“You do realize,” Imperia said, pushing past Brian to enter the house, wrinkling her nose slightly at the smell, “that we made up all those legends.”

“Wh-wh-wh… You ca-ca-can’t do-o-o that,” Brian gasped, staring back at his front door in shock. “I didn’t inv-v-vite you i-i-in.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Imperia huffed. “We made all that up, so you couldn’t track us down.” She smirked. “It’s easy to hide in plain sight when you know what your enemy is looking for.”

Brian just gaped at her.

“No, no, you can’t just punch a ghost,” Luce sighed, pointing to the slideshow. “Have you been paying any attention?”

“Yeah, totally, of course!” MegaGirl said, her gaze drifting back to the squirrels outside the window.

Luce rubbed her temples, trying to stay calm. Professional. “Daisy, if you don’t-”

“My name is MegaGirl!” she cried, trying to scramble out of her desk and tripping on her cape.

She darted around the kitchen, pouring milk, tossing cereal, packing lunchboxes. She smiled as her husband entered the room, dodging around their kids and the cat. Mornings were always chaotic, but it was her favorite time of day, all the same.

“The snapdragons are looking great this year,” he said, glancing out the kitchen window. “I’m still not sure how you do it.”

“Oh, just my secret compost recipe,” she said lightly, passing him his coffee.

The doorbell rang, jarring them all from their routines.

“Who’s that?” the kids asked in unison.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Can you go check? I need to get these lunches packed.”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks! Okay, if you keep fighting over the last waffle, I’m going to eat it.”

She forgot all about the doorbell, until her husband entered the kitchen with two strangers. Two strangers wearing shiny badges and guns on their hips.

Her mouth dropped open, and she couldn’t help herself; she glanced out the kitchen window, taking a shallow breath as she saw more people wearing uniforms digging up her garden. Specifically, the snapdragons.

They know.

Inspired by a prompt from Squibler.

© The Lightning Tower, 2020

“I can’t believe you got me into this.”

“It’s not my fault you are part of a prophecy!”

“Yeah, well,” Laurel grunted, focusing all her energy into the shield surrounding them, “you’re the one that yanked me out of my home and into this mess. I should have shot the messenger.”

Allmand looked at her in horror. “You wouldn’t do that! You are a chosen Conduit for the Earth Mother, charged with protecting the land and sky and sea! You are to harm none, lest they harm you or the earth! And I haven’t done anything!”

Laurel shot him a look. “Yeah, well, you are harming my concentration right now, so I might have to do something drastic.”

“Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my pitch today. I really appreciate this opportunity, and you won’t be sorry!”

“Go ahead with your pitch.”

“Right, right. So, everything is getting revamped, right? Beloved franchises, familiar stories, are all getting a reboot or an update. And I know you are already working on a bunch, and they all look great, but what if we take it a step further? Take your brand and elevate it, bring it into the modern world. What would that look like?

“I have the answer. You make them edgy. You make them modern, raw. You bring your properties into the twenty-first century. How might you do that? By taking your familiar, beloved story-lines and adding real-life challenges to them.