In the time it would take to blink, she was now lying on the couch, her legs propped up on some of the shoeboxes.
“Everyone else, pick out a room,” I said. “There are six bedrooms here, so …”
“Dorian, Stella, Grace, and I each get a room,” Veronique pushed her blond hair out of her face. “That leaves two rooms, and you three can decide how you’d like to split those.”
“I’ll stay with Michelle,” Fiona said. “Wait, where is Gideon going to sleep?”
I cleared my throat. “Um, the study. I’ll sleep in the study, or, maybe the office. I’m sure there’s an office here. Or here on the couch; it’s a nice living room, right?”
Michelle nodded and craned her neck in my direction.
Good save, Writer Gideon, Grace thought to me as she followed in line behind the others.
“Okay,” I told Michelle, pressing open the port on her neck. “This isn’t going to hurt or anything, but try to be nice and still for me.”
“I’ll try my best, Gideon!”
Not a lot of login hassle for Michelle either; not even a password this time. Loading her drive simply pulled up her stats and abilities.
Michelle, Subject M
Build: 012
Base height: 123 Centimeters
Base weight: 35 Kilos
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 4
Constitution: 6
Wisdom: 4
Dexterity: 8
Charisma: 8
“You’re definitely charismatic,” I said when I found her abilities.
“I am?” she asked, wide-eyed. “Whoa.”
I opened the abilities folder. “Here’s the good stuff.” A shadow box with several dials appeared:
Main: Enhanced Speed
Focused Time Perception: 3
Manic Warping: 9
Acceleration Resistance: 7
Molecular Oscillation: 3
Deceleration: 6
Aim Dodging: 6
Hyper-Accelerated Metabolism: 9
“Damn,” I said as I hovered over the first one and got an explanation. “Daaaayyyum.”
“Damn,” Michelle repeated. “Daaaayyum.”
I smiled at the young Super.
Explanations appeared over the titles: Focused Time Perception allowed her to maintain focus at heightened speeds. Acceleration Resistance was self-explanatory, and it helped her to resist normal human issues associated with moving as rapidly as she did. Deceleration was also self-explanatory, and Aim Dodging let her avoid linear attacks. Hyper-Accelerated Metabolism was why she needed to eat so much.
Case in point: the lollipop currently in her mouth, her fourth since we’d all sat down in the living room.
As for the more complicated abilities, with Molecular Oscillation she could vibrate molecules at high frequencies, allowing her to pass through solid matter.
“We’ll play with this in a minute,” I whispered.
I moved to Manic Warping. Similar to Dorian’s Overcharge, Manic Warping wasn’t an ability at all. It was a handicap, and it was likely what was causing her to warm up and tense at times.
Like the other handicaps that had been put into the supers’ abilities system, trying to just dial it down didn’t seem to do much. As usual, I’d need to tinker with her other abilities to get that number down.
It was important that she be able to focus better at high speeds, so I wanted to increase the Focus Time Perception ability.
I brought Acceleration Resistance down by one notch, which decreased Manic Warping by two. I didn’t know what it would do in the end, but I brought her Accelerated Metabolism down by two notches as well, figuring it was also leading to her overly bouncy nature. This brought the Warping down by another two.
It was looking better, more balanced, but I still wanted to play around with the Molecular Oscillation, figuring that like Grace’s Opacity ability, it would prove useful in certain situations.
I increased Molecular Oscillation by three points to see what it would do to the other abilities. To my surprise, the only thing it increased was Focused Time Perception, which was a boon anyway.
I decided to leave it at that for now. Her final abilities read:
Main: Enhanced Speed
Focused Time Perception: 4
Manic Warping: 4
Acceleration Resistance: 6
Molecular Oscillation: 6
Deceleration: 6
Aim Dodging: 6
Hyper-Accelerated Metabolism: 7
I unplugged the mini USB cable and returned it to my pocket, where I now kept a number of things aside from my wallet, including the key that turned off GPS tracking and the lipstick-sized three terabyte hard drive. “Are you ready to try something cool?”
“We’re done?” she asked, turning to me.
“Almost. I just leveled you out a little bit; I think you’ll be feeling better after everything settles.”
“I don’t feel any different,” she said, looking upward as if she were trying to peer into her own brain. “Well, come to think of it, I do feel a little different.”
“Good, because what we’re about to do is going to be pretty freaking cool.” I cupped my hands around my mouth and called out, “Hey everyone, who wants to see Michelle’s new ability?”
I heard some movement upstairs, but only Veronique came down.
“I have a new ability?”
“Have you ever traveled through a wall before?” I asked Michelle. “Or a stationary object?”
Veronique gave me a funny look. She now wore a short black dress which scarcely covered her ass. I knew instantly it was something Dorian bought for her, evident in the fact that the shoulder straps were clasped together by a pair of skull and crossbones.
“Nice dress,” I told her.
She turned once, showing me what I’d already seen.
“Are you saying I can run through a wall?” Michelle asked, not at all picking up on the sexual tension between Veronique and me.
“That’s what I’m saying, but we’d better be careful when we test it.” I snapped my fingers as a solution occurred to me. “That’s it! We need a mattress.”
Grace, I’ve got a request.
Are you asking me to use my powers to bring a mattress downstairs?
Sure, unless you want to carry it! I hate to say I’m not strong enough to lug a queen-size mattress down the stairs by myself. I might be able to do it, but, it definitely wouldn’t be easy.
I’m joking with you, Writer Gideon. I’ll have one down momentarily, and we can all come and see Michelle’s new ability.
Grace moving a mattress with her mind definitely got the attention of the others upstairs. It wasn’t long before everyone was in the back yard, the mattress leaning against one of the house’s outside walls.
This is a terrible idea, I thought, imagining the small teenage girl smacking into the wall. I didn’t want her to kill herself. But there was no real way to test it, unless …
“That’s it!” I said, looking from Stella to Grace, who instantly read my thoughts.
“Sure,” Grace said and moved the mattress to the middle of the yard.
“What?” Stella asked, still not on our wavelength.
“I want you to use your abilities to create a cushioned, unsurpassable barrier behind the mattress.”
“How?” she asked.
“Try to make one using your Vibration Emissions ability or Kinetic Energy Manipulation. Basically, I don’t want Michelle to just sail through that thing; I want you to be able to stop her without hurting her. I repeat, I don’t want her slamming into an invisible wall.”
Stella thought for a moment.
“Here, let’s try it with me. Create a barrier in front of me that cushions me as I run into it. Does that make sense? Think of it like … have you ever chewed bubblegum?”
Stella looked at me like I was stupid. Ingrid and Fiona giggled behind her. For her part, Michelle was focused on her own hand, waving it around and seeing if she
could pass it through her other hand.
“Are you ready to try it?” I asked Stella.
She bit her lip and finally nodded, motioning with her chin to indicate the new barrier.
I took a few steps forward and felt something start to engulf my body. It was almost as if I were pressing into a giant cushion, something made of foam. There was some resistance, but it didn’t hurt to touch it.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” I moved backward and ran into it, again cushioned by the invisible barrier. “Exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Are we ready for me to try this?” Michelle asked excitedly.
Dorian, Fiona, Ingrid, Veronique, and I stood back as Grace got into position to the left of the mattress, holding it upright using telekinesis. Stella joined her, creating a cushioned barrier about fifteen feet behind the mattress.
“Okay,” I said once everyone was in place. “I’ve tweaked an ability in you that should allow you to pass through that mattress. I want you to think of …”
Nope, I had no idea what I was doing, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from changing someone’s life. I swallowed hard and continued, smiling at Michelle as I said, “I want you to think of your body as a vibration and everything else as a vibration and pass right through that mattress. Do not smash into the mattress, pass through it, and once you do, immediately slow your speed. Ready?”
I stepped away from Michelle, letting her get into the right headspace. She turned toward the mattress, nodded, took a step back, and disappeared.
The young Super appeared on the other side of the mattress, not even jostling it as she passed through. She looked around, excitement on her face.
Stella was the first to cheer.
“Hell, yeah!” I clapped.
Michelle stuck both hands in the air like she was a champion and the rest of us responded with whoops of delight. Hell, even Veronique was clapping. But it was Grace I was focused on, who was giving me a look that told me just how proud she was that I’d taught Michelle something.
With this in mind, and trying to emulate a good coach, I turned to Michelle and gave her the thumbs up. “You did it. Now get over here and do it again.”
Chapter Twenty: Stat Check
After a bit more practice, my next step was to make printouts of all their abilities. I wanted each of them to know their stuff and where they stood, with the bigger goal of empowering them to make connections on how they could use their abilities together.
To better know thy enemy, you must know thyself.
Or however Sun Tzu phrased it.
It felt good, actually, compiling everything. I felt like I was contributing, like I was finally getting a grasp on the Cherry Blossom Girls and the Super Teens, which was a terrible name – you don’t have to tell me that – but I wanted there to be a distinction between the CBGs and the teens.
Michelle and I were in the office downstairs and I was sitting behind a mahogany desk, feeling like a goddamn CEO. There were two monitors in front of me, and the printer had just finished printing Michelle’s stuff. I’d already gone over Stella and Veronique’s stats and still had the rest of the CBGs and Super Teens left.
“Look at this tonight and memorize how your abilities are classified,” I told Michelle.
“Got it!”
“Tell Grace I want to see her next.”
“Okay,” she said and zipped out of the room.
I looked at Grace’s data on the screen and used the hotkeys to print what I’d typed out. I’d already modified her name, figuring she’d prefer that:
Subject Grace
Build: 008
Base height: 181 Centimeters
Base weight: 54 Kilos
Main: Psychic
Strength: 1
Intelligence: 9
Constitution: 4
Wisdom: 8
Dexterity: 3
Charisma: 6
Omnikinesis: 10
Second Sight: 5
Psychometry: 5
Telepathy: 6
Clairsentience: 5
Psychokinesis: 7
Hypnosis: 5
Nightmare Sight: 6
Main Second: Shifter
Speed of Change: 10
Texture Consistency: 10
Opacity: 10
Voice Match: 10
One thing that was different about Grace’s stats as compared to the others was that she was able to be completely maxed out on her second ability. There was literally no room for improvement, which was how she was able to use her ability so fluidly and why the forms she took were so accurate.
So we’ll work with her psychic ability, I thought as she came into the room. She instantly shifted to wear a green bathing suit and a red beret, her long blonde hair braided at the side.
“Like it?” she asked, turning to give me a look at the other side.
“Cammy from Street Fighter,” I said. “Where the hell did you uncover that from?”
“Fiona and Ingrid found a gaming system in the boy’s room. They’re playing it now, a fighting game.”
“Damn, I may have to get on that,” I said. “I’m all about Marvel versus Capcom. Shit is classic.”
“They used this form too.” She was now a cosplayed Chun-Li to a T, down to the silk brocades and ribbons in her hair.
I cleared my throat. “Please save these forms for later.”
Grace sat on my lap, the silk parts of her blue getup cool against my skin. “I have other plans for later.”
“Back to this,” I said, reaching for the paper from the printer and giving it to her. “This is a breakdown of the abilities granted to you. As you can see, your shifter ability is maxed out, so we’ll focus on seeing if we can tweak or improve your psychic stuff. Now, this may not be possible because your Omnikinesis is set to ten, which seems to be the best way to use it. I don’t know. I’m not an expert.”
A strand of Chun-Li’s dark hair fell into Grace’s face. “You’d like us to help you go over our abilities and ask any questions we may have. In doing so, we will hopefully gain a better understanding of what we’re capable of as a team. Right?”
“Yes,” I said with a grin. “So please look it over, and get creative.”
“Sure.” She stood and adjusted the tiny white waistband keeping her costume together before heading for the door. “I’ll send the next one in.”
Sometimes I thought my life was the most fucked a life could be with the caveat being I had yet to be arrested or partially dismembered in some way. Then I saw Grace and realized that, while my life was definitely bizarre and certainly sinful and iniquitous, I was living a dream.
The next Super to enter the room solidified this for me. And ‘enter’ is an understatement.
Dorian appeared next to me in a flash, her hand dropping to my shoulder as I copy/pasted her stats, put them in a separate doc, and printed them for her.
“Here you go,” I said.
She took the paper and studied it. “So, this is me …”
“According to what they have on your drive, yes.”
“I think I’m fifty kilos now. I’ve been eating out more lately.” She folded the paper and stuck it in her back pocket.
“You don’t look a kilo over forty-nine to me, but then again, I’m not keen on the metric system. Now, let’s take a look at this.” I glanced at the screen to go over her stats:
Dorian Gray, Subject DG
Build: 7.543
Base height: 170 Centimeters
Base weight: 49 Kilos
Strength: 2
Intelligence: 6
Constitution: 7
Wisdom: 3
Dexterity: 6
Charisma: 8
Main: Ergokinesis
Overcharge: 2
Charge Capacity: 4
Charge Integrity: 3
Main Second: Teleportation
Tele-Sphere Radius: 3
Conscious Spatial Awareness: 10
Recharge
Speed: 5
Restoration Speed: 6
Teleportation Rapidity: 7
Teleportation Distance: 10
Empathetic Teleportation: 6
Banishment: 3
Overcharge: 1
“Ah, here it is. I believe there is some opportunity with banishment. It hasn’t been something you’ve really used, and it could get us out of a sticky situation. Maybe …” I thought of the others’ abilities. “How many people do you think you could banish? Would it be related to your Tele-Sphere Radius?”
“Makes sense.” Dorian had the look on her face of a college student who’d just had a quiz sprung on them.
“I mean, think about it. Grace could pool enemies together and you could banish them. A quick way to get rid of people; in groups at least.”
She was quiet for a moment, her head bobbing slightly side to side as she read through her abilities. It must be weird to have your skills condensed to a single sheet of paper. If mine were condensed it would look like this:
Main: Wordsmith
Writing: 4
Speed of Writing: 8
Trope usage: 5
Originality: 2
Grammar: 6
World Building: 4
So not too bad, but not that great either. And unlike the supers, I wasn’t able to simply tweak something for optimum performance.
“What if you brought everything that was at ten down by a point and moved Banishment up to five?” she finally asked.
“Yeah.” I returned my focus to the computer screen. “That could work well. Want to do it now?”
“Sure.” She got on her knees in front of me, placing her hands on my thighs as I fumbled for the mini USB cable.
“Relax,” she told me with a grin.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said as I bent over and plugged into her neck. “We could do this on the bed.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Kidding. Just make the adjustment.”
In the end, and even with the tension between us, I was able to bring things down and increase her Tele-Sphere Radius, Recharge Speed, and Banishment by a point, which upped her Overcharge to two. When I was finished, it looked like this:
Cherry Blossom Girls Box Set Page 57
