Union

thirty six

DECEMBER 14

1421 EST

"That'll be fifteen twenty-four, please," the clerk deadpanned.

CJ frowned at him, wallet half-open. "What?"

The clerk pointed to the monitor, displaying his total in bright green numbers fit for the holiday season. CJ stifled a groan, fully opening his wallet and rifling through the minutiae he'd stuffed into it over the past few months. He jerked his chin towards the comic book on the counter. "That is definitely not fifteen dollars, but okay."

He slapped a twenty dollar bill onto the desk and slid it towards the clerk, who picked it up and tapped away at his side of the screen. While he waited, CJ surveyed the store. A few customers dotted the aisles, flipping through comic books or browsing through other fan merchandise. A TV was lit up nearby, displaying the local news, and when CJ caught a glimpse of the headline, he wished he could turn away, but when people talked about what happened that night, CJ stopped and listened.

"The community is still reeling from the chaos of Halloween," said the news anchor, Daniel Danforth, whom CJ thought could be the poster boy for hair gel or whitening toothpaste. "In the wake of the battle, headed on one side by the beloved Union and the other by the infamous sorcerer Rune, many areas of Brightbay are recovering, in time for the holiday season. Support groups for those affected by any damage caused by the supervillains have been in place, as well as donation funds. However, citizens are still curious: is this the end of the Shadow Web?"

"Here's your receipt."

A short piece of paper was thrust under CJ's nose. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but dismissed it upon finding the clerk absorbed in the news broadcast. CJ cleared his throat, pocketing the receipt. "Thanks--"

"That was so crazy," the clerk interrupted, bleary eyes still glued to the TV.

CJ blinked. "What was?"

The clerk slowly tore his attention from the news, which had ceased discussing the fallout from the Battle of Brightbay--as the media had coined it--to look at him. "The battle," he said, as if it should be obvious. "My friends and I were so stoned, but I swear, I saw that speedster guy! What's his name...?"

CJ resisted both compelling urges to either burst into laughter or punch the guy in the face. "Rapid, I think."

"Rapid!" the clerk exclaimed. "Yeah, him. Man, his powers are so sick."

CJ nodded along, wondering if his expression was at all convincing. "Yeah, yeah, totally."

A few moments later, CJ was walking out of the comic store and into the falling snow of Brightbay City, new gift in hand. Streets were lit up with colorful shop displays, and strings of people moved up and down the sidewalks, bundled up against the cold. CJ tugged on his own hat as he jogged across the street, headed back towards Headquarters.

After that night, no one had really been in the mood for a celebration. No one really felt like they needed one, but Avi--of all people--insisted that the Union and Contingency throw their annual holiday party, and she wasn't holding back. It seemed that every day CJ padded into the cortex, there was something new being planned or delivered. Avi had barely let anyone into her planning committee, aside from Liv and Bristol, who wouldn't tell CJ or Tristan a thing. All they had said was that he needed to draw a name from a hat and get that person a gift. CJ had drawn Tristan's name, and now he was twenty bucks poorer.

"Fifteen bucks," CJ grumbled as he trekked through the snow. "What a--"

His laments were cut off by the familiar feeling of time slowing down, causing CJ to leap out of the way as a car came skidding towards where he'd just been standing. It careened into someone else's car parked on the side of the road, and suddenly CJ wasn't standing on the snowy streets of Brightbay City anymore. He was on his back on an asphalt road, baking in the midsummer California heat. His ears were ringing, his body felt numb, but he pushed himself up on his elbows to see a car overturned on the sidewalk, crumpled like a discarded piece of paper and burning. Flames reached for the blue sky, turning the air into hazy waves.