Nyte's Point of View
"Spider Queen, attend me," Hamburger Satan commanded imperiously. The devil horns on her head were red and angry, almost throbbing like living things. Weren't horns pretty much like fingernails? They had no right looking all gross and swollen like that.
She studied at Stinger's second-in-command, and yes, the woman looked serious. Nyte approached cautiously. "What's up?"
Hamburger Satan reached inside her cape and produced a pair of tweezers. Pluck!
"Ow!" Nyte exclaimed, clutching her head. "What was that for?"
The woman didn't answer, terribly fascinated with her spider dress. Hamburger Satan examined the outfit with a critical eye. "Rumpled," she criticized. Before Nyte could reply, those tweezers lurched forward again, and Nyte had to fight the urge to bat the offending instrument away. Sadly, she was outranked. "Is this a boy's hair?" Hamburger Satan asked, holding up a medium-length strand pinched by the tweezers. It was brown and almost certainly belonged to Rich.
Nyte felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. People were staring. Somebody of her rank getting singled out for a uniform inspection was pretty rare. Well, all she could do was admit it and retain a little dignity. "Yes, okay? It's a strand of my boyfriend's hair. I must've missed it when I was getting ready." Maybe their celebration got a little overzealous last night. Sue her. They'd won their first playoff game in a big blowout and didn't get home until late since the school they were playing was over an hour away. Once they were alone, she and Rich had a little fun, which included plenty of kisses and just a little hair pulling. It was hot!
Her superior officer seemed pleased for some reason, then put her tweezers away. "Well, since it's a first offense, I suppose I can let it slide. Just don't let it happen again." Without waiting for a reply, Hamburger Satan turned on her heel and walked away, but Nyte saw that triumphant smirk on her face! Bitch.
"She's really letting her new position go to her head," Nyte complained. She looked to Nethys for moral support, but the Scorpion Queen was still watching Hamburger Satan walk away, her robotic scorpion tail tracking movement at the same rate as her eyes.
"There's a lab through there," Nethys said quietly.
Nyte raised an eyebrow. "So? Probably working on something to deal with Future Hero."
"Probably," Nethys agreed, sounding grim. Being in the doghouse must be stressful.
"So what do you think that was about, really?" Nyte asked by way of conversation. The weekly Stinger meeting hadn't been dismissed, but typically, the Four Demonic Queens would not be given specific assignments. They were just there to show their presence to the rank-and-file soldiers. What a waste of time. "Hurry up and wait!" as her boyfriend liked to say.
"I don't trust her at all," Nethys said. "Hamburger Satan is always fishing for information to use against people."
Nyte clapped her hands over her mouth. Now she knows I have a boyfriend! "What for?"
"She's ambitious as hell, you know, the way she sucks up to Jellyfish Hitler. But there's a tension there. I've seen it. That lady is too big for her britches."
"Maybe," Nyte said noncommitally. Nethys' robots weren't working, but as far as Nyte knew, Hamburger Satan's plots weren't doing much better. Now she was doing petty shit like uniform inspections? That's something a leader who was clearly failing would try to reestablish some authority. Oh well, it's not like she actually cared. Watching that clown fail would be entertaining, if nothing else.
***
"Hey, did you see the new kid?"
"Yeah, he's a boy, even taller than Richard Rice! Can you believe it?"
The two gossiping students immediately quieted down when Rich and Julie got near. November was here, and PLUH was livelier than ever. The football team was in the playoffs, and the basic boy trend was starting to spread. Already, he'd seen more pairs of Ugg boots in the last week than in the last year. Starbucks was even out of pumpkin spice. What a tragedy! Well, it would be if Rich didn't now associate pumpkin spice with getting his face damn near melted off.
Rich did a double-take once those words traveled the long distance from his ear to his brain. A boy taller than him? That had to be pretty rare. Last he checked, he was half a head taller than the next-tallest boy, and their school was pretty big with a graduating class in the hundreds. It would be cool to meet him, just for the novelty. Sticking out the way he did was fun, but it could be tiring sometimes. Rich looked forward to not being the hottest topic for a little while.
He didn't have to wait long. There was a crowd forming around somebody with medium-length black hair in the hallway that led to the cafeteria.
Wait a minute...there was something strange about that straight, silky texture, the midnight black coloring all too familiar. Julie dropped Rich's hand and stood on her tiptoes to see over the mob. "Big boy," she muttered.
"Should I be jealous?" Rich teased.
His girlfriend looked at him sharply. "Don't even joke about that!" The comment was a bit too loud, drawing the eyes of the new kid. He had stunning, purple eyes with gorgeous, thick lashes. It rang another bell in Rich's mind. "Relative of yours?" he asked.
"I don't think so. My mom is an only child, so I don't really have cousins or anything like that."
Rich didn't have time to reply as the new kid came to them. They stared at one another in silence for a little while, giving most of the milling students time to get bored and head in to lunch. "Uh, hi," he said timidly.
Up close, well, the resemblance was uncanny. He could've been Julie's brother: tall, slim, but still broad-shouldered. His voice was a lot higher than you'd guess from appearance alone. The outfit he wore was practical yet fashionable, not quite basic boy comfort, but a cute coat accented with a scarf around his neck. It was November, and temperatures were dropping rapidly.
"Can we...talk...alone?" There was something there, something that said he had words worth hearing. Rich and Julie looked at one another.
"Sure," they agreed together.
He led them outside to an isolated little corner where the bad kids sometimes went for smoke breaks. Julie seemed lost in thought, so Rich decided to do the talking. "Well?" he began.
The tall boy tried to speak, but every time he attempted to move his mouth, his lips quivered. Rich studied the shape of his mouth and jawline, his brain grasping for something he couldn't quite place. Then the thing the boy was trying to hold in finally came pouring out like a waterfall.
"Mom! Dad! You're alive!" He launched himself forward and pulled them into a crushing hug with surprising strength.
Before he could fully process the words, Rich's arms rose on pure instinct, or perhaps force of habit, and he found himself rubbing small circles on the back of the unknown boy as he sobbed softly. Wet tears moistened Rich's sweater. They remained like this for a while as their "son" cried his eyes out. Rich looked at Julie helplessly, hoping for some guidance or...just something to explain this awkward encounter.
"It's okay, baby. Mama's here," Julie cooed. Wait, she bought it! Just like that?
The boy pulled back from the hug. His eyes were red and puffy. "You believe me?" He said it like he couldn't believe it. Neither could Rich!
"Of course," Julie said with surprising certainty. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You look just like Rich but with my hair and eyes. It's obvious. You're from the future, right? What happened?"
"Time travel is possible?" Rich asked incredulously, fully aware of the irony of the statement.
"Yes," Julie and the new boy answered together. At his questioning glance, Julie added, "Trust me, Rich, it's definitely possible. There are all kinds of crazy technologies in this world. Imagine twenty-something years into the future."
What was happening right now? Was it really possible? Julie accepting it so easily had Rich feeling he should as well. They'd discussed children already. Yes, they were that kind of high school couple, the way too serious kind who were planning their future before they'd even left home. "This is kind of a weird thing to ask, but what's your name?" Rich questioned. They'd never discussed baby names.
The boy smiled shyly. "Oscar. Oscar Cohen."
"Named after..."
He nodded. "Abuelo. Oh, by the way, make sure he gets frequent prostate cancer screenings."
Julie actually took out a piece of paper and started jotting down notes like it was the most important thing in the world. "Anything else, sweetie?"
Oscar, if that was his real name, shifted his weight nervously. "Ehe, well, I'm not really sure. Details are fuzzy. You two are still in high school, for one. Most of the stories you told me started in college."
"Can you tell us anything?" Julie pressed. "Why did you come back? What happened? Something bad, right?"
"Yeah," Oscar said sadly, biting his lip and looking away. "I think World War Three was about to break out. Mom disappeared, and Dad went off to look for her. My sisters weren't available. Hadassah is on a submarine somewhere. Rachel is still at the academy. I'm an influencer, so it was easier for me to get away."
"Influencer?" Julie sounded genuinely confused.
Oscar scratched his chin cutely. "It's sort of an internet job. Those are way bigger in the future. Basically, I make little videos and do product placement, easy money for good-looking boys like me. Thanks for the genes, you two," he joked.
"You're welcome," Julie said happily. Her tone and body language indicated absolute trust. She was already treating this guy as if he were her son for sure.
But he did know what an influencer was...
"Academy?" Rich asked.
"Yeah. Both my sisters played football for Navy. They decided to follow in Aunt Becca's footsteps. Well, Rachel is still there."
"Where do I play?" Julie interrupted. Her intense purple eyes positively burned with interest.
"Bengals," the boy answered easily. "I was born in Cincinnati."
"Any rings?"
"Yes. The city goes crazy whenever the Bengals go to the Super Bowl."
While Julie picked Oscar's brain about future football games, Rich realized that this person might actually be telling the truth. Becca only got the call from the Navy football coach last week! How could anyone else possibly know? And knowing about influencers? That was guaranteed future knowledge!
"So what now?" Rich asked. "We can't just go around telling people you're our son."
Oscar shrugged. "Not sure. I guess we could say I'm Mom's distant cousin?"
"You look more like Richard, though," Julie pointed out.
He took a handful of his hair in one hand and pointed to his left eye with the other. "People don't really notice things like bone structure, Mom. I've got your hair and eyes, and height. That's what people will focus on."
Julie grunted. "I guess. And you can't call us mom and dad around people. Try saying 'Julie' and 'Rich'."
"This is going to be so weird, Mom. Okay." He took a deep breath. "Julie. Richard."
Then the real questions started. "Do you have some place to stay? Do you need money?" His girlfriend was in full provider over-protective mom mode. It was cute, to be honest.
"About that...I think I came back with nothing but the clothes on my back. All I've got is some ID and registration to this school. There's no address on it, see?" Oscar held up a card, which Julie examined carefully.
"Okay then, that settles it. You're coming home with me tonight." She looked at Rich. "Honey, let's get some food in him. Our baby looks hungry."
Right. It was lunchtime. They headed to the cafeteria as a group, rehearsing how they would answer people's questions.
Frankly, Rich didn't know what to believe, but he'd always wanted a child. It just never happened in his first life. Faced with a person claiming to be his son, he found that he wanted it to be true, wanted it desperately.