Special

[Brendan]

Training
75% M.Skill
25% M.Power

8/8/2012 11:42 PM
Fifth Avenue

He had to test it. He had to see his ability work for himself. Who wouldn't want to try out their supposed superpower after learning about it? He'd left the meeting and crossed the street, now walking along Fifth Avenue. It was almost midnight, but in this city that didn't mean much. In particular, he had one store in his sights, but only once he'd actually used his powers. That was the tricky part.

He settled on a street vendor, probably ripping people off. Focusing, he stared at the man. Maintain visual. Maintain visual. Make him hear... A siren? An explosion.
A few seconds went by, and then the man ducked forward and turned, staring across the street into Central Park. Momentary panic faded away as the man simply looked confused. "What was that?" Brendan could hear him asking someone.

It had worked.

Excited, Brendan immediately willed a new illusion, this one visual. The man leapt back from the building, yelling. Was it actually working? Brendan had gone with the first thing that had popped into his head, which was the building on fire. A dumbstruck look fell across his face. He could do anything.

People were starting to take notice of the crazed man, though honestly, this wasn't all that unusual either. Probably on drugs, right? This was all Brendan needed. He headed down the sidewalk toward the intersection of Fifth and 59th, where a glowing Apple logo was calling his name. He had three ones and a five in his pocket, but he had a feeling they'd be worth much, much more.

[Brendan]

"Hi, is there anything I can help you with today?"
Brendan shook his head politely. "No, just browsing today. Just to make sure, I can use cash, right?"
The young woman nodded. "Mhm. If you need anything, just let someone in a blue shirt know."
"Will do."
Perfect. All Brendan had to do was cast an illusion making his ones look like five hundred dollar bills, and the Apple store was basically his. He realized they'd come up short at the end of the night, and someone would probably get fired. Perhaps he shouldn't go for anything too big. He didn't want to screw anybody over. Was it even possible to do something like this and not screw anyone over?

Perhaps for the time being he'd be better off sticking to harmless pranks. At least until he thought of a way to get away without putting someone out of a job, or their own pocket money. He wandered over to a table of Macbooks, stolling idly past a young man who was checking one of them out. Browsing the Internet, it looked like. Brendan stepped around to a Macbook on the opposite side of the table and pretended to toy around with it as well.
Something innocent. Something harmless. He'd make the screen go black, with the words "Turn Around" in big letters. He just had to focus. Focus...
The man glanced back over his shoulder, then turned back to the screen. Brendan held back a smirk. It was working. Another illusion, a loud screech coming from the computer the young man was checking out. He jumped, glancing around as if he were somewhat embarrassed, but no one turned to look his way.

[Brendan]

The poor guy seemed confused, but at least he wasn't seeing burning buildings or anything. Brendan couldn't help but wonder what senses he could affect. The basics were sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and then balance, right? Was balance an official one? And for that matter, what even defined a sense? Sure, people had their definitions, but he doubted his power would change based on the words in the dictionary. No, there had to be some universal defining factor. Perhaps just any form of perception. If that was the case...

The man glanced around, scrunching his nose slightly. So smell worked. Brendan supposed the basics would work. But balance... No, no matter how much he tried, the man wasn't toppling over or anything. His power most likely only affected the basic five senses then.

Brendan decided the young man had had enough and wandered off, already thinking up a new, better test. Focusing on an older man fiddling with an iPad, Brendan willed the man to simply not see Brendan. He wasn't sure if it worked that way, but it was worth a try. He'd make himself invisible, inaudible, completely undetectable to the man. Creeping up from the side, Brendan waved a hand in front of the man's face.

No reaction.

"Yes!" Brendan grinned. He'd done it. But to his surprise, the man looked up when he shouted. Brendan froze, thinking he'd been wrong, but the man looked around with a confused expression for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the iPad. Brendan backed away slowly, not sure what to make of it.

[Brendan]

One at a time. What a pain.

It seemed that Brendan's illusions could only affect one sense at a time. Which one took presedence, he wasn't sure, but he knew he'd blocked the man's sight and not his hearing. Still, the idea was exciting. Brendan could become invis-
Now that was an interesting thought. Could he affect more than one person at a time with these illusions? He had to try.

"I just don't see myself using it, you know?"
"Yeah, it's kinda one of those 'if you have the money to blow' things."
Brendan approached a couple of girls around his age, making sure to stand where they could see. Except, with any luck, they couldn't see. He jumped and waved his arms as if waving to someone outside, though surely it would get their attention. But the girls didn't so much as glance up. It was a success, though a limited one, as he could practially feel the energy draining from his body. Brendan carefully moved out of their line of sight before dropping the illusion, not wanting to suddenly appear before anyone.
"So one sense at a time, any basic sense, can affect multiple people but it's harder and makes me tired faster. Sooner or later, I need to test and see if I can cast separate illusions on separate people at the same time, but for now I think I need a break." Brendan didn't usually talk to himself, but hearing his own voice made it feel more real, less like a dream.

[Miku]

A night on the town! How exciting! Miku didn't much get out, epecially not this late. But her parents were just so proud of her excellent performance in a gymnastics meet some days back so they didn't really mind if she went out to celebrate. Her allowance this week was huge, and gave her a bunch to spend on something real nice.

She was getting super excited about what to buy. There were so many things she wanted! A cute outfit, a new mp3 player, a pair of boots. Maybe even... a cat?! Oh wait, she had a cat.. Maybe a cute out fit "for" her cat? Did they even make those? Maybe they did, she had, just "had" to find out!

"Hmm... Oh! Oh! This shop. I wanna go to this shop!"[/b]

He appeared to be an electronics store, showing off a bunch of cellphones, notebooks, mp3 players, iPods, and other things. Miku might like sports, and cute and adorable things like her beloved Cookie, "OMG I could get another STUFT! animal!"

Miku might have been a sports fanatic, and a gymnastic prodigy, but she was still a nerd who loved new electronic toys. So this store was basically like a candy store for her, or even better, even better, a STUFT animal store!

"Mmmmmm... STU- Oh!" Her outer monologue was cut off when she'd seen an oh-so-familiar face amongst the people shopping around. A very suspicious looking next door neighbor. Talking with his parents the other day, she gathered some Intel covertly. His name was Brendan.

So what.. was Brendan doing? Miku ninja slipped into a lane with high shelves, peering through cracks in the shelves. Upon first glance, he was constantly looking at everyone else in the store, probably checking to see if anyone was watching. Watching him.

Was he that kind of guy? A shoplifter?

Oh please don't let my crush be a creep. I'd cry!

Still watching him, he didn't seem to actually be taking anything. So what... was he doing?

"So one sense at a time, any basic sense, can affect multiple people but it's harder and makes me tired faster. Sooner or later, I need to test and see if I can cast separate illusions on separate people at the same time, but for now I think I need a break."

Senses? People? Getting tired faster? What in the world was he talking about? He was talking as if he had power to do something, to change... what people see? His voice was just above a whisper, but she was able to gather that much. His repeated glaces back to the other people seemed to reinforce her suspicion. That was silly, like something out of X Men. People in real life didn't do that. There was...

Wait....

Miku never watched much TV, but one of her friends had texted her about some real crazy stuff being said on the news. Like suddenly people with powers popping out of nowhere, and about how some creepy guy was doing a call out to all of them to gather. Miku had thought she was just pulling her leg. But could it be that she wasn't kidding? Was Brendan one of these unique people? What did all this mean?

For some reason, all these questions were just making her feel anxious. For one she was stalking her crush, which was making her feel hot in the cheeks. But she was watching him act weird. It was a weird mixture of emotions.

"Hey! Do you need help?"

Miku squeaked at the sudden voice from just behind her. She was so fixated on Brendan that she hadn't kept an eye on anyone else. Turning around, blushing profusely she giggled nervously.

Ah! Nope! I just am stalking my Crush, nothing wrong with that right? I have pictures of him on my phone! .....And on my wall! And.. and...

"Hehehe... N-no I'm fine, I just got a huge allowance and was just looking at these really cool.... cords! I love cords.. yeah, I buy lots all the time.. hehe... They're... long and.. cord like.. you know... like a cord"[/b] She said, rambling on and on and on about the first thing she picked up from the lane. It was stupid, she knew, and the guy was looking at her weird, but she just couldn't help it! She just only hoped that Brendan missed the whole commotion that was only a mere lane away from him.

[Brendan]

Brendan paused when he heard a somehow familiar voice. Glancing to his right, he saw that same girl he'd spotted once or twice before. She lived next door, if memory served, so it was only natural that they'd see each other now and then, but he had noticed her in places other than their apartment building.

Light right now.

Honestly, Brendan didn't give the girl much thought. She seemed nervous and awkward, but perhaps she just lacked social skills. At any rate, he'd already looked at her, and it would seem out of place to ignore her. "Oh, hey. We live in the same apartments, right?" He didn't want to dig himself into too deep of a conversational hole, but he couldn't just say "well, see ya" either. He turned and pretended to be interested in an iPad. "Thinking about getting some late-night electronics?"

Brendan mulled over his options in his head. He could use his illusions to get free stuff, but someone would get fired. If eyesight was required for the illusions to work, then security cameras would show the cashier accepting a single dollar and punching it in as $500. Not only would the employee get fired, they might get in legal trouble, not to mention what would happen if Brendan ever wanted to come back to this particular Apple store. No, he needed a reliable way to get money without being seen on camera. But wasn't that wrong? Using his powers to get money might not fly well with Haven, depending on how moral everyone was. He supposed he'd have to wait and see, rather than risk his membership now.

That's right! "Miku, right?" He remembered it because it struck him as an odd name in New York City.

[Miku]

With a jolt, Miku froze, paying no mind to the sales attendant who was looking at her like she was a rare commodity. All, or well, most of her attention was on the fact another voice came from the person she was currently stalking.

"No one was stalking you!"

"..."[/b]
When at last her body could move, and she could speak, she spun around and blurted. In her nervousness, she had apparently answered a question that no one asked, and instead admitted her own guilt all in the same sentence.

"Wha...? Miku? Naw... I'm just.. naw not Miku. What a silly name, like for real! I mean who is that even, heheh. ..Oh look look at the time, boy it's late! Well bye, if I don't get home my parents might bind me to the basement for days at a time! Ya know heheh, strict parents! Bye mister illusionist!"[/b]

First note to self. When denying your identity, don't ramble on about it like goof. If you're too obviously denying a simple question, it makes it way too obvious. Also, why the crap did I call him that?! He's gonna prolly kill me to keep his secret! I don't even know what he was doin! But maybe he was and he'll be like 'I'm sorry notmiku. But to keep my secret you must be silenced,'

James Bond! Help me! ...Wait, which one? Pierce Brosman or Sean Connery?

With that dilemma in her mind, she might as well have grown wings and flew out of the store. Good thing she was athletic, cause she bolted out and ran so fast she could have sworn she ran on the wishing fountain's water outside.

Moments later, out of breath (for multiple reasons), Miku was panting rather loudly and decided to take a break on a well lit bench.

Wait.. Well lit?

[Brendan]

Brendan just froze up at Miku's frantic display. What the hell was all that about? Nobody's stalking him? Surely she couldn't be that awkward, could she? If she was stalking him, that was the worst thing she could have said. Which meant she was either hopelessly thick, or so brilliant she was playing mind games with him. Then she caught his attention.

Bye mister illusionist!

What the hell was going on? He'd mumbled to himself, but he was certain no one had been close enough to hear it. Considering the stalking remark, he had to consider the possibility that she'd been watching him since the meeting. That could mean everyone's safety had been compromised. But just from the meeting, there was no way for her to know about his ability. Kevin had told everyone telepathically. No, she had to have found out there, in the store. He'd been careless. With the stories in the news, she probably knew exactly what was going on. He needed to talk to her. Perhaps...

Brendan left the store right behind her, but didn't follow her too closely. He did his best to keep an eye on her while blending into the flow of people. She crossed the street into the far less crowded Central Park, and he did the same a short distance down the road.

Miku sat to rest on a park bench, and though she didn't seem to think she was being followed, Brendan had just spent the last fifteen minutes learning to use his illusions. Though he was already tired, he had enough left in him to keep himself unseen for the time being. Visible to anyone but Miku, Brendan crept up and sat down on the bench next to her.
"How much do you know?"

[Miku]

In her relief that she believed she lost him, Miku reclined in slightly more relaxed state.

"Aww man! I'm so stupid! Why did I say that? I should buy a roll of duct tape with my allowance money, not an iPod![/b] She said to herself, in what she called her "outer monologue" People had their inner monologue, but that was no fun, she had to say them out loud sometimes for greater effect and introspective reflecting.

Silly Miku being unaware of her surroundings didn't notice that "something" had indeed tailed her and was basically directly behind her, preparing to sit on the bench she was sitting on.

"Squeeeeeee!![/b] She squeaked at his sudden intrusion into her thoughts as she made a failed attempt to press the "Eject Seat" button, flying off the bench face first into the dirt trail..

If someone talking to her was a knock on the door, his voice was like a swat team door buster ready to take down a castle. His words infiltrated her mind and made her feel retarded. What an odd sensation.

After moments of eating dirt, Miku decided to position her hands and legs, and almost cat-like, spring up from the ground. a technique she learned while doing gymnastics no doubt.

"I know nothing! You'll never get anything out of me, Lex Luthor! No matter what kinds of terrible things you do to me! Why are you invisible?!"[/b] With her bearings regained, she dramatically pointed a finger at his general location on the.... somewhere... invisible on the bench while her other hand was resting on her hip. The typical tsundere stance of superiority.

After moments of consideration, however, she decided it couldn't hurt to tell him what she "did" know.

"Well.. if you really wanna know. I guess I can tell you so long as you don't kill me for knowing. Be warned though, I'm a master of Jiu Jitsu Haten Baku style! (She made this up)

"In a chance encounter, I saw you in the store and decided to see what you were up to. You're my neighbor. "Perfectly" normal neighbor thing to do.

But then you were acting all weird and stuff. But you weren't like, shoplifting like a creep. Which is cool, cause like yeah. But then I couldn't hear what you were saying. But I really really "really" wanted to. So I super homed in on your location and managed to get some snippets of words. You were talking about a power like some kind of X Men. Which is totally cool. But totally not real, right? I mean My friend was talkin bout people with abilities and stuff. But there's like "no way" that's real right? I mean, this is comic book stuff, love comic books btw, but still! This is totally RL!"

With that speech, she had finished a mouthful, scrutinizing him with her gaze. Could he really be one of these guys?

[Brendan]

This girl. Was she for real? She seemed almost too ridiculous to be a cartoon, let alone a real person. "Relax. You're right. I can mess with people's senses. I just found out today." He became visible once again, still sitting on the park bench. "And it's hardly useful for killing somebody. I can make you taste chocolate or hear a train, but that won't exactly put you in a coffin." He'd messed up. Bad. She knew what he could do, and she knew his name, where he lived, probably even what school he went to. She was a liability, but there wasn'r really anything Brendan could do. He wasn't about to kill anyone, but he didn't know how to keep her quiet. He'd just spilled the beans that he couldn't actually kill her, another mistake. He wasn't thinking clearly. Two mistakes in a ten minute period? This new power must have been getting to him.

After thinking for a moment, he decided it was best to call Kevin and ask him what to do. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the dialer. "Don't move. I have to call someone."
Haven. 42836.
He pressed Call, but nothing seemed to happen. Instead, his screen went black, and a voice crackled over the phone.
"Thank you for calling Haven - bringing people together since tonight!"
Seriously? An automated hotline?
"For english, press o-"
Beep
"It looks like you're gifted - congratulations! To learn about your gift, press one."
No.
"To call for assistance, press two. If this is an emergency, press zero. In the future, you can simply dial HAVEN-0 for emergency assistance."
No. If someone was having an emergency, would they really want to sit through these options?
"For help dealing with a crazy blonde girl who found out about your powers, press three."
...touché, Kevin. Brendan pressed three, and the automated voice went on.
"Please hand the phone to the crazy blonde girl, as it appears she is gifted as well."

Brendan paused, then looked up at Miku. Seriously? This was perfect. If she had an ability too, he had just as much on her as she had on him. He held the phone out for Miku. "It's for you. It's important."

[Miku]

Seriously? A phone call? Who was he calling?

"H-Hey look! I don't want Al Pacino to come after me. I saw him in a movie and he's scary. We can work this out. No mafia kidnappings, no word to anyone else, My lips are sealed, I swear! Who "knows" what the mafia would do to me? Torture me for information, force me to go on shady missions as a scape goat only to be turned into mind controlling aliens bent on ruling the world from the inside out. Like China."[/b]

Why did she "always" ramble? She was concerned she might have Tourette syndrome at this rate. The moment she got nervous, boom, every secret in her life is revealed and she's left wondering what the hell just happened.

He's not saying anothing.... button press? ...No talking? Is he in a freaking automated message?! Their mafia has a hotline? What?! I don't even![/b]


"It's for you"

Miku stared at him for several minutes. Holding his cellphone up for Miku to take. She knew what this was, she'd seen it before. She just knew she'd pick up the phone, say "Hello" and then be brainwashed into a mindless zombie. She saw it, she knows! Miku could practically feel the sweat beading off of her forehead at the intense pressure the stupid.. what is that, a droid? She didn't even know, was putting on her.

With a shaky hand, she decided to take it. Worst case scenario was she was a mindless zombie, no big deal. With a giggle that was heavily laced with hysteria, she put the phone hesitantly up to her ear.

"H-h-h-h-hello, You've reached Miku Mikoto, but she is unavailable at this moment, if you could just leave your message after the beep I'm sure she could get to you at the earliest convenience."[/b]
---

"Hello - Miku, Mikoto - and congratulations. You've been gifted with superpowers. Your particular gift involves shapeshifting into objects that you see.

Your body will be going through a lot of changes during this exciting period of your life. You may experience intense hunger or drowsiness. This is normal, and should pass within six to twelve months. Actively using your gift may help this phase pass more quickly, but will also intensify the effects.

At any point, you may dial HAVEN from any phone, working or not, and reach this hotline. In case of emergency, please dial HAVEN-0 for immediate assistance.

If you have any further questions, please contact our help desk between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, or simply ask Brendan for help. Goodbye!"

---

Looking completely dumbstruck. Miku just sorta... stood there. For a while.
There were so many wrong things about this picture that Miku couldn't even wrap her head around it all. Like a baby snake trying to eat a dinosaur egg... Sort of.
First thing wrong. A hotline just spoke to her
Second thing wrong. She was an X Men.
Third thing wrong. She wasn't sure
Fourth thing wrong. She forgot her money at home.
Fifth and final thing wrong. She coulda had a V8.

In a daze, she handed his phone back to Brendan. Still looking distantly off in to the park background. How in the world did she have abilities? Shape shifting? Did that mean she was like Beast Boy or those guys from Animorphs? What's more, the symptoms he spoke of were indeed what she was feeling. But that could be anything, Exhaustion and hunger could just because she was doing a lot of sport activities.

However that doesn't explain the sudden urge to have rare steak. Huh.

Oh... so I'm an X Man, no big deal."[/b] She said, more to herself than Brendan, with a tone that sounded like she was on the verge of snapping and laughing hysterically while running through the park wooping like Daffy Duck from the Loony Toons.

[Brendan]

Brendan took the phone back and couldn't help but ask. "What can you do? It didn't tell me, it just told me you could do something. I mean, if we're both freaks, we might as well watch each other's backs. This dude who set everything up pretty much said there are people who are going to be hunting folks like you and me down. That's why a group was formed in the first place. And since we live next door to each other, it only makes sense that we be battle buddies." Brendan paused, realizing he was going on a rant without letting her answer.

Brendan really couldn't believe the odds. He and his next door neighbor both getting these abilities? He couldn't help but wonder if the presence of Florence and that other girl had something to do with it. After all, Firetruckman had been affected, and he was right there too. "And I think the term they use is gifted. At least, that's what Kevin was calling us."

[Miku]

She looked at him with confused look. People hunting them down? Who would do such a thing? She just now found out she was different, and she already has to fear someone taking her in and doing weird tests to her or something?

"Hunting us down? Why.. would anyone do that? Huh... wonderful world we live in. I didn't even know till just now. I mean it's not like I asked for it, ya know. But he said.. I could... But how?"

He said things I could see? anything? Even a person? But how do I do that?

Looking at Brendan, it was.. well the most significant thing in the general eyesight range so she decided to try it. Taking a long look at him, she tried her best to pay attention to every detail she could. Somehow, it was surprisingly easy. However, the changing was not. In fact, the changing was not even happening. What did she have to do? Shutting her eyes tighter, she was straining herself, to see if by concentrating hard enough, she could make it work.

Sure enough, she felt.. "something" at least, like she was getting weaker. It was small at first, but escalated greatly, but she felt nothing physical just herself getting weaker. Deciding to stop there, she shook her head, feeling weary.

"Sorry.. I just can't do it.. yet, or something. He said.. that I could change shapes. like, into people, or something, that I could see. That I was a shape shifter

[Brendan]

Brendan could hardly believe it. A shapeshifter and an illusionist. They'd make the perfect infiltration team, that was for sure. "It might take some time, I suppose. Mine worked right off the bat, but everyone's different. Just practice it. That's what I was doing in the Apple store." Brendan didn't usually share information, but in this case it seemed more beneficial than dangerous. "In fact, I just used mine for the first time like half an hour ago, if that. I was thinking abut tricking them into seeing my ones as hundreds, but I don't wanna get anyone fired."

Anything she saw? Suddenly, Brendan felt strangely self-conscious. Could it be done from memory? If so, he had a feeling she'd be practicing on people, and though he wasn't particularly embarrassed by his body, he didn't like the idea of anyone seeing his wiggly bits. "Just don't turn into me. And just to be sure, try not to stay in a form for more than two hours. I don't want you going all Animorphs on me."

Brendan looked back over his shoulder. "Anyway, I think it's probably military stuff. I mean, it makes sense that they'd want to capture people like us and use them for whatever, you know? Either way, don't use it in public. I can make illusions without causing a scene, but if you turn into a panda in the middle of the park, people will notice."

[Miku]

But! Miku loved pandas. So adorable.

Also, at the sudden thought of turning into Brendan from earlier she realized what that might mean. She could. She could.... She "could".

Miku felt her cheeks flush a probable vibrant red at his comment. Her mind effectively shut down as one thought dominated over the rest, BDSM gear and whip in hand. Miku had a terrible gutter mind, absolutely one hundred percent terrible mind.

Upon his Animorphs comment, she realized what this could also mean. Well, she knew it already too. but.. "I could be.. pretty dangerous. Maybe.. I should hide it and not use it? Maybe I could pretend like I don't have it.. What if I turn into something like a Tiger but can't control myself? Or what if I get someone hurt because I did something while looking like them? I'm just a gymnast, I'm not cut out for this line of work."[/b]

She said, ending her speech in a slight depressed tone, it seems her life has entered into a new chapter with, or without her.