For the first time in two weeks, Ridley found herself walking down the hall of her school. She couldn’t help overhearing all the chatter about whether some magician in London was legitimate or not. Many of the kids were discussing making convincingly fake superpower videos. They started tossing around the names of friends who knew how to use this or that special effects program. Ridley felt a bit smug about knowing the truth.

  As she headed for her locker, she glanced up at a boy in the hallway, and oddly, he averted his eyes. She looked about her at others stealing glances at her. Normally, she was either resoundingly mocked or would catch people snickering when she was noticed.

  She unconsciously stood a bit taller. It wasn’t just scaring the life out of several bullies or defeating a few monsters; starting a new job had also helped change her perspective in several ways. She felt her world grow as she realized life is not going to be anything like high school.

  “School is just a giant waste of time—memorize facts when you have them all? Dumb.”

  So she didn’t feel bad when, instead of going to her English class, she snooped around, looking through classroom windows for shiny words above people’s heads. Using her mad ninja skills, she started sneaking around the halls, darting from door to door, sticking her arms out behind her in a Naruto run. Though she knew full well anime ninjas had been doing that style of run long before Naruto made it mainstream.

  She would slowly walk past each window, scanning the students, trying to avoid lingering too long and getting unwanted attention from the teachers. She was at it for fifteen minutes before she really began to wonder if she was wasting her time. The glance she got of the sanitation worker at Congo might have been a fluke.

  If powers were more common, would that be a good thing? Maybe she would prefer her powers being rare. She could enjoy feeling special for a time. She was still trying to narrow down what power Alexander had. It was comical how bad at lying he was and how awkward he became when she talked to him about it. Being around him sometimes made her feel like the cool, collected adult in the room.

  Ridley glanced up at a giant old clock on the wall, a staple of ancient schools that couldn’t afford remodels. She didn’t have much time left before the bell rang, so she hurried to the next door to check one more class. As she looked, she saw a full-body skeleton hanging in the corner and a bunch of tables lined with empty beakers and large, clunky microscopes—likely from the eighties. As she looked over the heads of the students, she finally found one. A set of words sat over the head of a skinny boy with neck-length hair tied up in a tail. He was sitting by himself, hunched over a book, looking bored. As she read the words above his head, she had to stifle a laugh.

  ^

  Funk Master

  Ridley jumped as she heard the sound of the bell, which sounded like it had been warped from decades of use. It was like an enormous hummingbird caught in a glass bottle next to a microphone. She backed away from the door and walked around a corner, waiting. With luck, he would be heading to lunch the same as her.

  Doors throughout the halls swung open, and out came a slew of students like angry ants that had just had their mound stepped on. She wasn’t worried about losing the Funk Master… pfft, because nothing marks your target like bright floating words over your head. In turn, being short, he likely wouldn’t be able to see her through the crowd of students. Catching someone off guard was one of her new joys in life.

  As he came out of the doorway, she saw him wandering down the hall to the lockers. It was a fairly uneventful stalking until, with a stroke of luck, he headed for lunch. She wasn’t sure which clique he would fall into, but he didn’t look like the popular type. He had on a colorful shirt with a pyramid on it that had three words, Earth, Wind, and Fire, on the top. Maybe he could control the elements! Could he summon Captain Planet? She quickly scanned his hands for rings.

  Maybe she should try to get a magic sword and become the next Conan the Barbarian. Alexander could wear a Spider-Man onesie. They could go with a Saturday morning cartoon theme! She didn’t notice her manic giggling or the disturbed girl next to her who slowed down to let Ridley pass by.

  He settled down next to a couple of kids. They all had a bit of a dorky vibe to them. This was a good sign; she doubted she could have any type of meaningful conversation with popular kids. As she watched them interact, she walked around behind him and slowly moved forward to try to catch part of their conversation. The guys next to him were animatedly talking as Funk Master sat poking at a homemade lunch.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “We should try to get him to do Super Freak.”

  “No! That is way overdone. It’s almost insulting now. Let’s do something more tasteful. How about When Doves Cry?”

  “Oh, I like that,” another chimed in. “Let’s look up the tabs for that in the band hall this afternoon.”

  Okay, now it made sense. These were band kids. Now that she knew what she was dealing with, she felt her confidence go up. If there was anyone she could have a conversation with, it was band kids. She walked around the other side of the table and sat next to the short kid with a peach fuzz mustache.

  “What are y’all talking about? I heard someone mention Super Freak. I love that song!”

  She didn’t. She had no clue what songs they were talking about. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that they were going to be related to the funk genre.

  “Groan,” the big-nosed kid across from her decided to actually say.

  “See! I told you. The appeal to the general public will be far better!”

  At this point, Funk Master looked across the table at her, and then she watched as his eyes shot above her head and slowly widened. The only word he would see above her head was her first name, Ridley. She caught his eyes and shrugged.

  “What do you think, Funk Master?” she asked.

  The rest of the table shot a look over at him, and one piped up, “Dude! People are learning your stage name! I knew you were gonna be popular eventually.”

  He looked around the table and blushed. “I don’t… Maybe.”

  “So did you see him on stage last week?” Nose asked her. “He totally knocked it out of the park! It’s like he was possessed by the music!”

  “His soul became one with the funk! We were amazing!” another said, shaking his open hands to the heavens reverently.

  “Well, that sounds about right,” she said. “I actually have a private question for the Funk Master. I hope you all don’t mind if I borrow him.”

  This got a round of catcalls, and she saw Funk Master bury himself deeper into his shell.

  “It’s concerning a friend of mine,” she added in a stage whisper.

  “Hopefully a cute friend!” The guy next to Funk Master elbowed him jovially.

  Ridley stood and nodded her head toward some empty seats, and he followed.

  As they walked away, she just made out one of the kids ask, “Hey, isn’t that that girl?”

  Whether her recognition was from infamy or sympathy, there was no way to tell.

  As they sat again, she asked, “So your parents must have an amazing sense of humor to name you Funk.”

  He just looked up at her for a second and then looked back down as he hunched in his seat.

  “Louis Patel,” he nearly whispered.

  “So, Louis, tell me of your amazing abilities.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, I’ll tell you mine. I get angry and hurt whoever is in my way with my super strength.”

  He just looked up at her, his eyes wide, and asked, “Like the Hulk?”

  She thought about it for a second. “No! Not like the Hulk! I can be strong without getting angry; I just get a bit stronger when I am. Also, super violent… No big deal.” It sounded really bad when she described her abilities. She needed to think this through better…

  “How is that not the Hulk?”

  “Because I also shoot lightning from my hand,” Ridley said, like it was obvious.

  “Like Emperor Palpatine?”

  “No… well, actually, yes. Do you really want to talk about me and all the monsters I’ve slain? Let’s talk about you,” she said with an innocent smile.

  “Well, I don’t know exactly how my abilities work. I think I just make people better at stuff.”

  “Well, what’s it called? Mine says Barbarian.”

  Louis finally smiled a little bit. “That is a bit of an odd class for someone like…”

  He cut off as Ridley began to glare at him.

  “I’m a bard. Also a bad match… with my personality, at least.”

  “A… bard? Can a bard even have powers? I thought that was just an old name for a musician.”

  “It is. Bard is pretty common in fantasy games.”

  “Does this mean all the abilities are fantasy-themed?”

  “I don’t know,” Louis shrugged.

  “So, when you make people better at stuff, what exactly did you do?”

  “Well, Cody, our drummer, was absolute fire, playing way out of his league. And Jack slapped his bass guitar like…” He trailed off as he remembered he was talking to a girl before changing the subject. “It doesn’t really work unless I have a few of my things.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “My saxophone and my sunglasses.”

  “Well, that’s a cute weapon of choice. I guess you can’t solo a monster like that, so how do you manage?”

  “Monsters again? You are pulling my leg, right?”

  “You seriously haven’t encountered one yet? It’s a ton of fun, except for the poop monster. You know what, forget that I mentioned a poop monster.”

  “I’ll… have to take your word for it,” Louis said, looking a bit pale.

  “So what now? Is there a supervillain we need to defeat?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. The only quests I had were weird. Like, get first chair in band class, get ten fans for our band, and some other embarrassing stuff.”

  “Have you had any success?”

  “Barely. Funk is not the most popular genre to be in right now. Fortunately, friends and family counted as fans.”

  “Well, do you want to party up?”

  “Um, sure? Might as well see what happens… how do we do that?”

  She crossed her arms and thought for a second, then looked up at the words Funk Master hovering over Louis’ head.

  “Invite Funk Master?”

  ^

  Invite Funk Master to join your party?

  “Ah! So cool, yes,” she said, sitting up straight.

  “Woah,” Louis whispered and moved his finger onto what she assumed was a confirmation to join the party. Then another screen popped up.

  ^

  Please name your party.

  “It wants me to name our party. What should we call ourselves?”

  Louis just shrugged.

  “Okay… well,” she thought for a few seconds and looked down at Louis’ shirt. Then she smiled. “I have the perfect name.”

  Louis’ eyes shifted as he read his new screen.

  “The Planeteers? Seriously?”