NIGHT 1: “IT’S WHO YOU KNOW”
My friends would freak if they knew how I was spending this Friday night. They are probably at the mall or catching a movie, hanging out, talking about cheerleaders, that kind of thing. Somehow I’m here facing a wall of tv screens at the headquarters of the biggest heroes in the world.
Man, it’s killing me. I’ve had these powers for about six months now and I haven’t told a soul. Now, I’m doing this dear diary thing better known as the team log — kind of like those speeches Captain Kirk used to do on Star Trek. My new partners want a record of their adventures so it’s my homework while monitoring the country for bad guys. It helps to have gotten good grades on my essays, I guess!
I’ve barely travelled out of the New York area and never flown on a plane. When I became a member of The TeamMates last week, I got this warp device that opens a hole across the country right to HQ. Not sure how it works but then, I can barely explain how my powers work.
I had this part time job after school at the diner. Part of my job was taking the trash out to the dumpster. One night, an explosion happened in the offices next door. There was a blast of light that hit me from all the way across the parking lot. I glowed for awhile which scared the hell out of me. Not a fan of radiation blasts. When I got home, I found that I could restore things. I dropped a bowl of cereal on the floor. I wave my hand and the broken bowl went back on to the table good as new. It was like using a remote to rewind something.
I was able to do it once a day. If a car in the neighborhood smashed into a pole, I could wave my hand and the beam would put the car back to normal. It was so cool. But I was hoping it would work on people but it didn’t. The driver broke his arm and I couldn’t return it to normal. His shirt was good as new, though. I’m glad I found all this out before I tried to bring back our family dog from the grave. And I can’t change things that didn’t just happen. I found that out trying to patch the hole I made in our garage wall with a shovel when I was 8.
About a month ago, I had my first official team-up right out of The Brave and The Bold when there was a huge house fire in the town a few miles away in Conway County. I was gonna watch Saturday Night Live but there was a story on the news so I got going. I don’t have the best mask and costume in the world but thank God these powers can make my body so light that I can float. I don’t know if it is as good as flying but I can move fast. I guess I wasn’t the only one watching the news because I recognized the guys saving the day right away. Good Cop and Bad Cop had the fire out in seconds. I was a little embarrassed to show up after the danger was over but then we heard a scream. The floor collapsed and a mom and her little boy were falling with it. I wasn’t sure if I could do it but since the collapse just happened, I waved my hand and it went back together like a puzzle. The mom and kid were a little banged up but they survived! Good Cop introduced himself while Bad Cop looked at the floor I fixed like someone trying to figure out how a magician did a trick. Good Cop asked if I could fix the fix the whole house but it didn’t work. It’s all in the timing. Then, I couldn’t believe it! Good Cop said that I should join The TeamMates!
Last week, I was pissing off some bank robbers by waving their stolen bags of money back into the safe when an angel landed next to me. It was Crush! She looked even better than on Entertainment Tonight! No wonder guys fall in love with her and women want to be like her. Some guy on tv once said guys only get into show business to meet girls. One look at Crush and I figured the same goes for the hero biz. Maybe it will help me get my first girlfriend, haha. I was standing on my tongue when she handed me a warp drive and told me to be on time Thursday night at 8.
So when my buddies were doing my homework that Thursday, my eyes were popping out looking around the HQ for the first time. Remember when they stopped those aliens in Times Square? One of their weapons is now a souvenir under glass in the HQ. These guys fought the very first villains that stole the White House and kidnapped Madonna. After meeting the three other members, I was sworn in. I wish my parents could have seen it! They thought I was at the diner trying to get some overtime.
Bad Cop didn’t say a word to me but I heard him tell Crush that he intends to look into how I got my powers. Crush said I seemed like a sweet kid! Good Cop was talking with Weekend Warrior and Girlpower about the time that villain Overnight was robbing a brewery (really!). His ex showed up and started cursing him out. The mighty TeamMates could only stand there and laugh in the spilled beer.
The sixth member, The Valedictorian, asked me about my name. I told him I didn’t like when the morning news started calling me Novice, but I didn’t exactly have a way to tell them to change it. Val (he let’s me call him ‘Val’!) said it wasn’t bad because not only was I learning my way but that my powers make things new again. I told him it felt like I was taking driving classes and had the “driving student” sign on the back of the car. He laughed which felt great, like I made Letterman laugh or something. I guess it’s not so bad being the new kid.
So, my first log entry didn’t have a lot of excitement to it. I hear most of the time monitor duty is pretty boring. Not for me. I’m in the world’s greatest clubhouse with a pizza and a wall of tv screens. Beats the mall. I was just watching a recording earlier of when the TeamMates stopped that meteor a few months back. It didn’t happen the way the papers said. You would think in 1984, journalists would get the story right.