Excerpt
CHapter Eleven: Relations
...“Looking for something?” A man’s voice spoke. Everyone’s head turned up to find the man sitting on the rail hanging off the side of the building.
“W-where’s all our stuff?” Geyser asked.
“What stuff?” the guy replied then grinned at the team. “Oh, you mean this stuff?” Suddenly, his clothes, face, and body structure changed to Geyser in armor.
“Hey, that’s mine! Thief!” Geyser said and threw a fit.
“Oh please. Nothing is yours. No one truly owns anything, like your voice… Hmm, hmm. See what I mean?” His voice instantly changed to Caleb’s voice.
“Who are you?!”
“Who are you?!” They both asked, almost simultaneously.
“Stop!”
“Stop!”
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” The real Geyser said.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Boy, I get kicks outta doing that everyday, but this is truly intense. I mean, borrowing everything from a superhero, now that’s cool.”
“How’d you know that we’re super?” Flurrie asked.
“Easy, I know your intentions, your powers, your soft spots, everything,” the guy said.
“How did you get your powers?” Cytro asked.
“How did you get yours? ‘Cause so far, Cytro, you’re the only mystery to me out of these four,” the man said, changing himself to look like Cytro.
“Listen to me! This power you have, it’s unique. Your thievery skills are pretty amazing,” Cytro said.
The man simply decided to jump off the railing when he heard enough. He wanted to get a closer look at Cytro. “Hmm… I assume, and mind you when I “assume” I actually already know your thoughts. Anyway, I assume you’ll ask me to join you. Dare ya to lie!”
“…Hmmm… There might be a way you can help us. I can’t promise anything, I mean, we’re already a team as you can see. The most help you can be is a sidekick. Is that cool with you?” Cytro asked.
The teenager’s expression soured. “Hey listen, I’m no sidekick! The only way you’re gonna get my help is if you let me do what I do best.”
“What? Steal?” Geyser said.
“Hey, there are other things I can do besides stealing,” the guy implied.
“Can you just give us our clothes back? I’m already sun-dried just standing here.”
“You’re always dry, Sarge. Including your humor,” Droid said, laughing after he punched Sarge on the shoulder, but Sarge slugged him back twice as hard and Derek’s laughing stopped.
“How can you help us out? We can handle anything that comes at us, especially with his help!” Flurrie said, glancing at Cytro. Then the guy changed his body and features to look like Flurrie.
“Oh, I bet you guys are good… Let’s see, I guess I’ll start helping out by giving my name.” The thief changed back into his original street clothes. His dark hair was long. “The name’s— Hang on a sec! What is my name? I’ve been stealing so many names. It’s probably James or Jack or…,” he continued, randomly naming names. “… Ah! My name’s Jerrold.”
“You sure this time?” Geyser asked. Jerrold didn’t answer him. He only continued remembering his last name.
“It’s Jerrold Cyte, but you can call me Jerry.”
“‘Bout time!” Geyser said. “We got place’s to go and people to save and you’re not one of them. So, if you don’t mind, I think we should skip ahead to the part where we say hasta luego. You’ve stolen enough of our time. Now give us our gear back!”
“So feisty! Well, I can give your stuff back, Geyser, Sarge, Flurrie, Droid, and…Cytro. But first, let me tell you my gifted name,” Jerry paused, struggling hard to remember his code name. It was hard enough trying to remember his real name let alone this one. Geyser’s foot began tapping on the ground rapidly. He crossed his arms, waiting for the name. Moments passed and he started pacing, glaring at Jerry the whole time…
“Oh, what was it now? Pairclean, paremyte, pearnite. I mean, there’s this big “P” on me. It’s gotta mean something, right?” Jerry stated, scratching his chin with his eyes shut, focusing.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Geyser threw his arms in the air—
“Paracyte! Paracyte. That’s what it is. Tch. Can’t believe I forgot my own names, whew. Well, remember it, Cytro. Spelled C-Y-T-E, not S-I-T-E.”
“I think it’s better if you remember it, buddy. Odds are, we’re never meeting again…,” Geyser said, but Paracyte shook his head.
“I’ll meet you again one day soon…,” he said to Jacob. Cytro slightly nodded. “And in order to help you in any way that I can, you’d have to “borrow and bargain” for a little advice each time you’d like to come to see me.”
“You mean steal?” Geyser posed the question again.
“Steal? Whadda rip off!” Droid said.
“C’mon, lightning dude! I said borrow—long term. I bet you can get plenty of tips from me with your skill,” Jerry convinced Droid, but Sarge nudged his shoulder to dissuade him.
“Hope it’s not any big job or anything. We got our hands full,” Sarge said.
“I’m just a simple guy looking for a simple profit. Is that so hard to get from ya?”
“Whatever! We’ll do what you ask, but why can’t you steal whatever you’re looking for yourself?” Cytro said—
“Borrow! BORROW! B-O-R-R-O-W…and that’s a good question. In the flesh, I may be a thief, but inside, all I’m looking for is…a family. And, frankly, my curse won’t let me steal friends or relations or the warmth of memories. So I’m alone, stealing everything except what I really want.”
“How sentimental…” Geyser said. His sarcasm was, like always, overlooked again.
“You were cursed?” Cytro repeated.
“Yep! Bunch-o-voodoo-crap is what I thought it was, but when I started seeing the effects of the curse, forgetting who I was, I began using my power to try and “steal” myself back. The more I would use it, the more of my memory and heart I would lose . It’s funny. I have a limit to a curse I don’t even want. Pathetic, huh?”
“Can you remember who cursed you?” Flurrie asked.
“Yeah, some idiot in a black dress who covered his face with a hood. His name was… Hmph, I can’t remember.”
“Black hood—covered his face?” Cytro repeated. The Elect Few recognized the features.
“Did he speak any weird language to you when he cursed you?” Droid asked.
“Duh! I would say he said something like “abracadabra” but I seriously can’t remember, but anyway I’m sure he’s dead by now.”
“Hmm… We’ll keep in touch and give you a heads up if we see a suspicious guy in a black cloak around. Then we’ll help you get your life back. You’re already the second guy today who’s mentioned some mysterious dude in black. Somehow, I feel like I know this guy already,” Cytro said, receiving his armor and clothes.
“Thanks a lot. I’ll see ya around.” Jerry then disappeared.
“…Weird guy…,” Geyser said, wiping his armor at the shoulders.
“I don’t blame him. He doesn’t go around stealing just because he can. It’s the only thing he has left,” Flurrie said.