Super Glitches

The Beginning

I stood partially hidden behind a rack of shelves and watched the chaos. A girl slightly shorter than me with pixie cut brown hair and a long brown coat was pleading with the cashier. I shuffled closer to listen.

"Please, I don't know why this keeps happening," she begged. "But it is the correct change. Just in dollars."

"We don't accept dollars," the spotty faced cashier said snottily. The girl sighed sadly.

"I'll pay," a voice offered. I guessed that it was around the same height as the other girl but I couldn't see anyone. I felt a tugging on my leather jacket sleeve and turned to see a small dark haired boy trying to get my attention. Screams started up as he began talking.

"The position and height of the voice says that it isn't a ventriloquist," he began, "so we can assume that there is indeed someone there. The girl seems certain that she had the correct money and appears confused that it is in dollars. She is indeed English and so she would not have any dollars unless she had been on holiday recently, which she hasn't judging by her pale skin. I deduce that there is something wrong here and that there is in fact two girls stood by the counter." Another girl, dark haired with glasses suddenly faded into view. The little boy smiled smugly up at me and I sighed. I walked over to the two confused girls and he vanished.

"You two okay?" I asked, folding my arms. The first girl nodded and shoved the money back in her pockets. The second girl frowned and folded her arms, mimicking me.

"Why do you care?" she shot back. I raised my hands as if in surrender and tried not to laugh.

"I'm only asking to see if I can help and if you want to pick a fight," I bent down slightly so I was at her level, "then try choosing someone your own height." All of a sudden my arm was grabbed and twisted and I cried out. The girl suddenly drifted towards the ceiling, definitely not amused.

"Well that's just depressing," she grumbled. "But who's small now?"

"What's your name?" the first girl said, turning to me. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the floating girl and thanks to this I was able to dive out of the way when she fell to the ground, bouncing and standing up again.

"Georgina," I replied. 

"I'm Lotte," the first girl said, holding out a hand. I raised an eyebrow and she lowered it again then stuck her middle finger up at me. I laughed, sounding disturbingly like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

"Was that you?" the invisible girl asked in shock. I nodded, slightly embarrased. 

"Are you secretly Tigger?" she asked suspiciously. I laughed again then covered my mouth.

"Anyway, who are you?" Lotte asked the girl. She looked slightly offended then replied.

"Rebecca. Why didn't you have the right money?"

"I don't know. It keeps on happening; I have the correct change when I leave the house but when I get to a shop it's changed into foregin money, historical money even." She sighed. "It's so annoying!"

"Why were you invisible?" I asked Rebecca. She frowned.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I keep on changing what I can do but I can't decide when."

"What have you got just now?"

"Nothing, thankfully. What about you? Can you do anything?"

"I can... well..." I rubbed the back of my neck, slightly awkward. "Think of a character. A fictional character, any in the world. Go on."

"Um... Sherlock," Lotte said. The same small boy as earlier appeared at my side, dressed in a purple shirt and dark grey shorts. Lotte gasped and bent down to his level, peering at him excitedly.

"It's the same Sherlock from TV!" she said happily. Little Sherlock took a step back then hid behind my legs. Lotte went 'aw' and I made little Sherlock vanish.

"You can create fictional characters?" Rebecca said. I nodded then shook my head.

"I can create them as kids but with all the same intelligence as adults," I explained. "They're also totally dependant on me like I'm their older sister."

"Well that's nice," a voice growled. I spun around in a panic, a Torchwood Weevil appearing at my side. A gang of older pupils I knew from my area were stood in the shop doorway, looting and blocking our exit. I gulped and another Weevil appeared at my side. They wore little blue Torchwood boiler suits over their near-hairless bodies, wrinkled grey skin framing evil little eyes. Their lips were drawn back over their long fangs and deep, animal snarls were being uttered from their throats. One lunged forwards, aiming for the lead gang member's throat. He stepped aside and batted the Weevil away, knocking it into a tin can display. The second Weevil growled and I grabbed the back of its boiler suit. It turned its domed head and snapped at me and I let it go. It flew at the leader and was smacked into a wall. Both of my Weevils were out cold so I made them slowly vanish.

"You three are freaks then?" the leader sneered. 

"No," I replied. "We're... um..."

"Glitches," Rebecca said. "Like superheroes but with glitches in our powers." The lead boy smiled cruelly and Lotte facepalmed.

"Well done," she groaned.

"We're screwed," I agreed as the gang advanced. Rebecca vanished and I shook my head, furious. 

"She left without us!" Lotte voiced my thoughts. I nodded, beginning to panic. Then I had an idea.

"Captain Jack Harkness," my new 'little brother' said, saluting at Lotte. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"Jack, get us out of here," I said before Lotte could reply. "Find Rebecca and take us to her."

"What year?"

"Jack!"

"It's okay, I got it," the American time agent laughed. I beckoned Lotte closer and she held onto Jack's shoulder. I held the little boy's hand and we vanished, his slightly-broken vortex manipulator taking us to Rebecca. Sort of.

"Ten miles away," Jack said once we landed. "Sorry about that." I waved my hand and he popped out of existence with a final salute. 

I sighed and summoned another character; Iron Man. He held out his hands and Lotte and I took one each, soaring into the air thanks to his clever metal suit. We landed in a clearing just as it started to get dark. Rebecca strolled over, looking guilty.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't know that I'd teleport."

"Why here?" Lotte asked.

"I have no idea."

"We need to set up camp," I said, looking around. "Now, what could we stay in...?" I grinned and snapped my fingers. A large, blue police public call box materialised on the opposite side of the clearing. I walked over and a golden key shone into my hand. I unlocked the TARDIS door and stepped inside.

"Guys," I called, smiling as I looked around the interior of the time machine. "We have somewhere to stay the night! Fantastic!"