Free West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide by K.M. Johnson-Weider Page A

moved quickly towards the doors that led backstage and to the private rooms
for the super teens. His dad and Stephen caught up with him; he could tell that
Stephen was not happy.
    “Sorry, Stephen,”
said Cosmic Kid.
    “Don’t apologize,
but that didn’t go well – she was out to get you.”
    “I… yeah, well, what
do we do?” asked Cosmic Kid. Stephen had warned him about dating Elle Solstice
who, like most witches, was a tease. Stephen had also told him not to mention
his atheism publicly or criticize vigilantes. Stephen wanted him to do the
Cosmic Blast and put it up on YouTube. Cosmic Kid had ignored all of the advice
and was definitely paying the price for it.
    “You know if you
started actually dating Danny Chase, the two of you would be on every magazine
and online publication in the cosmos,” said Stephen.
    “I thought you did
fine,” said his dad loyally. “Robin Traverse is always like that so it’s not a
big deal, right?”
    “I don’t know,” said
Cosmic Kid, ignoring Stephen’s comment about him dating Danny.
    “Traverse is
old-school,” said Stephen. “You don’t have flashy powers. You can’t fly, lift
cars with your mind, or melt skyscrapers. You need to have top powers to be a
top pick in her world.”
    “But Patrick can
lift a car, hell, he can outrun a car,” said John.
    “Yes, but Flash
Freeze is faster and he can cover a city block in snow with but a thought,”
said Stephen.
    “Then why am I going
at #3?” asked Cosmic Kid with a sigh.
    “Because it’s not
just about the powers!” said Stephen. “In the last three years, the #1 picks
were Dynamo Kid, World Mover, and Ms. Majestica . All
of them had powers off the charts, but how did they do? Dynamo Kid got crippled
in the first month of his rookie Season. World Mover killed himself when he
lost control of his powers. Ms. Majestica is
currently serving 18 months in prison after hurling a superazzi who pissed her
off through a Macy’s storefront.”
    “I guess, but if the
talk is all about Elle and the Sun Coast Saviors, then what if Tampa Bay gets
second thoughts?” asked Cosmic Kid.
    “That’s why we need
to remind everyone that you are the most experienced super teen in this Draft,”
said Stephen. “You were made leader of Teen Ultimate at 16. You’ve faced off
against real supervillains like Seneschal X; regardless of the outcome you
stared him down and survived – that means something. You are the best in this
Draft and we need to make sure everyone knows that.”
    “I agree, but how do
we do that?” said John. “I’m happy to talk to reporters if that would help.”
    “It might,” said
Stephen. “We talk to anyone and everyone and get the word out. Robin Traverse
may have
Supers Weekly
,
but she isn’t the only game in town. In fact, there are some advantages of
Traverse going after us, we can paint her as out-dated and we’re the new order. But the most important thing is we need you dating.”
    “What, so I don’t
look gay?”
    “No, so you don’t
look pathetic that Elle Solstice dumped you,” said Stephen. “Also you need to
relax more when people talk about your mom; you look traumatized whenever
someone asks you about her.”
    “I’m not traumatized
about my mom dying, that was ten years ago.”
    “Patrick, I’m still
traumatized by it,” said John quietly. “But Stephen’s right, you need to loosen
up when people talk about mom. Also you should date more, just don’t date
witches.”
    “I guess, but I
don’t think it’s right for me to date someone just for publicity reasons,” said
Cosmic Kid uncomfortably.
    “Are you traumatized
by your mother’s death?” asked Stephen in a worried tone. “Also if you’re gay,
that’s okay, we can work with that.”
    “I’m not traumatized
or gay,” said Cosmic Kid testily.
    “Good, then find a
girlfriend in 24 hours,” said Stephen.
    “You know, flipping
burgers sounds better and better,” said Cosmic Kid with a sigh.
    As