Little Crimes, Big Feels

## April 21st, 2012 - Flashpoint Park

The park was fairly empty, a couple parents had younger kids playing in a sandbox, some on the jungle gym, and one girl sat on a swing, playing a video game. She had a Bitendo GameKid Advance XC, the one that flipped into a square and could easily fit in a pocket. Her swing moved slowly back and forth as she played, presumably some kind of fighting game by the punching noises coming from the device. The girl had blonde hair about to her chin, a messy cut with hair coming down and sorta spiky everywhere, and two pink streaks along the sides. A black hoodie, regular jeans, and sneakers were the clothes she had on, nothing at all fancy. Her blue eyes stared down at the game, her face locked in thought with a focused bite of her lip. Her left cheek had a scar coming down around her chin. Hana kicked at the ground to keep her swinging going, though the kick looked like it wasn’t much it sent her moving back pretty far, swinging back and forth with some momentum, super strength doing a lot for that.

The game made a celebration noise, ‘Winner!’ playing along with the music as Hana looked up. There was a bored sense to her eyes, the game mostly just killing time. She looked over to a building nearby, at a particular apartment with no lights on. A frown crossed her face. “Whatever...not like I wanted to see her anyways…” she grumbled to herself, just swinging along, giving a pump of her legs to push her more.

The creaking sound of the swing reverberated through the air as the girl swung. The late afternoon was warm and brought reminders of a different time. For EliZe, it was a different time indeed. She sat up straight, rising up from the sandbox in the playground in the park. She looked around to see who was watching, then brushed away the sticky sand from her face. Her hands didn’t move.

She stood up, standing no more than a childlike four and a half feet tall. She blinked sideways, turning her head in search of something. A low rumble let itself be heard from underneath her tunic. An indication of hunger. The creaking sound continued. EliZe turned her gaze upon the wretched swing. Her magenta eyes shone dimly. She brushed her coiling “hair” aside and slowly made her way towards the girl sitting on the swing.

Hana kept swinging, getting higher and higher until she noticed the girl approaching her. Her head tilted in confusion, and as the swing came down she planted her feet out to stop herself. Standing there, she gave a scowl and got a good look at her, she felt off, like the feeling of being late for something and not knowing what it was. It made Hana a little annoyed, but even with that there was a good feeling too, she looked friendly. She looked different, something Hana understood.

“What do you want?” she asked her as she got close. Hana’s hands let go of the swing chains as she crossed her arms, trying to look tougher. Definitely didn’t recognize her, just visiting the park, or new to the area maybe?

EliZe came to a stop at the edge of the swing’s metal frame, placing her hands on either side of the upside-down V-shape of the frame. She tilted her head a little, as if not understanding what or why she was being asked. She looked at the handheld game console in Hana’s hands, then at Hana. “Play.” She said. “You’re playing, right?”

Hana glances at her game, then back to the girl. “Wha? Yeah I’m playing a game, why?” she asks, tilting her head. “Do you wanna play it or something? Think you could play it better than me?” she said, giving her a narrow eyed look. With the things going on in her life Hana was pretty...standoffish when it came to friends and others.

“Can I?” The violet-haired girl responded with sparkles in her magenta eyes, clearly looking forward to the prospect. She stepped closer and let go of the swing’s metal frame. EliZe extended a damp hand forward. She briefly looked at it, then wiped it on her white dress, leaving small streaks of dirt on it, before extending the hand again--cleaner and dry now.

Hana got a bit red as she approached. Being mean didn’t work? What the heck? “Ugh, whatever. Fine” she said, moving out of the swing to stand closer to her. Her appearance was different, sure, but it was Halcyon, it wasn’t really that weird at all. “Here. Have you played Avenue Brawler 4: Hyper Mode?” she said, holding the game out to her. “What’s your name, anyway? You live around here or something? I ain’t seen you before. This is kinda my area so like you gotta tell me if you moved in or whatever” she said, putting on her tough face and scowling a bit.

EliZe took the game from Hana and held it, admiring the device and the start screen it showed, waiting for a player ready to brawl. She hit a button and a new round started. The music played an electronic version of an old folk song that sounded familiar to her, and her ears perked up, extending ever so slightly--but visibly enough to a careful onlooker.

It didn’t last long. She didn’t know yet what all the other buttons did and managed to press each one once before her character lay defeated in the street. She turned to face Hana. “Can I have your name?” She said, almost as if she ignored Hana’s question to her first. Then--no, she wasn’t supposed to do that anymore!--she bowed. “Excuse me. I am EliZe.”

Hana cocked an eyebrow as she watched, catching that bit of weirdness with her ear, but being more focused once the game started. She grinned, laughing lightly. “Jeez, you’re like, really not good. I guess I could like, show you how to play or whatever” she said, shrugging, then looked back to her face in confusion.

“Wha, I asked you first” she said, grumpily. At the bow, she gave a confused look. “Uh, whatever, okay. You don’t gotta bow or anything. I’m Hana” she said, nodding and putting her hands on her hips like she was important.

“Hah, Nah,” EliZe repeated, rolling the syllables around and making exaggerated movements with her mouth. “Hana. Oh! Like flowers! Very pretty.” She smiled, as if she suddenly understood everything and this was all that was needed to seal a friendship. She thrust her hands forward at Hana, holding out the game. “Yes, show me!”

Hana got very red, then looked away. “It, wha, pretty, you, nuh uh!” she said, scoffing, not sure what to do with the compliment. As her cheeks started to lose the flush, she looked back and saw the game being handed back to her. “Uh, yeah okay. Come here, follow me” she said, moving to sit on a picnic table so EliZe could sit next to her to watch. “Okay so first you gotta pick a good character, all the boys are bad so just pick a girl. I like Poizon cause she’s like me, like, a girl but didn’t know she was at first. So you gotta fight the other character and beat em up, and this one punches and when you do this it’s a kick and when you do this you block so they can’t hit you and then you jump and move and stuff like this” she explained, playing through a brawl for a bit, winning it. “That make sense? You got it?” she asked, looking to the girl. The annoyed look was gone from her eyes, seeming to be having fun now that she got to play and talk about it.

EliZe nodded at every sentence that Hana spoke, furiously confirming she understood--even if she wasn’t sure that she did. “Oohh!” She let out as Hana talked about her favourite character. “Yeah yeah, got it!” She took the game back and tried it again, picking Poizon like Hana had. She scrunched up her face into an intense and focused frown, her tongue sticking out from her mouth. “Block… Punch… Block… Kick… Jump… Oh! Oh! I kicked while jumping!” She looked at Hana in excitement, before the game made some noises that sounded like cries of pain. “Oh no! They got me! Block! Punch… Move… Punch Punch. Punch Punch Punch! Oh, that was an explosion!”

Hana nodded, leaning close to watch EliZe try it again. It felt nice to see she’d picked Poizon, even if it was just because she’d mentioned her. She watched as the brawl started, the excitement of the girl at each moment getting to her as she started to react alongside her. “Yeah! That’s her special move! She can throw a little explosive! If you push down and right and punch you can do another one that’s like a pink slash attack thingie!” she says excitedly, getting pumped that the girl was starting to pick it up. “Oh shoot they’re gonna try to use their special on you! Jump back and block, you got this!”

EliZe nodded her head hard at Hana’s explanation of the game, keeping her eyes firmly locked onto the screen this time. “I’ll do the pink slash thingie… Oh no!” She pressed quickly to jump back like Hana had said, avoiding the brunt of the attack her opponent used. She blocked slightly too late, getting hit once, resulting in a red light blinking in the corner of the screen. Poizon’s health was low, but EliZe’s spirits were high. She smiled broadly, briefly exposing sharp teeth. “I’m gonna try it!” She moved her fingers slowly and deliberately as she executed the commands Hana had given her, forwarding them to Poizon. The screen was split by a flash of bright pink and the music cut out briefly as the opponent’s character fell to the ground in slow motion.

“Did I do it right? Oh no, did I mess up the game? Where’s the music?” EliZe looked sad and slowly going into panic as she saw the game’s slow motion.

Hana nodded and gave affirmative sounds, totally into it now. She didn’t get this worked up usually, likely something with this girl experiencing it for the first time and being so excited about everything happening. “Yes! Nice! Okay, yeah, do the pink slashie thing!” she said excitedly, nodding a bunch and watching as it connected and knocked the opponent out. “Yes! Awesome!” she said, grinning, then getting confused as EliZe seemed to be sad.

The girl couldn’t help but laugh, then shook her head. “No, you didn’t mess it up, you won, goofball!” she said, giving her a bump with her hip. She pointed to the screen that slowly popped up a ‘Winner!’ screen once the fighter had fallen and the game went back from slow motion. The victory music played and the game called out ‘Winner!’ like it had earlier for Hana. “Good job. Probly wouldn’t have been able to do it without me teaching you or whatever though, but it was good for a newb” she said, crossing her arms and nodding, a proud professor.

“Oh. Oh I won! I didn’t mess up the time! Yay!” EliZe let out happily. It was the first time she’d played a video game, and it had turned out to be an enlightening and very fun eperience! She smiled at Hana and bumped her hip back in response. “You teach good! We won!” She gasped in a sudden realization. “We need to celebrate our triumph. What do you do to celebrate things?”

Hana got red, turning away as she scratched the back of her neck. “I, I just felt sorry for you cause you were so bad” she said, nodding. “Huh? Celebrate? Uh, like” she said, thinking for a moment. “I guess like, cake? Ice crea…” she said, frowning some as she remembered why she was down here in the first place. “Uh, just, getting stuff and eating it I guess. Whatever. What do you want? You got a favorite ice cream or anything?”

EliZe listened intently, nodding along with Hana’s questions and suggestions. She looked away at the sky in thought. “What I want…” A lot of ideas and mental images came rushing in and EliZe’s face got an expression of satisfaction and gluttony, drooling ever so slightly. She shook her head. No, those things she was thinking of weren’t human foods! “I don’t have a favorite ice cream. I have…” She frowned a little and stared at the ground. “I have never had ice cream.”

Hana’s eyes got big and wide. “Whaaa? Never had ice cream? That’s, wait, are you like lacto...lacto...uhh...can you not drink milk and stuff? Cause they got ice cream that works for that, without dairy and stuff. We gotta get you some! Ice cream is like, so super freaking good! Come on, follow me!” she said, motioning for the girl to stand up with her as she started running out of the small park.

“Huh?” EliZe stared after Hana as she ran off, standing still for a few long seconds, not clear on what Hana was intending. “Oh, wait!” She called out, running after Hana. EliZe still clutched the game console in her hands, holding it out as if to give it back. She caught up with Hana near the outside bounds of the park. “I can drink milk! ...is ice cream milk?”

Hana looked back, then smacked her head. She left the game? What the heck, Hana? She nodded, then took it back and put it in her pocket. “Oh, really? Cool. How come you haven’t had ice cream, then? Uh….” she said, looking around, then pointed down a road. “There’s a place that way we can get some from. Let’s go!” she said, hurrying down the sidewalk. “It’s, uh, it’s like, got milk in it? I think”

EliZe giggled as she hurried along with Hana. It sounded like an almost musical giggle, but with a background noise like an old vinyl record or magnetic tape recording. Milk wasn’t going to be the problem for her. She ran faster than Hana, but every time she caught up, she would skip along for a bit, slowing down and letting Hana lead the way to the ice cream place. “This is fun!” She cried happily.

Hana grinned as they ran, trying to hurry up and be at the pace of EliZe. “Heh, yeah! I mean, like, kinda” she said, glancing to the side and looking ahead to the ice cream shop. Couldn’t make it seem like she was enjoying herself too much, right? The shop had a small dining area and also a window to walk up and order, named “That’s Gelato Stuff!”, though they served much more than just gelato. Hana stood on the sidewalk, crossing her arms and holding her chin in her hand, thinking. “Okay, so, EliZe. Can you do anything? Like superpowery? Like I’m real strong, you got any powers?”

EliZe came to a halt next to Hana with a skip and a jump. She stood up straight with a grin. She stared at the gelato place, eyes filled with a glint of curiosity, her mouth hanging slightly agape. She looked at Hana. “Powers? Uh…” She thought for a moment, then looked at the ground at their feet. EliZe lifted her hand and made some swirling motions with her fingers. Sand from between the stones in the sidewalk began to dance along and come closer, gathering up in front of them. EliZe held out her other hand and the sand rose up from the ground and gathered in her hand, shaping itself into the form of a tiny sand castle. “Like that?”

Hana nodded, watching her carefully. Her head tilted in confusion as she started moving her fingers, then her eyes got wide as the sand started to flow out and up from the ground, becoming the castle in her hand. “Oh woah! That’s so cool! You got dirt powers? That’s super good! Okay, you’re gonna be the distraction then. Can you make a big ol dirt thingie and make it go all ‘woaaah’ inside? Then I can run in and grab some ice cream from the cooler and hurry out” she said, nodding a bunch, demonstrating the ‘woaaah’ by flailing her arms for a bit.

“Woaaah! Yes!” EliZe mimicked the motion and finished it off by smacking her hands against Hana’s in a mock high five. “I can do that!” She nodded with determination and ran off a little ways, motioning with her arms for her already gathered sand to follow. It glowed slightly for a moment before it trailed after her. EliZe stopped just around the corner from Gelato Stuff and motioned with her hands, wiggling her fingers.

A strange haze fell over the street outside and moments later it began to look like the sidewalk was alive, animated like a moving stream, as tiny particles of sand and dust hopped across the sidewalk. It gathered up in front of the store into a big ball, more than one might have expected there to be hidden in all the nooks and crannies of the street. It took shape as it rose up in front of the window, taking on the form of a hulking humanoid figure with its waist at street level and a crocodile-like head. EliZe made a “rawr” noise and giggled, and it came out of the sandy figure’s maw louder. The patrons and staff of Gelato Stuff gave strange looks at the thing right outside, pointing at it, one person dialing a number on the store phone. Then the sandy figure plunged back down to the ground and for a moment seemed to be gone… But the particles crept along the ground and slipped through the crack at the bottom of the front door like a fast stream, and the construct rose up again inside. “Rawr!” EliZe said again as the construct reformed fully, provoking loud noises in response from the patrons. All they wanted was some gelato or ice cream or other cold treat. But all EliZe wanted was the same thing for herself and her new friend, and that was more important.

Hana nodded. “Awesome. Operation Cold Dirt is a go” she said, then reached into her pocket as EliZe ran off. She pulled out a mask, not very high quality, something from a cheap costume store. It was purple with big white circles over the eyes, and it appeared like someone had drawn black lines down it in marker. She stared at it a moment, then nodded and slipped it on. As she looked around the corner and saw the huge crocodile creature form, she grinned under the mask. EliZe was so cool! Dirt powers like that and liked video games and everything. She’d probably be gone soon like most people, but today was nice so far. Definitely not what she’d expected for today, since last year her mom had just brought a cookie home from the office and gave her $50.

When the thing went inside and started whirling around causing a scene, she acted. Shoving the door open, she stayed low and hurried over to the cooler where the packaged ice creams were. Nabbing something from the soft serve or where the guy scooped it out would be too hard, so this would do. She slid it open, nabbing a couple chocolate shell covered ice creams, then a small pint of orange dreamsicle ice cream. She took advantage of the chaos still ensuing to slip through the sand whipping around, thankful for her mask, and pushed out the door and ran to another alley. “El! Let’s go!” she shouted to the girl, waving as she ran into the alley. She came to a stop a ways down, sitting on a stoop. She pulled off the mask and investigated the spoils with a grin.

EliZe laughed a snorty laugh to herself as she puppeteered the sand construct inside Gelato Stuff. The patrons seemed afraid of their safety. The manager seemed afraid the sand would get into the gelato. The employees seemed to not care at all, but joined in the screaming anyway for a bit of excitement. “Rawr!” She went again, and the construct had it burst out amplified, causing one of the customers to drop their recently-purchased ice cream cone on the sandy floor. Poor guy.

“Ah, hi!” She called out when she saw Hana reappear--assuming the same-height same-clothes different-face human was Hana. “Right!” She followed after her, letting her control of the sand construct go. It toppled over and sank in on itself within seconds, leaving behind a large pile of sand and dust inside the store. Before they got too far out of earshot, EliZe could hear the manager shouting already: “Right! Who’s gonna clean that up?!”

## In The Alleyway, With The Ice Cream

EliZe stopped next to Hana and plopped down beside her, giggling with a wide, sharp-toothed grin. “That was so fun! Oh! What did you get?” Her eyes were unnaturally wide with wonder and child-like anticipation for the tasty treats.

Hana grinned and laughed when EliZe sat next to her, bumping her shoulders against her. “That was so cool! Your powers are awesome!!! Making all the dirt do all the stuffs was perfect! I got these two, then a pint of dreamsicle. Oh darn I didn’t get spoons...eh, it’ll be fine. Here you go!” she said, handing over one of the treats, vanilla gelato covered in a chocolate shell on a stick. She opened up her own and took a big bite, then cringed. “Ow ow ow okay don’t eat it super fast, brain freeze. Owie. It tastes really good though!”

“You got so much! Wow, you’re awesome, Hana!” EliZe laughed along with the other girl. As soon as her laughing died down a little, she stuffed her mouth full with vanilla gelato, her mouth opening up unnaturally wide to accommodate it. She dug her sharp teeth into it and bit off half of the entire thing. “Ow! Ow ow ow, cold! It hurts?! It’s so tasty but why does cold hurt?” EliZe kept eating her gelato, but her eyes watered and a tentacle slipped out of her sleeve to rub at her forehead, where the headache was.

“I told ya not to eat it so fast, gosh! It gives ya brain freeze cause like, uh, it’s cold and stuff” Hana said, giggling a bunch and rubbing her own head where her brain freeze hit. She took another bite, then her jaw dropped at seeing the tentacle. “Woaaahhh you got that too? Tentacles and dirt powers? That’s like super freaking cool!” she said, grinning excitedly, immediately followed by a groan. “All I got is being real strong, it’s so booorrring, I wanna fly or shoot lasers or something”

“Cold is not supposed to hurt,” EliZe pouts, but the sweet taste of the ice cream rapidly turns her expression into a taste-loving smile again. The tentacle lifts off her forehead and gives a wave at Hana. “I have this too, yeah! I have a bunches of things.” The tentacle on EliZe’s forehead split at the tip into a little mouth. EliZe lifted her gelato up to it and it took a bite from it. Another tentacle tapped Hana on the opposite shoulder. “Being real strong is not boring, you can do very strong things! Have you not done any very strong things?”

Hana watched with wonder as the tentacle took a bite of ice cream. Super weird, and super cool. “Like, yeah, I have, but my mom yells at me whenever she sees me use them. She doesn’t like that I have powers. But like, powers are so cool! I can do this!” she said, jamming the rest of her gelato into her mouth, then hurries to a dumpster and lifts it up from the ground. She swung it around a bit, then put it back, basically where it had already been. Close enough. She pulled the ice cream stick out of her mouth and tossed it into the dumpster, then came back to sit next to EliZe. “But like, you can do dirt stuff and you got the weird tentacle and whatever other awesome stuff you got. I just lift things. It’s boring. And ‘increases our insurance prem...uh...premier? Increases our insurance premier substantally’ or whatever she was yelling about the one day. Not like she cares anyway, didn’t even come home today” she said, glancing away as she stopped, realizing she was getting into some personal things.

EliZe didn’t understand a bunch of the words Hana was using. Insurance premier? Could you eat that? Even searching through her mental library spanning millennia she couldn’t find it, though perhaps that was because it was a very modern thing. Perhaps it hadn’t lasted long enough to become entrenched in time, like horseback riding or newspaper boys or old people complaining about young people.

The tentacle girl chomped down on the remainder of her gelato and ate it in one go, then walked up to Hana and tossed the stick into the dumpster as well. “Maybe you just haven’t gotten the other things yet?” She asked, speaking from a mouth inside the palm of her hand, while her face-mouth consumed the gelato. “People rarely just get one thing.” She said from the hand-mouth. “You can get multiple gifts!” She said from another hand-mouth. She swallowed the gelato and tilted her head. “Wait, who didn’t come home today?” She asked from her face-mouth.

Hana gave a shrug. “I dunno. Maybe” she said, jamming her hands into her pockets. She looked to EliZe, taking the handmouths and tentacles in stride like she was any other person. “If I do got other stuff I wish they would hurry up already” she said, sighing. She kicked a rock down the alley, her strength sending it up into the air to bounce off the wall a few stories up before coming back down and flying down the rest of the sidestreet.
Her face got slightly red as she glanced back to EliZe, the question about who hadn’t come home hanging unanswered for a bit as she thought. Should she say? It felt embarrassing to be upset about this, like, she didn’t need her mom home or anything, just...eh, whatever. “My mom. She’s at work. Like, all the time. It’s a dumb boring job I dunno why she goes there all the time, doesn’t even sound like she likes it. She’s barely home, like, ever. And I was like, I figured she wouldn’t be but kinda hoped she’d be home for today since it’s my birthday and stuff. But she’s too busy. So it doesn’t matter” she said, shrugging again.

EliZe wrinkled her nose in deep thought. She knew these words. She just couldn’t quite put them to an experience she herself had had. Plus, it was hard to process all the knowledge she had with the little child brain she was stuck with right now. “Dumb boring jobs are dumb and boring,” she stated matter-of-factly and tautologically. “She could have been getting ice cream and playing games. She must not be very smart.”

EliZe nodded fiercely, as if that was that and that was final. She crossed her arms and her tentacles resolutely. Then her stance relaxed a little as she realized one other important word had been said. “Birthday? It’s your birthday?”

Hana nodded. “Yeah! Exactly, you get it” she said, then giggled a bunch. “Yeah, she’s totally not. She’s just mean and shouty. Big ol jerky jerk” she says, shrugging. Hana didn’t care, just look how much she didn’t care about it. Her shrugs told the whole tale. Even so, she had a small smile, just glad she had EliZe here to agree with her, and that she was agreeing in the first place. It felt nice to be validated.

At the next question, she got red and looked away. “I, it, well, y-yeah. I’m ten today. It’s not a big deal or anything. Just thought she’d wanna be here. But she doesn’t, cause it’s not a big deal. So it’s fine. Whatever” she said, walking over to the stoop where she’d left the pint of dreamsicle. “I didn’t grab spoons, so like, it’ll be hard to eat for me, but if you wanna eat it with your tentacle mouths or whatever feel free” she said, holding it out for her.

EliZe looked at the pint of dreamsicle ice cream, then at Hana, then back at the ice cream. She then took the pint in one hand and raised the other up. Sand blew in from both directions of the alleyway and gathered up in her hand. It glowed brightly for a bit as it got shaped into a simple shape that looked like it was burning, melting, solidifying. The glow died down after a few moments and EliZe held up two glass spoons, holding one out to Hana. “Here! Now you can eat too!” She smiled a wide, toothy grin.

Hana got big, wide eyes as EliZe’s power did its work. “Oh my gosh what!? You can do that too? Ugh, you got so many cool powers!” she said, excitedly. She carefully takes the spoon, then gives her a grin. “Thanks, EliZe. You’re awesome” she said, opening the pint and taking a bite of ice cream. “Yummmm, chocolate is yummy too but like this is also real real good”

“Careful, glass can break.” EliZe warned as she sat back down with Hana. She scooped out a bit of ice cream and licked at it. The sweet taste made her smile, but her smile faded again. “Hana, do you want me to not use my powers? You seem excited, but also angy. I don’t want to make you angy.”

“Oh, good point” she said, nodding a bunch. Hana remembered to be gentle with the spoon as she took another few bites. She smiled and enjoyed it, but glanced over and gave EliZe a confused look. “Huh? No, I like your powers, they’re awesome! You should use them, totally. I, uh, I’m mad cause my mom is a jerk. I’m not mad at you at all. I, uh, well, uh, I think you’re cool” she said, her face turning a bit red as she turned away.

“I think you’re cool too!” EliZe beamed back at Hana. “You’re strong and nice and a good teacher and you know about ice cream!” She emphasized her words with a punching motion, mimicking a move she saw the character Poizon make in Avenue Brawler.

Hana just blushed more and shook her head. “I, wh-nuh unh, I’m not a good teacher, no, I just like video games and stuff” she said, glancing away and reaching up to scratch the back of her neck. At the movements, she glanced over, giggling as she watched EliZe mimic Poizon’s attacks from the game. “Hehehe, nice. You got her punches down real good!” she said, giving her a thumbs up. She reached over for more ice cream, taking a big bite. “But it is good I got to show you ice cream, cause that, like, you gotta have ice cream! It’s like one of the best foods!”

“Yeah! It’s very tasty!” EliZe said as she took another bite and made a few more punchy moves with Hana’s encouragement. When she returned to the ice cream, she looked thoughtful for a moment. “So what kind of stuff do you do for birthdays?”

Hana blinked a few times, thinking while she ate a bit more ice cream. “Uhh, like, you’re supposed to have a thing, like people come over and bring you presents and you have cake and ice cream and do a party, like with games and stuff. That’s what they do on TV and stuff. I dunno. Usually my mom just gives me money and tells me she doesn’t have time for a party. Not like anyone would come anyway” she said, shrugging.

“Hmmm, presents, cake, ice cream, games…” EliZe pondered. She put the dreamsicle ice cream down next to her, her glass spoon sticking out. She held out her hands and sand gathered around and leapt into her hands like a stream, just enough to fill her hands up. She then put her hands together, closing them around the sand and ground her hands together as a light began to glow from between her fingers. It was bright and hot and began to die down again after a few moments. She held out her hands to Hana and removed the top hand. This uncovered what she had created, lying in the palm of her hand: a small glass statue that vaguely resembled Hana, wearing a hat similar to Poizon’s and sprouting a pair of tentacles from her back like a second pair of arms that took on the same fighting stance as her little glass fists.

EliZe smiled gently as she held it out for Hana. “Birthdays come with presents, right? For you.”

Hana nodded. She glanced over as the girl started gathering more sand into her hand, Hana’s head tilting in confusion. She leaned closer, curiosity growing as the light shown. “Whatcha doin?” she asked, then leaned back as EliZe finished and extended her hands. More spoons? Did she break hers? Was she making something or was this another power? As her hands opened, Hana took a moment to see what was being shown to her. After a bit, her eyes widened, getting it, suddenly.

“I...that....wait...you...I...is that...wha...you made that? For me? Of me? Me, that’s, you, me. Uhhhh” she blinks a few times, reaching out to take it very, very carefully. She looks at it, all over, the hat, the tentacles, the pose, the face, the body, then back up at her with some tears welling in her eyes. She reaches an arm up to wipe her sleeve along her face, trying to make sure she doesn't actually cry. “Uh, um, it-it’s like...really cool. Yeah. Th-thank you, EliZe” she said.

EliZe nodded as Hana took the small glass statue. She reached with a hand and gently patted Hana on her back. “It’s really cool, because you are really cool, Hana. And the ice cream is really cool too! It gave me a cold headache. But you don’t give me a cold headache. I hope I don’t give you a cold headache either. But if you like, I could give you a hug?”

Hana just stared at the figurine, blinking and smiling lightly. “I, uh, um, right” she said, just kind of letting out words. She giggled at the remark about cold headaches, shaking her head. “No, you don’t give me a cold headache, you goof” she said, glancing up to her and giving a small nod. “Um. Sure. Yeah. Hug sounds...nice” she said, her eyes welled up still.

EliZe pulled Hana into a hug, standing on her tippy-toes to put her chin on Hana’s shoulder and wrap her arms around the girl. Then she wrapped her tentacles around her as well in a tighter double-hug. She patted Hana’s back once, twice. “You’re going to be okay.” She said, her voice suddenly sounding a lot more secure and adult. “It will take time, but you’re going to be okay. You’re going to have lots of friends, like me. You’re going to have lots of ice cream and lots of gifts and play lots of games.”

Hana smiled lightly, returning the hug. She glanced back when the tentacles came around, surprised by the feeling of the extra limbs. “Tha-huh?” she said, head turning to hers as she spoke, her voice sounding different, still hers, but like she’d grown up in that moment. Her words were both disconcerting but comforting, if only because she said it like she knew it and had seen it, or something. She smiled once more, squeezing gently to return the hug again. “Thanks, EliZe. Uh, I, yeah. Sounds good” she said, unsure of what to say.

EliZe squeezed back and let out a satisfied sigh that sounded like something between a yawning kitten and a record scratch, before she let go of the hug. She let one hand stay reassuringly on Hana’s shoulder. “That was very good. This day has been very fun! I think I need to go back soon though.” She said, her voice back to ‘normal’. She held up the tub of dreamsicle ice cream, half empty as was. “But I can’t leave until we finish this. Obviously.” She drew out the ‘obviously’ with a roll of her eyes, as if that was just good sense.

Hana pulled her arms back as EliZe released the hug. Her face had a slight flush to it still, the tiniest bit embarrassed about opening up like she had. “Yeah. It’s been awesome” she said, though her smile turned to a slight frown. “Oh, like, your parents need you to come home or something?” she said. Hana nodded a bunch at her statement about the ice cream, because of course they were going to finish it, how could they not? She took another bite with her glass spoon, smiling at the sweet taste.

EliZe had just filled her mouth with a scoop full of ice cream and momentarily froze. She seemed to think something over, rather than suffering from brain freeze. The ice cream melted in her mouth and she swallowed it down with a shudder. “I don’t have parents,” she said, “but there are people I need to get to. They make it feel like home. It’s a good time there. Just like this is a good time here! There are many good times.” She smiled at Hana, bits of ice cream stuck at the corners of her mouth.

Hana nodded. “Oh, sorry. Uh, cool that you got people to go back to, at least” she said, nodding, and reaching for another spoonful of ice cream. “So, like, are you living in the area now? Uh, if you want, I guess you could like, follow me around more and hang out with me, that would be okay. I guess” she said, glancing at her sideways in an effort to see her reaction but also pretend like she didn’t care about the reaction.

EliZe’s shoulder slumped and she didn’t lift up her next spoonful of ice cream. Her hair drooped in front of her, as if hiding her sadness. “I don’t live here now. Not now. I’d like to follow you around more and hang out with you! But… I don’t know when I could do that.” Her lower lip trembled. What was this weird feeling? She rubbed at her eyes and sniffled. It stung! This was not how eyes were supposed to feel! Eyes were supposed to be for looking, not for leaking. Her knuckles dug into her eyes as if that would help make it stop. “I’m not crying! You’re crying!” She said in a fake-angry tone.

Hana frowned, looking away. “Nuh unh! I ain’t crying” she said, wiping her eyes against the sleeve of her jacket. She figured it wouldn’t last. “Whatever. Not like I care or anything” she sniffled, looking down at the ground. Leaning over with her spoon, she took another spoonful, getting the bite and swallowing it slowly. “If...if you come by again I guess we can hang out more, or something. I guess you’re pretty cool, even if you’re leaving. So...you better not forget about me, got it? Gonna kick your butt if you do” she said, sniffling again and looking over at her, giving her a cocky smirk even through her welled up eyes.

Elize flipped her tentacle-hair back and looked at Hana. Her eyes were wide and full of tears, which stayed on her eyes and wobbled around without actually leaving them and rolling down her cheeks, as if EliZe refused her tears to do so. As if letting them go would be admitting that this moment affected her, that it was sad, that she really would not be seeing Hana again anytime soon.

“Yeah! You could kick my butt, but you won’t have to. I won’t forget you! I never forget.” Technically true, as she could remember many things by tapping into the powers that doomed her. “You’re so cool, Hana. You are… you’re my best friend!” Also true, in 2012. EliZe couldn’t lie. The truth was much too scary already. EliZe gave Hana a double thumbs up, still holding her glass spoon upside-down in one of her hands. “We’ll see each other again… in the future!”

Hana laughed. “Okay, you better not” she said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve again. A smile remained, as EliZe called Hana her best friend. “Heh, uh, yeah, I guess, like, you’re a good friend too. I had fun today. Thanks for making my birthday better” she said, returning the double thumbs up with some finger guns. “Right. In the future. Hehe. Sounds good. Uh, so, you gotta leave right now? At least when the ice cream is done?” she said, glancing into the small tub, able to see the bottom now, with a couple bites remaining.

EliZe hummed in thought, sounding like a church organ hidden underneath a pile of mattresses. “Well… I will need to leave at some point, and it will definitely be after the ice cream is done, but I never agreed to a specific time.” She glanced at the ice cream remaining in the tub, the thought crossing her mind that, if they never finished it, then she would never have to leave. “Is there something you still want to do? Before I have to go?”

Hana grinned at hearing she didn’t need to leave at any specific time. “Cool!” she said, thinking about her question for a moment, letting the spoon dangle from her mouth. What else could they do before she had to leave? “Oh! I got it! Follow me!” she said, standing up quickly and hurrying down the alley. She turned, trying to make sure EliZe could see where she was going.

## Near the corner of Whale St. and Ninth

After a few minutes of hurrying along, Hana brought them to a sidewalk just off a main street, city hall was just barely visible over some other buildings. She kneeled down at a piece of the sidewalk that was freshly placed, fresh concrete set out to dry. Hana looked up to EliZe with a mischievous grin. “Wanna put our names in it? Then we’ll always be hanging out together, and we’re not supposed to mess with it, so we get to do more bad stuff too!”

EliZe ran after Hana, curious where she was taking them. She was just happy to spend a little more time in the present. She spotted city hall, giving her an orientation point for where they roughly were in the city. She stood next to Hana as the girl kneeled. EliZe looked curiously at the fresh concrete. It looked damp, like her hair. She sensed its presence like she could sense sand, but it felt… thicker, different, difficult.

She kneeled down next to Hana. Her eyes glittered with anticipation and excitement about what Hana said it would do. Always hanging out together? Do more bad stuff? She was in. “Put our names in it? That sounds very cool!” She held out her hands and from her back a pair of tentacles unfurled, twitching with the same excitement. EliZe looked about ready to just plant her face, hands and tentacles into the wet concrete all at once, but looked to Hana for guidance. “Okay, what do we do? What is this stuff?”

Hana giggled. “It’s concrete, duh! It’s just new, so it’s like, wet while it’s turning into regular concrete. Whatever we put in it will be there when it hardens up, and be there forever! So if I put my name here-” she said, then reached in and wrote ‘Hana +’ with her finger, then rubbed her hand on the grass to get the wet concrete off. “Then you write your name next to it, and they’ll stay there forever! When you come here again we can come back and I’ll show you” she said, a wide grin on her face.

“Oh! Concrete! Solid!” EliZe nodded in understanding, still not completely understanding, but having heard of concrete before. That was a Roman thing, right? She watched Hana trace her finger through the concrete, then gave a nod and acted as if she rolled up her non-existent sleeves. EliZe stuck out a long, curling finger and wrote ‘EliZe’ on the other side of the plus symbol Hana had written, taking extra care on the ‘Z’. She leaned back to admire her handiwork with a grin. Then she seemed to get an idea and slipped a tentacle forward and pressed it against the wet tile on the edge, leaving an imprint of the tentacle. “There! Yeah! Hopefully it will still be there then.” She grinned.

Hana watched happily as she wrote. “Ooohhh, the Z is a big Z. That’s cool!” she exclaimed. When EliZe pressed the imprint of her tentacle next to the words, Hana gasped and nodded. “Good idea!” she said excitedly, pressing her fist into the concrete next to her own name, so they both had an imprint and their name in it. She grinned, moving to wipe her hand in the grass again. “Heck yeah it will, I know it! Well, as long as this sidewalk doesn’t get all broken up in a superhero fight or something, it will” she said, nodding, determined.

“Yeah! Big Z! Because I have little big i-Zs!” EliZe laughs at her own joke as a ripple runs across her forehead and an extra five eyes blink open and closed again and disappear completely. “And you have a big H!” She looked as Hana pressed her fist into the concrete and excitedly clapped her hands together. She admired their handiwork, while sticking her wet finger with bits of concrete into her mouth and licking it off. She nodded at Hana. “Yeah, but it’s not going to be! This will be here forever.” EliZe intoned almost solemnly, making a motion with her hand. Some sparkly dust came off her fingers, as if she was making a prophetic announcement or casting a spell. Then she giggled. “The only superheroes allowed to break it is us.”

Hana laughed at the display of weird eyes, her powers were so wild, she loved it. “Heck yeah, big H!” she said, grinning happily. “Oh, uh, I don’t think you’re supposed to eat that” she said, going to say more before EliZe did her think and some kind of magic or whatever over their names and marks. Her eyes got wide. “Wait, really?! Your powers can do that? That’s so cool! You got like, so many cool powers! Okay, well we gotta come back here when you’re back and make sure, okay?” she said, standing up and holding a hand to EliZe to pull her up as well.

“Uhhhh, I don’t know! Maybe!” EliZe giggled sheepishly, the way a sheep giggles. “But yeah! We’ll find out when we come back here a long time from now. Even if this goes away, we won’t!” She took Hana’s hand and stood up, her face beaming like a flashlight with new batteries. “When we meet again, you’re going to have so many cool powers too! You’re going to be even cooler than you are now!” EliZe got a slightly smug look on her face and took on a similar stance to Hana. “Heck, you might get even cooler than me.” She said in the same tough girl tone Hana had used with her earlier.

Hana shook her head, laughing. “You’re such a goof. Yeah, we’re gonna make sure it’s still here” she said. Her head tilted at her comment about the future, eyebrow raising as she crossed her arms. “Pft, I know I’m gonna be cool. I’m already super cool, and the future is just gonna be me being even more cooler!” she said, nodding with the cocky grin and stance that EliZe borrowed. “Cooler than you? Psh, easy, I already did it” she said, winking and sticking out her tongue jokingly.

EliZe gave Hana a playful shove and stuck her tongue out back at her. She snickered like a tiny hyena. “Sure you did. You better watch out, or I will freeze you with how cool I am!” It briefly got a little colder around her and the sand around them rose a few inches off the street, before she realized what was happening. Everything fell down again and she wiped at her nose. “It’s been good gettin’ ta know ya,” Elize said in her regular voice mimicking a tough guy mobster tone. “But I have to go now. I will never forget this.” She pointed at the concrete with their names in it. “The city will never forget this.” She laughed.

Hana got excited at the temperature change and the sand rising around them. “Okay okay fiiiine, you’re pretty cool” she said, grinning at the display of powers. She glanced back to EliZe, and her smile faded slightly. Not to a large degree, more of a shift to a sadder smile. “Okay. Sure. Yeah, I guess you gotta head back to whoever you gotta go back to” she said, then gave a chuckle. “Yeah. I ain’t gonna forget and city ain’t gonna either. I...uh...I hope it’s not super duper long before you come back. I’m…” she said, looking down, getting a little red. “I’ll, miss you, or whatever. Um...if you wanna hug or something I wouldn’t like, mind, or whatever”

EliZe smiled, looking extremely happy at Hana’s admission. She didn’t want to say she wouldn’t miss Hana, because she would just see her again very soon, she was certain of it! However, she would certainly miss this Hana, the little girl who had become her friend. She nodded her head. “I wouldn’t mind either!” She said, stepping towards Hana and giving her another hug. She hugged Hana as strongly as she thought she could without hurting her, letting her feel her strength. “I’ll miss you too, Hana.”

Hana glanced away, then raised her arms and returned the hug. Feeling EliZe’s strength, she realized she didn’t really have to hold back, and hugged the girl tightly. “Y-yeah, I’m gonna miss you too” she said, letting down her facade of not caring for just a moment. “Thanks for making my birthday nice” she added, sniffling a bit and moving her hand up to wipe her face. After a few moments, Hana pulled away and gave her a grin. “Whenever you’re back we’re gonna hang out again, got it?” she said, wiping her face again but keeping the grin.

EliZe smirked as Hana hugged her back with her own strength. Pulling away, she nodded happily, some sand dropping out of her hair as she did so, spilling onto the ground. “Of course! I’m glad I could help make your birthday nice.” She smirked, her face looking like it flushed as the colour of her white marble skin got more colour to it and seemed to crack and crumble. “I must go, but just you wait--” she stood straight and saluted Hana, one of her fingers crumbling and falling off as her body began to turn to sand and fade away. “--I’ll be back!”

A wind blew through and blew away what remained of EliZe’s form, sand falling to the ground and leaving no trace of its former shape. EliZe’s last words were carried away on the wind, echoing faintly in the ears of all around.

Hana nodded, then tilted her head as the girl started to dissipate and turn into sand in front of her. If she hadn’t seen all the sand stuff before she’d be totally freaking out, but now she was only slightly freaked out. “Uhhh, wh-uh, you, uh, kay” she said, just accepting it as EliZe faded away into the wind. Then she was alone. Hana sighed, jamming her hands into her pockets and started walking. Back home it was.

The camera stays on the intersection as Hana walks out of frame. A fast-forward effect plays as time passes, eight years going by in an instant, the zoom of cars and pedestrians, superhero fights, stores closing and opening, the changing seasons all pass by.

## August 28, 2020 - Near the corner of Whale St. and Ninth

Hana walked out of the Pita Parade, holding a takeout bag, sipping from the straw of a fountain soda. She wore a cropped tank top under one of her faux-leather jackets, with shorts and her roughed up sneakers below. The girl wanted to nab some lunch before heading back to the community center, and wanted to stop by anyway, so here she was. Jogging across the street, she came down to check on the piece of concrete, nodding as she saw the two names, along with a fist mark and a tentacle. She’d come back to this intersection often, making sure that the piece of concrete was intact and where they’d left it, even getting in a fight with some construction worker before she managed to get them to leave it alone and just replace the other ones. Satisfied, she turned to leave, heading back for her bike.

A strong, sudden wind blew past Hana, whipping up sand and dust in the street. It was strangely cool in the warm afternoon. A pair of feet touched down on the pavement behind her, next to the slab of concrete with its inscriptions. A voice like an old radio recording called out to her. “Told you that I’d be back.”

Hana stopped with a foot out, glancing over her shoulder. She blinked. “Wha, I, noooo” she said, stepping back and turning around to look. She blinked a few more times. “Is...wait, is, you, you?” she stammered out, shaking her head roughly to clear it just in case this was some weird hunger illusion. It didn’t seem to be, and a smile slowly formed on her face. “Holy crap. Uh, hey. Wow. Uh” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Took you long enough, huh?”

EliZe, now standing taller, but shorter than Hana, gave a big smile. “I take my time.” She walked closer, took on Poizon’s fighting stance and gave a gentle punch against Hana’s shoulder. “You look good! Still dress the same kinda style huh? Maybe a bit more adult. Nice. Some good things don’t change, some things just get upgraded. But yeah! It me!”

“Hehe, yeah, jeez, sure do take your time. Eight years. Dang” she said, chuckling. Hana watched her take a pose, grinning when she recognized it. “Oh dang, I got a big upgrade from that GameKid, just you wait” she said happily. She felt ten again, just happy to see her friend. It was probably good she came now and not earlier, now that she’d lowered her walls some with the help of her newer friends from Big Team.

“I, like, I’m working on it, the cropped top is new, I’m trying it out” she said, chuckling. Still a goof. Good. “It’s, uh, it’s really good to see you, EliZe. I was like, starting to think you might not be back, but I made sure that spot stayed” she said, motioning with her bag of food to the concrete under them.

EliZe scratched between her tentacle-hair with a sheepish grin. “Well, yeah. Time is hecked. And space? Not much better. Crop top is not hecked, though!” She made another punching motion at Hana’s visible abs, as if it were a motion of approval.

She turned and looked at their names. “Yeah. You did good, Hana.” She nodded approvingly, hands on her hips, one tentacle sneaking around Hana’s back to grab the bag of food from her hand.

Hana giggled. “Yeah, I’ve heard. It’s a whole, whole thing” she said, then flushed a bit. “Uh, hehe, thanks” she said, a bit embarrassed even if she appreciated the compliment. She grinned as they looked at their names on the concrete. “Yeah. Had to get in a few fights to keep it from getting messed with, but I handled those losers” she said, nodding confidently, even as her food was getting nabbed out of her hand. “Hey! I should show you my place now! It’s way better than where I used to be, you can see my robot and stuff! Well, robot armor, but still, it’s awesome!”

“That’s cool! Yeah, show me your place and your robot stuff!” EliZe said, a pair of hands unwrapping the packaging of the food already and stuffing her face with dry ramen and frozen pizza. “I can tell you all about other stuff that has now happened. Let’s go!”

Hana blinked, realizing now that she’d grabbed her bag of take out and other random groceries. She scoffed and laughed, then motioned to follow her with a grin. “Eat whatever but leave the sandwich, that one’s mine. I gotta kick your butt at Avenue Brawler, too, got one we can play together now” she said, walking toward her bike still parked on the curb. “Um, so, how long are you here for this time?”

“I don’t know!” EliZe shrugged with more than just her shoulders. “But I plan to stick around for a long time.” As they walked away from that sidewalk together, EliZe put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. They talked about Avenue Brawler as their voices faded and a gentle wind blew sand across their names.