"EUREKA!"
Becca blinked, looking up from her work. There were so many drawings on the paper that Rich thought she was doing an art project rather than a physics assignment. "You, Reka?"
"Uncultured swine," Professor Fekete, Reka at home, muttered darkly. Their neighbor, an impeccably dressed European mother of two, had invited them over for, quote, "something special." She looked awfully pleased with herself, monitoring data on her laboratory computer. "It should start at any moment," she told them.
What should start? Wasn't it already starting?
Her lab smelled of ozone, which gave Rich a strange sensation of vertigo, as if reality were bending around him. Anytime Rich transformed into Future Hero in an enclosed space, that same smell was left behind. Was that it? Had Reka recreated the transformation?
They were gathered around a table where a glass tub was mounted on a stand. Within the glass, there lay a metal wire hooked up to a machine that was feeding it...something. Numbers on Reka's computer screen continually increased, variables Rich didn't recognize rising and falling relative to one another in opaque, occult ratios. Nothing much happened until, all at once, a brilliant glow all but blinded them! Shielding his eyes, Rich had to look away.
"Oh, drat, apologies, children! Take these protective goggles!" How nice of her to offer the safety equipment afterwards. These scientist types were all the same, forgetting petty details like eye protection when forbidden knowledge was within reach. Once he had the goggles on, Rich looked back. The wire was on fire! What's more, the fire was purple! That detail was unmistakable even with his vision darkened by the goggles. How brilliant the color was! Whoever heard of purple fire?
"Pureheart Power, that is, the emotive force, or rather, the positive side of the emotive force. Stinger wields the other half, commonly called corrupt energy," Reka explained.
He inspected the glass a little more closely. Reka turned down the juice, and the purple fire dimmed a bit. "So you can control it?"
"I've isolated it, young Mr. Rice. Modern physics understands four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. But all our models cannot account for consciousness! For will! We are not simply clockwork automatons, my young charges, but rather thinking, feeling beings that exert their own dominion over our little corner of the universe. Your ring proves it, my boy. In the fullness of time, I'll be able to design machinery that utilizes it, something you can use against the evil ones."
"But not yet," he said in disappointment.
"Sadly, no," Reka admitted. "More experiments must be done. But take heart! We've revolutionized physics, we three, right here in my basement lab in Plano! How fortunate we are!"
"I don't feel very fortunate," Becca complained.
Rich could understand his sister. Reka was a cruel and exacting taskmaster. To make a capable assistant out of her, she'd been forced to drink from the proverbial firehose.
"Why do I have to draw these pictures, anyway?" his twin demanded. "I suck at art! And I've got football practice tomorrow!"
Reka clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Visualization is fundamental! To visualize a problem is to understand it! To understand it is to solve it! You will prove your understanding by drawing what you think is happening, and if your understanding is not what it might be, then I, Reka Fekete, will correct you."
There was a sullen look on his sister's face. "Okay, fine, but why just me? Why doesn't Rich have to do this?"
"It is Rich's part to fight and your part to learn, Miss Rice."
"He's a boy," Becca stated, as if that made her case on its own. "Boys shouldn't have to fight."
"Ah, but this boy is special, I think. And there may come a time when your part is to fight by his side. Not today, though."
Becca brightened up considerably. "You mean we could be heroes together?"
Reka held up a hand. "Not for a long time, not until I understand Pureheart Power better. Now, back to work, you. I have something to discuss with your brother."
A second Rider? Rich found the idea as thrilling as it was terrifying. He hated the idea of putting Becca in danger, but Stinger was a huge organization, and frankly, he could use the help.
Reka placed a hand on his shoulder and led him to an isolated corner of the lab. She peered around him to make sure Becca was back at work and then met Rich's eyes with a serious look. "Mr. Rice, Richard, I've been turning over what you told me in my head."
"What I've told you?" Rich had told Reka a lot of things.
"Yes," she said urgently. "There is a purpose here, some hidden agenda I cannot begin to guess at. Stinger's rank and file may be thuggish bravos, but their leaders are not, I assure you. This matter of sometimes sending a weak monster and sometimes a strong one smacks of intrigue, I fear. You mentioned the last mutant didn't want to fight at all. It bit you, you said, out of armor, and fled. Now, what do you make of that?"
"Coincidence," he said easily. "It was just a wild rampaging creature. If not me, it would've bitten someone else."
"A foolish assumption, and a dangerous one," Reka sternly corrected him. "Those claws you took off the mayor for me to analyze, don't you think Stinger could do the same thing? You don't know them like I do. There are national laboratories in New Mexico completely infiltrated by Stinger operatives. Why, I've even heard rumors of them openly recruiting on military bases. We in Plano only experience the lightest taps of their longest tentacle. Further west? New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado, these places are completely in their grasp. If they aren't stopped here, there might be no stopping them at all. Sure, the government makes a lot of noise about cracking down on terrorism, but it is also in their interest for there to be a terrorism problem to justify...well, anything. Use your imagination."
Rich gasped. "You're implying Stinger and the government are working together?"
"I imply nothing, Mr. Rice. I merely counsel caution. There is more to their monsters than just defeating you. Stay alert, and always ask: Cui bono? Who benefits? There is more at work here than we know."
***
Rich woke up bright and early to fix Becca a hearty breakfast. His twin was done with working at Chili's and ready to enter the world of high school football. While he cooked her eggs, Rich admired his work. Five months he'd trained her, and Becca no longer looked like the same species, let alone the same person. Thick thighs stretched her shorts. Her arms, shoulders, and back revealed their power with casual movements. Even her abdominal muscles were visible despite her slouching posture. Big. Strong. Fast.
My sister is an absolute unit.
People weren't denying they looked like twins anymore. Once Becca lost the baby fat in her cheeks, the resemblance became even clearer. Julie might be an inch or two taller, but Becca was bigger. Broad in the shoulders and massive, especially in the lower body, his sister was ready, more than ready.
"Nervous?" he asked as he pushed more eggs onto her plate.
"A little," she admitted. "But I've already run through the basics with the rest of the offensive line. I know what to do. Today will just make it official."
They drove together to the school's practice field, and Rich dropped her off within walking distance of the locker room while he went up into the stands.
Plano Liberty Union High, or PLUH, their high school, had multiple football fields. The actual stadium was only for games. Today, the football team would be split between two practice fields, one astroturf and the other torn-up grass. Off to the side, Rich noticed the marching band was also here, and the cheerleaders.
"Plano play it in the mud,
Show it with your guts and blood,
Girls get it, with a grin,
Good old PLUH will always win!"
A group of skinny, very cute boys was running through their cheerleading routine. No skirts that Rich could see, but their shorts were definitely above the knee, and their tops were tight on delicate, graceful bodies.
So this is what reverse world native boys look like, Rich observed. Long hair wasn't universal. Some of the boys had close-cropped cuts, but on average, it was longer. Most of them weren't wearing makeup. Even in the morning, Texas in mid-July was sweltering. They'd just sweat it out. He was glad he brought a water bottle. They went through the same routine a few times, and Rich couldn't help watching in fascination.
One of the boys, a very cute one, with a feminine face, olive skin, and a dyed silver streak in his hair, noticed and winked.
Rich jolted in his seat. Was he that obvious? Well, at least staring wasn't considered creepy. They were all boys here.
All at once, the cheerleaders stopped doing their choreography and assembled on the sidelines as if they were waiting for something. When the first glint of a helmet peeked out of the locker room, they burst into cheers.
Like a purple tide, a thundering herd of beasts flooded out and hit the field at a full sprint. Hundreds of cleats tore up the already torn-up grass as the rumble of their approach physically shook the stands. The boys went crazy, cheering at the top of their lungs, and Rich stood to his feet, swept up in the drama of the moment. Football season starts today!
Even at this distance, it didn't take long to lock eyes with his girlfriend. Those purple irises, fierce and determined, squinting against the morning sun, said, Don't worry, I'll take care of your sister.
"I know you will, Julie," he said out loud.
The players ran up and down the field, doing little agility drills like high-knees or kicking themselves in the butt. Once warmups finished, they stretched a bit and broke down by position.
The offensive line, the big girls, were easy to spot. Becca was the biggest, other than a very overweight girl who was a lot slower. They practiced blocking and pushing a sled. When they actually started running plays, his sister looked amazing, stepping back, rapidly changing direction, and "pulling" from one side of the ball to another, moving to her blocking assignment faster than anyone that size had a right to.
Shit, a college recruiter might actually notice her, he observed in admiration.
"Good one, Rice!" A burly woman coach praised her. "You see that, ladies? That's how it's done!"
Rich pumped his fist in exaltation. His twin wasn't just going to make the team; she was going to start and absolutely crush it. In fact, he might have to warn her about all the positive attention going to her head. Going from loser to queen of the school over the summer could have anybody feeling detached from reality.
"Hey," the cute boy from before approached Rich in the stands. "This seat taken?"
His good mood must've shown on his face to attract a boy this cute. "Not at all. Nice to meet you, I'm Richard Rice." He extended his hand.
The boy smiled. "I know." He clasped Rich's hand in a very feminine way. No firm handshakes in a reverse world. "Benito Reyes. You can call me Beni."
Was this it? His chance to make friends with a boy? "Nice to meet you, Beni. You can call me Rich." Beni sat down next to him, and Rich was suddenly struck dumb. What the hell do boys talk about in this world? "So, uh, how's cheerleading? You guys dance really well," he said lamely. Please like me, please like me.
"It's wonderful!" Beni leaned in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, I don't even care about the dancing. I just like the cute outfits, also gives me something to do after school."
"Yeah," Rich agreed automatically. "Cute things are cute." I hate myself. This is another boy, technically! Why am I nervous around him?
Beni giggled. The sound was like music. "Sweety, you don't have to pretend to like boyish things. We all know you're the ultimate mollygirl. Come here to watch your girlfriend?"
Rich took his eyes off the field and looked at Beni up close. Geez, he was a foot shorter than Rich, just a little guy with a waist he could probably wrap his fingers around. How was that possible? However, being asked about Julie made him relax a bit. "Oh yeah. I'm loving it. Julie and I talk football all the time."
"I bet you do." Beni burst into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was mean. I'm not questioning your masculinity, I swear. It just looks like if there ever was such a thing as a boy football player, it'd be you."
"No, no, you're probably right," Rich said good-naturedly. More right than you know. High school football had been the original Richard's ascension into popularity. Knowing what it did for him the first time around was what motivated him to get Becca to this point.
The various positions had now merged and were practicing as a complete team. Rich was happy to see his sister right next to Julie, blocking for her. Speaking of Julie, he watched in awe as she took a snap, dropped back, and hit a wide receiver at full speed thirty yards downfield. Damn, what an arm on her, and accurate too. He could see why the recruiters were already talking about her as a pro prospect, even in high school.
"I'm not just here to watch my girlfriend," Rich said conversationally as he munched on some pepitas he'd brought with him for a snack. "My twin sister is out there, too. I think she's doing great," he bragged.
Beni's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. "You have a twin sister? I bet she's gigantic!" He laughed uneasily. "No offense."
Geez, was Beni afraid of him, too? Rich laughed genuinely. "Yeah, we Rices are big. See there? Number 69, right next to Julie, number 67." He pointed down to the field.
"Oh my goodness." Beni was either impressed or disgusted, Rich couldn't tell. "That is a big girl. You weren't kidding. She's not, like, fat, either, like some football players are. I hate that."
"Nope, all muscle. Becca has a six-pack and everything." Rich loved to talk about his handiwork. Abs were built in the kitchen, and he'd been cooking.
"You don't say...well, it's been nice talking to you, Rich. Our break is about over. I've got to get back to practice. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"I'd like that, Beni. You know, I don't have many guy friends."
Beni looked at him like he was stupid. "Rich, you're the king of the school. King bees don't have guy friends; they have minions. I wouldn't mind being your minion, though, just promise to introduce me to your sister."
"Sure," he agreed easily. Rich wondered if Beni might be Becca's type. They'd never discussed anything like that.
"You know, you're a lot more approachable than I thought you'd be." He sounded genuinely surprised.
Did people think Rich was stuck-up? Rich had no idea! "I'll try to be more open from now on. How about we exchange cell numbers and AIM screennames?"
"I'd love that!"
Once Beni left, Rich went back to watching football practice. Sometimes it was easy to forget how he looked to the school's general population. Rich and Julie were in their own world a lot of the time. Other people probably didn't feel comfortable approaching him. It was something he resolved to work on.