Category Archives: Book 02: Powers

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 9

14 Comments

Haley crossed the floor and stepped into the kitchen, the door swaying back and forth after she passed through.

Even as she passed out of sight, a rusty, white Ford Taurus raced through the parking lot, barely stopping before turning on to Jefferson Street. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw our waitress in the driver’s seat.

Though I couldn’t understand her words, I could hear Haley’s voice. She wasn’t shouting, but she wasn’t making an effort to keep the volume down either.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 9 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 8

11 Comments

Restaurants ran down both sides of Jefferson Street, most of them chains. Scattered among the McDonalds, Burger Kings, CVS Pharmacies, and gas stations were local businesses.

As we neared the restaurant, Haley stopped talking and asked, “What kind of restaurant was it?”

“Basically fine dining. A steak house, I think.”

Off to the right I saw the building, a long building, decorated to suggested a cabin in the woods — fake wooden logs for the walls, a big, glowing sign that said “Grand Lake Steak and Fine Dining” next to a picture of a buck.

I turned the car into the parking lot.

“Oh, this ought to be interesting,” she said.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 8 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 7

12 Comments

If worst came to worst, Haley or I could summon her grandfather’s car. The only bad point would be the intervening walls. If we didn’t care about the property damage, the car would come right to us and we could get in and change — or just use the car to take out the problem.

If I wanted to use the roachbots, I’d need to modify them a little more, but the flying ones would definitely be useful as a distraction.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 7 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 6

19 Comments

Talk turned back to who people were going to the prom with. Vaughn and Cassie were both going, but not with each other. Kayla either wasn’t going or didn’t have a date. Either way, she didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t hear what the rest of the guys were doing, but maybe they didn’t say.

When Keith heard I was going with Haley, he said, “You should go to a restaurant with Courtney and I before prom.”
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 6 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 5

10 Comments

As crazy as it sounds, part of the reason people might not have been paying quite as much attention to Sean was that there were other things to think about. For example, prom was that Friday. The administration had been talking about canceling it after everything that happened with Keith’s accident, the massive number of reporters, and the abduction of Keith’s uncle, but somehow they didn’t.

What this meant on a practical level was that I still had to go. Not that that was all bad, but I was going to not one, but two proms.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 5 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 4

14 Comments

I flipped through the roachbot’s viewpoints, watching them scuttle up walls, through windows to the outside, or into vents.

I had a brief moment where I thought that the best thing I could do would be self-destruct all of them, but I’d just made them last fall. I didn’t want to do it all over again.

I waited on the top of the roof.

Silently, Rachel faded into view next to me. “They both chugged some juice and they’re coming outside. We’d better go — unless you want to fight them.”
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 4 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 3

20 Comments

We pulled stir fry out of the refrigerator, heated it up, and ate. Afterward, I went upstairs to do homework while Rachel followed me upstairs and went into her own room. After an electronic crackle, I heard her play exercises on her guitar.

I finished the calculus homework in an hour. Then I took another half hour to read a short story and wrote the answers to some questions about it.

By that time, it was after nine.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 3 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 2

16 Comments

“So you just told him?” Jaclyn didn’t seem to be able to contain her disbelief.

“It’s not like I invited him to train with us,” I said. “I just told him the same thing I’ve always told anyone curious about who I’m taking martial arts from.”

“It’s not that bad,” Haley said. “Of all Sean’s friends, Dayton’s the only one who’s actually nice.”
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 2 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 1

24 Comments

In fairness to Sean, he didn’t try to claim credit for taking them out. He didn’t have to. The cameras lied.

Good visuals are crack for news crews. Explaining that Daniel mentally blasted Spike and Skewer into unconsciousness is hard to show on screen. Bashing them together in the air looked great even if it didn’t do anything to them.

Not that Sean got all the credit. Punching people into walls also made for great footage — as did shots of Jaclyn and I shattering the ice around us, or Vaughn blasting Payback with a lightning bolt.

Cassie and Haley barely appeared except on those stations that ran the fight straight through.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 1 →

Arc 2.7: Hysteria

Hysteria: Part 10

17 Comments

“Where does he work?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Vaughn said. “Something medical.”

We started talking about the fight again for another thirty minutes or so. Somehow the conversation turned to Lee, and I reminded people that he wanted all of us there the next day and ideally every practice thereafter.

“And that’s why I need to go,” Jaclyn said. “If I want to have time for that, I can’t stay here all night.”
Continue reading Hysteria: Part 10 →