Tyler – Headcase

A little after noon, just as the villains were getting everyone in the bank under control, Nicole was driving around downtown with her two older sisters Leslee and Trisha doing a little shopping. Crystal hadn’t had any luck as of yet stealing from the wardrobe of the show she was an extra on, so Nicole had decided to do a little looking herself. Both her sisters knew about her powers as well as the rest of the heroes, and they wanted to help pick out costumes for everyone. Nicole had happily agreed.

The three of them had only hit a couple stores so far, and hadn’t found anything in the way of full body spandex costumes yet. They had, however, found masks for everyone. Matching masks, to show they were part of a team. Nicole had insisted they get masks for Natalie and Aaron, too, if and when they were ready to rejoin.

The masks were great, one-piece white stretchy spandex with eye holes and an open top, so their hair could stick out. The sisters had discovered them in the back of a comic book store in a new outdoor mall that had opened up downtown. There were other colors too, but, as the oldest sister Trisha had pointed out, white was a hero color, as the villains would most likely be found in black. No one argued her point.

The next eldest, Leslee, was driving. They were a block away from the robbery-in-progress when they all heard the police sirens. Leslee immediately pulled over.

“Turn the radio on,” Nicole said while Trisha dug a mask out of the bag at her feet and tossed it to her little sister in the back seat.

The robbery was on the third news station that they flipped to. Nicole dug her phone out of her pocket and called the first hero to spring to mind: the youngest sister, Natalie.

No answer.

Next was Crystal, who picked up after the first ring.

“Hey, what’s up?” Crystal answered cheerfully. It was obvious she hadn’t heard yet. Nicole quickly filled her in.

“I’m at work right now, but I’ll make up an excuse and get out of here immediately. Can you call everyone else and let them know?” Crystal sounded breathless with excitement.

“Of course.”

“Where should I meet you?”

Nicole gave her the address where she and her sisters were parked. Ten minutes later all the other heroes that could be reached (Nathan, Teeny, and Tyler) were on their way, coming in one car. Nicole made sure to tell them about the masks she had for everybody, and told them to be ready for something big. One radio station had mentioned something about ‘odd events transpiring’, and Nicole feared that meant powers. Supervillains.

Crystal didn’t start getting nervous until she was in her car on the way downtown. She had blown off her work with a believable excuse (something about a family member in the hospital; she didn’t really remember the details) and gotten out of there within minutes of getting off the phone with Nicole. Her state of anxiety grew so bad that her eyes started shifting from round iris to almond sliver and back without her noticing. Right before she arrived, even her fingernails were beginning to sharpen without her conscious control.