Chapter 10: When lightning strikes

When lightning strikes, the team gains their last teammate. Alicia has a breakthrough in her genetic research.

The man playing Toby strut across the stage and patted Andrew on the back, declaring, “To the gates of Tartar, thou most excellent devil of wit!”

            Andrew posed, proud of himself and responded, “I’ll make one too.”

            As the two men left the stage, the curtains closed. The audience slowly got up and moved to the foyer. The team stood up and stretched. “It’s good,” Alicia commented.

            “Yeah, nice pick, Theo,” Paul said.

            “I love the guy playing Viola,” Q said.

            “Yeah, he was convincing in both gender roles.” Theo agreed.

            “Because he knows what it’s like,” Kris grumbled.

            The curtain rolled back open partially as set makers shuffled the set around. The man playing Viola was in the front helping Milan move an arch and bench. “Hey, it’s my friend,” Theo said, waving at the stage.

            Milan took notice right away and waved back. “Viola” also politely waved before moving the bench out of sight. Milan hurried after him, the arch over his shoulder. There was a crash off stage, and a bolt of lightning streaked across the stage, striking something on the other side.

            Less than a second later, “Viola” ran across the stage to go check the damage. Theo looked at the rest of the group. Their expressions were serious. Theo opened his mouth, but Paul interrupted, “We’ll ask him after the performance.”

            Theo nodded. “Oh definitely,” Alicia said. “That could have killed somebody.”

            Kris crossed her arms. “If it hasn’t already.”

            Q looked between them. “Jeez, guys,” He said. “Lighten up, or you could say lightning up?”

            Kris groaned, while Paul snorted. “We get it, guey,” Paul said, trying to reassure Q. “We’ll take it easy.”

+++++

            A single man stood on stage, the jester of the play. “But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day.”

            The jester bowed before frolicking off stage, closely followed the curtains closing and the audience clapping. The curtains reopened to show the actors. Another person stepped out from offstage carrying a microphone. “Let’s give a hand to our actors,” They said. “And our stage crew.”

            They gestured, and a group of eight people joined the actors on the stage. “And our makeup and costume crew,” More people came out, “And our music team… And last but certainly not least our director, Felicia Adams!”

            The crowd applauded loudly as the announcer passed the mic to Felicia. She took a bow before responding to the ovation, “Thank you! The cast will be in the foyer if you have any questions or want to congratulate them personally.”

            The lights came on and the audience started to leave. The team followed the crowd into the foyer, where after a few moments, the actors appeared. Paul nodded to the team, motioning for them to stay here, and approached “Viola.” He had a hard time getting close as five other people crowded around the actor. “Tae! You were great!”

            “Your performance was spot on!”

            “You had some real chemistry with Charlotte, I mean Olivia.”

            The group laughed. Tae smiled, shook hands, accepted hugs, but his focus notably shifted to Paul. Paul felt his face get warm at the attention. Eventually the fans and friends left, leaving Paul and Tae facing each other. “Hello, I’m Paul,” Paul greeted, holding out his hand and hoping it wasn’t sweaty.

            Tae shook it, responding, “Hey, Paul. I’m Tae. He/him pronouns if you don’t mind.”

            “No, of course not,” Paul said. “I wanted to tell you that you did a great job out there and it was a very amazing performance.”

            “Thanks,” Tae said, smile dropping. “But that’s not what you’re here to talk about.”

            Paul was surprised to be found out so quickly. “Um, yes,” He said, awkwardly. “But we’d prefer to talk in private,” He gestured to the team standing near the theater doors, “If you don’t mind that is.”

            Tae thought about it while shifting his weight from side to side. “No, I guess not, we can talk in the dressing room in the back.”

            Tae turned around and walked back in the auditorium. Paul nervously glanced back at the team before following him. Tae led them to a door adjacent to the stage, which led to the back of the stage. Tae stopped in front of a stool, makeup table, and wall-mounted mirror. He sat down and faced the group. “So, what do you want to talk about?” Tae asked.

            Paul started, “During intermission, something happened onstage with lightning. Was that you?”

            “I don’t know if I should answer that,” Tae answered, crossing his arms.

            “You can tell us,” Theo said, reassuringly. “We have powers too.”

            Theo held out his hands and they started to glow, while Q bobbed his head enthusiastically. Paul stepped in, “We are a group of super-powered people, and we want to discuss your powers with you.”

            “So, you’re a team of superheroes?” Tae questioned suspicious.

            “Yeah, pretty much,” Kris said from the back of the group.

            “Huh,” Tae said. “Can I join?”

            Paul looked at the other members. They nodded supportively. “I don’t see why not.” He answered, feeling his heart race with excitement.

            “Paul, you have to promise, no more team members,” Kris commented.

            Paul nodded. “You’re right. Six is enough.”

            Paul clapped his hands. “Alright, Tae, this is my secretary, Kris,” He non-discriminately waved in Kris’s direction. “She can answer any questions you have. But if you’ll excuse me I have to make a call.”

            Tae looked between all the team mates as Paul left the backstage. “Which one of you is Kris?” Tae asked with wide eyes.

            Kris moved to the front of the group and took Paul’s place. “I’m not his f*****g secretary,” Kris replied.

            Alicia smirked and responded, “But she can answer any question. She is one of the founding members.”

            “Hey, aren’t you too?” Kris retorted.

            “Nope, you, Paul, and Q started this crazy train. Theo and I are just rolling with it. Tae, now too.”

            “Tae is my stage name. But you can call me that,” Tae said.

            Kris and Alicia shared a confused look, but both decided not to question the aspect of knowing this guy only by his stage name. Q patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll get a codename soon enough,” He said.

            “Oh, do I get to pick?” Tae said excitedly.

            “Not really, Paul does,” Kris commented apathetically.

            Alicia looked at Kris confused. “But I got to.”

            “That’s because our best names for you were Manipulative B***h and something with black in it.”

            Alicia crossed her arms, bemused. “I’m guessing you came up with the b***h one.”

            “Yeah,” Kris said. “But Paul thought of the tasteless one.”

            Tae spoke up, “I want to be Eon.”

            “Why?”

            “Everyone calls me by half of my last name, Tae. Yeon is the other half, but it really sounds like Eon.”

            Kris snorted, but answered, “It makes as much sense as Q, so knock yourself out.”

            Tae asked, “Which one’s Q?”

            “Oh,” Alicia said. “We should introduce ourselves. I’m Alicia, she/her. This is Q, where it depends on what they feel like,” She placed a hand on the gothic man, “This is Theo, he/him,” Alicia pointed to the other man.

            Tae nodded. “Okay.”

            Tae opened his mouth to ask a question but stopped when he heard footsteps echoing on the stage. Tae stood up on a rung of his stool to peer over the team. “Hey, Felicia,” He called. “What’s up?”

            Felicia walked up to the group. “I wanted to congratulate you on your performance,” Felicia said. “But I couldn’t find you in the foyer.”

            “Well, I’m here,” Tae answered shortly. “I was just talking to some fans.”

            Felicia gave them a big smile. “Hello there,” She said politely before turning her attention back to Tae. “I wanted to give you some pointers on your performance.”

            Tae smiled. “Of course, Mrs. Director, ma’am,” He replied before looking at the team. “We can talk later, right?”

            Kris moved to the table and picked up a pen, writing on the first bit of paper she saw, which happened to be the script. Kris turned to leave, the team already walking out. “Wait, is this your number?” Tae asked.

            Kris didn’t stop as she responded, “No, it’s Paul’s. If he’s going to be the damn leader, he might as well take all the responsibility.”

            Tae and Felicia watched them go. After they were out of sight, Felicia faced Tae with a tilted head and said, “What was that about?”

+++++

            “Alicia! Alicia!” Pagel shouted in a singsong voice.

            Alicia looked up from her work, hearing Pagel calling and running down the hall. “What?” She asked loudly.

            Pagel appeared in the door of their lab, slightly out of breath. “I got your results,” Pagel said.

            “My karyotype?” Alicia clarified. “Ugh, please don’t tell me it’s my X gene.”

            Pagel walked to Alicia’s counter space work area. “What?” Pagel said completely lost. “No, nothing’s wrong with your X chromosome. Your thirteenth however…”

            Pagel set the karyotype down, so Alicia could examine it. Alicia counted the chromosomes and spotted something wrong with the second copy of number thirteen. “It’s actually longer on one side and covered in silver,” Alicia commented. “Could it be translocation?”

            Pagel crossed his arms. “From where?” Pagel asked bluntly.

            Alicia scanned the karyotype again. “Fine, nothing seems to be moved,” Alicia said. “But what about duplication, an extra gene?”

            “It’s possible,” Pagel said. “But I think it would be best if we got a variety of samples. One from me, some coworkers, and some from your teammates.”

            Alicia got up and stretched her arms. “Speaking of teammates,” Alicia started. “We have a new one, a man named Tae, who we found the other day.”

            “Oh,” Pagel said surprised. “And what’s his power?”

            “Something with electricity,” Alicia answered. “We, the team, got to see him shoot a bolt of lightning across a theatre.”

            Pagel shuffled through the karyotype papers. He asked, “Are you going to keep adding teammates?” 

            “Probably not,” Alicia said. “But I don’t think we wouldn’t abandon someone who has powers and doesn’t know how to use them.”

            Pagel nodded and Alicia suddenly recalled something. “That reminds me,” Alicia said. “The team is having some costumes made up…”

            Alicia stopped as Pagel started laughing. When he quieted down, Alicia asked, “Are you done?”

            Pagel thought about it and nodded. “Kay,” Alicia continued. “As I was saying, there is a couple making costumes for the team. However, they need some of the Institute’s resources to construct them.”

            Pagel cleared his throat, a smirk still on his face. “What would they need?”

            “Our 3D printer, some FEP to use in the printer, and some non-Newtonian, shear thickening fluid to work as a shock absorber.”

            “That’s reasonable enough,” Pagel commented. “How much FEP and non-Newtonian fluid?”

            “Five liters of each?” Alicia guessed. “We only need it for thin guards on the extremities and chest.”

            “That sounds attainable,” Pagel said. “I’ll add that on to the list of things we need to do: karyotypes, antivenin, and now armor construction.”

            Alicia smiled weakly, understanding that she was asking a lot. “Thank you, sir.”

            Pagel waved his hand dismissively. “So,” Pagel said, changing subjects. “What characteristics of those chemicals save plants from radiation?”

+++++

            “Theo?”

            Theo looked up from his work to see Tae. He glanced at Tomas, who seemed uninterested by Tae. “Oh hello, Tae,” Theo said. “What are you doing here?”

            Tae rested his hands on his hips, his eyes downcast. “I’m here to visit Milan. I heard he had a negative reaction to his treatment.”

            “Yeah,” Theo responded. “He fainted. We’re not sure if it was his treatment or a different reason. We’re running some tests, regardless, and have him on an IV. You need to sign in before you can visit him though.”

            Tae nodded, and Theo pointed to a paper attached to a clipboard in front of him. Tae filled out what he needed to and showed Theo the paper. Theo took a visitor clip out of the basket beside him and handed it to Tae. Tae clipped it to his shirt pocket. Theo stood up. “I’ll take you to him.”

            Theo led Tae through the back; in the empty hallway, Tae stopped him with a hand. “So, I called Paul,” Tae started. “But I don’t really get this team thing.”

            Theo smirked, feeling like he was in the same boat, and replied, “Well, we’re still trying to figure it out ourselves.”

            Theo thought before he continued, “The team wants to figure out our powers and use them to help others.”

            Theo looked around and spotted a bench outside of a patient’s room. He went and sat down, Tae hesitantly followed him. “Alicia is a scientist at the Kattegat Institute,” Theo said. “She is trying to discover where our powers come from, from a biological perspective.”

            “That’s fascinating,” Tae said, though Theo wondered if it was sincere.

            Theo nodded, “Yeah, but Alicia is just a cog in the machine, finding the science behind our powers. Paul is another cog, the cog that gets everything moving. The person who started practices and got a friend to make costumes.”

            “Costumes?”

            Theo chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be fitted for yours soon enough.”

            Tae grimaced before nodding. “Q is the cog that the team from being tense; they lighten things up. Kris is the cynic and motivator. She questions everything and helps Paul think about what should happen, what needs to happen.”

            Tae sat in silence, eventually asking, “And what do you do?”

            “I don’t know,” Theo shrugged. “I’m here to help, but all I’ve done so far is train.”

            “Where do you think I will fit in?”

            “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll fill in some gap in our dynamic.”

            “Or I will be extraneous.”

            “I doubt that,” Theo said, trying to reassure him. “Even if you can’t help others, you can at least learn how to control your powers for your own sake.”

            “That does not make me feel better,” Tae commented.

            Theo chuckled awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” He said. “But in all seriousness, the team’s flow is pretty natural. When you come to practice, you’ll see how you fit.”

            Theo stood up, signaling the end of the conversation. Tae got up and smoothed out his pants. “When is practice?”

            “Saturday nights at eight.”

            “I have a performance then.”

            “That’s okay. I’m sure we can push it back. We wouldn’t want you to miss your first practice.”

            Theo led Tae to Milan’s room. Knocking, he opened the door and peeked in. Milan was lying in bed, IV in his arm, watching the window. “Bellomi,” Theo said. “Someone is here to see you.”

            “Who?” Milan said, pouting. “My parents?”

            “No, a Mr. Tae,” Theo answered, a smile forming.

            Milan sat up, his countenance changing dramatically. “Tae?” Milan repeated with some disbelief.

            Tae leaned into Milan’s view. “Yes?” He said, smiling.

            Milan sat in awe for a moment before Tae asked, “Can I come in?”

            “Yeah, yeah,” Milan answered excitedly, shifting to sit up in his bed. “Come in.”

            Tae walked in and sat in the chair by the bed. He placed a hand on the edge of the bed; Milan slowly placed his hand on top of Tae’s. Theo turned to go as Tae said, “Don’t let this discourage you…”

+++++

            “Flare is a creepy mofo,” Kris commented.

            “Yeah, bad vibes,” Q replied.

            Flare sat atop a hill on a cliff edge. The river, Luckiamute, rolled by below, a muddy dark grey color. Flare faced away from the river with its solitary tower, a lighthouse, standing out above the rest of the gothic structure.

            Kris and Q hiked up the steep hill along a road that led to the hospital. They had been walking on the road for a while now because the closest bus stop was about a mile away. Kris panted as they went along, “Alright… let’s get our… story straight…”

            Q nodded before answering, “’We’re here to see Leslie, person behind the counter,’” He started. “’Oh, she isn’t here? Can we speak with her doctor, then?’”

            Kris smiled, looking strained. “Good, good…” She said, looking up at the lighthouse. “Why?” She asked with a hint of exasperation.

            “Why what?” Q asked, tilting his head to the side while looking at Kris.

            Kris stopped suddenly at the top of the hill, a little way away from the entrance. “Why is there a damn lighthouse? Nothing out here would need that.”

            Q shrugged before answering, “It’s for the ships that travelled via the Luckiamute. The cliff on the other side of this hill is sloped so that ships would scrape their sails sailing underneath it. The light house warned ships to avoid that side of the river because of the cliff.”

            Kris looked at Q, surprised and confused. “Why do you know that?”

            “I don’t know,” Q responded. “I got the feeling that I learned it here.”

            Q stared at the building looming over them. Kris glanced at it before watching Q. “Do you recognize it?”

            Q shrugged. “It makes the back of my head itch, like a tingly sensation of familiarity, but I can’t pinpoint it.”

            Q started forward toward the door. “Let’s go scratch it.”

            “That doesn’t make sense,” Kris replied before having to jog to keep up.

            Q opened the door and stepped into the bizarre building. While the outside was dark, paneled wood, the inside was a white sterile environment. White walls, white tile floor, what wasn’t white seemed to be formerly white, but now grey from age. This included the front desk; it may have been a white laminate top back in its heyday, but now looked like dust covered the surface and solidified there.

            A woman sat behind the desk. “Hello, how may I help you?” She said, conveying no emotion.

            Q stepped up, his hands shaking at his sides. Kris hovered supportively behind him. “Hi, we were wondering if we could visit a patient.”

            The woman blinked slowly before answering, “It is currently visiting hours. You must sign in before we take you to see any patient. Who would you like to visit?”

            “Leslie Faydes,” Q replied. “And we would be happy to sign in.”

            The woman turned to her computer and typed something. After a minute, she commented, “We do not have a patient by the name of Leslie Faydes currently in our system.”

            Q furrowed his brow accordingly, following the plan. “What about as an outpatient? She must be here.”

            The woman rolled her eyes but looked it up. “Yes, we have a person on record with that name, however confidentiality agreements state that we cannot tell you anything about her, including who her doctor is.”

            Q’s countenance dropped. “Really? You can’t give us any information?”

            The woman shrugged. “Sorry, sir, we can’t do anything for you. She isn’t here.”

            “Alright, thank you for your time.”

            The woman nodded and mechanically said, “Have a nice day, sir.”

            Q turned away from the desk and walked to the corner of the foyer. Kris followed him slowly and watched as he leaned up against a wall. “What are we going to do?” Q whispered to Kris.

            “One of us could distract her and the other look at Leslie’s file on her computer,” Kris offered. “It feels and sounds illegal, but if it gets us answers…”

            Trailing off, Kris shrugged. Q looked at the front desk. The woman had already moved on, doing some other task and wasn’t paying attention to them. It could work.

            Suddenly, a man opened the door on the other side of the room. Q gasped and happily shouted before thinking, “Hello Dr. Lawrence!”

            Q waved excitedly as Dr. Lawrence looked at him, confused. “Hello, young man,” Dr. Lawrence said politely as he approached the pair. “How are you?”

            Kris elbowed Q discreetly. Q blinked a few times, realizing Dr. Lawrence didn’t know him in this form. “I’m fine, doctor.” Q said awkwardly. “It’s nice to see you. I thought you worked at the Institute.”

            Dr. Lawrence nodded, eyes narrowed. “I work here as well, mainly as a consultant,” Dr. Lawrence answered before changing topics, “I’m sorry, my boy, but do I know you?”

            Q rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Probably not, doctor,” Q answered, thinking quickly. “I’m just a fan of your research and I’ve been to a few of your lectures, so it surprised me to see you out and about like a regular person.”

            Dr. Lawrence laughed. “That’s quite alright,” He responded. “I’m pleased to hear you’re a fan of my work, though many are. What brings you here?”

            Q glanced at Kris before turning back to the doctor. “My friend and I were hoping to see a friend of ours, a patient here.”

            “Mmm, I see,” Dr. Lawrence said. “What’s their name? I perhaps could get you in to see them.”

            “Leslie Faydes,” Q answered.

            At that, the doctor seemed to pale. “Ah, Leslie,” He started before coughing lightly. “She is no longer with us. She seemed to have disappeared from Flare.”

            “Oh no,” Kris muttered sarcastically.

            Q looked concerned as he asked, “Is there any way we could see her doctor? Or maybe other patients that knew her?”

            Dr. Lawrence shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid not, my boy. It’s part of their confidentiality agreement here that no one, outside of the patient’s family, know the details of their stay here, such as their doctor and their medication.”

            “But if she really ‘disappeared’ as you said,” Kris argued. “Then speaking to her doctor could enlighten us on the situation.”

            “I’m sorry,” Dr. Lawrence said. “I can’t be of any help. A missing person’s report has been filed with that information included on it. Perhaps if you go to the police bureau, you can find the necessary information and return here for a follow up with her doctor.”

            Dr. Lawrence looked back at the door he came from. “But until then, I cannot assist you,” He continued. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to my work.”

            “Yeah totally,” Kris said. “Thank you for your time.”

            Dr. Lawrence nodded once at both of them and departed. Kris looked at Q with a scowl. “We already have that report and it doesn’t mention jack s**t about this place,” She growled.

            “Maybe Dr. Lawrence doesn’t know about that,” Q reasoned. “Maybe he just knows that a report has been filed.”

            “Maybe,” Kris conceded. “But, regardless, this was a waste. We didn’t learn anything.”

            Q raised his eyebrow suggestively. “What about your plan?” He said. “Wanna go with it?”

            Kris turned to look at the woman behind the front desk and smirked. “Yeah,” She said. “Let’s go with it.”

+++++

            “So, we stole the information,” Kris explained. “Dr. Fred Horns is Leslie’s psychiatrist.”

            Kris looked down at her feet as she walked. “But, we have no idea how we are going to get any info from him,” She continued.

            Kris and Paul were walking down Lombardo and were taking a bit of time to catch up before going to do some work for the team. Paul rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Paul replied reassuringly. “You two are clever and creative; I’m sure you’ll get a new lead.”

            Paul grabbed Kris’s arm suddenly. “But, please,” Paul said softly. “Don’t do anything illegal… Or any more illegal things.”

            Kris blanched. Kris looked away and took a deep breath. “We won’t,” She responded hoarsely. “I promise.”

            Paul’s brow furrowed with concern, but he patted Kris’s shoulder as if he was okay with that answer. “Great,” He said before changing subjects. “Well, have you thought about the places the team could go to?”

            Kris smirked. “Yeah, I know a couple of places that teach self-defense, exclusively,” Kris responded. “I thought it would be a little ridiculous if we all learned the same, super specific martial arts so like no Jiu-Jitsu or karate for us.”

            Paul placed a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended. “But those work. I knew karate as a kid and nobody would mess with me.”

            Kris chuckled, thinking about how intimidating littler, young Paul would be. “It would look suspicious if six adults started taking karate at the same… dojo, at the same time, then a team of super heroes who know karate, mediocrely, start fighting crime.”

            “Fine, fine,” Paul replied. “You win. We’ll take some generic self-defense course. Maybe when we get good, we can diversify our portfolio by branching out to different techniques.”

            Kris laughed, and Paul rolled his eyes at her response. “Alright,” He said, cutting her laughter short. “Where is the place you mentioned?”

            “Right there,” Kris answered, pointing further down the street.

            A block away was a multistory, multipurpose building. It was nondescript and brick with a few windows. One might mistake it for an apartment building, but it was too narrow. “It’s on the second story,” Kris explained. “Run by Silva Flavio. She teaches a variety of classes, but her self-defense class is the easiest and most accessible for us.”

            “Bien,” Paul said, picking up the pace. “Let’s go meet her and sign up.”

            “Wait, Paul,” Kris said, her tone somber.

            Paul stopped and turned to her. “Who’s going to pay for this?” Kris asked. “In fact, who is going to pay for this? The costumes and now the classes… Are you going to pay for all this?”

            “Well, yeah,” Paul answered nonchalantly. “It’s my team. I put it together, so I should be responsible for it. If the team needs costumes, I can get them. If the team needs to know how to fight, I can get them classes. It only makes sense.”

            Kris crossed her arms. “It’s not fair,” She replied. “I’m a part of the team, so I should provide as well, earn my keep. I can pay for my own costume and my own class.”

            “I guess, but I don’t want you to,” Paul commented. “I don’t want to put any financial pressure on you to make sure you keep your place on this team. That’s what seems unfair. You want to be a part of this team, so I should make that a possibility for you. I can afford it.”

            “But-” Kris started.

            Paul placed a hand in front of Kris’s mouth. “I can afford it,” He repeated sternly. “End of discussion.”

            Kris’s scowl was partially obscured by Paul’s hand, but she eventually nodded and mumbled, “Fine.”

            Paul smiled and started walking again. Kris followed him as he started to ramble, “So, after we talk to Ms. Flavio, we need to find out what time Tae can come into SoBree’s boutique…”

            Paul’s voice trailed off as his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. “It’s Alicia,” He said to Kris before answering, “Hello, Queen, how are you doing?”

            Paul smiled when Alicia responded. He nodded, not that Alicia would notice. Kris watched him as he talked. “Yeah, Kris is here with me. We’re hunting for self-defense courses.” Paul paused. “Oh? Yeah, sure, I’ll see when we can all get together.”

            Paul listened to Alicia. “I think it’s great. Progress is being made,” Paul said. “Yeah, I’ll tell her… Bye, Alicia.”

            Paul faced Kris and started explaining, “So, Alicia and Dr. Pagel had a breakthrough. They want us to come to the lab to test our DNA. Alicia had an anomaly on hers, so they want to see if all of us have it.”

            “Okay,” Kris said. “I have to come in anyway. They need more of my venom to create a solution.”

            “An antivenin?”

            Kris shook her head. “A literal solution like chemical solution,” She replied. “They aren’t making an antivenin, which would be administered after I stab someone to the someone. They are making a solution to treat the venom itself, so that if I stab someone, they won’t die.”

            “That sounds like a better plan,” Paul commented after a nod.

            “You think?” Kris asked sarcastically.

            They walked in silence until Kris continued her thought. “I think it is an interesting solution. We’ll see if they can actually fix me.”

            “I’m sure it will turn out fine,” Paul commented. “Now, come on, we have an old lady ninja master to visit.”

            Kris rolled her eyes as Paul started jogging to the building. “I’m pretty sure that is offensive,” Kris called, running to keep up.