Yeah sorry I’m a spineless loser, it was a bit from the start :(

The revelation of understanding the they/them gag did not soften the blow of a woman splitting herself in two (or the following dissolving of one of the women).

Admittedly, I was taking it better than I would have a few days ago. Each batshit event in my life made the next slightly easier to deal with.

“Alright, Ava: you next.” Kenzie said, facing herself back to the crowd behind her:

“Why me?” Ava whined, glancing at me.

“Because I’m sure Michael will want to thank you after he hears what you did.”

Ava sighed. “Alright. I’m not doing a visualization like you did, though; I already feel so light.”

Kenzie gestured for Ava to stand. Ava rolled her eyes and obeyed as Kenzie took the now-empty seat.

“Okay, skipping all the theatrical bullshit… my alias is Hygieia. You won’t find anything about me, though; I’m no good at a fight. I can only heal people. My ability gives me the choice to strip matter from myself and use it to heal others.” Ava seemed anxious to tell me the next part.

“Michael… you… okay, don’t make a big deal, but you were technically supposed to die. I used my power on you.” She looked away shyly, rubbing her arm in that nervous way people do.

I’m sure this is the moment I’m supposed to jump up and hug her. To cry, bawling as I worship her for all she did. We’d kiss, and she’d take me to her room to ravish me.

However… I am an awkward loser. I was both overwhelmed and numb to the events transpiring. It was overload. No way I’d react how any normal human should.

“I… uh… mhm….” I stammered.

Ava looked at me.

The other girls looked at me.

“Yeah.” I gave a thumbs up.

Kenzie snorted.

God, this was awkward.

“I’ll go now!” Sara spoke up, cutting the tension in the room. Ava and her switched places.

“Hey, Michael! Sorry for not telling you, but it’s kind of a secret thing, you know? I know we haven’t known each other long or anything, but I still feel bad keeping it from you.” Sara said, oozing sweetness.

Then, she was gone. One second she was there, and the next she was gone. None of the girls looked surprised, obviously.

No one said anything, so I spoke up. “Oh, uh… invisibility?”

Sara’s voice came from my left. “Nope!”

I looked over and saw Sara, though she seemed a bit out of breath.

“Teleportation! Pretty cool, huh?” She smiled wide at me, obviously proud of herself.

“I… well, yeah, of course.”

“I go by Gone Girl. Like the movie? Except I’d never do any of the things she did, she was so mean! A bad, bad woman!” I feel like the movie rant was unnecessary, but it was cute.

I had to ask. “If you wanted to be a movie, why not, like, ‘Invisible Woman’ or something?”

She pouted. “That’s too obvious! And I like Gone Girl!”

“But the chick in that movie doesn’t turn invisible.”

“It’s a play on the title!”

“Okay, okay, let’s get back on track, yes? You’re next, babe.” Kenzie interrupted the teasing.

“I… I don’t…” Kate looked at me and began whispering to Kenzie. Kenzie looked annoyed and whispered back. I couldn’t hear much, but I could hear Kate saying things like ‘he shouldn’t’, ‘we can’t’, and ‘what if’.

They shared a few more whispers before it appeared Kenzie had won. Kate huffed, blushed, and looked at me with a hint of ****.

“I… I don’t like this, but… never mind.” She took a deep breath. Okay, I’m… I mean my nickname- no, alias! Or maybe alter-ego… sorry, sorry, it doesn’t matter. My whatever-you-wanna-call-it is Duality. I can-“

“Don’t tell him, babe; show him!” Kenzie goaded from the couch.

Kenzie looked back at her girlfriend. “B-but I don’t have my suit! It’ll-“

“Then go get it, dummy, if you’re worried about Michael seeing your naughty bits. He already saw mine.” Kenzie shrugged. Even facing away, I could tell Kate’s already red face turned a couple shades deeper.

“Okay, okay… I’ll be back.” Kate left the room and exited out the front door.

Kenzie leaned towards me. “Hey, just a heads up: Kate’s **** isn’t because she has anything against you. In fact, it’s the opposite; she doesn’t want to tell you about anything in an effort to protect you. Me? I think you’ll be perfect!”

“Perfect for wha-?” I began to ask. I was cut off by the door opening and Kate sheepishly reentering.

Wow.

Kate was cute, mind you. I believe I mentioned she was very ‘nervous librarian’ coded.

Now she was standing in sexy spandex.

It held tight to every bit of her body. Slim, with a swirling mixture of a deep dark red and blue. The colors were almost black, but the hints of different shades were intoxicating, the swirls giving the illusion of her being curvier than she was in reality (not that she didn’t have a good body, she was just more lithe than she was round).

Kate’s now-glasses-less face was bright red. I’d assume, anyway; she was wearing some kind of cloth that covered the bottom half of her face. Like a military-esque balaclava?

“Now show him.” Kenzie commanded.

Kate closed her eyes.

And suddenly she was erupted in flames. The blazing heat might have singed my eyebrows, and she wasn’t even close to me.

Then, after a moment, she stopped. I was about to yell about the floor being on fire, but then she….

She became a puddle, extinguishing the flames around her.

After another moment, she re-solidified. She held a nervous stance, like a kid hoping her parents were proud of her. Me? I was scared shitless. So I clapped.

Kenzie giggled. “Great job, honey.”

She directed her attention to me. “I’m sure you’re wondering why we are telling you all of this, yes?”

I nodded dumbly.

Kenzie gave me a toothy grin. “I want you to join us!”

-

Powers have been introduced! The hardest part of this story has been deciding powers. I have a few other characters and their powers in my mind. Sorry for taking this long to even introduce this stuff!