“Ugh. Gross. Make sure you don’t kiss your secret girlfriend and/or boyfriend without brushing your teeth first.”
Seth looked up, eyes narrowed. “Are you going to let that go?”
“Probably not for at least three more days.”
“Three more days,” Seth mumbled. He looked back down at his phone. “Why do we need a meteor?”
“Because. If one of them comes from a distant planet, chances are it will have alien goo on it, and I’ll be able to eat said alien goo. Which, by the laws of nature and our lord and savior Stan Lee—may he rest in peace—will give me superpowers and I’ll be able to become an Extraordinary.” It was foolproof.
“You’ve certainly thought this one through with your regular amount of planning.”
“Wow. Sarcasm. Exactly what is not needed at this very moment.”
Seth sighed. “I do wonder if your life is sometimes not based in the real world.”
Nick frowned. “Weird. That’s not the first time someone has said that to me. I wonder what that means.”
“That maybe life isn’t supposed to be a comic book?”
“It’s not?”
“No, Nick. I don’t—” He shook his head like he was frustrated. “I know you want this. I get that. But have you thought far enough ahead about what it could mean? Say on the off chance this did work. Have you any idea what would happen next?”
“Yes. I’ve thought everything through. It’ll mean that Shadow Star will want to date me and I can help my dad with—” He looked away. “Just … don’t worry about it. I’m doing this because it’s something I want to do. That should be enough, right?”
“Help your dad with what?”
Yeah, Nick hadn’t meant to say anything about that. He was still dealing with the shift in his worldview that maybe becoming an Extraordinary didn’t need to be just about himself. And since he was still pretty new to the whole being mostly selfless thing, he wasn’t sure how to deal with it yet. “It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”
“Nicky.”
Nick was getting annoyed, and he didn’t know why. “Why can’t you let me have this?”
Seth set his phone on the table. “I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just want you to be safe.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I’m always safe.”
“That’s not always true. I seem to remember that time you wanted to see what happened when you held a flame in front of a can of hairspray.”
“Yeah, that fire was certainly bigger than I expected it to be. I can’t believe my dad didn’t notice one of my eyebrows was more singed than the other.”
“Why on earth do you think you’ll be able to find a meteor with alien goo?”
Nick shrugged. “Why not? It’s just one of the avenues I’m exploring. I’m spinning a lot of plates right now, Seth. A lot of fingers in pies. So many—”
“I get it.”
“Good. That makes things easier.”
Seth picked up his phone and began tapping the screen. “What are you researching? Because I gotta admit, I don’t think we’re going to find a meteor anytime soon. Apparently, they don’t fall from the sky with any regularity. Imagine that.”
“Hmm?” Nick said distractedly. “Oh, I’m just trying to find blueprints for the nearest nuclear power plant so I can break in and then get exposed to gamma radiation and maybe Hulk out a little or something. Do you know how much radiation a normal human can take before they get tumors in their eyeballs?”
Seth didn’t respond.
Nick looked up.
Seth was gaping at him.
“What?” Nick asked, looking behind him to see if something was on fire. It wasn’t. He turned back to Seth. “What is it?”
Seth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You want to break into a nuclear power plant and expose yourself to radiation?”
“Yeah. Genius, right? Since the whole cricket-in-the-microwave debacle—which, again, was it really so hard to find a spider, Jazz?—I got to thinking more about it. After Chernobyl and Fukushima, the plant and animal life there genetically mutated. Yeah, it was because of a nuclear meltdown, but I figure if I can get just a minuscule fraction of what they got hit with, I can probably mutate a little.” He frowned. “Granted, I’d want to avoid any loss of life because getting what I want shouldn’t mean hurting someone else, so it can’t be exactly like Chernobyl and Fukushima, but keep in mind, this is a work in progress.”
There was a moment of silence. Then, “Sometimes, I don’t know if you’re really smart or completely insane.”