Chapter Ten – Blanked Out

A million thoughts flashed through her mind… is what she would have liked. At least then, she might have been able to pluck one up to use it. But at the moment, her mind was an untouched test sheet; all questions and no answers.

Emily took in a deep breath, and used the moment to try and centre herself. She was reminded of a few stress-relieving techniques, but she couldn’t quite remember how they worked at the moment.

“Miss Wright?” the HRF woman asked. “The HRF is willing to be very lenient with people who work with us. Your record is clean up until last Power Day, and even afterwards you’ve at most committed a few minor felonies.”

Minor felonies? Oh, so just minor jail time? And that after she was wrung through a legal system that was very, very unfair to anyone with the ‘villain’ label.

“You… you need me that badly?” Emily finally asked.

The woman’s lips thinned. “The current Endgame was meant to end soon after it began, but it has instead grown. Official reports aren’t all out, but I believe I can share with you that the situation is more complex than initially believed. We need brave, kindhearted people to step up and help, Miss Wright. You could be one of those.”

“And my sis–my friends as well?” Emily asked. “Even though Endgames are dangerous? People die in those.”

“There have only been a few civilian casualties, and all during the evacuation. Not a single hero has died or even been injured. It’s a noted fact that the more participants there are, the more the Endgame strains itself. Even without actively participating, you’d be making the entire event safer for our heroes. This is all hands on deck.”

Emily gulped, but the world stopped spinning. She locked eyes with the HRF ref. “So… you’re saying that you don’t have any heroes to spare,” she said.

“Yes?”

“Well then. You won’t be able to stop me from leaving. Good day.” Emily spun on a heel and walked across the courtyard. She was quick to open one of the doors on the far side and walked with some alacrity through the corridors, taking a few turns to lose any pursuers.

On the way, she pulled out her phone and then hesitated. Could she text Sam? The HRF was watching her, and likely her friends too, which of course extended to her minions.

Fortunately, she didn’t need to. A girl flagged her down a corridor later. “Hey! Sam said that if I saw you, I should let you know that she’s in the parking,” the girl said.

“Oh… thank you,” Emily said with a quick nod to the passerby.

How did Sam know everyone?

Sometimes, she wondered what her life would be like if her superpower was extroversion instead of summoning sisters.

She found Sam standing next to her van, in a shady area that was actually somewhat hard to see. There was plenty of student traffic around, so if anyone was listening in, they’d probably stand out. Emily hoped so, anyway, as she raced over to Sam. “what was all that about?” Sam asked.

“It’s… nothing,” Emily said. She said the opposite with her eyes, and Sam nodded slowly.

“Problems with an ex?”

“Uh? Oh, yes,” Emily said. “That’s right. They’re, uh, they want me back, but it’s… mostly to use me.”

“Urgh, exes,” Sam said. “Yeah, I guess that’s to be expected. Once they’ve got you, they’re clingy though.”

“Yeah,” Emily said. “I don’t want to work, I mean, date? Yeah, date them.” She wasn’t nearly as good at this sort of double-speak as Sam was. “I might have threatened them? A little?”

“Did you now?” Sam asked. “You’ll have to tell me all about it.”

“Yeah. They wanted me to go to, uh, an event? That’s happening nearby.”

Sam nodded slowly. “The same one I was suggesting you go to?”

“Yes,” Emily said. “And I still think it’s a bad idea.”

Sam shrugged. “You’ve got good reasons to think so, so I wouldn’t pressure you, but have you asked your sisters about it? They might be a little more keen about it.”

“They are,” Emily said. “But just because they’re interested, doesn’t mean that I am. It’s dan–it’s going to be a wild party, and they’re very young.”

“Sorta,” Sam said. She crossed her arms. Sam had previously made her stance clear on this one. She wanted to see Emily hit that End Game. It was close by, and that might mean it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Emily. If she was outed as a villain, she could forget taking the plane in the future to reach another End Game. They were usually… affairs where non-heroes were frowned upon.

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Not refused, though. End Games were more dangerous than one villain having an extra power in their pocket. The HRF, and most international organizations like it, wouldn’t say no to any help, even if it wasn’t exactly heroic. There were some Rogues and more ‘grey’ figures that were famous for helping with several End Games as well.

“We could crash it,” Sam said.

That brought Emily short. “Crash it?” she asked.

“Yeah. Your ex wants to drive you over themselves, right? Walk in all arms-hooked-together and prettied up to their liking? What if you… just showed up? They wanna make it look like an invite-only thing, but it really isn’t. Anyone that shows up can attend. Even some people that aren’t… dressed for the occasion.”

She either meant not dress as heroes and villains, or… people who didn’t have powers.

It was possible to participate and ‘win’ an End Game without powers, technically. It depended on the form the End Game took. If someone without a power ‘won’ then they’d be granted a power as well.

Every winner got the same power. It was different from End Game to End Game, but it was usually something related to the game itself. So some heroes and fewer villains out there, had two, three, or even more powers under their belt, but some were matters of public knowledge, with other winners disclosing the entire scope of the power and what it could do.

End Game powers were usually a bit weaker than what people got randomly on Power Day, but… more power was more power.

Emily’s big worry, and her small hope, was that if she got something, all of her sisters would get it too.

That would be a rather massive power multiplier.

Depending, of course, on what the power was.

There had been some End Games that gave out really basic powers. Basic in the sense that they were rather uncreative and simple. Limited telekinesis, slow, floaty flight, super strength, fast healing. All useful stuff, but nothing extraordinary or weird.

But not being extraordinary or weird didn’t mean it wasn’t tempting.

“I don’t know,” Emily said. “How would… crashing the event even go?”

“Well for one, you’d need to find out if there’s a back entrance or something. And then you drive over and just… show up.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Emily said. “What if we get caught? And thrown out?”

Sam rolled her eyes. “And what, get into trouble? You know that if your ex is here, you’re in a bit of trouble already. Getting into the event and… getting the gift that all participants get, would at least make your ex think twice.”

Emily didn’t like it… but it made sense. If she and her sisters all had more power, then her ex… no, not her ex, she was confusing herself with her own analogy. She didn’t have a mean ex. She meant the HRF. Which was much, much worse… maybe.

“I’m going to have to ask my sisters a lot of questions,” Emily said.

Sam grinned. “Is that a yes to plan ‘party-crasher?'”

“We’re not naming it that,” Emily said. “And it’s not even a plan yet. But… I did want to go camping with the girls. This could be… similar. Depending on how, uh, exciting this party might be. I’m not going to join in on something dangerous.”

But more power… more power was a draw that she could understand pretty well, and one she was willing to work for a little.

“I’ll talk to the girls once I’m home,” Emily said. “We’ll decide from there. You know how they tend to be… knowledgeable about, uh, parties.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Still want to pick their little minds about it. It’s like getting the inside scoop, the good gossip.”

“Uh…huh,” Emily agreed slowly. Sam was strange, but Emily wasn’t sure if that wasn’t just a side-effect of her extroversion. “Anyway, I should go… Do you think you can drop me off close to home?”

“Yeah, sure. Going to walk the rest of the way yourself?”

Emily shook her head. “I’ll… call over a friend for the last bit, just to not be alone.” She’d Sisterport someone closer, in case she needed the help. The HRF wouldn’t be following her home, right? That would be pushing the antagonism a little too far.

But she wasn’t sure.

As she sat in Sam’s minivan, she couldn’t help but feel a sinking, creeping feeling that everything was about to get a lot worse.

And here she’d thought that finishing her tests for the term would mean everything would be easy for a while.

***

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