Powered Individuals

Chapter 15 - Cardinal City, Here We Come

Merlin draped the medal over my neck and the whole crowd cheered endlessly. I went to stand beside my bandaged up teammates and accepted the applause and hoots that erupted in front of me. I gave my team a thumbs up and they returned the gesture; except Aer who was a bit confused and asked Ruby what it meant.

Merlin concluded his speech about us and how well we saved the agency and then the assembly was dismissed. I was surprised no one went berserk and had superkids flying every which way trying to dodge fire balls and icicles. I walked off the stage with my three other supers and went into the hallway to get ready for lunch.

Needless to say, I was proud of our team. We had taken down the guy that we had feared the most and saved everyone who was trapped in the lab building. Miles was safe and sound, and, as a gift of gratitude, upgraded my suit so that the gloves and boots wouldn't subtract so much from my powers.

He also gave a couple more cool improvements to the others' costumes, and provided Aer with a horned helmet that covered her eyes but allowed her to see perfectly fine. Miles also gave her strong armor for her wings.

It seemed that life was going pretty good at Argyle Agency for Powered Individuals, and it only got better when Winter told me something ridiculously awesome at lunch.

"You know, Merlin is considering putting your team out into Cardinal City to fight with the big shots and take down actual criminals," Winter nonchalantly mentioned at lunch. I almost choked on my salad, staring wide eyed at the speedster next to me.

"W-what?! You're kidding, right?" I stuttered out. Winter shook her head and took another bite of her fruit salad.

"Nope, not kidding. I heard it from Mary, who heard it from Sebastian, who heard it from Rhys, who heard it from Wolfmane, who heard it from Bella, who heard it from Faith, who heard it from Sofie. It's totally legit," Winter chomped on a piece of watermelon and I rolled my eyes. If I knew Winter well enough, sometimes her sources of information weren't so reliable; especially when it came to serious topics like who could go into Cardinal City and who had to stay at the agency.

Cardinal City was the main urban area that stood a few miles east of Argyle, Connecticut. There were real superheroes who worked throughout the streets and defended the city from criminals and evil masterminds alike. I had wanted to work there ever since I had learned how to control my powers and actually save people. It would be a total honor to get to go out into Cardinal City and kick some scummy villain butt.

But it couldn't have been true. Merlin barely ever let amateur supers out into the real world to practice, and if he did he had to have a good reason. Ever since the massive attack on Vilero City back in the spring, Merlin kept a keen eye on trouble and whether or not he wanted to let kids run loose through city streets.

Just as I was about to accept the fact that Winter was probably wrong, Aer came and sat with us with a tray of fruit. Only fruit. I raised an eyebrow at her choice, but nevertheless let her be. Soon enough, Tristan and even Ruby joined us. If I didn't know any better, I thought that Winter was about to die from a heart attack when they came over. She almost choked on her meal as we sat in comfortable silence. "O-o-o-o-omigoshyou'retheguyswhoprotectedtheagencyfromthatelectricfreakomigoshwhatareyoudoingsittingnexttosomeonesouncoolasmeIcan'tbelievethisZoecanyoubelieveit-"

"Calm it, Speedy. I've been bombarded for hours with 'fans'. Just let me have one minute in peace," Tristan glared at Winter. She shut right up and turned red, subtly fixing her hair. I chuckled to myself and made a mental note to blackmail her in the future with her little crush on Ghost Boy.

"This meat is weird here," Aer stabbed at her fruit and held up a limp piece of watermelon. "It seems to taste sweeter than meat in my city. What is it?"

"That's called watermelon, Aer. And it's not meat, it's fruit. You don't have watermelon on your clouds?" I asked.

Aer shook her head. "This melon of water does not taste as disgusting as I thought it would. Why is there only the fruits being distributed by the guardian of food that wears a net over her head?"

"That's a lunch lady and she's wearing a hairnet on her head so that her hair doesn't get in the food; it's a sanitary reason. It's also 'Fruity Thursday' or whatever so the main courses are fruit based. You could have gotten a salad." I paused for a second. "You do have salad in your city, right?"

Aer tilted her head to the side in confusion and I just gave up. When we finished our meals--Aer questioning just about everything about the food as possible--Merlin called us into his office. We all bid Winter goodbye, her being a little more flustered with Tristan's goodbye as anyone else's.

When we made it into Merlin's office, I didn't expect him to prove Winter right.

"I want you to work in Cardinal City for a few days." My mouth dropped open and I stood, staring at Doctor Merlin. The others seemed to share the same feeling of disbelief with me; except for Aer who seemed indifferent.

"You want us to work in Cardinal City with all the real superheroes?" Ruby asked. She never was surprised, but now I could tell this was unbelievable to her.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Merlin shuffled a few papers on his desk. "Will you take the task or no?"

"Don't you think it's a little...early for this, sir?" I asked.

"Well, based on your results from the training sessions and how you handled Dead Bolt, I think you'll be fine. You start tomorrow, no more questions."

I stood, disbelieving again, but this time at Merlin's harshness. We all said thank you and left, and I wasn't the only one who noticed his sudden change in attitude.

"Maybe he's just stressed out because Dead Bolt attacked us when we weren't paying attention and now the lab building is destroyed," Tristan suggested, walking toward the boys' hall.

"I'm sure that Doctor Merlin has a good reason for his being brash," Ruby chimed in. But she looked out of it; thinking about something else it seemed. I was about to question it, but she said that she needed to go; something about getting a few more sessions in with the attack dummies.

I had no choice but to brush it off. Tristan parted to go to his dorm and Aer and I left to go to the girls' hall. Aer entered the dorm across from mine and I opened my door. I crashed on the bed and thought about what the city might bring us.

Would we meet cool new heroes? Would we actually get to make a difference instead of saving a secret building full of kids who could fend for themselves? What kind of trouble would we find? Questions such as those ran through my mind for hours until it was late in the night and I fell asleep.