Bernard greeted them and gave a walking tour of the school. Misty explored the mop closets and the bathrooms, surprising a few boys. In the subbasement was a magic circle. A duplicate was at South. Vincent was the only student who used magic this year. It was still daylight so Bernard opened the door to Vincent's room also in the basement, but they didn’t go inside. A queen size coffin lay in the middle of a empty room. It gleamed with polished ebony. The hum of cooling fans could be heard. Flat noticed the power cord and the Cat-5 Ethernet cable that ran to the side of the coffin from a router on the floor. He did say the cell reception was terrible, Flat thought.

When the tour finished Misty teleported. Hunter and Flat found themselves standing by the school car, the puff of mist around them faded. Tires chirped as they headed into the city. Flat held on to the seat belt with white knuckles. Hunter dropped Flat off at the pediatric burn unit. Florida waited for her inside the lobby doors. Both wore school uniforms. Florida had her Trauma Center badge around her neck.

"Hows Becky doing?"

Florida looked tired. "She's awake, but the burns, don't give her a mirror right now.”

"How long should I stay?" Flat said.

"Until visiting is over, eight o'clock. Shem and Kevin are out tonight and can get you back to school if they don't get tied up," Florida said.

"Alright," Flat said.

"One of the middle school teachers…" Florida was interrupted by a shadow that darkened the sky over the entrance. It was as if the day ended. Cars stopped, and people looked up. The shadow that blocked the sun gave-way to a silver zeppelin that dropped down into an empty parking lot. The stylized winged Z of the logo covered the nose. The name 'Zephyr' ran underneath the gondola. As the airship neared the ground, one man jumped out of the gondola door. He adjusted his suit jacket on the walk to the building. Behind him the Zephyr climbed back into the air. It held station over the parking lot just out of reach. The man’s gray hair fluttered in the wind. He stopped when he was near the two girls.

"Mecklenburg?" He said with a loud and direct voice.

"Yes," Flat said. His tone almost commanded an answer. Who is this? She thought.

"I'm Becky's grandfather. How is she doing?"

"Good. We'll walk you up," Florida said. She ran over to the waiting car. "Hunter, I'll be right back." Hunter only waved; she watched the crowd watching the Zeppelin.

The receptionist directed them to the elevators.

"Thank you for staying with Becky. Her parents are in Egypt." The man said.

"Sir. We take care of our own at South," Florida said.

"A fine tradition.”

The doors opened to the fourth-floor lobby. A glass wall had the Zephyr framed perfectly. The Zeppelin had attracted a crowd of children. Most had their faces and hands bandaged. The children pressed up against the window in awe of the airship.

"Room 237," Florida said, pointing down the hallway. “Flat, give Shem half an hour's notice." Florida stayed on the elevator.

"I have Shem’s number," Flat said.

As the elevator closed the man looked at Flat. "What's your real name?"

"Felicity Fisher.”

"Hello miss Fisher. I'm Derick Murphy.”

Flat stayed with Becky and her grandfather until visiting hours were over. Murphy returned to the Zephyr. He had offered to give her a ride to the school, but Shem was in the parking lot. Flat made it back to the school by nine. On the third floor, she found Florida reading on the couch in the common room; Flat dropped into the seat next to her.

"How did it go with Becky?" Florida said.

"How'd it go? Her grandfather is Derick Murphy, the film maker. Becky is not an advanced human. Her parents are busy in Egypt dealing with a time anomaly. Mr. Murphy happened to be in the area looking for another Zeppelin, the Gneisenau. He said they had a history," Flat said.

"The Hero community’s small. And saying you have a history is the polite version of blood feud," Florida said.

"That's what I thought. Anyway an hour after you left a man came to the room followed by some doctors. He looked odd. Tall, thin, in a white suit, his nose and ears looked sharply pointed. Turns out he was a Fey skin changer that owed the Murphy's a very big favor," Flat said.

"A skin changer?" Florida said.

"Yeah…It was alchemy not magic. I don’t see the difference. We watched them peel her face off like a grapefruit rind. He placed it in a jar with herbs for it to heal," Flat said.

"Wow.”

Flat gave a laugh. "Her freckles flaked off as the skin soaked. The doctors begged this Skin Changer to fix the entire unit. But he left after Becky's face was jarred. They'll have her pickled for a week. Becky has very nice cheek bones, now that you can see them…I seemed to have lived a very sheltered life until this school," Flat said.

“I feel that way some times. I helped my grandmother build doll houses. Now I cut up dead bodies,”Florida said.

“Did you see Becky’s clothes?” Flat said.

“No was more interested in the burn protocol,” Florida said.

“Becky’s clothes were melted. I checked the tags. Same as ours. Margret's were not burned. Her uniform is fire proof,” Flat said.

“Coy knows, or knew it could happen. Maple won’t talk about that stuff with me,” Florida said.

“There are too many secrets,” Flat said.

Two weeks later, Flat walked into the isolation room with Margret.

"The room is fireproof," Flat said.

"How's Becky? She never called," Margret said.

"Recovered and spending some time with her grandfather. A healer got to her in time. No scarring.”

"That's good, I was worried," She looked around. "Will the room be locked?" Margret said.

"No."

"How long will I have to stay in here?" Margret said.

"Until you feel you can leave. The parent-teacher association wants a year of isolation for elemental users that manifest violently. Coy told them no. Hold on a second," Flat said. She sent a text. Misty teleported with a puff of mist.

"Melissa," Margret said.

"Hold up. We use code names." Flat pointed to Misty. "This is Misty. I'm Flat, and who are you?"

"Oh, I'm…Little Inferno?"

"You got a better one than me," Flat said.

"We both have powers," Misty said.

"You teleport?" Margret said.

"Yeah. Do you have more control over the fire?" Misty said.

"I might be able to fly soon," Margret said.

"That's cool," Misty said. "Flat are we Mean Girls now?"

"You are. Little Inferno will be as soon as we can get her trained," Flat said.

"Great. We can go on patrol as a team. You're going to need a uniform. Maybe one like your…dad?" Misty regretted it as she spoke.

"Misty. My dad's not a nice person.”

"I know, and my parents have a past," Misty said.

Flat interrupted, she didn’t want this to go into whose murdering whose family. "Hey. I'm hungry. The conversation about Dark Inferno and the past, let's set it aside for now," Flat said. Misty and Margret both agreed. "We're going to keep things positive. Where can we get some food?"

Misty looked at the time on her phone. "Ulaanbaatar. We can get Mongolian hot pot with dumplings.”

"I don't know what you just said, but let's go," Flat said.

Rudy and Maple started the Notice-to-Heroes meeting. Maple at the podium with the day's briefing.

"OK, we are going to start today with new members. Misty and Little Inferno will join the Notice to Hero Meetings and could be on patrol soon. Speaking of Misty, don't drink tap water in Mongolia. Do not leave the country again without shots," Maple said.

"But the dumplings," Flat said.

"I don't care how good the dumplings are. Dysentery is no joke. Three of you were in medical for two days over lunch." Maple said.

Rudy stepped up to the podium. "Misty is off limits for teleportation of anyone, anywhere short of life or limb. We are not going to become lazy and have her do everything.”

Gyaru raised her hand. "We had a day at the beach planned.”

"Where?"

"Monaco," Gyaru said.

"No. You can go to the P.A.H.A.'s cabins at Lake Norman," Rudy said.

"They smell like mothballs and it’s cold.”

"Cold? You have fur. And your from the West Virginia mountains. No. Everyone needs to understand, if we use Misty openly, someone will set up a trap to take her out." Rudy said. "I know your not going to listen to me. But get carry out next time. Don't go to the same places over and over and don't drink the water."

"The elephant in the room is her Cartel membership," Gyaru said.

"Not really. Misty is not the first with dual membership. And this works out for us, she can't do Cartel work in the United States while in the hero program," Rudy said.

"So she gets a pass for the homecoming and the gym?" Gyaru said.

"Hold up.” Rudy said. “Things have changed. Misty decided to be a hero, and we can't keep her in a jail anyway. That leaves…We are South."

"We are South!" came from everyone in the room.

Maple tapped her pen on the podium. "Can we get back to planning the patrols? We are understaffed.”

As the meeting broke up, Flat stopped Gyaru at the door. "That was needlessly harsh," Flat said.

"I asked her to do it," Misty said.

"You asked her?"

Gyaru smiled. "It's all out in the open, no rumors or questions. This is not Great Lakes. I kind of understand now what Coy was getting at back in his office.”

"Didn't you want to murder her?" Flat said.

"I'm over it.”

"I have to be a Hero.” Misty said. “The Feds can't touch me while I'm in the program. I’m not kidding they’ll put me in a lab."

"The Hero I get, but what about the Cartel?" Flat said.

"I have voting rights, but becoming a hero means I can't inherit my dad's sportsbook or join a crew like the Fifth Street Gang," Misty said.

"Wouldn't you be the Capo?" Gyaru said.

"No its elected and at my age no one would listen to me. Gerr is running Fifth Street now," Misty said.

"Gerr?" Flat said.

"Oh wait till Crested hears that," Gyaru said.

"She already knows. Gerr was elected last week. Fifth Street doesn't traffic kids and is not a priority to be crushed by the Heroes," Misty said.

"What does Gerr and Fifth Street even do?" Flat said.

"Numbers, extortion, bodyguard work and odd jobs," Misty said.

"They have superpowers and they run the bug?" Gyaru said.

"Gambling is not a hero priority. That's why dad was a bookie," Misty said.