Scene 18 - May 29th

Interior MLED Compound, Evening

Quinn Kaufman

“Ready to go, guys?” Anima asked over our earpieces as we changed into our costumes.

“Almost.” I pulled the mask of the PA4 over my head and tapped the button at its belt, bringing it to life and causing it to shrink into a perfect fit. “Ready.”

“What have we got tonight, Anima?” Canaveral asked, slipping on his gloves and flexing his fingers.

“Anything you see on patrol, of course,” she told us. “Nothing in particular for you to check out, though. Just be careful - tonight’s route takes you through both Buff Boy and Crows territory.”

“Which means any of their metas could appear. Newton, who would you be running from?” he asked me.

“Rube or la Borda,” I promptly answered, then added, “but really, Canaveral, it’s my last patrol as one of the Journeymen - I’m a full Champion tomorrow. Can’t I at least assist?”

“I would advise anyone to run from Rube,” he said, shaking his head. “The guy’s dangerous as hell, and ambient probability manipulation as his power means that the fewer variables, the better. As for la Borda...” He gave me a look. “Do you think you could actually do anything against her?”

“...could you?”

“...touché, kid.” I smirked under my mask as he continued, “But the point is, no taking any chances.”

“What’s life without taking a few chances?” I asked rhetorically.

He sighed. “You don’t know what’s good for you, Quinn.”

Anima laughed, the earpiece crackling slightly as she did so. “Oh, the irony...” she chuckled.

“Hm?”

“Nothing. Zookeeper and Journey will be back in a moment.”

As she said that, space twisted nearby us, reforming to reveal the returning heroes holding hands as Journey teleported. She released the older woman’s hand as she spoke, apparently finishing a sentence she had been in the middle of. “-I’m just saying, if he’s putting in the effort, then why not?”

“Trying to change is good, but it doesn’t mean much until we see lasting improvement,” Zookeeper told her, then glanced at us and smiled. “Hey Quinn, hi honey.”

Abe stepped forward and gave her a brief kiss. “No trouble, dear?”

“Just a purse-snatcher in April Park. Nothing Simone and I couldn’t handle.”

“Disgusting,” I joked to Simone as she pulled off the mask of her costume and began extracting her hair from the cap she used to compress it until it fit in the costume.

“I know, right?” she agreed. “It’s like watching your aunt and uncle flirt.”

“I was gonna go with your mom and dad.” I tilted my head to the side thoughtfully. “Does that make us cousins?”

“I could see that,” she mused. “Except that Holly is sort of like my older sister, which means that you two would be incestuous.” I opened my mouth, but she cut me off, adding, “I know you two keep saying that you’re not dating, but you can’t pretend you don’t want to!”

I sighed. “Okay, yes, Holly and I like each other, and we’ve talked about getting together once we’re feeling more stable. But you know that both she and I have been through a lot in the last couple months. It hasn’t been the right time yet.”

Simone grinned. “I want to be the maid of honor!”

“That’s getting kind of ahead of things, don’t you think?”

“Hey, no more time to gossip,” Canaveral interrupted. “Come on, Newton, we gotta go.”

“Right. Later, Simone.”

“Later,” she said with a wave.