Chapter 1 – Kara

Kara is staring at her English assignment. She was pretty sure she'd gotten over the hysterical stage already but maybe not because she wants to cry or scream or laugh just looking at the words on the page.

If you could have any superpower in the world what would you choose to have? Why?

Super strength she thinks, letting out a small choked giggle. Or wait no, the ability to turn back time. Yeah, that'd come in handy. Go back, before Dr. Frank and his crazy screwed up lab, back before they even got that call from Darren and decided to play superhero detectives. Maybe even before getting her powers. Only then she wouldn't have met Chris and Karl and as weird as they're being now she doesn't think she'd want to have never known them.

I'd want to be super intelligent. That might not count as a superpower but I think it would be the best one because it'd be useful no matter what the circumstances. Kind of like Oracle from Batman, being part of the superhero team without having to go out on the frontlines.

Being super intelligent would be a power you could use no matter what. It wouldn't matter if you were injured or otherwise disabled; get a computer and the help of a few friends and you could do whatever you wanted anyways. You'd be able to figure out any plots being orchestrated by the bad guys and no one would ever be able to manipulate you because you'd be able to read them so easily.

Actually if you were super intelligent you might even be able to find a way to get other superpowers for yourself. Use genetic experiments or something, figure out what makes people super strong or fast and get it for yourself.

Even in ordinary life being intelligent would be useful. School would be beyond easy; you could become a doctor or a scientist and end up rich afterwards too. There's not a lot of stuff you can't do if you're smart enough and resourceful enough.

Ever since the invention of the Internet, our generation has lived in the information era. Being smart enough to process all that information and make it work for you is the greatest superpower you could have and the most multifaceted.

Kara gets up and hands the paper in to the teacher. She asks to be excused to go to the washroom and Mrs. Yu says yes and smiles at her. Kara smiles back and hopes she looks at least somewhat normal before heading out the door and down the hallway. She hesitates in front of the pay phone. Mariam's got a PA Day today; she could call her and talk for a bit. She hasn't spoken to her since the lab.

No, she decides, walking past the phone. Besides she's probably out with Chris and Karl, finding out what she can do with her new powers. Kara can feel the lump starting to block her throat and decides she's going to skip Law and go home. She's pretty sure they're just watching a movie of some trial today anyways.

Once she pushes open the school doors she heads straight for her favourite tree and sits down, knees pulled up to her chest while she attempts to breathe normally. Come on Kara, you're over this, she chants to herself. You didn't want the stupid powers anyways; you wanted to be normal didn't you? Mariam will probably handle them better than you did, she's the smart one. She's never going to be dumb enough to step into an obvious trap and nearly get everyone killed. It takes a few more minutes of this before she thinks she might be calm enough to not explode at the next person who looks at her.

She pulls out a mirror from her backpack and looks at herself. Yeah, she looks okay. Normal. Same brown hair and her eyes don't look red at all. She tries out a small smile on herself. Good enough. She might as well head back to class, it's not like she has anything more important to get back to at home. Kara slings her backpack back on over her shoulders and walks back into the building.

-

Law class goes by fast. She was right; they watch a movie on the Watergate scandal. It's called All the President's Men and that's all she can say about it because she really didn't pay too much attention. She knows it won't be a problem, whenever they watch a movie they discuss the charges that were made in class the next day. The story's never important.

She goes to her locker after class and dumps all of her textbooks except for math inside. She closes her locker door and finds Chris standing in front of her.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi," she answers shortly. She'd ask what he's doing here except she knows he's checking up on her. Karl probably sent him; he's never gotten out of the habit of treating them all like they're his kids. Never mind the fact that she's three months older than him anyways, Karl's always been the one in charge, the one who made sure everyone was okay. Usually it's something she likes about him but she's irritated with herself for breaking down in English and she really would like to go home and do her homework. Watch some TV maybe. Stuff that doesn't involve throwing herself into fights with petty criminals or helping rebuild homes for the victims of fires, hurricanes, whatever the disaster of the day is.

"I haven't seen you in awhile," Chris says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His face is starting to shift, cheekbones growing more defined and hair lightening. In a few seconds he'll be what she likes to call Christina, the form of the blond-haired girl he tends to take when he's alone with her. He's a tall skinny boy with brown hair around Karl. Kara tries not to wonder what he turns into for Mariam.

She shrugs. "I've been busy," she says, as they walk down the hallway. "I missed two weeks of school when we went to the lab."

He – she nods. For a minute she thinks that he might make his usual comment about not knowing why she still bothers with school. I don't have the option anymore now do I? She thinks at him silently. It's not like I can be a fulltime defender of justice anymore.

Christina runs a hand through his hair. It's fairly short this time, ending around his chin, and slightly longer in the back. "Okay," he says. "Can you come over sometime soon though? We miss you."

"Sure," Kara answers. "Once things have settled down a bit." She spots the bus pulling in and tells Christina she has to go, feeling glad for the excuse.

Christina puts a hand on her shoulder before she can leave though. "Just wait a minute okay?" Kara turns around and looks at him, eyebrow raised. He looks nervous which is fairly unusual for him.

"Your friend," he says. "Mariam. Can you call her? She's really worried about you. She thinks you're mad at her."

"Did she ask you to say that?"

"No," he answers and looks at Kara sharply. "But she's been looking like someone killed her dog for days. So call her already."

Kara shrugs off his hand and steps on to the bus. "I'll think about it" she mouths at him through the window, and leans back into the seat. She listens to her iPod on maximum volume all the way home.