Cards Of Power

Chapter Four

We get out of the car and head inside. Nick and I let Zaire do the talking and within minutes we're brought to a room with a woman sitting inside. We talk about my powers and I'm given a plastic card that disappears when I touch it. "This card is just a way for us to have information in case we need it. It will list your name, your powers, and whatever you decide to call yourself when fighting against other people if you choose to use a different name. If you think about the card appearing you can edit it to have your current information. We'd rather you didn't update whatever you call yourself when fighting multiple times." I nod and Nick talks to the woman. He seems nervous and I don't blame him. Nick extends his hand to the woman palm up and I see the same card that was given to me. Nick explains what happened this morning and the woman listens with an intent face. "I see. So your old teammates tried pinning the crime on you and you basically panicked because you had no idea what was going on."

Nick just nods in response. "Well this is convenient." "What do you mean," Zaire asks. "I can't really tell you who is in control of the knowledge of people's powers since we don't want to compromise someone or something. However," she starts looking each of us directly in the eye before continuing, "I feel I can tell you that there's been word of someone working against us. A few of my coworkers higher up in the chain decided to keep an eye on Magician and his teammates because they had suspicions the group weren't exactly on the level. Considering they sold you out I have two theories about why." "What are your theories," Zaire asks with concern. "Theory one is they were trying to shove you out because you aren't in the loop. Theory two is that someone in your old group isn't on our side and managed to convince the others who likely think they are still on our side of a crime you didn't commit." "So you think it's either everyone in the group against," I stop myself from saying Nick's name in case she didn't pay attention, "him or it's a select few that convinced the others he was a criminal?" The woman nods. "Well you've gotten everything you came for and some information. I believe we're done here. I will speak to the people I need too so you can continue being a hero. You'll most likely just need a new name when you're doing hero work and perhaps a new look." Nick gives a relieved smile before speaking, "thank you." We all proceed to leave and practically speed walk to the car.

"That was far more stressful than I thought it would be," Zaire says when all the doors are closed. "I couldn't agree more but I'm also relieved," Nick sighs. "Honestly I'm a little concerned and afraid. That lady basically said there was someone causing problems and someone from Nick's group might be behind it." "Don't worry we'll teach you everything we know and we'll protect you," Nick says looking back to smile reassuringly at me. We arrive back at the bookstore and the second we enter we see a floating joker card. "Am I imagining things," Zaire asks taking off his glasses to clean them before putting them back on. "I know illusions and that's no illusion," Nick adds. I walk forward and reach out to touch it and it disappears. "It must be important. The last time I saw a joker I got my powers." We spread out and look for anything out of the ordinary after locking the door. After a few minutes I see a book that looks dusty and it has something white on it. "I think I found something!" The men are at my side in an instant. I rub my finger against the white band. It turns into a joker and disappears. I grab the book and try to pull it off the shelf. It moves like a lever and the bookshelf opens inward. "Secret behind a book like lever, that's not a cliche," Nick says with obvious sarcasm. Zaire and I chuckle a little bit before Zaire cautiously steps inside. Nick and I follow to see nothing but an empty room. "Why would a bookstore need an empty room," Nick asks.

"Yeah there isn't even furniture in here," I say looking around. "Maybe there's another secret entrance or something," Zaire replies putting his hands on one of the walls. After we do a thorough search we come up empty handed. All we find is a button that opens and shuts the entrance from this side. Zaire decides to call the previous owner to see if she knows anything. This whole day has been so strange and exhausting. I can't shake the feeling that something is being put into place but I don't know why I feel this way. Zaire gets off the phone very quickly. "She has no idea. The woman who lived here never found it at all and didn't even realize that book never left the store." "Well we found it so we may as well use it. What better way for you two to train to be superheroes and for me to try and find a new way too fight so my past as Magician stays buried forever? Not to mention nobody could see us in here." "That's a good point," I reply as Zaire nods in agreement. As we leave we decide to train at night just to ensure we will be safe.

One month has passed since that initial day and we've been training every night. We've also taken on minor missions like stopping someone from breaking and entering. During the month I've discovered more of the powers the cards give me. All the cards work on a tier except for the jokers and aces. The tiers are the jacks are a small thing for the suit, queens are a larger amount, and kings have the most. It also lasts longer per card or until I decide to cancel the effect. Once I use one card I can't use it for a bit. During training and learning to fight I've discovered the clubs allow me to create a stream of water and the hearts allow me to heal. We already knew the diamonds granted me telepathy and I still have yet to figure out what the spades do. All the others I know were discovered in certain situations. When the computer Zaire brought with him stopped working I summoned the ace of clubs and it was good as new. When we took on the job to stop the person who was breaking into places and stealing stuff I used the jack of diamonds to use telepathy and found they were just trying to make a living because they were young and tried persuading them to stop and that's when the ace of diamonds appeared. Nick's taken to calling it charm because it can easily be used for more than slight persuasion. The ace of hearts was used basically upon meeting Nick so we all knew it serves as a physical disguise.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out what any part of the spades do. Nick has been up in his room all day while Zaire and I have been managing the bookstore. I'm checking the shelves making sure there isn't any open space and making sure the books no one is interested in is on the shelf with the lever. I glance over to see Zaire practically lying on the counter where the customers would pay if we had any. "You know if we were anywhere else you'd likely be fired." "Yeah but this isn't anywhere else," Zaire replies with a smile. "By the way what's your soon to be husband up too," I say with a teasing smirk. "We only just decided to start dating three days ago so we could get to know each other and ensure we weren't going to fast!" I chuckle at the bright blush before responding, "sorry I couldn't resist. Anyways what's he doing?" "I have no idea actually." "Hey guys come up here!" Zaire and I look towards the stairs at Nick's excited voice. Zaire gets up and flips the sign to closed and we both go up into the living room to see Nick wearing a suit. "What's going on," I ask. "Well we can't use our normal clothes forever and people could recognize our faces if we aren't careful." "You have a point. Not to mention all the stories say the superheroes have iconic costumes and the therapist that introduced me to the hero world said that heroes paychecks depend on how well they do so being recognized is a good thing."

"How exactly is a suit supposed to protect you? Also how do you know how to make costumes?" "You see my mom makes suits for a living. You know how spandex is stereotypically associated with heroes?" "Yeah, it's super stretchy right," Zaire asks. Nick nods and continues, "yes. The way my mom does it is the spandex is essentially the base. She adds fabric in all the right areas so it doesn't irritate skin and in the case of my suit uses fabric to make it look like normal clothing. While the spandex doesn't really offer anything for defense it allows us to move very freely." Nick opens the jacket he's wearing to show a completely different kind of fabric. "That's really cool," I respond.