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.The aforementioned boy-who-would-be-normal, Carl, wasthe series penciler. What the hell do you want? I jerked so quickly I dropped my comic, and frowned less at the suddenappearance of the kid who d addressed us than at his tone. Excuse me? I asked, bending to pick up the comic as I took in a beanpolebody, wild hair, and fists hinged on bony hips.He was looking me up and downlike I was rabid, and Chandra snorted again behind me. I said what are you doing here? Well, I wasn t looking for a dressing-down by a twelve-year-old, I said,straightening.Page 49 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html You must be the Archer, the boy sneered, eyes cataloging me again. Smartmouth, wall-to-wall tits Chandra snickered beside me and he whipped his gazeto hers. And you re the pretender.You probably followed her to a safe zoneso you could take her out without anyone reading about it later.Crazy bitch. I d have laughed but the little fucker was already on my nerves. And youare? Your worst nightmare. Sweetie, I said in my most condescending voice, you clearly haven t readabout my nightmares. He feigned shaking with fear.I thought about throwing him over my knee andgiving him the spanking he fully deserved, but knew how the episode would bedepicted in the manuals.We may have violence, crime, and gore, but it wasstill primarily an American adolescent audience.Gruesome death was fine.Sex,verboten. Where s Zane? A new voice bloomed from the back of the shop. I was giving a tour to the newchangelings. Zane lumbered from the tunnel leading to the storeroom that doubled as hispersonal library.His apartment was located above the store, and between thosethree crucial amenities he never had to leave Master Comics.If his socialskills were any indication, I thought as he passed by me with a grunt, heprobably never did. New changelings? Chandra asked, sidling up to the register. Is it timealready? He stared at her until she removed her hand from the glass case, then rubbed arag over the whole thing. It flies when you re waiting to take over a starsign, doesn t it? What is it, asshole hour in here today? Chandra asked, turning to me. Two-for-one special, apparently. Zane made a face, but before he could reply, a handful of children tumbledfrom the tunnel and into the shop.I didn t recognize any of them, but theyhad no such problem, and they crowded around us like superhero groupies,firing questions as they grabbed at our clothing.How old were you when youlearned to fly? When did you get super strength? What s harder to break, achair back or a spine? I glanced over at Chandra, panic mounting until I sawCarl saunter from the storeroom.He was dressed in unrelieved black, hair dyedto match and plastered to his head.Matching black eyeliner was meant, I wassure, to drive his parents nuts. Hey, Archer, he said, pushing the younger kids aside, and smiling at myobvious relief. Didn t know you cared. Neither had I.But even though he was a hopeless mess socially andfashion-wise, he was both knowledgeable and helpful, and had been a goodfriend to me. New changelings? Fraid so.Nobody older than nine. I looked around for a couple of bald heads. The twins? Lost to the horrors of puberty, he said dramatically. Their voices startedcracking and they shot up an inch in one month.A week later it was as ifthey d never known us.These five are the next batch, preordained to continueserving the Zodiac by spreading the legacy among others of their kind! Hegrinned when I rolled my eyes at his rhetoric, and pointed out each of thechildren. This is Dylan, Sara, Kylee, and Kade.That s Douglas over there. Chandra and I nodded at each of the kids, who d finally calmed, though Dylanwas sucking hard on an inhaler, eyes wide.Beyond keeping the secrets of theZodiac, changelings held a special place in our mythos.If agents fromopposite sides of the Zodiac happened to appear in the shop at the same time,they turned into peacekeepers, using the ability to physically morph into aliving shield and the clever use of fangs to deter the opposing sides.But even they eventually stopped believing.I noted the absence of Sebastian,the changeling who d acted as protector of the Shadow agents, and glancedagain at Douglas, still sneering at me from the far corner of the room. Sebastian s replacement? Page 50 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Better the devil you know than the devil you don t, huh? Carl grinned, but Idismissed the kid now that I knew he was naturally antagonistic to the Light,and began searching for a little girl whose adoration of me bordered onidolatry, and whose natural inclination to help the Light, and me inparticular, had proven priceless.I was already regretting not getting to saygood-bye when she suddenly sauntered in from the hallway.I took in her crispschoolgirl uniform, stumpy black pigtails, and smiled in relief. Jasmine.You re still here. She was followed by a smaller version of herself, a round-faced,glossy-haired, pixielike child who perked up as soon as she saw me. Yeah, Carl said, nervously looking over at Zane. We were going to talk toyou about that. I motioned for him to hush and waved the two girls over. What s up, Jas? How ve you been? She looked up at me from beneath dark lashes. Do I know you? Oh, Jasmine, her miniature replica said, voice trembling with excitement. This is the Archer, esteemed member of troop 175, paranormal division,anti-evil, and preordained savior of the Zodiac! Jasmine whirled around and smacked the smaller girl upside her head. I swear,if you don t stop with that superhero shit I m going to beat it out of you. The younger girl rubbed her head, fat tears welling in eyes as big as moons. But, Jas, you re the one who told me about the legacy of the Kairos and howthe portents signaling her chosen side s ascendancy over their enemies werealready under way. Yeah, I also told you the tooth fairy was real.Sucks to be eight. Sheraised her hand to smack the girl again, and I grabbed her wrist, spinning hertoward me.I let her jerk away, and she crossed her arms over her chest andproceeded to glare at me with unconcealed disdain. Jasmine.What s happened to you? Zane cleared his throat behind me. Why don t you read the manual she sfeatured in and find out? A changeling featured in the manuals?I turned in time to catch the comic he d flung at me, fumbling it against mybody before drawing it away to study it
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