#1 July 2000

So It Begins . . . by S. M. Shook

"Jono, I am warning you for the last time if you do not stop borrowing my clothes I am going to hurt you." Tom Palmer said with a half jesting voice as he combed his hair. Tom had the perfect looks that made other kids jealous and the girls flock to him. His hair a dark black was perfect a slight curl to it but not a strand out of place. His eyes blue with a slight twinkle.

"I am sorry Tom, I finally got a date with Cassie and I didn't have anything good to wear," Jono Palmer said as he laid on the bed. Jono obviously resembled his brother. Nice eyes and hair that was perfectly in place. Jono's major downfall were the bandages covering the lower half of his face and his chest.

"Did dad let you borrow the car? How do I look?"

"Does he ever? Who is she?"

"You don't know her she's not from around here."

Tom Palmer walked over to the rooms window and stepped out of it. He peaked in through the window. "Don't wait up." Tom flew off weaving over the street.

Jono, alone in the room said to himself. "It's the flying, chicks dig the flying."

Tom walked down the street with a blonde hair girl so gorgeous she could be a model. The two of them passed an alley where there was a girl who could be no older than 13. Her blonde hair was dirty as was the rest of her. Surrounding the girl was a thin layer of fog.

"Tom can I fly with you a little bit?" The cute blonde said in her most flirtatious voice.

"Yeah, it's about time I took you home anyway." Tom said half upset. He picked up the girl and flew off into the night sky.

Tom Palmer flew back into the window and hit the wall hard sending his fist through the wall. Almost immediately the door opened with Jono standing at it.

"What happened?"

"The only reason I ever get a date is because I can fly."

"You complain too much, I can't even get that much."

"I would be a hero if dad would ever let me use these powers. Then the girls would be all over me after I stopped one villain."

"The girls wouldn't care what I looked like if I was a hero."

"Is that all that you care about?"

"Oh give me a break Tom you know that is all you care about."

Tom gave Jono a nasty look then smiled.

"Yeah I do care a lot about that but don't you think it would be a thrill to fight some super villain?"

"Tom do you have some type of a death wish? Have you ever seen some of these guys? They would eat us for breakfast and use our bones to pick their teeth."

Tom gazed out the window lost in his thoughts of how much he would like the challenge of fighting one of those guys.

"Jono listen to me I know what they look like and I know the stories on how they got that way. I have seen the old pictures from World War Two on the net. I know these guys are nasty but think about the challenge, and the glory."

"Tom are you listening to yourself? You want to fight the nastiest people on the planet because you are bored. Ever hear of a video game? They are safer and if you lose you are not dead."

"Do you ever wonder why we have these powers Jono?"

"Dad told us that it was just some genetic quirk."

"I know a thing or to about genetics, we do not end up like this unless someone in our family had something similar."

"Are you saying you think Mom or Dad had some type of powers?"

"You never thought about it before Jono? Why would we both be like this at random? I mean how many kids do you know who can fly or have a good chunk of their face and chest missing?"

Jono looked down depressed. A feeling of resentment and pain passed through him at the damage his powers did to his face and body.

"Who do you think had the powers? Mom or Dad?"

"There is a chance that they both could have."

"Why would they hide it from us?"

"Would you like to fly with me?"

"Why?"

"I really feel like talking and I do not want to do it here." Tom had a serious look in his eyes one that Jono had not often seen before.

"Tom, you have me worried here, you are seeming a little more rigid than normal."

"Listen Jono, do you want to fly with me or not?"

"Let's go." Jono climbed into Tom's arms as he had done on many occasions before. And the two flew off into the night sky.

"Where are we going Tom?"

"Somewhere."

"I know that but we have been up here for some time."

"California."

"What is in California?"

"I took my date here earlier and there was someone that caught my attention."

"You are taking me on a girl hunt?"

"No, there was something about her that caught my attention. Something not quite normal. Don't worry Jono, if I am wrong, we will be back home in about a half hour."

"I thought you said we were going to fly there to talk."

Tom sent out red rays from his eyes that Jono could feel warm the half of his face that was still flesh covered.

"What the hell was that Tom?"

"I have no clue, I just found out about it earlier when I was flying home from France after dropping Chloe off."

"Chloe? The model?"

"Yep."

"Tom that doesn't explain the heat."

"I was angry and frustrated. I was grinding my teeth and I shot these weird beams from my eyes."

"You and I are basically just power chambers aren't we?"

"I don't know."

The two brothers softly landed on the street in the same area that Tom had been with his date earlier.

The phone rang twice before it was picked up. "This is the Department of Extranormal Operations how may I help you?"

"This is Agent Palmer. Please transfer me through to Agent Starsmore."

"What can I do for you Agent Palmer?"

"The readings on our sons are beginning to rise, their powers are growing in bounds now and I fear it is almost time to take them into custody."

"What are the readings, Agent Palmer?"

"Thomas is at six, Jonothan is at eight."

"You know the rules, Agent Palmer. When the readings get to ten, we take them in to custody. I feel Thomas has longer than Jonothan."

"How can you be so cold Sarah? They are your children too."

"These are facts that you know, Agent Palmer."

"Sarah, Tom's powers went up two points in one day."

"That isn't possible. No one has had that big an increase in one day."

"The readings do not lie, Sarah."

"Is he okay, Ray?"

"His chest didn't explode into flames like Jono's. To be honest I could not tell any difference in him other than the big hole he punched in the wall."

"Do they know you have cameras in their room?"

"Sarah it kills me to have to hide everything from them. They think you are dead, and I can't even begin to tell them about our past."

"Listen, Palmer, you are going to lose the boys really soon. You may want to be honest with them or they will really hate you."

"You sure are a good mother to them, Sarah."

"Let's not get started on this again, Agent Palmer."

"It must be nice to feel nothing."

Jono had a soft look in his eyes as he finally spoke, "She is beautiful."

"I do not think she is normal."

"Neither are we, Tom. But if she is sleeping on the streets, I think she could use a friend."

"Jono, no. Don't even think it."

"I am going to ask if she would like to stay at our house, Tom"

"Dad is just going to love this."

Jono touched the mist girl's shoulder softly. She woke up and the smoke swirled around her in spirals.

"YOU ARE NOT TAKING ME BACK THERE EVER."

Jono instantly put his hands for her to see. "I am just trying to help. Please calm down."

"What is wrong with your face?", the mist girl asked as she kept her eyes locked on Jono.

As Jono pulled the bandages down an in inch, a blue flame snaked up about an inch.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really. I miss my old life, though. What is your name?"

"How do you talk without a mouth."

"It is sorta like telepathy. What is your name?"

"I am Suzy."

"I am Jonothan. It is nice to meet you, Suzy."

Jonothan held his hand out to shake hers. She took his hand and shook it. Jonothan could barely feel her hand only the soft mist.

"What do you want with me, Jonothan?"

"I want to help. I know that living on the street isn't safe or all that pleasurable."

"And how do you want to help me?"

"I want to take you to our home, if nothing else you can sleep in the basement. It is safe there. Probably more comfortable, too."

"Dad is just going to love this."

"You say you wanna be a hero, Tom, how about helping one person to start off? Suzy, would you like to live with us for a while?"

"What about your father?" Suzy asked timidly.

"With any luck he won't find out for a while."

"That is your brilliant idea, Jono? Hoping he won't find out? Dad is going to be quite upset to find out you are letting some girl move in with us."

"She will be our little Secret. Is that okay with you Suzy?"

"I am sick of running away, a home might be nice for a while."

"I can't let you do this Jono, I am not taking her with us."

"You will do this or Dad finds out about Paris."

"What do you know about Paris?"

"I am sure there are a lot of stories I can tell Dad about you, three drunken supermodels and all those bottles of wine."

"How do you know about Paris?"

"I have my ways. Are you going to help us or not?"

"Jono, I don't think I can carry both of you at once."

Smoke began to move around the three of them, surrounding then and covering them.

"What is going on, Suzy?"

"I am taking us home, Jono."

The billows of smoke surrounded them more and more. It covered their bodies until all that was left in the alley was a few final puffs of smoke.

"Where are we, and where are you, Suzy?"

A booming voice from nowhere spoke, "I AM HERE."

"Jono, I do not like this."

The loud booming voice replied, "THINK OF HOME AND WE WILL BE THERE"

The smoke slowly cleared and three people appeared in the basement of the Palmer household.

"What was that, Suzy?"

"Um, you do not want to know Jono, I mean that."

Meanwhile in Ray Palmer's room a beep became prominent waking him from a sleep.

"Oh, my god! A level twenty in my house! This can not be good."