4.4 - An Abnormal Alliance

The Old Canal Diner was always open 24/7, but, luckily for us, there was barely anyone there at this hour. To my and Elaina’s delight, we found Sami working the late-night shift. She was the only Normal friend I had, and seeing her made me feel at ease.

As for Sami herself, though, her voice trailed off as the four of us walked in.

“Ah, g-good evening! Um…will this be…a party…of…?”

She stared at me instantly, concerned like a big sister, and I waved hello.

“Four...” Elaina said in a serious tone. She glanced at the twins, then to me begrudgingly. “…please.”

Sami swallowed, stopping herself from blurting out more than she needed to. “R-Right this way…”

“Thank you,” Marc said.

“Thanks,” Madi added.

“Hey, Sami,” I greeted her, following the twins in.

“V-Vector?!” she spoke in a frustrated whisper, “J-Jacen! W-What happened to you?! You look awful!”

I heard Elaina make a “Tch!” noise further up.

I sighed. “It was…a long day. Can we…have the same booth as always, please?”

Sami gave a warm smile of concern for me. “S-Sure, uh, right over there! Um, c-can I get you guys s-started with…um, anything?”

The four of us gave our orders to her and, after giving me one last glance, Sami walked away to fetch our drinks first.

Elaina and I sat on one side of the booth, while Marc and Madi sat opposite us. Elaina got to work on me right away and opened her Spellbook to a page close to the gutter.

“Hey,” I chuckled. “Have you been studying more Spells, by the way?”

Elaina blinked as she turned her head. “Oh, how did you know?”

I smiled. “Just a hunch. Do your thing.”

Elaina smiled back and read from her Spellbook, while the twins kept silent and watched.

“Oh, Lord Sovereign of Healing, mend the wounds of this most devout child of Earth.”

“Oi, I’m not a kid,” I interrupted.

“Just shut up,” Elaina chastised me before continuing. “Ahem!…Return that which is damaged to that which is pure of injury, pure of malady, and pure of illness. Cleanse this body of pain and of ailments of all kinds. To you, oh, Lord Sovereign Jacen, I offer this prayer.”

“Wait, what? That guy’s name is Jacen, too?”

“Shh!!”

“S-Sorry…”

At once, I felt a comforting warmth envelop my body, and there was a glow of white light all around me. The warmth caused me to nearly fall asleep—as if my whole body were lying down on a cloud.

Then the warmth left me and I opened my eyes back to the coolness of Old Canal’s interior.

“And there we go,” Elaina clasped her hands together. She closed her Spellbook and put it on the cushion to her left. “How do you feel, Jace?”

“Better,” I rolled my shoulders. “A whole lot better, actually. Thanks, Anomaly.”

“Of course!”

“Wow…” Marc spoke up. “So that…really was…”

“…Magic,” his sister finished. “How did you do that?”

Elaina rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It’s a secret.”

I grinned and gestured to Elaina as if she were a delicate specimen. “Basically, Ela here reads stuff from her fancy book, then poof! It happens.”

Elaina squinted at me. “There’s a lot more to it than that, but…that’s sort of how it works, sure.”

“Amazing…” Madi replied. “Could you show us another Spell, Elaina?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on,” Marc insisted. “Just one more?”

“No. Why’re you guys even here, anyway? You’re both nothing but troublemakers.”

“Says the troublemaker,” Marc retorted.

“Vector invited us,” Madi reminded her, meeting my eyes. “Isn’t that right, Vector?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but for good reason. I think both of us can gain something of value from the other.”

“True,” Marc answered.

I cut to the chase. “What do you both know about the Science Division?”

The twins looked at each other, then to me.

“You really don’t know?” Madi asked.

“That’s why I’m asking,” I answered.

Marc cleared his throat. “The Science Division is a criminal group made up entirely of Abnormals, led by Dr. Shevren Ambrigado. He says he wants to make us Abnormals become the top dogs in Ave Strata, but he doesn’t understand that committing crimes against Normals isn’t how you do that.”

Madi continued. “Ambrigado used to be a molecular researcher with his wife, Helena. But he was disgraced for conducting experiments on live animals, then people, then…himself, and so he was expelled from the Board of Science. We can only guess that him leading the Science Division is his twisted way of getting revenge.”

“It still doesn’t add up to me,” I shook my head. “Why is Ambrigado painting a target on me and Elaina?”

“You’d have to ask him yourself,” Marc admitted.

“Unless…” Elaina’s head perked up, and she met my eyes. “…Unless Ambrigado and those other Abnormals…don’t consider you to be ‘one of them?’ Actually, speaking of Abnormals…you two!”

Madi and Marc perked up and spoke at the same time. “Y-Yes?!”

Elaina squinted at both of them. “I don’t think I caught your names. Tell me who you guys are and why I should care.”

I frowned. “Ela, don’t be so rude.”

She squinted at me next. “Buddy. These twerps tried to fry you with their twinkle-twinkle-little-star bullshit just a half hour ago. This is my only time to be as rude as I can be before we become friends with ‘em.”

I shook my head and glanced for a sign of Sami coming back with our food.

Marc sighed. “I’m Marcus and this is my twin sister Madison. As you guys already know, we’re Abnormals just like you.”

“Correction!” Elaina exclaimed, which startled the rest of us. “You two misunderstand. I am no Abnormal. I’m a Mage.”

“Yeah, that just makes you ‘abnormal,’ as in ‘weird.’” I snorted.

Madi covered her mouth and laughed. Marc grinned and held back a chuckle.

“Hey!” Elaina pouted. “What’re you two giggling about?! I’m running an interrogation here! What can you guys even do, exactly?”

Madi spoke next. “My brother and I were born with the power to manipulate photons and wind currents. We…never really thought about how or why we turned out this way, we just…”

“We’ve been like this our whole lives,” Marc finished for her. “And…people sure made fun of us for our abilities.”

“Can’t say I don’t know what that feels,” I confessed.

“H-H-Here’s your food, everyone…!” Sami said nervously.

She arrived with a large tray stand and distributed the meals. Marc went with an appetizer plate of onion rings and mozzarella sticks, Madi ordered a Caesar salad, Elaina asked for a cheeseburger, and I decided to go with a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

I know, I know. Plain taste.

What I enjoyed the most, though, was my glass of ice-cold water. Madi chose an unsweetened iced tea, Marc went with a Diet Cordo, and Elaina went with water, as well.

“So,” I began as the others took their first bites. “Have either of you seen anyone else from the Science Division?”

Elaina opened her mouth to take a bite of her burger but paused, eyeballing the twins and waiting for them to answer.

Madi cleared her throat. “Well, Rumbler was booked, thanks to you guys. Mass Driver escaped—ah…s-sorry. Um, and who knows where Ener-G is.”

“Huh? Ener-G? Who’s that Abnormal?” Elaina asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s Ener-G, but, like, with the letter ‘G’ after E-N-E-R—Whatever!” Madi shook her head twice. “Just some dumbass who can make laser beams and heat rays.”

“Sounds dangerous,” I said, taking a sip of water.

“Quite dangerous,” Marc answered. “We ran into him only twice before. Both times were on accident. First time was at the Houston Orion Park, second time was at the Saunders-McGlaughlin tech store.”

“Wait,” I interjected. “You guys fought Ener-G already?”

“Yup,” Madi replied, sipping her iced tea.

“Interesting,” Elaina said, placing her glass down. She turned to me. “So, if the Science Division has other members running around Ave Strata, we’ll need to be extra careful.”

“Agreed,” Marc replied.

“Ditto,” Madi said.

“Wait. Hold up. Oi,” Elaina squinted again as she turned back to the twins. “Don’t be acting like we’re gonna form some sort of a team with you guys! Me and Vector are perfectly fine on our own!”

“That’s not up to you, Wizard,” Marc stared back at Elaina.

Madi met my eyes. “It’s up to Vector, really. If you don’t mind seeing more of us, we can take on the Science Division together.”

I thought about it. On the one hand, having the twins help me and Elaina would allow us to cover more ground across Ave Strata. Plus, their light- and wind-based powers could come in handy. But on the other hand, if they were lying about anything…

I glanced at Elaina, who was about to bite into her burger again.

If Elaina’s a Mage, I wonder if she had the ability to read minds. Would be super helpful to tell if these twins were lying right now.

As soon as I finished that thought, Elaina stopped herself from biting down. She looked at me from the corner of her eye.

Huh? I thought in my head again. No way…Did she…hear me…in my head?

She winked.

NO WAY! YOU CAN READ MY MIND! SINCE WHEN?! THAT’S SO COOL!

“Eep!?” Elaina perked up, grabbing at her forehead.

“What?” Marc suddenly looked up and raised an eyebrow as he chewed. “You all right there, Wizard?”

“Hm?” Madi lowered her glass. “You say something, ‘Laina?”

“Oh, ah, no, no, no. Sorry, just…e-enjoying the food! Burger’s, ah, quite good!” Elaina smiled at the twins.

Marc waved her off, looking out the window.

“Whatever, weirdo,” Madi replied, focusing back on her food.

But Elaina’s internal voice was peeved.

Jace, you idiot! She said in my mind. Way to scare me!

Sorry. I just—This is so cool! This is…telepathy, right??

Yeah, yeah. You caught me. So, you were thinking…?

I need to know. Are they telling the truth? Have your powers detected anything in their voices?

As much as I hate to admit it, they are not lying.

Not a single lie?

Not one.

Then, I trust your judgment.

Your call.

All right.

“We’d be happy if you joined us,” I said to the twins. “Thanks in advance for your help.”

The twins looked at me and smiled.

“Sure thing,” Marc nodded and raised his glass. “Let’s stop that mad doctor together, Vector. And, uh, s-sorry about earlier, um…I—ah, we…shouldn’t have acted recklessly.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it man,” I assured him. “We can have a fair fight if you want some other day.”

“To new friends!” Madi cheered.

“Yippee, more…people to pay for here…” Elaina’s voice trailed off.

“Oi,” the twins said together.

“My brother can pay,” Madi said.

“My sister can pay,” Marc said at the same time as her.

Elaina covered her face with her left palm. “Ugh, Lord and Lady help me…”

“Don’t you mean help 'us?'” I laughed.

Sami returned to give free refills, and Elaina and I formally acquainted her with the twins.