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The Natural
From the Diary of Kate McCormick:
Dear Diary,
The storm was the first sign that my life was going to change. I know that in my college days at Connecticut College for Women, we were assigned to read Shakespeare's Macbeth, or was it Julius Caesar? The brain cells start decaying quickly once a woman hits her mid-thirties. Anyway, in one of the plays a character complains about how the elements themselves were throwing a hissy fit because a murder had occurred.
I guess old Will was right when he jotted down those lines about the way the weather can reflect our own inner turmoil and predict massive life changes. At least, I know that this woman's life changed immediately after the big storm hit. I'll never forget that storm. The reasons that make one thunder boomer, as Pop used to call them, so memorable will become evident as I complete the daily entries in this little book that I have so sorely neglected for the last while due to the very changes I'm going to relate. So the storm changed my life, because after that one night of lightning and thunder I became much more than the divorced, sexy, mother of a teen girl. (Editorializing is all my own, by the way).
I was rushing out of the travel agency after missing my supper because of the unexpected travel needs of a new client. His name was Devin Trevor, and that slightly British sounding name alone was enough to make me conjure up mental pictures of some Cary Grant/Pierce Brosnan type. I figured I would spend a bit of extra time fixing up his travel data and make a sparkling impression on him. I had even skipped my lunch to rush home to my Greenwich Village flat and change into my killer suede skirt and jacket with strapped heels. Big mistake, since he didn't actually show up that day, and I was caught in a downpour while walking home. Needless to say, this girl has learned to never ever wear suede on a cloudy day.
I ran down the streets and pushed through the crowd as dusk fell and so did I! A broken heel sent me sprawling onto the none-too-tidy streets of New York, as lightning flashed, and I saw nothing more than light and heard deafening thunder. The crowd who helped me up did so without getting overly grabby, but I would not have noticed if Fagin himself had brought his class on a field trip down to pick my pockets. I saw a man with gray eyes who seemed keenly aware of me and yet showed no surprise that I had apparently been close to being hit by lightning.
I admit it: I was merely furious that the heel had broken, and my outfit was ruined, and the client never showed up, et cetera, et cetera. I told him I was fine. He nodded with the world-weary look that should have warned me that something from out of Rod Serling's basement had just entered my life. Anyhow, I made it home and was greeted by my frowning teenage daughter Allison. She was and is a good kid. She makes top grades, sings like a bird, and looks after the apartment like a senior citizen. Still, she was pretty irritated that her mom had been late, had forgotten to call, and had entered the place looking like the Bride of Frankenstein.
"Where have you been? I've been holding supper!" she snapped. I shrugged, hugged her by brute force, and explained. "Okay, okay, but if this happens again, you'll be grounded!" she chirped. Like I said, she is a great kid, but she has a smart mouth.
I tried to get some much-needed sleep after wolfing down the dinner, doing some laundry, and ignoring the dust gathering on my furniture. The storm raged on, and around midnight (don't these things always seem to happen at midnight?), a crash of thunder shook the house, and I heard odd noises.
"Great. Allison's up watching 'Friday Night Videos'!" I yawned as I followed my maternal instincts and slipped on my pink fuzzy slippers and headed for the living room.
I opened the door and frowned as the lightning illuminated a figure in our home that was by no means my blonde, 16-year-old daughter.
"Who are you? You'd better get out now, or I'll have the cops down here so fast your head will spin!" I shouted.
The intruder laughed. He was wearing a blue costume with a jagged lightning bolt on the chest. A hood or cowl (do they call them cowls?) covered his head. Now I freaked. He was a super-villain like the Ghost or Dr. Spectro from the news.
"I have no fear of the cops. I control the flashing fury of the lightning bolt!" he said. He gestured, and a bolt of lightning shot out of his hand directly toward me. I jumped across the room and crashed behind the couch as it erupted into flames. I rolled desperately across the floor and yelped as my elbow hit an end table.
My thoughts raced as I prayed Allison would be okay if this creep toasted me like a muffin! I lost a slipper and staggered across the room. I didn't know what to do. I just kept moving.
He jumped forward and seemed to ignore the fire from the couch. He grabbed me, and an electric shock raced through my body. I felt pain and then nothing! I brought my knee up hard, and he doubled over with pain. I caught a vase and shattered it across his head. He cursed, and as we struggled back and forth, the pain of the electricity that he was still generating faded. I didn't realize it at the time, since I was occupied fighting for my life, but later it all became clear: I was immune to his lightning bolts. They did not hurt me after the initial shock. I think this startled the Blue Bolt. That was his nom du crime. I guess he took it from a wrestler.
I punched him with all of my might. I tried to imagine he was my ex-husband or, better yet, his new wife. He fell back, and then, as my hands rose in front of my face, electricity blasted out to stun him. I had become some type of female battery!
I called the police after smothering the charred couch. Allison held me as I explained to the police what had occurred. All I actually told them was that an intruder had broken into my apartment, and I had surprised him. They hauled him away and thanked me for my time. I had not told them anything about the way I was able to absorb and then generate lightning. If the Blue Bolt attacked me now, I would have punned badly with lines like, "You're not up on current events!" but that was then, and all I could do was catch my breath.
The next morning, as Allison and I munched on deli bagels, and I scanned the New York Times, I tried to put the events of the night behind me. Yet something told me that my life was changing forever in ways that I would never anticipate.
Allison said, "Mom, I was wondering if you had any luck getting those Duran Duran tickets?"
I ran a hand through my long brown hair and said, "Not yet, honey, but I won't give up. Why you want to see boys who look like girls is beyond me!"
Allison did that whole pained teen thing and said, "This from a woman who hitch-hiked to see a bunch of hippies at a pig farm."
I groaned loudly. "Dear, that was Woodstock!"
"Whatever!" she said with a smile that indicated she could not believe her mother was so old!
***
Dear Diary,
A policewoman named Ari Martin had called me to say that the Blue Bolt had refused to give them any explanation for why he broke into our place. He had no previous record, nor had he been known to ever display super-human powers or a bad fashion sense before!
I tried to forget the incident by writing it off as a case of a nut breaking into the wrong apartment. I prepared a rather spectacular presentation for the mysterious Mr. Trevor for Monday and took Allison to a ballet presentation. That night, as we rode in a taxi from the theater to our home, we chatted about her obsession with the various New Romantic bands.
"Okay, so that Revolutionary War look is how you tell if they are part of the movement?" I asked.
Allison rolled her eyes. "Mother! That's just Adam Ant."
I started to tell her that Paul Revere and the Raiders were dressing like that when I was a child, but I refrained out of a sense of parental wisdom as well as due to the fact that the taxi suddenly left the ground and began to rise slowly off the road!
Allison grabbed my arm as I stared helplessly out the window. The driver was shouting in his native tongue as his eyes widened in disbelief. I saw a woman with flowing platinum hair and a filmy gown hovering in front of the taxi. She smiled coldly as she apparently levitated it!
"Mom! Another super-villain! This is too cool!" gasped Allison.
I had my own opinion and rolled down the window to lead Allison to safety before our car was too far off the ground. I stopped when the woman in the see-through gown said, "You are a pathetic specimen!" I grabbed her bare foot, and, to my surprise, I generated an electric shock that left her gasping in pain.
She kicked out at me, and I pulled hard on her leg. She toppled over and remained in one position in thin air. I tried to wrestle her down, but she seemed to be supported by some unseen force. I climbed out the cab window and jumped on her. We both hung there in the air, and, as I drew her gown tightly around her neck and twisted, she began to lower the taxi. I continued to strain as I held her captive, and she gently returned the taxi and Allison and the driver to good old New York pavement.
I said, "Look, I don't know why I've become the prize in a super-villain snipe hunt, but I want answers."
Ariel was the babe's costumed name, as I would later learn. She touched my face suddenly, and I began to float off the ground again. I kicked wildly and tried to return to the ground. I landed hard, and then, as my hand reached out to touch her again, I shocked her to the pavement. Do understand that, when I so casually write that I generated electricity or flew or breathed under the ocean, et cetera, I do so from hindsight. At the times I first learned about my new powers, I was as spooked as any woman would be!
Allison said, "Mom, are you okay?" She had good reason to ask, since her attractive, professional, and still-within-the-youthful-age-range mom was literally hovering in the air. I landed and took her by the air.
"Honey, I don't understand what's happening to me! I think it might be better for you to stay at your friend Kimmie's house for the next few days. If I've become the target of these creeps, then you could be in danger," I said.
Allison said, "I don't want to leave you. But why are they attacking you?"
I shook my head slowly. "I just don't know!"
***
Dear Diary,
If I am going to tell this story in full and glorious detail, then I should really back up and explain that, while our world had super-criminals of various types as well as super-human good guys, most of us just read about them in the paper or saw them on the tube. A woman like me did not just walk into a mall and meet the Blue Beetle or Thunderbolt as part of my daily routine. Thus, I was both aware of what was happening to me, but I was also scared and confused by it. I had developed super powers. The powers matched those displayed by two thugs to tried to attack me. I could generate or absorb electricity at will, and I could control gravity to the point where I could fly or make a floating thing sink. I had never heard of any previous costumed character that had such specific powers. E-Man could fly, as could Captain Atom, but that particular ability did not truly define them. I should have known the police could not help me, since in such super-human circles the cops seldom did more than clean up after the Question or the Answer or whatever-his-name-was did his thing.
Super-powers did not run in my family. I was born in Connecticut, and I grew up in suburban Bridgeport and attended college at the University of Connecticut for Women. I majored in Art History, did a bit of ballet as a beginner, and even taught yoga, but I left before graduating. I had Allison when I was 19, and my college career ended abruptly. Let me assure you all that this occurred after my marriage to my high school sweetheart Max.
Things were blissful for us until he left me for a younger woman. I was hurt. I was angry. It took time, but we worked through our differences. I think we were both simply too young to take on adult commitments.
He and I talk now as civil adults, not screaming maniacs. I took the job at the Travel Agency when Allison was six. It's a good job; I get to dress well, and I work pretty regular hours. It pays an adequate wage. Still, I digress. My point was that, in my 35 years on earth, I had never experienced this kind of weird comic book craziness.
I dropped Ali off at her friend's home and tried to make sense of my altered life. The storm had started it all, and that was as much as I could safely determine. I decided to take a few precautionary measures in case I became the human target of additional nut-cases. I tried to lose myself in work and finally met the elusive Devin Trevor. He was every bit as much of a British dream as I'd imagined him to be. He wore a costly suit and spoke with a cheeky charm that appealed to my ear as much as his handsome demeanor appealed to my sense of aesthetics.
"Ms. McCormick? So sorry to have been unable to meet you last Friday. My plans changed at the last minute. I do apologize. May I make up for it by being especially early for our dinner date?" he said as he glanced over my presentation and admired my legs.
"Dinner? You do move quickly. I'd be delighted. Now, do you find my work to meet your needs?" I asked as I batted my eyelashes coquettishly. Yes, that was me: Scarlet O'Hara of Greenwich Village!
Devin said, "I do indeed. I look forward to planning many trips with you."
That night I wore a little black dress with heels and hoped that I would not have to actually breathe in it. Devin was punctual and charming. He had seen the world, and yet he remained an idealist. That appealed to the ex-flower child in me. It was nice to meet someone who still retained the values of the 1960s. We took a carriage ride through Central Park and became very well acquainted.
As he kissed me goodnight at my door, I stared blissfully up, expecting to see the full moon and the stars, but instead I saw a caped woman sitting on my roof!
I glanced back, but Devin had turned the corner. I fumbled for my keys and dropped my purse. As I bent over to grab the bag, my hand recoiled from a flaming ember. The woman had engulfed my designer purse in flames!
I whirled to face her. She had a red crewcut like that Lennon or Lennox woman Allison loves from MTV. I saw her short red skirt and pierced nose and ducked for cover as flames shot from her red eyes. She was silent and grim and decidedly eager to cook my goose.
I flew upward and soon reached the roof, but in my haste I overshot and was high above the city in seconds. I almost enjoyed the sensation. It would have been a real kick if I had done so of my own free will. I swooped downward and learned exactly why Captain Atom doesn't fly in a black mini-dress. As I fought my embarrassment and hemline, I drew closer to Pyra. That was this latest kook's nom du crime. I tackled her hard and tried the electric eel move. She gasped and then burst into flames. My dress was reduced to ashes in seconds. My jewelery melted and ran down my arms to the ground. Yet I stood there naked and unhurt. The flames did not even leave any type of perspiration upon me. It was like I was immune to all heat.
I punched Pyra in the nose and grabbed her nose ring. I slammed her head against the wall and kicked her down. I admit it was all a bit violent for a PTA mom, but I was angry and tired and, let me repeat, naked.
I left her stunned and decided to do something different. I pulled the extra key out from under a plant and opened my door. I dragged Pyra inside and dressed quickly in a red U. of Ct. nightshirt.
When Pyra woke up, she lunged for me and gasped as I shocked her backward with one touch.
"Okay, tell me why you and the Brotherhood of Badly Dressed Psychos are hunting me down?" I demanded.
Pyra sneered in the way super-criminals do. I have since learned this to be a generic trait among their class. It's like the Elvis sneer but different. "They want you dead. The Immortals seek your death. If we kill you, then we may keep their blessings!" she said.
I fluffed my hair and smirked. "Oh, is that all? I should have realized it was due to the anger of the Immortals! Am I a secret blonde or what?"
Pyra said, "My powers come from one of the Immortals. King Fura is the ruler of fire."
I frowned and said, "Look, I know my mythology. My kid studied it last semester. Fura? That name is not found in any of the old myths."
Pyra shrugged. "That is his name, or the name this incarnation chooses to use."
I said, "But why would he want me dead? Did I dampen one of his weenie roasts or something? Is Smokey mad at me too?"
She said, "Your witless banter does not impress me. The Immortals don't choose to explain their needs to us. They merely command, and we obey if we are wise!" She began to gasp as, suddenly in one burst of flame, she spontaneously combusted on my good white rug.
At this point, I'd love to say that I did something heroic and daring, but I didn't. I was not Nightshade or the Tyger, or even Nova. I was Kate McCormick. I was a divorced mother who worked at a travel agency. I was a bad cook with a pretty face. I was not a heroine. Not yet. I sank to my knees and wept.
I spent the next day in the New York Public Library. I poured through books and microfilm and wore out my back and my eyes and my patience, though not in that order. Then, as I was ready to throw up my hands and give up, Devin Trevor appeared, looking dreamy.
"I tracked you down! It took all my considerable skills as a woman hunter to find you," he smiled.
I smiled back. It was not much, but it was enough. "The office told you that I was researching today," I said.
He shrugged boyishly. "True, but I found the office phone number without operator assistance."
We began to talk, and, in a few minutes, I had poured out my whole story to him. To his credit, he did not call for the library police or any men with white coats and nets.
"I've heard of some weird heroes like a chap called Mr. Muscles and a 'Ghost Who Walks' called the Phantom over in Africa, but this is highly curious to say the least. May I help you in any way? If you need protection, I could stay with you," he offered.
I hesitated then turned him down. I was going to handle this on my own or die trying. This rejection was followed by a series of kisses as I let him know how much his gesture meant to me. We were in the park by this time, and even as joggers passed by I scanned the area for some maniac in a hood or cape. I literally did not know when or how I could be attacked at any moment. What could I do? I wondered if I could make contact with famous heroes for help. Still, that was a lame idea. It's not like you can just turn to the V's in the phone book and find a listing for "Vulcan, Son of."
I went home and tried to relax. I was soaking in a warm tub with pink bubbles. It was a small luxury, I grant you. The doorbell rang, and I groaned. I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door a crack. It was the man who helped me up when I fell during that terrible storm. I had forgotten about him until seeing those gray eyes again brought his memory back to me in a vivid manner.
"What can I do for you?" I asked suspiciously.
"My name is Crandall, and I have a lot to tell you. I need to confess much to you!" he said with fervor in his voice.
I sighed. "Look, pal, I'm sure you can tell someone else, like the cops three blocks over or the priest two blocks west."
He gripped the door and said, "Please. I am to blame for your powers. I am to blame for all that has happened!" Needless to say, I let him inside.
He entered and sat down, and, in the light of the apartment, I could see his features more clearly. His eyes were strikingly gray. His hair was also gray. He had a rugged, healthy demeanor, but he was tired. This much was evident.
"My name is David Crandall. Nearly thirty years ago I had an accident at sea. I was rescued and had what at first appeared to be a hallucination brought on by my trauma. The vision turned out to be all too real. In it I was told that I was chosen by the Immortals to receive their powers and become the master of nature itself. In time this vision proved to be true. I donned a costume and called myself Nature Boy. Later, one I loved joined me as Nature Girl. She too was blessed, or cursed, with power by the Immortals. We used these gifts to fight for justice until, one day, tragedy struck," he said. Pain filled his expressive eyes as he recalled the past and suffered loss anew.
"The woman I loved more than any other died of illness. All our powers failed to save her. I was so hurt that I turned my back on the Immortals and defied them by refusing to use my powers for any cause. Nature Boy was as good as dead," he said.
I listened and was moved by his obvious pain. I touched his hand and said, "I'm so sorry."
He nodded. "My spite in refusing to use the powers they gave me angered them. They could not take my powers away once given. Thus they grew increasingly angry and decided to punish me and all of humanity."
I said, "Wait a minute. You get them mad, and they decide to take it out on the whole world? They must be a petty bunch!"
He laughed harshly. "They are. They are minor incarnations of the Olympians. They are not truly Zeus, Neptune, Aphrodite, et cetera, but they are their minions. They acted on their own in empowering me and presented themselves to my young mind with names and guises a boy could more easily accept. Like their more potent sires, they are known for petty spite and hurtful actions.
"They robbed me of my memory and left me to wander the world alone and lost for years. When the world was shaken by a galaxy-altering crisis of red skies and time warps, my memory returned. I had lost decades because of my pride and their spite. They failed to attack the world, though, since around 1965 their sires, as I call these minor Olympians, overpowered the Immortals, shortly after they robbed me of my memory. It seems the Olympians gave powers to a new mortal champion of their own called the Son of Vulcan. When they did so, they left the Immortals weakened. Well, the Crisis occupied the true Olympians to the extent that the Immortals were able to exert some influence upon the world of man for the first time in years. They decided to bestow their powers on new mortals who would punish the world that had rejected them. Again, this was mostly due to the way I acted years ago. They recently empowered new mortals and ordered them to kill me. You see, rather than give all their power to one champion as they did with me, they feared doing so again since he or she might rebel as I did. Thus, they each gave their own power to one person."
I said, "Those creeps like Blue Bolt, Ariel, and Pyra are the new power holders! But why are they after me instead of you?"
He frowned. "Since the Crisis they have pursued me, but I came up with a plan to thwart them. While they could not take my power from me, I could give it away. I gave it to you during the recent storm. They follow it like hounds on the trail of a fugitive!"
I jumped up and shouted a few rather un-ladylike words. "Why in the world did you curse me with those powers?"
He took my hand and held it briefly. "Because I saw in you what drew them to me years ago. You have the heart and soul of a deserving champion. You are worthy. You must become Nature Woman."
I shook my head. "Take the powers away. I'm a mom. I don't wear costumes and tights."
He said, "I cannot take them back. They are yours alone."
I said, "Let me give them away, then!"
He said, "You may not. I imposed that restriction upon you when I transferred them to you. You will have them until you die!"
I said, "That may be soon if more of those super hit men come for me."
He said, "Not if I make amends by training you in the full use of all your new powers!"
I almost dropped the towel at that point!
***
Dear Diary,
When faced with the prospect of living as a target for these cosmic hit men, I realized that I had no choice for my sake and Allison's other than to accept his offer and learn how to use the powers he had forced upon me. We began training, and I managed to extend Allison's safety by persuading her father to take her on a vacation with him. She worried about me but enjoyed the chance to be with her often-absent father.
Crandall spoke of the powers like some guru, and the sixties flower child in me soaked it up like gravy. I admit that I soon got into his lessons with a passion. Speaking of passion, I continued to see Devin Trevor, who was amused at my forced introduction to the world of action heroes.
"Will you be equipping a cave with your crime fighting gear? May I expect to see you buy a Nature Dog?" he joked as he held me one evening.
I elbowed him in the ribs and said, "You mean you don't want to be my annoying sidekick?"
He said, "I want to be your partner, but not in a costume." He held out a ring. "I mean it, Kate. Will you marry me?"
I was shocked and thrilled. Some part of me had wondered if I would ever find a man who could commit to me as is. I knew I was pretty; that had always been one of my gifts. Looks and charm had propelled me through my teen years. Still, this gesture brought home to me that, even as a divorced mom in her thirties, I could inspire someone to love and desire me.
"Devin, I accept! This is the most wonderful surprise. Surely, though, we should wait until after I settle this crisis. The other Immortals still have agents out there that want me dead. After I deal with them, we can talk more seriously," I said.
Devin kissed me and said, "The timetable is yours to set. I won't be going anywhere. I mean, you are my travel agent!"
That was a wonderful night, yet events that followed made it all seem far less special than it had been when I was in the moment. The next day Crandall announced startling news.
"Katie, they are coming for you. I can detect them when they are together. Separately they are undetectable, but together they radiate some energy that I am attuned to," he said.
I gasped and said, "But I've barely been up to fighting one at a time!"
He took my arm firmly. "Trust me -- you are ready. You have all their powers; they each possess only one. Plus, I have something for you. It may make you feel better." He held up a purple costume.
I backed away and shook my head. "No way! I can't dress like some space age showgirl!"
He said, "It helps. Wearing a costume enables you to be liberated from the inhibitions of your daily life."
I sighed and went to change. It seemed as if my fate was decided for me anyway. The costume fit well and looked sensational. I was in good condition. Perhaps the powers tightened or firmed me as needed. Too bad Richard Simmons could not bottle Immortal powers for his clients. The costume consisted of a sleeveless purple top with a stylized white "N" on the chest, a pair of purple hot pants, a mask like that of the Thunderbolt's, and purple slippers, with a short cape.
We decided to bring the battle to a location of our choosing, so we rushed off toward Central Park. I would have room to move there. I flew easily now and carried Crandall. My levitation power enabled me to lighten anything I carried to the point where I had super strength.
We landed, and he cried immediately, "They are here!"
The earth ripped apart at our feet, and I shoved David to safety as I leaped over a gaping hole. The man who had caused the earth to shake apart beneath us was nearby in a brown mask and ordinary clothing.
"I'm Terror Firma! Feel my might!" he cried as the ground swelled up around me to form a huge, solid muddy fist.
I gestured, and the earthly tomb melted around me as a flaming nimbus expanded from my body. Ice struck me in the face, and I fell hard as a woman in a white mini-dress slid over me on a ramp of ice. She was laughing and clearly loved her work. She leaned over and kissed me, and I gasped as ice closed over my mouth and nose.
"I'm the Ice Queen, and you are on ice!" she sneered.
I fought to concentrate as David had taught me, and in seconds I could move again. I had generated enough warmth to burn free of the sheath, and I had ignored the lack of air, since I truly did not need to breathe. Part of my powers allowed me to survive undersea or in space. Thus, her icy gag was merely frightening, not harmful.
I tried to think of how to beat her as she kicked me again and again. I shrugged and just belted her across the chin with the power I had drawn directly from contact with the earth. She collapsed with a broken jaw.
"Got to learn how and when to pull my punches!" I laughed as I used my own earth power to ride a mountain of mud skyward and then brought it down hard on the third attacker. He was in yellow and blue and represented the power of water. He was scattered across the park as his watery body was buried by tons of rock and earth. I never learned his name.
The sneering Terror Firma tried to overpower me and take back his own control of the earth, but I cut him off from the ground by levitating him skyward. He became helpless as he cleared our atmosphere. I mentally brought him down directly on top of the last foe. She was a sexy blonde in a blue jumpsuit. She was named Susie Cyclone. I kid you not.
She gasped but kept enough of her wits about her to use her wind powers to cushion the impact. She sent a hurricane of sheer force toward me as I rolled aside and disappeared by pulling an earth merge. I returned to the surface beneath her frozen feet. I had trapped her in ice long enough to shock her to the ground.
"I just exercised your right to volt!" I quipped.
Crandall rushed over and embraced me. "Well done! You beat them! See, my dear, you are meant to be my heir. You are Nature Woman!"
I smiled demurely and said, "About that name, I'd actually prefer to be the Natural!"
He smiled and said, "Certainly. It fits."
That night as Devin and I snuggled together in my apartment, he said, "So the Natural is born!"
I said, "Yes. I guess I'm going to keep the costume and try to help folks when I'm not busy as a mom/wife."
He said, "Katie, could you forget about the heroine role now that you've beaten Eartha, Friga, Fura and their minions? You'll be safe, and we can start a family. Maybe even have a baby?"
I said, "Devin, I want to be with you, but I can't just resign. David says it's my duty."
Devin frowned. "Duty? That worm turned his back on duty years ago. How dare he speak of obligations to you!"
I sat up suddenly, and my heart raced. "Dev, how did you know Pyra was the minion of Fura? How'd you know any of the names the Immortals used when they gave power to David and the new villains?"
He smiled warmly. "You must have been talking in your sleep."
I jumped up and said, "No. I didn't. David said there was one last Immortal called Allura. She represented love. You are her minion! What a subtle scheme! You wore no costume. You never attacked except for waging a war on my heart. You wanted me to fall for you and give up my role. You hoped to win for them by just getting me to stop using my gifts!"
He spread his arms wide. "Katie, darling, you love me. I feel it. Surely our happiness is more important that serving the world. The world forgot the Immortals."
I said, "Get out. You made me love you, but now I have the same power. I can shake off your charm. Get out. Don't ever come near me again!"
He left in regret and defeat as I fell on the couch and wept. It was a long night and a painful one. Even having Allison return the next day did not help me ease the pain much. Still, I was safe, and I had won, and a note from David revealed how proud he was of me.
"I'm leaving to live my life on my own terms. Kate, I am proud of you. You may just redeem me for the neglect I showed to the world. You are truly the Natural!" he had written.
I smiled and decided he was right. From now on, I would fight crime with my powers and raise Allison and, just maybe, clean our apartment if the Ghost was not loose or Captain Atom didn't need my help. It was the start of a new life for me, and I was happy.