Earning Her Stripes
Part Two: Powering Up
[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
Three Days Later
"Captain's Hill?" complained Madison. "Why Captain's Hill?" She cracked a yawn.
"And why four in the morning?" Emma added. "Do you know the last time I woke up this early? Never, that's when." She huddled into her jacket, looking around the deserted parking lot. Even the taillights of the cab that had brought her and Madison up there had vanished down the road.
"One, it's deserted," Sophia informed them crisply. "Two, it's not like anyone's gonna be just wandering around the corner. We need privacy for this sort of thing."
"So why not just do it in my bedroom?" Emma rolled her eyes. "We're plenty private in there."
"And what if your powers involve bursting into flames, or exploding ice spikes everywhere, or turning into a fifty foot water monster?" Sophia gestured at the empty parking lot. "Here, nobody will notice. In your room, I think your dad would notice."
"Oh. Yeah." Emma grimaced. "Good point." She plucked at her jacket sleeve. "So should I take this off before I take the vial?"
"Probably," Madison noted. "I think maybe we should take them one at a time, too. I read this one thing, two people got vials and drank them standing next to each other, and they became one person." She tried to lower her voice for effect, but this just made her sound even cuter.
This time, Sophia rolled her eyes. "That's ten ton of bullshit in a five ton truck. Great stories, never happen in real life. But maybe you should take them one at a time, so I only have to watch one of you at a time."
"Okay, sure." Emma looked at her petite friend. "You want to go first, Mads, or me?"
Madison snorted. "Taking them was your idea. You go first."
All of a sudden, Emma was a lot less certain about her great idea. But she saw Sophia and Madison both watching her, and she knew there was no way she could back out now. Taking her jacket off to reveal the sweats Sophia had advised they both wear, she kicked off her sneakers as well. The gravel of the parking lot was harsh on her sock-clad feet. She handed her jacket to Madison, who took it.
Sophia brought out the vials and held them so that Emma could see them. Emma reached out and took the one she'd chosen before, the gold and blue one, then began to work the cork free.
"Not yet, not yet," Sophia said hastily. "Give us a chance to get to the picnic area, in case you do something that makes a crater. I'll call out when we're ready."
"Okay, then." Emma waited, trying to shift her feet so the gravel didn't dig so sharply into them, shivering slightly in the pre-dawn chill. She saw her sneakers still sitting next to her, and kicked them so they skittered some yards away. If she did something damaging, she didn't want to lose them as well.
In the distance, Sophia and Madison ducked down behind a brick barbecue, and she heard Sophia call out. "Ready!"
Okay, then. She took a deep breath. I'm doing this to be strong. To show Taylor who's the strongest. Nobody's ever going to make me feel helpless again. Her hands were shaking as she shook the vial vigorously, then worked the cork out; the air was so still that the tiny pop sounded loud in her ears. A deep breath, to calm her nerves. This didn't work, so she took another one. The vial was still in her hand, open. The contents both beckoned and repelled her.
Abruptly, convulsively, she closed her eyes, then put the vial to her lips. Opening her mouth, feeling the cool glass on her lower lip, she tilted the vial back. The stuff inside slithered into her mouth, and she had to repress the urge to gag, to spit it out again. It was horrible. But she had to drink it. This was the most important thing she would ever do with her life. Her eyes were already closed, but she clenched them so hard they hurt, then she swallowed the concoction.
It burned all the way down.
Shuddering, eyes still closed, she lowered the vial from her mouth. Nothing seemed to be happening, aside from a slight roiling in her guts. She didn't feel like she was erupting in flames or turning into rock. Tentatively opening her eyes, she looked down at her hands, one of which held the vial and the other the rubber cork. The vial was definitely empty; the foul taste in her mouth and throat verified that she'd swallowed the contents.
"Maybe it was—" She didn't get any farther, as the roiling sensation exploded into heat that blasted through every part of her body. She was burning; she was melting. The absolute conviction that she was dying impressed itself on her brain. Why the fuck did I drink some stupid fucking stuff from a test tube?
Gradually, she came back to herself. Her breathing was harsh, but at least she was breathing. She was also lying down. Opening her eyes, she looked around. It was still the same parking lot, but from a viewpoint a lot closer to the ground. Nothing seemed to be on fire, which seemed like a minor miracle to her. Then she looked down at her arm. She was still wearing her sweats, which indicated that she probably hadn't burst into flame after all, despite everything her nerve endings had been telling her.
As she hoisted herself to a sitting position, she heard footsteps, and looked around to see Madison and Sophia cautiously approaching. "Well, that was no fun," she said out loud. Then she realised she'd pulled a perfect crunch, which she'd never done before.
"Okay, so what are your powers?" asked Sophia. "Can you fly? Run fast? Turn invisible?"
"Hm. Not sure." Emma flipped the vial into the air and held up the cork, skinny end upward. The vial went end for end twice, then dropped on to the cork, a perfect hit. Gathering her legs under her, she kicked off and pulled a backflip from a seated position that landed her on her feet. Lifting her sweats, she studied her stomach. "But whatever my powers are, they come with killer abs."
Madison's jaw dropped, and Emma could tell Sophia was struggling not to react with disbelief as well.
"What?" she asked. "I feel really fit now, but that's about it. Is fitness a super-power?"
"It is, the way you're using it," Sophia said dryly. "Wanna put your sneakers back on so Madison can take her vial?"
"Oh, yeah. Good point." Emma strolled over to where she'd kicked her shoes. On the way, she noticed that the gravel wasn't really bothering her anymore. On a whim, she flicked the sneakers up with her toes, then hacky-sacked them into her free hand. It was no more effort than pulling a handkerchief from her pocket.
"Damn, that's gonna take some getting used to." Sophia shook her head. "Let's go give Mads her privacy."
Side by side, they headed over to the barbecue. Emma could feel every piece of gravel underfoot, but none of them caused her pain.
They reached the barbecue and crouched down behind it. Emma took the time to shrug into her jacket, despite the fact that she no longer felt any particular chill from the morning air. "Okay!" Sophia called out to the petite brunette. Raising her head, Emma watched as her friend drank the vial down. Remembering her own dose, she thought the term 'vile' might be more apropos. In the event, Madison didn't spit it out or vomit it up, though from her body language, Emma thought either one might have been a near thing.
There was no flame, no explosion. Sophia and Emma could've watched the whole thing from two yards away. All Madison did was fall down and convulse a little.
"Did I do that?" asked Emma quietly.
"More or less, yeah." Sophia stood up and dusted her hands off. "Well, time to go see how the runt handles having powers."
Emma rolled her eyes as she stood up as well. "After that comment, I'd laugh if she grew fifty feet tall."
"Hey, you're basically Jackie Chan on steroids. Anything's possible."
"Yeah, right." Emma jabbed Sophia in the ribs with her elbow.
"What the—" Sophia tried to retaliate, but Emma nudged the elbow aside with a grace and dexterity she'd never had before. On her second attempt, Emma did exactly the same thing; when she tried a third time, Emma let her succeed. "Hah! Gotcha!"
"Yup." They'd gotten to where Madison was beginning to sit up, looking groggy. "Hey, Mads. How you feeling?"
"Like shit." Madison made it halfway to her feet, then collapsed on to her butt again. "How come you were standing and walking like straight away? My head feels like a football that's just been kicked into orbit."
"Just lucky, I guess." Emma extended a hand downward and grasped Madison's wrist. "Let's get you up." With a surge of strength that surprised even her, she hoisted Madison to a semblance of standing.
"Whoa!" yelped Madison in surprise. "Geez, warn a girl, why don't you?" Reaching up, she prodded Emma's arm. "Holy shit, you're ripped."
"Comes with the killer abs, I guess." Emma smirked. "So, what powers did you get? Just be warned, if you can fly, I will hate you forever."
Madison shook her head. "No, I can't fly." Standing more steadily now, she looked at her hands. Her fingers twitched. "I just want to build stuff."
"Stuff?" Sophia looked at her alertly. "What kind of stuff?"
"Power armour. Guns. Machines. Vehicles. Stuff." Madison smiled, showing her teeth. "I want to build everything."
Emma and Sophia looked at each other over the top of Madison's head. "Tinker," they chorused.
End of Part Two