Burn Out

by R. J. Ross

  “That was really, really awkward,” Ruckus complains when we’re several miles away. Her truck will be picked up by the black suits, later. “It’s hard to feel like the good guy when everyone’s fangirling over those three.”

  “You’re not kidding,” Dolly says. She’s frowning, for some reason, and I glance down. “Jimmi?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where’s your necklace?”

  I jerk to a stop, almost dropping her out of shock.

  ***

  “I’m too late,” Vinny says as he hovers over the set. “It looks like they’ve already made a run for it, Nico. Doesn’t that mean that nothing’s happened?”

  “Go see what Phoebe Woods is doing,” Nico says. “We want to make sure that she’s not acting strangely. From all accounts she seems to be embracing her new lifestyle, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  “What does Phoebe Woods look like?” Vinny asks. “I don’t think I’ve actually met her, before.” An image appears over his commlink and he examines it for a second before turning it off.

  Got it,” Vinny says, dropping to the ground and turning off the fire. The black suits acting as guards look surprised. “We weren’t told to expect you, Fire Hazard,” one of them says, saluting. “Is there a problem?”

  “How did the staged fight go?” Vinny asks as the crowd of fans tries to close around him. He ignores them, for the moment, getting closer to the black suit so the man doesn’t feel the urge to speak louder. It’s noisy here.

  “It seemed to be fine, sir,” the black suit says. “Some of the ones on the inside might have a better idea of it. Would you like to speak with them?”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Vinny says, walking in as he moves out of the way.

  “Should you have done that? He wasn’t scheduled to go in,” Vinny hears another of the black suits say quietly.

  “Haven’t you figured it out? That kid’s probably in line for Hall leader, or second-in-command. Both Century and Voltdrain love him, and he’s the nephew of Flameblaster.”

  “I heard he was dating Voltdrain’s daughter, too,” another whispers. He doesn’t want to explain how his not-girlfriend just dumped him this morning. Of course, she can’t dump him if she’s not dating him, but he doesn’t even want to go there, either, it’ll just make him even more frustrated. Instead, he heads onto the campus and looks around.

  “Excuse me, can I help you?” a man asks him, walking over. “If you’re trying out for the part of Fire Hazard, I’m afraid he isn’t slotted to be in this one.”

  “No, thanks,” Vinny says, “I’ve got enough work to do without acting.”

  “What I meant was that you’re trespassing on a closed set. I don’t know how you got past the security, but I’m going to have a talk with them, right now,” he says.

  “I was sent to appraise the damage done by the Nemeses and the Deadly Darlin’s,” Vinny says, tapping on his commlink and showing his Super ID hologram. The image changes from his Central ID to his South ID, showing that he’s part of both branches. “We need to make sure that you’re reimbursed for the damage.”

  The man stares at the hologram, looking fascinated before shaking his head. “You don’t need to worry about reimbursement. We set up several props that were meant to be broken in the area the fight took place, and since we are on a very tight schedule, and the agreement with the Hall has been fulfilled, you can leave now. Your guards can leave, as well. We’ll bring back our usual guys. Thank you,” he says, his tone saying that all of this is taking up precious seconds that could be better used.

  “One more thing,” Vinny says. “I was told that Phoebe Woods is working here? Can I speak to her?”

  The man hesitates before sighing. “This way, please,” he says, leading the way through the set to a trailer. He opens the door and calls in, “Phoebe, this kid was sent from the Hall to see how you’re doing.”

  The woman doesn’t even look up from where she’s working on one of the actress’s makeup. “I would be doing MUCH better if people would stop interrupting me all the time,” she says.

  “Ah… right. Well, that’s good,” Vinny says, glancing around and seeing nothing jaw-dropping or worrisome. Phoebe Woods is working, and clearly NOT going out of control. He doesn’t have an excuse to stay longer, either, so he leaves the trailer, lights up, and jumps into the air. Phoebe runs out of the trailer, glaring up at him.

  “You could have WARNED us that you were a fire hazard,” she complains. “Do you know how flammable some of these things are?”

  “It’s on my chest, isn’t it?” he says, glancing over the lot.

  “Next time, light up somewhere NOT on the set! Now, go already! We have real work to do,” she complains, waving him off. Reluctantly he flies away.

  ***

  “Phoebe, that was so bold!” Nicki, the actress playing Skystep, says, coming out of the shadows. “I can’t believe you looked him in the eye and told him to get lost like that.”

  “Of course I did,” Phoebe says, shoving her hair over her shoulder. “We only have this location for so long, and they’ve already set us back several hours of good light. I’m almost finished with Bonnie’s Jersey makeup, at least. Has the fight area been cleaned up, yet?” she asks.

  “That’s why I’m here, actually,” Nicki admits. “The cleaning crew found a strange glow stick in the rubble. We weren’t sure whether to touch it or not, since the supers have such strange stuff. I think it might belong to Voltdrain’s daughter… We were going to send it back to them, but then I remembered your comment about glowing effects for our next movie. Do you want to see it?”

  Phoebe goes still, a strange rush of excitement running through her. “Of course I want to see it!” she says, almost running as the actress leads the way. “I’ve already got a sketch of her outfit, but seeing the glow sticks she uses will help a lot!”

  “No one’s touched it,” the actress says. “We didn’t know if it was some sort of poison, or what. You never know what sorts of weird things the supers carry around,” she finishes, pointing at where a crowd of people are gathered. “Phoebe’s here to look at it!” she calls out, and the group parts, letting them through. “We want to make sure we’re ready for the sequel!”

  “You’ve already got your contract for it, right?” one of the stagehands asks.

  “I’ve got a three year contract,” Nicki says. “I’m in it for the long-haul. I mean, this is the first movie I’ve done where I haven’t had to use inserts.” She pats her flat chest with a look of pride that has the rest of the group roaring with laughter. “Plus, Skystep is one of the most amazing supers I’ve ever seen. I mean, she’s become world famous practically overnight, and then we all wondered why it took so long.”

  “It’s because she got partners,” Phoebe says absently, her eyes glued to the glow stick. She digs out her sketchbook and draws it quickly, before reaching out. The group goes still with anticipation, watching closely as she pulls it out of the rubble by a little bit of chain. She hears them sigh in disappointment. “It doesn’t look like a traditional glow stick,” she says as the tube dangles in front of her. “That seems to be a sort of… gas? It’s swirling around slightly.” She stands and starts for the nearest building, since the sunlight is messing with her view.

  “Are you going to touch it?” Nicki asks.

  “Excuse me!” someone shouts from overhead. It makes Nicki jump and bump into Phoebe, who loses her hold on the chain. The tube starts to fall, and Phoebe automatically grabs it. “Has anyone seen my neck—”

  The moment Phoebe’s fingers wrap around the tube, the world falls apart. Everyone on the lot starts screaming as a once-peaceful filming location warps into the most horrifying place they’ve ever seen. Phoebe is completely oblivious to all of this. She’s writhing on the ground, her hand still wrapped tightly around a now-empty tube. Her eyes are open, but she doesn’t see anything, not even the orange and purple clothed super girl that lands in front of her with a cur
se.

  “Century, we have a problem,” the words come, as if from a distance, and she feels her fingers being pried away from the tube. Phoebe blacks out from the backlash of getting her powers back.

  ***

  “What happened?” Century demands as I carry Phoebe Woods into the ER part of the Hall. I couldn’t wait for the ambulance, the longer she was left to go out of control, the harder it would have been on the norms around us, and the very idea of the ambulance driver being hit with a nightmare scares me.

  “I lost my necklace during the gig over at the movie location,” I explain. “I went right back for it when we noticed, but by then they had already noticed and alerted Phoebe.”

  “Why did they alert her?” he asks.

  “Because…” the woman in my arms says, her eyes opening, “because I’m in charge of special effects for the next three movies. What happened? Why do I have a headache the size of a mountain of bodies?”

  “Well…” Century says, glancing over at me.

  “We need to discuss some things, Ms. Woods,” I say.

  “And I believe we’ll need to have the rest of the Hall Leaders there to do so,” Century says with a sigh.

  “I… I don’t feel…” Phoebe says, bringing her hands up and looking at them. “What happened? I remember picking up the tube by the chain…”

  “Well…” Century says, again, looking at me. “Why don’t we get you into a room and we’ll explain exactly what happened.”

  “I thought I felt my powers again,” she says as she tries to get out of my hold. The door of the ER slams open and Crashtastic storms in.

  “What have you done to her? Is she going to live?” he demands, starting for the counter before noticing us. “Phoebe! Honey, did they do something to you?” he asks, heading over and taking her hand. “Did they hurt you? Did they—”

  “We haven’t done anything to her, except bring her here,” I say, watching him. He glares at me.

  “You think I don’t know what the Hall did to her?” he says. “You took her powers from her. Who’s to say you won’t do worse?”

  “Ben, honey, I have a headache, so would you kindly shut it?” Phoebe demands as she rubs her temples. She still looks pale, and I’m sure she’s not up for standing, yet. “I’ll take you up on that room offer. I need to lie down,” she says to Century. A nurse comes forward, pushing a wheelchair. I put Phoebe down.

  “We have a room ready, now,” the nurse says. “We’ll take it from here, Burnout, Century.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Crashtastic says. “I’m going to make sure they don’t do anything.”

  “You DO know what she did, don’t you?” Century asks, his irritation showing.

  “I don’t care about what she did then,” Crashtastic says. “What’s important is what she does now.” He races after the nurse that’s wheeling Phoebe away, leaving me standing there with Century. I feel sick to my stomach right now. This is all my fault, just like everything that happened in the past was. I don’t deserve to wear a uniform. I don’t deserve to be--

  “We need to speak, Ji—Burnout,” Century says, “privately.”

  “Yeah,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip as I try to figure out how to apologize. Century looks around before heading for one of the smaller waiting rooms. He runs a hand over his face and lets out a heavy sigh.

  “Jimmi, darlin’, why were you wearing that necklace?” he asks. “You have plenty of glowing things from Nico, why isn’t your necklace one, as well?”

  I reach up, only to let my hand fall as I don’t find the familiar necklace there. It’s in my pocket. “I don’t want to forget,” I mumble, looking away from him. “I need to remind myself of exactly what I did, and how it affected so many people,” I say a bit more boldly. “I never let myself forget how much trouble I made for you, for Papa, even for Uncle Flint and Vinny! Not to mention all the people that they attacked when I wasn’t paying attention. They used my powers for that, Uncle Charles! They used the power that I was stupid enough to give them, and they made life a… a living hell!”

  “Do you know what Phoebe Woods’ ability is?” he asks, placing his hands on my shoulders. I look up, fighting the urge to cry.

  “Yes,” I say, looking down. “I was in the school when it happened. I know what Massteria did to Max’s sister… and I know what happened to his brother, and how she… how she used the power blocker satellite system to almost kill so many of the supers…” I can’t do anything right, can I? I just loosed her on the world again!

  “Do you really think carrying a reminder like that helps anyone?” he asks. “Darlin’, you can’t keep punishing yourself for the past. All that does is hurt you, and sometimes it can even hurt the people around you. I forgave you for what happened in the past, and I forgive you for what just happened, as well, but what’s most important is that you learn to forgive yourself.”

  “But we need to tell the other Hall Leaders, and Nico, and—and—I really don’t want to tell Max,” I whisper, clenching my hands at my sides before wiping at my eyes with the back of my sleeve.

  “We’ve called the Hall Leaders, Century,” a man says from the doorway. I look up, seeing a black suit standing there. “And the suits that were sent out to guard the filming location have been dismissed and sent back. They were wondering if they needed a new assignment for the day.”

  “They have one,” Century says. “Send them here. Make sure they’ve got the E.P.B. setup that I paid through the…” he looks at me, “nose for, equipped. We have a psychic type here that’s recovering.”

  “Rochester?” the black suit asks with worry.

  “Someone else,” Century says. “Rochester is the least likely of the psychic types to cause a problem. At least, a problem that I would have you black suits guarding him for, that is.”

  “Sir, yes, sir,” the black suit says with a salute. He walks away, speaking over the commlink. I look at Century.

  “Time to head to my office,” he says a bit grimly as we head out the door. “Technico, we need you to open communications between all of the Hall Leaders.”

  “What happened?” Nico asks.

  “What, you weren’t spying? I feel a bit abandoned, son,” Century replies, smirking ever so slightly.

  “I was speaking with Star Born,” Nico says. “It’s dangerous to not give her all of your attention.”

  “That’s part of the problem, actually,” Century admits. “You were told how close to gaining their powers the de-powered ones are, right?”

  “I was,” Nico says.

  “Turns out that our little Jimmi has just the boost they need to overcome the problem,” Century says.

  Nico lets out a curse, either not knowing or not caring that I’m listening. “Was it Phoebe Woods?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry. I should have thought about what might happen—”

  “Jimmi,” he says, “I once let a psycho woman intent on letting her son take over the planet get a hold of a teleportation watch.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “And then there was a psychopath that got a hold of a time traveling watch,” he goes on, “one that I MADE, by the way.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “We’re supers, kiddo, things like this happen all the time. The best thing you can do is alert the comic book artists and figure out how to come out of it looking better than you did before,” he says. “Have you made it to the office?”

  Century opens the door, motioning me to go in first, “We’re here,” he says. The walls light up all around us, showing the four other Hall leaders looking serious. They aren’t looking at Century, though, they’re looking at me. Max is standing behind Mastermental, his expression hard to read. I flinch slightly as I look away from him.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, taking a deep breath before looking up. “I knew that it was a delicate situation, but I didn’t even think of my necklace, because… because I’m always wearing it. It’s never brok
en before.”

  “Whose fault was it that it broke?” Marigold asks.

  “Mine,” I say, quickly. “I was fighting with the Deadly Darlin’s. I should have known that something like that could happen.”

  “So Phoebe Woods has her powers back,” Isotonic says. “We have enough information to expose her as a super, right? It’s simple. We expose her to the norms and put her in the Cape Cells.”

  “We can’t do that!” I say. “Her punishment was getting her powers taken, and she paid it! We can’t punish her twice for something! That would be… that would be unjust! We’re supposed to represent justice, aren’t we?”

  The door opens and I glance over, watching silently as Papa walks in. For a moment I wonder what he’s going to do, and then he moves to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder in a supportive gesture. “So, princesa, what would you like to do?” he asks me. He’s heard everything, I know. His hearing is excellent.

  I look at him, and then at the Hall leaders. Nico is listening in, and we all know it. “I… when I saw her, she looked like… like she actually LOVED what she was doing. She was serious and business-like. I think that the reason she was holding the necklace was because she was going to draw sketches of it for the next movie. That’s what she did with my uniform when I first showed up. You could probably ask and see the sketches, yourself.”

  “So what do you suggest?” Marigold asks.

  “We keep an eye on her,” I say, knowing it’s dangerous. “We make sure she isn’t going out of control, and… and we give her… a second chance?” I finish, seeing Max’s look and hesitating.

  “She’s technically had a second chance,” he says. “She broke into Central to try and get Star Born to give her powers back to her.”

  “Well… what did she want them for?” I ask.

  “Her looks,” he says. “It’s hard to be an older actress. She didn’t really care about terrifying anyone outside of her work.”