Amped: A Kid Sensation Companion Novel Read Free

broadening his horizons. And that gratitude probably expresses itself in the form of loyalty – even though, in all honesty, he’d probably prefer to move on. Especially after he’s gotten a
taste
of what else is out there.”
    Vestibule puckered her lips slightly, almost as though she was giving an imaginary friend a kiss. Coupled with what she’d just said, it was a blatant reference to the fact that – back during the crisis – she had unexpectedly given Jim a kiss (allegedly for luck). I had worked hard to put the incident (and the imagery) out of my mind, but now it all came roaring back, accompanied by the furious emotional tempest I had felt when it had initially happened.
    “Going on a date with me,” Vestibule went on, a smug expression on her face, “is probably just a way for him to see exactly how green the grass is on the other side.”
    To my credit, I kept my face passive. I think I may even have smiled. Inside, however, I was seething at what she had just suggested.
    Within my still-clenched fist, I started building an electrical charge. Within seconds, I had constructed a white-hot ball of electricity about the size of an acorn, but packing enough juice to jump-start a car. Vestibule was on the verge of getting the shock of her life. Literally.
    Fortunately (and surprisingly), common sense prevailed over mounting rage. As satisfying as the thought of roasting Vestibule was, I realized that it would have ranked in the neighborhood of cruel and unusual punishment. Thus, rather than light her up like a Christmas tree, I instead reabsorbed the vast majority of the charge. I then lifted my hand and discharged the remainder into the air above my head, creating a small sound-and-light show as the release of electricity resulted in a bright flash, accompanied by an impressive crackle.
    The entire time, I never took my eyes off Vestibule, who jumped with a start at this display of my powers. (Apparently she didn’t have a firm appreciation of what an electrophorus individual – someone who can create electricity, among other things – can do.) She gave me a wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights look as she realized what could have happened, and then she was gone – teleported back home, I assumed.
    I smiled, proudly thinking of how that smug little expression had disappeared from her face almost as fast as Vestibule herself had vanished from the room. The feeling of satisfaction, however, was short-lived, as a voiced I’d heard many times, both audibly and mentally, suddenly boomed in my head angrily:
    

Chapter 2
    Esper was generally considered the most powerful telepath on the planet and was also the closest thing I had to a mom. Being an orphan, I had been adopted and raised with the entire Alpha League as my legal guardians. The situation was clearly unusual, but seeing as how I was allegedly displaying superpowers from the moment I was discovered as an infant, it seemed like the best possible fit. Still, while the entire League had responsibility for my welfare, it was only natural that one or two of them would come to the fore in terms of being parental figures.
    On the paternal side, it was mostly Alpha Prime. One might assume that I fixated on him because – as the world’s greatest superhero – viewing him as a father figure was only natural. The truth, however, was that he was already raising his son Paramount as a single parent, so taking on that role with me was practically second nature to him.
    The result, of course, was that Paramount and I had essentially grown up like brother and sister, which had made his eventual fall – he’d cracked under the pressure of living up to his father’s name – that much more difficult to bear. (Thankfully, Paramount had done much to redeem himself recently.) However, my relationship with Alpha Prime had taken something of an awkward turn of late after I found out that my boyfriend Jim was also his