Seventeen year old Jay Sasaki lives in a world where corporations spend millions of dollars to exploit superpowered children and the media defines good and evil. Cursed with the ability to steal souls, Jay leads a double life as both a normal high s...
The next day, I arrived at the castle early and asked Ellen if she could help me train. "I never really completed my education at the Academy," I explained to her. "I feel like I need to learn to control my powers better, especially after what happened with Terry."
"All you had to do was ask, Jay," Ellen said. "I'd be happy to help you. Let's go down to the training facility." I followed Ellen into the training room, where she seemed to keep a variety of weapons and equipment. "What would you like to learn first?" Ellen asked.
"How do I use the powers that I stole from Terry?" I asked.
"That's a good question, and although I hope that we can return those powers to Terry soon, I'll train you for now," Ellen said. "Let's work with the weather-controlling power first."
"How do I do that?" I asked.
"It's sunny outside right now," Ellen said. "How about you try to start a storm? Close your eyes and think of the worst storm that you've ever seen." I closed my eyes and thought of one of the thunderstorms that usually ravaged San Urbano from time to time. I thought of the flashes of lightning and the huge claps of thunder. Within a few minutes, I heard drops of rain falling on the roof of the castle.
"Very good," Ellen said. "Now, let's try to stop the rain." I thought of clear skies and the sun poking out from under the clouds. In my mind, a wide rainbow arched across the sky. My powers began to surge through me, but I still heard the patter of rain on the roof. I tried again, but nothing would stop the storm.
"I don't think that I can do it," I said.
"From what you've told me, it seems like when you steal a soul, you gain a different version of that person's powers," Ellen said. "Is that right?"
I nodded and added, "I prefer to think of them as cursed versions of their powers."
"Perhaps this is a limitation of your cursed version of Terry's power," Ellen suggested. "Perhaps you can only start a storm, but you cannot stop it. On the other hand, it could simply be that you haven't figured out how to stop the storm yet. Let's let it run its natural course. As it is, the storm should be over in a few hours."
I nodded as I heard a loud burst of thunder. "What other powers does Terry have?" I asked. "I know he can turn invisible, but doesn't he have a third one?"
"He does," Ellen said. "He can make people fall asleep. Let's try out that one next." She left for a few minutes, and returned with one of her Jersey Devils in her arms. "Try to make this Jersey Devil fall asleep," she instructed.
I stared into its goatlike eyes and let my, or more accurately, Terry's powers flow through me. A few minutes went by, and at first, nothing happened, but after a while, the Jersey Devil closed its eyes and fell asleep. "I think it worked," I whispered.
