Chapter 11: Starr
Starr opened her eyes. It's too bright in here. Why has mom woken me up so early?
"Mom, shut the lights off. Five more minutes please," pleaded Starr dreamily.
"Starr. Mom isn't here. We aren't at home anymore. We are in the VonDoom building. You just let Bloodlust take control. You were doing so well, too," replied Peter.
"Peter! Why are you in my room? Where is mom?" asked Starr.
"Starr! Mom is dead, remember. You aren't in our room. Wake up!" shouted Peter as he started to shake Starr vigorously. "Why do you do this? You're the only one who loses control. Maybe Doc was right. He shouldn't have mutated you the way he did. It causes instability."
"Don't ever mention Doc around me! He was a narcissistic bastard! He made Moon run away!" said Starr as she came back to her right mind. She hated lying to Peter. But she had to. She didn't want to lose Peter as well as Moon.
"Don't lie to me, Starr. I know Moon didn't run away. I saw her body on the floor. I knew she was dead by the way she was laying. I didn't want you to think I knew for the past seventeen years. Please don't lie to me anymore, okay?" asked Peter as he reached to give his twin a hug.
"I don't want a hug. Where did Reed and Sue go?" asked Starr as she rejected the hug.
Peter replied "outside to help the big rock-"
"His name is Ben," corrected Starr.
"To help Ben fight that metal guy-"
"Doom," corrected Starr again.
"Will you stop interrupting me!" yelled Peter. "You always do that! Come on! We need to make sure your protected aren't going to die at the hands of Doom!" Peter started to morph. His skin grew hard and segmented. His four fingers merged into two shovel-like appendages. Out of his backside grew a reptilian tail. His feet became a two shovel toed pad. Starr started to morph.
When they were finished morphing, Starr jumped out of the broken window to find her protected.
"Don't forget to focus!" yelled Peter from the building behind her. Sigh. I know that he is just trying to help. But he is being a guy about it. Why cant guys be more sensitive. Does he know how much I loved Moon? He didn't really care for Moon when she was alive. Why did he need to? I was there to do that. All he wanted to do was have fun with his friends. That's why he didn't achieve her level of protector. Ha ha. He's so immature. Ha. Now to find reed and them. Where are they? Oh there they are, fighting Doom.
Chapter 12: Reed
Ben had just punched Doom into an ally. He is starting to take control of his power. Without him, Sue and I would still be in the VonDoom building.
"He's gone" yelled Ben when he returned from the ally. How could he escape? He was trapped in the ally! Oh well. He will be back. I hope Peter has woken up Starr. She shouldn't be knocked out for long. He noticed Screech flying towards his group and him. Okay. That answers my question. She has a lot of explaining to do when we get back to the Baxter building. I know! I'll make her fix the broken window! She needs to help out with reconstruction anyway. Screech landed a few feet away from Reed.
"I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I can't do it right now. The media is coming and I can't let them see me. I'll meet you at the Baxter building later with Peter and we will answer any questions you and your team have. Its good to see that you are alive after that attack, but where is Doom?" asked Screech as she started to take off.
"He got away!" yelled Reed as Screech flew started to fly out of hearing range. Well, she could probably hear me with those huge bat ears, but that's wasn't the point. Oh look! Paparazzi thought Reed sarcastically.
Later that night, reed found Starr and Peter, who were both de-morphed and in the living area.
"Hey guys," said Peter as the group came into the room and found a seat. "Bring on the questions."
The first question came from Reed, who sat in a chair to the right of Sue. "What do you guys actually do for you job?"
"I'll answer this one," replied Starr. "Our job is to protect to be superheroes from premature death, premature meaning before the superhero to-be actually becomes a super hero."
"Are there rules for your job?" asked Sue.
"Yes," replied Peter. "Three to be exact. One: protect your protected with your life. The 'protected' are the to-be superheroes. Two: Romantic relationships with the Protected are prohibited. Three: try to stay hidden from the protected for as long as possible. That's all."
"The last two rules can be broken, however. For rule number two, the permanent protectors, like me, can have a romantic relationship with the protected only after the protected are labeled a superheroes. Most protectors break the third rule because staying hidden could cause trouble for the protected," added Starr, who was sitting by Peter in the middle of the room.
"What is a permanent protector?" asked Ben, who was seated in a corner.
"A permanent protector is a protector who chooses to stay with a certain protected even after the protected are labeled superheroes. Permanent protectors stay with the protected until the protected die or the protector dies. Starr over here chose to stay with you guys until either you people die or she dies," answered peter as he hugged his twin. Wow, thought reed as he watched Peter hug Starr. They act so much like brother and sister. They must spend a lot of time together. It must have been hard for Peter to say good-bye to Starr before she came here. She must be sad too. I wonder what it is like to have a sibling, a twin for that matter. I never had any siblings. Sigh.
"Where are the head quarters for your job?" asked Johnny.
"That information is top secret. Sorry, we can't tell you that," replied Starr.
"You aren't my favorite person any more," said Johnny childishly.
"Humph. I don't care," said Starr.
"Is there a hierarchy in this group?" asked Reed.
"Yeah," replied Peter. "The originals have the highest rank. Then the originals appoint the rest of the ranks based on merit."
"Who are the originals?" asked Johnny, seemingly interested.
"There were seven originals. Peter and I are two of them. My late sister, Moon, was one of them, but I already told you her story. Our former leader, Matt Ridge, was one of the originals, but he was killed in a battle against the people who mutated us. There's also Nick Sterling, Josh Mathers, and Zaine Scott," answered Starr.
"Then why do you have a special name, like Screech," asked Ben, confused.
"During the start up of the PSPA, some of the employees wanted to be thought as equals to their protected. To do that, we required each of the members to have a nickname that corresponded with the animal they were fused with. My nickname is Dig-Dug. I normally dig to get to the places I go, but I don't have a specific animal I'm fused with," said Peter.
"My nickname corresponds with my main attack, the super screech. I always wanted to have Moon to be called Puma because she was fused with mountain lion DNA. Matt received his name, Smokey, because he could fully morph into a black bear. Nick was fused with the relative of the Velociraptor: the Dienonycus. His nickname is Raptor. Josh is able to totally morph into an arctic wolf, so we call him Arctic. Zaine, our new leader, was fused with tiger DNA, so we call him Stripes," added Starr.
"So only some of the 'protectors' can fully morph into the animal that they were fused with?" asked Reed.
"Yeah. That's about right. Being able to fully morph into their animal is very rare in the PSPA. Most of these people become high ranking protectors," replied Peter.
"Do you guys have any other powers besides the morphing one?" asked Johnny.
"Supposedly protectors can turn into a ball of energy to help their protected in some specific way like to save the world, etc. but then they die. Its only been seen once," replied Peter.
"Okay. Last question. Starr, would you mind me running tests on you?" asked Reed. Starr looked to here brother. Something is wrong, I know it.
"Um, Reed, I don't do so well in doctor's labs. I'm okay with you because you aren't testing me, but when someone tests me, I am more likely to lose control. I know that Peter won't always be there and I don't want to take the chance. I'm sorry, Reed," replied Starr sincerely. Was I just turned down a science project? But I don't think I could restrain her if she went to . . . the bloodlust state, was it? Oh well. This decision is probably for the best. Starr was staring at him again like she often did. Why does she stare at me? It makes me feel self-conscious. Do I look funny?