Bright and early on Tuesday morning, January 31st, Darklite, Smart Mouth and Whip Cream are escorted into a Congressional conference room in a hurry. When they arrive, it seems neither they nor the politicians waiting inside are in a good mood.
“Apologies, Madame Chairwoman,” Darklite says as he
straightens his tie. “My organization was in the middle of some internal
business when we were invited to this meeting.”
“No, no, we should apologize to you,” House
Representative and Homeland Security Committee chair, Maddy Housum, says with a
hint of sarcasm in her voice. “We forgot to take your schedule into account.”
Darklite takes the seat at the end of the table, directly
across from Chairwoman Housom. Smart Mouth and Whip Cream stand on either side
of him. Darklite and Housom give each other a sarcastic smile while some of the
other House Representatives shift in their seats.
“Congressman Pantilla was just voicing his concern about
these superpowered individuals appearing in California,” Housom explains to the
Reciprocity representatives.
“Which individuals specifically?” Darklite asks. “Though,
I’m fairly certain I know which you mean. And I assure you, we at Reciprocity
Incorporated are just as shocked as all of you that The Spektrum came back from
the dead, and that an apparent clone is running around, as well.”
“Well, that isn’t exactly reassuring, Mr. Darklite,” Mr.
Pantilla says. “If your people were completely unaware of these developments,
and you were in charge of The Spektrum, then isn’t that a problem?”
“Why wouldn’t he report into you that he was somehow
still alive?” Housom asks.
“Well, I suppose we should be honest here,” Darklite
says. “There was… tension between him and our other agents over how we handled
the incident with those new, masked aliens. His reluctance to accept our help
seems to carry over even after his near-death experience.”
“So, he’s not under your supervision?” Housom asks.
“No,” Darklite says. “But Agent Catgirl is trying to
convince him to reconsider.”
Despite just saying he’d be honest, that was a lie.
“Then what about this, uh, ‘Siro’ person?” Congressman
Corucci of New York speaks up. “This ‘clone’ can come and go as he pleases
thanks to the alien invader known as ‘Zorb’ bringing science fiction technology
to life. The general public is very worried for their safety, as I’m pretty
sure everyone saw this ‘Siro’ basically
brag that he could show up in Brooklyn, beat up New York citizens, and then
just teleport away.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Mr. Congressman,” Darklite says, “but as
you just said, this is science fiction brought to life. How do you propose we
stop an alien in space using
technology we don’t even have ourselves?”
The politicians quietly concede that point to Darklite.
“But we saw The Spektrum fight with Siro,” Pantilla says.
“And even before the incident in New York, there was the confrontation with
your ‘Agent Hardwire.’ Siro defeated one, and certainly didn’t lose to The
Spektrum, so what hope is there in stopping him?”
“Agent Hardwire has made a full recovery,” Darklite says,
now only half-lying. “He will be just fine to face Siro again in the near
future.”
“What makes you think he can win when he lost before?”
Corucci asks.
“That was one battle, Congressman,” Darklite says. “This
is a war, so please, be patient. Honestly, if that was all this meeting was
for, it seems like we wasted our time coming here. Good day, everyone.”
Darklite stands up and walks out, with Smart Mouth and
Whip Cream following, leaving the politicians flustered and frustrated.
“Heyyyy Pirates!” once again comes over the P.A. system
during Second Block at San Leandro High.
“Guess what?” one of the announcer girls asks.
“What?” the other announcers ask back.
“We’re two weeks away from Valentine’s Day~!”
“Oooh~!”
“And that also means… San Leandro High will have a
Valentine’s Day Dance!”
A lot of students react very positively, including Zoey.
She has a very big smile as she looks up at the speaker, and then she looks at Simon.
Her smile fades a little when she sees he isn’t as excited.
Zoey wonders why Simon isn’t excited for the dance as she
sits with him for lunch. Simon’s friends are pretty excited, though.
“The Valentine’s Dance will be right here, at San Leandro
High, in the gymnasium,” the main announcer girl continues. “It’ll be from 6PM
to 9PM. Please dress and dance appropriately, as teachers will be supervising.”
Many students boo those conditions. And many female
students are upset that the dance starting at 6 and school ending at 3 only
gives them three hours to prepare.
“Everyone’s got a date lined up already, huh?” Zoey says.
“Wow.”
“What about you?” Erin asks. “Anyone from back at your
old school?”
“Well, no,” Zoey says nervously. “But-”
“We could find you a date,” Michelle says. “There are
plenty of guys on the wrestling team Bryan and I could ask.”
“Oh wow, you’re on the Girl’s Wrestling Team?” Zoey says.
“But um, no, it’s fine, really. I’m working on something for Valentine’s Day.”
Simon hears Zoey say that and glances over. But she looks
his way and he turns back nervously.
Zoey feels nervous as she sees Cyndi again as they go to
the locker room for PE. Zoey wants to talk with Cyndi but isn’t sure how to
start the conversation.
“So…” Zoey says a bit abruptly. “Are you excited for the
Valentine’s Day Dance?”
“A little,” Cyndi says. “Has he asked you yet?”
Zoey takes a second to register that she means Simon.
“No,” Zoey says. “But it’s just the first day.”
Zoey puts her foot on the bench to retie her shoelaces.
“Though,” Zoey says, “I can’t be sure if he will.”
“What?” Cyndi asks. “Why wouldn’t he?”
“He just didn’t seem that into the idea of a dance,” Zoey
says.
“I mean, I’m not exactly, either,” Cyndi shrugs.
“Valentine’s Day isn’t the same as when we were kids and everyone had to give
everyone else Valentine’s Day cards.”
“That was a thing?”
“At my grade school it was,” Cyndi says. “I’m just saying
it’s different for us physically average people on a romantic holiday. We can’t
get a date as easy as you can.”
“As easy as I can?” Zoey paraphrases. “What’s that
supposed to mean?”
Cyndi looks at Zoey, and then Cyndi’s eyes move down.
Zoey looks at herself, and Cyndi looks away quickly when she realizes Zoey
realizes it’s her chest. Zoey hears Gina and her friends snicker and laugh, and
Zoey glares at them over her shoulder. They sneer back, but Zoey calms herself
down as she turns back to Cyndi.
“That’s not fair, Cyndi,” Zoey frowns. “You act like I’m
that different from you just because… of certain sizes.”
“Well, aren’t you?” Cyndi asks. “Weren’t you dating some
guy until the holidays when you moved here?”
“Yes,” Zoey says, “but-”
“So there you go. You got a boyfriend because you’re
hot.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Zoey defends. “But we don’t
have time to talk about this right now, we’re going to be late for role call.”
Zoey shoves her things in her locker and closes it up
before heading outside.
After Phys Ed, when everyone returns to the locker rooms,
Zoey sees that her locker is open! And her backpack is open, too! She hurries
to look inside, and finds her notebook has all
of the pages torn up!
“What the Hell!?” Zoey blurts out, startling everyone.
It doesn’t take long for Zoey to put it together in her
head.
“Gina,” Zoey growls as she turns around to glare at her
again.
“Pfft, what?” Gina scoffs. “What you talking about?”
“Don’t you play dumb with me, you sow!” Zoey shouts,
teeth starting to sharpen. “I can literally SMELL your muddy hooves all over
my stuff!”
Zoey and Gina step closer to each other and everyone
around is watching.
“Who the Hell you calling ‘sow’, bit-”
Zoey lunges and bites at Gina fast, and Gina steps back
so quickly, she trips on the wood bench and falls on her butt! Gina lets out a
cry of pain, and actually cries a little, as she gingerly gets up off the
ground.
“What the Hell is going on here?” Ms. Tingley shouts as
she storms over.
Zoey glares around at everyone, and they all stay quiet.
“Gina tripped,” Zoey says as she gathers up her things.
“Over her hooves.”
Gina sniffles as she goes back to her locker. Everyone
changes back to street clothes and Zoey leaves for Mr. Del’s portable.
Before the bell rings, Zoey explains to Mr. Del what
happened.
“Really?” he asks her. “How would they have gotten into
your locker, though?”
“I must’ve forgotten to make sure my locker was actually
locked,” she says. “Please, I really did do the work!”
“She did, Mr. Del,” Simon says. “We worked on it
together. I was at her house yesterday after school.”
“I thought you two weren’t a couple.”
“W-We’re not,” Simon says. “But we still did homework
together. We can still do homework together as friends. So that’s what we did.”
“Well, alright,” Mr. Del says. “But seeing as how you
still don’t have the homework from last night, I can’t give you an excuse on
it. If you can get the assignment from last night done before the end of the
week, while still doing the other assignments, then you can still get credit
for it.”
“Yes, sir,” she says. “Thank you, Mr. Del.”
The two go to their desk as other students file in.
“And thank you for backing me up,” Zoey says to Simon.
“Why wouldn't I?,” he says.
“It was Gina, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” she grumbles. “But I made her fall on her ugly
butt so that was good.”
“Wow, really? You aren’t in trouble, are you?”
“No, Ms. Tingley didn’t see what happened. And I didn’t
hit her or anything. I just stepped at her and she tripped.”
“Ouch,” he chuckles. “But, she still wrecked your notes.”
“I know,” Zoey sighs. “Um, could I copy yours then? For
everything up to this point, obviously.”
“Yeah, of course,” he says. “I mean, you are still going
to do homework at my house now, right?”
“Right,” she says. “I can get a little bit of the notes
copied while doing homework.”
“Okay, cool,” he nods.
Zoey takes out one of her other notebooks and uses pages
at the very back to be for today’s Pre-Calculus lesson.
*ZAP* Kid Lightning sends a thug flying over a bench with
a spark while Steel Fox stands still as another thug throws a punch. Obviously,
the punch hits hardened steel skin and hurts the thug, not Steel Fox.
“You guys really are stupid, aren’t you?” Steel Fox says.
“Shut up!” the thug says.
The same thug throws a knee into Steel Fox’s stomach, but even his abs have become like metal. The thug clutches his knee and
cries in pain while falling over. Steel Fox just sighs.
“I’d say these guys learned their lesson, but that’d be a
lie,” Steel Fox says. “Yukou. <Let’s leave.>”
The brothers hurry out of the open in the plaza and make
it to the nearest bathroom before anyone comes looking. And after powering
down, Seth and Jeff walk out, no one the wiser.
“Nice,” both brothers say as they back hand fist bump.
As school lets out, Seth and Jeff meet up with Alicia,
Karina, and Marina on the way to the parking lot.
“Where’s Chloe?” Seth asks.
“She said she has more to do with the Events Committee
again,” Marina says. “She said she was sworn to secrecy not to say why just
yet.”
“But you’re free from tennis practice today, right?”
Karina asks.
“Oh yeah,” Marina says. “But unfortunately, that’s
because the schedule is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays now…”
“Ew…” Karina says. “You’ll have to do practice before
Youth Group then?”
“Will you be alright?” Alicia asks.
“I dunno,” Marina shrugs. “I hope so.”
“That’s going to really press you for time for homework,”
Alicia says. “The coach can’t just give you Wednesdays off?”
“Nope, and I asked,” Marina says. “I still want to go to
Youth Group, but I might be really tired…”
“We’d understand if you have to miss it,” Karina says.
“Thanks,” Marina says as the two side hug.
“In other news,” Karina says as she holds Jeff’s hand.
“Two weeks until Valentine’s Day~! We need to start planning our double date~!”
“Are you sure?” Jeff asks. “If we’ve still got two weeks,
we can wait until next week to start planning.”
“No~!” Karina pouts. “If we want something really
romantic, we need to start looking around now.”
“I don’t think we can do much when we’re just high
schoolers,” Jeff says.
Karina sighs.
“You gotta try and be more romantic, Jeffy,” Karina says.
“Like me.”
“Like you?” he and Alicia each chuckle.
“Yes,” she says to both of them. “I planned that New
Year’s kiss the day Zoey told us Jeff and Seth were moving back so that I’d be
ready.”
“Why can’t you be that dedicated in your chores?” Alicia
says. “Anyway, see you guys tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” Seth says as everyone gets into cars.
Simon and Zoey arrive at his house and walk inside to
find his brothers are already playing video games in the living room.
“Hey, Sai,” they both say while mashing buttons.
“Hey,” he says as he walks to the kitchen.
“Hi,” Zoey says.
Josh pauses the game and both brothers look over.
“You brought a girl home?” James says in surprise.
“It’s just for homework,” Simon says.
Simon puts his lunch bag on the little table just inside
the kitchen before going to the dining room table.
“Wait, when do middle schools let out around here?” Zoey
asks.
“Well, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it’s 2:15 or so,” Simon
says. “At least, at Bancroft Middle School it is. Plus, Bancroft Middle School
is closer to our house than San Leandro High.”
“Oh wow,” Zoey says as she goes to the dining room table.
“But actually,” Simon says as he takes out things from
his backpack.
He brings out his student booklet and looks at a
calendar.
“Tomorrow will be an early out Wednesday for us,” he says.
“How early do we get out?” she asks as she takes out
books.
“1:50,” he says.
“Over an hour earlier than normal?” Zoey says. “Wow!
Maybe I’ll have time to do homework before Youth Group after all.”
“Youth Group?” Josh asks.
“Like at church?” James asks.
“Yes,” Simon says as he opens the science textbook. “I’ll
be over at Zoey’s so her cousins can pick us up.”
“Can we go?” they both ask.
“You guys aren’t in the Youth Group,” Simon says, “you’re
still in middle school.”
The twins grumble and go back to playing their video
games.
“Oh, I should’ve stopped by my house to get a new
notebook,” Zoey says.
“That’s okay, I have some spares,” Simon says.
“Oh, uh, thank you,” Zoey says.
He quickly gets up and goes to his bedroom. He pulls a
spare notebook out of his nightstand and brings it to the dining room.
“Here you go,” he says.
“Ooo, red,” she says. “My favorite color. Thank you.”
“So red’s your favorite, huh? I guess that makes sense,
you dyed your hair red.”
“Yeah,” Zoey giggles.
“Why did you wash it out?” he asks.
Zoey stops giggling and straightens up out of
seriousness.
“It was part of breaking up with Shaun, and the move to
San Leandro,” she says. “I just felt like changing back to my natural color.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Simon can still tell Zoey is a bit sensitive about the
break-up, so he leaves it at this. Plus, he doesn’t really know what else to
say anyway.
Zoey writes her name on the inside of the notebook cover, then she glances up at Simon as he
brings out the World History textbook.
“Did you… like it when it was red?” Zoey asks shyly.
“Y-Yeah,” Simon says shyly back.
“Oh,” Zoey says. “Okay.”
Zoey smiles softly and Simon hands over his math notebook.
“Do you need help understanding my handwriting?” Simon
asks as she opens it up. “I know you and Cyndi were saying it isn’t the most consistent.”
“No, I’ve got it,” Zoey says. “Gina didn’t tear out the
pages completely, so I can use what’s left to figure things out.”
“Okay, wait, that still makes it sound like you’re
decoding my bad handwriting.”
Zoey giggles and that gets Simon to chuckle.
“All done,” Zoey says after roughly 40 minutes.
“Wow, really?” he asks. “That was pretty quick.”
“Did you finish the reading?” she asks as she hands his
math notebook back.
“Almost,” he says as he takes the notebook back. “Just
got to the last days of Cleopatra.”
“Ooh~!”
A car pulls up and a moment later, Mr. Michaels enters
through the door.
“Hey, guys,” he says as he sees the twins playing video
games. “Hey, Si- Oh, uh… Hi, uh, Zoey, was it?”
“Hi, Mr. Michaels,” she says.
“So…” Mr. Michaels says as he looks at the dining table and then his son.
“Doing homework together?”
“Yes,” both Simon and Zoey say.
“Did you make sure the chairs were clean?” Mr. Michaels
asks Simon.
“I’m pretty sure they’re clean,” Simon says. “We didn’t
have the towels on these chairs because Freckles hasn’t been sleeping on them.”
“And I’m used to cat hair, Mr. Michaels,” Zoey says. “I
have a cat of my own.”
“Alright,” Mr. Michaels says. “How long are you staying?”
“Oh, I should probably be getting home, actually,” Zoey
says. “It’s after 4 o’clock, right?”
“Yes, it is,” Mr. Michaels says.
Zoey packs up her things, and Simon walks her to the
door, which isn’t really that far at all. In fact, it’s more two steps.
“See you tomorrow,” she says to him.
“See you tomorrow,” he says back.
She opens the door and exits the Michaels house.
“W-Wait,” Simon says suddenly.
Zoey stops on the path from porch to sidewalk and looks
back.
“Do you want me to walk home with you?” he asks
nervously.
Zoey giggles and smiles sweetly.
“No, that’s okay,” she says. “I think I can make it home
from here just fine.”
“Right,” he says. “Of course. S-See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” she says back with a giggle.
Simon goes back inside and closes the door while Zoey
continues home.
While Zoey waits for
dinner to be ready, she sits in her room to work on World History homework.
“Poor Cleopatra,” she sighs while turning the page.
“Harajuku Girls,
you got the, wick-ed style,” Zoey’s new ringtone sings from her phone.
Zoey sees Chloe on the caller ID and picks up.
“Hey, Chlo,” Zoey says.
“Hey, Zo,” Chloe says.
“What’s going on?” Zoey asks. “Usually it’s Karina who
calls if you’re all together.”
“Well, we’re not,” Chloe says, very excited. “I stayed
late after school again, because I’m helping the Events Committee plan our
Valentine’s Day campaign!”
“Wow, really? That’s great!”
“I know! It’s going to be so much fun! Oh, but keep this
a secret from the others, okay? It’s supposed to be a surprise anyway.”
“Okay, I promise. Oh, speaking of Valentine’s Day, San Leandro
High is having its own dance on Valentine’s Day.”
“Oh, yay!” Chloe says. “Wait, have you and, um… Simon!
Have either of you asked the other yet?”
“What? Why would I ask him first?”
“Zoey,” Chloe says as if Zoey’s being silly. “You’re
Catgirl, teen girl superhero! Plus, it’s the 21st Century! You can
ask a boy to go out before he asks you. Waiting for a Sadie Hawkins Dance is so
20th Century.”
“O-Oh,” Zoey says, the thought occurring to her. “I guess
I could, couldn’t I?”
“Of course!” Chloe says. “Just go up to him and ask him
to go to the Valentine’s Day dance. It’s not like he’d say no, right? Even if
you weren’t Catgirl, you’re, y’know, like that song.”
“What song?”
“That really old song,” Chloe says, trying to think of
the name. “Like, ‘what our parents listened to’ old. It had the trumpets that
were like ‘bada da da, bao!’ Um… Oh, I can’t remember the name!”
“Hold on, I can ask my mom,” Zoey says.
Zoey keeps her phone at her shoulder as she heads
upstairs.
“Hey, Mom,” Zoey asks as she approaches the kitchen.
“Yes?” her mom says back while drying her hands on a
towel.
“Do you know a song that goes something like ‘bada da da,
bao,’ with trumpets?”
“What?”
“Chloe’s trying to remember a song that she thinks
describes me somehow.”
Mrs. Mizaki gives her daughter a sideways glance with a
smirk.
“Describes you how?” she asks.
“I dunno,” Zoey says as she puts her phone back to her
ear. “Chloe, are there any lyrics you
can remember?”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Chloe says. “‘She’s the one, the only one,
built like a megamazon.’”
“What?” Zoey laughs. “What even is a ‘megamazon’?”
Mrs. Mizaki suddenly laughs.
“Really?” she says. “Brick House?”
“What?” Zoey asks.
“The song Chloe is thinking of is ‘Brick House’ by The
Commodores, from the late 70’s,” Mrs. Mizaki says. “It’s about a young woman, who is very curvy, and therefore very
attractive.”
Zoey laughs.
“It’s Brick House,” Zoey says to Chloe.
“Oh, that’s right,” Chloe says. “She’s a brick! Bada da
da, house! Bada da da.”
“So that’s what I am?” Zoey asks as she giggles.
“Obviously!” Chloe says. “And that’s what’ll get Simon to
say yes to the Valentine’s Day dance.”
Zoey laughs more while also being flattered.
“If you say so,” she says. “Talk to you more tomorrow.
Bye.”
“Bye~!” Chloe says before they both hang up.
“So what is this about you being a brick house?” Mrs.
Mizaki asks.
“Nothing~,” Zoey says with a big smile while looking to
the side.
Mr. Mizaki returns from the backyard via the patio.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
“Your daughter is a brick house,” Mrs. Mizaki says.
“She’s mighty mighty, just letting it-”
“Don’t ruin that song for me,” Mr. Mizaki says. “But, how
did we get to The Commodores?”
“Chloe is encouraging me to make the first move for the
Valentine’s Day dance,” Zoey says. “Oh, by the way, San Leandro High is having
a Valentine’s Day dance on Valentine’s
Day.”
“Really?” Mrs. Mizaki asks. “With who?”
“Is it Simon?” Mr. Mizaki asks.
“Simon as in Simon Michaels?” Mrs. Mizaki asks.
“Yes, Mom,” Zoey says, a little cheeky in her tone. “So
I’m going to ask him first.”
“Wow,” Mr. Mizaki says. “I’m actually very proud of you,
sweetheart. You’re a strong young woman now.”
“Of course I am,” Zoey says. “I’m Catgirl, teenage
superhero of the 21st Century!”
“Uh-huh,” Mr. Mizaki says with a slight grin. “But I’m
more worried about what kind of guy Simon is.”
“He’s a good guy, Dad,” Zoey says with a laugh. “You can
trust him.”
“And if you can’t,” Mrs. Mizaki says, “she can defend
herself.”
“Okay,” Mr. Mizaki says. “I’ll allow you to go to this
Valentine’s Day dance.”
“Thank you,” Zoey says.
The next morning, Zoey gets ready for school with extra
excitement. She makes her pigtails and bangs are just right, with crisp, clean
white hair ribbons keeping them in place.
“Wish me luck, Neeko,” she says to her cat while the cat
is in mid stretch.
Neeko’s tongue is stuck out ever so slightly as she
watches Zoey exit.
Zoey goes upstairs, collects her bento and heads out the
door. She looks up the street and sees Simon already walking up. She hurries
down the stairs to meet him as he approaches.
“Good morning,” she says with a smile.
“Morning,” he says with a smaller smile.
“So, um,” Zoey says. “How does ‘early dismissal
Wednesday’ work, exactly? Other than we get out at 1:50.”
“All the periods, including lunch, are cut down,” he
says. “I think each Block is just an hour and 10 minutes, and lunch is still 45
minutes. The five minute gaps between classes add to that to give us the 5
hours and 50 minutes total.”
“I see,” Zoey says as she does the math for herself.
“That’s great! And you’re still coming over to do homework and then go to Youth
Group. That’s not a question.”
“Wow, okay,” he chuckles as they round the corner. “But I
already told my parents so I definitely can.”
“Cool,” Zoey says with another smile.
Cars pass by in both directions as the two continue down
Bancroft.
“So, um,” Zoey starts again. “I know we only just heard
about the Valentine’s Day Dance, and it’s still two weeks away, but um, would
you want to go with me?”
Zoey anxiously waits for an answer but one doesn’t come.
She looks over at him, but he’s not there. She looks back and sees he’s stopped
in place with eyes open wide.
“Simon?” she asks. “Are you okay? You look like you’re
going to pass out.”
“U-Uh, yeah,” he says, cheeks red but rest of his face a
bit pale. “Or, no. I dunno.”
Zoey heads back for him as he tries to register what’s
happening.
“You… Did you ask me out to the Valentine’s Dance?” he
asks.
“Yes…” she says, trying not to laugh. “Is that weird?”
“No!” he says quickly. “I just… I don’t… Um… You have to
understand. In the span of four months, I’ve gone from a normal nerdy guy, to a
superpowered nerdy guy, who was shot dead but came back to life. I got a
girlfriend, and a clone, and then I got dumped by my girlfriend because the
clone spilled my deepest, darkest secrets, and then the clone kicked my ass. Nowhere
in there was me learning how to handle a girl asking me out first. If my powers
came with a stat on how to handle girls I like and them liking me, it’d be at
2. Out of 100.”
Zoey can’t help but smile, and even giggles a little.
“I think you do better than you realize,” she says. “But
do you still want to go to the dance with me?”
“Yes!” he says quickly. “I-I mean, yes.”
Zoey’s smile beams as she stands side-by-side with Simon
again. She takes his hand, which is very cold, and walks with him the rest of
the way to school. And the entire time, Simon feels like he’s floating on air.
“Is the teleporter charged?” Siro asks the others.
“Just two uses,” Zorb says, growing exasperated with him.
“That’s enough to send M5 down there and then bring him back.”
“I’ll be going down with him,” Siro says as he shakes out
one leg then the other. “I’ll take The Spektrum while Lima can handle Catgirl.”
“So that’s her name,” Zita says. “I understand ‘girl,’
but what’s a ‘cat’?”
“A small furry animal that humans tend to keep as pets,”
Zorb explains. “Are you sure you want to fight The Spektrum again so soon? It’s
not like you recovered completely from it.”
“I’ll be fine,” Siro grumbles. “Lima just has to hold up
his end of the fight.”
Lima grumbles at Siro while pulling on his gloves.
“Wait,” Zita says as she checks the satellite view of
SLHS. “Why are they already all in that public square section?”
“What?” Siro asks as he looks for himself.
As Zita said, there are students out and about, eating
lunch, even though it’s only 11 AM.
“Early Out Wednesday,” Siro sighs. “I didn’t think it’d
be here already.”
Siro pulls his mask on and turns Black.
“We’re going now,” he says.
“Are you sure?” Zita asks. “We can still get the third
charge as an emergency use.”
Siro clenches his jaw as he turns Yellow, then puts a
hand to his mouth and paces while he strategizes.
Zoey and Simon tell his friends about going to the
Valentine’s Day Dance together, and they all react with great excitement.
“Wow, she asked
you first?” Alex says.
“Trust me, I was way more surprised than any of you,” Simon
says.
“This is going to be your first dance, huh?” Bryan says
to him.
“Wait, really?” Zoey says. “You’ve never gone to a school
dance?”
“Nope,” Simon says. “Not even once.”
“Aww, I get to be your first,” Zoey says with a sweet
smile.
Then she realizes how she said that, and eyes go wide
with a blush while Simon’s friends try not to laugh.
“I am so sorry, I obviously didn’t mean it like that,”
Zoey says as her face burns hotter.
“It’s… It’s okay,” Simon says, trying not to blush or
laugh either.
“Oh, wait,” Zoey says. “I can’t believe I forgot my lunch
in the classroom. I’ll be right back.”
Zoey heads back to the stairwell, upstairs and to Room
205. She peeks in on The Spektrum Fan Club meeting. There’s a poster on the
wall by the whiteboard, and it takes a moment for Zoey to realize it is a
blown-up version of a picture featuring her and Code Green. She feels a little
self-conscious about her thighs and stomach in the picture, but shakes that
feeling off to step inside.
Cyndi spots Zoey and holds up the bento box. Zoey smiles
as she trots over.
“Thanks,” Zoey whispers as she takes the box from Cyndi.
“How’s the meeting going?”
“Par for the course,” Cyndi says. “They’re arguing what
Code Green’s appearance means and what his Code specific powers might be.”
“And the poster?” Zoey asks.
“Oh, you should’ve seen it,” upperclassman Caitlyn says.
“The shippers were all over it, but the feminists were all over them because
Catgirl is a strong, independent young woman who don’t need no man.”
Zoey giggles, then thinks on that for herself. She is
strong and doesn’t need a man, but
she doesn’t mind having one.
“Thank you again,” Zoey whispers to Cyndi with a raise of
the bento box.
“You’re welcome,” Cyndi says.
Zoey heads for the door when *WHOOMF* a pillar of light
hits! She looks back while the fan club reacts, but stops herself from staring
and hurries back to the stairs.
Meanwhile, Simon stares straight ahead, Capri Sun pouch
in hand and straw between his lips. Or rather, he glares straight ahead at Siro
glaring back. Siro stands on one of the picnic tables, the students who were
planning to sit there standing frozen in shock. After all, they were mere feet
from the teleporter light beam that came slamming down.
Lima has a wily grin as he looks around at the students.
“Well, where are you?” Lima asks loudly. “Where’re the
colorful one and the animal with humanoid features?”
Simon looks around as everyone else looks at Siro and
Lima. His friends stand in front of him as a shield and Bryan nods. Simon nods
back and heads for the stairs. He enters the stairwell just as Zoey comes bounding
down.
“Siro?” she asks him.
“And the black Masquerader,” he says.
“Let’s go,” he says at the same time she says, “I’ll go.”
“Wait, what?” he says. “No, we’ll both fight them, two on
two.”
“No, you barely survived Siro,” Zoey says. “I’ll go, you
stay.”
“Seriously?” Simon asks as she hands him her bento.
Zoey transforms to Catgirl, even pulling the sequin mask
out of a jacket pocket. She puts it on and smiles at him before exiting the
stairwell.
As Catgirl, Zoey struts from the bleachers by the Science
Wing out into the open. Everyone murmurs and many take pictures as she heads
right for Siro and Lima.
“Where’s my weaker half?” Siro asks her.
Siro looks past her to see Simon exit the stairwell,
still himself. Simon sits on the bleachers and sets Zoey’s lunch down by her
things.
“He’s not weaker,” Catgirl says. “And he doesn’t need to be here to beat you. I can do it!”
The students go “Whoa…” and “Ooooh…!” in reaction to her
bold claim.
“I told you all he’s a coward,” Siro says.
“He’s not a coward!” Catgirl defends. “He doesn’t need to
fight you, since you couldn’t beat him!”
The students react with another round of “Ooooh…!”
“Y’know,” she says, feeling bolder, “you seem pretty
insistent on fighting The Spektrum. Are you sure you’re not scared of fighting me?”
Another “Ooooh…!” from the students echoes around the
square.
“Lima,” Siro says as he sits down on the picnic table. “Pakigbugno
na shya. <Fight her already.>”
Lima grins as he heads straight for Catgirl. She takes
her fighting stance and waits for his approach. She waits for him to be in
reach before throwing a straight kick! Lima’s head goes right back!
“WHOOOA…!” students blurt as they see Lima’s head back at
a 90 degree angle!
Catgirl’s also shocked, but not for the same reason.
I didn’t make
contact so why did his head go back?
Lima brings his head back up with another grin.
“Usa is big and strong, Duha is small and fast,” he says.
“Tulo is slimy and Upat is stupid. But I’m bendy!”
Lima shows off by twisting one arm far past normal limits
and having a knee joint go backwards from what a human could do. That creeps
Catgirl out. Then Lima lunges at her with arms stretched forward!
Catgirl moves to the side to avoid him but Lima uses his
flexibility to fold and stand to his feet in one fluid motion. Lima turns
around, Catgirl swings a heel kick, but Lima uses his neck trick to avoid it.
Catgirl keeps spinning to mule kick Lima in the knee. But with Lima’s freaky
joints, he stays standing with the leg bending back, and then balances before
popping it back forward.
“You may not be slimy but you’re more disgusting than the
slimy one,” she says.
Lima laughs as he jumps then kicks at her. She leans to
avoid the hit, he lands, and she swings a right punch. Lima doesn’t so much as
lean as his spine shifts around like a Slinky toy, and he avoids the fist with
more fluid motion. Catgirl brings the fist back with a back hand but he just
moves the other way. She spins through for a full back hand but Lima again
shifts back to avoid it, only for her left elbow to fly in and get him in the
mouth!
Lima staggers back and Catgirl hurries to keep on him.
She boots him in the chest and he falls backwards. He twists around to crawl
like a bug, which is again very creepy, but Catgirl chases after him. He twists
and rolls and handsprings to stay away from her. She runs up and jump kicks to
get him in the chest again, but he goes full Slinky and his upper body just
flails back! He uses the momentum to come back like a slingshot and double
knife hand chop her in the shoulders! Catgirl can’t get her arms up to guard as
he grabs her in a headlock and pops his hips for a takedown!
“Get off!” Catgirl growls as she tries to get up.
Lima cranks on the headlock and uses one arm to keep her
down. He does this by bending his arm around to grab the same shoulder! He uses
his other arm to reach back and grab at a leg. Lima gets hold of her ankle and
uses that to pull the leg backwards. Catgirl grumbles from the pain in her
thigh and neck.
“Cat, push up!” Simon shouts.
“Use your free leg!” Bryan and Michelle both shout.
Catgirl gets
traction with her right foot. Pushing up relieves pressure in the left leg but
her head is still caught. She gets her arms involved and then kicks with her
right leg, and both she and Lima roll. Lima still has a headlock but she gets
back to her feet and stands up. Simon and his friends applaud while she elbows
Lima in the ribs a few times. Lima swings his left hand in, but Catgirl blocks
that and has hold of Lima’s hand. She and Lima struggle in this tangle, and
that frustrates her. She stands straight up, scowling at him.
“Get him around the head!” Bryan shouts.
“Headlock!” Michelle adds.
Catgirl goes for the headlock but Lima pulls his head
back again. So Catgirl pushes down on his chin!
“Ow, ow, ow!” Lima blurts out as she pushes his head and
pulls on his arm.
Lima lets go of the headlock to grasp at Catgirl’s arm,
and she lets go of his other arm to let him fall over! He hits his head pretty
hard and clutches the back of it. But Lima’s leg is still latched on, so she
kicks at it. Lima holds on and twists, using his other leg to trip her up. But
Catgirl is ready for this after the drop toeholds Simon used in their training.
She catches herself with her hands and rolls to keep up.
Lima curls under and pops out behind Catgirl! He reaches
across her throat with his right arm to grab her left, and grabs her right arm
with his left. He drags her back down and digs a knee into her side! Lima uses
this point of leverage to twist and pull her sideways until she looks like the
letter U!!
“Cat!!” Simon shouts.
Lima laughs like a lunatic, but it dies down quickly as
he realizes she isn’t in any pain. Everyone else is also amazed to see her bent
and stretched like that.
“Why… Why aren’t you hurting?” he asks.
“You’re not the only one with extra bones!” she says.
She again uses her free leg to push up and she
practically flings out of the stretcher hold! Lima lets go of the leg-on-leg
hook but keeps grip of Catgirl’s arms. They tug-o-war, but Catgirl lets Lima
win that so that the momentum adds to her knee thrust! She gets Lima right in
the chest before he can Slinky shift out of the way! Momentum makes his head
hit the ground that much harder, and he lets go of her arms, because he’s out
cold!
“Catgirl wins!” Computer says.
The students cheer and Catgirl gasps with a big smile on
her face.
“I get one of those, too?” she says. “That’s so cool!”
Siro hops up off the picnic table and storms over,
glaring at Simon. But Catgirl stands in his way.
“So are you going to fight me now?” she asks with a bold
smile and hands on her hips.
Siro seethes instead of responds. He looks past her to
glare at Simon, which annoys her, as indicated by cat ears pointing back. She
stands on her tip toes and waves a hand in his face. He grumbles as he looks
down at her.
“Are you,” she says, “going to, fight me?”
“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” the crowds chant.
Siro sighs and rolls his eyes. Catgirl suddenly kicks him
in the leg! He glares at her while the crowds let out a loud “WHOA…!”
“Don’t, do that,” he says.
Simon chuckles and Catgirl has a smug smile. She softly
kicks his leg now and the crowds laugh, and laugh even more as she gives
another joking kick to his other leg. Siro just seethes again as she kicks
right, then left, then right again, all at less than half power.
“Oh!” Simon shouts as Catgirl kicks. “Oh!”
“Oh!” his friends join in, laughing as well. “Oh! Oh!”
Catgirl is laughing a little now as she backs up.
“Do you remember teaching me this one?” she asks Siro.
She thrusts with a Flash Kick! But Siro turns Red and
easily moves out of the way, using Overdrive. He also easily goes past her to
stand by Lima.
“Get your weak ass up,” he says as he picks Lima up off
the ground as Silver.
Siro turns back to Red, uses Overdrive again to go to a
more open space in the square, and then glares at Simon one more time. Simon
glares back but Siro then looks at Catgirl.
“Get us out of here,” Siro says to Zorb and Zita through
his communicator.
*WHOOMF* Another column of light takes them away, and the
crowds chant, “Catgirl! Catgirl! Catgirl!”
Needless to say, Zoey and Simon are both in good moods
the rest of the day. They both excitedly talk about her victory on the walk
home from school.
“I know you told me you did gymnastics,” Simon says, “but
I did not realize you were that
flexible.”
“Well, it’s only because I’ve become part cat,” she
explains.
“Ah, okay.”
“Thanks for the coaching, by the way,” she says. “You and
Bryan and Michelle, that is.”
“You’re welcome,” he says. “It was mostly because I
didn’t, or uh, we didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
Zoey smiles while brushing some hair out of her face.
“But next time,” Simon says, “I’ll confront Siro
personally.”
“What?” she says. “Why?”
“What do you mean why? You took care of Mr. Bendy today,
but they’re going to come back with more tomorrow or something. Siro and I
still need to settle things.”
“No you don’t,” Zoey says with nervous laughter. “Simon,
he almost killed you. And this was only like, not even a week ago. I know our
powers help us heal, but that doesn’t change how badly he hurt you.”
“Well, I only had two Color Codes last week and now I
have three. Plus, now I know how hard Silver hits since Siro was stomping the
crap out of me.”
“That’s a weird way to think positive,” she says. “But
it’s still three to five! And how does Green even work other than you being,
like, kinda mean?”
“Mean? Zoey, c’mon, that was far from being mean. I
didn’t even curse or anything like that.”
“There’s a lot of room between being mean and cursing, Simon,”
she says with a smirk.
Simon just shrugs and she scoffs, but the two still share
a chuckle.
Youth Group service later that evening has free drinks
and pizza courtesy of the Riveras, as a part of celebrating the official youth
group Sunday school class. Zoey and her friends are in line for soda while
talking about everything that went on in San Leandro.
“Wow, you got to be alone with him for almost three
hours?” Marina asks.
“Oh don’t even,” Zoey says with a laugh.
“Well what?” Karina asks. “You did homework but that
shouldn’t have taken you two three hours if you’re both smart.”
“Well, yeah,” Zoey says as she steps up to grab a cup.
“But we just talked after.”
“About the dance?” Chloe asks.
“No, though we probably could have.”
“So what did you talk about?” Marina asks as Zoey opens
the 7UP.
Around 3:30 that afternoon, Zoey and Simon finished their
homework together, finishing with World History and more study of Egypt.
“So wait,” Zoey said as she contemplated what they read.
“Cleopatra wasn’t a tall, leggy model type?”
“Nope,” Simon said. “Turns out she was petite and bold.”
Zoey giggled.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I was picturing Cleopatra as like Alicia, y’know?
Karina’s sister, tall and slender. But after reading all this, Karina and
Cleopatra seem to have more in common now.”
Simon laughed a little but Zoey really got herself going
with the imagery in her head. Cleopatra popping out of Caesar’s bedroll, which
Zoey understood to be an old form of sleeping bag, played in Zoey’s head as
Karina in Cleopatra cosplay with a very determined look on her face. She did
her best to describe that to Simon so he could understand.
“She wouldn’t really do that, would she?” he asked.
“Well, I would hope not,” Zoey said. “She did give my cousin, Jeff, a New Year’s
kiss in front of everyone, though.”
“When you were little?”
“No, this past New Year’s!” she laughed.
“Oh!” he said before laughing, too.
“Let’s not tell her she’s like Cleopatra,” Zoey said.
“It’ll go to her head.”
“Okay,” he said while the two were still laughing.
“Just… stuff,” Zoey says as she fills her cup. “Good
stuff about you, my friends.”
Her friends don’t quite buy that.
As for Simon, he sits with Zoey’s cousins, and Alicia, as
well as his own cousins.
“So she asked you to the dance?” Jeff asks.
“Y’know, my friends said it like that,” Simon says. “Is
it because it’s a girl asking a guy or specifically her asking me?”
“It’s the first one,” Alicia says. “Zoey isn’t
superficial or anything. Not that you aren’t attractive to some degree.”
The two pairs of cousins look at her.
“Well, as a female not related to him,” Alicia says,
starting to laugh as she looks at Danielle, “I can see it. And it’s obvious
he’s, y’know, not ugly, right?”
Zoey’s cousins leave her hanging while Simon’s cousins
try not to laugh. Alicia sighs and hangs her head.
“What’s going on?” Karina asks while she sits down by
Jeff.
Simon swallows his nerves as Zoey sits next to him on his
left, and fairly close. Marina sits between Karina and Zoey, and Chloe ends up
on Simon’s right, at the end of the table.
“Is Simon ugly?” Jeff asks before Alicia can raise her
head to speak.
“No,” Zoey and her friends say, though she says it
defensively; she hears it herself after saying it.
“He’s handsome,” Zoey says while smiling at him.
“Thank you,” Simon says, feeling rather awkward.
“Are you keeping the
haircut, though?” Marina asks.
“Marina,” Zoey scolds.
“What’s wrong with my haircut…?” Simon asks.
“Marina can’t get away from how your hair is very Tobey
Maguire,” Chloe says. “But honestly, I think it has more Clark Kent, like on that
show, Smallville. What’s his name? Tom Welling?"
“Oh yeah,” Simon says. “Smallville’s… Well, it was a
really good show. They’re kinda stretching ideas this season, like adding
AquaMan to the show.”
“Oooh~, AquaMan,” Chloe and Marina say at the same time.
“So, Simon,” Karina says, changing the subject. “Zoey was
rather vague about your afternoon. Early out Wednesday or whatever you call it.
What did she tell you about us?”
“All good stuff,” he says. “The New Year’s Eve kiss,
specifically.”
“Oh…!” Zoey’s friends respond.
“Wait, what happened?” Danielle asks.
“It’s not that big a deal,” Karina says. “We were at
Zoey’s new house in San Leandro for a New Year’s Eve party, and I kissed Jeff when
it was New Year’s in New York.”
“But you kissed him in front of everyone,” Zoey, Chloe,
Marina and Alicia all say.
“Your point?” Karina counters.
“You’re right, she’s totally Cleopatra,” Simon says to
Zoey.
“What?” Karina asks.
“Nothing,” Zoey says quickly.
Zoey then looks at Simon and they both chuckle as he whispers, “Sorry.”
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