Asian man wearing a pair of glasses and a suit appears in the left hand upper corner of the screen. “Yes, it’s true, THE Justin is a super. We’re proud to announce that his new tour, Live Loud, is being brought to you by Hero TV, television for heroes. This isn’t to say we won’t be posting videos of behind the scenes on our Patreon account--”
The TV turns off before she can get the address. “What did you do that for?” she demands.
“Negatia isn’t going to be happy,” her mom says, completely ignoring Rachel’s outburst. “Do you think we should call her?”
“She should already know,” her dad says, looking grim. “He’s just given up his secret identity--right when the norms are starting to turn on us.” He runs a hand over his face. “What would Sonic say?”
“Sonic?” Rachel repeats blankly. “What does Sonic have to do with Justin?”
“Sonic was Justin’s father,” her dad says. “But none of this has anything to do with you--we finally got you a debut with Maximum, you need to seriously buckle down and train!”
“Maximum is STUPID!” Rachel yells childishly. “I want to debut with Justin! He’s a million times better--AND a super!”
“Maximum is a super villain, and as far as we can tell, Justin isn’t,” her dad says. “There’s no way he can be your debut partner. Honestly, do you even realize how many strings Negatia had to pull to get him to come here? His tour was already lined up by Central Hall weeks ago. You’re a last minute addition.”
“Then I’ll go super villain!” she says rashly. “Don’t you understand--this is fate!” she turns and runs off before they can reply, racing out of her house and across town. For a long moment she looks around, wondering where she is. Her phone rings. She pulls it out, checking the caller ID before answering.
“I think we should do something,” Kirsten says without bothering to announce who it is.
“What?”
“Justin is coming in concert this weekend, Rach! We need to get his attention!”
“I know, but I’ve got my stupid debut planned for this weekend--I can’t get out of it, even if I DID tell my parents I was going super villain and that Justin would be my debut--” Rachel starts ranting.
“Wait, stop, calm down,” Kirsten says. “Now breathe. Are you breathing?”
“Yes, I’m breathing,” Rachel says, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. “They just don’t understand how much this means to me, Kirsten. Justin’s music got me through--through my powers coming.”
“I know, it did for me, too,” Kirsten says, “which is why you might have something with your super villain idea...”
“But how can I get out of fighting Maximum?” Rachel asks. “I’m one of the few B-class capes that he’s even willing to take on--and I think that’s only because Negatia did some sort of deal with him!”
“We’ll just call him up and see about rescheduling. Tell him you’re sick or something. He’s got a website, it comes with an email and everything. This is way more important than becoming a super hero, Rachel!”
“What, exactly, are we going to do?”
“We’re going to the concert, and we’re going to get his attention--one way or another.”
“But what if Maximum doesn’t agree?”
“Then we deal with him, first.”
***
*Kansas City*
"You were supposed to keep him from this!" the man bellows in Tom Macow's face, waving a hand in the direction of the television on the wall. The room is empty, save for the two of them. It's an old building that most people assume is abandoned. All of the windows are boarded up and covered in graffiti, the water doesn't work—it'd been cut off months ago, and the electricity is shoddy. Whenever you plug something in, the outlet sparks. It's the meeting hall of the Anti-Super Society. Of course they make sure to say the name properly rather than shortening it, Tom thinks dryly. He still isn't sure how he got mixed up in
The TV turns off before she can get the address. “What did you do that for?” she demands.
“Negatia isn’t going to be happy,” her mom says, completely ignoring Rachel’s outburst. “Do you think we should call her?”
“She should already know,” her dad says, looking grim. “He’s just given up his secret identity--right when the norms are starting to turn on us.” He runs a hand over his face. “What would Sonic say?”
“Sonic?” Rachel repeats blankly. “What does Sonic have to do with Justin?”
“Sonic was Justin’s father,” her dad says. “But none of this has anything to do with you--we finally got you a debut with Maximum, you need to seriously buckle down and train!”
“Maximum is STUPID!” Rachel yells childishly. “I want to debut with Justin! He’s a million times better--AND a super!”
“Maximum is a super villain, and as far as we can tell, Justin isn’t,” her dad says. “There’s no way he can be your debut partner. Honestly, do you even realize how many strings Negatia had to pull to get him to come here? His tour was already lined up by Central Hall weeks ago. You’re a last minute addition.”
“Then I’ll go super villain!” she says rashly. “Don’t you understand--this is fate!” she turns and runs off before they can reply, racing out of her house and across town. For a long moment she looks around, wondering where she is. Her phone rings. She pulls it out, checking the caller ID before answering.
“I think we should do something,” Kirsten says without bothering to announce who it is.
“What?”
“Justin is coming in concert this weekend, Rach! We need to get his attention!”
“I know, but I’ve got my stupid debut planned for this weekend--I can’t get out of it, even if I DID tell my parents I was going super villain and that Justin would be my debut--” Rachel starts ranting.
“Wait, stop, calm down,” Kirsten says. “Now breathe. Are you breathing?”
“Yes, I’m breathing,” Rachel says, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. “They just don’t understand how much this means to me, Kirsten. Justin’s music got me through--through my powers coming.”
“I know, it did for me, too,” Kirsten says, “which is why you might have something with your super villain idea...”
“But how can I get out of fighting Maximum?” Rachel asks. “I’m one of the few B-class capes that he’s even willing to take on--and I think that’s only because Negatia did some sort of deal with him!”
“We’ll just call him up and see about rescheduling. Tell him you’re sick or something. He’s got a website, it comes with an email and everything. This is way more important than becoming a super hero, Rachel!”
“What, exactly, are we going to do?”
“We’re going to the concert, and we’re going to get his attention--one way or another.”
“But what if Maximum doesn’t agree?”
“Then we deal with him, first.”
***
*Kansas City*
"You were supposed to keep him from this!" the man bellows in Tom Macow's face, waving a hand in the direction of the television on the wall. The room is empty, save for the two of them. It's an old building that most people assume is abandoned. All of the windows are boarded up and covered in graffiti, the water doesn't work—it'd been cut off months ago, and the electricity is shoddy. Whenever you plug something in, the outlet sparks. It's the meeting hall of the Anti-Super Society. Of course they make sure to say the name properly rather than shortening it, Tom thinks dryly. He still isn't sure how he got mixed up in
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