Katie slammed the door behind her, as the tears streamed down her face. She locked the door and sat down on the lid of the toilet.
“Katie. Come out babe.” Kevin banged on the door.
“No!” Katie yelled back, as she pulled her bottle of vodka from her purse and began to drink.
<><><>
That morning, Katie had been looking forward to the End of Spring Break Party at Logan Cooper’s house. One last night of fun on the Saturday night before school returned on Monday. She had completed her assigned homework the night before, and was pumped for the night ahead.
It had taken all of five minutes to convince Kevin to take her; he was itching to do something, anything. His Spring Break had been relatively quiet, the Brats had decided as a team to take the week off, for the well-earned rest. While kicking back and relaxing was easy for most of his teammates, Kevin found himself restless. If not for her homework, Katie probably would have felt the same.
All Katie needed was an outfit for that night’s festivities, so she jumped in her car and headed to Fashion Island.
<><><>
Katie swore as the mouth of the bottle slipped from her lips, spilling vodka down her brand new dress.
“Are you ok? What happened?” Kevin asked, banging on the door again.
“Nothing.” Katie muttered, before taking another mouthful.
<><><>
Kevin picked her up at exactly eight o’clock, just like he said he would. Just like always. That was one of the millions of things Katie loved about him, he was always reliable. When he said he would do something, he did it. No questions.
A quick kiss and away they went, covering the distance between Katie’s house and Logan Cooper’s house in five minutes, as “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey played on the radio. Kevin sang along, and Katie rolled her eyes, his taste in music one of the few things she didn’t like about him. Not even Kevin was perfect.
They arrived at the party, just as the radio transitioned into a commercial for some TV show on NBC. Katie ignored it, instead checking the cars parked all around the house.
Primrose Middleton’s BMW was already there, as were half the basketball team’s various trucks and convertibles, which meant half of the cheerleaders were probably there too, as well as Anna Chapman. All the cars were almost brand new, to the point of being conspicuous. After the showdown between the Brat Pack and the Assembly of Evil at the high school, dozens of the students’ and faculty’s cars had been destroyed by Mr Universe or Gauss. Naturally, the children’s parents were more than happy to buy new cars for them, the teachers weren’t so lucky.
Kevin parked the car, and the couple headed up the driveway, passing the captain of the water-polo team’s Mercedes without giving it a glance. Unfortunately for Johnny Mays, he was a good player on a terrible team, his placing as captain was the only thing that even warranted an invitation to the party. Johnny went to most of the big parties, but was little more than just another face in the crowd. If it had been a Newport Union party on the other hand, he’d have swapped positions with Kevin. The politics of high school popularity were staggering, even to a seasoned veteran like Katie.
The couple entered the party, and Kevin was instantly waved over by his teammates, who were standing in the kitchen, surrounding the keg. He broke away from Katie, who searched out Primrose in the crowd. As she scanned over the room, she didn’t notice the hurried glances and hushed whispers.
<><><>
“Come on, let’s just go home.” Kevin shouted through the door.
Katie didn’t answer, as she kept sobbing. She couldn’t go out there. She couldn’t face them. She’d just have to keep drinking until they all went away.
<><><>
“So how’s college? Are you happy to be back home for Spring Break?” Katie asked.
“UCLA is awesome, you’re going to love college. All the drama is toned way down, the people are awesome. You won’t have to deal with all this crap there, everyone has their issues, and nobody cares.” Primrose said.
“Issues? What issues?” Katie asked.
“Your little drinking thing. Don’t worry, in a few months, you’ll be in college, and everyone has a drinking thing, or a drug thing, or a sex thing, or anything. Nobody will care.” Primrose said.
“I don’t have a ‘drinking thing’.” Katie said.
“Oh… Then why are all the girls talking about it?” Primrose asked.
“What have they been saying?”
“Nothing major. They just say you’ve been getting trashed at every opportunity and embarrassing yourself. It’s no big deal.”
“What?”
“Yeah. They think you sit at home drinking all night alone. Crazy high school stuff.”
<><><>
Sobs racked Katie’s body, as she took another drink. How could they know? Who could have told them? Matt was the only one who thought she had a problem, and there was no way any of them would talk to him. Kevin might have put two and two together, but he would have talked to her about it.
Who could it have been?
Katie dropped the bottle, her eyes wide as realisation dawned.
Anna.
It fit perfectly. She had a grudge with Katie. She worked for Carmichael, who had pried information about the future from Fissure. Information that Fissure still hadn’t revealed to the team. He could have known anything.
It had to be her fault.
“What was that noise? Did you break something?” Kevin asked, as Katie stood up, toddling her way over the broken glass, barely able to stand in her heels.
She pulled the door open, and ducked under her boyfriend’s outstretched arms.
“Babe, what’s going on?” He asked, as he followed after her. “Where are you going?”
Katie ignored him, her eyes darting all around the party, ignoring the stares. She reached out with her powers, but found nothing. Her powers had been dulled by the alcohol again.
Not that it mattered. She spotted Anna standing in the kitchen, the centre of attention, just like she always wanted.
“Awww, did the Princess run out of vodka? I think there’s more in the cupboard.” Anna joked, getting a giggle from the girls surrounding her.
Katie screamed, as she tackled Anna to the ground. A crowd gathered, mostly boys, as the girls rolled around on the floor, clawing and scratching at each other.
Kevin forced his way through, and lifted Katie from on top of Anna. “Babe, we’re going.” He said.
“Over my dead body.” Anna said, climbing to her feet.
“Don’t try to stop me. You know you can’t do a thing.” Kevin said.
“I don’t have to stop you. Just her.” Anna smiled.
“You wouldn’t dare try. Not here.” Kevin bluffed. He hoped Anna wasn’t crazy enough to use her powers in front of that many witnesses.
Anna scowled. “Fine. You take Passed-Out Beauty home. We don’t want her here anyway.”
“This isn’t over.” Katie said.
“No. It isn’t. But I’m winning.” Anna laughed.

Fisher stretched out in the radio room, listening to the police band with disinterest. Cars reported stolen, broken restraining orders, the usual. Nothing the Sherriff’s Department couldn’t handle. Nothing that required Fisher’s abilities.
While his teammates were at school, Fisher spent most of his day in the gym, keeping his body in top condition, perfect for combat. After a few hours, he found himself in the radio room, looking for something else to do, an armed robbery he could foil, or a car chase he could end. Something to test his powers. Something to relieve his boredom.
“All units to Big Canyon Drive, responding to a hostage situation. The Human Right Initiative are holding that Washington kid hostage, and threatening to kill him.” The radio buzzed.
Fisher remembered the news report. James Washington was a middle-school student who had manifested his mutant ability of flight the week before, and subsequently gone missing a day later.
Fisher grabbed his cellphone and started dialling Kevin’s number.
<><><>
Kevin sat back, bored out of his mind. He hated pep rallies. He hated almost everything about them.
Except one thing.
Katie led her cheerleaders through their routine, as the crowd cheered and clapped for them. For the millionth time, Kevin found himself staring at his girlfriend, wondering just what he’d done to deserve someone so perfect.
The cheerleaders finished their first routine, and the crowd went wild.
“Now, we’re in for a real treat.” Katie grabbed a microphone. “My friends on the school band are going to join us for the next routine…”
<><><>
“Ally, you need to stop freaking out. You can do this.” Mac said.
“Yeah, you kinda have to now.” Tom added, patting his sister on the shoulder, as she sat hugging her legs in the corner.
“But they’re all going to be able to hear us.” Ally said.
“That’s the point. We’re a band.” Travis said.
“Come on Ally, it’s just a couple of songs. If they hate us, we can just go back to being invisible.” Dylan reassured her.
“Promise?” Ally asked.
“Promise.” Dylan smiled.
“Let’s do this.” Ally grinned, as she sprang to her feet.
<><><>
Fisher threw his cellphone across the room. None of his teammates were reachable. None were answering their phones, except for Matt, who was already on a call.
“I guess I’ll have to do this myself.” Fisher muttered.
“Do what?”
Fisher turned to see Mosley standing in the doorway.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” Fisher asked.
“I slept in.” Mosley shrugged. “What’s going on?”
“Hostage situation. Human Rights Initiative.” Fisher explained.
“I guess we’d better suit up then.” Mosley cracked his knuckles.
<><><>
“So come take some time and dance with me!” Ally wailed the end of ‘I Love Rock And Roll’ by Joan Jett. She stopped, staring at the crowd, panting to catch her breath. A moment of silence was followed by the thunder of applause and cheering.
Ally smiled at the response, she felt the giddiness rising as the crowd got louder and louder.
She turned to Dylan, who shared her smile, no-one had expected that response.
“Wow. Thank you…” Ally said to the crowd. “I’ll be switching to back-up for this song. Take it away Travis!” Ally pointed at the band’s male singer.
“I’m coming out of my cage, and I’ve been doing just fine.” Travis launched into The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’.
<><><>
“… So that’s pretty much the whole situation. Every now and then they bring the kid over to the window, just to prove they still have him.” The officer in charge of the scene explained. “Look, there they are again.” He pointed at the front window of the house.
Fissure and Firestorm both looked through the window and saw the frightened teenager being held up at the window by a man dressed in a power-armour.
“Looks like they picked up more of those Sickle Armours.” Firestorm said. “Shouldn’t be too hard a fight, once we get the kid out of there.”
“Getting the kid out is the trouble.” The cop said.
“Not necessarily.” Fissure said.
“That house is on a concrete slab, isn’t it?” Firestorm asked.
“Yes. I’ll be back in a moment.” Fissure melted down into the ground.
Moments later, there were shouts from the house, followed by gunshots. Fissure rose up from the earth, James Washington clinging to him for dear life.
“Well, that makes things easier.” Firestorm said.
“GET DOWN!” Fissure shouted, as the windows were suddenly lined with Sickle Armours, shoulder-mounted machineguns pointed towards the police and superheroes.
The police dove behind their cars, James took off into the air as fast as he could, and Fissure tore a barrier up from the asphalt in front of him, covering himself and Firestorm.
“So much for easier.” Fissure said, as the bullets began raining down.
“Now what?” Firestorm asked.
<><><>
“Ok guys, one more song. I know you all know it, so join in.” Ally said, as Jacob started playing that unmistakeable beat on the drums. Bass. Bass. Snare. Bass. Bass. Snare.
Within moments the crowd was cheering, as they joined in. Stomp. Stomp. Clap. Stomp. Stomp. Clap.
Ally laughed and nodded. “That’s right!” She soaked in the crowd participation for a few bars, before getting straight into it. “Buddy you’re a boy, make a big noise playing in the streets gonna be a big man some day…”
<><><>
Fissure completed his armour, his entire body was covered in the black asphalt from the road’s surface. “Ready?” He asked.
“Born ready.” Firestorm replied.
Fissure nodded, and charged out from behind the barrier, toward the house. Chunks of asphalt flew from his exoskeleton, as round after round hit him.
The distraction successful, Firestorm stood up from behind the makeshift cover, shooting a huge fireball through the front door of the house, the subsequent explosion blowing the Human Right Intiative members through the windows and into the front yard.
The soil around them exploded, before crashing down on top of them, imprisoning them.
“And that’s how it’s done!” Firestorm hollered. “Let’s see Mr Perfect do that!”
<><><>
“I’d hate to say ‘I told you so’.” Dylan said, as the band filed down the corridor.
“That. Was. AWESOME!” Ally shouted, before doing a cartwheel.
“It’s definitely a rush.” Travis said.
“Ally!” Katie shouted from the doorway.
“Oh my god!” Ally shouted, charging for Katie, the girls hugging.
“Aren’t you glad I talked you into this?” Katie asked, as she let go of her friend.
“I want to do it again. Now.” Ally pouted, before bursting into a fit of giggles.
“Maybe some other time, huh kiddo?” Matt strolled down the passageway towards the girls.
“Did you see me? I rocked!” Ally said.
“Of course, you were outstanding.” Matt said, ruffling Ally’s hair.
“I hate when you do that.” Ally said, but the smile didn’t disappear from her face.
“Matt, you were on your phone for half of the rally.” Katie accused.
“Hey, I had to answer, my girlfriend called.” Matt said.
“Which one?” Katie asked, earning a scowl from Matt.
“Hey, does anyone else have a missed call from Fisher?” Kevin asked, as he joined the group, cellphone in hand.
“Yeah, but when I tried to call him back it went straight to the answering service.” Matt said.
“Can’t have been too important.” Katie shrugged.