AAOOOSC! Junior Powers!

In his dark bedroom, Kale is lying on his bed. He is wide awake, with his eyes lost in the dark ceiling as his mind tosses thoughts around:

All the other guys have epic powers like combat and manipulation and teleportation and skilled aiming and strength and tracking. But me…?

Kale slowly peers down at the palms of his hand.

I can just manipulate only wheat.

Wheat: just a plant that can only be harmful if gluten-intolerant people digest it. Other than that, it’s useless, let alone in a supernatural battle.

He lets out a heavy, weary sigh.

And that is the only power I have. There’s nothing I can do about, nothing I can change. Nothing I can do about the taunting from my apparent "sidekicks." That’s why I didn’t want to show my powers to them...

Kale’s thoughts fade off as he hears the jeering laughs echo through his mind. With a groan, he rolls over onto his side.

His eyes catch sight of the digital red numbers shining in the dark from his alarm clock: 5:06 am.

Kale slowly shakes his head against his pillow. "I can’t do this," he murmurs.

He then pulls himself out of bed, revealing the super suit of the society he is wearing, minus the footwear, gloves, and visor.

With a huff, he lifts himself to his feet and ambles to the closet, which is across from him.

In the closet are his street clothes and hockey equipment.

He changes into his regular clothes, which consists of a black hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes. He then grabs his pile of his Suit-Moto and raises it up high to stuff it on the shelf above the rack of hangers.

His sleeves naturally slip down, uncloaking his Wrist-Moto.

Kale halts his movements, peering at the sleek smartwatch.

"You are able to communicate and track each other through these," he hears Kailer’s voice resonate in his mind.

"That’s right," Kale mutters.

He quickly shoves his super suit into the shelf then pulls his wrist to his eye level. He turns the smartwatch around, spotting the clasp that holds it together, and snaps it off, slipping the device from himself.

He tosses it carelessly on his bed, then takes one last gaze at his room. "I’m out."

He then whirls around and exits his forlorn room.


Meanwhile, in the floor below in another bedroom, Kailer is snoozing, wearing a red, white, and blue striped nightshirt and a sleeping cap. He is lying on his bed face down with his face against the bed frame and his foot hanging from a shelf next to him.

Instantly, his Wrist-Moto begins to ping: PING, PING, PING…

"No, no," Kailer says in a murmurous tone with his eyes closed, "not now, Keanu, I must...I must…" He takes a deep breath before falling back into a deep sleep.

PING, PING, PING.

Kailer adjusts his face against the surface before mumbling, "I’ve been telling you, Mother, for the last time, I am obliged to…"

PING, PING, PING PING PING PING PING PING—!

Kailer’s small eyes flutter up. They immediately dart down to his Wrist-Moto.

HQS OPENED, the screen on the smartwatch displays.

Kailer immediately scrambles into a sitting position with his eyes as wide as pucks. "Holy shinikes!"

He launches to his feet, nabs his robe hanging on a stand by his bed, and slips it on.

He then presses a button on his Wrist-Moto and shouts into it, "Maîtriser! Maîtriser! HQs doors have been opened, I repeat the HQs doors have been opened!"

There is a bit of crackling before Matteo’s fatigued voice comes on. "Wait? Who, what?"

"Get everyone in the main room!" Kailer then instantly vanishes in a streak of blue energy.


In the main room, Kailer is already standing by the control booth as Matteo, Jeremy, Brett, and Jake shuffle into view.

Kailer rushes up to them hastily. "Is everyone here? Is everyone here?"

Weary silence takes over the room as everyone peers at their tired sidekicks.

Jake turns from Brett to the scientist. "Wheat Eater…"

Kailer darts his eyes around his surroundings before landing them on Kale’s partner. "Swayman, where’s Clague?"

Jeremy swiftly holds his hands up with trepidation. "I-I don’t know."

With a groan, the small teenager peers at his Wrist-Moto and begins pressing on it to track Kale.

Jake turns around in a circle with observant eyes while sniffing. "He’s not here…" He faces the others. "He must be the one who exited."

Brett raises his thick eyebrows, the circles under his eyes more evident. "Really?"

Kailer perks at the others with a small smile. "Nope, he’s here in his room."

Jake whirls to him. "Wait, but-but—"

"I shall go check on him," he cuts in proudly. He then turns to the tallest member. "Oettinger, sense if anyone ENTERED the premises." He then whisks off toward the nearest staircase, leaving the four members behind.

Jake dips his head and slowly shakes it with wide eyes. "It’s just only us five here. Wheat Eater’s not here."

"But Kailer said he was…," Jeremy points out warily, his eyes on the other goalie.

Brett swishes his head from his partner to his sidekick. "So who’s right?"

Matteo shrugs. "We just gotta wait and see."


A thick slit of light crawls into Kale’s dusky room as the door is being opened.

A silhouette then appears in the light as the one who opened the door ambles into it.

"Oh, Clague," Kailer calls out sing-songy, stepping into the dim room, "can you get out of your room, please—?" He immediately halts by his bed as the light from the hallway casts on its emptiness.

"Clague?" He swishes his head from side to side, hastily searching for the teenager in the small room. "Where are you? I know you’re in here…" His eyes automatically land on the tossed blankets, spotting an object perched on them.

With a sharp gasp, Kailer snatches the object and holds it in the light.

It is a black, sleek smartwatch: Kale’s Wrist-Moto.

"Balderdash," Kale exclaims under his breath, "the dog was right."

Notes