Kyle's POV

Summer vacation, downtown Berkeley...

"I can't believe this," Riley Zellers complained, his body stiff from being mugged by a masked man with his phone ruined, his picnic lunch from Josette's Deli tossed in the fountain, and his wallet and favorite watch taken from him. The Goth teenager wasn't too teen on spending his afternoon outside while his parents were out doing shopping. It was already bad enough that he had to leave his band of rockstar wannabes he called his friends back in Bend, Oregon. But his father gave him no choice since his job as a financial planner gave the Zeller family the opportunity to make new friends and get Riley exposed to branch out and far away from any "undesirables (as coined by his mother who feared that he was on the fast track to the cemetery or prison if he didn't leave his punk band behind)."

So for better or worse, Riley took the news of moving away in stride and prepared himself to find a new center before starting his senior year at Sandifer Bay High. And at the moment, his "arranged picnic in the park" was currently up in smoke no thanks to the mugger who attacked him in broad daylight.

"Hey!" Riley hollered at the retreating attacker. "You owe me a new phone!"

"Don't worry, bro, we'll catch him!"

Riley snapped out of attention to see a group of male athletes breeze past him in hot pursuit.

Then came two beautiful women, one blonde and one redheaded. "Oh, God. Are you okay?!" The redhead asked him with concern as she helped him to his feet.

Riley nodded, wincing in pain. "Just my ego being wounded and my phone trashed," he replied. "Not to mention my wallet and watch stolen. Thankfully, I got the real money in my shoe."

"Good to know," the redheaded commented. "Name's Lita. The blonde's my friend Diana."

"Charmed."

The group of guys came back to them with apologetic looks on their faces. "He was too fast for us," the Afro-Asian commented.

"Disgusting," remarked Diana, shaking her head. "Nothing seems to be safe anymore. This used to be a safe town..."

*****************

Funny to think how this kid is going to go through the same thing that I went through when I met my new friends last summer. And even as I took off my ski mask and reunited with my joyful boyfriend and father to celebrate our future successes in gaining a new member of our flock, I'd like to think that last summer was the turning point that would change my life in more ways than one.

But this summer would be different for Riley Zeller as the age of superheroes was now in full swing. Since my wedding to Marcel, the USA underwent a drastic change as more and more superheroes (and villains) came out of the woodworks while everyone else who was an Outcast or a Neutral either assimilated into the new era or quietly took their leave for states that wanted no part of what was going on.

Some states like Georgia, West Virginia, and Montana remained true to the old ways of the past while the rest of the country (California, Mississippi, and even the Del-Mar-Va region) fell in line without little fuss. As for Kelante and his family, they knew what's up and quietly kept to themselves in DC (one of the two territories alongside Puerto Rico who also wanted no part of this) without making any fuss.

Tamarious and Tiffany, on the other hand, needed a total reprogramming from top to bottom since we've gave them the serum. And now...Tamarious is living his best life as a server at Kaleb's family's coffeehouse while his boyfriend Trevor (formerly known as Tiffany) was enjoying his invisibility powers as Cortex.

Yep, folks, life in a comic-book world is good. And to think I'd have missed it if my dad hadn't sent me to Berkeley! So, I guess you can say that I did get my happy ending after all. Go figure.

With that said, it's time my husband, father, in-laws, and I to formally introduce to Riley. I hope he plans to become a team player and make it easier on himself. Besides, there's no need to become a bad guy if one doesn't play by the rules of the game.

But if all else fails, then it's time for drastic measures.

Like I said, folks, go figure.

THE END...AND THE BEGINNING!

That's a wrap, ladies and germs! It's been a wild and crazy ride for this story, and I'm glad that it's now over! Sadly, there's going to be NO sequel intended as some stories are better off as stand-alones. Anyway, I intend to check this story for errors, plot holes, and anything else that could be confusing to some of you. But all in all, this project is finally over!

Nothing left to say but thanks! So, thanks! It's been one hell of a ride for this story right here! I'm just glad that this NaNoWriMo project of 2023 is finally complete! Time to move along with another project!

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