-Maia POV-

 

{And why did you do that?}

Well, I was sure as hell not going to tell her I was threatened.

[Uh… It sounded neat.]

{It sounded neat.}

[Yes.]

I felt her sigh again.

To my surprise, I felt a tug as Tessa released control of her body to observe through mine.

“Hey, kid, are you okay?” Weaver asked.

I realized I was still holding Breach’s hand after the handshake. I quickly let go, noting her look of concern as I did so.

I decided to try and laugh off their worries.

“Ahaha, yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Just then, Tessa chimed in.

{…Why is she wearing a maid outfit?}

[That is a good question.]

“I just got distracted when I remembered that I wanted to ask Breach why she’s wearing a maid dress.”

{Nice segue.}

[I’m kinda trying to focus here.]

{Might I remind you of every time you distracted me while I was talking to people?}

[That is entirely fair.]

“Oh, do you like it? I think it works pretty well as a distraction. Since I have a maid outfit on, people tend to forget my other features,” Breach said, seeming excited.

Weaver looked as though she had something to say, then changed her mind.

“Plus, it’s fairly bulletproof, thanks to Weaver,” Breach continued.

Weaver nodded wordlessly, then spoke up.

“Why don’t we get to know each other a bit better?” Weaver asked.

“Ooh! I’ll go first!” Breach said.

She appeared to concentrate for a moment, then black cat ears appeared on her head and a cat tail raised her dress in the back.

Weaver quickly pulled the back of Breach’s dress back down.

“That is not what I meant,” Weaver said in an exasperated tone, before turning back to me. “Why were you out in the industrial district in your pajamas? At this time of morning, no less?”

{I want to know that too. Why were you out at this time of night? Er, morning?}

[Long story, I’ll explain when we get home.]

“Uhhh, I was out on a walk, since I couldn’t sleep.”

“I see,” Weaver replied. She didn’t sound convinced, but at least she dropped the subject. She glanced over at Breach, then back at me. “Anyways, as part of our team, I will need to make you an outfit.”

“Please not a maid dress.”

“Don’t worry, that was a special request!” Breach interjected, sounding proud of herself.

Weaver reddened briefly, before adopting a thoughtful expression.

“It would be a good idea to wear something a bit odd to distract people, like with Breach’s maid outfit. Ultimately, though, it’s your choice.”

She picked up a flip phone off a nearby shelf, then tossed it to me.

“You can get in contact with us using that, so you don’t have to decide right now.”

“Oh, and you need a code name!” Breach said.

{Sunder.}

“Sunder.”

I wasn’t sure why exactly, but something about it just sounded right.

“That was quick,” Weaver commented. “Well, it’s getting close to sunrise, and I have a job to do. It would probably be best for you to go home, as well.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll… see you later, then.”

I left through the same door we came in. Looking around the alleyway between all the warehouses, though, I had no idea where I was.

[…I’m lost.]

{Same here.}

I stood there for a moment, at a loss for what to do.

{…Can you stand on your barriers?}

I summoned a barrier about knee-height above the ground. Carefully putting a foot on it, then shifting my weight, I stood on top of the barrier.

[Huh. Neat.]

I created more, higher in the air. Jumping between them, I quickly arrived at roof level. I hopped off, landing on top of a building, then allowed the platforms to disappear.

It kind of surprised me how easy it was.

I turned in a circle, searching for a landmark in the city lights.

{There!}

[Thanks.]

{Oh, and here.}

I looked down at myself, seeing that Tessa had made me invisible.

[Thanks again.]

I ran along the rooftops toward home.

 

-Tessa POV-

 

As Maia ran home, I worried.

I had been trying to distract myself by paying attention to the conversations, but now there weren’t any such distractions, and my mind wandered.

Breach and Weaver seemed like nice people, but the bandages on Breach’s leg and her slight limp had not escaped my notice.

Being a supervillain sounded dangerous.

What if Maia got hurt, too?

I-

I couldn’t bear to imagine it.

I needed Maia. If anything happened to her-

[We’re here.]

Maia was standing on a barrier, carefully sliding open the window to our room. She climbed inside, before breathing a sigh of relief.

[Made it before sunrise.]

I took control of my own body again, materializing next to her. I took her coat, hanging it up in the closet. Maia took off her shoes and placed them by the door.

[Ah.]

{Hm?}

[I definitely closed the door.]

{Oh.}

The door was ajar. Inspecting the room, though, nothing seemed amiss.

{Odd.}

Maia closed and locked the door again, before looking at me with wide eyes.

[Do you think it was Marissa?]

{I don’t know. It wasn’t open when I woke up.}

Suddenly, Maia let out a yawn and rubbed at her eyes.

Maia kept surprising me at just how cute she could be.

I could see the first rays of sunlight coming over the horizon outside the window. An idea occurring to me, I grabbed Maia’s arm and pulled her over to the window. I also dragged the big, comfy chair in the corner of our room over to the window, and pulled a blanket off our bed.

[…What are you doing?]

{Let’s watch the sunrise together.}

She made a small squeak that made my heart speed up.

I sat down and patted the spot next to me. It was a bit tight, but we both fit. I pulled the blanket up onto us.

As the sun rose, I thought back on the past week.

It had been a hectic week. Being split, going shopping, going to school, having all the superpower stuff happening, it was almost too much to keep track of.

Maia seemed to have recovered from her crush on Vigilante, which was a relief to me. I didn't know what I would have done if she had continued. I loved Marissa, but not in that way.

Which reminded me, I had so many questions that I didn’t have answers to. Why was Vigilante fighting people? How did Marissa get away with being Vigilante instead of going to work? Why were some people transformed or given powers, or both? How was the type of transformation decided? How far could powers go? Why was it so hard to recognize people when they transformed, or, in the case of Vigilante, didn’t transform?

I sighed. There was just too much I didn’t know.

Suddenly, Maia’s head fell on my shoulder, interrupting my thoughts.

“Wha-“

Her breathing was slow and deep, and I realized she had fallen asleep. I smiled and took a deep breath. Despite her activities in the city, she still smelled like all the calming smells of the forest.

I pet her head a few times, then rubbed the base of her fox ears.

A soft purring noise emanated from her, which was adorable.

I ran my hands through her hair, then looked outside again. The sun was pretty much up now, and it was getting too bright outside for sleeping.

I closed the curtains and stood up, carefully carrying Maia to bed. I adjusted the blanket to cover her better, then went to the window to drag the chair back to the corner.

I stood at the side of the bed for a few moments, watching Maia sleep. When awake, she always had at least a bit of tension, as though she was on the lookout for potential threats. But now, she seemed relaxed and comfortable, wrapped in blankets with a soft smile on her face.

I gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked to the other side of the bed, intending to go back to sleep, too. Before I could, however, I heard a soft buzzing sound coming from the closet.

I found the source of the noise to be something in the pocket of Maia’s coat. Ah. It was the flip phone that Weaver gave her.

I flipped it open and was surprised to find that, while it looked like an old flip phone on the outside, it was quite sophisticated on the inside. On the screen was a prompt requesting a name.

Enter username: _

I typed in sunder and pressed the button labeled Accept.

 

Welcome!

…

sunder has joined the channel.

Weaver: Keep in mind, it is no longer just us on this channel.

Weaver: Oh, hello Sunder!

SYSTEM: User #002 has changed their username to breachesandcream.

Weaver: That will have to do, I suppose.

breachesandcream: oh hey sunder

sunder: hello!

sunder: what were you talking about?

Weaver: Nothing of importance.

sunder: oh, ok.

sunder: i’m still thinking of an outfit, when do you guys need an answer?

Weaver: Sometime in the next week, preferably.

sunder: ok cool, thanks!

sunder: also, how do i make this thing stop buzzing? i was about to go to sleep.

 

Weaver then guided me through the process of setting the phone to light up instead of vibrate. It felt strange to have to ask someone older how to use technology, but it was a weirdly advanced flip phone, after all.

After accomplishing that, I said goodbye and turned off the phone, placing it on the nightstand next to Maia.

The thought of Breach reminded me of something else. I smiled and picked up my own phone, ordering a few things online. I paused, then ordered a set for myself as well.

I laid down next to Maia and brushed a few errant strands of hair out of her face. I sighed, thinking of all that happened tonight.

“Just what did you get yourself into, Maia?” I whispered.