Chapter 14

10-10-2029

We're suppose to stay in Basic form when not doing a test or whatever but not everyone's sticking to that rule. Today I had to break up a fight between a couple people (Malika and Ray) who were arguing about a tv show of all things. They were actually hitting each other had both changed to be giants. I was afraid the building would come down. I got frustrated with them ignoring me so I used my powers too. Neither will talk to me now other than to apologize. They keep avoiding me. The others have started to keep their distance too so I think Malika and Ray told them what happened. I'm not sure if they'll tell Dr. Hailu what I did or not. All I said to her was I dealt with the situation and it shouldn't be a problem again. I'm not sure if one of the security cameras caught what I did but Hailu hasn't pressed it by asking for more information. I'm pretty sure I blew any chance I had of making any friends here.

Am I that terrifying?

- Personal journal of Page Simmons, volume 1, pages 90-91

"Are you insane?" I ask loudly once Eterna gets home.

I'm back in Basic with my clothing changed to be a suit and tie and have been waiting for her in the hallway. She's no longer shifted and is carrying a pair of over-sized shoes in her hands.

"What?" Eterna asks, genuine shock on her face.

I grab her arm and pull her into my apartment, locking the door behind us. I push her deeper into my place to the small sofa the unit came with. I haven't even had a chance to try it out myself.

"Sit," I say firmly while pointing at the seat.

She looks like she's about to cry as she follows my order, leather dress shoes still in her hand. I rub the bridge of my nose between my eyes. I do like my nose so I make sure I don't do anything weird like squish it flat while rubbing it.

"Eterna, what the Hel were you thinking?" I ask.

"What?" she asks again.

"Why the fuck did you go to the CooL church?"

"Why do you think went there?" She asks defensively.

I sigh.

She really didn't know it was me?

"You were blocking my exit," I say. "I have things covered with this investigation, Eterna. I am a licensed private investigator cleared to use my powers to do this kind of shit."

"Oh, fuck," she says. "That was you?!"

I didn't think I'd made myself look that different from my masculine form but maybe I was wrong.

"Please," I begin more calmly. "Don't do that again."

"Don't worry," she says. "I don't like shifting into a guy."

"Not that," I say. "Don't try to butt in with this case, Eterna. You're going to get yourself killed."

She drops the shoes. "What?"

"That guy, at the church," I begin. "He's a Class S with a god complex. Says there's two more with him in that place. I don't know if they're even connected with the kidnapping or if they're being set up by someone else. If he is behind the kidnapping then he might just be the guy who killed people last night."

The color drains out of her face, literally. Her dark skin is now gray. She shakes her head and returns to Basic.

"You're joking, trying to scare me," she says.

"Jokes aren't scary," I say. "Jokes make you laugh. This is no joke. This is real scary shit. I'm not sure I could take three Class S's in a fight. I'm really hoping that church is being set up. Either way I watched someone kill three people in front of me last night."

"Could you take the guy last night in a fight?" She asks.

I honestly don't know.

"Not in a crowded nightclub," I say. Then I add, "And you certainly wouldn't have been able to fight that guy from last night, Eterna. Much less that guy at the church. Let me handle this, okay?"

She stares at the shoes on the floor. One of them landed on the sole but the other one is on its side. I can tell from the wear that the shoes are not new. Given that she said she doesn't like to shift into forms like she used at the church I can conclude that she's not the one who wore the treads down so much.

"Everyone's worried about you," Eterna finally says.

"Who?"

She takes in a breath and lets it out.

"Everyone. Here, at Little Asgard Heights. They're worried about you out there. They know about the nightclub last night. That you were the one who held the building together. That people died. That you're investigating something. I didn't tell them what the case is about but a couple people saw you with some detective they've read about online. The guy dropped you off a few blocks away but they were on a walk so...and...this morning, when Thunderskull was trying to apologize. Everyone saw that go down. You asking them to leave notes whether you should move or not. No one wants you to get hurt or...worse."

I wish I didn't know what to say but I go ahead and ask it, "Who else is going to try to step in this mess?"

Eterna shakes her head. "I convinced everyone to let me handle helping you out since I know the most about the case."

"Thank gods," I say deflating a bit. "One person I can handle. Don't do this again, Eterna. Believe it or not I do have it covered."

"I get that now," she says. "I froze up at the church. I wasn't expecting the pastor to be...so...imposing. How was he making that halo? That shouldn't be possible. Fire, yeah but a ring of light?"

"Yeah," I say.

I don't offer any explanations for the halo. I have a few ideas but nothing solid. I haven't had a chance to experiment to see if I can recreate the look.

"No one wants you to leave, Page," Eterna adds. "Everyone here feels a lot safer having a Class S in the building."

Neoni didn't tell them I'm Book?

"Thank you for letting me know, Eterna," I say. "Now, please, go home. I've got a lot of work to do and I'd rather know you were safe here instead of in danger because you followed me around."

"I didn't follow you," she protests.

"I know that. But I really can't have you deciding to try."

***

After Eterna leaves I take a shower. I'm still mulling over how exactly Ezekiel was able to make a halo over his head like that. I couldn't see anything connecting it to him.

Fire is something I've been able to create from my body. Unlike Thunderskull's flaming eye sockets the fire I make can be hot enough to burn things. I wonder if it's something like that but contained somehow? Like a plasma held in a magnetic field? That probably would've killed my phone or messed up the lights in the room. I didn't see or feel any heat coming from the halo.

Also, the fire I can generate is connected to my body at the ignition source. Ezekiel's halo floated above his head. After my shower I shift to generate flames from my right hand. I can feel the heat off them using my left palm. When I attempt to make them form a ring all I manage to do is make a cylinder of fire coming from my palm like a burner on a gas stove.

"Still attached," I say to myself before snuffing out the flames by closing my hand and shifting back to Basic.

I dress in my clothing from before. Shift-ready clothing changes back to it's Basic form when removed, so I have to change it again to make it look like normal street clothes before grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone and leaving. I'm halfway down the first flight of stairs about to call Detective Windgate when my phone rings.

"Hello?" I ask.

"You Page?" Windgate asks.

I wait to reply before saying, "Yes. This is Page."

"We haven't met," he begins. "I'm Lucas. I need to see you right away."

"Where should I meet you?" I ask.

"Same place Eugene said he was going," Lucas replies.

He knows people could be listening to us.

"On my way."

"Come quickly, please. I don't have quite the same issues with your abilities as the others do," Lucas explains.

"Got it."

It takes me less time to reach the hotel by using my powers than it would taking a ride share. I'm there in under ten minutes. The room's door opens before I can knock.

Lucas answers, his hair in a side part, coat and jacket no where to be seen. He's wearing a tight vest and tie over a dress shirt. I wonder where the vest came from because I don't remember Eugene nor Starling wearing one before. The only luggage I've seen in the room this whole time are the bags under Windgate's eyes.

"Please, come in," he says.

I follow him inside, careful the door is shut behind us and locked.

"You said you needed me here fast," I begin. "Do you have any information?"

"Do you?" He asks. "Forgive me." He puts out his hand. "Lucas Windgate, he and him. It's nice to finally meet you properly."

I shake his hand. "Page Simmons. She, he, they. Nice to meet you as well. Now, about the case."

"Yes! I've been looking over their notes, er, over Eugene and Starling's notes. It's been difficult to get Starling to even keep notes but that's a story for another day. He's better at it now than he used to be. A bit impulsive. I'm more analytical."

"Yeah," I reply with a nod.

He tilts his head and lets out a little huff of a laugh while taking a small notebook off the table with a pen. "I take it you went to the CooL church today, correct? What did you learn?"

"I did," I say. "I didn't find any sign of the kid but I did learn their pastor is a Class S CoL. He claims there are two others there. I didn't see any signs of them but that doesn't mean he was lying. Also, the face the guy was using while he attacked the night club last night was from the church's maintenance guy. Dude seemed terrified of Pastor Ezekiel."

"And his bearing? His voice? His speech? Was there anything of either man that made you suspect they could be the one who attacked last night?" Lucas asks while writing in the notebook.

"Ezekiel did have that sort of 'holier than thou' speech thing going on. I could tell he's not keen on Children of Loki who aren't affiliated with his church," I say. "But the dude's a visible figure. Any CoL with enough skill would be able to mimic how he talks to frame him for the murders last night."

"Interesting," Lucas says before moving over to a laptop that's set up on the hotel room's desk. He turns it around. "I did some research and determined the face captured on security footage was indeed that of the church's groundskeeper, albeit younger. As to Ezekiel there's no record of who he was before he gained his powers ten years ago. There are some archived streams of church services I was able to turn up that show Ezekiel giving sermons. Then more recently a second and third figure have joined."

"Let me guess," I say leaning down to look at the monitor. "Each one has an impossible halo?"

Lucas raises an eyebrow. "Impossible halo?"

"I can't figure out how he's doing it," I say. "Much less how three of them are doing it. I was surprised enough to hear there was a second Class S in town"

"Second?" Lucas asks.

Oh shit. I never told Windgate I'm a Class S.

"Uh..."

I straighten up and back away from the laptop. Lucas watches me with narrowed eyes. He raises an eyebrow again.

"I take it you're Class S then?" He asks calmly.

I don't reply. I want to shrink in on myself but keep from using my powers to do so. That would only make things worse.

"It's quite alright, Page. As I said before, I don't have the same hang-ups Eugene and Starling do in regards to Children of Loki and the police," he says. "If you are a Class S, that's a benefit to us."

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Yes, right, okay. I am Class S."

"Wonderful," Lucas says. "Now, you were surprised to learn of these other Class S CoLs because of your rarity. I can do some research in the registration databases to find other Class S ranks residing in or around Austin."

He cracks his knuckles before grabbing a chair and sitting down in front of the laptop. His fingers move so quickly it's hard for me to keep up with what he's doing.

Even still I'm sure I'm missing some things as he proceeds to hack into the first of several CoL registration data bases that are supposed to be incredibly secure.

"Here we are," Lucas says. "Ezekiel is indeed a registered Class S, one of two in the city. Your change of address has yet to be updated in the system."

"Wait, what?" I lean over his shoulder to look at the screen.

Every CoL in the city is listed. Every registered CoL that is. My name isn't there yet. I wonder if it's been delayed because I moved over the weekend. Ezekiel is listed as having only the single name "Ezekiel" as well as being a Class S. The database even included when he first gained his powers, February 17th, the same day I did. It has a home address listed that isn't the church.

"He doesn't live at the church?" I ask.

"His mailing address is," Lucas begins then pauses as he inspects the screen more. His upper lip twitches a bit before he sneers, "That bastard."

"What is it, Lucas?"

He points at the address on the screen. "Our clients live in the same gated community as Ezekiel."

"Wait, what?"

"Based on the address, I'd say they're only a few blocks away from one another."

"Shit," I say. "I need to go check that out."

"You what?" Lucas pushes away from the computer. "Alone?"

"Well, yeah," I say. "I can sneak into the house. Hey, have you been able to get a hold of the clients? The Williamses?"

He shakes his head. "I've even gone so far as to ping their phones. Nothing."

"I won't ask how you did that," I say.

"I have been busy this morning."

"Okay, so, give me an earpiece. You can stay here, do your computer stuff while I sneak into that house."

"Reluctantly, I have to agree this is as good an idea as any."