Last we left the VLADJIs, there was a new development. I'll be updating my profile on that soon enough. But here's the next chapter! What will happen now?

No way had I intended that to happen.

I hadn't even intended to attack Courtney.

But the girl went smack into her own chair courtesy of the force field (that had to be what it was) – bonking her head against the seat, which I imagined I'd be hearing about later if she wasn't too out of it. (Well, any more out of it than usual.) I was a little more surprised by what happened with Dexter. The boy's head went into Sonic's lap, which had to be embarrassing for one or both of them. Who knew force fields had recoil force?

"Ow!" Dexter yelled. "What the heck was that?"

"You started it!" Courtney yelled.

"Both of you, stop." Sonic's Sirensong resonated through the dining room. His throat stripe, which glowed when he channeled his powers, was lit up like a Lite-Brite board. "It is unkind."

Dexter froze in mid-rush. Courtney moaned and rose up, however slowly, into her seat. I was never sure what to make of Sonic's main power, Sirensong – the ability to hypnotize people with one's voice – but I knew Sonic only used it for the greater good. Which I was grateful for.

Both reluctantly returned to their seats. Sonic's stripe then faded, and he slumped in his seat. Channeling his power to charm one person was exhausting enough.

"Nice going," Mom murmured. "I didn't know you could do that. And it takes me a few shouts to get their attention –"

"A little power of mine" was all Sonic said.

"Amazing," Callie whispered. "I didn't know he had that ability."

"He doesn't, normally," I said to Callie. Then, to everyone else, "I probably should have been up front about this, but – Sonic's actually an avatar."

"An avatar?" Dexter asked, perking up. "What's that?"

Oh, boy. Now we were heading into an explanation I did not feel at all prepared to give.

Thank goodness for Vinny Lee. She gave him a smile. "They're paradox beings – they wouldn't normally exist if it weren't for someone else. That someone else is the being that created them – the Vortex, which is this super-powerful portal entity. They also tend to look like video game characters or something else in pop culture, because they're spawned from characters inside a disk, usually."

"So, like Fortnite?" Dexter asked.

Vinny Lee tilted her head. I had to wonder what video games Dexter was getting into, now that Peter was gone. (My big brother had never been into Fortnite.) "I was thinking Kingdom Hearts or Super Smash Bros, but sí, that works. That part of their nature makes them stronger than human beings – not to mention faster, smarter, more agile."

"Cool!"

"Sí, if you don't mind having to fight monsters all the time. That's what they do. What they're born to do."

"Still, they fight monsters? Wicked!"

I will hand it to Dexter, he had as much enthusiasm as Vinny Lee. But I wasn't sure my life was for him.

Sonic laughed without humor. "It sounds cool on the sidelines, yes. But it doesn't give me much of a life. Constantly on the lookout for danger at every corner. It doesn't exactly help when humans start duking it out, either."

"Really?" Mom asked. "How does it not help when –"

"Avatars don't like intervening in human disagreements," I explained to Mom. "Especially when they get physical about it. It wouldn't be a fair fight for the avatars. They're too strong."

Sonic had told me as much when I asked him about it. They only fought humans if the latter made them – in self defense. Isn't it funny? They all bellyache about violence, but they ignore that they often leave us no choice but to defend ourselves in some violent way.

But I digress.

"So," Mom said, glancing sideways at Sonic, "does any of this have anything to do with DJ? I'd like to know if my daughter is doing anything dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I sent my best "innocent" face her way. "Me?"

"I understand your concern, Liz," Sonic said softly. "I assure you she's in good hands with me. Her and her friends."

"So her friends are involved?" Mom shot up onto her feet. "DJ, how long did you say you knew them?"

Just my rotten luck. Mom had singled me out. I made a mental note to never underestimate her perceptiveness.

"Dex, Josh, Valerie," Sonic said, perhaps picking up my apprehensive expression, "maybe you should head downstairs to finish that."

The kids nodded, and headed down, with Sonic herding them from behind. I was only grateful he'd sent the youngest children downstairs. They didn't need to know about this. What I dealt with was far too dangerous for youngsters like them.

"DJ?" Mom had her hands on her hips now. "What is it you want to tell me?"

Here it was. The moment of truth. I needed to tell her. She'd want me to be honest with her. I'd better not disappoint her.

"This is going to sound absolutely crazy," I told her.

I explained about last summer, how I'd run into Vinny Lee and Amos, my meeting with Sonic, Amy and Tails, and my encounter with Imira. I explained about the quest to find the Doctor, who'd been sending us weird messages, only to be commissioned by the Vortex – who'd been the Doctor as a disguise – to be the avatars' human liaison. I explained about the encounters of the entire summer, everything I'd discovered about my teammates, and how my life got to be the way it was.

When I was finished, Mom, who'd been listening intently, slumped in her seat in shock. "This is incredible," she said at last. "This is hard to say, but – I believe you. And I'm so proud of you. My daughter, who could tell a sin off the bat, is fighting for justice."

I shrugged. "What are you going to do? I'm practically a magnet for weirdness."

"And you're doing it with others. Others from different backgrounds. Put enough of 'em together, there can be some things you have in common."

"Enough with the right truths," Vinny Lee responded, cheerfully springing on her tippy toes. "And we only needed cuatro. DJ up front, as capitana –"

Mom turned to me. "So you lead it as well?"

"Yes," I responded. "They thought I should."

Mom's expression was unreadable, as if weighing what it all meant. Weighing every possibility. How this turned out for us, the Jorgmans. We'd faced enough as it was – the loss of the patriarch, the move afterward, all the wild and crazy summer of settling in. We were long overdue for a stroke of good luck.

"Well then," Mom said at last. "Lead them well. As you had to lead your siblings, lead them well."

After dinner, Courtney was in charge of washing dishes. (We all took shifts each day, and it was her turn.) She took the job up so reluctantly I had to wonder whether she was still thinking about a date with Billy. She could be overdramatic when it came to a crush.

"You all right?" I asked, risking another outburst. I'd seen what Dexter had gotten for ribbing her about Billy. "If you want to talk about it –"

"Billy Kawatogama talked to me," Courtney said. Her voice sounded triumphant, like she'd won a marathon instead of gotten attention from a boy in her class.

"Who is he? This Billy Kawa-what's-it?"

"He sits next to me in art class. Looks like Jung Kook. But if he dressed in a polo and jeans and a 'pledge loyalty to the flag' pin and absolutely rocked it."

"Well, that was oddly specific." I could easily summon a mental picture of Billy, something I didn't often do with Courtney's crushes, as she was often too busy swooning over them to give me a concrete image. "What did he say to you?"

"He was pretty impressed by my drawing skill. Asked if I was free tomorrow afternoon to compare notes."

"Oh, really?" Vinny Lee spun up to meet her. "Want me to help with that?"

"Um –" Courtney began, but I shook my head, mouthing, Don't even try. Vinny Lee would help anywhere she could, regardless of whether anyone wanted her help or not. But I knew how to handle my friend.

"I think Courtney's got this down pat," I said to Vinny Lee.

"Okay." Vinny Lee shrugged. She glanced over at Courtney. "Sounds like she's definitely got this end. What about her amor?"

"I'm not suspecting anything," I said. "He seems pretty normal."

Vinny Lee smiled. "She'll need the normalidad. Badly. The way we're going, amiga? We might be in for a wild ride. Especially with what your Forcecuff just did."

Let's see what this entails. Verse for the update: Hebrews 3:12. More coming up!