"Behold!"
The blond child held up a wooden toy sword. The hilt was glowing pink, and the blade blue.
"Whoa!" her friend exclaimed.
"I'm gonna be a superhero, and you're the first to know!" little Tatters said with a proud smirk.
"That's so unfair! I want superpowers too!" her jealous friend said.
Tatters deactivated her powers and put the toy down.
"Unlikely! Teehee!" she said as she happily danced around the room. "Maybe the Sleeping God chose me!"
Her friend stuck out her tongue in protest, and Tatters returned the same gesture.
"When'd you get them anyway?" her friend asked.
Tatters rubbed her chin as she recalled.
"I dunno. I activated them by accident yesterday."
She held up her index finger, which had a plaster around it.
"It's a tingly feeling. I touched the table and it turned blue. Lost a bit of my skin…"
Her friend shuddered.
"You can hurt yourself? Isn't that way too dangerous?"
Tatters grabbed the sword again and repeated the exhibition, showing her friend how the pink hilt transitioned into the blue blade.
"If I do this, I can hold it. Teehee," she said with a confident look on her face. "The pink one is my good power! I can protect things with it!"
She pointed her wounded finger at her friend.
"I can protect you and everyone at school!"
She started playfully swinging the toy around the room, prompting her friend to take a step back.
"Just don't use it against the boys. You might kill them," her friend said worriedly.
Tatters ignored her concern and continued.
"I can defeat the cartels! Give power back to the people! Your parents won't be in debt anymore!"
Her friend looked doubtful.
"You're gonna look for trouble with the cartels? We're still kids, Tot…"
Tatters stopped swinging and deactivated her powers, looking bothered.
"The cartels are full of adults!" her friend continued. "And they have guns! What're you gonna do with a sword?"
"I can block bullets, too!" Tatters replied angrily. "I just need a costume… with a cape…"
"Mippie! Tatters! Dinner's ready!" a voice came from downstairs.
"Yippie!" Tatters dropped her sword and ran out of the room while her friend watched pensively.
♦
In class the next day, Tatters sat next to her best friend. The last hour of class was free to spend however they wanted, and she was drawing something blue. Everything she drew was always blue. It was her favorite color, and you didn't need to ask to know. Music played at low volume, and little Tatters subconsciously danced in her seat as she drew.
She poked her friend with her elbow to get her attention, then showed her the drawing. A goofy-looking superhero costume in blue, with a yellow "T" on the chest. It had a cape, as promised.
"Mip! Whaddaya think?" an excited Tatters asked.
Mippie turned to the drawing on the table next to her and studied it with a frown.
"Your superhero name starts with a 'T'?"
Tatters looked back at her drawing, having put no thought into the "T" other than the fact that she wanted a symbol on her chest.
"Or will you be Tatter-Tot?" Mippie asked with a smirk. "I don't mind."
Tatters cringed at the suggestion.
"I don't want my enemies to call me that."
She sat back in her chair and rubbed her pencil on the top of her head, making a thinking face with her tongue poking out.
"How about 'Tornado'?" she suggested to her friend, giving her a thumbs up and a wink.
Mippie blew in Tatters' face.
"That sounds cool, but I prefer my suggestion."
Tatters responded by sticking out her tongue.
♦
"Hey, jerks! Leave him alone!" Tatters yelled at a group of familiar bullies that were pressing a boy her age against the wall.
One of the younger bullies was quick to turn around and yell.
"Look, it's Tit and Mop!"
The tallest one, who was holding the boy against the wall, turned around too.
"Beat it! I'll do you later if you want it so bad," he yelled.
Tatters had a habit of picking fights with these guys, usually in the name of protecting other kids, mostly Mippie. But she always ended up getting her ass kicked, so the big one wasn't so wrong. At best, she'd take a beating here to let the kid escape.
"Don't!" Mippie whispered to her while tugging her arm.
"What kind of superhero would look away, Mip??" Tatters said as she approached the bullies.
"You can't use your powers! You'll hurt them!" Mippie said while staying put.
"I know. I'll go easy on them."
Mippie was right. She couldn't use her bad power without causing serious injuries. As for her good power… Tatters hadn't thought of a good way to use it in situations like this yet.
"What's this about powers? You a superhero now, Tit?" the big one asked.
Tatters kept walking closer.
"Yeah. But you're not worthy, so I won't use 'em."
There were three bullies in total, and the two younger ones walked towards Tatters while the big one kept the kid against the wall. As a result, her chances got better.
"You sure about that? Makes me think you're lying," one of the two said.
"Just shut up and kick her ass," the big one yelled.
One of the two lunged at Tatters, but she avoided his punch and gave him one back. For a moment, it was looking like she could win, but when the second kid circled around her, she couldn't prevent either of them from grabbing her from behind. As a result, one of them restrained her while the other punched and kicked her.
"Stop it! You're gonna get in trouble!" Mippie yelled from the safety of the sidelines.
In the meantime, the big kid was already done with the boy he was holding against the wall, content after having retrieved an item from him. He walked over to the ongoing beating, and the other two waited for his command. He didn't give one, and instead took a swing at Tatters himself, punching her in the stomach. Tatters gave a much more visceral reaction to him than she did to the other two kids.
"Let her go! You got what you wanted!" Mippie yelled.
The big kid ducked a little to get a good look at Tatters' face.
"No powers?"
Tatters didn't respond, looking at the ground like she was trying her hardest not to use them.
"Let's go," he said to his goons.
They threw her on the ground and the three left the scene while Mippie walked over to Tatters in an arc around the bullies. Tatters was lying on her side, clenching her stomach, watching them leave.
"I'm sorry," Mippie said full of guilt. "If I'd helped out, maybe we could've won…"
Tatters moved her head and looked at her friend through the corners of her eyes.
"It's okay, Mip. You're a decent girl."
Mippie helped her friend to her feet, pulling Tatters' arm around her shoulders.
"Can you walk?"
Tatters responded by pulling her arm away and standing on her own.
"This is nothing! I've had way worse," she said, giving Mippie a wink and thumbs up.
With that, Tatters walked on like nothing had even happened. Mippie caught up and walked next to her, taking a while to remember what they were talking about before.
"Have you ever been to the Sleeping God? Out on the ice?" Mippie asked.
"No," Tatters replied.
The two continued their walk back home from school. Tatters lived at the orphanage, not far from her friend's house.
"Then how could he choose you?" Mippie asked.
"Don't try to understand the Gods, Mip," Tatters replied with an elitist smirk.
"Hmph!" Mippie responded dismissively.
Then, she noticed the wooden sword poking out of Tatters' backpack.
"You carry that with you?"
Tatters looked over her shoulder at the sword, then nodded at her friend with a naughty smile.
"My secret weapon!"
Mippie returned a worried look again.
"Don't worry, Mip, I'm not gonna use my power on it."
Mippie didn't comment on it.
"Maybe I'll learn swordfighting!" Tatters boasted.
Mippie finally giggled.
"You're never getting adopted," she said teasingly.
Tatters laughed about it and the two hopped on home in joy.
♦
Present day, some hours after the events at the abandoned skate park.
Tatters wandered aimlessly around the city, unable to bring herself to return to Plural's house, a place she wasn't sure she was welcome anymore.
Plural was safe with the police. Safe from herself and her blue flames.
"See?" Tatters muttered at the dark clouds in the sky as the rain hit her face. "It doesn't work…"
In the darkness, that eerie face was all around her, laughing at her.
Then, her phone rang again. Caller ID: Plural. She'd been getting calls from Plural and Circus all night. Every time it rang, she froze up and waited for the ringing to end, too ashamed to answer and too scared to decline them, in case they could tell.
And now, once more, she held her breath until the call went to voicemail, but Plural never left one.
Then, she dropped to her hands and knees and hunched over in a puddle, looking at herself in the mirror of water. The downpour had stopped, leaving only a drizzle, so she could see herself clearly in the reflection. Herself, and the ever-present thing that stalked her, standing over her and making itself perfectly visible. It had appeared to her in mirrors before, like in Plural's bathroom at night, but never this clearly. Still, she knew that if she turned her head to look back, it'd disappear.
She watched how the reflection turned red from the witch's blood that stained her hands, coming off in the puddle. It reminded her of what she was, and how foolish it was to think that disarming herself would change anything.
"Ugly…" she muttered, seeing the bloodstains on her face and hair.
Throughout the night, she'd been zoning out and reliving her childhood memories. These were her real, treasured memories, many of which she'd made with Mippie. Not whatever those twisted, altered versions were that she saw during her blackout.
Tatters shivered in the puddle, scared that if she were to black out enough times, she'd eventually forget which ones were real, and which ones were fabricated by her head to bring herself despair. It made her feel lonely, like she wasn't just losing her friends, but also herself.
♦
Three men rang the doorbell.
A grown man answered the door and immediately knew what they were here for. He seemed unprepared, and looked back into the living room, where music was playing.
"Come on, I've—"
"Little Mippie's got friends over?" one of the men asked, interrupting the father.
The man had a kind yet threatening look to him, and he didn't have to introduce himself for Mippie's father to know the men were cartel.
The father pressed his lips together as he nodded. Meanwhile, his wife had joined him to see what was up. Like him, she knew what was going on just by seeing the men.
"Please, our daughter's playing with a friend inside," she pleaded.
The man held up his hands and spoke with a soothing tone.
"It's okay. We won't come inside," he said as he placed his foot in the door opening. "Why don't we take a walk instead?"
The father looked down at the foot and understood that he had no real choice here.
"Go back to the kids," he told his wife as he stepped outside.
Agreeing to go for a walk, he tried to close the front door, but one of the other two men stepped in the way, blocking the door. The father gave him a panicked look.
"He's gonna stay right there," the man spoke with a relaxed tone and his hands in his pockets. "And not a single step further inside."
The father broke eye contact with any of them and looked down, like he was considering his nonexistent options. The man put his arm around the father's shoulder and walked away with him, leaving just the one henchman to wait in the door opening. In fairness, he did exactly as they said. He stood in the door opening and took no step inside. He watched his two colleagues walk off with the father as he heard the music from inside the house.
When he turned to get a glimpse of the living room, he almost jumped when he found a child with blond hair standing beside him, giving him an angry look. He was surprised that a child could sneak up on him, but he brushed it off to the fact that she was wearing socks. He looked the child in the eyes, and she looked back in his. The man was slightly off put by this child's strange behavior. Her expression suggested she knew what was going on, but most children wouldn't even dare come close. He found it amusing and accepted the child's staring contest.
Before long, the mother walked into the hallway and took the child by the arm.
"Come on, Tatters. Don't bother the man," she said as she pulled the child away.
The child maintained eye contact with the man until the moment she disappeared into the living room.
♦
The next morning in class, Mippie hadn't said word yet. She simply sat at her desk looking depressed, hugging her favorite plush. Normally, she wouldn't bring that to school because she'd get bullied for it. Tatters leaned forward on her desk to get a good look at her friend's face. Given the events of yesterday, she had a pretty good idea on why her friend was so upset.
"Mip... hey..." she said as she poked her friend.
No response.
The bell rang and class started, and Tatters had a hard time focusing. Her friend certainly didn't pay attention to anything but her own sorrow.
Tatters was frustrated. She was standing right there when Mippie's dad was taken away, and all she did was stare at the culprit. She watched it happen, knowing fully well what was going on, then returned to the living room to play like nothing ever happened. What a coward. How could a coward ever be a superhero?
Recess. Mippie finally spoke for the first time that day.
"They took Loaf," she cried.
Her plushie, now missing from her arms. She stopped bringing it to school after they bullied her about it last time. Tatters watched her friend's hopeless face, and it broke her heart. It was too late to save her dad, but it was still possible to save Loaf.
Tatters pulled her friend along by her hand and took her back to the classroom, where the bullies were sure to be.
"Give him back!" Tatters yelled across the classroom, catching everyone's attention.
The three bullies stood on the other side. The tall one was holding Loaf. Some other kids were hanging around as well, scattered across the room. Tatters balled up her fists and walked towards the bullies. A sobbing Mippie stayed in the door opening.
"Or what, Tit?" one of the boys said.
Or what, indeed? She couldn't even win against the two smaller ones. Tatters was powerless against them if she held back, but she had a secret weapon. She was sick of hiding her powers, not when winning mattered now more than ever. She had to get Loaf back and bring her poor friend some comfort, but she couldn't do that by taking a beating.
"Or I'll give you a warning shot," she said angrily.
The bullies laughed at her.
Ever since she got her powers, Tatters had been trying to think of ways to use her powers against these kids in a way that wouldn't injure them. A warning shot. All she needed to do was show them what she was capable of, and they wouldn't mess with her again.
"Okay, shoot. Give you ten seconds," the tall one said as he took out a lighter.
He ignited the lighter and held it under the plushie, dangling it around to suggest what was going to happen. Mippie's sobbing turned into louder crying and Tatters ran at him to try to punch the lighter out of his hand.
Maybe the bullies were just that smart, or maybe she was just stupid, but Tatters found herself restrained by the two smaller ones once more, unable to get close enough to knock the lighter away.
"Five," the big one said.
Five? It hadn't been five seconds at all.
Mippie's crying was just getting more and more agonizing for Tatters to hear, and she panicked. Was this going to end the same way it always did?
"Four"
Things weren't going according to plan, and she had no time left.
"Three"
Tatters struggled but failed to release herself.
"Two"
Tatters felt humiliated. Mippie's cries broke her heart. What kind of pathetic superhero was she?
Her shoes lit up pink, and the carpet underneath her feet turned blue. The two kids who were restraining her let go of her when they lost their sense of balance, and they were the first to disappear completely into the floor. It all happened so fast, Tatters didn't even remember consciously activating her powers. The three bullies disappeared into the blue-glowing carpet like it wasn't really there and they were falling straight through it. The carpet itself was also sinking, consuming the floor below like it consumed the people on top.
As soon as Tatters realized the terrible thing she was doing, she deactivated her powers, but it was far too late. So much for her warning shot. The two smaller kids were completely gone without a trace, but the big kid wasn't erased so cleanly. Maybe he was holding up his arm as he fell, because his forearm was the only thing that remained. That, and the plushie he was holding with it, completely unharmed.
The other kids in the room, including Mippie, fell silent. They couldn't see the forearm from where they were standing, just that Tatters was now standing in a half-meter deep recess created by the carpet. From their perspective, it probably looked like a magic trick, and she just made the kids disappear, but Tatters knew the horrifying truth.
"Whoa! How'd you do that?" one of the kids asked her and walked over.
When he came close enough to see the forearm, which was leaking blood all over the carpet, he froze up. Tatters looked at her own hands in horror.
"Are they hiding underground?" one of the other kids asked.
The one kid who walked over and saw the remains screamed and ran out of the classroom. Tatters' eyes followed him out, and then she saw Mippie, standing in the doorway looking horrified. Her face was still red and full of tears from the fear of losing Loaf, but she was dead silent now. Mippie knew enough about her powers to put the pieces together. She definitely knew what just happened to those kids.
Tatters made eye contact with her friend and got teary-eyed herself. She was still a child, after all. Only a child could do something so stupid.
"Mip, I... I didn't mean to..."
Mippie took a step back out of the classroom and into the hallway. The other kids in the room came over to check what happened, expecting to find a broken item or something. One by one, they saw the outlandish truth and ran out of the classroom. Some screamed and some cried. Tatters, now with tears coming out, climbed out of the recess and walked over to Mippie.
"It was an accident."
Before long, for every step she took, Mippie started taking a step back, until her back hit the wall. She looked terrified. Tatters just wanted to hug her, but her friend pulled her head back like she was bracing herself to get murdered.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," Tatters said with a shaky voice. Her whole face was getting wet, and she felt disgusting just having to say such a thing out loud.
"You believe me, right?" she asked, trying her hardest to sound normal.
Mippie took one last glance at her, then looked at the end of the hallway, where she wanted to go. She slowly moved across the wall, looking at her feet. Like she was afraid to make sudden movements, or the monster would pounce on her. No answer, but she was making herself clear.
"M-Mip, you're all I h—"
She couldn't finish before her friend ran off to the safety of the teachers.
♦
Present day.
A drop rippled the puddle. Not a raindrop, but a tear. Tatters was having a hard time steering her thoughts away from that memory. She had to finish playing it back in her head just so she wouldn't forget.
But it wasn't a random memory. Last night, it happened again. She lost yet another friend, the best friend she'd ever had since Mippie. No matter how much she thought she'd matured since then, she proved to be too dangerous to be around. Nothing changed, no matter how hard she tried to start a new life.
She looked at the pale thing standing over her. Maybe it wasn't real after all. Maybe she was just going crazy, and she was just hallucinating something to blame for her own shortcomings.
Still. She resented it. She wanted to kill it. And right now, there was an opportunity to try. This way of using her power, making the ground swallow things… After she made those kids disappear into the floor, she never used her powers in that manner again, not even after she succumbed to the darkness and started taking lives. But this thing didn't fall into that category.
In her hurry, she didn't put on any gloves when she went out to find Plural, meaning she had to lift her hands out of the puddle first if she was going to turn it blue. She looked at the thing one more time. If it had any idea what she was about to do, it sure as hell didn't seem scared of it.
Tatters slowly exhaled. Then, in a swift move, she pushed herself off the ground to lift her hands up, activated her pink power on her clothes, and...
… Nothing.
Her hands landed in the puddle again, without the water ever glowing blue.
Tatters inhaled, then slowly exhaled again.
"Come on… Do it…"
Still nothing.
Meanwhile, the pale thing cackled at her with its awful, uncanny laugh, like it knew damn well what she was trying, and that she couldn't do it.
Tatters couldn't believe it. Her body did not listen. She was resolved to kill the thing by any means, but her body refused to perform the same trick as back then. She clenched her teeth together and felt humiliated after throwing herself up and down into the puddle, while the thing laughed at the back of her head.
"You fucker!"
She pressed her forehead into the water and tried again. Still nothing, like her brain didn't even remember which signals to send. Tatters screamed and tried her hardest to fry both the pale thing and own head, but there was still a mental block, even after all these years.
When she resigned herself to that fact, she collapsed onto her side into the puddle, and into tears. She cried with her eyes closed as she violently kicked her legs at the pale thing, as if her kicks would hit if she didn't look at it.
As the ripples cleared up, there was no more pale thing in the reflection. She moved her eyes all the way to the side to see that it had indeed disappeared.
Now that the rain stopped, and her terrifying stalker had disappeared, it was completely silent. The sun hadn't quite come up yet, and the city still slept for the most part. Tatters felt lonelier than ever.
She got up and walked, like she'd been doing all night, staring blankly into the distance. Maybe she could walk until she dropped dead, but knowing her body, that would take weeks.
By the time the sun came up, she was on the outskirts of the city, far enough to no longer know the area. There was nature here. An enormous dark forest in the distance, and flower fields everywhere. Tatters walked until she came across a field of blue ones. She didn't really know what they were, but she knew they were pretty. Tatters picked one and took it with her.