#28: Everything But the Kitchen Sink

The next morning, I decided to take up Dana—Domina—on her offer from a few days earlier to throw me into the deep end of the Y+Thems’ Devastation Chamber. After Avie and I hit the showers together—to avoid another incident with Chuck Roast—I suited up in my Ms. Megaton Man uniform while Avie dressed.
     “Where’s my shoulder bag?” asked Avie.
     “I don’t see it around here,” I said. “Did you leave it up in the Q-Mobile? After Bing parked on the roof, I remember you bringing your blanket down. But I don’t remember the shoulder bag. Why, did you need something from it?”
     “Nothing important,” said Avie. “I’m sure it’ll be safe for the time being.”

#27: A Side Trip to New Jersey

A couple thousand feet in the air now, Yarn Man took a left, which became a wide U-turn; soon we were heading south over the Bay of New York. To the west was New Jersey; below us were Ellis and Liberty Islands; the Statue of Liberty lay dead ahead. Beyond that, as my visor readout labeled for me, were the large gantry cranes loading and unloading container ships in the Port Jersey Marine Terminal. Beyond that was Bayonne, a New Jersey town long industrialized to the point of toxicity, and already past its peak in terms of economic output and population.

#26: The Hole on Fifth Avenue

The next morning I woke up with Avie standing over my lower bunk, soaking wet and wrapped in a towel, in a total panic.
     “I was taking a shower down the hall,” she said, gasping for breath. “And who walked in but that Chuck fellow.”
     “Stella’s half-brother?” I asked. “Chuck Roast? The Human Meltdown? The one you’d cast as America’s Nuclear-Powered Hero?” This was probably no time to rub it in.
     “I don’t think so any more,” said Avie, almost crying. “He barged in on the ladies’ shower, dropped his towel—he’s drop-dead gorgeous, by the way—but then he claimed it was all a mistake.”
     “He was putting the moves on you?” I asked. “Are you sure?”

#25: The Devastation Chamber

Avie and I went downstairs to the Observation Booth. Koz was already there; some of the Y+Thems who knew him were glad to see him and were petting him. Ordinarily, Koz abhorred being petted, but he was basking in the limelight. “My God,” I said. “This is just like show business.”

#24: Start Spreading the News

Over the winter break, I did make a trip to New York—not as Ms. Megaton Man, but as a plain, civilian tourist—with my sister Avie. We made plans over Thanksgiving: Avie was eager to see all the hot Broadway shows and museum exhibits and do shopping, while I drew up an itinerary that included definitely meeting my father. Since I didn’t know how to do that, I just planned to visit every megahero team I could think of, starting with Bing’s Youthful Permutations.
     When we realized it would cost us a fortune to stay in a Manhattan hotel for a week, or even for lodgings reasonably close to the city, Koz suggested we stay in the Y+Thems dormitory. It wouldn’t be elegant, but it would be free.