Chapter 9: 09 One Of Us

It took Taylor a week before she decided that she would rather become a Ward instead of an independent cape with no resources or access to equipment and funds. She also wanted to spend more time with her new friends. They were three years younger than her; but, they were fun to hang around with and made her laugh.

Taylor was a little desperate to have actual friends and not the fake ones that still tried to get her attention at school. The fakeness from them almost made her sick and she kept telling them off. They never listened and kept bugging her. The irony was not lost on her.

It was a relief for her when she sent in her application to become a Ward and she was informed that she would be transferred to the premier High School named Arcadia. All of the wards attended there and it was kind of an open secret, even if none of the students knew it officially.

The Wards themselves didn't bother trying to stay way from each other and even sat together during lunch. They also had other friends with powers, the children of New Wave, and they didn't have secret identities and sat with them during lunch as well. It was almost laughable that no one had outed all of their identities already.

The only downside to the whole thing was that both Alex and Vista were still in middle school and weren't in any of her classes, despite both of them being full Wards and patrolling with the older members. Surprisingly, it wasn't awkward, since both Alex and Vista didn't act like normal twelve year old kids.

“I'm so glad you accepted!” Alex gushed and ran over to hug Taylor when she entered the Ward's common room to attend her first training session with the team.

Taylor accepted it and laughed when he picked her up and swung her around instead of just giving her a hug. “I think you're happier to have me here than my dad is.”

Alex laughed and let her go. “Mr. Hebert is just happy those extra funds are available to pamper you.”

Taylor shook her head at him. “My dad wouldn't do that. He knows I'll get mad if he wastes it.”

“Uh huh.” Alex said with a knowing smile. “Guess who's getting a refurbished car for her sixteenth birthday in four months?”

Taylor gasped and stared at him.

“Alex!” Vista exclaimed and she was suddenly across the room and smacked him in the back of the head. “That was supposed to be a secret!”

“Ow!” Alex rubbed the spot. “I didn't tell her the best part about the guys on her dad's crew that are giving her lessons on the weekends until June so she can be ready to get her license!”

Vista whacked him again.

“Ow!” Alex said and then realized what he said. He sighed and dropped his head. “I'm sorry.”

Vista sighed as well and hugged him. “I think we need to practice with keeping secrets, even if you're always too happy to keep things from your friends.”

Alex looked from her face to Taylor's. “I guess I can't tell you what I got you, even though it's awesome.”

“I think you need to concentrate more on what you're going to give Vista for Valentine's Day this weekend.” Clockblocker said with a malicious grin.

“I arranged for Dragon to take us to Florida for the weekend on one of her armored sailing ships.” Alex said and everyone in the common room caught their breath, especially Miss Militia. “We're going to have some fun clearing up a few of the shipwrecks there and any treasure we find will be split between us, Dragon, and the local Protectorate.”

“Oh... oh, my god.” Vista whispered.

Alex's face flushed red and looked at the girl still hugging him. “Surprise.”

Vista didn't say anything and leaned in close before she kissed him. They had done it a few times already and in her opinion, each and every time was a little bit better as they learned more about what worked and what they liked.

Taylor stared at the two almost teenagers as they had a quick make-out session right there in front of everyone. That normally wouldn't bother her, except she couldn't help but imagine it was her that was being held so tenderly and kissed so well. She wasn't the only one with those thoughts, either.

Miss Militia's dark skin flushed darker as she put herself in Vista's place and imagined those muscular arms held her. She didn't want it to be tender, however. No, she wanted him to be a little rough and demand her attention, then to use his power for her and prove how much better he was.

It took her several minutes to crush those thoughts down and she was grateful she had, because they had just ended the kiss and their faces were bright red.

“I thought Dean and Vicky had a lock on kissing in public.” Clockblocker said with a laugh. “We easily ignore them doing it, though.”

“I think it's because Vicky is so outrageous about it and we all assume she's playing the whole act up to get attention.” Aegis said and looked at Alex and Vista. “That was not what just happened.”

Vista's blush didn't fade as a happy look appeared on her face. “I had to do it.”

Clockblocker barked a laugh. “I think I need to find a girl that feels that way when I give her a gift.”

“Good luck with that, Dennis. Vista's mine.” Alex said and placed a kiss on Vista's cheek. “For as long as she'll have me.”

“Forever.” Vista whispered and rested her head against his.

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment and smiled. “I'll do my best to make that happen.”

The other Wards exchanged odd looks. It was Taylor that broke the silence.

“You sound like you're going to try and find the secret to immortality or something.” Taylor observed.

Alex beamed a smile at her. “That's right! I'm going to search far and wide for people with powers that I can copy. Maybe if I get enough of them, even at half power, one of the combinations might give me the power to share powers. If it does...” He looked into Vista's eyes. “...we can be invulnerable together.”

Vista blushed again and gave him another kiss that she really shouldn't be giving him. The hug she had him in was quite suggestive as well.

“How am I supposed to get Vicky a gift that can top that?” Gallant asked, because he could feel everyone's swirling emotions and he knew the females in the room were flustered, flattered, jealous, and envious.

“Surprise her.” Alex said and reluctantly let Vista go. “I'd give you a hint as to how, only you'd laugh at me, call me crazy, and dismiss it without even considering it.”

“How do you know that?” Taylor asked.

“I figured out how his powers work.” Alex said and that surprised a few of them. “He can't read me at all, so anything I say is automatically dismissed, because his powers can't confirm it.”

Everyone turned to look at Gallant and he sighed at the scrutiny.

“He's right.” Dean said and shrugged. “It's not like I can turn it off and make a decision that's not based on what my power is telling me. It just doesn't work that way.”

Clockblocker turned back to look at Alex. “So, Myriad. Did you figure my power out?”

“Yep.” Alex said and then didn't say anything else.

“Welllll?” Clockblocker prompted him five seconds later.

Alex pointed at him. “That right there. That's your power.”

Everyone stared at him as if he was crazy.

“You only think your power stops things at random lengths of time. It doesn't.” Alex said. “It all depends on what you expect your power to do at the time that you use it.”

Clockblocker laughed and walked over to him. “Oh, yeah? Why don't we test that out?”

“No!” Vista exclaimed and he was suddenly twenty feet away with his hand raised.

“What did you do that for?” Clockblocker shouted over.

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“If what Alex said was true, then you were going to intentionally freeze him for as long as you thought possible!” Vista shouted back. “I will not have him frozen still for months!”

Clockblocker actually looked guilty and didn't deny it.

“I did the math while watching all of the times he touched things.” Alex said and gained everyone's attention.

Only Alex and Vista noticed as Clockblocker was returned to where he stood previously.

“Each and every time he did so, his expectations at the time shaped his power. If it was a desperation save to stop someone getting hurt, it was only long enough to get them to safety. If it was to subdue a villain, it was just long enough to get them into custody and sometimes even back to the Protectorate holding cells. It never lasts longer than his expectations. Never.”

“Holy shit.” Clockblocker whispered and looked down at his hands.

“Now you know why during training sessions that nothing you stop in time actually stays stopped for more than an hour after the session ends.” Alex said. “It's because you don't want it to stop for longer than that.”

“Alex, you... damn.” Aegis chuckled and shook his head. “I wish I could analyze things that well.”

Alex shrugged. “I have lots of free time when on monitor duty and I use it all to watch all of the recordings. I've picked up a lot of things that normal observations miss.”

“What did you discover about me?” Miss Militia asked before she could stop herself.

“You unnecessarily cycle and flex your power all the time.” Alex said and everyone turned to see Miss Militia freeze and the nine millimetre handgun in the holster on her hip changed to a Bowie knife. “I'm sure it's psychological and subconsciously done, though. You like having people see you and they instinctively know that you're dangerous.”

Miss Militia blushed and didn't respond, despite him being completely right.

“What about me?” Vista asked.

“You're frustrated that you're not allowed to use your power to take down some major villains, even though you can easily do so.” Alex said.

“My power doesn't work on people.” Vista responded instead of admitting he was right.

“It can affect everything else, though. Their weapons, their clothes, their vehicles, and the space around them.” Alex said with a smile. “Do I have to keep telling you that you're the strongest member of the Wards?”

Vista giggled and nodded.

“I'm not going to ask.” Gallant said.

“You're overly reliant on having your emotion blast messing up your target and ignoring everything else you can do, which leaves you completely open for a counterattack.” Alex said and turned to Aegis. “You think your powers will always save you, and that makes you arrogant. That is your biggest weakness.”

Aegis was too surprised by the comment to speak in his defense. It also made him think about it.

“How long do I have to wait for you to help me?” Taylor asked with a soft voice.

“You don't have to wait at all.” Alex said and stepped forward to take her hand. “You are squishy.”

Taylor blinked her eyes at him. “Excuse me?”

“Unlike most of the other Wards, your power does absolutely nothing to protect you or divert attacks from hitting you. You are just a plain old normal squishy human.” Alex said and then chuckled. “Most of the other wards wear tinker armor to distract people from focusing on their bodies. Do you think you can do anything about that?”

Taylor looked down at her body, the one Alex pretty much gifted her with, and looked back at his face. “I have been playing around a little with weaving spider silk into a strong cloth and maybe reinforcing it with beetle carapaces.”

“I definitely want my costume upgraded with spider silk.” Alex told her. “I mean, I don't need the armor. It will just save it from getting damaged too much and needing to be replaced too often.”

Taylor gave his hand a squeeze before she let it go. “I think we can work something out.”

“Awesome!” Alex said and waved at everyone. “If you're all sufficiently recovered from what I told you, we need to get to practice.”

Clockblocker walked over to him and held a hand out to shake. “Alex, thanks for saying what you did.”

“No!” Vista gasped as Alex grabbed Clockblocker's hand and was frozen in place. “Let him go, you bastard!”

Clockblocker laughed and let the frozen hand go. “He was stupid enough to reach for it and...”

Alex unfroze and looked down at his hand. “I think someone just chose their first sparing partner.”

“This should be good.” Clockblocker said and motioned to the hallway. “How are you going to counter being frozen as soon as I touch you?”

“You'll see.” Alex said with a grin and led the way. He didn't bother changing into his costume and went over to the closest wrestling mat. He stood there and waited patiently for Clockblocker to change and put on his full armor suit.

“I hope you're ready to be out of circulation for a while.” Clockblocker said and walked over to the mat.

“You, too.” Alex said and held his hand out for the older boy to shake. “No hard feelings?”

Clockblocker laughed and stepped forward. “So gullible.” He said and took the hand. Alex froze stiff and everyone made groaning sounds at Alex being caught again, then Clockblocker's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the mat, unconscious.

Everyone stared at what just happened. Alex had, somehow, won a fight against someone that could freeze him in time.

“I need to call this in.” Miss Militia said and looked at the other Wards. “No one is to approach them or do anything to disturb them.”

The others nodded and Miss Militia strode from the room.

“Why does he have a smile on his face?” Gallant asked.

“He knew he would win.” Taylor said when she understood. “He knew Dennis wouldn't be able to resist freezing him and used it to his own advantage.”

“How do you think he knocked him out?” Vista asked. “I can't see anything on either of their hands or on the floor near them.”

“Can they make an instant knockout device or something?” Aegis asked.

“A taser would work.” Taylor said. “I didn't see any sparks or anything.”

Miss Militia strode back into the room. “Armsmaster will be here shortly with Kid Win. They'll construct a barrier to stop anyone from interacting with them until they can investigate.”

Vista told her what they already discussed and Miss Militia praised them for their insights and passed them along on a handheld radio that she didn't have before.

“Let's work on individual exercises for now and we can do hand-to-hand practice when Clockblocker's effect wears off.” Aegis suggested and the others agreed.

For the next hour, the Wards worked with Miss Militia and she gave them excellent tips for working out their bodies and to get them into shape and to keep themselves healthy. Armsmaster and Kid Win had entered by then with several tinkertech recording devices and set up a perimeter around the wrestling mat.

Every few minutes, Vista would pause her workout and look over at Alex as she hoped beyond hope that Clockblocker wasn't as big of a dick as she thought he was. Unfortunately, her fears would be confirmed the next morning when Clockblocker woke up and told them his motivation. Teaching Alex a lesson.

Vista's hand slapped him across the face and she swore that she would never speak to him in person ever again. She promised that she would only talk to him over their headsets if, and only if, they were ever paired up during their patrol routes. She then swore that she would hack the computers to ensure that never happened.

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