Ameliorate

Chapter 20: Wind and Words

"What happened to having all the brain cells, Clay?" Zak asked with a smirk.

"Well, one, I never said all the brain cells," Clay corrected. "I said most of the brain cells.  Besides, I gotta share them sometimes." Clay made eye contact with Elizabeth. "It sounded like you had something put together, Elizabeth?" He prompted.

Elizabeth nodded, opening her notebook. "I've been putting stuff together since I figured out that I had powers."

"What are your powers, again?" George asked.

"Oh, right," Elizabeth smiled sheepishly. "I'm Hurricane."

Clay's eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Yep!" Elizabeth grinned.

"What are we missing?" Dave asked.

"The other night we both went out in uniform," Elizabeth explained. "I went stargazing, I have no idea what Clay was doing, but next thing I hear is Earthbender yelling and falling like twenty feet. So I gave him a floor and we had a chat."

"How'd you find out about your abilities?" Darryl asked.

"Archery video. It was windy, and literally no matter what I did, I couldn't miss a shot. The confirmation was when I was jumping into a friend's pool and I realized I forgot my goggles. Luckily, she'd gone inside when I tried jumping in, because I just kinda closed my eyes and hoped for the best, and somehow I was left floating over the water as it splashed up around me."

Addison heard Tommy and Toby snickering quietly. She looked over at the pair and made eye contact with Toby.

A chill skittered up Addison's spine, settling as a weight at the base of her skull.

She heard Toby say, "Look at Clay."

His mouth didn't move.

Addison glanced over at Clay and suppressed a snicker of her own.

On Clay's head were two cat ears.

Addison turned her attention back to Elizabeth, biting her cheek to keep from laughing.  Addison nudged Weslyn with her elbow and tilted her head slightly towards Clay.

Weslyn fought a smile after glancing to see Catboy Clay.

George burst out laughing, causing Toby, Tommy, Addison, Weslyn, Zak, and Darryl to break as well.

"What?" Clay asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"You've got cat ears," George giggled.

Clay blinked in confusion, putting his hands on his head. His eyes widened as he felt the cat ears. "What the-" He made eye contact with Zak, whose veins were glowing a soft teal. "Son of a-Zak!"

Zak waved his hand, still laughing. The cat ears disappeared. "I couldn't help it! You looked so serious."

Everyone was laughing at this point.

When the laughter died down, Elizabeth started again. "So, anyways. I've been keeping tabs on what's happening with what hero." She picked up her notebook. "That's why I knew the class schedule for Alistair's uni."

Alistair blinked in confusion. "Explain?"

"There's this one security camera that you walk past as Negotiator.  I thought that checking operating hours of nearby businesses and establishments would be a decent idea."

"Wait, isn't that your plotting notebook?" Dave asked, eyebrow quirked.

"It is," Elizabeth said.

"That's why you write it in code, isn't it?" Dave asked.

"You write in code?" Weslyn asked. "That's..."

"Paranoid?" Elizabeth offered.

"No, it's smart," Weslyn told her. "Code coupled with writing on paper, it's pretty smart. Especially with that Technopath guy."

Elizabeth beamed. "I'm glad you think so!"

"What do you put in your notebook?" Alistair asked.

"Different sightings, locations, what happened between different heroes and different people," Elizabeth listed. "Shit like that.   The most recent entry has to do with the thing that went down with Glitch and Nightmare."   Elizabeth flipped through the notebook and read aloud, "'Nightmare hijacked a live broadcast today around 2:00 CST. Hostage, named Mike, was subsequently killed. Info was relayed to me via Dave down at the lake, he seemed more panicked than necessary. Clay also knew the victim. Could either of them be connected?'" She closed the notebook. "I guess it was all connected in the end," She finished.

Dave and Clay exchanged a look.

"You...would be dangerous if you weren't a vigilante," Dave observed.

Elizabeth's face turned red as she looked down, a small smile on her face. "Thanks!  Now who's next?"

"I can go next," Alistair offered. "It's not really that interesting, I just told someone to do something and their eyes just glazed over."

"Like with Darryl yesterday?" Addison offered.

"Pretty much. It only works if I emphasize the right word, though. Found that out in a bad way and Dave saved my ass."

Dave blinked. "Oh, yeah. I guess I did."

___

Negotiator had been having what you could call a rough night.

He had gotten a lower grade on a test than he had been expecting, overslept, and he had just found out that if he put the emphasis on the wrong word, it would leave him with momentary blindness due to his eyes lighting up and the target wouldn't do what he had said.

Good to know!

With his sight restored, Negotiator barreled down the street to avoid the man with the knife who had been trying to mug someone, he couldn't care to remember who at that moment in time.

A distinct rustling of cloth behind him prefaced what sounded like a punch, and Negotiator skidded to a halt, looking back.

In the light of a nearby lamppost stood Undying, his face obscured by his pink mask.   He was standing over the now unconscious body of the mugger.

"Is this your perpetrator?" Undying asked, his voice low and gravelly like he was doing an impression of Corpse Husband.

"Yes, he is," Negotiator said, his fake American sounding accent covering his usual British accent.

"Alright, I'll take this guy to the authorities, pleasure doing business with you, General Kenobi," Undying stated as he slung the mugger over his shoulders.

"Oh, thank you," Negotiator began to offer a smile before realizing his mask covered his features. He flashed Undying two thumbs up.

Undying turned and left without another word.

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