On a quiet weekday morning in Fair City, a preteen boy is found riding in the sky, atop an enormous floating magnet. He is riding carefree, only pointing miniature magnets toward certain things: one of Doctor Two-Brain's broken, discarded ray guns and the warden's walkie-talkie. He presses a button on his wristwatch. A girl his age with soft snowy hair appears on the watch face, set to communicate.
"April, are you sure there's one here?"
"You found the dairy ray and the walkie, right?"
"Yeah, but every town probably has one. An extra-terrestrial call buckle is going to be hard to find. Not to mention one from a specific planet!"
"Don't yell at me, Andrew! Kenz did her research and she assures me 100% there's one there!"
"Well, what if he catches me? And why does it have to be from that planet, anyway?"
"Duh! You can be so dumb sometimes, Andrew. That's what planet Kenz is from! How is she supposed to make this stuff if it's not from her planet?"
"Whatever." He grumbles, knowing she is completely right.
Andrew flies over Woodview Elementary and the lights and small siren are set off on his remote band. A soft 'toldja' can be heard from his watch. He floats over, attempting to locate the exact position of his desire.
Meanwhile, in Miss Davis' class, the fifth graders are being taught about aerospace. Becky is engaged in this topic, partially because of her otherworldly roots. Tobey is also engrossed, since he loves to build and has an interest in rockets. The other kids range from slightly curious to total indifference. Miss Davis uses a recording of sound effects to make the subject seem more appealing to her drifting students.
Suddenly, Tobey feels a strange force at play. The fluorescent lights rattle and the ceiling quakes. Becky doesn't realize it until the roof caves in. She is not alert and remains confused. There isn't much time. The teacher and students cower under their desks, bracing for impact. Becky is frozen in a mix of bewilderment and fear, since she hadn't picked up anything on her radar (supersonic hearing). Surprising the class even more, Tobey lunges to Becky, holding up the cave-in.
". How?" She manages to make out a small squeak, now even more paralyzed than before.
He releases one hand, placing two fingers up to his bow tie, the same way Becky does for her Wordgirl transformation.
"Be smart!" He mutters under his breath.
Before his classmates' eyes, a silver and dark blue outfit embodies him. There is a distinct image of the sun within an upside-down star as the front emblem, similar to that of Wordgirl's costume. The suit appears almost mechanical, but it is obvious that Tobey is able to move around in it with ease. Becky nearly falls out of her seat as a dark blue helmet comes over his head, shielding his eyes, replacing his glasses. He immediately circles around the classroom in a fierce whirlwind, speedily fixing the damage done.
"Hello, Andrew." He speaks, in a rather soothing American accent, once in the sky, above the playground. "May I presume April is on your communicator?"
"Hi, Tech Boy!" She shouts in a fangirl-type of voice.
"Why must you always call me Andrew?" He grumbles. "My aunt called me that one lousy time and now you never refer to me as Magnet Kid!"
"How 'bout this? You tell me why you stole the things you did," He banters, gesturing to the objects trapped in his floating force field. "And why you destroyed the school. You surrender, I'll take you back to your town, and I'll start calling you Magnet Kid again."
"We need 'em." He grumbles. "And someone in this town is an alien like Kenz. Not some mutant like you."
"Mutant? Is that really the best you can do? Why not distortion? Malformation?"
Andrew puts his hands to his ears, drawing back to the fetal position. His mom was a grammar teacher/villain who used synonyms against others. Tobey was once in her first grade class when he visited his cousin in Woodburn for a week.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
"Stop?" Tech Boy counters. "You mean cease? Discontinue? Finish? Wanna tell me who set you up to this?"
"I can't! You can't!"
Tobey stops in his tracks and lets out a sharp shout. "Kenz!"
Andrew is crying on his magnet, breaking the force field. Tech Boy watches as the busted ray and the screeching walkie fall onto the jungle gym. The magnets default and one-by-
one begin to fall from the sky. Tobey's class is outside now, watching everything in puzzlement. Tech Boy drops down to collect the raining magnets, setting them by the school wall. He also grabs Becky by the back of her shirt. He carries her to the roof of the school, as Wordgirl feels a ting of irony.
As the giant magnet hovers, the rest of the school is sent home for the day. Tech Boy races back in time to catch Magnet Kid and wrap the gigantic magnet around him. He hurls him away and, with lightning speed, Tech Boy charges two towns over. He catches the boy then turns him over to his aunt, without actually talking to either. Tech Boy then hurries back to his own town, to the school's rooftop. Becky is near motionless.
". So, thanks for saving me, us, back there."
"Of course."
He presses two fingers to his chest area, converting back to clumsy nerd Tobey. He replaces his glasses then rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as he smiles to Becky.
"That wasn't how I wanted you to find out, Wordgirl."
"I, uh, what?"
"Becky, you know I know. Listen, could you not tell the villains about this? Woodburn doesn't know my identity, either."
"Tech Boy."
"Yeah. I promise I won't tell anyone you're Wordgirl."
"A trade." She sighs.
"More like trust."
At the mention of the word 'trust,' Becky thinks back to the whole library fiasco and begins to sweat with guilt. Tobey places a hand on her shoulder, urging her to look at him. He is very sincere.
"Even if both our towns' villains found out my double life, I will not say even one word about yours."
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