Kinetica and the other members of the Chosen are surprised to see Andi at their headquarters, which is currently down to a broken-down National Guard armory.
“Your boyfriend send you to sell us on his plan?” Kinetica asks tiredly.
Andi shakes her head. “Nah. I’m here on personal business. It’s for the plan, but I don’t need any of you to do anything except talk to me.”
“About what?” Kinetica asks, with mild curiosity peeking out of her weariness.
Andi shuffles uncomfortably. Finally she can muster the courage to explain. "I want to ask you about myself. About how you see me. "
A10 and the Chosen are sitting together in the armory’s main room. There’s an assortment of used furniture scattered here.
Chosen, huh? How far they’ve fallen, Andi tells herself. But she’s not here to pick a fight. For once.
Instead, she explains her problem.
Her uncle Tatanka draws his power from the psychokinetic energy of objects - in his case, relics from the first occupants of the American continent. Andi inherited both the powers and the notebook of her late uncle Chan. And in that notebook she found the explanation of how her own powers work: by holding onto the power others grant her in their minds. She must forge a psychic link with those around her. Through that link, she can become stronger.
A10 talked to Tatanka about this in “420 - Revenge of the Seven Wonders” – Ed.
“Do you really need us for this?” Kinetica finally asks. “Didn’t you get enough love from your own team when you asked them?”
“I came to you guys first,” Andi says, to Kinetica’s evident surprise.
“Why us first?” the other woman asks, eyebrows raised, leaning forward on the couch to look at her rival team’s sometime leader.
Andi spreads her hands, palms up, in the slightest of shrugging gestures. “Cause I know what my guys think. Cause I don’t want to come in here riding high on praise and be brought down. Cause I value your opinions and want you to know it. The JHHL and Irregulators never got along very well. I get that. Lotta reasons for it. But it’s not like I look down on you. So if you’re gonna shit on me, I’m ready for it. I want you to be honest. I want you to say what you think.”
She looks around at the gathered heroes. “Can ya do that?”
Kinetica, too, looks at her team, reading their faces for the mood. She turns back and smiles. “If we say you suck, we mean it, huh?”
Andi grins. “Yeah. So say what you mean. So who wants to go first?”
The hero Briar Rose speaks up. “Nitrogene and I joined recently. We don’t really know you.”
Andi smiles gamely and shrugs it off. “Vague impressions are okay. If you don’t have any, just say pass or something.”
Rose nods. She taps two fingers of one hand against the palm of the other, in a sort of thinking gesture. Andi is reminded of an ex-smoker tapping their pack of cigarettes to loosen one, and forgetting they’ve given it up.
Finally she has something. “I have two things. The first Thunderbolt. Chankoowashtay del Rio. I always got the impression he was… I don’t know, not taking things seriously. He was always smiling when I saw clips of him. I sort of understood that you got his powers. I’m not sure how–”
“Uncle Chan is family,” Andi cuts in. “That’s how. Anyway. Sorry. Go ahead.”
Rose raises her eyebrows, but continues. “I guess I pictured you the same way. Not being too serious about things.”
She pauses, seemingly waiting to be rebuked or criticized or attacked.
But Andi just nods. “You said you had two things,” she prompts. “Or did ya have more here?”
The surprised Rose sits back, then considers. “No, that was the first thing, I think. Uh, the second thing. You’re in a relationship with Harry Gale - Mercury - right?”
Andi smiles a little awkwardly. “Yeah. We’re in something. Not sure what to call it.”
“Well, the second thing is, he seems like he’s really serious. He’s second gen at least. He gets the job done. He’s one of the reasons I came to this city to begin with. I thought, maybe I could get to meet someone like that.”
Rose shrugs. “So… if he takes everything so seriously, and he’s such an admirable hero, then… if he’s dating you, or on a team with you, or whatever, all of these things… then… the I guess… you must have some qualities about you that I didn’t know. So, I think you could say my impression of you is someone who has qualities I can’t see. You’re someone I’d like to know better, maybe.”
Andi takes all this in, and nods. “That’s what I’m looking for. Thank you.”
The alien Scraaseetotabobah goes next. Since a meeting with former teammate Superchica, he is no longer going by “Bob”. Andi doesn’t know what happened, but it feels like something positive happened and she’s willing to leave it at that.
The light the alien radiates pulsates in time with their words in English. “Your light has always struggled with your darkness. I do not mean light and dark like humans of Earth sometimes think, as ‘good’ or ‘evil’. It’s hard for me to understand these concepts. I mean in the sense of radiating versus absorbing. You struggle to radiate at times and you struggle to absorb at others. Your blackbody balance is distorted.”
Andi tries to process that. “What am I radiating?” she asks finally.
“Yourself,” the alien says. “Some people shine. As my teammate said of Mercury. He shines brightly.”
Andi thinks she gets it. “You’re saying I don’t assert myself at the right times, and I’m more assertive than I should be at other times?”
Scraaseetotabobah bobs his head enthusiastically. “Yes. You do not properly balance your light. That is my impression of you.”
Andi smiles. “Well. Thanks. That’s interesting.”
Nitrogene goes next. “I got nothin’, sorry. You seem chill. But that’s it. Pass.”
Andi nods, and looks to Kinetica as the last member.
The woman sighs, and sits back in her seat. “I’ve had time to think and it’s still not enough. Stingray and Kid Kelvin used to run things around here, and they’re both gone for different reasons. Things fell on my shoulders. And I kinda blame you guys. Not you specifically, but you guys. Mercury’s new team.”
Andi just nods. Like Rose, Kinetica seems to have been expecting some pushback, and receives none. So she resumes.
“I’m doing my best to keep things under control out there. In fact, I’m–”
An alarm goes off. Andi realizes this must be some kind of call to action the team is familiar with, because they all immediately jump up from their seats.
Kinetica looks down at Andi as she walks past. “I promise I’ll give you an answer. But you know how it’s been lately,” she says quietly.
Andi nods. “I know. Stay safe out there.”
The last time Andi met with her old team the Irregulators, TK was prickly and frustrated with his team being poached (as he saw it). This time he seems a lot more mellow.
“My opinion of you? I think you know. But just so that we’re all honest…”
TK folds his hands together. “There are times I think the world of you, darling. And there have been times I was really disgusted with you for leaving us. You can be a pain in the toches. And sometimes the only thing keeping me going is your refusal to ever give up, no matter how overwhelmed you are.”
“Andromeda, you are a complicated person. And you seem so infuriatingly intent on making yourself a simple person. You keep trying to pigeonhole yourself into ‘generic super-strong bruiser’ and you are so much more than that.”
TK lets out an exhausted sigh. “Anyway. You asked.”
Andi smiles. “I did. And I knew I could count on you, like I always can.”
She looks around expectantly. Nobody speaks immediately, and she feels a brief bout of disappointment.
It’s dispelled when she hears Alloy. “Geez, Teek, how are we supposed to follow that?”
But the woman smiles, takes a breath, and gives it a try anyway. “Uh. We all looked up to you. Well. Still do, I guess. Just we have farther to look, yannow?”
“You’re kinda like, untouchable though. Nothing could touch you. You kept us running when we wanted to quit. You’d yell at someone when they effed up, but it was never personal. We knew you’d chew anyone out. You’re like one of those uh, whatsit, drill sergeants from the movies.”
She finishes with a shrug, having nothing else. The Animal, currently in the shape of a raccoon, holds up a piece of paper in its paws. Alloy looks down questioningly and exchanges facial expressions with the Animal - “is this your answer?” “yes” “should I read it?” “please”.
She unfolds the paper, turns it around in her hands to face right side up, and clears her throat. “Okay. Ahem. A10 is an effective hero. She is not always an effective leader. I think it’s because she doesn’t want to be. But then why does she do it?”
Alloy glances down at the Animal, who’s looking steadily at A10 with it bandit-masked eyes. Alloy looks up as well, and shrugs helplessly. “I’m just the messenger, don’t shoot me.”
Andi smiles in understanding. “All good. Thanks.”
She turns to the new members, Dark Derek and Sloth, and extends her hands in invitation. “You folks joined because a couple of existing members bailed, including me. It was for good reasons to us, but I ain’t gonna defend it because you gotta make up your own minds.”
Derek, who seems perpetually wreathed in shadow, speaks. His voice is strange, sort of hollow and echo-y, like he’s shouting down a hallway to be heard despite being right here. “You said it, don’t really know ya. But all these folks keep talking you up, like they’re waiting for you to come back, like the team ain’t the team without ya. Take that how ya want.”
Sloth seems like she’s caught in a time warp and is moving at fractional speed. “You… seem… cool… hope… stuff…is…work…ing… out…with…new…team…”
Andi is now curious. This was her team - technically still is, the whole “teaming up with Mercury” thing has blown way out of proportion from what she’d intended. “Hey, you two, what’s your schtick and stuff?” she asks of the two new members.
Dark Derek explains himself first. He deliberately drops his voice into the lowest register he can manage. “I am the vessel of the Bloody Rose’s Flame. I am fated to be the living key that unlocks the seal of the forbidden knowledge behind the Black Gate.”
Andi looks briefly and with concern at TK, who smiles winsomely. “Just go with it,” his face tells her, though he doesn’t say a word.
She turns back to Sloth. “And you?”
Sloth, after a few moments, just nods at TK.
TK speaks up. “She’s giving permission for me to explain. It might take her awhile and she wants it gotten right. Sloth turns kinetic energy into a time-warp. Basically the faster you come at her, the slower you get. She’s like a reverse speedster, everything crawls to a stop around her. She can even extend the field to keep a building from falling down. It’s really impressive when you see it in action. Buuut… she’s been teased in the past about being ‘slow’. She’s kinda sensitive to that. It can take awhile to hear her out, but it’s always time well spent.”
Andi smiles and turns back. “Cool. Very cool. Glad to meet you both.”
Dark Derek looks away, uncertain how to handle the positive response. Sloth eventually smiles in embarrassed enjoyment.
Andi’s next stop is Tatanka.
It’s hard to get time on his schedule. As an HHL member, he’s been laying low at the request of the Gales, so as not to provoke the Seven Wonders before it’s time to deal with them. But he’s still interested in being a hero. So he’s taken his show on the road.
Andi finds him in Georgia, helping construct a hospital on Cherokee land. He sees her coming and cuts short a conversation he was having with two workers and a supervisor.
She smiles as he approaches, and taps her chest with a closed fist. “Hey. I talked to the young teams back in HC. As I listened, I could feel the psychic link building up. Felt like, I dunno, a cool drink. Refreshing. Calming? Not sure. But knowing I had to do this made all the difference, I think. I just never much cared about peoples’ opinion before. But now that I’m doing it, it doesn’t feel so bad.”
Tatanka claps her on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you. And do you need a contribution from me?”
Andi shakes her head. “I think I have it, actually. From last time we talked.”
Her mood darkens, and it reflects on her face. “No. The person I think I really need to hear from isn’t here. I wish… I wish Uncle Chan could tell me how he thinks I’m doing.”
Tatanka leads the way to a wooden bench that’s already been emplaced for hospital visitors. “I can’t speak for Chan. Tell you what though. I’ll tell you a story about him. You can tell me if it’s what he’d tell you or not. Okay?”
Andi takes a seat, and Tatanka joins her. With one elbow on the back of the bench, and one leg up and over the other, he starts talking.
“I had my own crisis of faith, when I decided to ask about using real artifacts from the tribes. I knew it was a political position I wanted to take - honor the power of the people of the continent and the beliefs they held. Some of it was pragmatic. I wanted to keep some of those artifacts safe. People can promise to respect territories and treaties, and too often they’re telling little white lies.”
Andi chuckles briefly at that.
“But at the same time, I asked myself, and still ask. Is it disrespectful? I’m using things that aren’t even from my tribe. The way I’m using them isn’t something anyone can just do, of course. But am I the proper bearer? Is it crass to use a medicine wheel to help stop a bank robbery?”
He gestures at the skeleton of the hospital. “I’m working for the tribe using Cherokee artifacts. Doesn’t have to be that way.”
He turns back to Andi, and smiles. “Chan gave me some stuff he’d been given, after he’d asked around. Tools are meant to be used, he’d said. Use them respectfully, but use them. They shouldn’t collect dust in a museum somewhere.”
“I asked him if it was okay, because of course he could give me permission on behalf of a whole people, right? But he just waved it away. He said, they’re yours now. Someone else already showed you their trust through that gift. Why are you asking me how to use what’s yours? Ask yourself.”
The older hero looks down at his niece. “He was trying to tell me that my own conscience was sufficient. I was a good steward because I always double-checked myself to not be a bad one.”
“I think he’d tell you the same thing. These powers are yours now. Like you say, he’s not here, so why are you trying to ask him anyway?”
Andi has had this conversation before. But the feelings of doubt don’t fade quite that easily. “What if I fuck up?” she finally asks.
“Well let’s find out,” Tatanka grins. “What did you do the last time you fucked up? And before that? You telling me you never fucked up and are new to this?”
Andi laughs and smacks him on the shoulder with a fist. “Alright, ya got me. Turn my own self-doubt back on me. Clever clever.”
She stands up from the bench. “I did fuck up. Recently in fact. Gonna go do something about it now, actually, if that’s okay.”
Tatanka rises and nods. “You can find me again, any time you need me.”
Andi leaps, and flies into the sky. There’s one conversation left unfinished.
Kinetica is on the roof of a parking garage. It looks like she’d between missions, from how out of breath she still is.
Andi lands. “Hey. If this is a bad time–”
The other woman actually laughs. “Every time is a bad time in the city lately. But I can fit you in now. You ready?”
Andi nods.
Kinetica cracks her knuckles. “Alright. Well, as current head of the Chosen, you are… You are frustrating.”
She gestures at the city. “You had a team. You walked away from that responsibility to be with your boyfriend on his team. You took a couple Chosen with you. And then this shit happens. And you people take off into space.”
Like others, she seems to expect that Andi will respond, and she’s surprised when that doesn’t happen. She peers back at Andi after several moments.
“It’s not really like that, is it. It’s not that simple is it.”
Andi shakes her head. “It’s not that simple. But you didn’t ask me for a briefing on stuff. I asked you for what you thought of me.”
Kinetica slowly nods, like this is hard to comprehend but it’s finally sinking in. “Well. I don’t apologize for how I feel. And this is how I really do feel, even if it might not be based on truth. But I think what really galls me is that you did all that and they still look up to you! The Irregulators love you. The JHHL loved you. You were this no-nonsense badass and you had all this respect and responsibility and you walked away from upholding that responsibility. And they still like you.”
She throws her hands up rapidly, a sharp impatient shrug. “See, I know it’s unfair, I don’t even need you to tell me. Because you people are going after the Seven Wonders. You’re not just hiding out in someone else’s fancy house until the danger passes. You’ve gone up against them since they returned. You’re fighting a fight the rest of us didn’t want to touch.”
She turns away, and looks down, and clasps one elbow in her other hand in embarrassment. “I kinda hate you because you make me look bad by comparison.”
Andi wants to say something, offer some kind of apology or comfort or something. But she came to hear this truth. It’s not her place to try and convince anyone to think better of her.
Can she say something anyway?
She tries.
“I’m glad to hear that’s why you hate me. I just talked to my uncle. Tatanka. He said, a good steward always thinks they must be a bad steward, always checks in on themselves, always doubts. If you’re so dedicated to improving that you feel like you aren’t leading well enough, I gotta think that makes you a good leader.”
Kinetica looks up, worried and tearful. “Yeah? I don’t feel that way.”
Andi laughs aloud at that. “You think I feel like I deserve 5% of the praise y’all have been giving me? Who the hell do you know that feels confident that they’re doing a good job?”
Kinetica thinks, and thinks, and shakes her head. “Okay,” she admits at last. “I think you might have something there.”
An alert goes off on her phone. Another incident requiring superhero intervention.
Kinetica sighs, and looks back to Andi. “Gotta go.”
But a thought occurs to her, and she smiles. “Wanna come along and help?”
Andi grins. “I’d love to. I wanna see what kinda leader you really are.”
Kinetica mock-sighs. “God, thanks for that. No pressure, huh?”
But her smile is genuine. And with that, the pair fly off the roof, and off on their mission to save the city.