrapers when they took him outside.” Dad let out a gruff snort. “‘Skyscrapers!’ he was screamin’. ‘When did Crescent City get skyscrapers?’ Dad’s snort grew into a low chuckle. “Maybe some alter stupefied the dumb fuck.”

“Ah, well, was that everything, Marv?” Mom replied slowly, trying to distance us from our own lies. 

He seemed to shake himself back to reality. “What? Hell no, I only just found out Gavvy had a girlfriend. How long you been dating?”

She scratched her head nervously. “You know, they’ve been dating for a while I think. Right, Gabrielle?” She gently nudged me.

“Er, y-yeah. For a month or two now,” I stammered.

He narrowed his eyes. “You from that school of his? You look… weird.” He plucked at a strand of his own greasy hair as if to explain what he meant. Was my hair really that odd looking?

“Y-yeah! I’m an alter.”

“Huh.” He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and took a step back. “What kind of shit do you do? You don’t turn people into garden gnomes, right?”

Once again, I moved to open my mouth but was unable to get any sound to come out. Mom spied me choking and moved in to cover me.

“She’s a speedster, apparently! Isn’t that right, Gabrielle?” Mom chimed in.

“Y-yep! That’s right,” I croaked.

His eyebrows raised up. “Super speed, eh? Must be nice for Gavvy. Speaking of, where the hell is he? I want to congratulate him.”

“He’s, uh, he’s…” Mom began to fumble. I wasn’t much better, I was still having trouble speaking as cold sweat poured from my armpits and down my spine.

“Come on, Delilah, you don’t know where your own son is?” Dad laughed and shook his head. He looked at me again, but something about his gaze was different. He looked like he was trying to piece something together. “You look familiar. What’d you say your last name was again?” he asked in a gravelly, low voice.

“Hey, pops!” a voice came from behind us as the door swung open. A masculine arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me close. I looked up to see…myself? My default form was somehow standing next to me wearing a jean jacket and flannel shirt. 

“W-what?” I stammered.

“Gab — Gavin?” Mom turned and replied in a confused voice. 

“Gavvy!” Dad exclaimed. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend. Look at you, just like your old man, eh?” he lightly punched at my default form’s arm. Mom muffled a groan, but it was just audible enough to still hear. My default form looked down at me and smiled. Wait, those eyes! Amber eyes stared down at me, pleading for me to play along.

Kayden!

“Yeah, well, you know how it goes,” Kayden nervously replied, doing their best impersonation of my male voice.

“Yeah I do!” Dad laughed and punched Kayden lightly on the arm. They laughed along, wincing as they rubbed their arm. “So! What’re your powers, son?”

“My… powers?” Kayden repeated in an uneven voice. The jovial nature of Dad’s expression began to falter.

“Yes, your powers. Don’t make me repeat myself, Gavin. What kind of magic shit are you packing?”

“Oh, uh… right.” Kayden looked to us and back at Dad. “I uh... don’t want to say it in front of Mom.”

“Oh for god’s sake,” Dad groaned. “Whisper it to me, then.” Kayden gulped and stepped forward. Their expression was apologetic as they leaned in and began to whisper. Dad’s eyes slowly widened as Kayden spun whatever tale they were feeding him. He stepped back and looked down at Kayden’s crotch. “How much bigger?” he said in a near-whisper.

“N-next, uh, next underwear size up bigger,” Kayden replied, their face glowing red.

Dad loosened his tie, looking, for maybe the first time I’d ever seen, extremely uncomfortable. “Huh. Stellar. Proud of you, son.” His gaze shifted to meet mine for a moment before quickly averting his eyes again. “Just take it easy on her, alright?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Kayden pulled me close and smiled.

 Oh my god. Kayden. You didn’t.

Dad pulled his phone out and feigned surprise. “Oh, hey, look at that. Office is calling. Gotta go. See you around!” He turned and quickly paced towards his car. “Delilah, tell Parker and Jules I said hey.”

“Sure thing,” Mom called back, adding under her breath, “What a dick.” Kayden let out an uncomfortable cough. Once back in his car, Dad peeled out down the street until he was out of sight. Mom turned to us.

“What in the absolute fuck is going on?” she snapped.

I pointed to Kayden. “Shapeshifter.”

“No, I’m Gavin.” Kayden shot back with a cheesy smile.

“Gavi- er, Gabrielle, god, I just had that down! In the house, both of you!” Mom pushed us inside and slammed the door. Just my luck, Parker and Jules were both peering out the living room window when we shuffled inside. Their jaws dropped as they saw Kayden and I standing next to each other.

“I knew she wasn’t my brother!” Parker exclaimed happily. 

“Oof. That’s rough, buddy,” Kayden mumbled as they shifted back to their multicolored hair and something more similar to their usual appearance.

“Oh.” Parker’s expression dropped. He flopped onto the couch and pulled his phone out. “Whatever.” Jules, however, maintained her excitement. She wound up to say something but Mom stepped in front of her. 

“Explanation. Now.” Kayden and I exchanged an uncomfortable look before sheepishly admitting that we hadn’t exactly cut off our communication like she’d asked. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Really?” she exhaled deeply and took a few steps into the kitchen. “Gabrielle, I’m trying really hard not being the bad guy here, but you’re making this so difficult.”

“Mom, Kayden’s not a bad person. I think I’d have figured out if they were,” I retorted, my voice quavering. Kayden shuffled nervously behind me. I could feel their breath on the back of my neck, flowing in rapid and short bursts. Were they anxious?

Mom pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s not the point! You’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. If the --” she stopped and pulled a card from her purse on the kitchen counter, “‘Department of Metahuman Oversight’” she read off the card, her brow furrowing as she did, “hears about you fraternizing with a known vigilante --”

“Wait, I’m known?” Kayden said abruptly. They cowered back upon receiving an icy glare from Mom.

“If they hear about this I honest-to-god don’t know what they’ll do.” Mom began to pace back and forth, clearly troubled. “I didn’t even know they were a thing until Mrs. Bekker told me to avoid them.” I looked to Kayden, only for them to nod glumly.

“Yeah, the D.M.O is no joke. They can be… scary, if given half a chance.” Their hand wandered over to mine, tentatively grasping around it for support.

“How have I never heard of these people before?” I asked.

Kayden turned their head to the side. “What do you mean? I’m almost positive they cover the D.M.O. pretty early on at the academy.”

A flash of embarrassment surged through me. Shifting uncomfortably, I kept my eyes locked on the floor. “I uh… I’ve been a bit distracted, I guess.”

“You’ve been daydreaming about your powers so much you’ve barely paid any attention to class, haven’t you?” Kayden said beneath their breath, stifling a chuckle when a blush crept onto my cheeks. 

“Gabrielle! Seriously?” Mom exclaimed. I kept my eyes on the floor. “Later. That’s getting tabled for later. For now, the very person who I told you to stay far away from is now in my kitchen and…” her tone quieted, “Holding your hand.” She closed her eyes and steeled herself before walking up to Kayden. “I’m sorry, but you need to leave before the no-capes come knocking on the door.”

“Mom!” I yelled.

“No, Gabby, it’s fine,” Kayden attempted to calm me. “She’s right. My being here isn’t going to look good for you.”

“Actually, I think we can probably explain that away.” Jules piped up. The three of us turned to her in confusion. “If we say that Gabby was just moving super fast, they might buy it. It’s not like they know that she can’t do that.”

Mom’s brow furrowed. “I mean… I guess that might work? Would it?” She looked to us. Kayden and I just shrugged.

“Worth a shot,” I said. “I’ve only just started showing my powers off at school.”

Jules patted Kayden’s bicep, unable to reach their shoulder due to their height. “Also, I think you should go easy on Not-Gavin. He--”

“My pronouns are actually they/them,” Kayden corrected her in a stage-whisper.

“Oh, sorry!” Jules apologised. “They got Dad to go away. If he had found out about Gabby, you guys would still be out there and the neighbors would be watching yet another example of Dad blowing a fuse in our front yard right now.” The soccer practice incident flashed through our collective minds, eliciting a grimace from Mom and me.

Mom looked at her tiredly. “She isn’t wrong. He does like to yell.”

A shallow knock on the front door rang out through the living room to the kitchen.

“That must be one of them.” Mom said, her voice uneasy. She turned and gestured for us to go upstairs.. “You two, up to Gabby’s room. I’ll smooth things over with them.” Kayden and I nodded and promptly raced upstairs. Just as I was shutting my door, I heard Mom begin to speak with someone with a higher register than yesterday. Their cadence was… familiar, almost like -- 

“Gabby, what are you doing?” Kayden hissed. Remembering our situation, I quickly shut the bedroom door. After turning the lights on and ensuring my blinds were closed, Kayden and I took a seat on my comforter.

We sat together in silence, each waiting for the other to speak up. Fed up with the awkwardness, I cleared my throat. “It’s refreshing to have you here normal-sized for a change,” I commented in a small voice.

“Yeah, now we’re just, uh… in your bedroom. Alone?” they replied, a nervous twinge evident in their voice.

“Usually my mom would be in fits about me being in my room with the door closed with a, well,” I paused. “I guess she never imagined I’d have boobs and you’d be either both genders or neither.”

Kayden laughed. “No, probably not.”

I wrung my hands together as nerves built up in my stomach. “Thanks,” I squeaked. “For the dad thing.”

They waved me off. “No prob. I’m no stranger to dick-wad dads.”

“Even still, I’m really thankful. Was your dad like mine is?”

Kayden laughed. “Orders of magnitude worse. Even so, no big deal, not in my life anymore anyways.”

“Oh.” I nodded. I briefly considered asking them a follow-up about that, but the vibe they were exuding was very different from their usual easy-going energy. More curt and tense. Instead, I decided to change the subject.

“So… did you stop by just to save me from my bigot dad or what?” I smiled.

Kayden’s eyes widened. “Oh! That was a bonus, but I do have something for you.” They reached into the pocket of their jean jacket and fished out a small black hockey puck-like object.

“What’s that?” I asked as they handed it to me.

“Data pad. Or, well, that’s what Mel calls them. I prefer the term ‘data puck’ myself.” 

I let out a giggle. “It totally looks like a hockey puck!” I found myself snuggling in closer to Kayden. “What’s on it?”

“More like who,” Kayden grimaced. They pressed a button on the bottom of the puck. Slowly, a blue light came to life and illuminated its edging in a continuous line. A flicker of light sparked over top of it before giving way to a pocket sized figure bathed in blue light.

“About damn time,” it immediately complained.

“What, were you busy?” Kayden chuckled. 

“A goddamned whale just crashed through the ceiling of a warehouse near the docks, so a little bit, yes.” Though speaking through an electronic speaker, Mel’s voice was immediately identifiable. “‘Climate change isn’t real’ my ass.”

“Sorry, there were, uh… complications.” Kayden replied in a diffident tone. “But we’re good now, I think. If not, I can always chuck the puck out the window.”

“For the last time, it’s not a puck. It’s a data pad!” Virtual-Mel squawked.

Kayden rolled their eyes. “Right, right. You want to get on with  this whole briefing thing?”

“Yes, quite.” She turned to face me. “Gabrielle. How, uh… are you?”

“Fine I guess? Things have been kind of weird —“

“Good to hear,” she continued, paying little mind to my response. “I have a few questions for you.”

“What kind of questions?” I asked .

“Regarding Hexecute, his abilities, and his tech which you encountered in the train-yard. Nobody else has been as up-close with him as you and survived.”

“Actually, I have,” Kayden interjected.

“Not in the same way, Kayden. Gabrielle experienced his power transfer mechanism first hand and kept her powers intact.” I rubbed at my arm absentmindedly. That wasn’t exactly true.

“Can’t you just, like, review the video of the incident? You guys mentioned cameras being everywhere back when you were grilling me in the tower. I’m sure those’ll give you more information than I can.”

Virtual-Mel crossed her arms. “There is none. Hexecute was clever enough to wipe all digital information of himself at the scene, something he’s been doing for a while now.  Considering this wasn’t the case before, I’d hazard a guess this is a byproduct of his stolen technomancer abilities.”

“Even so, what kind of information could I give that other witnesses couldn’t?” I idly rested my head on one hand.

“The entire experience. What did it feel like? Did you hear anything in particular from his armor before or during the drain? What did he do when it started?”

I drew in a deep breath, recalling the week’s earlier events. “Well… he grabbed Markus and me with his right hand. It had a weird, metallic looking gauntlet attached to it. He made direct contact on Markus’ face before he began to syphon energy from him.” I began to run my hands together. “His… powers, I mean. Once it was attached, Markus couldn’t get it off. I don’t think that was because of the gauntlet itself, though. He’s really, really strong.”

“And that would be Clyde Curtis’ powers,” Kayden commented, causing me to wince as me memory flashed back to him and the explosion in his building Hexecute had caused.

“A-anyway, golden particles danced around Markus and me as Hexecute sucked our powers away. Cass saved me at that point, but Markus… well,” I trailed off.

“Right.” Mel commented. “Did you get a look at his face?”

“No. I almost knocked his goggles off, though,” I replied.

“Did you get a sense that he knew you?”

“He knew my name, and he seemed to think I didn’t have powers considering he was surprised to see I did. He was also surprised to see that my friend could summon a ton of imp things.”

Mel stroked her carbon-fiber chin. “Hm. That’s… odd. Has she summoned imps before?"

"Yeah, but I'd never seen her summon so many at once."

"Then maybe no one at the school has, either. It could be he was mining academy records for information on who would be in the group with Markus."

Kayden leaned forward. “Speaking of, why was Markus with you on that trip? His being a different year from you means that he should be in a different homeroom.”

“Apparently Mr. Garrison wanted him placed with us as a sort of punishment for being caught hero-ing the night before,” I said.

“What kind of idiotic --” Mel began before quieting. “Or was it?” She started to type something down on an invisible keyboard. “What do you think of Mr. Garrison, Gabrielle?” she asked curtly.

“He’s kind of a dick,” I answered honestly.

“Agreed,” Kayden added.

“Hm. I’m going to do some research then on my end. If he has any secrets, they’ll be in my grubby mitts soon enough. Gabrielle, have you had any encounters with Hexecute after the train-yard incident?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “Why?”

Mel adjusted her posture as she continued to type. “Because nobody has seen him since then. There’s been a few thefts at high security clellium repositories across the state over the last few days, which I believe him to have a hand in, but he’s not been seen by any witnesses. I’m worried that now that he knows who you are, he’s moving in closer and closer to you. He’s obviously planning something.” Wait, clellium thefts? I remember Mel mentioning that during the interrogation, too.

I snatched away the data puck and raised it to my face. “What was that about clellium repository thefts? How many places are getting robbed? How come I haven’t heard about this on the news?” I asked in an incredulous tone.

With Mel being so close, it was easy to spot her rolling her eyes. “We don’t exactly want it being public knowledge that a large amount of clellium, the chemical weakness of pretty much all alters, is potentially being distributed on the street. The information has been passed along to the D.M.O and a few of our franchise teams scattered over the west coast.”

“Oh,” I replied quietly.

“More to the point,” Kayden rubbed my knee gently, “Was there anything else about Hexecute you remember? They interviewed Markus but he wasn’t exactly a fountain of information.”

“Weird mix of too shell-shocked to provide coherent answers as well as too insolent to maintain decorum,” Mel grumbled

“Sounds like Markus, all right.” I wracked my brain for more details of that night. “Hexecute did say something about needing both of our powers. Something about a key.”

“A key to what?” they both asked.

“I’m not sure. But he also mentioned that he was going to take the rest of Markus’ powers, too.”

“The rest?” Kayden asked. I shrugged. “I didn’t know what it meant either. All I know is the night Verdant and Starburst tried to arrest us, he was glitching around a lot. I saw it the next day, too.”

“That’s going to require some followup with Markus, then,” Mel said as she typed away. “I need to know what Hexecute meant by that.” A thought burst to the forefront of my mind.

“Hey. Question about other speedsters.”

“Oh...kay?” Mel replied.

“Are there any that are pure electricity?” I asked, hoping to finally get some answers about that odd being who kept appearing to me.

“Pure electricity? No. That’s not possible, Gabrielle,” Mel said. “While some alters may be able to project electric-based imagery of themselves, our physiology must remain intact for our powers to function. That’s why clellium is 99% effective in most cases; it always has something biological to touch and bond to.”

“And mute, at least for a little while,” Kayden said. “Why do you ask?”

Though I was worried I sounded like a crazy person, I nonetheless informed them of my interactions with the lightning being, from the first time I’d seen it up to my last when it had carved ‘bleeding’ into the street pavement.

“Curious,” Mel mused. “Very Curious. Perhaps related to Markus’ glitching? Were his powers bleeding out, forming this… creature?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve felt Markus’ presence before, and this was completely different.”

Mel began to make flicking gestures in the air, likely moving through invisible light menus. “In that case, I’ll still have someone pay Mr. Miller another visit, I need further clarification on this. The pieces of this puzzle are in front of us. We just need to start with the outline and work inwards.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

“You’re still squinting, Gabrielle.”

I frowned. “Why do you keep saying that? I’m fine.”

“Not true. I made you those glasses for a reason. Use them.” I dropped the puck back in Kayden’s hand.

“Fine, fine. I’ll use them,” I groaned. Kayden looked between us before pressing another button on the device, causing Virtual-Mel to apparate away.

Kayden ran a hand through my hair, eliciting goosebumps in response from my skin. I shuffled in a little closer to them. “Going to side-step that one for the most part, though I will say if she made you something, it was probably for a good reason. Did she tell you what it was?”

“No.”

“Of course not,” Kayden laughed. “That’s the grumpy Mel I know.”

“Does she have to be grump all the time, though?”

Kayden raised an eyebrow. “I mean, she is a rehabilitated villain, so I think this is about as peppy as she gets.” 

“Wait, what? She was a villain?” I asked, my tone incredulous. It suddenly made so much sense. Of course she was a villain, she had all the people skills of a child on an airplane.

“Yep. About six years back, she was using the supernym ‘The Mechanic’ to rip off laboratories to further her research. I don’t think she ever killed anyone, though. At least not until she was caught. Some kind of issue that happened when two capes, sisters I think, at least as far as their theme was concerned, tried to stop her. I guess they were a sort of dynamic duo type. One of them was killed and Mel, seeing what had happened, immediately surrendered. She went to Cape Pole for a few years, petitioned for a work release, and has been helping the Crescent City capes ever since.”

I stayed silent as I processed all of this. Cape Pole was a prison up in Alaska designated for alters who’d broken the law and posed a significant danger to the general populace. Going on the information Bittinboulder and Prim had given me earlier in the day, I’d say alters at the level of B3 and up were sent there. So that meant if I ever broke the law… If nothing else, my hatred of the cold was as good a reason as any to stay on the straight and narrow. 

“Wow. That’s uh, contextually a lot,” I whispered.

“She doesn’t like to talk about it, but if you ever wanted to, you could probably ask her? I only know because I did some research on her right around when we started working together.”

“Duly noted.” I nodded. “I think I’ll refrain from asking, though. I feel like she already hates me.”

 They ran their hand over my shoulder and down my arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

I looked up at them. “Yeah, why?”

“Because you flinched when I mentioned Mr. Curtis. Are you still thinking about him?”

I fell back onto my pillows. “Was it that obvious?” Kayden leaned back against the wall.

“It was to me. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know.” I ran my hands over my face. “Yes? No? It’s complicated. Like, he’s fucking dead, Kayden. We were literally the last people to see him alive, and he died like two minutes later. Can I just have someone acknowledge how fucked up that is?”

“It is pretty fucked up, I’ll admit,” Kayden lamented.

I continued, “People keep telling me that’s what being a hero is. Sometimes, though, I get the feeling that it doesn’t stop there. If you’re an alter, even if you aren’t a hero, chances are you know someone who is. Does that mean that, no matter what, we’re always surrounded by this inevitability of death? That someone we know will die tragically?”

Kayden scooted themselves up to lay alongside me on the bed. “Gabby, that’s not an alter thing. I think that’s just a consequence of being alive. If you’re alive, there’s always the chance that you or someone else will, sometimes very suddenly, not be.”

I buried my head into my pillow. “So that’s supposed to make me feel better?” I yelled, muffled by the fluff inside of it.

“Well, no. But here’s something my uncle told me when my grandpa passed back when I was a kid.” They laid their head on the pillow next to me and locked eyes with me. It didn’t matter what was going through my mind a second before, as soon as I locked sight with those beautiful amber eyes, I felt immediately calm and safe. “Death isn’t the end. The ones who loved us will still miss us. They’re the ripples you leave in the world. And as long as they’re still around, causing ripples themselves, you’re never really gone. The impact you made is still here.”

I stifled a giggle. “Kind of on the nose, don’t you think?”

Kayden laughed too. “He was never one for nuance. But I think the message still holds true.” 

Kayden and I stayed like that for a while, staring into each other’s eyes. Just saying it was nice doesn’t really do the serenity of the scene justice, but yeah, it was nice. Eventually, once Mom gave us the all-clear, they headed out towards my window. I asked them to stay for dinner, but they begrudgingly declined. 

“Raincheck?” They smiled.

“Yeah, raincheck.” I sped up to them and wrapped my arms around them tightly. “See you tomorrow?” I asked.

“Of course,” they replied in a low, quiet whisper before shrinking once more to their miniscule height from the previous night. “Can I come like this? I always have wanted to eat giant spaghetti.”

 

* * *

Mom had shifted somewhat awkwardly but reliably into her new role as my chauffeur, allowing me to remain Gabby for as long as possible before entering the school. Thankfully we never heard anything else from the no-capes guarding the house, so hopefully we were flying under their radar for the time being. I closed my locker door after grabbing my books for my next class. The door swung shut with a heavy CLANG, echoing down the hallway.

Compared to my first day back, school was relatively routine again save for a particularly draining gym class. Apparently Mrs. Bittinboulder had found another “smart-ass remark” I’d made about her supernym to be the last straw and made me run a hundred laps. Couldn’t really blame her though, it wasn’t very funny. Even so, actually participating in gym class now meant I got to flex my abilities in front of the other students, including being the real, true me in public. Since the buzz and gossip had already begun to wear off, people were starting to treat me like any other student. However, changing back alongside Cass in the bathroom, hidden away like circus performers, felt incredibly degrading and erased whatever high I left the gymnasium with. I needed to find some way to get around these rules and be in my alter form all the time, and soon.

My trip to Civics didn’t go unimpeded, unfortunately. Markus cut me off before I could make it through a doorway, stranding me in the rapidly-draining hallway with him. I rolled my shoulder back, trying to shrug off a dull ache growing between my joints. The fragmented, torn aura around him I could sense yesterday was thankfully all but invisible to my senses now in my default form. Nonetheless, he still looked as tired and dreary as the day before.

“What do you want?” I groaned. The grip on my books tightened.

“I want you to listen to me,” he replied flatly.

I narrowed my eyes. “Why? So you can freak out at me again? Or do you want to sic your gang on me?” He turned to the side and cast a longsuffering glance at the nearby windows.

“Look. I get it. I was a dick. That’s actually what I want to talk about. I’m not… I’m not with those guys anymore.”

I pushed past him. The ache was beginning to grow stronger, making me more irritable. “Nah, I’m staying the hell away from you, Markus. I’m not in the mood to get punked. If I need any tutoring on douchebaggery, I’ll let you know.”

“No, you’re going to listen to me, McArthur.” He grabbed at my wrist and pulled me backwards.

“I said no!” I yanked my arm back. A deep grimace overtook facial features as the ache turned into acute pain all throughout my body.

“Ye --, wait, Gavin?” he stopped. Everything that happened next was a blur. 

Ironic, right? 

Far too quickly I was on my knees, my books scattered over the tiled floor. I was gasping for air and clutching at my chest. At some point, alarm-like sirens started playing around me.

I cupped my hands over my ears, hoping to block out the clawing, prying noise.

 A pair of hands pulled me to my feet. Momentarily my spacial awareness escaped me, leaving me dazed and confused. As the agony and ache slowly receded, however, things began to come back into focus. The first thing I noticed was Markus, his arm wrapped around my waist propping me up and looking distinctly worried. The AndrAI were surrounding us, each flashing red and emitting a blaring siren. A pair of rapidly-approaching footsteps signaled my fall hadn’t gone unnoticed, and sure enough Mr. Garrison appeared around a corner looking out of breath.

“Wha -- what in god’s name is going on?” he wheezed. For some reason, it took a moment for recognition to dawn on his face while looking at me. “Wait, you? Of course you’re involved.” Still out of breath myself, I didn’t respond. He held out a fob and aimed it at the AndrAI. After a moment, their sirens shut off.

Markus blinked a couple of times before responding. “H-he, uh, she had a…” he trailed off. She? I looked down. Yup. Boobs again. I transformed? That explained Mr. Garrison’s delayed response. I didn’t remember feeling the energy intensify, though it might’ve been muted by the pain I’d been consumed by. I drew in a deep breath of air and locked eyes with Mr. Garrison.

“Panic attack. I had a p-panic attack,” I said quietly. 

“Yeah, p-panic attack. That’s what it was. I mean, what I think it was. I’ve never had one so...” Markus nodded. Huh. Unexpectedly helpful assist from Markus. Thanks, I guess. Mr. Garrison walked forward.

“A panic attack?” he sneered. “You expect me to believe that’s why Mister McArthur here transformed? Don’t think I don’t know about that incident between you two in gym class yesterday. Were you fighting again?”

Markus disagreed. “No, that’s not it at all. I brought up Hex--” the words caught in his throat and came out as a sort of croak. 

“Hexecute.” I interjected, hoping to prop him up. “He brought up Hexecute and it must’ve triggered a memory for me.”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Yeah. Bad memory.” I added. 

“Then why the transformation?” Mr. Garrison crossed his arms disapprovingly. “You know that’s against school policy.”

“Er, emotional support alter form?” I smiled weakly.

“She’s not looking very good. I think we should get her somewhere.” Markus looked me over.

“Fine, fine. To the nurses office, then. But don’t let me catch you two pulling this crap again.” Mr. Garrison barked, straightening out his tweed jacket.

Markus glanced around the hallway distractedly before nodding. “Y-yeah. I’ll take her there.” Not needing him for balance any further, Markus and I separated and headed towards Nurse Prim’s office while Mr. Garrison returned to the main office. Once we were out of earshot, Markus turned and began to whisper harshly.

“What the fuck. What the fuck? You’re glitching.”

“So what if I am?”

“Have you told anyone?” he asked, his tone urgent.

“Why? Do you want to use it as a tool to bully me even more?”

“No! I told you, I don’t,” he stopped, absentmindedly sticking his hands into his jeans. “I don’t hang out with them anymore.”

“Right,” I mumbled.

“I just... I mean…” he sighed. “Look, I had the same thing happen to me. I know what it feels like.”

“What, the power draining?”

“No, the glitches.” He leaned in, whispering just beneath his breath.

“I know, I remember you convulsing on the roof like a fish.” 

“Right. That was before the trainyard.” It took me a moment to piece together what he was saying.

“Wait. So if this is caused by getting your power drained by Hexecute, and it was happening to you before the trainyard...”

Markus’ tone was grim. “That he was getting to me before the trainyard. Or someone else was. And I have no idea how. So… be careful.” We stopped in front of Nurse Prim’s door.

My muscles had loosened up considerably during the walk over, any hint of the pain no longer resonating enough to notice. “Yeah,” I whispered back. “I will.” He quickly turned around and rounded a nearby corner, leaving me alone.

Before I could even knock, the door swung open. “Gabrielle!” Nurse Prim chided. “I hear you’re starting fights, now? Or was it panic attacks?” She ushered me inside and closed the door behind us. Her office was cleaner than it was yesterday, but a few folders were still piled on her desk. 

“How’d you hear about it so fast?” I asked.

“Cell phones are a thing, you know,” Nurse Prim raised her eyebrow. “Mr. Garrison texted me that you’d be coming.”

“That makes sense I guess. Y-yeah. It was a panic attack.” I replied. I continued into her office towards her back room.

“Interesting. Do you usually experience panic attacks?” she asked. My hand brushed against a book lying askew on her desk next to a few of the manila folders. DSM 5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

“Only uh, recently.” Cass had brought that book up when we were doing research a few weeks ago; why did Nurse Prim have it? I looked up to her and gestured towards the book. “What’s this?” She squeaked and hurried over to her desk to flip the book over.

“You ah… weren’t supposed to see that,” she sighed. We continued back to the patient room where she pulled out a stethoscope.

“What was it?” I hopped up onto the table, wincing as the waistband of my jeans dug into my hips. God, wearing boy clothes was becoming such an annoying ordeal.

“Well...” She began checking all of my vitals. “I’m not sure if you’re aware,” she said as she listened to my heart beat, “but I moonlight as our school’s guidance counselor as well as intrepid nurse. Really, I’m in essence the caretaker of your bodies and your minds.” Her posture straightened and her voice was proud. “In that vein, knowing that we have several students suffering from gender dysphoria, I wanted to verse myself in the assistance I could provide in such a time that you or another student approached me for advice.”

“Huh,” I replied. That was... actually really, really nice of her. “Th-thank you.” I stammered. “Though does that mean that I have to dig out the skeletons in my closet with you or…?”

She stifled a quiet laugh. “No, no, keep those old bones where they lay unless you feel like disturbing the dead. Though I fear we will need to discuss those panic attacks of yours.”

“I don’t really think they’ll be a huge problem moving forward.” I admitted.

She gave me a withering look. “Gabrielle.”

I held three fingers to my brow. “Promise I’ll keep them under control. Scout’s honor.” Her expression loosened as her shoulders shook with a silent chuckle.

“Cub scout’s honor?”

I shrugged. “Well, yeah. Mom made me join when I was a kid for the summer. Wasn’t really a huge fan for obvious reasons.” 

She shook her head. “No, no, try this instead.” She held out three fingers pointed toward the ceiling. I hesitantly followed her lead. “Now say, ‘on my honor’.”

“On my honor?” I repeated.

“Good!” she clapped. “That’s how the girl scouts do it.” My eyes widened and, despite the circumstances, a wide grin spread from cheek to cheek. A loud knock sounded at the door, causing Nurse Prim to stiffen. “Who in the world?” She made her way to the door and opened it, revealing Mr. Garrison. Her tone instantly sweetened. “Oh, Mr. Garrison! How are you?” He looked past her and ran his cold, annoyed eyes over me, causing a chilling feeling not so dissimilar from Kip’s powers to take hold in the air.

“Fine, Prim, fine. How is he?” he blustered in response, pointing at me as if to drag his point across. I flinched. God, I hated being called he.

Her expression had tightened, lost its relaxed air. “She’s in good shape as far as I can tell.”

He grunted. “I could have predicted that. What I meant was, has he confessed to instigating that incident in the hallway? As much as I want to be fair, his story is a bit out there. I mean, panic attacks? This isn’t the internet, this is the real world, Nurse.”

I rolled my eyes.

“N-no, nothing like that. We’ve just been talking,” Prim replied. “And panic attacks are a well documented --”

He lowered his voice. “Well hop to, Prim! Lord knows we pay you generously for this position anyhow, the least you could do is provide some extra value for our buck.” He straightened his bowtie. “And you!” He locked on to me again, his voice booming. “This isn’t some free period. As soon as you’re done here, get back to class. I’ll be watching.” He spun on his heel and marched out, leaving Nurse Prim and me shell shocked by what had just transpired. Closing the door gently, Nurse Prim walked to her desk. 

“What a butthole,” I muttered. She dropped into her chair and began to rub her temples. “You good?”

“Yes. Just need to calm my mind. Nothing good ever comes from responses that have not been considered through a calm lens.” She looked up, clearly still irate and flustered. “Family saying. Don’t worry, while he’s frustrating, Mr. Garrison is only a nuisance. He just believes himself to be the most important person in the building what with all the degrees hanging on his wall.” She unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and took a sip. “Kind of like a little kid getting their art showcased on the fridge. Anyone can get a teaching degree in a few years’ time.”

“Self-importance is definitely the first impression he gives off. Right before an impressive amount of narcissism and bigotry,” I quickly agreed. 

She began to shuffle some of the folders on her desk back into order. “Feel free to head back to class, Gabrielle. Wouldn’t want to get yourself in further trouble. We can discuss those panic attacks another day.” Instead of leaving, I glanced at the DSM 5 book still on her desk. 

“Actually, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?”

I took a seat in the chair opposite her. “It’s just… why do I have to come to school in my guy form? What harm will it really do if I come to school with boobs?”

She leaned back. “For one, the AndrAI will detect certain signals you give off in your transformed state and will immediately flock to you with their alarm blaring. I’m sure you saw that earlier. The only reason they didn’t follow you around was because Mr. Garrison, being an administrator in the system, muted their response to your signature. Unless that happens, they’ll just follow you around constantly squawking.”

“Right.” I leaned forward onto her desk.

She continued. “Two, it’s against school policy to utilize alter forms outside designated areas unless in extenuating circumstances --”

“Wait, wait,” I held my hands up. “What are extenuating circumstances?” For the briefest moment, a smile flashed across her lips before disappearing behind a neutral expression.

“Normally when a student is suffering from some sort of impairment, either physically or mentally, special circumstances can be set up to allow continuous transformation,” she answered, her tone becoming more seditious as she spoke.

I inched forward. “So you’re saying if a student’s alter form alleviates this impairment…”

Nurse Prim kept her expression neutral while nodding ever so slightly. “Then the school’s policy could be called upon to make accommodations for said student.” My mind began to race. I could use this to force them to allow me to use my alter form all the time! I abruptly stood up.

“Thanks, Nurse Prim!” I excitedly exclaimed.

She continued to organize her desk. “I’m merely stating what our normal policy is, Miss McArthur. At least, what the normal policy was under Mrs. Bekker. What you do with that information, such as willfully disregarding rules that are in one humble nurse’s opinion very much draconian and rigid, is completely at your own discretion. Think of it as your back-up plan.” She looked up at me with a warm smile. “Remember what I told you? Let your happiness come first.”

I left her office repeating a mantra to myself. Over and over, I sent the thought through my mind until I could feel myself standing taller, my fear shrinking away.

I’m fucking Ricochet.

 

* * *

 

I was ecstatic as I readied for bed that night. I was really going to do this. I was going to march into school tomorrow in my alter form. I finished brushing my teeth, setting a new record of five seconds.

 “Thanks, super speed,” I thought to myself as I hurried off to bed. Mom ducked in to say good night as she usually did. While I’d grown tired of such a childish ritual before, I’d lately discovered a newfound fondness for it. Not sure why.

“Goodnight, Gabrielle,” she whispered. Butterflies began to stir in my stomach in reply. Ah. That’s why. I snuggled under the covers and basked in sensation of being seen as warmth danced across the surface of my skin. I hoped I’d never grow tired of this. 

“Goodnight, Mom,” I whispered back. I must’ve lain awake for hours staring at the ceiling, too wired to fall asleep as thoughts of what lay ahead raced through my brain. Eventually, as it always does, sleep overtook me and sent my mind into a quiet, peaceful slumber. At least, it was peaceful for a while.

Whatever dreams I’d been having before, if I had any at all, I could not recall. All I remember is awakening to an empty, gaping void of blackness. Nothing in sight, not even my hands. A thunderous roar overhead caught my attention. Arcs of lightning flashed through the air above, streaking through inky, impenetrable blackness. The roar slowly morphed into a dull rumble, drowning out any sound from the bolts. Blinding  light exploded overhead, flash-frying everything in sight. Sight returned to me much more quickly than I’d expected, especially with a flare of that size; though this was no boon. High above, shining as brilliantly as the sun, was a horrendous, terrifying lesion undulating waves of color and lightning in all directions. Yellow, orange, and red all in different intensities and volumes. Tracing the edge of the lesion was a bluish-green aura, providing a buffer between the murky jet black of this void and the wound. Terror torrented through me down to my bones. Somehow, deep down at the core of my being, intuition screamed and screeched that this was wrong. Far worse than observing Markus the other day, I was frozen in place, watching what I somehow knew was the end of the world. This was a blight unto reality itself.

A monumental amount of lightning and sparks shot out of the lesion downwards. As it barrelled in my direction, it began to take on a familiar, humanoid shape. The lightning being emerged out of the mass barrelling towards me and, though I couldn’t grasp whether I had a form in this place, swiftly tackled me to the ground. Its touch burned and singed my invisible flesh as it pinned me. I twisted and turned, but found no relief from its grasp. Whereas before it had spoken incoherently, now it was disturbingly clear in its screech.

Bleeding! Gabrielle, bleeding!

The darkness, the lightning being, the lesion, all of it gave way immediately to dim, warm light peeking through my bedroom blinds. Only the howl of the cold morning wind outside could be heard, and the room was empty, save for me. I was sweaty all over; even my hair was moist. My blankets, no longer covering me, lay half on the floor and half bunched between my still-shaking fists. I pulled them closer and sighed, struggling to calm myself down.

“I’m fucking Ricochet,” I breathed.

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