"Okay, so what you're telling me is. She has a superpower?" Cindi looked at me, baffled.
"Well, I'm not sure what to call it."
"Sounds a lot like a superpower to me."
"We can't be too certain."
Cindi started to pace the room, ruminating over what I told her: the hospital, Dharia Rhodes, and the mysterious dreamscape we found ourselves in. And, of course, Paradigm himself.
"She even has her very own supervillain!" Cindi said. "That's premium superhero stuff right there."
"I didn't know you read superhero comics," I said and sat down on her bed. Blue and pink waves weaved a steady pattern into the folds.
She rounded her stumpy fluffy tuffet--like a sleeping mound of fur--and said, "Monty Court." Why did she have to say my full name like that?
"Hmm?"
"I HAVE to meet her. No! I NEED to meet her." She jumped toward the bed. "If what you say is true, then she could be a vital part of our investigations into the Incident. We need to get to the bottom of this."
She stared at me with fervor. Behind her I saw the surf receding and a rolling wave of excitement rushing for me. I shuddered.
"W--What? After all I told you … you're excited? You are, aren't you."
"What did you expect? That I wouldn't be excited by the fact that goddamn superpowers are REAL?"
"Okay, okay!" I shooed her away. "But get to the bottom of what?"
"Only the most crazy fucking things to happen to this city. The AADs! People blowing up for no reason! You said it yourself they must be connected. If we follow the logic--the AADs started popping up around that day we saw those lights in the sky--we can be certain that the anomalies are connected somehow. Maybe that even means people who survive one develops some sort of supernatural ability of some kind?"
"Like I said, that's what I was thinking. It's such a stretch though that we can't be certain they're connected. I mean, just listen to us! People would think it's crazy. It's only a theory."
"Do YOU have a superpower?"
"What? No! Of course I don't …"
"Did you check?"
"No. Wouldn't they have like, I don't know … showed themselves?"
"It's not a groundhog. Do you feel strong, or at least stronger?"
"Not particularly. Maybe above average?"
"What the hell do you mean, above average?"
I blushed. "Well, just in general."
She groaned. "Maybe you can fly?"
"I don't even want to try that one, Cindi."
"Come on! We'll head to the roof--"
"Out of the question!"
"Okay, okay." She waved away the thought. "Then, we'll have to do some research.
The comic book shop LAZER-US sat squished between a Shawarma place and a dry cleaners. People dressed in suits, ready to go about their grueling workweek, slipped out onto the curb and didn't so much as glance at the two of us enter the store behind them.
One of the walking suits held a roll that smelled like heaven and chicken; my stomach growled. Cindi watched it pass by like an owl with its eyes fixed on a juicy fat mouse, ripe for devouring. Her head even swiveled back too.
"Shawarma after?" She asked.
"I'm game. I didn't know you came to LAZER-US too?"
"Yea, been coming for a month or two. Couldn't find a better place in Octoberfaire."
I nodded.
A little jingle played when we entered LAZER-US and a large man in a graphic tee and full beard and baseball cap waved at us to enter.
"My, it's been awhile Monty."
"Good to see you Jerry."
"How're you holding up, bud?"
"It's been a wild few days, but I can't exactly get into it right now."
He finally recognized Cindi was with me too.
"Cindi Seiko! 'Almost didn't see you there. How's that newest issue of Weekend Warriors holding you?"
"Just peachy, Jerry. And as always, your rec's are premium."
"Glad to hear! Why, I didn't know the two of you knew each other? But gee, I do suppose the both of you are classmates at Underwood. Well, what can I do for both of y'all?"
"We were hoping you had any comic books depicting a superhero with a specific power?"
"And what kind of power would that be?" he asked, curious. He scratched his chin.
I asked, "The power to control dreams?"
"Oh, that's some unique stuff. Hmmm. Give me a sec'." He stepped out from behind the counter and began to tread his way down the aisle. Tap--tap--tap. His prosthetic leg tapped its way around the corner, where we lost sight of him for a minute. I turned to Cindi and she shrugged. When he came back, he had an issue of a woman on the cover with a sprawling, almost web-like symbol in the background. "Dreamcatcher is probably the gal you're looking for. Charlie McKee is the darn best to do it. Very psychedelic stuff."
"How much?"
"For you, three buckos."
"Why the discount?" I asked. Normally a newer issue would run me around five bucks here.
"As cool as she is, she's not exactly a big name. She's no Superiorman or Revenger. I've got a stack of her stuff just collecting dust in the back."
Cindi examined the cover of the comic and frowned.
"Well, she looks cool," she said. "Even cooler than Superiorman or Revenger."
Jerry scratched his chin again.
"If you want the rest of them. I can give them to you for a discount too."
She smiled and nodded. "I'll come back for them."
"They'll be here, don't you worry," he said, smiling. "It's nice to hear young'uns are interested in the more obscure names in comics."
"Appreciate it Jerry." We waved at him as we left. He waved back from behind the counter, cold shawarma roll right beside him, just out of view.
Cindi started flipping through the comic the second we stepped outside.
"Girl gets her powers from a mysterious wizard. yadda yadda ya." I caught a few glimpses of her fighting robots, witches, and then red-faced demons. "Kinda feels like they're throwing the whole kitchen sink in."
"Here, lemme see," I said, taking the book from her.
"Hey, I was still reading that!"
"Quit messing around. We gotta research--"
She swiped it back from me. "It was my idea. I bought the book. So, I'll be handling the merchandise, big guy." She smirked at me. "Just stand there and look pretty for me."
"How does she get her powers?" I asked so she would move forward.
"Chemical spill--Oh very cliche--and guess what?"
"Hmm?"
"It was her dream to work there at the chemical factory. Oops, spoilers." She whispered, "That's where the dream in her name comes from."
"I wasn't planning on reading for fun," I said.
She sighed. "You're no fun."
I scoffed. "I can be. I just save it for when I'm done working."
"Uh-huh." Her face scrunched a bit, as if she was skeptical. "Speaking of fun--but also not--you are taking today in stride."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if what you told me is true--which I ABSOLUTELY believe you, then you're taking the whole 'I almost got merc'd in my dream' thing kinda in stride."
She was right. I was oddly unfazed, almost like it was all a bad dream.
"It's nice to know other people believe me, I guess. Same thing with Dharia. She remembered me from her dream, and we hadn't ever met before outside that hospital. It couldn't have been a coincidence. So, I guess it just felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulder to know someone else gets it. You know?"
"Don't I ever," she mumbled. She flipped over another page.
"Are you even listening?"
"Hey, look." She lifted the page up to me.
"I'm looking."
She pointed at the titular Dreamcatcher and said, "she's narcoleptic." She stared at me, deadpan face and all. I wanted to groan, but held it in for her sake.
"... So?"
"So? That's how she uses her power. She falls asleep."
"How does that even work? Isn't narcolepsy involuntary?"
Cindi shook her head.
I said, "What if she really needs to use her powers? Like, what if a villain shows up out of nowhere and starts wrecking shit? Does she run to the nearest mattress store to get a quick nap in before dawning the mantle?"
"You're getting really into this. It's just a comic book."
I crossed my arms. "It really brings me out of it if they don't explain this kind of stuff."
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Maybe Dharia has a trigger of some sort that she can use to hit the hay quicker. Or maybe she can just take a melatonin and work from there?"
"Yea, I don't know about that."
"We're not gonna know until we see her for ourselves. Actually, we should be on our way there now."
I slowed to a crawl. "You sure?"
"Why not?"
I shrugged. "Nevermind," I said, launching forward.
"Wait!" she called ahead, "what did you mean by that?" Her pace picked up as she followed me onto a bus. We boarded swiftly and made our way north into Inner Easttown, where the hospital stood out like a massive block of soap in the soft blue November sky.
The door to Dharia's hospital room braced the hallway like a stone rampart. Cindi tapped her foot just behind me, waiting for me to make the call.
"You gonna go in?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Gimme a moment," I said, breathing in deeply. I breathed back out.
"What? You afraid of a girl?"
"No! Just, what if she's asleep again, or thinks what happened was just a weird psychosis dreamed up by two lonely and hospitalized kids?"
"Oh you ARE afraid."
"I am not afraid! Watch me." My hand touched the cool doorknob.
A voice called out from inside the room, "Nurse Sharon?" I raised my eyebrow at Cindi. She shrugged.
"Actually it's Monty. Mind if I come in?"
"Sure!"
I gingerly opened the door. Cindi followed me in. Inside, Dharia sat up in bed. Her hair had been put up. Her frizzly curls fell around her face and cheeks like streamers.
"Hey Monty! Who's your friend?"
Her voice overflowed with curiosity, but she reigned it in. She leaned forward slightly, ready to spring into action. Her eyes were also a little red, though. Hmm.
"Dharia, this is Cindi Seiko," I said, gesturing to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dharia said politely.
"Cindi, this is Dharia Rhodes," I said.
"I've heard so much about you, Dharia," Cindi said, ignoring me.
"Good things I hope," Dharia said laughing.
"Great things! I just had to meet this dreamy friend of his."
"Oh," Dharia said, "he … told you about that?" Her voice lowered. She retreated like a nervous cat.
"He did. Oh yes, he did. A little liberally for my taste--"
"Hey!" I interrupted. "You're supposed to be helping me--"
"Buuuuut, as I was just about to say, I'm glad he did, because I wanted to see it for myself."
"Why?" Dharia asked.
"It's not everyday you get to see some cool shit like that. Also, we may have been one of the reasons why you can control dreams …" Cindi trailed off. When she said that last part, Dharia's face had sunk.
Her eyes grew darker as she said, "You …" She was about to say something. She stopped herself. She glanced around the room uncertainly, like a cornered animal.
"Dharia …" I started to say.
"Can you give me a moment?" she said. Cindi's glowing smile dimmed.
"Sure," I said and glanced at Cindi. The pink in her cheeks drained with worry. I could tell she wanted to ask me, "What's wrong?" I just frowned and met her eyes. She understood that something was wrong. So, she then turned and walked out of the room. I followed her quietly. It was as if all the color in the world faded away. Cindi stood off to the side, holding her comic book in a loose grip. Only after the two of us--Cindi and I--reconvened in the hallway that I realized Dharia's eyes were red from crying.