Chapter 28: Equal and Opposite

Travis sit in Jenny's apartment wrapped in a blanket, a cup of steaming tea in front of him. Grandma is resting and Jenny is taking a shower, which leaves him alone, sitting in his costume, not quite able to move.

He just feel devastated. His life is never going to be the same and he has no idea what to expect next.

What happened tonight was surreal. His life has been ripped to shreds. Veta tried to take everything from him, his sidekick, his secret identity, his reputation, his privacy, his accomplishments, his career, his chance at a legendary reveal and the things Veta made him do, the choices she forced him to make…

He never once imagined that being a hero would be this hard.

Was it always meant to be this way? Was Veta right? Were they two always destined to ruin each other, the way their parents did?

After all Veta has done, he doesn't know what's real in his life anymore.

Everything feels like a lie. Everything. Even Grandma has been lying to him about the letters, about his Powers…and who knows what else?

How can he ever trust anyone again?

But he can't help but think that he's now a murderer—just like his parents. He killed Veta.

Sure, hd did it to save lives, but the fact remains that he taken a life….

He's still not sure he did the right thing. Maybe if he had just a bit more time to think it through…

Though he has no idea what happened to Veta's body—right after the wave stopped, her corpse vanished. She must have had some war-tech rigged to remove her body if she were ever to die…or at least that's what Jenny thinks.

The same goes for Veta's interactive video masterpiece—it was automatically released to the press the moment the death wave went active. In the wake of the wave, his grand battle with Veta has become a must-see news item. It's being viewed right now across all of HC, maybe even across the nation.

But at the end of it all, the fact remains that he saved Hoshi City. Period. He succeeded in stopping the worst act of potential terrorism on American soil and now the entire city knows it.

However, he also killed someone to do it. Even though many people must be congratulating his bravery, just as many will probably ask if there could have been another way….

"Hello, hello," Jenny says as she walks in, scrubbing behind her ears with a towel. "How are you?"

Travis give Jenny a look. Does she even have to ask?

"I know we've been through hell tonight," she says, sitting next to him. "But there are some decisions we have to make right away."

"Whatever it is, it can wait until the morning," Travis say, barely even recognizing his own voice. It sounds tinny, bouncing between his ears.

"No, actually, it can't. I replugged my H-Chip and I've just been through my messages."

Him and Jenny managed to scrounge up their H-Chips before porting out of Veta's lair. They've been anxious to reconnect, but also afraid of what they'll find when they do. He'd much rather hear whatever news is coming in through Jenny right now.

Jenny looks at him, growing stern.

"Nothing has been decided for certain yet but it's looking like they might try to press criminal charges, Travis. For murdering Veta."

The words slide off of him. He find it impossible to absorb much of anything at this point.

"I know, you did your best to save whoever you could," Jenny tries. "But it seems your lawless track record is coming back to bite you. The MCPD will know to come looking for you here soon. What do you want to do?"

"I'll evade the police."

"The law doesn't matter to me," Travis say, "and I'm not going to start bending to its will now, especially when I was only trying to save lives."

Jenny sighs. "If that's what you want, we'll figure out how to keep you hidden. Luckily, we shouldn't have to worry about that for another couple of hours, while they sort through the mess…."

"I won't have enough money for bail, so getting arrested isn't an option…."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Travis."

"Next we have to decide how you want to handle the press, if at all," Jenny says, looking more tired than she ever been. If she looks that rough, Travis don't even want to know what he look like.

"I'm not saying a word to the press," Travis say.

At the end of the day, he's been more focused on justice than playing at fame. He always tried to do the right thing and that's all that matters.

"Tarana Rain is back with her parents safely," Jenny says, moving on. "It's been quite a night for her but after Veta kidnapped us and left her behind, she went straight home…."

Jenny pinches her elbow once again and Travis brace himself.

"Travis, Tarana's parents…"

"Never want me to see her again?" Travis finish.

Jenny nods.

However he feel about Tarana, he know that's probably for the best.

Once a selfish brat, always a selfish brat.

He'll definitely think twice about ever taking on another sidekick again.

"All right, last order of business," Jenny says. "Rebellion called. He wants to talk to you."

He's far too exhausted to talk to anyone, but he's not about to turn down a call from his idol.

"Dial Rebellion for me?" Travis ask.

Jenny gives him another "I'm not your personal assistant" look, but still puts Rebellion on holo-speakerphone.

"Gravitate, thank you for calling," Rebellion says, appearing in holo-form in the middle of the living room. "I don't want to keep you too long, so I'll make this brief."

"First, I wanted to congratulate you on your efforts tonight—you performed admirably under the most difficult of situations, no matter what anyone says."

"Thank you," Travis say, managing a smile. Having Rebellion validate his actions actually goes a long way in helping to cheer him up.

"Second, I know you chose to give your reserve spot to Jury but The Hoshi Group could really use a hero like you in our ranks. I'd like to offer you an official second reserve spot, should you wish to take it."

Travis jaw drops—that is certainly not what he were expecting to hear.

But he doesn't even need to process his answer, he already made up his mind about ever joining a Powered team…. "Absolutely. I'd be honored."

"Fantastic," Rebellion says, "I'll be in touch soon. For now, get some rest. You deserve it."

With that, Rebellion hangs up, leaving Travis and Jenny alone once again.

Silence ensues. And to his surprise, he find that his head isn't even spinning anymore—perhaps he's finally getting used to the level of insanity his life has reached?

Then Grandma enters the living room and he get to reeling again.

Grandma looks so sad, he just want to hug her—but he still haven't forgotten all of the lies she told him….

"Grandma, how are you?"

"I'll be all right," Grandma says, sitting next to him.

He really want to believe her, but he can tell she's as not-all-right as he is right now.

"Well, it's good you're up because I have some bad news," Jenny says. "Your place in the PFPP as Sterlings is pretty useless now that you've both been publicly outed by Prodigal. The PFPP is most certainly going to kick you out."

So the hits just keep coming. What is that going to mean for life for him and Grandma? Everything is going to change now that everyone knows who he is, in every possible way. He suppose this is just the first shift….

"Don't worry, there are already talks of launching a special program to offer you both protection," Jenny says. "But even still, you're going to have to move."

"We can move into the HGHQ for now—it'll be the safest place for us." Travis say.

Grandma and Jenny both nod—that sounds like the best idea.

Though Travis haven't even begun to think about how to resolve things with Black Magic…

Another silence ensues and he know exactly what is on everyone's mind—when are he going to mention Jenny and Grandma's big Unique-Class Powered lie?

"Why didn't either of you tell me what my Powers can do?"

"Listen to me, Travis," Grandma says, taking Travis's hand, "I want to clear the air about a few things. Anything I have ever done, I did because I thought it was what was best for you. This new level of Power you have, no one has seen anything like it before. The experts always said it might be possible in Powered legacy children, but we weren't sure."

"At least not until your Powers started flaring around technology," Jenny says, cutting in. "We know the origin of all Powers is rooted in technological evolution, which is why your new Powers behaved strangely when mingling with technology. They say that's the first sign of Unique-Class Power—an odd interface with tech. At least that's the working theory, for now."

"All we did know was that kind of Power can change a person," Grandma finishes. "We just wanted to protect you, to wait until we were sure you were mature enough handle the responsibility. After all, look what the Power did to Veta…."

Travis look from Grandma to Jenny, then say "I understand. But I'm not Prodigal."

Grandma and Jenny stay silent—which he know means they think he's right. Which further gives him the opening he need to say. "And Grandma—the letters?"

Grandma folds her arms and looks him in the eye as she begins to speak.

"It may have been wrong to write to your parents on your behalf, but I knew someday you'd regret having stopped. I know you feel that your parents abandoned you, but they had no choice."

"But you abandoning them? That was your choice. And there's a difference, Travis. A big difference."

Grandma's words sink in and as much as he don't want to hear them, he know this time, Grandma is right.

"That being said, if tonight has proven anything, it's that you're all grown-up," Grandma continues. "You're not a child anymore and I need to realize that. So I won't write another letter, I promise. That choice is up to you now."

"Thank you, Grandma," Travis say, feeling a bit better. But he's not quite finished….

"Listen, what's done is done. I think we need to start over with a clean slate, right here and now. No matter what, there can't be any more secrets. We all need to trust each other—there's too much at stake now. We have to be honest with each other, about everything…all right?"

Grandma and Jenny both nod, seemingly impressed with his speech. All he can do is hope that they'll continue to take him this seriously.

"Oh, and Grandma," Travis say, "you're definitely getting a H-Chip installed. You don't have a choice in the matter."

Grandma opens her mouth to protest but catches herself and nods once again.

"I'm very proud of you, Travis," Grandma says. "You're a hero. Don't let anyone ever tell you differently."

Jenny looks at Travis, reaffirming Grandma's thoughts.

All he can think is, what would hd do without these two?

For a moment, sitting here with Jenny and Grandma, he start to feel right again.