Another Heart: Fully Charged
Sometimes it felt like the world had gone mad.
The doors blinked green at her retina scan and Laura stepped into the inner corridor of the rig. Her steps confident and her face stern and professional.
It was how she liked to appear, how she wanted to appear.
There was just one problem.
"Slow down, I mean, I love to see you going but I want to see the thing that's got Arms all excited like a schoolgirl." Ethan said with a grin.
Laura gave him the look.
Ethan just waved it off and leaned in, his eyebrows vaguely visible and waggling behind his visor.
"Come on Bats, admit it, you're curious as well." Ethan teased.
Laura, with one finger, pushed him back by his forehead, away from her face.
He could easily stop her, his power was made for that kind of thing but he let her do it.
That was worse than using his power.
Laura sighed.
"I admit, I'm… curious to see what the Director is so agitated about." Laura said, almost grudgingly, and held up one finger.
"But I will not run into a tinker's lab, waving my arms around and making some idiotic pun about his beard." She said, making the words more a command than a comment.
Ethan smiled.
"You know me so well, Bats." The costumed man said and sniffed dramatically as if he was about to cry.
Laura stared at him pointedly before sighing in exasperation.
"Let's go." She said and pushed forward, down the hallway to Armsmaster's lab.
The rig was a fortress, built with grand ideas, hopes, and ideals, but sadly weathered by misfortune, loss and cynicism.
When it began construction, it was built to host far too many heroes.
Even now, with more heroes than their division had ever had, there were a lot of empty rooms.
Laura spotted Clockblocker hovering near the door that led to Armsmaster's lab, shifting excitedly from foot to foot.
Laura narrowed her gaze on the young man, a sharp remark on the tip of her tongue before Ethan whistled.
"Yo, Clock, what's the go's?" Ethan asked casually.
Clockblocker turned to see them approach, his face obscured but still appearing as though he was smiling.
Something in the cheeks, slight movement, just visible under the cloth mask.
"Hey Assault, you here for the show?" Clockblocker asked eagerly.
Laura was about to ask what show when from inside the lab came a heavy muffled whoosh of air, the ground shook slightly.
Clockblocker didn't seem alarmed as he regained his balance.
"That's the third one in the last twenty minutes." The Ward told Assault with glee in his voice.
Ethan looked intrigued while Laura stood back and let him talk.
As much as it bugged her, Ethan was just naturally more… charismatic than her. Clockblocker especially seemed to find something likeable in the goofy villain turned hero.
Laura couldn't fault Ethan, not for that.
She had married him after all.
Ethan whistled, looking at the closed door.
"Come on, no lies, Arms is actually doing Science?" Ethan said skeptically.
Laura rolled her eyes.
If it wasn't exploding or a giant robot, then it wasn't science according to Ethan.
Clockblocker chuckled, making swishing motions with accompanying sound effects.
"It's that new sword, the one Mouse Protector got from Keynote's friend." Clockblocker clarified.
Laura's lips thinned.
Keynote, Ifrit, Mog and Ultros.
They all knew each other, probably because they were manifestations of Keynotes power but… And that was it: But. They didn't know for sure. So if Mouse Protector got something from Ifrit then Armsmaster was right to confiscate and study it. Keynote was a wild card at the best of times, with enough firepower to go head to head with Lung, which was only matched by her distaste for authority.
"I assume he's got Dragon in there on the screen?" Laura asked shrewdly.
Clockblocker turned to look at her.
"Yeah… and Mouse Protector." The white Ward said with a laugh.
Laura blinked. Mouse Protector was… in the lab? Colin's private sanctuary from the world of monsters and men?
Laura mentally tried to not be rude, Kat was… friendly.
She was also some sort of chaos storm that sucked everything around her into her vortex and spat them back out as she left.
Laura only knew her through Hannah, but what she had seen was quite franklyterrifying.
It was like Ethan with breasts and tad more insanity.
Speak of the devil and he shall speak...
"Why? I mean, I love the image, but Arms wouldn't let her touch his toaster let alone anything in his lab." Ethan pondered aloud.
Clockblocker leaned forward as if to share a secret.
"He's got no choice. The sword… it follows Mouse Protector. Like if you blink or look away, it just vanishes, Armsmaster locked it up with everything he had, even had Dragon watch with a camera but it just messed with the electronics and ended up with Mouse in the shower." Clockblocker told them, his tone suggesting this was perhaps the best thing he had heard in a very long time.
Laura moved past the Ward, convincing herself that Clockblocker was mistaken, but the door opened without issue and there, right before her eyes as if mocking her and the order of the world, was Mouse Protector.
The mouse themed cape was strapped to a computer chair. As in, herentire body was wrapped with silver tape, the metallic adhesive wound both around her and around the chair, binding her to the office furniture. Even her legs were trapped, taped together like an egyptian mummy then strapped back to the chair's pillar.
Mouse looked up and gave Laura a smile. Though what made the sight go from weird to truly bizarre was that on top Mouse's helmet there was a the thing that she often saw Ethan wear when watching sports games, the kind you put two drinks into on either side of your head with straws in them so you kept your hands free for cheering. Though in this case it appeared to be because Mouse Protector's hands were strapped to a chair.
Mouse stopped drinking from the straw and grinned.
"Bat! How's it going?" Mouse Protector asked with perfect manners, as she used the tips of her feet to move the chair forward, as if coming to greet her. The chair having wheels helped slightly, though not much.
"Uh… I'm fine thank you Mouse?" Laura asked as the other woman stopped in front of her.
Kat looked up at her, not seeming to be bothered about the fact that she was taped to a chair.
Laura opened her mouth. And closed her mouth.
"Nevermind." Laura said with a weak smile and moved past the trapped heroine. Laura knew if she didn't move fast, she would be caught up in an exchange that would likely make her kill someone.
Probably her husband. Because…
Mouse Protector cheered as she saw Assault come in.
"Mouse in the house!"
Ethan locked on.
"Assault without a fault!"
There was a pause before Ethan cracked a smile.
"You touched something." Her husband said, more a statement than a question.
Kat hummed in response before speaking.
"The really shiny ball at the back. Apparently, it's a 'gravity core, not a toy'. Oh hey Clock! How's it going?" Kat said casually, turning her head to greet the Ward who'd followed Assault in.
Laura watched as Ethan, being the gentleman that he was, wheeled Kat back towards the center of the room.
"Eh, not bad. Piggy's been on my back about Keynote, but not much else. So, what does the sword do?" Clock asked, bluntly changing the topic to the subject he really wanted to talk about.
Kat grinned but before she could answer, there was a growl and Colin appeared from a small cubicle at the side of the room from which Laura could smell coffee brewing. Armsmaster's special stuff.
It was very potent.
Armsmaster sighed before clearing his throat, seemingly pained at his relapse into coffee dependence. Or possibly at his caffeine deficiency.
"The director said that you weren't allowed to hide coffee in your lab, it makes you anti social." Laura mentioned lightly.
Colin snorted.
"I could dress up as a nurse and do the can can around her office and she wouldn't care. Piggot's busy running the politics for the media and official reports, I think my anti social tendencies are safe." The Tinker grumbled as he sipped his coffee.
Laura stared at him. This was… This was...
"Was that a joke?" She asked, unsure if she was hearing things correctly.
Colin pushed a button and the door to the lab shut, a green light turning on above it.
When it did, Colin removed his helmet, exposing his unassuming features.
"Mostly, as it seems that the harder I try to keep people out, the more show up." The Tinker said and then sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"It's stupid not to use our real names, it's just us here and… that." Colin pointed to a case that Laura hadn't spotted before.
Clockblocker made a move to get closer and Colin held up a finger.
"You break something, nudge, or even sneeze on my equipment and I will put your name forward to the Director for the next leadership position of the Wards with a recommendation of haste and to start your training before Aegis leaves for the Protectorate." Colin threatened.
Clockblocker froze, his foot caught comically mid-step.
"Got it." The Ward said weakly, tip toeing like he was around a sleeping newborn as he resumed moving.
Laura tried not to smile, she didn't know the striker that well. Honestly, she didn't know him well enough to even use his real name in her own head.
Dennis… just seemed too casual for her.
Ethan followed the Ward and Laura pinched the bridge of her nose as the two heroes both pressed their faces against the glass box, holding a sword with a glowing dark-red blade.
"Ethan… grow up." Laura said with a sigh.
Ethan just wiggled his butt at her.
Eyes narrowed, Laura was sorely tempted to plant her foot on it and let him get a very close look at the sword, but reigned in her temper.
"I have another chair and tape if you need it." Colin said, downing the last of his brew.
Laura told herself that she wasn't going to sink to that level… yet.
"Perhaps an informal report on Ifrit's Fang would interest everyone, Colin?" Dragon's voice came from a screen not far away, just over on the main desk, where her avatar gave a little wave when they all focused on her.
"Dragon." Laura greeted warmly.
Ethan peeled his face off the case to saunter over to the screen, sitting down in the large chair with Kat rolling at his heels.
"Hey babe, you never call and you don't email. I'm starting to think that game of tic tac toe we had meant nothing." Ethan said, sounding wounded.
Dragon's laugh was like cool wind.
"Do you want to play a game Ethan? I have time later. But yes, I got your emails, the 420th cat video was just as funny as the rest, thank you." Dragon said, holding back a slight laugh as she began to bring up graphs and pictures of the sword.
Colin loomed over him and Ethan looked up.
Their eyes meet and, silently, Ethan got off the chair.
With what Laura would swear was a satisfied smile Colin reclaimed his chair, sitting down in front of Dragon before clearing his throat.
"Now, from what we know the sword, shortened to I.F. for convenience's sake, is a miserable piece of equipment that if it didn't already produce heat, I would suggest throwing into the nearest smelter to make a good coffee cup out of instead." Colin said, almost smashing buttons as he began pulling up different images of the sword.
Laura looked at Ethan, who stared back with a silent joyus expression at Colin's words.
Mouse Protector rolled past.
"Iffy doesn't like Colin." Kat added conspiratorially then sucked on her hat straw loudly.
Colin growled.
"Iffy is a stupid name. I.F. at first seems like a normal blade, but over the course of eight hours, I have come up with several measurements and weighings, each taken within thirty minutes of each other. Every length measurement is different, first, it was a just over a meter, now it's 58 centimeters. It weighed about 2.5 Kg at first and has wildly fluctuated since currently residing at 1.9. The color changes between orange, red, yellow, blue, green and one time, when I shouted at it, it turned pink. All attempts to study the thing without Kat present have been… futile." Colin told them with a sour expression.
Laura gaped at him.
"You're kidding me." She asked.
Colin growled again and stood, pulling a pen from his pocket.
Laura and she assumed everyone else as well, watched as he approached Kat, pen in hand, pulling the cap off.
"I have also noted the sword has an urge to protect Kat, it teleports across distances, ignoring all walls to get to her." Colin said and leaned down to swipe the pen across Kat's exposed chin.
Kat looked excited as the pen drew nearer.
"Give me a van dyke!" Kat shouted with glee.
Laura reached out, about to put a hand on Colin's arm to stop him from defacing a teammate when there was a soft clinking sound from the cubby where Colin had emerged from.
Turning, Laura saw that the sword was lying perfectly innocently next to Colin's coffee pot. The edge of the blade resting ever so gently next to the glass jar filled with Colin's special brew.
"New note, I.F. seem's to adapt and find weaknesses in its foes," Colin said, recapping the pen.
Laura blinked.
"I… didn't see it move." She admitted.
Colin nodded, as he reached for a pair of scary looking tongs on the table.
"It plays with your perception, not chemically, as far as my scans can tell, but it just moves when no one is looking." The Tinker told her and picked up the sword with the heavy duty tongs.
There was a hiss and the metal clamps glowed bright orange before beginning to melt, making Colin yelp as he jumped back.
The sword slid across the floor towards Kat and Ethan, but Laura put her foot on it, halting its progress.
The sword seemed to accept this. Though she could somehow tell it was displeased. Grumbling even.
Laura shot Colin a look at the noise he made.
"It just wants Kat, it's like a..." she abruptly cut herself off and Ethan slowly raised his eyes from the sword to look her in the eyes.
A growing smile on his face.
Laura saw this and shook her head, never breaking eye contact.
"Don't. You. Dare." Laura warned.
Kat bent down to pick up the sword, leaning forward on her chair to properly reach it. Laura blinked and took a step back as Clockblocker burst out laughing. There was something wrong here but Laura couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Kat ignored them and just smiled down at the sword in her lap.
"There, there, Iffy. I got ya." Kat brushed invisible dirt off the sword, hand running over the blade.
Wait... Kat was free?
Laura turned and stared back at the chair, to see the silver tape dangling loosely from the chairs back.
"You were never trapped?" Laura said, mostly to herself.
Colin didn't even look surprised when she looked at him.
"It's the timeout that counts." The Tinker told her and there seemed to be a moment where his eyes went distant as if remembering when the timeout… didn't count.
The mental image of Mouse Protector throwing a temper tantrum was honestly terrifying.
Kat saw Colin's face and nodded, adding her own tale of horror to it.
"I never knew Hannah could use that either, you think you know someone and then they turn around and pull out a coconut bomb. I still have night terrors about coconuts…" Kat trailed off, just staring into space with a look somewhere between awe and terror.
Laura stared at Kat bewildered.
Hannah, Miss Militia, Miss Always Professional, had used… coconut bombs?
The imagery of a giant tornado of chaos with Kat's face on it reared it's head again and Laura hastily took a step away from the other heroine.
Colin did the opposite and took a step towards Kat, holding out his hand.
"Katherine, please hand over the sword," Colin said sternly.
Kat opened her mouth to retort as Ethan gasped at the deadly first full name usage but the I.F. glowed and out of the blade's surface came a silently roaring demonic face.
As if the metal on the blade had turned to lava and some creature was rising to the top, it snarled at Colin, stretching a fang-filled filled maw towards Colin as...
Kat shook the sword hard.
"Ifrit 'Ifferance Terrance Mcdooldes' Fang, you stop that right now, or God help me!" Kat warned and the demon face vanished as quickly as it came, sinking back into the blade and the sword… was just a sword again.
Laura sat down in the vacated chair left behind by Kat as Ethan stepped away from Clockblocker, where he had shielded the younger male with his own body, protecting him.
"Sorry about that, everyone alright?" Kat asked.
It was Dragon who answered.
"Laura is right, let the weapon stay with Kat for now, I have a feeling that it will save us a lot of trouble." Dragon told them.
Colin begrudgingly nodded.
"It seems to listen to her, which is enough to scare anyone sensible, but that was nothing… this sword." Colin mused, his mind catching on to some thought as Kat placed the blade down on a table near her.
Laura heard the tinker's tone and sat straighter.
Colin began to pace, talking as he walked.
"Ifrit… I bet, no, I know that he can do more. A lot more. A small boost of energy from Sundancer and Keynote and he made the I.F. What could he do with, say, one of my devices powering him, or Sundancer feeding him purposely? From what we know… He's not alone either." Colin added.
Clockblocker stepped forward.
"Mog and Boco right? They seemed nice, for a bat fairy thing and a giant chicken. Called themselves Espers right?" Clockblocker asked.
Laura's hands clenched against her will.
Ultros was also an 'Esper'.
"Ifrit seems like an arrogant beast, his attitude towards the Director, speaking on behalf Keynote and he's indeed not alone. Ultros is also an Esper, but is hooking up with a villain-"
Ethan coughed meaningfully.
"-Potential rogue. These 'espers' clearly have minds of their own. What do we know about them? Common strengths? Weakness? Anything?" Laura asked darkly.
Colin paused in his pacing as he thought about it.
"All our scans indicate they're shells, filled with an unknown type of energy which we've found mostly around the Dollhouse and Keynote herself. With recent talks, Dragon and I have labeled this energy, M-waves." The Tinker said.
Clockblocker grinned.
"Magic, you mean?" The Ward poked.
Colin just shrugged.
"It looks better on the reports I send to the director. You shorten anything, add 'wave' or 'emissions' or even 'energy' to it, and the bureaucrats accept it with a straight face. You learn that trick as a Tinker pretty quickly to avoid sounding crazy to normal people." Colin replied and then continued as he began to pace.
"The M-waves are almost undetectable, completely unresponsive to any test we put them to, but do very odd things on their own. Dragon once recorded the waves making the Dollhouse… cleaner. It took frame by frame analysis to see the building clean itself overnight. Grime and small things mostly, but it's getting faster. I have no idea what effect the waves are having on Keynote herself, I would love to get some scans, but I think she needs her space for now. The PRT pushed her buttons hard last night, the Director more so." Colin trailed off.
Dragon's avatar covered her mouth.
"What?" Colin asked as Dragon didn't say anything.
"The bus rides are... good for you. Before you would just get annoyed at her for not wanting to be scanned." Dragon pointed out.
Colin frowned.
"An hours ride around the city a few times a week doesn't fix my crippling anti social problems." He retorted and turned away from Dragon's camera, but Laura saw him blink down at the table.
He carried on as if he wasn't bothered.
"The esper's can freely manipulate the M-waves to an absolutely scary degree. From what scans we got from Ifrit at the PRT building, we saw that he was generating a massive amount of heat inside his body, M-waves turning supernova, we think, but another set of M-waves were keeping the first set contained, the shell. It could be that Esper's might be intelligent M-waves, a form of living energy, or possibly another type of being that can travel through M-waves as if they were water. I just don't know. I was hoping the I.F. here could shed some light on the matter, but as you saw… It's being childish." Colin said without any hesitation and the sword in question floated off the table slightly and began to move towards Colin.
Kat pushed it down without blinking as she spoke calmly.
"So what we can hypothesis so far is that the espers as a being, a singular intelligence, would not fight among itself as Ifrit and Mog have been spotted doing, arguing repeatedly. Therefore they are separate beings of the same origin. They are beings capable of manipulating a new energy form that seems to come from Keynote, Trump 7, Master 7; Trump sub-ratings of Striker 7, Blaster 5, Shaker 5, Brute 4, Breaker 3, Mover 3, Thinker 3; Master sub-ratings Blaster 6, Brute 6, Breaker 3. A cape with several abilities that she continuously either shows new creative thinking with or flat out gains new abilities including the ability to supply these creatures with M-waves to fuel their own abilities. This potentially means that either the espers need Keynote to refine the energy or that Keynote is a source of energy that isn't naturally found here on Earth-Bet, suggesting that they may be interdimensional travellers or a creation of Keynote herself, with each esper showing different abilities and most likely hiding more. Ifrit shows deep control over fire and a considerable ability to change his shape, in a fight I would perhaps lead him to a tight space of stone and-" she continued her hands shaking, her voice coming faster and faster, the sword on the table rattled violently.
Laura begin to let her power flow, ready to smash the sword if it was doing this to Kat.
"Enough, Kat… that's enough." Colin said, looking pained as he watched her speak.
Laura swallowed, her mouth dry.
The hell was that?
Colin moved forward as Kat seem to struggle to think, to breathe or even to speak. I.F. began to shake at his approach but Colin looked down at it.
"You aren't helping her, back off." Colin snapped and the sword shook once before going dormant. He put an arm around Kat and led her to his huge chair.
The mouse hero was trembling as Colin lowered her into the well padded chair.
"Colin… the doors…" Kat whispered.
Colin pushed her head gently back into the cushions.
"You got them, you're Mouse Protector, kick them shut." Colin told her quietly.
Ethan stared at the scene, Laura wanted to ask someone what the hell just happened, but it felt highly inappropriate.
Clockblocker shuffled nervously.
"Can I get her a glass of water or something?" The Ward asked.
Colin shook his head.
"She just needs time and you didn't see this, understand?" Colin said and unlike last time, there was no threat, just… a statement.
Clockblocker nodded.
"I got you. I think she's drooling, I'll get a towel." Clockblocker rambled before visibly forcing himself to move off, heading to the cubicle.
Kat moan and stretched.
"Damn! I love Key, but she pushes my buttons upstairs too easily." Kat croaked.
Colin wiped away the drool with his thumb, looking tired.
"Hey, at least you aren't the Director. Keynote sends her blood pressure high enough to press diamonds out of the paperwork." Colin told her, a weak smile on his face.
Kat giggled slightly.
"Miss Militia has been informed, she is enroute and will be here shortly. She asked me to tell you that she has ordered the usual pizza and supplies. I also can't confirm this, but I have a feeling that all your phones will turn off tonight, so I will message the deputy director to bring in Velocity, Dauntless and Triumph to cover for you." Dragon said and Laura wondered how often Kat had those attacks for something to be named the usual supplies.
"Thank you… I owe you a lot for tonight." Colin told her seriously.
Dragon shrugged on screen.
"You're my friend." Dragon said, as if that explained everything. The legendary Tinker made an irritated sound then sighed, different images of the IF flashing across her screen.
"I wonder what Iffy wants… to be born like that and then studied without any say in it. It makes me curious." Dragon mused.
Laura wondered that as well, the weapon seemed damn eager to protect Kat, but understood Colin well enough to back off.
"It's an object, a smart one at that, but it can't want anything. It's got a set of rules and behaviors set by Ifrit to act like this. Magical coding if you want a comparison." Colin said off handedly.
Dragon stared down at him, Colin too busy checking Kat's pulse too notice.
When she spoke, it sounded… odd. Smaller somehow.
"You're right, objects can't want anything. They are just tools... Goodnight Colin." Dragon said softly and the screen went dark.
Laura wanted to wince.
Not knowing how or why but knowing that tone very well, she pursed her lips at Colin who half mindedly waved at the dead screen, feeling anger on Dragon's behalf.
Kat grumbled and pulled off her helmet, it always surprised Laura how pretty she was, how striking Kat was when her face was still, focused but there was something odd, however, something different about Kat that bugged Laura
Colin looked up and his vital checkings stuttered as he stared at Kat.
"Your scar is gone," he stated, alarmed and Kat managed a small smile.
"Like magic," she agreed and Colin stood, grabbing an instrument off a nearby table.
A dual pronged metal device that had a simple black handle.
He waved it near Kat's face as the woman's face scrunched up, the main computer on Colin's desk began to display various data.
Laura walked forward and leaned down, peering at the unblemished skin which was once a mottled mark.
"It's amazing," she breathed and Colin grunted.
"It's m-waves. Keynote's work, it's practically glowing and this is weaker than the sword but I can attribute that to different applications of m-waves and human factors," he mused and Laura felt Ethan's hand on her shoulder.
"Key's a pretty handy gal. Summoning demons and healing the heroes, how you doing Kat?" He asked and Laura tried not to smile at the concern in his voice, replacing the usual jaunty smile that owned his face.
"Lot's of bad memories, I'll get them under control," Kat murmured and closed her eyes, enjoying the chair as she sagged back into it.
"I'll look after her, perhaps you all should go home, your shifts are going to be long tomorrow, after today, there is going to be a lot of work that needs to get done and we can all use some sleep." Colin said, looking at her, Ethan and Clockblocker in turn.
A clear dismissal, but an oddly friendly one at the same time. Laura couldn't remember the last time Armsmaster ever gave them an order on any scale, outside of field work.
Usually he was too cooped up tinkering to remember that he had a team to run…
Laura shoved that flare of spite away and nodded.
"Sleep soon yourself, Colin," she fired back at the man whose own eyes looked as tired as she felt and looked at Kat, "feel better soon, I'll check up on you later, or Ethan will," she told Kat who slowly nodded.
"Hm...kay, seeya later Assaultantor…" she said very quietly and Ethan grinned.
"Me and the spouse will see you later,Mouse," he replied, and looked at Clockblocker.
"You need a ride home or back to the Ward HQ?" he asked and the unusually quiet Ward jumped at being talked to.
"Uh...sure. I was waiting on Triumph finishing his patrol but I'm sure he won't mind," he agreed and Ethan slung an arm around Clockblocker's shoulders.
"I'll leave him a love note. Come on, we flip a coin to see who drives, it'll be fun!" he promised and they both walked out of the lab as the light above the door turned red.
Laura shook her head as Ethan took off with his apprentice in high spirits.
Colin nodded to her and pulled out a thick blanket from under his wide desk and draped it over Kat's shoulders.
Laura followed her husband's retreating footsteps, turning back in time to see Colin dim the lights slowly to a peaceful darkness.
She smiled.
Colin was...he surprised her with this gentleness. He was never a hardass or a monster but there was a stiffness to him that Laura had come to expect from Colin.
With Kat, Dragon...maybe even Hannah, he seemed to be a different man under the antisocial skin he usually wore.
She wondered, in some dark part of herself, if Colin would prefer Kat on his team rather than her.
But she pushed that away, far away as she hurried along. Her steps loud as her power helped her move that little bit quicker.
A waste of energy on a small task, but she was guilty of that once in awhile.
"Ethan, heads or tails?" she asked, the coin in her hand crackling with energy as she finally caught her husband and made him stop to face her.
"Heads, see if you can get the coin to go higher than before," he said excitedly and Laura grinned as Dennis shook his head at Ethan's excitement, which meant he had some sanity left.
Sometimes, it was good to not be overly serious.
Laura flipped the coin and it shot far into the air with the excess electromagnetic energy she sometimes affected things with.
"That's a new record," Ethan admired staring straight up and Dennis nodded, also transfixed looking up.
Laura smirked and slipped into the driver's seat of the unmarked PRT car, taking advantage of the boys distractions.
Wasting power was just far too much fun at times.
While at the back of her mind there was the image of Kat huddled on the chair, struggling to be...Kat.
She cranked the engine over as the energy bridge snapped on allowing them access to the mainland.
She would...ask Ethan to check up on her.
He was always good at making people change themselves for the better.
Even if they didn't know they needed it.