by Sarah Kuhn
“I’m here, Sis,” I managed between wheezes. “I’m here.”
“Bea?” Evie said, whipping around and giving me a quizzical look.
“Bea!” Aveda echoed, frowning at me with extreme disapproval. “What are you doing? You need to get clear of this area! Find Lucy and Rose, they’ll guide you to a safe spot.”
“I don’t need a safe spot,” I insisted, but none of them seemed to hear me. I stumbled back a few steps and managed to stand up straight, taking in the scene. “I’ll just take a few minutes to observe, analyze, and strategize,” I said, making my voice a bit louder. Again, none of them responded. I hoped at least Aveda had heard me since she was always droning on about how important it was to hone your observational skills in order to enhance your on-the-spot battle-planning. I wanted her to see how I totally actually listened whenever she lectured, that I was dedicated to becoming the best heroine I could be. But she just kept ignoring me.
My eyes swept over the Wave Organ. A swooping, multi-level sculptural marvel constructed of graceful pipes and squat pieces of concrete, it looked a bit like a smaller, nerdier, deconstructed version of Stonehenge. It was built into a little piece of land that juts into the ocean, giving it the dreamy feel of an almost-island. I’d never seen it in person before now, but I knew it was a favorite locale of the Bay Area’s finest graffiti artists—and I could glimpse wild scribblings of blue and black and purple on some of the more hidden areas.
The stone monsters lurching through the ocean looked like they were trying to destroy the Organ and anyone around it. There were about a dozen of them, tall as giant redwood trees, towering over Evie and Co. Their movements were slow and labored as they made their way through the water. But even though they weren’t particularly fast or graceful, they were still gigantic enough to be threatening, kicking up major waves and occasionally swooping dangerously near anyone in the vicinity.
Evie was poised in the center of the team’s formation, at the very edge of the piece of land that juts into the water, hands raised, shooting her fire into the air. Aveda stood next to her, brow furrowed in ferocious concentration as she stared at the fire. The flames danced in the air, then joined together in one bright chain—it looked like Aveda was using her telekinesis to form a makeshift wall out of Evie’s fire. Maybe to surround the stone monsters?
I homed in on the monsters themselves, trying to pick up extra details. They were big and blocky and made up of an assemblage of geometric shapes—squares, rectangles, and the occasional swooping cylinder . . . wait a minute . . .
I turned to look at the Wave Organ again. And realized half of it was gone.
“Um. Hold up,” I called out. “Did the Wave Organ, like, come to life, inflate itself to gigantic proportions, and start menacing tourists?”
“Pretty much exactly right, Bea. At least part of it did,” Shruti said, glancing over her shoulder to give me a bright smile. Her long dark hair was unfurled and twisting, trying to wrap itself around one of the monsters, and I saw that she already had some of them in her grasp. Shruti had the ability to grow her hair at will and grab on to stuff with it, and her power got stronger the more she used it. “Wow, I love your outfit!” she continued. I beamed and stood up a little straighter. Coming from Shruti, who ran one of the city’s coolest vintage boutiques, that was high praise. (I was also still nursing the tiny remnants of a crush I’d had on her when I was younger; Leah had, of course, teased me mercilessly for falling into the “pining hopelessly for older sibling’s friend” trope.) Her next words, however, undercut things a bit. “It reminds me of that X-Men panel where Kitty Pryde debuts her Sprite costume,” Shruti added. “With all the colors and the stripey legwarmers and the roller skates?”
“Preeee-senting the all-new, all-different, altogether stunning Sprite!” Evie chimed in, shooting another fireball into the air with relish. They both laughed.
“Hey, hey,” Aveda barked, expertly moving Evie’s fireball to join the existing chain. “What have we said about keeping the giggly banter to a minimum when we’re in the midst of battle?”
“You said that,” Evie retorted. “We did not agree. Giggly banter totally cuts through the tension and helps us get in the zone—whoa, watch out Shruti, to your left!” One of the stone monsters had freed itself from Shruti’s hair and was lurching toward her, kicking up a huge wave in the process.
“Oh, crap!” Shruti exclaimed, flinging out her hair to once again wrap around the monster.
I frowned. I remembered that panel, too, from a comic I’d stolen from Evie’s stash when we were kids. Kitty’s costume was, in my opinion, fabulous, but the moment was meant to poke fun at her—the young upstart playing at what she thought being a superhero was. In other words, I did not take it as a compliment.
“All right, team, what’s our next move?” Evie said. “We have them sort of trapped . . .” She gestured to the scene. Aveda was telekinetically holding the ring of fire around some of the stone monsters while Shruti kept the rest in place with her hair. “They seem to be scared of the fire, but whenever I try to hit them with it directly . . . it doesn’t destroy them, it just leaves, like, the tiniest of dents. We can only keep them trapped this way for so long and we’re all gonna get tired eventually.”
“We can get Scott out here,” Aveda said, referring to her mage husband. “Maybe he has a spell that will do something?”
“Yes, but calling Scott means one of us has to stop what we’re currently doing,” Evie said, wincing as one of the stone monsters batted against her fire, kicking up another huge wave. “And who knows if he can actually get here in time?”
“I could call,” I said, fishing my phone out of my pocket. “Or text.” None of them responded. Really? I was so unimportant I couldn’t even make a freaking phone call for them? I started punching in a text to Scott anyway.
“Okay,” Aveda said, blowing out a long, frustrated breath. “First things first: let’s get those people safely to land. Then we’ll worry about destroying these monstrosities.”
People?
My head jerked up from my phone, and I studied the stone monsters more intently—and saw that the two farthest from land appeared to be dotted with groups of tiny specks. I squinted, trying to get a better look.
Oh. Holy shit. There were people trapped on those two giant stone monsters. People holding on for dear life as the monsters swayed and lurched and made their way through the water. People in danger of falling to their death.
“Fuck!” I blurted out.
“Bea!” Evie, finally deciding I was worthy of her notice, swiveled her head to give me an exasperated look. “Can you get to safety, please?”
“I’m here to help!” I protested, drawing myself up tall.
“You can help by getting out of the way,” she retorted.
“Evie, if you can make your ring of fire bigger to encompass all of these giant stone things—and Aveda, if you can keep holding the fire in place—I can try using my hair to lift these folks off and bring them to shore in clusters,” Shruti said. “It will take a while, but . . .”
“But that seems to be our best option at this point,” Aveda said with a grim nod.
I watched as Evie raised her hands and shot more fireballs, bright and beautiful. They arced gracefully as Aveda swept them together in a chain, then added them to the ring hanging in the air, expanding it outward. It wrapped around the giant stones, a truly dazzling sight.
Shruti’s hair danced out over the water, reaching for the clump of people trapped on one of the monsters. She started wrapping it around them one by one, bundling them together. Their screams got louder as the monster lurched to the side, sending them sliding along its surface.
“It’s all right,” Shruti murmured, her hair wrapping more tightly around the screaming people. “Just stay calm, please. And trust me.”
I swallowed hard as I scanned the scene. It
felt like everything was frozen in this terrible moment, like Evie and Aveda and Shruti were taking things so slowly and deliberately, performing very careful surgery on a massive level, and one wrong move would destroy everything. And here I was on the sidelines, small and insignificant, doing nothing. There was nothing I could do. Anything I might try had the potential to totally disrupt their operation. I toyed with the hem of my cape. Why had I even bothered? They were a well-oiled machine and they didn’t need me, no matter how many posterboards and glitter bombs I hit them with—
“Help!”
I whipped around. The voice was coming from behind us—away from the water, the danger, the stone monsters. I frantically scanned the waterfront, homing in on the source—a teenage girl with stringy hair and big scared eyes, hugging a notebook to her chest. Had she not evacuated with the rest of the civilians? And why was she screaming for help when she was safe on the shore?
I turned back to Evie and Co. They were still absorbed in their complicated operation. Well, no matter. Here was something I could do. Even if it just involved comforting a civilian who didn’t appear to be in actual danger.
I dashed up to her, wincing as gravel poked through the hole in my sole and rattled around in my boot. Leah and I definitely needed to work on footwear.
“Excuse me, civilian,” I said, trying to sound all official-like. “You need to evacuate this area. We are working very hard to . . .”
I trailed off as she shook her head at me, a frown overtaking her face.
“Help,” she whispered, pointing at the giant stone monsters.
“Yes, I know, they’re terrifying,” I said. “Which is why—”
CRAAAAAASHHHHHHH
I whipped around to see a massive wave careening through the water as one of the stone monsters crashed through Evie and Aveda’s fire wall, sending the people on top of the monster sliding all over the place.
“Shit!” Aveda spat out. “Shruti, grab as many people as you can. Evie, let’s try to expand it again—”
But now the monsters had figured out that Evie’s fire only caused them minimal damage, and they started busting through in earnest, kicking up more waves and displacing the people clinging to them. The screams intensified, mingling with the crashing of the waves. And the monsters were stomping their way toward shore, the ground shaking underneath us as they got closer.
CRASH CRASH CRAAAAAAAAASHHHHH
I stood in front of the girl, shielding her with my body. Shit. Fuck. What else could I do? I heard Aveda barking at Evie and Shruti, but the actual words faded to a distant burble as the monsters got closer and closer, looming over us like gigantic stone Godzillas. I saw Shruti snatch up the last group of people and move them to shore, but shore wasn’t much safer at this point . . .
Maybe I could emotionally project at the monsters, like I did with humans? Stop, I thought at them desperately, even though that wasn’t an exact emotion. Just . . . stop. You want to stop.
They just kept going. Of course.
CRASSSSSSHHHHHHHHH
“Help,” the girl whispered behind me.
Dammit. Maybe this was why Evie could never see me as a real superhero. I mean, all I could really do was get people to feel a little differently. What good was that in a situation like this? When we were dealing with monstrous, supernatural creatures who were nothing like humans, totally immune to my projection, to my . . . my . . .
Wait a minute.
Something came to me in a flash, a wispy memory from years before: Aveda telling me there was another component of my power, something I didn’t fully understand, something I’d only used once . . .
“Shruti,” I called out. “You got all the people to shore, right?”
“Affirmative,” she called back, her voice strangled.
“Okay, then,” I murmured to myself. “We’re gonna give this a go.”
CRASH CRASSSSSHHHHHHHHH
The stone monsters were kicking up such major waves, it looked like the ocean was embroiled in a thunderstorm. And they were really closing in on us. I saw Evie’s fire darting around, desperately trying to contain the monsters, only to get extinguished by waves.
I pushed down my mounting fear and focused on a feeling of rage. I remembered how angry I’d been last night, when Evie and Aveda had told me no yet again. My indignation at their dismissal when I showed up here. I gathered it up, channeled it through my veins, felt the rage down to my very bones.
Then I opened my mouth and screamed.
I screamed long and loud, putting my whole body into it, ripping my throat to shreds. I screamed as much as my breath would allow, balling my fists and squinching my eyes shut and bending backward and sending all of my vocal power in the direction of the monsters menacing the shore. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed.
And when I opened my eyes, the monsters crumbled to dust in front of me.
They disintegrated on the spot, like a bunch of mini avalanches cascading into the water.
Silence blanketed the waterfront, eerie after so much chaos. Evie, Aveda, and Shruti turned to me, their jaws basically on the ground. I turned to see if the girl behind me was okay, but she was gone. Apparently she’d finally taken my advice and evacuated.
“What . . .” Aveda began. But she couldn’t seem to think of what came next.
“Goddamn,” I murmured, a slow smile spreading over my face. “That actually worked.”
MAISY KANE PRESENTS: BUZZ BY THE BAY
By Maisy Kane, Half-Demon Princess Editrix
Hiya, ’Friscans! It never ceases to amaze me how many of y’all have been following me on this little ol’ blog, in all its iterations, for so many years now! Some of you have asked me how I manage to track all the latest happenings in the Bay and run a smashingly successful lingerie boutique and play host to the only Otherworld portal in the whole freakin’ city. Dear readers, what can I say? Some of are just born with the gift of multitasking and it is our duty to share that gift with you (especially if you are maybe not so good at it—kiss-kiss, I’m sure you have many other delightful talents).
As usual, most of my reader questions this week are about our fair city’s incredible supersquad, Evie and Aveda! Thanks to my close, personal friendship with the girls, I am gosh-danged stoked to be able to exclusively reveal that the rumors are true: the bestselling comic book miniseries based on EVEDA’s exploits is about to become an ongoing series! Gasp! My skin is clear, my crops are flourishing, and I feel no pain! Really, it’s so lovely to witness my dear friends getting the recognition and fame they deserve and to see them win over new fans from all over the world! There are even rumors about Hollywood sniffing around, and who wouldn’t want to see this duo of powerful WOC besties kicking ass and taking names on the big screen?! Rest assured that your pal Maisy will keep you updated on any and all developments in that area—I’ve already picked out what I’m wearing to the premiere!
In the meantime, please enjoy my exclusive gallery of shots from today’s Wave Organ battle! Pussy Queen’s own Shruti Dhaliwal played an integral role in saving civilians from these menacing stone monsters and I could not be prouder! And as many of you have noted on social, there was a new face in the midst: Evie’s little sister, Bea Tanaka, offered up a superheroic assist in the form of a jaw-dropping, stone-shattering scream! It may interest you to know that your pal Maisy witnessed her deploy this unique talent before: back during the climactic battle against the evil Shasta. My goodness, that was one for the ages!
We haven’t seen Bea do much superheroing since then, however—could this mean that she’s finally following in Big Sis’s footsteps?
Dear readers, I’ll keep you updated—it’s hard to imagine anyone but Evie and Aveda as our ultimate queens, but maybe our favorite squad has room for a new princess!
CHAPTER THREE
“I CAN’T BELIEVE we forgot about your sonic scream.
” Aveda gave me an approving nod. “Or is it a Canary Cry?” She nudged Evie. “Help me out with the correct nerd term, here.”
“That’s really only the second time I’ve deployed it,” I said, shrugging and trying to look modest. “And the first time was kind of an accident.”
“Right,” Aveda said, her brow furrowing. “We should have you do some tests in a safe, controlled environment—”
“Annie.” Evie gave us an exasperated look that seemed to say: Please don’t get Bea all excited and think I’m going to agree to actually let her be a real superhero, even after that undeniable display of kickassery. I am still this team’s resident stick-in-the-mud, after all.
Out loud, she just said: “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay?”
Evie, Aveda, and I were walking back to Tanaka/Jupiter HQ after dropping off Shruti at Pussy Queen, where she maintained a pop-up version of her fabulous vintage boutique. We first got to know Shruti back when Evie was shopping for a wedding dress—which turned out to be demonically possessed, because of course it did. Shruti became a sort of on-call member of the team, but she preferred to keep things part-time so she could tend to her local fashion empire.
Evie and Aveda both wanted to take an Uber, citing pinchy high-heeled boots (Aveda) and outright laziness (Evie), but I argued that it was really only a few blocks and walking helps shake out those last bits of battle adrenaline. And that as the indisputable day-saver, I should get to pick our mode of transport. (Even though gravel was still rattling around in my hole-y boot and I kept having to shake my foot around to try and get it out.)
My sonic scream, as Aveda had called it, was part of a power level-up I’d gotten when a supernatural earthquake rocked San Francisco during one of Evie’s battles against wannabe demon queen Shasta five years ago. At the time, I hadn’t known I possessed any kind of superpower at all. I mean, I had noticed that sometimes people got a little cheerier around me when I was happy and a little grouchier when I was going through a day from hell, but I’d always figured that was a result of having, as my mother used to put it, “a big personality.” Since I’d started using my power more in recent years, I’d discovered I could control the emotional projection much better—that my moods didn’t simply leak out all over people, that I could harness feelings and send them out as I pleased.