The Abnormals

Catherine’s hair had matted into a rat’s nest, but at least Harold was asleep.

“Have you taken care of yourself at all?” Mandie asked, twitching her fingers as if anticipating a battle.

“It’s just my hair. I’ve showered and everything else most days.”

“Most days?”

“Well there’s taking care of Harold,” Catherine made a whole body gesture toward the nursery, “And there’s the alerts.”

“What alerts?”

“I’ve set up a program to search for the suit. It shouldn’t have lost communication—I made it waterproof.”

“Catherine, It’s gone. I understand the suit's important to—”

“That’s not why I care, Mandie. If I find the suit, I find Pete, plain and simple. He might not be at the exact location—”

“He’s gone too. Hell, that’s probably why you can’t find the suit. You said the last thing it sent you was excess readings of electromagnetic radiation.”

Catherine stared her sister down.

“He wouldn’t just disappear.”

Mandie shrugged

“That’s what happens with people sometimes, Catherine. I’m sorry if his death being broadcast on the news wasn’t enough of a spectacle for you.”

“Why do you even care about this? I’m not checking the program every five minutes. I’m having Camera search every electricity spike and letting me know if she finds anything.”

“Because I saw my nephew lose his father, and I don’t plan to see his mother tire herself into an early grave. Even if he isn’t dead, which if he isn’t means he’s a coward, dad died because he knew too much. Do you want Harold to lose you the same way?”

Catherine halted.

“Why would Pete be a coward?”

“He’s a fucking G-tier Catherine! Do you think that’s a joke? He’s wearing a suit made of metal. He’d be here if he was alive, so if he isn’t then he’s a coward, and you don’t want him anywhere near your family!”

Harold started crying from the other room. Catherine ran in to calm him down.

“Aunt Mandie’s sorry she woke you up. She just forgets Mom can make her own decisions sometimes.”

“What happens when Harold’s old enough to realize what you’re doing? What if that’s before he can keep a secret?”

“I’m not interested in hypotheticals, Mandie. If it goes on long enough, I’ll turn it off, but that’s my decision, not yours. You of all people should understand exactly why I won’t listen.”

Mandie scowled.

“Fine, but you know my opinion on all of this, especially if you’re focusing on this instead of being a parent.”

“What does it look like I’m focusing on right now?”

She set Harold back down in the crib.

Mandie put her hands up in surrender and left the room.

“I’d just… know if he were dead,” Catherine insisted, “And I don’t, so I have to believe he’s alive somewhere.”

“Electron is dead,” Tesla Coil stared into the barrel of the camera, “But his legacy lives on. That is why I wear the symbol. No further questions.”

The hoard of reporters didn’t listen, already trying to badger her into more information.

“Is it true you’re working with Catherine Piec?”

“Were you the Voice of Reason before Electron died?”

“How was Electron as a spouse?” From one of the tabloids.

“You don’t know a thing about me, do you?” a voice said above the throng. Tesla coil turned up to see a metal suit, with the same symbol she wore on her chest: One large dot, two smaller ones to the top and bottom, four more small dots just a tad further than horizontal to the previous two—hers also had two circles the same color as her shirt intersecting with second set of dots, and the third respectively, imitating the Bohr model of carbon.

“I know you aren’t the real Electron,” she informed the impostor.

Gasps. It shouldn’t be that surprising. She knew there was at least one Electron all the way in Alaska completely unaffiliated with Pete.

Her hoverdisc lifted her out of the crowd, right up to the man’s helmet. She leaned in so he couldn’t see past her face.

“For one thing, you’re much shorter, and for another,” she flicked his chest, sending a small shock through her finger, and more importantly the first command any technopath learns: off, “Electron’s real suit would survive that showing.”

As the man fell, Coil summoned another disc out of her jacket that slowed his fall significantly.

“Next time you want to be like Electron, try being a hero first,” she threatened, too quiet for anyone but the two of them to hear.

She helped the man to his feet, and finally used the hoverdisc to get away.

“That was fun.”

“I am not sure your performance will improve your popularity,” Camera, her supercomputer told her.

“At least they didn’t see me cry.”

“Are you going to cry?” Camera asked.

“Probably not, it’s always weird with the eye thing.” She gestured at right eye as if anyone was there to see.

“You know it is okay to cry, right?”

“It’s not actually, but thanks.”

Since when did her supercomputer become a therapist?

“Anyone in trouble?” Please.

“Unless you want to veer far from your usual territory, no, nothing I can find. Harold’s preschool ends soon, though.”

“Great,” Coil said, “More talking to people.”

“The school still keeps their records on paper, so I can’t give you any warning on what’s in store today.”

“Well they didn’t seem to like that I sent our own books for him to read, but I told him to share.”

“You sent Xenology textbooks.”

“It’s not like they’re outdated.”

“Am I going back to Bright Dawn?” Harold asked before pointing at one of the aisle freezers, “Asparagus.”

“Thank you. And no, you’re apparently bad at playing with your peers.”

“They didn’t want School to teach Xenology.”

“What on earth does that mean?” She pulled up the list again. “Keep an eye out for pizza.”

“Frozen?”

“Yep!”

Harold watched the freezers intently. Catherine probably wasn’t getting the saga of why he was bad with his peers anytime soon, if ever.

“Excuse me,” a voice said just as she started pushing the cart again.

“We’re moving, don’t worry.”

“Are you Catherine Piec?”

She turned to see a young black man with an inquisitive look.

“If I were, I wouldn’t talk to a reporter.”

“I just wanted to say I heard what you said this morning. Do you really believe that?”

“What did I allegedly say that you find so hard to believe?”

“That Electron’s dead,” he whispered, “Not that I think he's alive, but I would assume you…

Catherine gave a well practiced look of confusion, helped by the reporter struggling to finish his sentence.

“Or did you…”

“Whether he’s dead or not is none of my business. I’m just here for groceries.” She started moving away.

“Who’s that?” Harold asked.

Catherine shrugged.

“I didn’t get his name.”

“What’s your name?” Harold shouted.

“Jet Bessar. What’s yours?”

“Harold Elias Piec IV!”

“In future,” Catherine explained, “You can just say your name is Harold.”

“Just Harold!”

Everyone else in the aisle laughed, with a few more outside of them.

“I met your husband, Ms. Piec.” Jet said, suddenly closer to them, “A little over 4 years ago.”

Just before he disappeared. Stupid, trusting man.

What was she even supposed to say? That she’s as in the dark as anyone else, probably the best confirmation anyone has of his death?

The windows shattered around the whole building. Catherine covered Harold with herself, praying her forcefield would expand to him too.

“Tesla Coil!” a voice yelled over the screaming. “I know you’re here. Show yourself!”

How could they track her? Her prostheses were unassailable, and she made sure none of Tesla Coil's gear could be tracked.

“Get your son to safety!” Jet ran past them.

“Where?”

Half the store was covered in glass. Luckily the freezers hadn’t shattered along with the windows. How long would that last though?

“We need to get out of this aisle.”

“But what about Pizza?”

“We’ll get it next time. We don’t want to be around so much glass with someone shattering it.”

“He’ll deal with it.”

Catherine looked where Harold was pointing.

A black man in a costume of all yellow.

“So that’s how you met him.”

Catherine spent a moment to admire. He had the pose down, and a cape even, but did he have any clue what he was doing?

“What do you want Tesla Coil for?”

“You aren’t her.”

“You don’t know that, what does she look like?”

“AAArgh.”

Upon hearing that scream, Catherine ran out of the freezer aisle just in time to avoid the shattering glass.

She got a look at the perpetrator at least, or at least their black shroud. That wasn’t usually a good sign with these types of people. They dealt damage in line with a speedster, so that at least was a clue.

“You are not chosen,” the speedster said with revulsion.

“Don’t be so sure. What's the criteria?”

The crowd around Catherine all muttered. She heard something about him being from a different area. One of them identified him as Blaster.

The speedster changed their direction to straight for them. Catherine picked Harold up.

Their attacker bumped into something invisible, falling down.

“My name might not be the most descriptive,” Blaster said.

Forcefields, and not personal ones either. They could use more people like that in the heroic scene.

“Did anyone call the police?”

As the rest of the crowd grabbed their phones, Catherine watched Blaster. He was smiling at his performance. The speedster seemed to just be fuming, but she couldn’t tell without seeing their face.

She could tell Pete proabbly saw something in him. He handled things efficiently while preventing casualties, and he seemed like a smart kid. Hopefully someone watched out for him.

“Can we go home?” Harold asked.

“We’ll probably have to stay until police arrive.”

“Mmmm.”

“Don’t worry, they show up faster when heroes are around. They like to harass them.”

“That’s not nice.”

“It’s not, and that’s why you’re not allowed to be a police officer when you grow up.”

“I’m gonna be a xenologist.”

“Good choice.”

True to form, it only took a few minutes for the police to arrive. Catherine gave her statement and kept watching for what they did with Blaster, ready to call out anything more than a nuisance.

Though not a small four year-old, Harold was surprisingly light when he was asleep. Maybe it was just all the heavy lifting she had to do as Tesla Coil. Either way, her stealth wasn’t hindered.

“Blaster, was it?” The officer asked, “You aren’t usually around these parts.”

“I moved recently.”

“Work reasons?”

“That’s private information and not related to this case.”

“Can you open your little cage so we can arrest the guy.” The officer silently tapped in front of the speedster’s face.

“I don’t think that’s a smart plan. You see the moment I—”

“Are you obstructing justice?”

“No, I just think it would be smarter if I worked with a police escort instead of giving them a chance to escape.”

“We don’t need that spectacle, open the forcefield. That’s an order.”

“Do you have power suppressing cuffs?”

“Why, so you know if you can get out of them?”

“They’re a speedster, sir. If they know I opened the forcefield, they will escape.”

“I have years more experience than you in this.”

Blaster took in a deep breath.

“I’ll make a small opening so they can’t escape, but you can still cuff them. Does that work, officer?”

“Why are you trying so hard to protect this perp?”

“I am not. I am trying to keep them from escaping.”

“Why would they escape?”

“Because people generally don’t enjoy being arrested in my experience.”

“He gave a straight forward solution, officer.” Catherine finally said, “Just let him make a hand opening for power suppressor cuffs, and move on.”

“Ma’am, you were told to be on your way.”

“And I stayed because I’ve seen how police treat superheroes more than once. More importantly, do you want look like an idiot on tape?” she pointed out the cctv cameras.

“Remove your forcefield, or I’ll put the power cuffs on you and make you remove it.”

Blaster glared, and the speedster ran out of the building.

“Do you want a witness statement for that?” Catherine asked.

“Leave the crime scene.”

She shrugged, acquiescing to the request and returning to her car.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t interfere like that in future,” Blaster said, hovering above her vehicle as she reached it.

“I was just trying to speed the process along, Mr. Bessar. I’m sure you have a deadline to meet.”

“He’ll be worse next time.”

“They’re worse next time either way, but if I see you struggling with an officer again, I’ll stand down.”

“Thank you Ms. Piec.”

Harold was asleep again after waking up once they got out of the car, so Catherine headed down to the basement. This was where Tesla Coil resided.

“Do you have any info on that speedster in the grocery store?” she asked Camera.

“No, though they seemed to be an amateur, they showed great skill in hiding their identity. Greater than you, I must say.”

“You must. In my defense, I think Mr. Bessar knew Pete was Electron, so guessing I’m Tesla Coil isn’t that much of a stretch.”

“Petruchio Gionelli as the secret identity of Electron has been a pervading theory since before you started your relationship, and only expanded after their simultaneous disappearance.”

“Guessing something and knowing it are two different experiences. Bessar made a point of saying he met my husband sometime before Electron’s disappearance. Not to mention, he’s definitely Blaster, didn’t even notice when I used his last name when he told me not to interfere.”

“Do you suspect Mr. Bessar is a threat?”

“Everyone’s a threat, but Bessar’s brain seems to be in the right place.”

“And his heart?”

“That’s overrated. Are you going sentimental on me, Camera?”

The lights to the room dimmed from the supercomputer’s shyness.

“We’ll add it to the log. Can you find Mr. Bessar’s phone number for me?”

“Why?”

“He’s a reporter. I’m going to offer him a story, and then he’s going to help me find this speedster. Check any cameras that could find our guy and see if you can pinpoint a location.”

It had been a long time since she’d worked with a partner. She was going to hate it, but it wasn’t like she could catch a speedster, and he very much could.

She looked over at the old Electron armor hidden behind bulletproof glass, which displayed her reflection almost as prominently as its real display. She could see the burn mark covering the right side her face, and the dark gray of her prosthetics on the respective arm and leg. She continued to stare at it as she covered her red pixie-cut with a long brown wig.

“Why do I get a feeling this is more about you than me?”

“Me?” Camera asked.

“No, I…” Now she was sentimental, “It doesn’t matter. Do you think you’ll have an area by tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Let me know when you have it.”

Tesla Coil waited just above the meeting spot until a familiar face got there, looked up, and shifted from curiosity to realization.

Blaster showed up minutes later.

“You’re not too slow at changing your costume.”

“I had an athletic scholarship. More importantly, I was right about you.”

“Right about what?”

“That Catherine Piec is Tesla Coil.”

“Catherine Piec called you for me, yes.”

Blaster mildly stumped.

“I need your help for something,” Tesla Coil explained.

“Why me? Aren’t you friends with like, Nightingale?”

Nightingale couldn’t catch a speedster.

“I am, but she lives a whole state over, and you already managed to detain my target once before police interfered.”

“Only Catherine Piec saw that.”

“She told me about it, and I saw the footage.”

Blaster readjusted his stance.

“You already know I know who your husband was. Not just some theory, I had a conversation with him and Elemaster about being superheroes and the whole secret identities deal.”

“Xer.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t actually call himself Elemaster, that’s just what the newspapers call him, he calls himself k-sir. Spelled X-E-R”

“That’s just his name backwards.”

Blaster covered his mouth immediately.

“I already know that bit, don’t worry.”

“How much do you know?”

“A lot, I’m a technopath, we tend to know things.”

“You’re not electrokinetic?”

“I can make small shocks, but no, I’m really not. Now do you want to get to our speedster, or what?”

“Why won’t you admit your identity?”

“Fine, I’m Catherine Piec, let’s go.”

The confused look was priceless, of course he didn’t believe her when she said it offhand, but he still had to join her.

She pulled out two hoverdiscs, threw Blaster a set of braces to keep him from falling off, and sped towards their destination. She was long used to the sensation of unreasonably hard winds, her forcefield diffusing the brunt of the effect, and to his credit Blaster seemed to be handling it well, smiling even.

His exit from the hoverdisc was less than graceful. Tesla Coil neglected to mention that the braces took their job of keeping you on the hoverdisc seriously.

“Clench your fists. It’ll deactivate the braces.”

He finally stepped off, and the extra disc returned to her jacket.

“I’ll want those braces back when you’re done. They aren’t easy to duplicate.”

Blaster nodded as they watched what was happening through the skylight. The night was thankfully dark enough to have an idea of what was going on inside, but not much of one. There seemed to be candles lit. Combined with the robe from earlier, this was feeling distinctly occult.

Several people, all in the same black robed attire, stepped into the middle.

“Do you have some kind of drone so we can hear what they’re saying?” Blaster asked.

“That would be a good use of my time, but the best I have is a little too obvious.”

“What is it?”

“A rubber duck.”

“A rubber duck?”

“I needed something with decent insulation. I worked with Electron. Now shh!”

It sounded like they were chanting something, but not something understandable. As Coil tried to parse it out, one of the cultists looked up at them, and waved.

“We’ve been spotted,” Blaster said.

“Wait Wait Wait!” the cultist yelled, “I don’t think we’re rolling our Rs enough. Who knows how that’ll mess up the rrritual?”

“Who are you?” one with a yellow band around his waist asked.

“Don’t you know me? You recruited me like a year ago, and this was just the first time I could make it.”

“Intruder!”

All the other cultists grabbed the accused, pulling the hood off to reveal black hair with streaks of gray.

“Berserker beat us to it,” Coil admitted, unsurprised.

“Why is Berserker here?” Blaster asked.

“Because he wants to be. Just wait until a dramatic moment; he’ll just make things harder otherwise.”

“Hey! Why aren’t you letting me join?” Berserker asked, “I’m genuinely interested!”

“You aren’t chosen,” the one in the belt said.

“You’re right, I’m Berserker.”

Blaster and Tesla Coil both rolled their eyes.

“Does anyone else want to confess to falsehood in our midst?”

“That’ll do.” Coil slammed on the window, jumping down into the middle of the room. “I think you’re full of crap.”

“Why didn’t you come in earlier?” Berserker said, squirming out of his captors’ hold.

“You would’ve told me I should have waited.”

Berserker made clicking sound in agreement.

“Tesla Coil!” the one in charge called.

“Yes?”

She reached behind her back, making sure her hoverdiscs were ready for an attack.

“Are you chosen?”

“You keep asking people that. What do you mean?”

“Did the great one ever save your life?”

“Who’s the great one?”

The cultists flinched as Blaster jumped down next to her, but none of them attacked yet. They’d even let Berserker be.

“I think he means your dead boyfriend.” Berserker whispered.

“What?”

“You wear his symbol.” The leader announced, “Did the great one ever save you.”

Electron. She was right, this was all about Pete.

“Yes, many times. Why?”

“Then you are chosen, and what of you two?”

“I saved the day with him,” Blaster said.

“I saved him once.”

Tesla Coil remembered that. Mostly because she never let Pete forget he owed his life to Berserker.

“Then only one of you is chosen.”

The cultists lunged, and Coil sent her discs out, forcing them back a few at a time.

“Maybe start using your powers, boys.”

Berserker sent streaked lightning across the floor, leaving burn marks, though he didn’t actually touch any of the cultists. Blaster held his hands out, and all the cultists got pushed back to the far wall.

Tesla Coil felt a hand on her shoulder. She tried to punch them, but the head cultist grabbed her hand before it could land.

“I am the great chosen, but perhaps you are greater than I? I just need proof.”

“I’d rather not give it to you, actually.”

He sent a shock through her arm, letting go.

“Ahh!” She gripped her arm. It had been awhile since electricity was painful.

“I had hoped you could handle his power.”

“That’s your power, you delusional—”

“I was given this ability after the great one saved my life. He gave me this ability.”

“And how old were you?”

“I was well into adulthood.”

Her arm stopped hurting. She flung one of the discs right at his chest, knocking him back a few paces.

“Post-pubescent power development is not unheard of, and even more common in men.”

She kept hitting him, pushing him back. If they could capture everyone here and now, they could nip this in the bud before it got any more dangerous.

“You are deceptive and weak, refusing to fight me yourself.” He sent a bolt of lightning at her. This time her forcefield absorbed it.

“See, I’m even able to handle your power when I know it’s coming.”

“The world will be better,” the great chosen said, before disappearing.

“Where did he go?” Tesla Coil asked.

“I was wondering where the speedster was,” Blaster said.

She turned to him.

“You realized they weren’t here, and didn’t communicate that?”

“I wasn't sure.”

“Tell me next time.”

“There’s a next time?” Berserker asked.

“We took down plenty of them together, so until we get their leader, yes, there is a next time.

“Nah.” Berserker said. “This is going to get boring.”

He disappeared into the darkness.

“That explains how he got here,” Blaster said.

“Are you willing to help me on this?” Tesla Coil asked.

“Absolutely.”

He offered his hand to her. She took it gladly. This partnership wasn’t too bad.

Red and blue flashing lights interrupted their moment.

“Uh, do you want to hide before the police actually get inside?” she asked, “Because they seem to be less antagonistic toward me.”

“Absolutely, thank you.”