Young Writers Society

"Doubt we'll even have to do much," Dawn whispered, shrugging. "I'm in that video. We're already going to have people banging on the door wanting answers." She paused, shifting her arms around in discomfort. "Not sure I want to answer any of them."

Astrid sighed loudly. "Ugh, why does planning the destruction of an evil school have to be so complicated!?"

Just as Dawn predicted, there was a loud pounding on the door. Except, this one wasn't one that demanded answers, it was someone who was flushed and panicked from speeding all over the school.

Izzy panted heavily, her hair in a fritz as she pounded on the door. In her other hand, she held a Winifred that was struggling to free herself. "Hello?" she called, "We have a problem! Big problem!" she breathed. Sparks ran through her arms, legs, and hair.

"Izzy!" Evan stiffened a little, but Sage ran to the door.

"What's wrong?" she cried. "Did something happen?"

Dawn quickly went behind Avery and Astrid went to Evan.

Izzy pounded on the door again. "Yeah, something did happen! Why else would I be around you people!?" she kept banging on it until she was let in, which is when she shoved Winifred into the room and locked the door.

"Winnie!" Izzy said, grabbing her hand again. Winifred winced and kept pulling away, much more animated and talkative than she was before. "Winnie, she fixed your kitty doll. Remember? You told me she did." Izzy pointed right at Avery.

Winifred turned to face the group. Her usual terrified, serious expression was gone. Now she looked... happy? Alive, maybe? She was different. She stared at Avery for a long minute. "You're saying I know her?" she said. Even her tone of voice was more lively. "I don't even know what cat you're talking about!"

Izzy groaned, holding her head. "Yes, you do! You told me this entire story about how nice the purple girl was to you and she fixed up that old cat doll! And then you were so happy to see your little cat all happy again and you gave it a treat-"

"What are you talking about?" Winifred tilted her head with her hands on her hips. "I'm not a dumb four year old. Toys are just objects. You're talking about them like they're alive. Stop that, it's weirding me out."

Izzy stuck both her arms in Winifred's direction. "See!?" she exclaimed.

“Did the Adjudicator do something to her?” Avery asked, glancing at Winifred. She was so different than before…her toys had meant everything to her. But she wasn’t brain-dead like Evan said Sam had been, so what was going on?

Izzy scoffed, "Yeah. Obviously!? What, you think she just decided to drop everything!? Winnie, where's your teddy?"

Winifred looked around, then down at the floor. Thinking took her a while. Remembering was even worse. She closed her eyes. A minute or so later, she opened them sadly. "I don't... I don't have a teddy bear?"

Izzy gulped. "Do you remember anything?"

Winifred rubbed her arm nervously. "I... I-I don't know. I know Powder's my brother. And... Who am I, again? Wini... fred? Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. Who are you, again?"

Izzy's heart dropped. It felt like a tidal wave had just crashed down on her. She never felt so slow in her life. She lumbered over to Sage, staring ahead at the wall when she stood beside her.

Dawn rubbed her head. She could feel her heartbeat speed up dramatically. "Well..." she started, whispering, "If it is my mom... Oh, who am I kidding- it is. Her entire personality and life experience was wiped. Who can do that but my mom? It's just... in this case, I think-" Dawn cut herself off. Was she jumping the gun? She didn't know anything about Winnie's life, but she was a pretty young kid. Most young kids can be shy, not horrified of people. She talked more to her toys than humans... "In this case, it might've made her forget all the bad stuff. More often than not, if you aren't born with Prodigal abilites, you can get that after tramuatic events. They usually relate to the event, too..."

"So you're saying the Adjudicator wiped all her traumatic memories?" Sage stared at the girl in an almost envious fashion. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Look how much it changed her," Avery breathed. Her shoulders trembled, and she wrapped her arms around herself to steady them. "Sure, she might be happier this way, but she's not...herself anymore. Look, she can barely even remember her own name! It's like they wiped the old Winifred out and replaced her with a completely different person. And she's so little, too..."

"What does this mean for us?" Evan looked truly sick now, even more so than when he'd been acting for Dr. Emily. He couldn't even look at Winifred, keeping his eyes fixed on a spot near the ceiling. The vial of Sam's power pulsed in his pocket, providing an almost painful warmth. "If she can wipe memories as well as remove powers..."

"That's the thing," Dawn explained, "Removing her powers is what wiped her memory. Powers are like, a part of us, you know? We wouldn't be who we are if we weren't Prodigies..." Dawn gestured to Winifred, still looking at the floor in the confusion of herself. "As you can see."

Astrid pulled their eye wraps and fidgeted with them, unable to hold herself in. "Oh," they mumbled. "We're screwed. Okay. Yeah. Let's just... yeah."

Izzy hid herself in the corner, her face hidden in her hands. "Oh my God, I'm awful," they choked, "We should've just left the moment we could... If the Adjudicator's willing to do this to Powder's sister, I'm next. She's going to call me into her office and I'm that's it! Lights out for Izzy Rinstone."

Dawn quickly went over to Avery, taking a gentle hold of her shoulders. It was kind of a stretch considering their height difference. "Hey, let's just breathe for a moment," she said. Dawn wasn't listening to herself, though. How could someone not panic in this situation? Dawn was struggling to keep herself from toppling over, in reality.

Astrid sat up suddenly. "That is a good question, though. Why Powder's sister? They're working together, aren't they? Does he know she did this?"

"I-I don't think so," Izzy said, crossing her arms anxiously, "I was the first to find her."

Dawn kept her hands on Avery, but glanced back at Astrid, Izzy, and Sage. "She's the Adjudicator. She judges morality and what's good and bad... Maybe she thinks that by removing Winnie's powers, thus removing all the bad memories, she's doing a good thing? Ends justify the means, or something like that?"

"No wonder she's crazy," Evan muttered, picking at the peeling paint on his bedframe. "If all she can see is the so-called 'big picture'...I can see why it'd be hard to care about a singular person."

"Wasn't there another part of our plan?" Sage spoke up, awkwardly patting Izzy's shoulder. She wanted to comfort the girl, but she wasn't quite sure how. "Disappearing? Making everyone forget that we exist?"

Dawn leaned against the window. "Maybe she's right..." Dawn mumbled, gazing out the window with a thousand-yard stare. This project was to see who would become supervillians and remove that possibilty. Maybe, in the long run, this was better for the world. Sure, Winifred wasn't... Winifred... but maybe that was for the better! She might actually make friends and have a life outside of fixing her precious dolls.

Astrid sighed. "I dunno, man. Seems like that's not really an option anymore," Astrid kicked their legs over the edge. "That video is getting spread 'round like a wildfire. I don't see the point in trying to hide now. We might as well own it, you know? Don't confirm anything, but... you know. It's not like we can hide in this place, anyways." Astrid paused, rubbing their eyes as they yawned. "Unless we could live in the walls."

Izzy perked up slightly. Her eyes were still showed sorrow, but there was a spark in them now. Solemnly, she put her hand over the one Sage had on her shoulder. "The sewer," she whispered just loud enough for Sage to hear. "We could set up shop there. Not sure how long it would last, but it's a thought."

"Is that...sanitary?" Sage whispered back. "What will we eat down there? Where will we sleep?"

"I dunno!" Izzy said, "Can't that one make stuff from purple goo? Can she make food? We could just cook some rations here, also. What about sleeping bags? I don't think the sewers were actually running, anyways. They were old and only stunk maybe a little bit? Like, gross stink but not as bad as it could be. I think they were only a part of the old building's plumbing."

"I really don't know what to do... I just, you know... Now with Winifred... God, I should go show Powder. At least Winnie remembers him. Out of all people, he should know, I think."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Evan muttered grimly, overhearing their conversation. "The sewers aren't the worst place to live, I suppose..."

"Powder should know," Sage agreed, nodding. "We've got to tell him about what happened...maybe, if he sees what the Adjudicator did to Winnie, he'll stop working for her! No more mind control!"

"So," Dawn said, "Should we get packing? We shouldn't be here any longer than we have to." Dawn looked up at the intercom, right smack-dab in the center of the ceiling. "At any time, they could call us up to the office and we're doomed."

Astrid got down from the bunk and sighed. "Yeah, maybe. Should we start moving when it's dark?"

Izzy gently placed her hands on Winifred's shoulders. The girl looked up at her. There wasn't much life behind her eyes, but there was a shine in them that was far brighter than the old Winnie's. "We'll go tell Powder. I can move down later, and faster. I'm not on his hitlist yet." She guided Winfred to the door. When she passed by Sage, she gave her a look and a quick murmur.
"Don't tell about the exit."

Sage gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. Then she turned to the others and gave a swift clap.

"Packing! Yes," she cried, scanning the room. She didn't have much in the way of belongings; just a few changes of clothes and a half-empty bag of watermelon lollipops. She scooped them all into a pile, not bothering to fold the clothing. "Um, does anyone have an extra bag?"

Astrid sighed. "Well, um, I guess I'll see you all later? I dunno if I should join you down there. I'm not that implicated yet, am I?"

Dawn didn't have too much to pack, in actuality. All of her plants would have to stay with the sun, and she didn't own too many clothes. A few overals folded over, a sweater, and the collared shirts she wore underneath. She was already wearing her lazy day clothes, so everything made it perfect. "I have extra room," Dawn offered, opening her bag for Sage.

Powder stared down at his little sister. Well, not anymore. That wasn't Winifred. That wasn't the girl who was terrified of adults and anyone who raised their voice. That wasn't the toddler who wouldn't stop crying as their parents argued, only comforted by Powder shoving a teddy bear in her face. She wasn't even holding her teddy bear anymore...

Even worse, she had began peeling at the stickers he put all over her face. It was their tradition! Whenever Winifred was sad, Powder would distract her with a sticker attack... And here she was, taking them off as if it were nothing.

"Winnie?" he said, grabbing her shoulders, "You remember me, right? That's really you?"

"I..." Winifred took time to process the words. Everything went in slow motion for her. She couldn't memorize much and every thought took time to form. "I think?" she said. "Powder... Powder is my big brother. You're Powder, I think."

"Yeah," he murmured, "I am." He had to resist from tearing up. When Powder looked up, he saw Izzy with her arms crossed, staring at the wall beside. "Who did this?" he demanded, his voice oddly soft.

"Your best friend, obviously," Izzy scoffed. "I told you working working with that lady was a bad idea. The moment she brought up transfering Sam's powers to one of us, we should've dipped."

"She promised-" Powder suddenly gripped Winnie's shoulders roughly, causing her to squeak from the pain of it. He quickly let out, but not without his fists curled so tight that his knuckles were pure white. Meanwhile, his face was red. "She told me we were working together. That'd I'd be strong and..."

Izzy raised an eyebrow, but before she could talk, Powder's teeth grinded together. "She better hsve an explanation for this," he growled, slamming the door as he stomped out of the room.

Izzy was frozen. More powerful? That wasn't good. She wanted to chase after him, but with Winifred right there... "C'mon kiddo, let's go pack your things," she sighed.

"Oh," she mumbled, "But what about Powder?"

"He'll... He can handle himself," Izzy said as she took Winifred's hand. "What matters is getting you underground, now."