Writing Blog™

You hear a noise coming from the wall of your apartment. Annoyed, you sigh and make a mental note to ask your neighbor to stop when you see her again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You suddenly stop. Alarmed, you realize that you have a corner apartment. And that annoying tapping was coming from your outside wall.

On the third floor.

After a brief moment of panic, you calm down and remember one of your old jobs where one very persistent but not very bright woodpecker spent hours at a time pecking away at the metal pipe outside a co-worker's office.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Laughing at yourself, you step out onto your balcony to shoo the bothersome bird away. Still hearing that persistent tapping, you look around the corner over your balcony.

You freeze. Also frozen, something that is very much not a woodpecker is staring back at you. It sits, perfectly still, attached to the wall by no way you can see, but staying there nonetheless. It sits there, with one long, bony finger raised, poised above the hole it was tapping into the wall.

You can't move, only stand there, staring at the creature affixed to your wall. Then, at the same time, it opens both its mouth and eyes impossibly wide. And you find yourself staring at the thing looking at you with too few pupils, and grinning at you with too many teeth.

Still looking at you, the thing on your wall moves its finger.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound snaps you out of your paralysis. You run inside, close the door and lock it, and, fueled by adrenaline, you push your heavy leather couch against the glass sliding door.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You don't leave your apartment for the next few days. You can still hear it. You call your friend to see if she can see anything from the parking lot, but when she gets there, she sees nothing but a small hole on the side of your outside wall. There was nothing there, but you could still hear it.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A few days later, when you wake up, something is different. You can't place it at first, but then you realize. It's quiet. Almost too quiet. Almost totally silent. There is no tapping.

You stand there for almost half an hour, listening, to make sure it really was quiet. You finally gather up the courage to move your couch and go out onto the deck.

You go out, and sure enough, it's gone. No tapping, no creature, just a hole on the side of your apartment building. It was big, though. Much larger than when you first saw it being made.

You sigh with relief, thinking that the thing, whatever it is, is finally gone. You turn to go inside, but out of the corner of your eye, you sense movement. Whipping around, you see the source of movement, and scream.

Crawling, skittering up the wall, faster than should be possible, comes the creature. It's gripping the wall only with its fingertips, and it's got too many joints, in weird places, and none of them move how they should.

Horrified, you stumble back inside, almost tripping on the couch, and put your barricade back up.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The creature is at it again.

Terrified out of your mind, you can only sit on the couch and cry. And suddenly stop. Because something is different now.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It's faster.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You start crying again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptapaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap.

Tap.

Tap.

TAP.

---

Up here first is the bridge. Please go single file, and try not to rock it too much. One girl did drown in the pond a good few years ago. Usually a fall off the bridge is nothing more than a scare and a small swim, but it was unusually deep that year. Police ruled it an accident, but there were rumors, like with all small town deaths.

Some say she was up here with her boyfriend, telling him the news she was pregnant. One story goes that he refused to be a father to the baby, and dumped her right there, so she jumped off so she wouldn't have to go on alone. Another says that her boyfriend didn't take the pregnancy news well at all, and well, you know. We don't know for certain though, or even if she was actually pregnant. The body was never found, even though the pond was pretty well searched.

What are these? Oh, the locks. Other young couples sometimes come up here and put locks on the bridge, like that one in France. Actually, it's rumored that one of these locks actually belonged to the girl and her boyfriend, but we don't know which one.

---

Ok, here watch your step, there you go. Over here to the right you see this big old hole. Yep, that one. We don't actually know what it's for, the local kids like to scare eachother saying it was a plague pit, you know, where they don't have enough people to dig graves for everyone that died, so they just dig one big one. There's no evidence for that though, and besides, it's way more likely this was a site for an indigenous tent. Did have a kid on a tour once break his ankle running through it, so now we don't let people go in.

---

Ok next up, we go up this little hill here, up to the main house. This is where the old owner of Bell's Island himself, David Bell lived with his family. He built it himself. It's pretty small, yeah, but it ended up being big enough. Him and his wife, Sarah, had real bad luck with having kids. There were three or four miscarriages, and only one of the three kids that she gave birth to ended up surviving to adulthood.

We can't actually go into the house right now, there's restoration renos going on. Yeah, stuff keeps leaking out of the walls and pipes. Gotta be rust in the pipes, all brown and red. Real nasty. And there's the spiders. Whole mess of them. Can't get rid of them fast enough.

Is it haunted? Does this look like a building that wouldn't be? It's definitely old enough, almost 200 years. Of course there's tons of rumors. Doors slamming, windows opening, cradles rocking, the like. I've never seen it myself, but I have heard a baby crying once. Could have been from another tour group though.

Apparitions? Nah, haven't seen any of those. There are of course, rumors, of - what? Like right now? No, there shouldn't be anyone in the house. You're sure it was that window. Could have been the curtain. The window may have been cracked. No, I'm sure the house is empty. Yeah, you definitely could have been seeing things. Anyways, moving on!

---

Over here are the gardens. Yeah, you can sit on the bench. We'll take a little break here, go look at the flowers. Don't pick them please. And keep them away from the well, it's deeper than it looks. That statue? We're not sure who it's supposed to be, it's just a neat carving. Sometimes though in the rain, it does look like it's crying. Pretty freaky.

Oh yeah, you can totally use the swing for a few minutes, thank you for asking! No, I don't think anyone else was on it, you two are the only kids on this tour. I'm definitely sure. No, there weren't any girls, just you and your brother. You're sure she showed you the swing? You're sure you don't see her now, she isn't one of these ladies? That's definitely weird, let's move on from the swing now. No, that's gotta be the wind moving it. Yep, we're heading off.

---

Ok, just up this path here is the graveyard. Yeah no, an actual graveyard. Yeah, with bodies and everything. Well, yes, bodies in the graves are usually dead, it'd be pretty bad if they weren't. That's a whole different problem. Who's buried here? Well everyone actually. The couple miscarried babies that were big enough to bury, the two kids who died, as well as David and Sarah Bell themselves.

Well, they died a few different ways. One kid, a little girl caught pneumonia from falling in the river, and was too weak to recover. The older boy, he actually fell down the well getting water. I told you it was deep. Sarah, after her last miscarriage, she fell into a deep depression and just slowly wasted away. There was no autopsy, but some say it was her grief that killed her. Others say it was undiagnosed cancer.

As for David, after his only living son moved away, he stayed here til he was old and grey, and died from falling out of a second storey window. Actually yes, it was the one you said you saw something in. Weird. Huh? Where? No, I didn't see anything. A boy? A wet boy? Well, some of the high school kids like to go swimming around here, the kid you saw probably was swimming here and didn't want to get caught trespassing. It is private property after all.

---

Ok, we're coming up on the last stretch. Just a neat little path through the woods. Remember, please stay on the path, poison ivy and the like. It's also easy to get lost. The local high school used to do a haunted house fundraiser here, but a couple years ago one of the kids got lost. No, she was never found. Lots of places to get lost here, could have fallen in the river, or down one of these ledges. They don't do the haunted house anymore. It was a ton of fun while it lasted, though.

Oh are you ok? A sting? Well, we're right by the river, mosquitoes are pretty nasty this time of year. Like someone pulled your hair? Ah yes, I forgot to mention, watch out for branches. They do seem like hands sometimes. Oh yeah, you definitely do have a scratch there, three in fact. That branch got you good.

---

You can tell the future of the planet by reading the bug splatters on your windshield. How you don't have that many, how you haven't had to clean it in a while, and there's less and less bugs to hit.

You see omens in the flight patterns of birds. How they migrate earlier and earlier each year as their internal clocks are skewed by global warming. How some grow too fat to fly on greasy food, while others starve to death on eating plastic covering their homes.

You can see symbols and signs in the swirling smoke from factories, or the slick colourful oil that they pump into the river. Shapes revealed by the melting of the ice caps and burning of the forests. Read warnings in the bones of the animals left behind.

I can't move.

I don't know how long I've been here.

I don't know how I got here, I just suddenly was.

I don't feel pain, but I do feel something. There's a stick poking my neck. It's uncomfortable.

-----

It's night now. I can't see much. I just see clouds.

Something flew over me. I hope it was an owl.

It's colder.

-----

It's daytime again. Not the good kind though. It's raining. The rain keeps falling on me. The water is in my eyes and I can't close them. It's wet and cold. I don't like it.

-----

It's night again. At least it stopped raining.

I'm still cold.

-----

It's snowing now. I thought the rain was cold.

It's covering me. Oh so cold.

It keeps snowing.

-----

I can't see anything. My eyes are open. I can't see. I am completely covered in snow.

It's so heavy. I can feel it smothering me. Pushing down down down, so heavy. There's so much of it.

I'm colder than I have ever been before.

I can move less now. I know I couldn't move before, but this somehow feels like I can move even less.

I must be frozen solid.

-----

Drip drip drip.

The snow is melting.

-----

I feel something crawling on my foot. It has too many legs.

What is it oh god what is it I can't see it it's crawling up my leg I can't move I can't look at it what is it.

-----

There's bugs everywhere. I can feel them crawling, hear them buzzing. That's not the worst part.

They're biting me. I can feel them nibbling away at my skin.

They're eating me. I can feel it.

-----

It's not just the bugs. The birds have found me. They peck and peck and peck. They pull bits of me away.

I can't see them but I hear them, crying and cawing and fighting over who gets the best parts.

I can see one now. It's very big and very black.

It's coming closer. That can't be good. No. No go away. Please don't come closer. Go away. No not there please not there I need those I need those please no no no please go away. No no nono nononono no.

It took my eyes.

-----

I can't see anything.

I can still feel everything though.

-----

Something bigger has found me.

I know this because the birds are gone.

They all flew away. The can leave. I wish I could leave. Why can't I leave.

-----

Bear. Bobcat. Maybe even a cougar. That's what's here now. Scared off the birds. I've never seen a live cougar before.

I can feel it having its fill.

-----

There can't be much left now. I know this because all the animals have left me alone for a while I think. Even the bugs are gone. Nothing left for them here.

There's nothing left for me here either.

-----

I don't know how long it's been. How long does it take a body to be just bones? I've been here longer than that.

There's a tree growing. I can feel it. It's coming through my skull. Right out the place where that bird took my first eye.

It's very uncomfortable. I can feel it, but at the same time I can't. I know it's there.

I hope it grows big.

-----

Something moved my bones.

I don't know what.

I should have felt it, but I couldn't. I can't feel most of my bones anymore. I'm getting numb. I think that's a good think.

-----

Ashes to ashes dust to dust. That's all I am now.

Not even scattered bones in a forest. Not even a forest.

I think it burned down. I could feel a lot of heat. First thing I felt in a while.

It wasn't a good feeling.

-----

I can't feel a thing now.

That's a lie. I feel tired.

I haven't felt tired in forever. I think it's time for me to go now.

I hope my forest regrows.

I am being sacrificed to the witch in the woods. She cursed my village. Not recently, long before I was born. But she's still out there.

They sacrifice to me. They think that I cause all the problems in the village, so they sacrifice thing to me to make it stop. They're not always wrong. Mostly animals, goats, sheep, dogs. Nothing larger than a cow. This one feels different though. I can always feel what happens in my woods.

There is a plague in the village. They say she caused it. I had it. I survived it. I'm the only one in the village to survive catching it. They don't trust me. They think I'm a witch too. I survived the witch plague, so I must be a witch. They think if they give her a survivor as a sacrifice, she will call off the plague.

This one is different. It's not a dog, a cat, a chicken. This one is a girl. Alive, but bound, gagged, and tied to a stake, just like all the other sacrifices. She's bruised and bloody. She did not go lightly.

I did not go lightly. I screamed. I cried. I fought. How dare they. How dare they scorn me for surviving. For something not my fault. Something that should have been a miracle. They cursed me, so I cursed them in turn. I am not a witch, but they wanted a villain, so I gave them one. I told them that I cursed their village for a thousand years. They gagged me after that.

I can see her clearly. She's scared.

I can see her clearly. She is not as scary as they told me. She's pretty.

She's pretty. Under all the blood and dirt. I approach cautiously, so I don't scare her.

She approaches slowly. She moves gracefully. Like a predator. Oh god, she's coming closer.

I go around to the back of the stake. I take out my knife. She flinches. I can't blame her. Who knows what stories they told her.

She's behind me. Oh god she's behind me. What's she doing what's she doing what's she doing oh-

There. The bonds are off. She's free.

She can leave. She doesn't. Why doesn't she? She should leave. You can leave. Don't you want to leave?

I'm free. She cut the bonds. I can leave.

"Don't you want to leave?" Do I? Do I want to leave? No.

"No." No? Why not?

"Why not?" I don't know. I really don't.

She doesn't know. She doesn't know why she doesn't want to leave, and that scares her.

I'm scared. But not for the reason I should be. I want to go with her.

"Come with me." Please come. Please please. Come.

I go with her. She takes me through the woods. They're dark. They feel dangerous. But not to me.

My woods are dangerous. Men who come to hurt me don't make it out. They won't hurt her, though. They like her. I take her to my home. I hope she likes it.

I like her home. It's friendly. Filled with plants and animals. So that's what happens to all the animals that we - they - sacrifice to her. It's nice to know that they're here and happy.

My home is a haven. Sick and injured animals come here for help. I am a healer. I cure ills and injuries. "Come here."

"Come here." I come closer. She's very close. She puts her hand on my cheek. I can't breathe.

She stops breathing. She seems scared, but she doesn't move away from me. Is she scared of me?

"Are you scared of me?" I don't know. I should be.

She doesn't answer. She must be terrified. I start to heal her face, so that I can move away and stop scaring her. There, her wounds are fixed.

She healed my wounds. How did she do that? I want to do that.

"I want to do that." She wants to learn? She wants me to teach her?

"I want you to teach me." She is amazing. I need to learn. Please say yes.

"Yes." Yes, I'll teach her. I can't believe she wants to stay. I'll teach her how to be a witch.

"Bye, Jess," Jack called back, waving tiredly. It had been a brutal day today. Three different small villain organizations had all robbed various buildings that day, the last two only being fifteen minutes apart. To make matters worse, Leah and Eva had both come down with the flu, leaving Jack and Jessie short staffed today, and Jack's car had broken down and Izzy was out of town, leaving nobody to carpool with.

Sighing, Jack started on the twenty minute walk back to his apartment. He really didn't want to walk, but he had no other option, since Thomas worked on the other side of town, and wouldn't be done work for another hour or so anyway.

-----

About five minutes away from home, Jack feels his wallet start to fall from his pocket. He grabbed it, and shoved it back in, and kept walking. A couple seconds later, however, he feels it slide out of his pocket again.

He looks around, confused, and hears a piece of glass crunch behind him. On instinct, Jack throws a puff of frost in the direction of the sound. The ice makes contact, and spreads over the thing it hit. To Jack's confusion, there's nothing there, except the floating I've spot.

The ice spot makes a sound, that sounded like a human squeal, and then starts moving away down an alley.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. That ice spot was a person with invisibility powers. And that person just so happened to have stolen his wallet.

Jack swore, and started sprinting down the alley, chucking more frost.

The alley eventually ends in a chain link fence. Jack can hear the sound of someone trying to climb the fence, so he quickly covered it in ice, making it impossible to climb.

He heard a shriek, and then a thud, as whoever was trying to escape fell off the fence. As he made his way down the alley, he saw that the person he was chasing became visible.

"Hey motherfucker, give me my goddamn wallet back," Jack said, walking toward the winded pickpocket.

The thief didn't reply.

Jack walked over and grabbed the thief's shirt. "I said, give me my wallet ba- What the hell, you're just a kid!"

The thief that Jack had happened to catch turned out to be a teenage girl, who by the looks of her, had been living on the streets, and was absolutely terrified of Jack.

Jack let go of her shirt, and she started crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, here's your wallet back, I didn't take anything else, I promise, please don't take me to the police, I'll leave, I won't steal again, I'm so so sorry, please don't call the cops!"

Jack was also starting to panic. He had no idea what to do with a teenage girl, much less one who he had just caught stealing and was now sobbing in the back of an alleyway.

"Um, hi, hi, uh, please stop crying, I won't call the cops, just please stop crying, please?"

The girl looked at him. "You're really not gonna call the cops?" she asked.

"Look kid," Jack replied. "You're obviously going through a tough time, and I'm gonna guess that you're running from something, maybe a bad home situation, or foster care. Am I on the right track?"

The girl had almost stopped crying at this point. "Yeah," she sniffed. "Something like that."

Jack crouched down beside her, but she flinched away, so Jack stood up again. "Listen, kid, I don't wanna call the police, but I'm also not gonna let you go back out onto the street tonight. So, you've got a couple options. You can either come back to my place tonight and have dinner with my boyfriend, and we can figure something out for you in the morning, or you can try to run, and I'll have to catch you again, and this time, I'll call the cops, and they'll be the ones to figure something out. Which do you feel like doing, kid?"

While he was talking, Jack had created another snowball and was casually tossing it back and forth between his hands.

The girl eyed it nervously. "I- I'll come with you."

-----

In Jack's apartment, the girl sat at the dining room table, nervously scanning the room.

"So, kid, what's your story?" Jack asked, trying to break the silence.

The girl just stared at the table.

"Okay," Jack said, "I'll start. As you could have already guessed, I'm Jack Frost, I work for Bright and I'm a hero in the city. But, my real name is Jack and that's what you can call me."

At this the girl looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Jack Frost's real, legal name is Jack? Like for real?"

Great. Fifteen minutes with this teenager and the sarcasm is already coming out.

"Yeah," Jack said. "It's short for Jackson, but I needed an alias for my resume, and I thought it was funny at the time."

The girl snorted. "I'm sure you did."

Jack shook his head. "Anyways, that's my story, what's up with you?"

The girl looked at him for a long time, before deciding to speak.

"My name is Chloe. And you're right, I did run away from foster care. There were tons of other kids there, and they were treated well, but not me, just because if these stupid powers. They bullied me and called me a monster. The "parents" would hit me, and lock me in my room. They didn't want me to hurt the "normal" kids. I ran away from home after home, but I kept getting caught. Finally I figured out how to use my powers well enough to not be found. Until now I guess."

Chloe laughed bitterly. "And now I've been caught again. By the city's coldest hero. I guess you're not called a freak if you're famous. Now what, you're gonna send me back to foster care?"

When she had finished talking, she sat back in her chair, looking utterly defeated. Jack had been listening to her story in silence. He really had no idea what to do with this poor kid sitting in his kitchen.

Standing up, he asked the only thing he could think of to do at the moment. "You like pizza?"

-----

About an hour later, the door opened and Thomas walked in.

"Hey, Jack, I'm hom- what the hell, who is this?"

Jack grabbed Thomas's arm and pulled him into the kitchen.

"Ok, I'm gonna tell you everything, but promise you won't get mad."

-----

"So, basically, she's here now, and I don't know what to do with her."

Thomas sighed. "Well, she obviously can't go back on the streets, and foster care clearly has been hell for her. I don't know what we can do, except keep her here for the night at least. We can figure out what to do with her in the morning."

Thomas and Jack walked back out into the living room. As Thomas opened the door, he hit something solid, which then made an indignant squeak.

Jack laughed. "Word of advice, kid, when you eavesdrop, don't stand in the way of the door."

Chloe turned visible and looked at the floor. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Well," said Thomas. "I'm guessing you heard everything we said in there."

Chloe nodded sheepishly.

"Well then," Jack continued. "I guess you know that we want you to stay here at least for tonight, until we figure out what to do with you."

"I can't speak for sure what will happen, but I can promise that you will not go back into the streets or into the system again, and you will absolutely not go to jail for trying to rob my boyfriend," Thomas said.

Chloe met Thomas's eyes. "Thank you," she said, in a small voice, and then yawned.

"Ok, kid, it's time for bed, let me get the air mattress set up for you in the living room," said Jack, and he and Thomas walked off to make a place for their impromptu guest to sleep.

-----

"Where the heck have you two been?" Jessie asked when Jack walked into work.

Jack and Thomas had both taken the week or so off to figure out living arrangements for Chloe. They both decided that it would be best for her to stay with them for the foreseeable future, and had been busy learning how to care for a sassy fourteen year old girl, in addition to converting the office that neither of them used into a bedroom, and buying a lot of things. Probably more than necessary.

"It appears so, Silver Streak. Back for another ass kicking?"

Jessie faced off against Adam. He really was the most fun to fight, they both got really into their monologues and usually ended up dramatically trash talking eachother more than actually fighting.

Adam stuck out his tongue. "You know I won fair and square last time, you pulled a dirty trick with literally throwing Menagerie at me."

Jessie shrugged. "He was only in wolf form, not like he weighed that much. I wouldn't have thrown Elephant-Thomas at you."

While they were talking, Jessie tried to peer into Adam's mind. Concentrating, she began to pick up his thoughts. "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you do-"

At Jessie's confused expression, Adam started to giggle.

"You bastard, did you seriously Rick-Roll me in the middle of a fight!?" Jessie cried.

With Adam still cackling like a witch, Jessie used her telekinesis to pick up a brick and throw it at him. But, as she threw it, a thorny vine caught the brick and hurled it away.

Jessie swore as she looked behind her to see Chokeweed had snuck up and was now sending his vines at her. She started batting them away with her telekinesis, but there were too many, and soon her hands were bound and she could feel herself being dragged into the main Villain Building. She started swearing viciously at Adam and Ethan, who were now both laughing as Ethan's vines dragged her, along with Electra and Jack Frost down to the holding cells under the building.

-----

Once the three villains had been placed in power dampening cells, Silver Streak and Chokeweed were replaced by Ember and Menagerie, who were on guard duty that day.

Jessie turned to Eva, who was looking a little bit worried. "Ok, kid, it's your first time being captured isn't it?"

Eva nodded.

"So," Jessie began. "What usually happens, is when we lose a fight and get captured, we usually get taken here to wait until we either escape, or get rescued or ransomed, or Red Hornet forgets about us and someone comes let us out. I used to lean toward escape, but that's a lot of work, and only usually good for annoying the guards because usually we get caught again. I tend to wait it out here until someone rescues us. It's probably gonna be Leah today, she's the best at rescue missions."

Eva looked a bit less concerned. "So we're not gonna get in trouble for being captured?"

Jack looked over at the girls. "Nah, bro, it's all good, happens all the time. Worst that will happen is Jessie and Izzy get bored and start to argue with eachother over something pointless."

Ember looks over, offended. "Hey! I disagree, the worst that happens is when you and Tommy are both here and just make out the entire time!"

Jessie points at Izzy. "I agree with her."

Eva looks visibly more relaxed. "So we just like, chill here?"

Thomas laughs, "Yeah, pretty much."

-----

"Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzzzzyyyyyyy."

Izzy looks over at Jessie. "What the hell do you want?"

Jessie grins. "I'm hungry, can you get me McDonald's?"

Izzy scowls. "Bitch, I'm on duty, I can't just leave to get McDonald's."

"Only guard duty, nobody's gonna care," Jessie replied. "Tommy won't snitch, right Tommy?"

Jessie glances at Menagerie for conformation. He nods.

Jessie starts chanting. "McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's."

Quickly, Electra, Jack Frost, and even Menagerie start to join in the chant.

"McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's."

Izzy sighs. "Fine! Fuck you all, though."

-----

A small portal opens up, and out steps Slip Space and one of Bright Shadow's strongmen called Goliath.

"We have come to rescue our brave comrades from the horrors of your evil dungeon, you dreadful villains!" cried Leah, grinning.

Menagerie looks up from the poker game that everyone was playing, using fries and chicken nuggets as the chips. "Oh no," he said, monotone. "However will we stop you?"

Ember makes a half-hearted fireball and tosses it at Slip Space, who portals it away.

"Please take them," Izzy said. "Eva has won literally all of my French fries."

Leah laughed and gestured at Goliath, who broke the lock on the cell door. The three heroes walked out of the jail and through Leah's portal.

"Oh dear, they're escaping," Menagerie said, as he took a sip from his diet coke.

"Hey, wait! You forgot this!" Izzy yelled, and threw Jack's unfinished cheeseburger through the portal after them.

Thomas looked at Izzy. "So," he said. "There were four of them, and they knocked us out and tied us up and broke the cage."

So, what did happen? Well, we're not entirely sure. All the greatest minds seem to be either dead or stumped.

What we do know, is it's a fungus. Not a tasty mushroom that you eat in pasta, or a cute, aesthetically pleasing red and white toadstool. This fungus is a vicious parasite. We don't know entirely where it originated, only that it came from somewhere in the jungle, and picked up by a human that went where they shouldn't have.

Now, this zombie doesn't spread through bites by an infected person. No. This zombie spreads through spores. Fungi tend to reproduce by releasing bursts of spores into the air that are carried by the wind to a new location. This fungus is no different. What is different from most fungi though, is that these spores need a host to germinate in. So, they find one. This species happens to like humans.

It's fairly easy to get infected, in fact, it's almost impossible not to, which is why it spread so quickly. Once a burst of spores has been released into the air, they float around, until they enter the body of a host. And they will enter. These spores can enter through any and all openings to the body. Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, open wounds. Any space that leads to the blood stream eventually is a space that a spore can infect you by.

And what happens once you're infected? Well, you don't turn into a savage killing machine, hell bent on eating anything in your path. No. Instead, you turn into a puppet. Once the spores have gotten into your body, it's only a matter of time before they enter your brain, and then it's over. The spores invade your brain tissue, destroying neural pathways, and replacing the gaps with its own DNA. Then, it uses its new control to take over your whole nervous system. And you can feel it. It starts with you being unable to move your limbs. And then they start moving on their own. And then you feel your brain start to shut down. You keep blacking out. And then one time, you don't wake back up. It's not a slow process, either.

But why would it do that? What is the evolutionary advantage of taking over human brains? Well, in almost all forms of life, the only goal of an organism is to survive and reproduce. This fungus is no different. Since it's spores need a host to germinate, there needs to be hosts available. So, the fungus sets out to find a suitable place to release it's spores.

Once the fungus has completely taken over the host's body, it starts to move. Slowly, awkwardly, the fungus moves the host's limbs until it starts walking. A slow, mindless lumber of a body controlled by something with no previous access to limbs. And so, the body walks. And walks. And walks. The body will keep moving until the fungus finds a suitable location to release its spores. During the journey, the host doesn't eat, or sleep, or drink, it only walks. This is not a human being anymore, this is a living corpse.

And sometimes, a dead corpse. Because sometimes, the journey takes so long, that the host body dies. But this does not affect the fungus. No sir, the fungus does not care that it is controlling something dead. The fungus will continue on regardless of the body's state, until it finds a place to release, or until the body is so decomposed that it literally falls apart, and there are no more muscles or ligaments to propel it.

So what happens when the fungus finds a suitable place to release its spores? Well, it bursts. Literally. You see, while the body has been going on this death journey, the fungus has been busy. Inside every available body cavity, lungs, heart, stomach, you name it, it has been growing fruiting bodies. And these growths are what produce new spores. So, when everything is ready, the fruiting bodies rupture, releasing spores, and taking the body with it. The host body explodes, and with the chunks of human remains, come millions of infectious spores, immediately contaminating anyone within range of the burst.

Sometimes, when the conditions are right, there will be thousands of bodies, full of fungus all gathered in one spot, waiting to burst. Men, women, children, all lined up, in various states of decay, waiting for some trigger. And then, all at the same time, they burst, releasing enough spores to infect an entire country.

So, what can be done? How can we stop ourselves from being infected? Ha. We can't. No matter what precautions you take, you will still get infected. Wearing whole head coverings won't work, you have to take them off eventually. Drink water, the spores can be transported via rivers and streams. Eat some food, there are hundreds of spores just sitting there, dormant, waiting to be picked up by a host. Kill the infected, it just releases the spores sooner. Contain them, they will burst anyway, spores getting through air vents and cracks in a wall.

A few days into your hike, you are making camp like normal, when you hear rustling behind you. You turn quickly, but see nothing. Expecting it to be an animal or something, you turn back to your fire.

As you eat some dinner, the rustling continues, but you can't see anything still.

Later that night, you decide it's time to go to bed. Tucked into your sleeping bag, you are about to doze off, when you hear the rustling again. Concerned that an animal is getting into your food, you open the tent and shine your light out, and to your surprise, you hear something hiss and see a shape skuttle off into the woods on all fours.

A bit shaken, you return to your sleeping bag, and make sure your hunting knife is within easy reach.

The next day's hike was uneventful. As you set up camp, you have all but forgotten the previous night's strange occurence.

After setting up and eating dinner, it is once again time for bed. It is a clear night out, and the full moon is so bright, that it is making the silhouettes of the pine trees visible through your thin tent walls.

In the middle of the night, you awaken to more rustling noises. Thinking it is yet another small animal, you shout out at it to get away.

To your horror, illuminated by the moon, you see a shape outside the tent moving. It is no small animal.

Slowly rising up from all fours, the outline of a man. Terrified, you clutch your knife, and pray that it leaves. And it does, at least you think.

It drops back to all fours, and continues to rustle around the camp for a while, until the sounds finally stop.

After a sleepless night, you decide to head back to civilization. You start to make your way down the path that will bring you home.

As you break for camp again that night, just a few hours away from your car, you hear rustling. You turn, and there is a man. He is standing up and looking at you.

He opens his mouth, and to your surprise asks, "Where is David's Well?"

Confused, instinctively you reply, "I-I'm sorry, I don't know."

The man takes a step toward you and asks again, "Where is David's Well?"

You take a step backward. "Hey, man, I don't know, leave me alone."

The man did not like this answer. He drops to all fours and starts running at you, the whole time hissing and screaming, "Where is David's Well!"

Scared half to death, you throw your knife at the man. It sticks in his shoulder, and he screams, and runs away into the forest.

Terrified out of your and now without a weapon, you abandon your campsite and take off running towards your car.

A few hours later, you manage to make it there, just as the sun was coming up. Running on pure adrenaline alone, you drive home, and immediately crash on your bed, finally safe and sound.

But, just hours later, you are awoken to the sound of dripping. Groggily, you open your eyes, and to your horror, there is a man, standing at the foot of your bed, a knife in his shoulder, dripping blood onto your carpet.

But later that night, with nothing to do, you find yourself standing in the bathroom. What the heck, you think. What's the worst that can happen?

You stand at the edge of the counter and stare into the mirror. Nothing happens. To make it even spookier, you decide to turn off the light, and light a candle.

Alone in the dark bathroom, with only your candle and reflection for company, you stare into the mirror.

Minutes pass. You're not actually sure how many. Time seems to go too slow, but also too fast.

As if coming out of a trance, you blink and shake your head. But something is off. You can't exactly place what.

You refocus on the mirror, and get a fright. You see a dark shadow reaching from behind you.

You spin around and sigh in relief. Only a towel. Turning back to the mirror, you move your head around to stretch. Then you notice what's wrong.

Your reflection didn't move. You raise your hand. Your reflection does the same, but it's the wrong hand.

Your reflection smiles with teeth that are just a little too pointy.

Scared, you start to back up, but you slip on a pool of water that wasn't there before, and losing your balance, you start to fall.

But, instead of calling backwards like you should have, you fall forwards. Towards the mirror. As you reach out your arms to brace yourself, your hands make contact with the mirror, with your reflection once again mirroring your actions, but with a big grin.

Terrified, you try to pull back, but your hands are stuck to the mirror. Your reflections smile gets impossibly big, and you feel its fingers close over yours.

Groaning, you sit up. You only have a foggy memory of what happened in the bathroom. Rubbing your head, you stand up. You think that you must have fallen and hit your head, which led to all those weird hallucinations.

Just to make sure, you glance towards the mirror. Sure enough, your reflection is there. You raise your hand to reassure yourself that it was just a dream. But, to your horror, you can't. Your hand won't move.

Then, your hand begins to move by itself. Horrified, you try to stop it, but you can't. Then, other parts of your body start to move against your will. You can only start at your reflection as your limbs move of seemingly their own volition.

Then, you feel your mouth start to move. Your lips pull up into an impossibility big grin. Your reflection is grinning back at you, with a mouth full of teeth that are just a bit too pointy.

You watch in terror as your reflection turns and walks out of the bathroom, with you mirroring it.

Once it is gone, you are suddenly free to move again. You turn to survey your surroundings, but to your surprise, there is nothing there. As soon as your reflection left, so did your surroundings. You are left in an empty black void, with the only thing there being the mirror, serving as a window into your own life.

Play the game if it doesn't scare you

Prove your courage if you care to

Dare you, dare you, double dare you

The game is quite a simple one

Grab some friends and have some fun

Get a clock, the time will run

When time runs out, the game is done

Make a circle with your hands

Sing the song of ancient lands

Groups of three, the game demands

And a drop of blood, from all the hands

When the ritual is complete

The time then starts, you must compete

All must do a daring feat

To win the game, your friends you beat

All will get his own hard task

A choice of you, the game will ask

Make your face a stone cold mask

And see which of your friends will last

You will have some things to choose

Follow the game's cues and clues

But beware the consequence if you refuse

Fail the task, and then you lose

Do your dare, and then you've won

You live to see the morning sun

Fail the game, and we get our fun

You can't hide and you can't run

The game demands a task of you

That rips your soul, through and through

So you choose what you will do

Whatever it is, see it through

Dare you, dare you, double dare you

Play the game if it doesn't scare you

Prove your courage if you care to

Mortified, Eva looked at the man she just bumped into, and unfortunately spilled hot coffee all over. He looked to be about her age, brown hair, blue eyes, with now slightly crooked glasses over them.

"Hey, it's ok, it's no problem," he said, dabbing at the coffee with a napkin.

Furiously blushing, Eva said, "I truely am so sorry. Let me buy you another one, since yours is all over your shirt."

Glancing at his watch, the guy said, "You know what, I actually have to go, but I'll let you buy me a new one some other time. How about tomorrow, same time, same place?" With that, he swept out the door, leaving a stunned Eva staring after him.

Belatedly, she yelled after him, "Wait! Did you just ask me out?" But it was too late, he was already gone.

Eva glanced at her watch and cursed. No time for a new coffee. She was already late for work.

-----

"Leah, I am so, so sorry I'm late, I was at the coffee shop and I ran into this guy, like literally ran into him and-"

"Eva. Chill. It's no big deal, you were what, six and a half minutes late? It's fine."

Still out of breath from running, Eva brushed a stray hair out of her face. "What do we have today?" she asked.

Leah checked her watch for notifications. "Looks like Hornet and his gang are doing a death ray again this week. Bright Shadow wants us to go check it out. Ugh, we're with Clyde too. I can't stand that guy."

Eva sighed, "Dammit. Ok, lemme just get changed quick. You gonna bring us?"

"Yep," Leah replied. "Meet me in parking lot when you're done. And tell Clyde that if he pukes again, I'm leaving him with Hornet's henchmen this time."

-----

When Leah teleported the three of them to the top of the sky scraper where the death ray was located, three villains were already waiting for them: Ember, the flame thrower, Silver Streak, the speedster, and someone she had never fought before. The unknown villain had a green mask covering his face, and what looked like cargo pants with dozens of pockets.

Ember looked at the group of heroes. "Well, well, well, what do we have here. Come to stop our evil plan I suppose?"

Leah, or as she was known at work, Slip Space, replied, "You will never succeed in your plan, Iz- I mean, Ember, heroes always win."

Ember narrowed her eyes. "I guess we'll have to see about that." Without warning, Ember launched a fireball at Slip Space, who then disappeared and reappeared behind Ember.

The other villains took that as a signal, and attacked, with Silver Streak going after Clyde, leaving Eva facing off with the new guy.

The guy in green opened up one of the many pockets in his cargo pants, and took out a handful of some powdery things that he threw at Eva.

She sneezed. "What is that, pollen? That's not gonna do shi-"

Before Eva could get another word out, the powder expanded into thick vines that wrapped around her entire body.

The guy in green laughed. "That's what you get for picking a fight with Chokeweed."

Eva grinned. "Well, you shouldn't have picked a fight with Electra!"

She flexed her hands, and a bolt of white lightning fried the vines holding her, and blasted Chokeweed backwards, knocking him unconscious.

Eva looked over to her co-workers, to find that they had similarly beat their opponents. Leah was tying up Ember and Silver Streak, and was talking to them, probably reprimanding them about how evil always loses, and that being bad guys is well, bad.

Eva shot a bolt of lightning at the death ray, destroying it, and then Leah took them all back to headquarters.

-----

The next day, Eva got to the coffee shop at the same time as yesterday. She scanned around the building quickly, but didn't see the man from yesterday. Disappointed, she walked up to the counter to order.

"Don't bother," said a voice from behind her. "I already got you one."

Spinning around, she saw the same guy from yesterday, holding two drinks.

"Hey! I was supposed to buy those!"

The guy laughed. "Oops, I forgot. Next time you can buy. My name is Ethan, by the way."

Eva laughed. "Bold of you to assume that there will be a next time. My name is Eva."

-----

A week later, Eva was once again late to work after losing track of time while on a walk with Ethan. Breathless, she attached herself to Leah, who was just about to leave with Jack on their way to stop Red Hornet's villains from robbing a bank.

"Nice of you to show up," Jack teased her as they made their way up to the bank.

"I'm sorry, but I've been seeing this guy, and I lost track of time."

Jack laughed. "It's all good, bro, I do that all the time with my boyfriend."

The three heroes were met at the bank enterence by Silver Streak, Chokeweed, and the shifter named Menagerie.

Slip Space and Jack Frost faced up against Silver Streak and Menagerie, once again leaving Eva with Chokeweed.

The hero and villain were better matched off this time, and their battle was the longest one. It finally ended with Eva shooting a razer strength bolt at Chokeweed, which blew him backwards and knocked his mask off.

Sauntering over to him, Eva was about to deliver her well rehearsed hero speech, when she stopped, shocked to her core.

"Ethan?" she cried, thunderstruck.

"How do you know- Eva!?"

Eva turned and ran away, leaving her colleagues to deal with the villains.

-----

"Hey, Leah, can I talk you you?"

Leah looked up from her sandwich. "Go for it," she said, taking a bite.

"So, there's this guy I've been kinda seeing, and I really like him, but-"

Intrigued, Leah said, "Go on."

"But, he, he works for Red Hornet. We've fought him before. He's a villain."

Leah blinked at Eva. "So?"

"So? What do you mean 'so'. He's a villain. We're heroes. We are on opposite sides. Good versus evil. I can't go out with him!"

Leah started to giggle. "Eva. That doesn't matter. All that hero, villain stuff, that's just work, babe. None of that lasts outside of work hours. Heck, even within work hours."

Dumbfounded, Eva replied, "What?"

Still laughing, Leah said, "Dude. Izzy, Ember, carpools with Jack every time they go to the same event. Jack is dating Menagerie, who is actually named Thomas. Ember is Jessie's twin sister and my best friend. Me, Jessie and Jack hang out with Izzy, Thomas, and Adam, Silver Streak, all the time. So don't go all Romeo and Juliet on us over literally nothing. Look, I know Izzy was mentioning a new guy over there, who didn't have many friends at work. I'll get her to invite him to games night, and you two can be on a team. So just pop a chill pill, and we'll see you at my place on Wednesday."

Unfortunately, Leah miscalculated and ended up sitting directly in the middle of Jack's table, knocking over the newly built Jenga tower. Everyone stared at her for a second, until Izzy burst into laughter. "Guess that means Leah loses."

Smiling sheepishly, Leah hopped off the table and passed the wine into Izzy's waiting hands.

Jack's boyfriend Thomas, who happened to be the one that just rebuilt the tower, sighed, "I am not picking that back up again."

The door opened and Izzy's twin sister Jessica walked in. "Don't worry, Tommy, my dude, I gotcha." With a wave of her hands, the Jenga tower rebuilt itself.

Still laughing, Leah said, "Thanks, Jessie, but no telekinesis while we're actually playing, cheaters get no alcohol."

Jessie cackled and shook out her long, black hair. "Y'all are no fun. Izzy, gimme the booze."

Jessie looked around the table. "Who are we missing, just Adam?"

"Yeah. For a speedster, it's insane how he always manages to be late," Thomas said.

At that moment, the door banged open, and Adam rushed in, hair out of place, and holding another bottle of cheap wine along with some vodka. "Sorry I'm late, I forgot the alcohol. Nobody reminded me."

Jack sniggered. "That's because it's Leah's turn to bring the booze."

Confused, Adam looked at the bottle that was still in Jessie's hands. "Oh. Well, more for me then."

Before they picked teams, everyone decided to play Drinking Jenga. Whoever knocks over the tower, has to take a shot. Jack knocked it over twice, and Izzy three times. By that time, Izzy has just about lost her motor skills.

"Ok, new game," Thomas declared, after Izzy knocked it over for a forth time. "Sorry," she giggled.

They decided to split into teams for charades. "Ok, since Jack is a wimp and doesn't wanna do guys vs girls, let's pick out of a hat."

"It's not fair, the girls always win," Jack protested.

"Not true. You guys won, um, well. I'm sure you've won something," said Leah.

"We have not," said Thomas. "Anyways, let's have me and Jessie be team captains. I call going first."

After they all were divided up, Jessie's team, the Kool Kidz, consisting of her, Jack and Adam, were up first for charades. Jessie poorly mimed out an action.

"Skiing!" guessed Jack.

"Writing an email!" shouted Adam.

"Eating cotton candy!"

"Being a mime!"

"Getting robbed!"

Beep, beep beep. The time was up.

Exasperated, Jessie yelled, "Driving a car, how hard was that!"

During the next few rounds, Thomas's team, the Superstars absolutely destroyed the Kool Kidz, with the end score being 8 to 2.

All tired, and a little drunk, they all decided to sit in the living room and hang out.

Izzy, seated on the floor beside Leah, was talking about Clyde, Jack, Jessie and Leah's new annoying co-worker. "Ok, so I was doing a hold up with Hornet the other day, and Clyde, comes in all suited up and ready to go, and I was ready to honestly just let him have it, y'know, having an off day, and I skipped lunch, and all, and guess what the jerk does. Guess."

Jack's eyes grew big, and he started to chuckle. "He didn't. Tell me he didn't."

Full on chortling now, Izzy gasped out, "Yes. He did. He started monologuing at me. Full blown, 'You'll never get away with this, Ember, good always wins, blah blah blah.' And I was already having a day, and I didn't wanna deal with his shit, so I just punched him. Decked him right in the jaw, and walked away, right in the middle of his stupid hero speech. God, I hate newbies."

Gasping for air, Leah said, "Isabelle, you didn't!"

"I did, he was so bloody annoying, he even did a hero landing on the way in. I heard his knees crack!" The whole gang was now laughing so hard, nobody could get another word out. Jessie snorted so hard, she accidentally knocked over the Jenga tower across the room with her telekinesis, and Thomas shifted into a frog, and couldn't turn back until everyone stopped sniggering.

Finally, exhausted, all the heroes and villains calmed down.

"Well, lads, I think it's time for us to go," said Jessie, still wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Me and Leah have an early shift tomorrow, and I already feel like I'm gonna have a hangover."

Adam stood up and stretched. "I gotta go too, Hornet has got me on henchman duty all this week."

Izzy wrinkled her nose. "Gross. I hate henchman duty. Good luck bro."

Thomas laughed, "Same. I had it last week, and Hornet had me be a gorilla the whole time. I hate being a gorilla, they stink."

The four guests slowly exited Jack and Thomas's house. Adam, the only sober one because of his fast metabolism, was the one who had to drop the drunk girls off at their houses. As they were leaving, Izzy yelled over her shoulder, "See y'all at work, let's do this at my place next week!" She promptly ran into Leah, who then tripped over her own feet.

The king and queen of this kingdom ruled fairly and justly. They only ever made one mistake in the entire time they ruled. Unfortunately, this mistake would prove to be the downfall of their kingdom.

Now, you may have heard this story before. A faerie's curse. A sleeping kingdom. A beautiful princess, awoken by true love's kiss. You were told that it had a happy ending. That's what always happens in fairietales, right?

At least, that's what everyone likes to hear.

Unfortunately, much like real life, stories don't always end how they should.

In this such tale, there was a curse, and there was a kingdom, and there was a princess, and even a brave and dashing prince, come to save the day. The difference was, he failed. And so did the next. And on and on, until they stopped coming.

A faerie's rage caused walls of thorns to surround the castle, entrapping the bespelled occupants. Asleep where they stood, some were lucky, and happened to fall onto their beds, where they slept peacefully. Others were less fortunate. They happened to be walking down stairs, or fetching water from a well. But nobody cares about their stories. People only want to hear about the prince and princess.

But, as the story says, a prince came, gallant and daring, beloved by the princess herself. He tirelessly wacked away at the forest of thorns, with their beautiful, blood red blooms. He made progress indeed, but in the end, the brambles bested him. Starving, exhausted, and bleeding, he finally fell to his knees, a mere arm's length from the castle gate. The path he made grew shut the next day.

The second prince made it barely halfway before becoming hopelessly entangled in the briars. The more he fought, the tighter the brambles became. His skeleton is still hanging there, choked to death.

The third prince made it the farthest of all. He fought his way through the thicket, only to burst through the castle gates and impale himself on a guard's sword, still faithfully protecting the castle, even years after the flesh had decomposed from his bones.

More princes came, and each time, they fell prey to the faerie's trap. Eventually, the princes stopped coming, and the castle became a thing of myth.

So what became of the castle, and the faerie, and the princess, and even the commoners and castle staff?

The castle stands still, buried in its evil thicket of thorns. It's foundations are crumbling, and nature is slowly creeping in.

The faerie has long faded from existence, as modern technologies push out the need for magic. You see, magic only survives if there are people around to believe in it. But, before she faded completely, the faerie was content in the knowledge that she had won.

As for the common people, and even the nobles and king and queen, well, they were not the subject of the curse, but only unfortunate casualties. Those who were lucky enough to be in a favorable position when the curse struck stayed in that position until their bodies withered from lack of food and water. Because of the curse, they lasted longer than a normal body would have, but they still eventually succumbed to nature and are are only present as skeletons scattered about the castle, or food for scavengers, or the dust blowing across the empty courtyard.

The princes are also present as well, though just as bleached bones stuck in the thorns. Their finery is faded, and swords tarnished and blunted. Had you not known the stories of the bones, they would be indistinguishable from the remains of commoners, as we all are in the end.

And I'm sure the question you've all been wondering, what became of the princess? Is she still there, beautiful as ever, waiting and waiting for a prince that will never come? Or has she too, been lost to time, and is naught but dry bones, in a shiny crown, on a bed of silk? Since the princess was the one to bear the faerie's wrath, the princess did indeed bear the curse longer than the others. But her curse had another twist. She remains conscious throughout the entire ordeal, and is finely in tune with all the others in her court.

What does this mean? It means she knows. And feels. She felt it as each life in her court was extinguished. She felt it as the maid fell down the stairs, and as the serving boy fell down the well. She felt it as the old woman who did the mending was the first to die as her body gave up, and as her mother was the last. She felt it as each and every prince, daring to come to her rescue, fell to the thorns. And she felt it as her own body bent to the ravages of time, and aged and decayed, and she could not move, she could only feel.

Izzy looks over to the direction of the voice. A guy with messy brown hair and glasses was seated at a bench in the cafe.

"Sup, Jack, how's it going?" she asked.

"Pretty good. Boss has been on my ass lately. How bout you?"

Izzy laughed. "Same as you. Since Leah quit, I've had to pick up all her shifts. How's she doing by the way, does she like having you as a coworker instead of a rival?"

"Oh, she's lovely. She always brings in brownies at the start of her shift. They are the best things."

Izzy groaned. "I am so, so jealous. Where is she today, anyway, she just said she couldn't come. Didn't give me a reason."

Jack shrugged. "Boss asked her to pick up an extra shift. Since you guys over there destroyed that bridge in the last brawl, he had to make a big show of helping with the cleanup efforts."

Izzy grimaced. "Sorry about that. Ol' Boss Man Super Villain, Red Hornet, wanted to make the story as big as possible. You know how it is, with all these new up and coming villains trying to get their name out big in the media. I wasn't even supposed to be working that night, but I had to take over for Leah."

"At least you got overtime, Bright Shadow hasn't paid me for the last three overtime shifts I've worked. I get being a sidekick to a superhero isn't exactly a mainstream job, but he's gotta give me something," Jack complained.

"That sucks, man. Anyways, what'd you order me?"

"Hot chocolate with four marshmallows. They are also doing flavor shots now, so I got a pumpkin shot for your basic bitchass."

Izzy's eyes lit up. "Gimme gimme gimme."

Jack laughed at her, and slid the to-go cup over. Izzy sipped at the drink and immediately burned her lips on the liquid.

"Shit, that's hot! Thanks for the warning!"

Still laughing, Jack replied, "Miss Fire Powers over here doesn't even know when a drink is hot. Didn't you see the steam?"

Izzy glared at him. "Asshole."

"Here, let me fix it." Jack conjured an ice cube out of the steam coming off the cup.

Izzy pulled her drink away. "Don't you dare, you'll dilute it and get rid of all the pumpkin flavor."

"Damn, you're basic."

Izzy and Jack chatted some more about work, and about how Jack's boyfriend finally asked him to move in to his apartment, and how while on break, Izzy was almost flattened by one of these new wannabe heroes having a spat with the new gravity bender that Bright Shadow just hired.

"Clyde? Aw man, I knew that guy was trouble. Absolute dickhead, always stealing my salad put of the fridge. I bet you ten bucks he hands in his resume to you guys in less than six months."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "You know how it always is with the new guys. They think they're so cool, having super powers, and a mysterious back story. He'll get over it."

They just finished their drinks and scones, when each of them got a notification on their wristbands.

Jack groaned. "Are you kidding me, this is my day off. Bright Shadow wants me to come in because Hornet is holding another bank hostage."

Izzy checked her notification, and also groaned. "Yeah, and Hornet wants me to come back him up at the robbery. That guy owns half of the city, what the hell is he robbing a bank for?"

She sighed. "Well, guess we've gotta go. Want a ride?"

Jack shook his head. "I've gotta swing by my place and change first. I didn't think I'd get called in today, so I left my shit at home and have to get it. I'll meet you there."

"Alright, see you in a few then," Izzy replied, as she turned and walked out the door. "Thanks, Lola," she called to the barista, who waved back at her.

Jack put on his coat and called out to Izzy as she left. "Don't forget games night on Wednesday! I'm hosting!"

Turning around, she replied, "I'll be there. Are we doing heroes vs villains or guys vs girls?"

"Let's pick randomly put of a hat. The girls team always wins anyway, it's no fair."

Izzy laughed. "Wuss. Ok, I really have to go, I'll see you at the bank."

She flashed a peace sign, and drove off.