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Earth Bet, meet Earth Mira
More Miracle adventures in Earth Bet
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Hero continues to hang out with Jacob and because of that is mostly missing in action. However, the Protectorate tentatively announces that they might have found a way to stop the giant monsters once and for all.

And Sadde's no longer sick and rather curious about what the heck how did he get new powers all of a sudden?

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When his stepmother and father aren't looking, a message made of glowing dust forms before Sadde's eyes.

Hey, it's Hannah, one of the weird kids who appeared in your room. You hear about Faded Springs? Just nod or shake your head.

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He stops, startled, then nods.

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Yeah, that's happened to you. You're going to live forever now unless something kills you, and you'll never be sick. Bunch of other cool stuff, too, but those are the main things. 

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"Um."

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I could do the same thing for the rest of your family, but I know your dad's a jerk.

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"I still don't want him to die," he murmurs.

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Is he likely to die very soon?

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"No?"

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Then it can wait. Probably for your siblings and step mom, too, unless there's something you know that I don't.

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"It doesn't need to wait. Why isn't everyone like this?" he whispers.

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Eventually, but your dad's mean, so I don't think he should have powers right now. Do you want me to do the rest of your family?"

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"He wouldn't use them, he doesn't like powers. I... don't know what he'd do if my half-siblings and stepmom had powers."

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So, wait?

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"...I don't know."

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If I did, it could give you time to run away. If that's what you want.

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"Run away where? And the government would still think I'm his kid."

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There's Faded Springs, lots of people with powers there. And we could hide you in another universe if we needed to. Also, I totally know a secret conspiracy that could help. If your dad is mean to your step mum and her siblings, I can make him stop. 

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"He isn't mean to them, just to me."

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I mean if I give them powers.

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"They'd be able to defend themselves, right?"

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Yeah.

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"So you can just turn them all."

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Yes. 

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"All of them," he clarifies.

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Are your dad or stepmum driving?

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"No?"

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Done.

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Blink. "Thank you."

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They'll be really sick for a week like you were.

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"Okay." Pause. "Can you get me out?"

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Hmm..hop on your bed.

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He does.

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And now it's turning into a bizarre flying contraption.

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Oooooh.

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And his bedroom wall is collapsing into nanites. 

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Giggle.

A little girl, about four years younger than Sadde, walks into his room, frightened, and gawks 

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Um, what should I do with her?

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"...nothing." He looks at her. "Honey this is just a dream. Go back to bed and it'll be okay, right?"

The girl nods and goes back to bed.

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Good, I thought I was going to have to do something scary or take her with us. She'll thank you later, I guess. 

And they're off!

 

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He's a bit more subdued because of his sister but enjoys it anyway.

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So, Faded Springs?

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"I guess."

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Try and get some sleep if you can.

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...yeah that probably won't happen but he may as well try.

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So, what powers did you get? She knows full well, it's just polite.

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"Shapeshifting." Pause. "Plus my parahuman powers."

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Cool!

The flight to Faded Springs takes some hours.

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And contrary to his prediction he does fall asleep.

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Then he'll wake up in the middle of town the next morning.

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He blinks, yawns, and looks around.

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There are people crowding around him.

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"Um. Hi?"

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"Hello," says Hannah, making her way through the crowd.

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"What's this?" the mayor asks, weaving his way through the people.

Sadde immediately looks at him. "Is that you?"

"Is what me?"

"Trying to calm me down."

"Yes, I—"

"Stop it!"

He stops.

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"Hello Mayor Boris."

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He finally spots her, and sighs. "Hannah Smart. I should have guessed."

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"Yes, you should have."

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"Care to explain?"

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"His dad was abusive, I made him Manifest, and now he's here."

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He blinks. "And you decided to bring him here... why? There are procedures about this sort of thing."

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"His dad was the kind of abusive CPS doesn't do anything about."

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"CPS?" Sadde asks.

"And you expect me to just keep him here on your say-so?" asks Mayor Boris.

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"I did give you all powers a while back."

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"I do remember the story. The whole story," he says, peering down at her. "It does not make me inclined to step down and let you run this town."

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"Sadde can back me up."

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"I dunno if it was a good idea to bring me here," he says.

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"But your dad's mean, I saw him."

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"Yeah but maybe it would be better to bring me to your world because then Mayor Boris won't have to break the law to help me."

The mayor smiles.

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"My way of taking you to my world can be scary."

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"Scary how?"

"Is your mother informed of this?" wonders the mayor. People start peeling off the crowd as it becomes less and less interesting to watch.

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"Umm, I'm telling her now. And I have to eat you."

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"—eat me?"

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"Take you apart and put you back together in my world."

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"...and I'll be okay?"

It's at this point when a kid lets go of his mom's hand and calls, "She's evil!"

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"I'm still sorry about that. And yeah, you'll be fine."

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"Is that the only way?"

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"No. But we have to go somewhere private."

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He stands up and dusts himself.

"I will ask your mother how that went," Boris informs Hannah.

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She leads him into an alley. 

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Follow follow.

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"Doormaker?"

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Nothing.

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"Huh. Guess it'll have to be my way.

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"What's Doormaker?"

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"A thing."

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"What thing?"

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"Okay, a person?"

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"What person?"

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"A secret."

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"Oh. What do they do?"

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"Never you mind."

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He pouts.

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"Should we get started?"

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"Okay."

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He is engulfed! Next thing he knows, he's lying in the sand of Zaneta's island. 

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He blinks and looks around.

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"Welcome!"

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"Thank you. Where am I?"

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"The Island of Boyun!"

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"Okay. Why here?"

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"My family lives here. And it's pretty."

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"Okay." He stands up, dusts himself, and—" Why am I naked?"

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"I didn't want to accidentally fuse your skin or something. Humans are weird about that sort of thing."

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"...you can rebuild me but you can't then build clothes around me?"

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"We all have blind spots. Not really a taboo I've internalised. Want to go find the others?"

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"...okay"

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They walk along the beach for a bit, Hannah resuming her regular form.

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"Sorry for Faded Springs."

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"It was weird. Why did a kid call you evil?"

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"I did something really scary to save them from Jack Slash."

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"Oh. What was it?"

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"I pretended I wanted to join, he said I had to do some horrible things to a bunch of kids. I faked it, but the faking was still pretty scary."

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"Oh. But he's dead now, right?"

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"Yeah. Oh, look, there's some of the others up ahead!"

 

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She's right, Jacob, Michael, and Evan are watching penguins dance.

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He walks over to them. "Hi."

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Jacob looks up at him and smiles.

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"Hey, Sadde...what are you doing here?"

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"I see you're following our example."

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"Hannah rescued me from my father. And didn't give me clothes."

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"That was rude, Hannah."

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"I also made him a Miracle."

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"Awesome! What can you do?"

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"Shapeshift. And I was also a parahuman, my power is making things appear." Here are some marbles.

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They're all quite impressed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

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"Because my father wouldn't like it if he knew. And all I knew about you were that you were a bunch of naked children in my bedroom."

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"With superpowers, though."

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"Ah yes such a good idea to tell all my secrets to the naked children just because they have superpowers, my bad."

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"Whatever. Could you show us the shapeshifting? Oh, and this is Jacob. He can turn into people, sorta."

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Jacob shrugs.

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And Sadde shifts.

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"Neat. Can you change anything else?"

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Now he has a beak.

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"Do not mock the nobility of bird kind."

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He tweets.

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"You are offending the penguins."

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Now he barks. With the beak.

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"Get him!"

Now the penguins are swarming around his ankles.

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"Don't get him," Jacob says, using his Moira-voice.

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"You're not the queen, Jacob!"

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"I didn't vote for you. And you're mean."

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"You don't vote in a monarchy. And you're not even one of my subjects."

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"You're still mean. He just arrived and you're being mean to him." He gets up and walks on over to Sadde. "Shoo," he tells the penguins.

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"—um."

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The penguins return to the sea.

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He shifts back. "So you can turn into people?"

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He nods. "If I know them very well."

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"He can just copy powers, or do that and your personality, or full on shapeshift."

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Another nod.

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"My... personality?"

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"Don't worry. He can't read minds."

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"Okay."

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"It's like he has dozens of powers. It's awesome."

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Jacob shakes his head.

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"It's not awesome?"

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"I don't know dozens of people."

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"But you could. And some of us have more than one power."

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Shrug.

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"He's modest. It's a terrible social disease."

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He frowns at her.

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"Well I'm not that. Modest, I mean."

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"Clearly. So, our mum's going to be here soon. She's angry, but not at you."

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"Good, I didn't do anything wrong, if she was angry at me I wouldn't like her."

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"Till then, do you want to play?"

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"Yeah!"

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He tugs his left ear. A few seconds later, a metal capsule shoots out from under the sand. He starts unpacking what looks like a superhero costume. "My power is more thinky than their's."

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"Thinky?"

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"We do things, he makes things."

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"...I like his power better."

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"But we can fly."

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"Evan, can you not fly?"

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"If I have my Suit on," he says, pulling it on. 

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"Yeah, but me, Hannah, and Jacob can just do it, like the magical space virus intended."

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"Copying people is just the same as having a Suit on."

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"And being able to make incredible things is way more incredible than just being incredible."

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"Then where's yours?"

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"My what?"

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"I was talking to Jacob."

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"My what?" he mimics—normally, not exactly.

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"Suit."

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He just looks at her blankly.

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"Point proven."

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He looks at Sadde again. "Do you fly?"

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"Umm I think I could if I tried..."

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"Prove it!"

She sprouts massive wings and takes to the air.

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He goes hind behind a tree.

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She hums the Superman theme.

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Nobody gets it, possibly excepting Jacob.

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And then he's out, wearing a featureless white bodysuit with a cape and a glass mask with an emoji that reflects his facial expressions. And he flies.

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The intricate, circuit like lines on Evan's costumes glow green, and he flies.

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Moira glows bright white, and takes off.

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Jacob borrows the triplets' powers, too, and takes flight.

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"Still don't need to be wearing anything to fly. It's like comparing Michael to a scuba diver."

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He ignores her.

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"I like it. The suit I mean. How fast can you go?"

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"I dunno. As fast as I want?"

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Moira looks at Jacob, trying to convey as hard as possible the desire to show Sadde how fast they can go.

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Jacob shrugs.

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She gives him her "You're no fun" face, and speeds off into the distance. 

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"Maybe not that fast."

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And suddenly Michael has teleported onto his back.

"What're you doing here?"

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"Flying."

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"Oh. I kinda expected you to freak out or something. Good job." He sniffs Sadde. "Since when were you a Miracle?"

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"Hannah turned me into one."

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"That's cool...why?"

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"So I could live forever."

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"Good enough reason. So why are you here?"

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"His dad's an arse."

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"Oh. Sorry."

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Shrug.

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"He also had powers before being a Miracle."

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"This suit is from my other powers."

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"And those are?"

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"Making stuff."

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"Like Evan?"

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"Not really, my stuff just appears."

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"Did you get any Miracle powers?"

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"I can shapeshift."

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"Like Jacob?"

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"No, I don't need to shapeshift only into people or know anyone."

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"...Could you do mer?"

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"Yeah I think?"

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"Neat. Um, could we go down now?"

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"Why?"

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"Cause I'm clinging to your back."

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"Don't be a wimp Michael, we just got up here." 

She grabs him.

"There."

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He giggles. "You weren't even that heavy."

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"He is lean and swimming adapted."

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"Yes, thank you for the factual description."

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"I wonder if your siblings will get powers anything like yours."

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He grimaces. "Don't think so."

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"Why not? Me and my brothers have basically the same powers, well aside from Evan."

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"That's because I took after my mum, though. But we were sort of sheltered."

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"They're nothing like me."

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"Yeah, personality has a lot to do with it. At least books say so. Should be interesting, though."

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Shrug.

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"Bet you a fish one of them gets phasing."

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"...Why?"

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He shrugs. "We're due someone who can walk through walls."

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"There's Aether."

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"It just popped into my head, alright? Okay, two fish on lava."

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"My sister might get invisibility or something."

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"Sneaky?"

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"Shy."

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"I hope we didn't scare her."

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He shrugs. "I don't think she'll remember."

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"Probably better than the hallucinations anyway."

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He grimaces. "Yeah, does it have to be that bad?"

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"I could have put you all back together as Miracles, but they probably wouldn't have liked that."

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"Why not?"

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"Do you think your dad would have coped with me eating him and his family?"

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"Did they need to know?"

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"Be hard to miss."

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"They could be unconscious."

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"Fine, I'll eat your family."

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"It sounds so gross when you say it like that."

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"Then I'll disassemble them on a molecular level and put them back together. I'll try that clothes thing, too."

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"Thank you."

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Are his family at their apartment?

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Tobias isn't, he's giving a statement to the police, but the rest of them are.

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Might as well start with them. The floors quickly absorb them.

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They do not react, as they're unconscious.

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"They'll be done in a few hours."

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"Okay."

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"I am Hannah, creator of life."

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The others laugh at this.

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...it wasn't that funny.

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"You ever played dive bomb?"

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"Yeah?"

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"From how high up?"

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"—not this high."

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Michael looks at Moira. "Don't you dare."

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She drops, taking Michael with her. "WHEEEEEE!"

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"AGHGHGHGHHGHH!"

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He giggles and drops, too.

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Moira's lying on top of the water, giggling. 

"I have returned the boy mermaid to his natural environment."

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"Hah ha," he says, flatly.

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"You could've teleported away," he says when he's no longer underwater.

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"I have decorum, thank you very much."

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"No you don't."

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"Slander!"

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"Is it slander when it's true?"

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"How do I lack decorum?"

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"You're naked. And you landed on me."

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"Hey, for all you know that's normal around here."

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Jacob floats down towards them and shakes his head.

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"Don't trust him! He's like two months old!"

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Shrug.

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"I think two months is long enough to know."

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"Well, he's not exactly dressed. And sometimes he's very jumpy."

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He rolls his eyes, but he's smiling.

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"Besides, normal is boring."

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"You still lack decorum."

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"I have mer-Miracle decorum. It's way more fun."

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"And it means you can teleport on top of me but not out of Moira's arms?"

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"...Yes."

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"Admit it, you like it."

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"I tolerate my lady's many eccentricities." 

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"He so does."

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"Uh huh."

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Evan falls from the sky, generating a splash much larger than a boy of his mass should.

"I win."

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"Is it a splash competition? I think the triplets would win if they tried."

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Wave!

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"See?" he says after he manages to come up for air, spluttering.

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She taps Sadde on what probably is his nose. "We always win."

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"Wanna bet?"

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"We're already betting on your little brother and sister."

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"I'm gonna win that one too."

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"Bet you another fish you don't!"

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"...that's silly."

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"I'm feeling lucky."

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"Betting on a bet is silly!"

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"And where would he even get fish?"

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"I can just buy them? Or fish them?"

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"Bought fish are barbaric."

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"Why?"

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"It's disrespectful to the fish."

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"So?"

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"How'd you like it if you were eaten rudely?"

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"Exactly the same as if I was eaten politely: not at all."

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"Besides, shop fish are terrible."

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"Why?"

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"They don't taste right. Duh."

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"They taste different? How?"

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"They're not as fresh!"

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"You don't say."

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"Jacob can tell you!"

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"He was being sarcastic," Jacob informs Michael.

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"But I'm still right."

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Shrug.

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"He's tasted it!"

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Another shrug.

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"Indecisive."

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"I'll teach you how to fish," he tells Sadde.

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"Um. Thanks."

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"Good idea! First, you find the laziest fish."

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"Laziest?"

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"It's hard to explain to humans."

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He raises an eyebrow.

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"Well how would you explain it, Mr. I'm Going to Teach Him fishing?"

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"Dunno. But I'm human and I learned."

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"You'll need a spear, probably," he explains.

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"What's wrong with fishing rods?"

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He shrugs. "I guess if you can't swim at all...."

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"Not faster than fish!"

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"Who's saying you have to be?"

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"...to use a spear?"

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He looks at Jacob. "Poor novice."

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He sighs and shakes his head.

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"Jacob is a deeply sympathetic creature."

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Nod.

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"How's the Hero thing going, by the way? Oh, did I mention we know Hero? How did that slip out?"

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"—the Hero? Like, the Protectorate Hero? That Hero?!"

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Jacob nods again. "It's going fine. He's nice."

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"Can you do his powers yet?"

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Headshake.

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"You'll get there."

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Nodnod!

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"...so is anyone going to teach me to fish or...?"

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"Alright, alright, keep your socks on."

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"Why?"

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He rolls his eyes. "It's a figure of speech."

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"What's it mean?"

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"Don't be impatient."

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"Oh. Why?"

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"Just go underwater!"

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They're already in the water, so down he goes.

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He beckons Sadde to follow him.

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He follows!

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As does Jacob!

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He leads them to some fish.

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Fish!

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And now Michael is lunging at them. He catches one in his teeth.

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...

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He looks quizzically at him.

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He makes a sign appear.

I can't swim that fast!

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He looks at Jacob.

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...what's he looking at?

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Well, he was the one who offered to teach him.

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Yes and Michael said you didn't need to be faster than fish to fish so if he's gonna set bad examples he should wait until they're done.

Jacob starts showing Sadde how a human could do it.

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Michael just finds it weird seeing Jacob be Jacob in his body. 

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He sticks his tongue out at Michael just as Michael's thinking that, so perhaps there's some Michael brain in there somewhere.

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At least he isn't wearing the pants. He also wonders if he could teach Michael-Jacob to speak mer.

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Maybe later, Jacob's busy now.

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He likes Jacob.

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Yeah, but so does everyone.

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Is Jacob smug about this? Perhaps, but it's not like anyone can tell.

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And now Jacob and Sadde are being hoisted out of the water. "Sadde, I take it?"

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"...yeah. Hi."

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She looks to Jacob. "Yes, I know it's you in there."

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He shrugs slightly and shifts back to his Jacob shape.

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Michael pokes his head out of the water, releasing the fish he had in his mouth. "What's up, Zaneta?"

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"Nothing, Michael. I just have much to discuss with Sadde."

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He looks worried. "Is he in trouble."

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"No. Nice seeing you."

She zips them back to shore, where Hannah is waiting.

"I want you to know, Sadde, that in any sane society, you would have been removed from your father's care a long time ago. I'm not upset that you're here, it's just a terribly complicated situation."

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"Well I figured out everyone around me was insane a long time ago."

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"I promise you won't be sent back to your father. Unless that's what you want?"

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"No!"

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"Then you won't be. Simple as that. Hannah tells me she's also...changed your family. Do you think they're in any danger?"

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"Danger?"

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"Would your father or stepmother...react badly to powers?"

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"My father hates powers. My stepmother... doesn't really care."

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"I'm told you have a brother and sister?"

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"Yeah. They're small."

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"Do you think they're at risk?"

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"I dunno. They never did anything."

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"I'm watching them anyway."

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Shrug.

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"Do you want me to tell you when they're done?"

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"Yeah."

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"You'll need somewhere to stay for the time being. Would my home suit you for now?"

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He looks at the mountain lair in the distance. "Yeah I think it'll do fine."

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"I would ask about allergies or medications, but clearly that's a moot point."

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"'Cause I'm a Miracle now?"

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She smiles a bit. "Yep. No more sick. Ever."

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"I guess I got sick for my whole life during that week."

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"You could say you used up you allotment, I suppose. Also, aging isn't going to be a problem."

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"That part I didn't do, I'm still a kid."

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"Pardon?"

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"I didn't do all my growing up during that week, I mean."

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"Aging and maturation are seperate processes, dear. Once you look about twenty five you'll stay that way."

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"Yeah I wanna get both of those things over with."

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"I'm afraid you're out of luck there."

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"Yeah." Sigh.

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Now it's time to talk about very serious things to do with Sadde's future.

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Michael taps Jacob on the shoulder. "Maybe we should leave them to it?" he whispers.

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He nods.

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They walk along the beach.

"It's kinda weird to think you weren't even born when we met him."

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"I wasn't born."

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"You came from a slimy thing and then you were alive. What's the difference?"

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He furrows his brows and tilts his head at Michael.

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"...What?"

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He shrugs. "I dunno what you mean."

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"...You do know how most kids are born, right? Where babies come from?"

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Headshake.

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He's a little in awe. "Wow. So you don't know why Moira looks different from you and me?"

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"'Cause we're not twins?"

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He frowns. "No, I mean, why girls look different from boys."

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Shrug.

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"You didn't wonder?"

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Headshake.

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"...Where did you think babies came from?"

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Shrug.

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"Do you want to know?"

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Nod.

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And heeeere's Moira. "What are we talking about?"

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He points at Michael.

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He grins nervously. "Jacob doesn't know where babies come from."

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"Wow, you really didn't go outside before Hannah remade you, did you?"

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He blinks at Moira and slowly raises an eyebrow.

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"It's okay. All will be revealed."

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Shrug.

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"So, what do you know already?"

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"...it's not like being built from scratch by Hannah but involves gooey bits?"

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"Do you know what the various bits are called?"

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"...I meant it involved actual goo and me being in the goo."

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"Oh, sure. But I meant the bits between our legs. Just say yes if you know."

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Headshake. "Those bits aren't gooey."

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"Yes and no. So boys have penises and testicles, girls have vaginas and labias and a bunch of other bits. Well, most of the time. It's a bit more complicated than that, but we can talk about that later. Girls also have a thing inside us called a uterus. Babies grow in there for about nine months."

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Blink. "What do the boys do?"

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She is so tempted to mess with this kid, but that would be mean. "Okay, so babies get traits from both their mum and their dad. Like how Michael has gills and claws and sharp teeth from his mother, and legs from his father. That make sense so far?"

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Nod.

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"Babies are created when cells called gametes combine to form a zygote, which grows into an embryo, then a fetus, then a baby. Girl gametes are called ova, and they come from little organs called the ovaries. Baseline women run out of these eventually, but Miracles grow new ones. Boy gametes are called sperm, and that's what testicles are for."

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"...and how do they get together?"

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"The boy sticks his penis in the girl's vagina, and the sperm all race to get inside the egg. That's called sex, but it's not the only kind of sex, if that makes sense."

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"I call it mating. Humans freak out less. Mating feels really, really good, by the way. That's what I've heard, anyway."

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"What other kinds are there?"

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She blushes. "That's hardly germane to the subject at hand."

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"Why?"

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"Okay, if you insist. There's kinds involving different orifices, kinds that don't really involve those at all, lots."

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"How do those make babies?"

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"They don't, they just feel nice."

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He nods solemnly.

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She then explains masturbation, clinically yet cheerfully. 

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He pays close attention.

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At some point Evan wanders over. "So, this probably sounds pretty weird and kinda gross, doesn't it?"

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Headtilt. Shrug 

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"Which brings us to our next point: Puberty. You know what that is at all?"

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Headshake.

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"You ever turned fully into a grown up?"

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Nod.

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"So you've noticed some differences?"

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"...they're taller and have more hair?"

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"Also, boobs."

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Nod.

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"Those are for feeding babies by the way, but there's alternatives to that."

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Headtilt.

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"You boys have it easy, let me tell ya."

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Shrug.

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"So puberty is when your body and mind start going from child to adult."

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Nodnod.

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"From what we've seen, it's a bit rough. Your emotions go all wonky, you start wanting to...mate with everything, it's a mess."

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Frown.

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"Don't worry, it's a few years away for us."

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Sigh. Nod.

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"It's not as scary as it sounds."

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Disbelieving eyebrow raise.

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"It settles down eventually. You've been Zaneta. You can't have not noticed that crush she has on the mayor."

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He makes a face.

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"I know, it's silly."

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Sigh.

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"Still, don't have to worry about it yet."

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Headshake.

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"Sometimes you can be unclear."

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He giggles and shrugs.

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He rolls his eyes. "Do you have any more questions?"

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Headshake. "Thank you."

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Michael puffs out his chest. "You're welcome."

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Giggle.

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"You should totally mate with some of my cousins when we're older. You'd make awesome babies."

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Grimace.

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"Aww, but they'd be cute and copy people and be grey."

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He purses his lips then sighs.

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"Reproduction is beautiful and horrifying. Like sunsets."

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Slow blink. Headtilt.

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"It makes new friends! And foes!"

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"...but sunsets."

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"They represent the build up of entropy over time."

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"...no they don't."

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"Time is the fire in which we burn. Still pretty, though."

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He rolls his eyes and grins.

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"So, what do you think of Sadde?"

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Thoughtful pause. "He's okay."

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"Wonder what Mum will do with him."

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"Keep him?"

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"Probably. Getting a bit crowded around here."

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He looks around at the whole island they have then at Moira.

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"Now we'll only have fifty empty rooms!"

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Snort.

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"Okay, ten more orphans, max. Maybe more if they're twins."

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"Sadde's not an orphan."

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"Same difference."

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Shrug.

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"Aphan?"

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"Bless you."

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Now she's tilting her head. "What?"

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"That's what you say when someone sneezes."

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"But I wasn't sneezing."

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"It sounded like you were."

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"I was coining a new word."

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"What's it mean?"

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"Someone who either never had parents or someone whose parents were crumbums."

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"Why that word?"

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"What would you call them?"

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Shrug.

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"That can be the sign language translation."

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Giggle. "That would be confusing."

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"You do shrug a lot."

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Solemn nod.

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"Now you're being silly."

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Grin.

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A thought strikes Michael. "Wait, if you had a kid when you were someone else, whose would it be?"

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Grimace. "I wouldn't."

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"Pardon?"

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Headshake.

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"...Aww, why not?"

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Shrug. Grimace.

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He shrugs. "Maybe we explained it wrong."

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Frown. Headshake.

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"But they'd be the second best babies!"

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More vehement headshake.

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"Okay, a tie."

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Sigh.

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"Michael, please stop being mer-normal."

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Giggle. "Michael-normal. Mer are more."

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"More what?"

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Shrug. "More."

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He sniffs. "I have no idea what you might mean by that."

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"Do too."

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"No I don't."

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Nodnod.

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"Do you have to pay a dollar every word or something?

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Nodnod!

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"Stop being weird!"

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Giggle. Headshake.

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He giggles. "...Maybe you shouldn't have babies with Nemo." 

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Eyebrow raise.

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"Eh, she'd cancel out the quiet."

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Shrug.

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"And they could just be loud people."

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Exaggerated shudder.

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"They could copy their cousins."

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"Mm."

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"Bet me and Michael's would be blonde!"

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Headshake. "Recessive."

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"You knew what genes are, but not where babies came from?"

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Shrug.

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"His dad's blond!"

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"Fifty-fifty, then."

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Zaneta walks over, Sadde beside her. "And what are we talking about?"

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"Babies."

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"Oh, God, don't tell me they got to you, too."

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Headshake, cross over heart.

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"Got what?"

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"Just trying to convince him how awesome his babies would be if they were half mer."

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Grimace.

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"...you're eight. Aren't you?"

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"I'm not even one."

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"Yeah, but you're not like, one one."

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Shrug.

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Confused blinking.

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Zaneta laughs. "No babies till you're sixty. At least."

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"Wait, what does he mean, he's one?"

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She looks at Jacob. "How much do you want me to tell?"

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Shrug.

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"Jacob is a clone of Jack Slash. He is also one of the sweested little boys I've ever met."

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Sadde blinks and looks at Jacob. "Um. Why do you have a clone of Jack Slash."

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"Hannah wanted to help Jack, but he was traumatized when he was small and his parents were abusive. I'm what she managed to salvage from him. I don't have the majority of the most traumatizing memories—I barely remember my father," he says, with cadence and tone of voice eerily similar to Zaneta's.

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"And then we adopted him!"

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"Makes sense, I guess."

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"He's great, really."

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"Your family's done," announces Hannah.

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He nods.

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"Do you wanna know what powers they got?"

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"Um. Okay."

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She checks in on the family.

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Tobias wakes up.

He looks around and immediately runs upstairs. "Beth? Bethany?"

"Yes, dear?" she says from their bedroom, looking up at him.

He stops. "I, uh—are you okay?"

"...why wouldn't I be?"

"I—passed out. As soon as I walked in."

"—are you okay?"

"Yes, I—thought it might have been something to do with Sadde. They haven't called?"

Bethany's face clouds over. "No."

"Beth..."

"I understand he's your responsibility, but if he's messing with this—this cape business..."

Tobias purses his lips.

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And the kids?

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Jonathan's in his room watching TV and Sarah's... nowhere? Oh no there she is Hannah almost missed her.

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"Kinda hard to tell what powers they have yet. If they're really mental stuff I might not notice. Same reason Jacob can't do my powers."

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"Oh, I thought you could just, I dunno, figure it out genetically or something. Don't—don't spy on them, please."

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"Okay."

 

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Jacob looks at Zaneta. "What now?"

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"Well, Sadde will be staying with us for the time being."

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He nods very seriously, then walks up to Sadde and hugs him.

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—um. Okay. He hugs Jacob back.

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Jacob's such a sweet boy. Maybe it's time to try salvaging the rest of the Nine...

Somewhere on Earth Bet, in the middle of the woods, five cocoon like structures start forming.