Yeah, it turned out it really wasn't a good idea for me to start worrying about what was going on with Paige right before going back out onto the field. That ended up being the only thing I could think about, no matter how much I told myself to focus. In the end, that second match truly was not my best showing by any stretch of the imagination. I didn't come in fourth, but only because nobody did. Liqueguy and I both tied for third. Me because I was distracted and him because Split and Tumbleweed were making a point of targeting him. Probably because he had been first in the initial match and they didn't want to let him get too far ahead. Either way, the two of us tied for third, Split came in second, and Tumbleweed was first. That girl was really good at this stuff.

The other three all encouraged me after that, even Liqueguy, which was weird because we both had the exact same points. But he seemed to think that I'd take it harder than-- oh right, they all saw me as a little kid. Okay, not quite a 'little kid' but in comparison to them. They thought I was like twelve years old. Between that and the fact that this was my first time doing this, of course they felt the need to encourage me. I was just glad they absolutely weren't just going to let me win. They might want to make me feel better and all that, but when it came down to it, they wouldn't take it easy on me in the actual matches. If they'd tried that, I might've punched them.

Either way, I was annoyed with myself for being so distracted. I wasn't going to let it happen for the third match. Which, at the very least, had a bit more of a break than the one between the first two. Well okay, not if you counted the time spent in that special room, but still. There would be a thirty minute break this time, both to build up anticipation for the final match of our set, and to give us time to go get food, relax a little bit, and be ready to throw everything we had into it. Plus, of course, it gave the people behind the games time to sell more merchandise to people.

And that all meant that I had time to make sure I wouldn't be distracted by worrying about what was going on with Paige, by calling her. I just needed to hear her voice tell me that things were fine, that was all. Then I'd finally be able to shove my worrying voice down into the dark hole it belonged in and focus on the last match. There was no way in hell I was just gonna give up now. I'd come in second place the first time, then tied for last, and for the third I was absolutely gonna bring it.

But before I could do that bringing it part, I had to actually deal with the thing that was making me so distracted. Which meant calling Paige. That was all I had to do. I just had to call her, hear her voice tell me she was fine, that everything was fine, and then I'd be able to focus. Yup, that was all I had to do. Just call Paige and get her to tell me she was fine. Call her up, admit that I was worried about her-- them, that I was worried about all of them, and tell her that I needed to know why she hadn't texted me at all. Tell Paige Banners, that Paige Banners, that I was so distracted by the fact that she hadn't texted me all morning that I couldn't compete properly.

So maybe it wasn't all that surprising that I hadn't actually made that call yet. I wasn't in the stadium anymore, having taken one of those exits through the tunnel and out into the park to get some fresh air. At least, that was what I told the others because like hell would I tell them the real reason I wanted to be where nobody could overhear me. All three of them had been really cool about the entire competition, but I didn't think we were quite to the point of me explaining that whole complicated situation. If nothing else, we definitely didn't have the time for it. This break was only supposed to be half an hour and it would take at least that long just to explain the Biolem thing. Not to mention all the other secrets I'd have to get into. That was a two day job, at least. Actually, probably even more than that since there was no way I'd be very good at explaining things considering the only reason I'd even try would be if I had severe brain damage.

Sitting on the roof of a building just across from the park where that secret entrance was, I took a deep breath and stared down at my phone. Yeah, there were plenty of messages from the rest of the people I knew, but none from Paige or anyone else in her group. Okay, maybe getting a text from Flea would've been surprising, and getting one from that Echo chick who went with them would be positively shocking. But Sierra could've texted. Yet she didn't. None of them did.

No more beating around the bush with myself, no more stalling. Hell, why was I being so weird about it anyway? In any other case, Paige would've texted at some point, she just would. The rest of the people I knew had, and she was a Biolem. It was even easier for her to text than it was for a person whose brain wasn't a computer. Of course it made sense for me to be worried about what was going on. And it was probably nothing anyway. I was just going to call her, hear her say everything was fine, and then I'd feel dumb for a minute before focusing on the match.

Before I could let myself carry on another distracting, time-wasting tangent in my own head, I hit the button to call Paige. It was like ripping a band-aid off, I just had to do it. Sitting there with my feet hanging off the edge of the roof, watching the street below, I listened to it ring a few times in my earbud while doing my very best to focus on not shouting for the girl to just pick up already.

And then, miracle of miracles, she actually answered. Her voice came through crystal clear, so abruptly it actually made me jolt a bit. "Hey, Paintball, sorry I didn't say anything before. All set?"

All set was one of the codes we'd decided to use to check if it was safe to say anything sensitive that shouldn't be overheard by anyone else, just in case. We shouldn't be making calls on speaker phone or anything anyway, but there was always the chance something would happen. Or that someone else would call one of us while spoofing one of the others' phone number. So we had these pass phrases that no one else would know. At least, presumably. Paige and I had both come up with the system. It wasn't perfect or anything, but it was something.

"Going ready," I replied, giving the return phrase that would tell her it was fine. "It's okay. I mean, you're with your family and all that, I get it. You don't have to think about what I'm doing. I just wanted to make sure everything was cool over there. I mean, I'm probably interrupting anyway. I'm sorry, I just, uh, yeah, like I said, wanted to make sure everything was cool with you, cool?"

God, what the hell was wrong with me? No wonder Paige was enjoying her vacation away from me so much she had just stopped texting completely. I really needed to just shut up right now.

There was a brief pause, a moment of silence that really did not do anything to help my anxiety about the whole thing, before Paige carefully replied, "Not exactly. I mean, yes, it's okay now and we're all safe, but things were a bit…" She trailed off, sounding like she was trying to decide how to explain whatever it was. "Hang on, we should probably do this in person, it'll be easier."

Blinking, I slowly pointed out, "Well that might be a little hard to do, Paige, considering we're--"

"Hey," she cut in. But now her voice wasn't just coming through my earbud, it was behind me.

"Wha--" Sure, I jumped, almost falling off the roof in surprise. I jerked around, a yelp escaping me as I stared back that way. She was there, just stepping onto the roof from-- wait, what was she stepping off of anyway? How the hell did she get up here? There wasn't a ladder or stairs or anything, and it was a sheer drop on that side that went down like eight stories. I was pretty sure even a Biolem like Paige couldn't jump that far. Unless she managed to borrow Flea's power.

Scrambling to my feet, I stared that way. "Paige, how the hell did you get here!? I don't even, I mean how would-- What-- how are--" My mouth opened and shut a couple more times after that, but no sound came out. All I could do was point at her with one hand and make useless motions with the other, as if that would mean anything at all. Finally, I managed a very weak, "What?"

"Okay, there's a lot of questions in those few words, and we should probably take them one at a time," Paige replied. "First, we're here as in Phoenix because we asked for a bit of a favor from some people who owed us and happen to have access to instant transportation. There's a story there, I'll get into it in a minute. Second, we're here as in close enough for me to get up here this quickly because I tracked your phone before you even called, so we were just down the street."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Taking off my helmet and holding it loosely at my side, I stared at her, trying to decide just how to respond. Finally, I pointed out, "Wait, we? You said we. Who else is with you? And how did you get up here? Wait, did you have jet boosters in your feet that you never told me about? If you had jet booster feet and never told me, I'm gonna be so annoyed. But I'll get over it as soon as you show me, cuz that sounds amazing." Great, now I really wanted to see Paige with rocket shoes.

"Believe it or not," Paige replied with a tiny smile, "I think I can safely say that not only do both of those questions have the same answer, but the answer itself is definitely gonna raise even more questions." She turned a bit, glancing back over the edge of the roof while calling down, "Okay, fine, you can stop complaining about how bored you are and make your grand entrance now."

Well, obviously she was talking to Sierra, but I didn't know what sort of grand entrance the girl could make with-- and then I saw some completely unfamiliar girl rise into view. She was very pale, with light brown hair. But that wasn't the part that really stood out. No, that would be the fact that she was standing on a bubble. It was just a really big soap bubble, floating into view with this strange girl standing on top of the thing as it came high enough for her to hop off, landing by Paige. Then she gave me a casual salute. "Hey, babe, disappointed we don't have to be twinsies all the time anymore? I promise, I can still look like you anytime I want."

Wh--oh! Right, duh, I was so distracted I actually forgot that one of the main reasons those guys had gone on their trip was to get an Incogniter for Sierra. "Oh, hey! Right, yeah I guess that explains-- wait no that doesn't explain it, what the hell was that bubble!? How did you do that?"

"Let's sit so we can tell you the whole story. Well, a really quick version of the whole story anyway," Paige put in, stepping past me to plop down on the edge of the roof. "Remember how we were supposed to be visiting a quiet little cabin where nothing dangerous would happen?"

With that, the two of them told me the basic story about what happened earlier this same day. They told me all about the frankly ridiculous shit they'd been through starting that morning. It was all mercenaries and helicopters and transporters to Touched-Tech sanctuary islands and just-- so much, it was so much. Obviously they couldn't get into all the details, but even what they did get into left me sitting there gaping at both of them in disbelief from behind my ski mask.

"Okay," I finally managed after they gave me a few seconds to digest all that. "So I guess I'm not the only one who attracts these situations after all. But are you guys okay? I mean, you made it through all that, obviously. You stopped the fucks from taking over the island, so it's all good?"

Paige gave an easy nod. "Yeah, I mean, the mercenaries are gone anyway. There's still a big thing with that senator they'll have to deal with, but that's not really anything we can help with. At least not right now. Irelyn and Echo said they'll handle it. They were very emphatic that we are not to do anything about him. We're not even allowed to make a few prank calls to his office."

"Yeah, and for some reason they were both looking at me when they said that," Sierra put in with an offended scoff. "As if Paige is above making prank calls to an asshole who deserves so much worse than that. But they did make us both swear to leave it alone for now, so here we are. They were gonna have us wait back in Detroit, or on the island since that whole damn area is gonna be completely swarming with investigators digging into the senator and those mercs, but Paige said we should come hang out with you instead. So you better put on a good show, cuz I totally could've been lounging back having one of those umbrella drinks on Super-Tech Rocket People Island."

Snorting despite myself as I tried to process how much they had been through without me, I started to nod. "Yeah, sure, I'll do my best to make it entertaining for you. Thanks, I definitely needed motivation t--wait a second, none of that explains the bubble!" That hit me abruptly, as I snapped my gaze back and forth between them. "What the hell was going on with that bubble?"

"Oh, that thing?" Sierra replied dismissively while literally giving a little shrug, "I just Touched."

They both snickered at the noise I made, Paige reaching out to give me a light pat on the back when the wheezing went on a bit. "She made me swear I wouldn't say anything until she did."

Now that Sierra had gotten the reaction she wanted, they both told me the rest of the story. After they'd finished dealing with those mercenaries, they had been hanging out on the Touched-Tech island and Sierra had just… Touched, just like that. It wasn't in the middle of a big stressful thing, it wasn't a dramatic moment or anything, she just saw one of those Orbs nearby and… well, Touched it. So Biolems could get powers like that. Sure, it made sense even if it was a bit surprising. People could, animals could, even objects could, apparently. Of course Biolems could.

In the end, finding out that Sierra had Touched wasn't nearly as shocking as finding out just what power she had come out of it with. Or rather, whose power. They both tugged me away from the edge of the roof and made me sit in the middle while they explained the details about that, and showed me what they meant. They showed me exactly what Sierra could do with those bubbles of hers, how they actually worked. Anything done to the smaller bubble gave protective charges to the big bubble, which Sierra could use to either block or heal that particular type of damage. And we all knew what that had to mean.

"Pencil," I murmured with a slight shudder. "You really did inherit his power. I mean, a version of it anyway. I guess we should just be glad you don't have to hurt anyone to create charges? This is one of those power recycling things, right? It has to be. But what are the odds of you ending up with it? I thought recycling always sent the old powers to people like, hundreds of miles away."

Sierra gave me a look with that utterly unfamiliar face. "I mean, we were hundreds of miles away at the time. Thousands, really. But I dunno, all I can say is it happened, and I really doubt it's completely unrelated to Pencil's power. He died that recently and suddenly I have a power that's that similar? The bubble thing's weird, that's more like Clime, but other than that, it's gotta be his. For all I know the Orb was aiming for you to let the person who took him down get his power, but it got confused and found me instead."

My mouth opened, shut, opened, then shut again as I fought to find something to say. But what? I had nothing. Wait, no, I did have something. I knew what to say, the only thing that mattered right then. Looking at Sierra, I asked, "Are you gonna be okay with this?"

It looked like she was going to snap off an easy, sarcastic retort for a second, before she stopped herself and met my gaze. "Yeah. I mean, like you said, I don't have to hurt people to build charges, I can just… uh, hurt my little bubble, I guess. And then I can use that to heal. I can--oh fuck, people are gonna expect me to use it to fix their ouchies, aren't they? Damn it."

It was my turn to reach out and pat her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, you can hang out with Patchwork and bitch together about all the rude people who expect you to heal them. I think you could both use a friend like that." Yeah, I had no idea what else to say, this was all just… a lot to take in. They fought a mercenary army to save those Tech-Touched who wanted to build a spaceship, and Sierra Touched with Pencil's recycled power? Just… what?

But hey, at least it made sense that Paige hadn't texted me all day, because goddamn.

Before I could think of anything else to say, my phone chirped. It was the alarm I'd set to remind me to head back because the next match was gonna start soon. I didn't even have to explain that much though. As soon as the timer went off, Paige straightened. "Oh, right, your match. We should head back before you end up getting disqualified."

It turned out she meant 'we' literally. The two of them were going to change into their own costumes and head in with me, to cheer me on from right along the sidelines. Somehow the thought of that made me feel both better and even more nervous at the same time.

Whatever, the point was, I was gonna have to process the entire story about what they'd been through later, because right now I had to go play out the final match of this particular game. And this time Sierra and Paige would be right there watching. Which was-- wait, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Seriously, we'd just established that those two managed to get attacked by a whole mercenary army with Touched people helping out when I wasn't even there. Now that we were here together, in a place with all these innocent people, and a bunch of other Touched who probably already tended to draw plenty of their own absurdly dangerous situations?

Oh God, now I was afraid to go back to that stadium and it had absolutely nothing to do with the match itself. We were putting all of our apparently unlimited ability to attract trouble into one area, and whatever Grand Power happened to be overseeing the whole situation had seen fit to give Sierra one of the strongest healing powers in existence?

What the hell kind of world-ending cataclysm were we about to bring down on that place?

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