Just For One Day - Marcus Moreno (Discontinued For Now)

5. Special Case

"Mom, don't suffocate her, okay. She's been through a lot already, I can't imagine how overwhelmed she must feel-"

Anita huffed.  "I will not 'suffocate her'. Humph, Mijo, who do you think I am? 'Suffocate her', ha!"

Marcus sighed. "I just mean I don't want to overwhelm her any more than she already is. This is all so new to her."

"Si, I know. She is a special case." 

"She's really nice," piped-up Missy.  "I really like her."

They entered the medical wing and headed over to the room where Marina was.  

The door flew open and Anita rushed in.  "This is her! I want to see this young woman who is developing her powers so late!"

"Mom," hissed Marcus.

"Shh, shh." Anita waved to shush him.  "Hello my dear, so nice to meet you. Anita Moreno."

"Marina."

"This is my Abuelita," Missy introduced.  "Trainer of the Heroics."

"Nice to meet you." Marina shook her hand.

"What's the story, Doc?" Marcus asked.

"It seems we have a special case on our hands," the doctor explained.

"I knew it!" cried Anita. 

"Mom!"

"Is it uncommon for people to develop super abilities later in life?" Marina asked.

"Uncommon yes. Rare, but not impossible," Marcus explained.

"They usually start showing as children," added Anita.  "Marcus was very young, just a toddler. He was barely potty trained when he started showing signs of his powers."

"Mom!" Marcus hissed again.

Missy gave a snort of laughter, and Marina tried to hide a grin as well. 

"What? She asked, so I gave her the truth."  Again, he sighed, rolling his eyes behind his glasses. "Hey! Don't you roll your eyes at your mother!"

"Sorry Mom." He turned back to Marina, who was expectantly awaiting further explanation. "It's rare and uncommon, although not so much lately..." Both the doctor and his mother shot him a look. "What? I feel she has a right to know."

"Know what?" Now Marina looked concerned.  "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, mi querido, nothing wrong. My son is just talking." His mother shot him another glace.

"I agree she should be aware," said the doctor.  "There has been a significant increase in cases of people developing powers later, especially lately, within the last few years."

"Oh, okay. So I might not be such a rare case?"

"Maybe not."

"You are a special case," Anita assured her.

"I think we're done here - for now," said the doctor. "Thank you for your patience, Ms. Brankova."

"Yeah, thanks for your help."

"That's what we're here for," Marcus assured her.

"Come on, Marina, I'll take you down to the training facility and introduce you to my friends, the  children of the other Heroics," said Missy, taking the young woman's hand and leading her out of the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Moreno son and mother turned to the doctor expectantly.

"Well," prompted Anita.  "What's the rest of the news?"

"For people like you, who were born with powers, it's in your DNA, part of your genetic material," the doctor explained. "But for some of the cases we've seen, it doesn't go as deep as that, not quite embedded deep enough in your system. Which suggests that they received their powers from someplace else, by other means."

"Artificially," said Marcus.  "Tests, experiments maybe."

"Maybe. But if so, that's extremely dangerous." 

"Yes, it is. Very dangerous. We need to find out where this is coming from, who's doing this. I'll brief the rest of the team, tell them to keep an eye out."

"Yes, do," agreed the doctor. "If this is someone experimenting, we need to find it and stop it before it gets out of hand."

------------------------------------------

"Aliens?"

"Yup, aliens."

"Huh."

"Yeah, they were all purple and had tentacles." Missy wiggled her fingers to mimic said tentacles. "Kind of squid-like. Like giant purple space squids."

"But it turned out they weren't the bad guys?"

"Yeah, they were actually good guys too. With the best interests for the universe in mind." 

"Huh, that's a twist." 

"Yeah, it sure was," agreed Missy as they reached the training facility.  "Marina, these are my friends," she  introduced. "Wild Card, Guppy, Noodles, Fast Forward, Rewind, Wheels, A Capella, Slo-Mo, and Facemaker." After introducing them, Missy explained their powers.

"What about yours?" Marina asked.

"Oh, I don't have powers."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

"That's okay, it's fine. I'm okay with it. What I've learned is that having powers or not having them doesn't determine who you are. You being you does."

"Wow, that's very profound."

She grinned. "Thanks, my Abuelita  reminded me of that. My mom used to say it."

"Your dad told me about your mom. I'm very sorry."

Missy gave a small, sad smile. "Thanks. It's been really hard."

"Oh, I bet. My mom's been in the hospital in critical condition for what feels like forever. I know it's not the same as losing her like you have, but I kind of understand. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"Thanks, Marina."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking."

"No, that's okay. I don't remember it really well, but something involving the Heroics, some big threat. Mom got caught in the chaos."

"Gosh, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. Dad blames himself, I know he does. Which only makes it worse." She paused.  "They met here, actually. They both worked here."

"Was she a Heroic too?"

"No, she didn't have any powers, like me. But she worked behind the scenes. Dad says it's funny cause they must have passed each other a hundred times before they actually met. And then, they saw each other all the time." She chuckled a little. "Funny how things work that way."

"Yeah," Marina agreed. "It is."

(Okay, I think all my ideas for this story are starting to take shape - yay!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))