Teeny and Nathan

Nathan’s story begins with two other main characters in this tale; Teeny (Christine), a good friend and a fellow do-gooder, and Josh, a soon-to-be villain. The three I had drawn. I’ll give you the necessary facts but I’ll skim past the unimportant details.

On Friday, October 3rd, the day before the madness started, two separate decisions were made that would lead to the first odious rivalry of this tale. Josh’s family decided they were going to spend the weekend biking in a resort town called Sun Valley in Idaho (which I’ll tell you about later). Nathan and Teeny heard from some friends that there were keggers being thrown by the Sun Valley resort workers both Friday and Saturday night.

Nathan is about average height, standing at 5’10”, 23 years old, and a slim bicyclist build. His face smooth and slightly elfin in shape, with well-defined cheekbones and a pointed chin, and well cared for dark blond hair that hangs over his eyes in a way that girls like. Combined with his flat stomach and lean definition and he makes for a large amount of competition at any party. He wouldn’t get in my way, though; who’d go after a pretty boy when there’s an angel around?

Teeny is the epitome of smoky and mysterious (which helped us decide on her ability). Short, barely over five feet tall, and yet to have reached the magical age of 21. She has a heart shaped face, set with large, innocent-looking dark eyes, framed by wild black hair that hangs halfway down her back, and an olive-skinned body with curves that make it hard not to stare. When these two go to parties together, they leave with the pick of the litter on both sides.

Friday night Nathan and Teeny arrived at their friends’ minuscule one-bedroom apartment in Sun Valley, unloaded what little stuff they had on and around the faded green couch they would pass out on later, drank several pre-party beers, and headed up to the first party of the weekend. Both keggers were taking place at a campsite on one of the mountains overlooking Sun Valley, complete with roaring campfires and drunk people to tend them. It was a blast. Friendly foreigners, beer, clingy clothing, what more could one ask for in a party?

They remembered very little of it the next day.

No matter; they got some greasy food from the nearby township of Ketchum, along with some Ibuprofen for their hurting heads, smoked a little weed to take care of after-party nausea, took a nap on the aforementioned couch, and started getting ready all over again for the next shindig, which promised to have at least three more kegs and loads more people.

Fast forward a little bit, past the first couple hours of drinking and shameless hitting on the beautiful Europeans that populated the Sun Valley workforce, and we wind up at the setting of the grand finale. Well, more like grand beginning, actually.

The stage was set just outside the circle of firelight. Nathan and Teeny were alone. The time was 11:55.

At that moment Nathan happened to finish his beer and turned to go grab a refill. Teeny drained the dregs of hers and held it out, asking if he would get her one, too. Ever the gentleman, he willingly obliged, leaving her alone. Well, not completely alone. She still had a pipe, which meant that temporary friends were never far away.

When Nathan returned, thirty-four seconds to midnight, he saw some tall guy standing, looming, over Teeny. Nathan watched as she shook her head. The guy put his hand on her shoulder, in what seemed like an intimidating manner. The beers fell from Nathan’s hands, completely forgotten. Everything…

PAUSE

I walked in. Well, I materialized, mostly. Observed the overflowing beer cups halfway down to ground that was already littered with empty plastic cups, the rage in Nathan’s eyes, the way Josh had his hand on Teeny’s shoulder and how she did not appear to like that one bit. “The entertainment starts already; that was quick”, I thought to myself. “Their short little lives really are like soap operas”.

I walked over to each one of them and stuck an immaterial hand into their heads, found the power switches near the brain stem, and flicked them on. At this point the other angels would probably have disappeared or flown away. Not me. I like a good action scene. Instead of leaving I walked about ten feet away, made myself completely invisible and immaterial, and settled into a newly created lawn chair for the show.

PLAY

…happened at once. The beers hit the dirt and splashed all over Nathan’s jeans, which he wouldn’t notice until the next morning. Teeny freaked and unconsciously powered up, which is how they usually do it the first time (judging from the comics I’ve read), and pulled away from Josh, hard. Thing is, her shoulder faded to shadow to help make good her escape. She ended up spinning halfway around and falling to the ground. So she missed what her friend did.

Nathan rushed forward to defend Teeny and punch out this, this…villain who had dared to lay a hand on her! His heart was pumping as fast as if he’d just snorted a pile of coke. As he crossed the short space to where the guy was standing with his back to him, a confused look on his face, Nathan, acting on instinct, brought his hands together in a silent clap. When he drew them away there was a writhing slash of blue/white electricity connecting his palms.

Not questioning his new weapon, Nathan leaped the last few feet, raised his arms, and brought his electric noose down around the stranger’s neck. Then snapped it tight.

On a normal human that amount of electricity pumped straight into the neck would be an instantly fatal blow. Josh, however, simply powered up and absorbed it into his skin. He would wear that lightning necklace like a tattoo for the rest of his life.

All three looked confused, shocked, and more than a little scared. The stranger took off running, and they didn’t see him again. In Sun Valley, that is.

Nathan went to where Teeny was still lying down and helped her to her feet. They got themselves fresh beers and sat down to talk about what had happened.

***

Tell us what you think: What did just happen? Who do you think this stranger was? A villain or a superhero?