Chapter 2 - Muffins and Mysterious Letters

Art by SyniaSidhe

I stayed up until nearly midnight working on those muffins, beating together eggs, sugar, and butter until I had created a delicious, creamy batter. It was a great way to distract myself from my aching shoulder and what had happened with Captain Fedora, and it worked for a while. As I mixed in the vanilla, baking powder, and salt and sang along to an Arctic Monkeys song that had just started playing on my Spotify account, I pretended as if I was just a normal person like my dad or the other kids at school. The closest that I would ever come to having superpowers was watching superheroes on the news or reading about them in comic books.

When I mixed in the blueberries, however, I realized that I couldn't ignore my own powers. They were a part of me that I could never remove, no matter how hard I tried. I thought of my battle with Captain Fedora again. He had threatened to send me back to the Academy, a thought that sent shivers down my spine. I would have to be more careful about using my powers in the future if I wanted to avoid that fate. Perhaps if I was more cautious, I could evade another superhero encounter next time I needed to use my powers.

I placed the muffins into the oven, but by the time they were all finished, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I turned off the oven and dragged myself into bed. If I was lucky, I could make it through the next day without this sort of chaos happening to me again.

I barely got any sleep that night. When my alarm started blaring at six o'clock, I couldn't believe that the night had been that short. I yawned, rubbed my eyes, and climbed out of bed. As I had predicted, my shoulder was feeling a little bit better, although it still hurt a little bit. I headed out to the kitchen, where Dad was drinking a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper. I leaned over to read the headline: CAPTAIN FEDORA VANQUISHES THE DASTARDLY DEMON.

"Can I see that?" I asked as I took a bite of one of the muffins that I had baked the night before. The muffins had turned out quite well, and I was sure that my classmates would like them.

"Once I'm done," Dad said as he continued to read. I grumbled in frustration and continued to eat. A few minutes later, Dad passed me the copy of the San Urbano Times, and I read the article on the front page.

CAPTAIN FEDORA VANQUISHES THE DASTARDLY DEMON

By Declan McAllister

It seems that the Dastardly Demon may be gone for good after a battle with Captain Fedora last night. Sandra Wilkins, a longtime resident of San Urbano, called the police at around 8:30 PM last night, reporting strange noises coming from an abandoned mansion near her home. The police immediately notified the Academy for the Research and Education of Superpowered Individuals in San Urbano, who promptly sent Captain Fedora to investigate the situation. Upon arrival, Captain Fedora found that the Dastardly Demon was using the mansion to raise a ghost army, and he knew that he had to act.

I read the remainder of the article, which described the battle and the mayor of San Urbano's plans to give the Captain an award for his "heroic actions." There was also a photo of Captain Fedora blasting me with his hat. I wasn't sure who had taken the picture or how the San Urbano Times acquired it, but there was no reason to think about it too much. This was how every battle was reported. "I don't think there's a single true word in this whole article, Dad," I said.

"I figured," Dad said. He took a bite of his muffin and then added, "It's never a good sign when you're on the front page of the San Urbano Times, Jay. Can you please try to stay out of trouble?"

"I was trying to stay out of trouble," I said. "I definitely wasn't trying to raise an army; I was only trying to let the ghosts roam free."

"I believe you, but the rest of San Urbano won't, especially after that incident last February," Dad said.

"Can we please not talk about that?" I asked.

Dad shrugged and went back to drinking his coffee, while I gobbled down the last few bites of my muffin. After I was done, I finished getting ready for school and then headed down to the bus stop. I hated taking the bus, especially now that I had my driver's license, but my family only had one car, and Dad needed it to go to work. The idea of flying to school crossed my mind, but I couldn't do that. I would need to transform into a demon, and after what had happened the night before, that was out of the question. As a human, I could only hover a few inches above the ground. It was yet another reminder that I wasn't supposed to be able to fly or shapeshift. They were stolen powers, and even though it was accidental, I hated myself for having those powers at all.

I sat by myself on the bus, and as soon as I found an empty seat near the back, I put my headphones in and listened to some music. The rest of the bus was frenzied with the excitement of the last day of school, and although I couldn't wait for summer to begin, I decided that I would rather let my latest playlist comfort me instead of interacting with my classmates, most of whom I barely knew.

When the bus arrived at Carrie A. Nation High School, I immediately ran inside and found my way to my English class. A few other students were already in the classroom, studying for their finals. "Would you like a muffin?" I asked a dark-skinned girl leaning over a pile of books.

"Sure, Jay," she said as she took a muffin from the tray. "Thank you so much."

"No problem," I said with a smile. I repeated the exchange with each student that walked into that classroom, and before long, a sort of satisfaction filled my heart. I didn't know many of my classmates well, and they definitely knew nothing about me, but that didn't mean that I couldn't make their day just a little bit better.

When the teacher passed out the final exam, I still had a few muffins left, so I placed the tray underneath my desk while I took the test. The exam itself wasn't terribly difficult, but I suspected that was because of all of the studying that I had done over the past week. If I was lucky, I might be able to bring my English grade up to an A.

My next final was in chemistry, and I passed out the remaining muffins to my chemistry classmates. My classmates seemed to appreciate the free food, and giving away the muffins let me forget about Captain Fedora for a while and focus on my exams. Chemistry was a pretty easy subject for me, so I thought that I did well, but I would have to wait until my teacher posted my grades.

After chemistry, I had my pre-calculus final, a much more difficult subject for me. I spent the entire test worrying that I had dropped a negative or made another silly mistake, like I always seemed to do. The only thought that kept me going was the knowledge that pre-calculus was my last final. After this, my junior year would be over.

I took the bus home after my last final, and I spent the bus ride listening to Bloc Party and thinking about my plans for the summer. Dad would certainly make me work on my college applications, but I had the rest of the summer to myself. I would have so much free time during those three months, and I had no idea what to do with it. Maybe I should get a job or something, I thought. There was only so much time that I could waste with baking and YouTube videos.

When I arrived home, I saw that I had a stack of mail waiting for me on the kitchen table. "They're all for you, Jay," Dad said as I started looking through the mail.

"Dad, most of these are college ads," I said.

"You should at least open them," Dad said.

I sighed and opened each letter. As I had suspected, all but one of them were college ads, and none of them were from schools that I was looking at. There was one letter, however, that intrigued me. My name and address were handwritten in cursive on the envelope, and the return address said that it was from someone named "Ellen Black." The name sounded familiar, although I had no idea where I knew her from. I tore the letter open and began to read it.

Dear Mr. Sasaki,

My name is Ellen Black, although I am possibly better known by my codename, Lady Quake. I have heard of your ability to steal souls, and I have an unusual request for you. I hope that you will consider it.

As you may have already heard, I am retiring from supervillainy later this year. Before I retire, I would like to redecorate my castle. I have used my castle in Skystead as a base for myself and my three apprentices for many years, and I intend to live there even after I retire. I believe that a few damned souls crying for mercy in the backyard might be good for the atmosphere. Would you be able to make that happen? Of course, I would pay you for your services if you accept my offer. If you're interested, please reply via snail mail or email my apprentice Percy at [email protected].

Thank you in advance!

Sincerely,

Ellen Black

I barely even thought about it before I made my decision. This was perhaps the only opportunity that I would ever find where I could use my powers for good, and besides, I could make a little bit of extra money. I pulled a sheet of paper out of my backpack and began to write a letter.

As I wrote the reply, I still couldn't believe that Lady Quake, one of the most powerful villains in San Urbano, had contacted me at all. Every supervillain wanted to be her, and all but the most determined superheroes had given up on defeating Lady Quake. I couldn't figure out why she had any interest in me, other than her odd fixation on redecorating her castle with souls. Nevertheless, I wrote her a short letter back, hoping that I could seize this particular opportunity.

Dear Ms. Black,

Thank you so much for your offer. I would love to help you redecorate your castle! Please let me know when you would like me to come over to help out.

Sincerely,

Jay Sasaki

During the first week of summer vacation, Lady Quake (no matter how many times she told me that she preferred her real name over her codename, her reputation preceded her) and I sent letters back and forth to set up the plans for redecorating her castle. As it turned out, she was quite a friendly woman, and I anticipated the day when I would finally get to meet her in person.

I still couldn't quite believe that I would be finally using my powers for something good. I had always thought of my powers as being inherently evil, and even though this would only benefit Lady Quake, it was at least benefitting someone. That had to be a step in the right direction, or so I thought. As long as nothing went wrong, accepting Lady Quake's request could be the way to make my dreams of using my powers for something other than pure evil come true.