On what looked like an ordinary day, a group of kids, no older than fifteen, raced along the rooftops and alleyways of Chicago. To an unfamiliar eye, one would think they were flying.

“Stephani, don’t go too far ahead,” a young boy said, trying to catch up to a girl soaring ahead. The dusty orange scarf around his neck wiped the air like twin fox tails as he practically glided from rooftop to rooftop.

Behind him, a small sparrow-like girl tried to keep up, her cries and groans sounding her effort.

Stephani landed hard on the edge of a rooftop and hopped down to walk among what looked to be the remains of a rooftop garden.

He stormed over to his sister after helping his lagging teammate onto the roof.

“Hey, what did I tell you about going on ahead like that? Like it or not, you are the healer. You need to be behind us when going into a Zoo. James told you about this I don’t know how many times,” he said, his brown eyes glaring through his aviation goggles.

“Shut up, Marco, don’t treat me like an idiot. Why does the order matter? I can still fight them too… just not as efficiently as a warrior or an idol,” Stephani huffed.

“If by them you mean the alien snakes that invaded Earth to suck out the lives of people for who knows what purpose and could do the same to any of us if WE ARE NOT CAREFUL, then no, you definitely can’t eliminate them on your own.”

Marco sighed and looked up at the sky in defeat.

“I wish James hadn’t aged out of the program,” he added, trying to get the last word in.

Stephani smiled smugly, flipping her long black hair back.

“The perk of not being the new squad leader.”

“Guys, we are almost at the warehouse. Can we not fight right now,” a timid voice said?

Marco and Stephani both looked at the new idol of their three-person squad. She had white-blonde hair pulled back in pigtails with sky-blue ribbon and bells that jingled like birdsong every time she moved. Unlike the Spenando siblings, who had outfits that made them look like pilots, Tina Fredrickson looked like a sparrow. She wore a feathery brown skirt, tan blouse, and long gloves that went up to her shoulder that fanned out at the top.

“Sorry Tina, I know you did warehouse duty with another team, but Zoo work is different. Unlike the warehouses where the snakes are kept in bulk, we hunt their nests in abandoned parts of the city. It’s way more dangerous as the snakes are in ‘the wild,’ so you need to learn to think fast,” Marco explained.

“Yeah, ok,” Tina said and then winced when she looked at the glare Stephani was giving her.

“We don’t have time to babysit the new kid. We need to patrol three sectors, and the boundary just got moved… AGAIN. Our breaks aren’t long enough to catch any sleep you are making us miss,” she said.

“Ah! Oh, um… sorry… I’ll do my best,” Tina squeaked and adjusted her large round glasses.

“You sleep enough for the both of us,” Marco said, frowning.

“Um, Marco… you mentioned that the snakes are in “the wild.” Does that mean we could get bit and turn to ash like… like…” Tina found she couldn’t finish her sentence.

The magic that courses through us, which chose us five years ago and made us super powerful, keeps us from getting hurt for long. Plus, you have me,” Stephani said proudly. She snapped her finger, and her magical rod, one unique to each kid, popped out of thin air. It was half as long as tall and deep green, almost black, with vines wrapped into an intricate flower shape at the top. Tina took a closer look and realized the vines didn’t have just leaves but thorns.

“Uh… I thought you were a healer,” Tina said nervously.

Marco sighed and covered his face in embarrassment.

“Yeah, Stephani is a healer, but she is also a sadist. Trust me; the magic knew her all too well when it made her that rose wand.”

“What’s a sadist?” Tina asked.

Stephani smiled crookedly and moved forward till she stood right in Tina’s face as she said,

“I like to watch people squirm before healing them.”

Tina backed up, and Stephani laughed.