Power (Book 1 in SRMTHFG Series)

11

When the Hyper Force comes back, they see me on the ground. Nova and Sparx fly me back up to the escape hatch and I walk back to the main room, explaining what happened.

"So how did the fight go?" I ask timidly. I can already see the answer.

"He got away," Chiro growls. I sigh.

"Of course," I groan. "We'll get him next time, though."

"Next time," Chiro says. He plops down in his pod and types furiously in its computer. "We always say 'next time,' but we really mean 'forever'."

"Chiro!" Antauri scolds. "Don't talk like that!"

"I think I've had enough practice for today," I say. "We can go now."

"Nonsense," Gibson protests. "We are quite far away from Shuggazoom. Besides, this is quite a peaceful place to stay."

I go in my pod and shut its door, reclining the seat and falling asleep.

*************

A few hours later, a faint knock is on the pod door. I look at the clock. It's nighttime. Everyone is either asleep or recharging.

"Who is it?"

"Chiro."

I open the door, rubbing my eyes. "What's up?"

"I, uh, had a favor to ask you, if you don't mind," he asks sheepishly. I sit up.

"Sure. What is it?"

"It's gonna sound silly, but Fay- this place is really special to me. And I've missed it a lot, but every day it gets harder for me to remember it. I was wondering if you could use your powers to help me remember? I mean, if it isn't too much trouble."

I yawn. "Sure. Hold on a second." I close my eyes, trying to come up with the words.

"Okay. Sit." I scoot over. He sits on the edge. "Close your eyes." Chiro closes his eyes.

"What has been lost, you want again
Come with me, let's begin
You think you've lost the memories of Fay
But they're in your mind, and there to stay
You see the planet, crisp and clear
Fay's inhabitants - to you - are near
You remember the things they used to say
You remember everything of Fay."

Pretty literal and to-the-point, probably cheesy, I know. But you have to give me a break; it's around midnight now.

I notice Chiro's eyes are open and he's staring at the wall. I just sit really still, really quietly. Oh, no- I forgot to end the trance.

"Now you leave this trance
But by my choice, not chance
Although you leave now
The memories will stay with you anyhow."

Chiro blinks and still stares at the wall. I sit quietly and fiddle with the jar of Vaseline from my bag, my own mind drifting off. I remember making a blog for life hacks and posting an article that listed a lot of uses for the stuff. I really like things that are really useful. They have a lot of reasons why they should exist.

Skeleton King's attack makes me feel like I need to be useful. The bullies on Earth make me feel like nothing.