Chapter 15: Minterview

He approaches Ellaine with caution—he remembers his mother telling him the worst stories about her. Since they both had vocally-based powers, his mother and Ellaine ended up bitter rivals. As a matter of fact, his mother always thought that Ellaine was the reason she and Travis father were never invited to be a part of the Group….

"Uh, Miss Ellaine," Travis says, trying to keep his voice steady, "do you think I could-"

"Walk with me," Ellaine says before sauntering out of the door. Travis hurry along to catch up, studying her as she goes.

Ellaine's long, black hair cascades across her flawless, caramel skin. She has chosen to wear her House of McQueen costume today—every major fashion house has taken a stab at her iconic costume during the past two decades. Ellaine's closet houses a collection of some of the finest costume couture ever created. While the styling of the costumes vacillates wildly, they're always in her signature colors, white and gold, with a bold splash of pink.

Ellaine's current costume is a skin-tight, white bodysuit, hand-sewn with silver seams. The bodysuit serves as a clean template to feature a structural, dark-pink collar that juts into the air in a sharp, asymmetrical tower. The collar's lapels then curve down into a point at the waist, creating a striking shape.

"Uh... Miss Ellaine, where are we going?"

Ellaine takes a moment to glance back at him, then continues walking without a word. Travis follows her for what seems like a long time, through corridors, up stairs, down stairs—all without a word uttered in his direction.

They finally arrive at Ellaine's residential floor and she walks inside with a wave of her H-Chip, not bothering to hold the door for Travis.

Travis slips inside and finds that the space is decorated impeccably, the perfect mix between a Park Avenue apartment and a Hamptons beach house (or at least what they look like in the holo-movies). There's lots of white paneling, traditional furniture, french doors, and hydrangeas.

"Do take your shoes off, darling," Ellaine says. "Glad you could keep up. I hate those wretched elevator traps."

Travis pulls off his costume's boots as quickly as he can manage and trail after Ellaine, noting that she hasn't removed her own stilettos. She finally stops in a palatial bathroom suite—which appears more like a fully functioning spa, considering there's a staff gathered to tend to Ellaine.

"Come sit, darling," Ellaine says to Travis, perching herself in a luxury recliner. "Hair, makeup, and massages are always necessary before public missions. Now remind me, who are you again?"

"I'm Gravitate," Travis start. "Don't worry, my Grandma has trouble remembering names, too."

Ellaine just scowls so Travis decide to keep talking.

"I'm here to help with the Static case because-"

"Yes, I'm sure that's a fascinating tale," Ellaine interrupts, closing her eyes as a mascara brush descends upon her face. "But why are you really here?"

"I don't think I understand?"

"Ah, I am always rather charmed by slowness."

A stretch of silence ensues that is only broken by the sound of a curling iron hissing against Ellaine's hair.

"All Group members have the privilege of bringing in new recruits, but the poor dear does seem to have rather interesting tastes," Ellaine finally says with a sigh. "I never expected her to bring in anything quite so…stray."

Is Ellaine talking about him and…Black Magic? Travis had always heard that Black Magic was a bit wild but Travis never gave much credit to the rumor mill—apparently he should have. While the thought of Black Magic and Ellaine together is rather…exciting, he's not about to let Ellaine walk all over him.

"Well, I'd certainly argue that there's more than enough Black Magic to go around," Travis start. "But I'm happy to concede her to the world's most enrapturing heroine, if that is your wish."

Hey, if Ellaine needs to mark her territory, Travis is happy to let her spray wherever she may. But he doesn't necessarily have to back off of Black Magic, especially since Ellaine won't ever know what happens behind closed doors….

"How now, kitty's got claws!" Ellaine says, her thick lips stretching into an actual smile. "I do think we're going to get on famously. When it comes to Black Magic, there's a certain…history. History that bears repeating."

"We understand each other perfectly," Travis says, smiling back at Ellaine as widely as he can manage.

"You know darling, you do look remarkably familiar," Ellaine says. "You remind me of someone I can't quite place…."

Travis immediately thinks of his mother—it looks like he's going to be able to get some additional revenge for the Fade name….

But before he can respond, Processor's voice comes over the intercom: "All Group members kindly reconvene in Mission Control."

"It appears as if we'll have to finish our chat some other time," Ellaine says, waving away her style minions. "I'll be sure to put in a word so that may happen."

"Yes," Travis says, "I'd like that very much."

As they reenter Mission Control, Travis find that the rest of the Group has already gathered. He take a seat next to Black Magic, who looks recharged and good as new.

"So how'd that go?" she whispers to him.

Travis knows that his interactions just now probably sealed his fate with The Hoshi Group, but Rebellion's voice booms from the head of the room before he can answer.

"Officer Spillane will handle the debrief," he says. "In the meantime, I'm going to have a word with Gravitate outside."

Standing outside in the corridor with Rebellion, Travis pulse begins to race. Now is his chance to say something to him. Travis screams at himself in his head to speak.

"Rebellion, can I just say that it is an absolute honor to-"

"I'll keep this brief," Rebellion cuts him off. "Firstly, I wanted to thank you for helping us with the Telepoint. Because of your tip, Black Magic was able to locate Static's stockpile of evidence. Madame Vice hasn't gotten to it yet and the MCPD has already procured enough to take down the entire Splice Circle."

Travis pauses, trying to absorb this information. "Who cares about one case?" Travis said in his mind, If he play things right, this opportunity might lead to much bigger and better cases….

But he pushed that thought from his mind as Rebellion continues.

"The Hoshi Group has been tasked with bringing in the remaining Splice Generals, which is exactly what we're about to do. But there's something else—our PR department has decided that adding an aspiring rookie to our ranks will help boost our image and help us gain a younger following. It's all nonsense to me but I'm not opposed to bringing in a promising amateur to mentor. We've been auditioning many young heroes and as thanks for your assistance, I was thinking of including you in the mission."

Holy sh*t, Travis think. Rebellion is thinking of asking him to fight alongside him? To maybe even mentor him? This is too much to even process.

"And you really seem like a team player," Rebellion says, "so you can join us on this Splice Circle mission."

Travis can hardly believe his ears—did his idol just tell him that he'll be fighting alongside him with HC's greatest Powered team? And that, if all goes well, it could lead to an actual Group membership?

Looks like sucking up to Ellaine really paid off.

"I'd be honored to join," Travis says. "I absolutely won't let you down."

"We'll certainly find out," Rebellion says. "We happen to be auditioning another potential new member today. Here he is now, actually."

Travis turns around and his stomach drops because he sees....