Chapter Fifteen: Smirk

Cassandra frowned, trying to block out the noise. Rose and the Super were arguing, again. Great.

 She looked out over the desert, trying to picture what it would look like during a sunset. She didn't know why, but she loved sunsets-- something about the way the colors melted across the terrain and sky, saturating the world with color, maybe. It was just so pretty, but almost impossible to draw. She'd tried lots of times, but they never turned out how she wanted.

She thought about what Rose had said; how she wasn't really here. But that didn't make sense, because she could feel the sunlight, smell the dry air, taste the dust in her mouth. She heard the wind whistling through the canyon, and felt more exhausted than she'd ever been in her life. How could this be a dream?

She thought back to how her life used to be: school, spending time with her best friend, Elizabeth, with all her crazy curls. She remembered spending free time drawing, anything, anything as long as she could get it down on paper. She remembered climbing trees at recess and digging in the dirt, poking sticks into the little holes the moles made. She loved to climb; she even used to climb the swing set, which was about twenty feet high, but the duty teachers got mad at her for doing that. That used to be so much fun.

She wondered what Elizabeth was doing right now. Was she waiting for Cassandra, whether or not she was physically gone or just in a coma? Had she finally moved to Rhode Island, where her family had been planning to go for years now? Would she ever get to see Elizabeth again? Or had she found a new best friend altogether? Aside from these people she'd only known for a day, Cassandra had no other friends than Elizabeth. If Elizabeth had moved on, how would Cassandra be able to cope when she went back? Or -- this scared her even more -- what if she really was in a coma and she suddenly woke up? Would she put those on this side of reality in danger? How could she go back to normal life, after all this? And there was more to come, for sure... She couldn't bear the thought of leaving all this behind.

Someone shouted a word Cassandra wasn't allowed to use, which of course grabbed her attention. It was silent for a moment, and then Rose said, "Did... did you forget how many years ago you put this guy in jail? You forgot hoe long it's been since you last fought your first nemesis?" Mumbling on The Super's part; Cassandra couldn't quite hear what he said. They continued their heated conversation as she wandered in thought again.

Cassandra guessed she should be worried, too, but she knew why The Super had so much trouble with memories. It's his curse: he only knows what he is now, in this moment. He can't remember anything before he became the person he is currently, and since he's alien, it's impossible to tell how old he is; or how many personality changes he's gone through. It's an awkward thing for him, she guessed, because no one here really is an alien; at least, not in the way The Super is. Rose and herself were both human, native to Earth, if from different timelines. Alfonso-- well, she didn't know much about him yet. Even The Blue Octo was just a genetic experiment, using organisms native to Earth. People just don't get it without The Super having to explain it in detail, and then they just think he's weird and that they'd be better off not having wasted twenty minutes on something so boring.

Cassandra stopped for a moment and wondered how she knew all of this. Most people would think it was just wistful guessing, but for some reason, she knew those facts to be true. And this troubled her. Today was her first time meeting The Super, and she should only know what the others did -- maybe even less, considering how childishly he treated her -- but yet it seemed she knew everything.

"Aw, man, that's just sad," Rose was saying. She sighed and turned back to treat The Blue Octo.

Suddenly some movement on the floor of the canyon caught Cassandra's attention. She squinted, trying to make out what it was. After some concentration, it suddenly clicked-- Alfonso. The Super had just left him down there, not even bothering to bring him along. Say what you will about heroes, but sometimes, they're complete morons.

The Super had started talking again by now, but Cassandra wasn't listening. She stood up and took flight, zooming almost silently forward, then braking so she could change direction. She still didn't have the steering down completely, even though she'd had her powers for a couple years now. She angled herself and shot diagonally to land on the floor of the canyon.

Hmm, thought Cassandra. If I am in a coma, does that mean I can control what happens? Can I control the environment, like I would in a real dream? Her thoughts were interrupted by her feet touching down on the ground. She shuffled her legs a bit as she walked, trying not to stumble from the sudden solidness below her feet. She got close to Alfonso, who had his back turned, so she poked him in the shoulder. He jumped about ten feet in the air.

"Alfonso?"

"Eh? What do you want now? Are you coming to tell me that you're sorry, but I can't come with you, that you've found that blue replacement and that you're going to leave me here to die? Because that wouldn't be the first time."

"Wow," said Cassandra. "You are such a ray of sunshine. Come on, I'm here to give you a lift back. People seem to have forgotten about you."

"Yeah," said Alfonso. "happens a lot." He straightened his leather jacket, tossed his head to get the hair out of his eyes. He stared at the ground, the sky, the cliffs, anywhere but at her. It was weird, because she had noticed he was usually pretty direct. But now he was avoiding her gaze. Why?

"Don't worry, though," said Cassandra. "They don't know I'm gone. If we hurry it'll be like you just materialized there." This got a smirk from Alfonso; the closest he'd ever come to a real smile so far.

"HEY!" came a shout from back the way Cassandra had come.

"Oh, well," she said. "Looks like I've been spotted. It's too late for me, you'll have to go on alone." She swept her hand dramatically through the air, her hand resting on her forehead. She heard a puff of air come out of Alfonso's nose, which could've passed as a laugh. When she looked at his face, though, it was serious. For a second, there almost looked like there was a twinkle in his eye, but then it disappeared.

Whatever, Cassandra thought. She knew she'd made Alfonso a friend. Something she couldn't say for anyone else here.

The Super gracefully landed next to them, and Cassandra felt a pang of jealousy; how come he got to be so graceful? "What are you two doing?" The Super growled. He really was in a bad mood; The Blue Octo was unsettling in general, but man, no one else could get The Super this mad.

"Doens't matter," he said. "Get up here, T-Bo's going to wake up for real soon. And why's Alfonso down here, too? Did you carry him?"

"No," Cassandra said, "you did. And then just left him here. To starve to death."

"Oh," said The Super, obviously not sure what to say. "Well, get up here. We'll need you both." He took off again, blasting both Alfonso and Cassandra with hot air.

"Well, then," Cassandra said, facing Alfonso. "Let's go interrogate a blue octopus mutation experiment to find out the hidden location of thousands of escaped criminals running free in the desert, led by a feirce dragn and his best friend, the kid sorcerer."

"Sounds fun," said Alfonso.

"Oh, it will be."

"Are you sure I'm the only one who's a bit crazy?" asked Alfonso.

"Well, I am a superhero who dosn't actually exist. Plus, you know, I'm eight. So stop treating me like I'm ten. Also, did I mention that Rose is my future self who was born before I was? I think I deserve some crazy-slack, okay?"

"Wait, what? What you just said made literally no sense to me," said Alfonso. "At all."

"Trust me, it will. Someday. Now hop on the Crazy Bus. We have an interrogation to catch."





Here you go: Alfonso. He's now an official character that you get to know. Don't pretend that I didn't know his character was weak. I fixed some of that here, or at least, I think I did. Let me know if you think he needs some better development.

Also, I did some fixing of random stuff in earlier chapters to make the storyline work better. Thought you might want to know.

I'm tired. This took me three days to think through and actually write. I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Thank you, and good night, everybody.

            ~PolarFarina