Action Figures - Issue Six: Power Play by Michael Bailey

Author:Michael Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Innsmouth Look Publishing
Published: 2017-02-27T23:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

The New Year opens on a decidedly surreal note.

It’s long been our tradition to meet up for lunch at Silk Sails, a.k.a. Junk Food, and eat ourselves stupid at the all-you-can-eat buffet. We started the tradition the year Missy moved to Kingsport, and for a few years, it was just the four of us. Carrie got sucked in last year, and I honestly never expected the circle to grow any further. The New Year’s Day gorge-a-thon was a sacred thing, no outsiders allowed.

I don’t know when we decided to say screw it and open up membership, but apparently, we did. Meg — who stayed the night on my couch at Christina’s insistence — and I arrive first and put in for a table for five. That number almost doubles when Matt, a big grin plastered on his face, shows up with Zina in tow. Stuart and a girl I don’t recognize are right behind them, and Missy, Bo, and Ty complete the gathering.

“Hey, Meg,” Matt says, opening his arms for a hug. “Happy New Year.”

“And Happy New Year to you, good sir,” Meg says, kicking off a round of welcoming hugs among the inner circle. “Introductions, now, chop-chop. I want to know who all these fine-looking people are.”

“Okay, speed intros,” Matt says, pointing out everyone by name in rapid succession. The girl with Stuart is Peggy, who I know only by reputation as one of his youth club coworkers. When he finishes, Matt looks at me and says, “Man, when worlds collide, they really collide.”

“No kidding.”

Bo and Ty move up to greet Meg properly. “I’ve never met a real super-hero before,” Bo says.

“Uh, well, technically you have,” I say. “Hi.”

“Oh, are we doing this now?” Missy says. “Okay, whatever. Hi. Me too.”

“I feel like I’m missing a private joke,” Peggy says.

“You aren’t. It’s not private anymore and we’re not joking,” Stuart says. “Hi.”

Zina, already well in the loop, doesn’t flinch. The other normals, however...

“Seriously?” Peggy says.

“For real,” Stuart says.

“What do you do?” she says, posing the question to all of us.

“Magic gloves that only work when no one can see them,” Matt says.

“Psionic,” I say. “Telepathy, telekinesis, so on.”

“Genetically engineered human-cat hybrid,” Missy says.

“Lift heavy stuff. Punch things. Look awesome doing it,” Stuart says.

“Are you, like, invulnerable?” Peggy asks.

“Oh yeah.”

She pokes experimentally at his beefy arm. “So I could, say, stab you with a big knife...”

“Wouldn’t hurt at all.”

“Huh. Cool. I kind of want to try it now.”

“Why aren’t you wigged out by this?” Bo says.

Peggy shrugs. “Why would I be? We all know Kingsport is crawling with superhumans. Why should I be surprised that I’m friends with one? And Stuart’s a great guy.”

“Fact,” Stuart says.

“That doesn’t change because he runs around in a costume.”

“Uniform,” Stuart corrects.

“Costume.”

Bo frowns at me. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about this before,” I say, “but we only decided a few days ago to drop the secret identity thing. We got tired of lying to people we cared about.”

Okay, yes, that is a cherry-picked

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