For the full effect, when you get to Nova, say the full names of everyone in her family out loud.


Chapter 1: The Players

Kayson chuckled as he placed a bandage on Elijah's knee. There wasn't an 'ouchie' there, but at five, Elijah liked to show his 'war scabs' to his friends at school in the form of bandages... so long as Batman was featured. Granted, neither Elijah nor his twin brother Joseph had so much as a scratch on them, thanks to Kayson's 'gift.'

Kayson was a story. The dyslexic kid that was first in his class, aced health class while never having even paid attention, and spent his down time reading medical journals. He was smart, there was no doubt about it. He just never really did well with the English reading. Part of it was the dyslexia. He couldn't open a book without the letters swirling together and becoming a jumble in his head.

Kayson had solved this problem for all the literature books he was supposed to read with an iPod and a library card with access to all the audiobooks he could want. It was a lot more time consuming than the reading was for all the other students, but considering it cut his time with the literature books in half, it was worth it.

And then there was the meanings of the books and different passages. Kayson never understood that there was any significance to all the reds and greens in Harry Potter. So Harry had green eyes. So Gryffindor's color was red. So what? His friend, Molly, had spent nearly three hours lecturing Kayson to the significance. All Kayson had gotten out of that was that J.K. Rowling needed to use other colors in her books.

"Can I have a bandage too?" Joseph asked as Kayson lifted Elijah off the bathroom counter. "But with Captain 'Merica?"

Kayson sighed and laughed. At least Elijah was consistent in wanting Batman. Joseph's favorite changed from week to week. The week before, it had been Big Hero Six. The week before that, he had wanted Olaf. Kayson couldn't keep up, and neither could Anna Lincoln's wallet.

"We have Superman and skin color," Kayson said.

Joseph pouted.

"Come, now, you don't want a bandage," Kayson said. "You didn't even fall."

"Did too," Joseph said. He lifted his sleeve to show a small abrasion on his skin. "Miss Jenny didn't put on a bandage."

Kayson sighed and rubbed his finger over the small scraping of skin, and it was fully healed when he pulled his hand away. "All better?"

Joseph pouted, saddened that he had been denied his 'Captain 'Merica' bandage.

It was Kayson's gift. Healing and health. Kayson never has so much as a sniffle. All he had to do was hold his mom or brothers for an hour and any flu symptoms they had would disappear. He could heal all their scrapes, cuts, and even small burns with a brush of his hand. He'd never tried anything past that, he'd never had to.

As he sent the twins to go play in the playground their apartment complex had provided, though it was in need of repair, the phone rang. Kayson answered it and walked to the kitchen window so he could still keep an eye on his brothers.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kay, glad I caught you," Molly's voice came racing out of the phone. She always spoke fast. "I kind of need your help."

"What happened?" Kayson asked, worry lacing his voice. Molly was rather independent and never asked Kayson for help.

"Okay, so, I have a date tonight with Mark, right?" Molly said.

"You do?" Kayson asked.

"Yes!" Molly seemed rather put off he didn't know. "Not the point. The thing is, I woke up with this monster zip, and I mean monster. So, I popped it. So, now I have a cut on the middle of my forehead."

"And?" Kayson asked.

"Hello, I can't have that while on a date with Mark!" Molly snapped. "Anyway, I'm almost at your place, and all you have to do is fix it."

"Why me?" Kayson asked. Aside from his mother and brothers, Molly was the only one that knew Kayson had his gift.

"I'm sorry, do you know anyone else that can heal a cut with a tap of the finger?" Molly asked.

"No," Kayson said.

"That was hypothetical, Kay," Molly said. He was still at the window when Molly's car came into view. He watched as it drove around the building toward the visitor parking.

"You shouldn't talk on the phone while driving," Kayson said.

"Zit hole, Kay, I don't have time to do those things separately," she said. "I'll be up in a minute."

Molly didn't bother knocking. She saw the twins when she passed them, and knew the door would be open for them. She also knew where Kayson would be.

"See?" Molly asked, walking into the kitchen.

Kayson turned to see Molly. She was slender with thick blonde hair in waves and gorgeous green eyes. Beautiful. It was a wonder that she hadn't stopped talking to him when they hit high school and she had made the cheerleading squad. She went on dates with all the popular jocks, and Kayson had never had a date in his life.

He was tall, but more lanky than lean. He also had short brown hair, kept short because he didn't know how to handle it when it was more than an inch long. Molly had told him a hundred times that without his buddy holly glasses, he'd be cute, with his blue eyes, but Kayson refused to use contacts and he couldn't see well enough without the glasses. As it was, he had hated all other frames that he had tried on.

"Fix it, Kay," Molly said, approaching him.

Kayson sighed and placed his fingers on her forehead, healing the mark. He trailed his fingers down her cheek after he was done, a sign of his feelings for her, though she didn't notice, or didn't care.

"You really do need to update your wardrobe," Molly said. He was wearing worn jeans and a red and blue flannel button-up. Both items had been bought at a thrift shop. "It would really help to get you a date. And then we could go on double dates."

"Um, I don't think dating right now is important," Kayson said. He glanced out the window. "I have one more year here, and then I'm off to Stanford."

"Wouldn't you want to learn how dating actually works before you go to college?" Molly asked. She was shuffling around, but Kayson knew that she would raid his kitchen whether invited to or not. He also knew all her dating mantras, so he figured she was thinking Don't go on a date hungry, or you'll seem like a pig.

"I think dating changes with age," Kayson said.

"That might be," Molly said. "But you still need to get the awkward part over." He heard the sound or a zipper.

"What are you do- why are you naked?" Kayson couldn't tear his eyes away.

He had always known Molly had a beautiful body, but only because he had seen her in a bikini. It was a huge surprise for him to turn around and see her in her panties and bra. Her bikini had always been modest, not like the lacy light green of her underwear.

"I have to change," Molly said, not even caring that he was staring. She reached into her bag and pulled out a dress. She slipped it easily over her head and down her body. She shook out her hair. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful," Kayson said softly.

Molly smiled her beaming smile. "Thanks," she said. "Can I leave this bag here? I told Mark to pick me up here and I don't feel like storing it in my car."

"Sure," Kayson said.

Molly threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Kay," she said, before her phone buzzed. "Oh, he's here," she said. She turned to leave. "Don't forget me when you're a genius doctor, Kay," she said as a good-bye.

"Never," Kayson replied, and he meant it. And then she was out the door to go on a date with the most popular guy at school.


"Ready or not, here I come!" Odessa said, taking her hands off her eyes. Hide and seek was always a way to entertain her sisters. All three or them. Odessa was sixteen, older than her oldest sister by eight years.

Meena, Odessa knew, would be hiding in the basement. Only Meena would venture there alone. Which meant that Leela, her seven-year-old sister, and Avani, her five-year-old sister, would be on the same level that she was in. There weren't too many places to hide, but Odessa always tried to find Meena first as Meena didn't cry when she was found.

"Girls, I'm home!" Betty's voice called through the house, ending the game abruptly as Betty had promised they would all help to make a cake for their father.

Odessa laughed as two girls swept past her, their black hair swinging in the braids Odessa had put them in to match her own braid.

"Oh, look at you all," Betty laughed seeing her three daughters and step-daughter all looking similar. Whenever Odessa returned to town, her little sisters insisted that they be just like her. This time, it was slightly baggy pants, black tee (though Odessa's was cropped and theirs weren't) and a long braid down their backs.

Betty, the blonde mother of the three younger girls just smiled and kissed each of their foreheads, and then Odessa's tanner forehead too. She had raised the girl since she was a baby, after all. And was closer to Odessa than her real mother.

The Surichi household was always happiest when Odessa stopped in from her camp. Which happened every birthday, important holiday, and winters when the family traveled to India to visit Sunhil's mother. However, in family pictures, Betty was the one that stood out, pale and blonde, while the other five, four girls and Sunhil, all had black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin as Sunhil was born and raised in India.

"Thank you so much for watching the girls while I was at the office and store," Betty said to Odessa as the other three girls carried the grocery bags to the kitchen.

"Oh, you know I love to," Odessa said. If Odessa had her way, she'd have five more siblings, but Betty had sworn off any more kids after Avani.

"Mommy!" Leela's voice called from the kitchen. "Meena threw flour at me!"

"Did not!" Meena yelled. Leela met Betty and Odessa half-way to the kitchen, flour in her hair. Meena was right after her, her hands coated in white.

"You really want some of your own someday?" Betty asked, a hint of a joke on her lips.

"No," Odessa said. "I want a lot of my own, not just some."

"Does that mean I'm gonna have a niece?" Meena asked. "When!"

"Not for a while," Betty said. "Your sister is only sixteen."

"In the future," Odessa said.

"Soon?" Leela asked. "I love babies!"

Odessa smiled brightly, causing all anxieties and stress to disappear. "I haven't met the right boy yet, but it'll be at least two years after that."

"Oh, that's too soon," Betty said.

"I hardly ever meet boys, Mom," Odessa said. "So, you've got a few years before you become a grandmother. I'm sure Avani will be ten."

"You'll only be twenty-one, if that's the aim," Betty said. "At least give yourself time to enjoy your twenties."

"Okay, she'll be eleven," Odessa said with a chuckle, and Betty giggled in response. "That way Meena will be old enough to babysit."

"We get to babysit!" Leela asked in joy.

"In six years," Odessa said, but that didn't seem to bother the girls as they began coming up with possible names for their future niece.


"Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in," Nova's voice filled the theater of the Jefferson High School talent show. The applause and girls singing along would have made some think they were at a Taylor Swift concert.

As it was, Nova Kane had her own little YouTube channel where she posted covers of songs, as well as Vlog posts on random issues, from world stories to her own life drama. The world knew her stance on Pro-Choice as well as as the fact that her step-father had a cruel sense of humor. The fact that when her mother married him when Nova was only a year old made the two of them go from Candy Patterson and Nova Patterson to Candy Kane and Nova Kane wasn't enough. When Marco Kane had two of his own kids, they were named Sugar and Co.

Nova was glad every day when she woke up and remembered her name wasn't Co Kane. She also felt bad that her lazy half brother was forever going to be made fun of because of his name.

But over the last two years, Nova had disappointed Marco's dream of using her to launch her siblings to fame and fortune. She had broke up their little family band (after all, Co was horrible at the bass and Sugar didn't even like the drums), was determined to not show pictures of them on any of her social media sites, and altogether just didn't mention them.

Of course, on stage singing with her new bandmates, she felt like crying. Not because she hated it, because performing was something she loved, but because the song hit her a little closer to home than she wished. She chose the song weeks ago, because she didn't want to anything that was in the top forty that moment, but still wanted to do Taylor Swift. That morning, her perfect boyfriend, Peter, had broken up with her... again.

Her followers and fans had all given her sympathy, but no one had sad anything bad about him. After all, Peter might as well be called Adonis considering his beautiful face and body.

There was also the matter that they were simply the second half opening act. As the band did play shows for money, they weren't officially allowed to compete for the prize. But, it was the last event for the seniors before graduation and all three of Nova's bandmates were seniors. Luckily, the two going to college were only half an hour away and the third was holding off for a year, so the band wouldn't be dissolved. But Nova no longer had Peter, so it felt like her whole world had died... for the fifth time.

"Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground. Oh!"

After the show, people were congratulating her and praising her. Nova forced a smile, knowing that in a matter of hours she'd be either crying into her pillow or asking Peter what had happened this time. Or rather, who had happened. It was usually a who, until the girl with longer legs really got to know him, at which point he'd slip in next to Nova again.

Nova was just escaping the crowd when she heard a slow, deliberate clap. She turned around and spotted a man mostly in shadow. "Beautiful, as one would expect from the child of Apollo," he said.

Nova reached back, only to remember that she didn't have her quiver with her. She had left it at her house, easily accessible should she be attacked at home. And it would take her too long to pull her guitar out for a sonic guitar attack. So it was just her training and her voice.

"You do not want to mess with me," Nova said, ready to dodge an attack.

The man chuckled and took a step into the light. The mist didn't affect her fully, so he blurred a bit in her vision, partly looking like a man wearing a stuffy gray and brown outfit, partly like a creature with a giant scorpion tail. A manticore. "Don't think you can beat me without your bow, Nova."

"She doesn't," another voice said, and Nova's blue eyes lit up. Behind the man, without either of them noticing, was Peter, slicing off the manticore's scorpion tail. He yelled and spun, but Peter was too fast and his sword was quickly through the body before it turned into gold dust.

"You saved me," Nova said, her eyes teary.

"My duty," Peter said. He approached her and looked into her eyes with his perfect gold eyes. "But it doesn't change anything, Nova."

Nova stared at Peter for a moment. "You just saved my life," she yelled at him. "Tell me that doesn't mean anything to you."

Peter shrugged his broad shoulders. "Nova, you know I care about you, but that's just my job. It's the only reason the Legion allows me to live outside of New Rome, if I kill all monsters on sight." He twisted the pommel of his sword and it shrank into a golden comb. He quickly ran it through his hair, not that it had gotten messed up. "I wish I could say otherwise, but I'm into someone else."

Nova deflated as he walked away. That was one quality she loved about him. He didn't cheat.

"I still love you!" Nova yelled at him.

He turned to her, too far to make out the sparkle in his eyes. But he didn't respond. He was gone a moment later.

Nova crouched and began to cry into her hands. At least, she knew, she'd be back at camp soon and it would occupy her enough that she wouldn't have time to dwell over Peter.


Dick stared at his coach. Basketball season was long over, but his coach was telling him when to show up to school, over his summer break, for training and conditioning, as well how many miles he was supposed to run each week.

He doubted he would. After all, Dick wasn't even sure he'd be remaining in school. He had gotten a job waiting tables on weekends, and he knew that if he worked full time, he'd end up making more money than several of his teachers when tips were added in.

And, to top it off, he had a fake ID and could probably get a second job as a bartender. He didn't drink, but he could make mixed drinks.

"Do you understand me?" Coach Wallace asked.

"I understand you," Dick said. "But it's not happening. I'm not spending my summer running myself ragged."

"Do you want a spot on varsity next year?" Coach Wallace's face began to turn red.

"Are you saying you'd cut your best player because he didn't run a marathon over the summer? Because, I can tell you, that would be your mistake." Dick gave his coach a smirk before turning around. The last bell of the school year was about to ring, and he didn't want to spend another moment there.

"If you don't show up to conditioning, don't bother coming to try-outs," Coach Wallace said.

"Whatever, Coach," Dick said and walked out. He knew that it didn't matter. Dick wasn't just the best player on the team, he was the team. Dick always was the highest scorer, and he had never lost a game. However, due to his dyslexia and how school never held his attention, he often didn't have high enough grades to participate in games, and when he wasn't on the court, the team lost.

Within an hour of summer break starting, Dick found himself at work. He easily dodged through the other waiters and guests, carrying a large tray of food. A table of four girls had all ordered appetizers as their meals. It happened in his section rather often, which annoyed him, because that meant lower tips, but it also happened often enough that he had collected a number of cell numbers and more than enough dates over the past few months.

"When does your shift end?" one girl asked, spinning her red curls around her finger. Dick smiled at her, noticing her skimpy top and pouted lips. Oh, he could have a lot of fun with her.

"I have my meal break in five minutes," he said.

She smiled, showing her white, and surprisingly sharp teeth. "Perfect," she said. "I'll meet you in the alley then?"

"Five minutes," he said.

He walked back to the kitchen, making sure that he had no more tables to tend to, before taking off his apron and hanging it on his hook. After all, there was a beautiful girl waiting for him in the alley.

"What's your name?" she asked, as he got there. She was leaning against the wall, still curling her finger in her hair.

"Dick," He said, before bending forward and pressing his lips to hers. He grabbed her waist and pulled her body against his. Her fingers slipped into his hair, and he was quite enjoying himself until she bit his lip.

Dick pulled back and tasted a little blood, as her teeth had actually ripped his lip open. He looked at her, suddenly seeing her image flicker a bit before his eyes. Fire in her hair. Mismatched legs. Dick let her go, but she had a hold on his hair.

"What's wrong, Dick?" Trying to pull him forward as her image flickered again. Dick pushed her against the brick wall, hard, what would hurt most girls, but she just chuckled. He did it again, harder, enough so that she released his hair.

He stumbled backwards. "What are you?"

"Your end," she simply laughed. She took a step toward him, her heel clacking sounding more like a hoof than a show. The next step sounded like metal hitting concrete. He took a few more steps back until his back hit a wall. Something was very wrong with her.

His hand found a trashcan, and in it, what felt like a hilt of some sort. He pulled it out, hoping it would be a weapon of some sort, but instead found a flashlight. She laughed, but it would have to do.

He pressed the button, hoping to catch her off guard by shining light into her eyes.

Instead, a dark colored metal shot out the top, forming into a long, thin blade. The girl's eyes flashed and the curling, fiery colored hair turned into real fire. "Do you even know how to use that?" she asked with a small cackle.

"Of course I do," Dick said. He charged forward, dodged her claws as best he could, and shoved the blade into her heart. "Stick them with the pointy end," he said close to her ear as she turned to dust.

"I'll get you some day," she whispered before she was fully gone.

Dick breathed deeply, before looking at the short sword in his hand. It felt completely right to be in his hand. The hilt looked like that of a sword, but it had a small button. When he pressed the button, it turned back into a flashlight.

Whoever had thrown that sword out had to be whack, he decided.

He moved to put the flashlight into his pocket, and winced, realizing that there were a few deep scratches on his arm. He'd have to clean and bandage those before his break was over.


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