“Oh, fuck me,” I mutter to myself, as I see the middle aged woman, from the tour group I took through the museum not even 45 minutes ago, purposefully striding towards the reception desk that I am now manning. She stops right in front of me and opens her mouth to speak before she actually looks at me and she stops herself.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she said, disdain clear in her voice. “I’d like to speak to, uh, someone in charge, please.”

  “Certainly, ma’am,” I say, putting on my politest, most feminine, customer service voice. “I’ll just get them to come down here.” Avoiding eye contact with the woman, who I can tell is going to complain about me, for whatever reason, I pick up the phone on the desk and call through to Larissa, the Museum manager.

  “Hey Robyn, everything going okay down there?” she asks, after immediately picking up.

  “Yeah, I just got a visitor down here who’d like to speak to ‘someone in charge’,” I tell her, trying not to notice the glare that said visitor gives me as I quote her directly.

  “Really? We close in like…,” she trails off, sighing “Okay, give me a sec, I’ll be right down,” she says, before the phone clicks off.

  I turn to the visitor again, forcing myself to look at her face. “She’s coming down right away, ma’am,” I tell her, a fake smile that I really hope she can’t see through, plastered on my face.

  “Thank you, Sir,” she says, her voice cold. I flinch and do my best to study the computer in front of me, shaking a little as I try to ignore her until Larissa gets here.

  Before even two minutes have passed, but what feels like hours, Larissa shows up at the reception desk, quickly coming behind it to whisper in my ear: “Hey, is that her?” she asks, gesturing at the lady with a nod.

  “Y-yeah,” I whisper back, “she, uh… she ‘Sir’d’ me…” I admit, grimacing. I hate admitting how much it gets to me.

  “What!? How?” Larissa says her voice rising a little higher in shock, but she still keeps the conversation between just us. “Jesus fucking Christ… Okay, go take a 10-minute break, it’ll probably be closing time by then, and I’ll deal with this, okay?”

  As I head over to the staff room, I see Larissa and the woman talking, and I decide I don’t actually want to pay attention to that.

  10 minutes later, just before I was about to head back out, Larissa entered the staff room, muttering under her breath. I look up at her, “That bad?” I ask, wincing.

  “Pretty much,” she says, darkly “she started off trying to say that your tour had ‘errors’ and you were too young to be a tour guide, then complaining about my management style having ‘simple receptionists give tours’ and then she just outed herself as a bigot, so I won’t bore you with the details there. Anyway, she’s stormed off now and I closed us down to visitors. So I’m gonna go home and leave you to do the final check before you finish, okay?”

  “Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for dealing with that,” I say, a genuine smile on my face for once. “I’ll finish up here, Larissa, no worries.” Larissa grabs her bag and coat, and we head out of the staff room, back into the main foyer of the museum.

  “Awesome, I wanted to get home and catch that new docuseries on extrahumans in the UK,” she says quickly, clearly excited.

  “Oh, I heard about that one. I wonder if there’s any extrahumans from around here featured in it?” I reply.

  “Well, Bristol already has that one team, but I think they were busy while this was being made, so we’ll have to see, eh?” She says, turning and heading out the exit before calling out, “Anyway, g’night, Robyn!”.

  “Night, Larissa!” I call back, shaking my head slightly at her exuberance, before heading into the museum on the final walk around before I get to leave and finally head home. Today has been such a long day.

  As I begin my route around the museum, walking from exhibit room to exhibit room, I find my mind wandering. I try and figure out how that lady who complained clocked me. Like, recently, that’s gotten rarer and rarer.

  Uh, this is not a healthy train of thought, Robyn!

  Admonishing myself for falling into bad habits, my thoughts instead turn to extra-humans. I’ve known that Bristol has it’s team of extra-humans for a while, but I tend to not watch the news and aside from that one month I couldn’t stop thinking about the gene that causes extra-humanism and looking into the science behind it, it’s not really a thing I’ve cared to pay attention to. I couldn’t even tell you any of their names or their team name. The only ones I really know of are like super famous or historically famous ones. For example, everyone knows about Star Sentinel, the famous American superhero from the late 80s, and Metalliferous, a superheroine and feminist icon from Europe in the 90s. But they’ve done insane acts of heroism and saved the world a handful of times each.

  I’ve kinda been too in my head and focused on my transition for the past couple of years to pay too much attention to larger happenings in the world. Being extra-human would be kinda cool, but the chances of it actually happening are pretty slim. 1 in 10,000 people are capable of it genetically, but a lot of people who are capable don’t ever have it activate. So, it’s worse than even a pipe dream, really.

  Suddenly, there’s a noise, back in the direction of the main foyer, and I freeze in place. I swing round to face that direction, squinting, trying to guess which exhibit room the noise came from. I walk towards the main foyer, trying to keep my footsteps as soft as possible. As I approach the last exhibit room before the foyer, I hear another noise coming from inside. It definitely sounds as though someone is moving around in there.

  Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  I pause at the entrance to the exhibit room, realising that it’s for the new archaeology exhibit that I’ve been gushing to visitors about all week. It’s a new collection of artifacts from a guyot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The entire archaeological community has been in a furore about the discovery, as the initial findings indicate it may be an original tribal people who seem to consist entirely of extra-humans. Given that all previous historical record seems to show extra-humans being small minorities of populations, this could alter how we look at the history of extra-humans.

  I can’t let whoever’s in there steal any of the artifacts!

  I slowly peek around the corner, looking into the dim light of the room. Squinting, I struggle to see anything.

  Did I imagine the noise?

  But then an odd flash catches my eye, and in the far corner, behind a display case, I see it. A silhouette of a man.

  “Hey! Who’s there?” I yell, hoping the shock of being caught makes them run away. Instead, they freeze, slowly turning to face me.

  “What the fuck! Who the fuck are you!?” he yells at me.

  “I-I work here! I’ve called the police!” I lie, whatever scraps of a plan I had crumbling to dust.

  Fuck, what do I do now?

  Clearly, he wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, but I doubt he’s gonna just leave now, if he didn’t when he first saw me.

  “Well, isn’t that just fucking great,” he says at a normal volume, I only just hear it. As I’m trying to think of what to say, several things happen all at once.

  First, the fire extinguisher on the wall rips itself off its bracket and comes hurtling towards me. Second, the lights in the exhibit room flicker, a deep vibrating sound echoing through the room in time with them. Third, the fire extinguisher connects with my forehead with a ripping sound, and I fall to my knees screaming, clutching my head, as pain slices through it.

  I look up slowly.

  How am I still conscious?

  I look behind me to see the fire extinguisher embedded in the wall behind me.

  Did… did he miss?

  An inarticulate scream of rage comes from the man, and an entire display case in front of him slowly wobbles up, and he glares at me.

  Fuck, this guy is an extra-human, I am so fucked.

  I look at the display case, “Please, don’t! You’ll destroy it!” I yell, panicked. He simply says nothing at all, and the display case flies towards me, albeit slower than the fire extinguisher. I can see the artifacts inside jostling around, and the sounds are awful. “NO!” I scream at the top of my lungs, panic and despair grasping me.

  There is a wrenching sound, and again an agonising spike of pain lances into my brain, and I can feel all my surroundings vividly. I can tell how far away the man with powers is. I can feel the display case flying towards me, I can even feel the things in the main foyer, although I’ve no idea how that’s possible. The wrenching sounds grow in intensity until it seems the very air is vibrating, and then I lurch forward, falling to one knee, the sound abruptly stopping, and when I look up again, the display case is exactly where it should be, like it was never pulled from the floor.

  The man looks at me, confusion plastered on his face, being slowly replaced by a look of fury, as he advances on me. “Work here, my ass, fucking Extras.” He mutters, as he lunges for me, I yelp and try to jump backwards, but instead there’s a popping sound and I look around, shocked. I’m in… the main foyer?

  What the actual fuck is happening here!?

  I can hear the guy, still in the exhibit room that I was in moments ago, but getting louder as he leaves the exhibit room. I leap behind the reception desk, desperate to hide myself. I just want this whole ordeal to end.

  Suddenly, I hear a loud crash as the large glass doors that serve as the entrance to the museum are shattered, and something rushes through them. No, someone is rushing through them, I think, as my mind finally catches up. Of course, whenever there’s suspicion of a crime committed by an Extra, they send whatever local Extras they have to deal with it. Which means the main entrance doors were just murdered by Bristol’s local team of Extras. If only I actually knew anything about them. Should I just stay hidden or make myself known?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Before I can even think of making a decision either way, the decision is stolen from me as the Extra that broke into the museum storms into the foyer and lets out a cry of frustration as he sees the local Extra team and starts barrelling towards them. I see this from my hiding place behind the reception desk, despite being absolutely certain that I didn’t poke my head out until after he started running.

  I look over at the Extra team, and it seems to be three women standing in a triangle-shaped formation. One very tall and dark-skinned, wearing a grey, form-fitting bodysuit that shimmered whenever light hit it. She had mid-length brown hair down to just past her shoulders and had a serious expression on her face. The second, making up the back of the triangle, was an average-height but extremely lithe woman. She wore a knee-length green dress that seemed to be made out of some weird material I couldn’t quite place, that moved like it was breathing, almost. She had short red hair, framing her face and large, expressive eyes. The final member of their team was the one who grabbed all my attention, though. She was the shortest of the three, with a larger build, and the cutest face I’ve ever seen. She’s wearing a sky blue outfit that is another bodysuit, but she’s also wearing the cutest, short, pleated skirt. It’s like someone took a modern super hero outfit and mashed it together with a magical girl skirt and I fucking love it.

  “Sucker Punch! Stop!” Shouts the tall Extra at the back, her voice clear. He just shakes his head and carries on running at them. Seeing this, the tall Extra shouts, “Shelter! Shield! Efflorescent, behind me!” As Efflorescent drops back, Shelter moves a step towards Sucker Punch, who is still charging at the group, and the air in front of her shimmers slightly and when Sucker Punch reaches that shimmering air, it’s like he collides with solid matter and he collapses to the floor crying out as Shelter grunts with a sudden exertion.

  The tall Extra, who’s name I still don’t know moves forward to Sucker Punch now, a hand mirror in her hand, she smashes the mirror against Sucker Punches midsection just as he was trying to get back out and with a wave of her hand all of the shards of glass stop falling and instead float ominously over Sucker Punch, making the odd tinkling noise as they do.

  “So, Sucker Punch… Going to listen now?” she asks, grinning down at him.

  “Oh, fuck you Shard!” he says, sounding quieter and calmer already. I guess having 20 or so shards of glass ready to impale themselves into you will do that to a guy.

  “You wish, asshole. Now the cops are on their way, so just lie there and shut up, sweetie.” He just lies there and glares at her.

  Sensing that most of the danger is over, I start to relax where I am sitting on the floor.

  “Hey there, miss?” A voice says from beside me, and I jump up, swallowing the yelp in my throat, as I turn to see Shelter standing there, a small smile on her face.

  “I… uh… H-hi?” are the words that stumble out of my mouth as the Extra that I was gushing about in my head about not a minute earlier, stands before me. She seems dazed for a second before quickly recovering.

  “I just wanted to ask if you were okay and get your version of events, if that’s okay?” she asks, smiling at me in a way that I’m sure is meant to reassure me, but I feel like I’ll get lost in it if I’m not careful.

  “Y-yeah, I’m okay, a little shaken up maybe?” I say with a small chuckle. “Well, I was doing my last walk-around of the museum, and as I was almost done with it, I heard a noise from one of the new exhibits and found that guy there who’d clearly just broken in somehow. I confronted him, and he yelled at me and attacked me. I… uh, managed to escape back to the foyer and hid behind the reception desk just before you guys, well, before you guys burst through the main doors here, and you were here for the rest.” I say, trying to smile at Shelter, before admonishing myself.

  You idiot, stop it, you don’t even know if she’s into women and even if she was…

  The thought trails off, and the half-formed smile drops from my face.

  “Um… Is that all? I’d really like to go home and sleep for like a week?” I ask, laughing a little. Shelter gives me a look that I can’t quite decipher, somewhere between concern and curiosity, and then replies “Yeah, I think that should be fine”, she says, looking over her shoulder for a second, her shoulder length hair swaying as she does, before turning back to me and continuing “if you’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay, thank you. I’ll be all good after some rest.” I say, ignoring her inquisitive look and head to the staff room to grab my bag and coat. Once I’ve grabbed my stuff, I quickly make my way out of the museum and start walking home, just wanting today to be over already.

  I enter my apartment, not 15 minutes later, lock the door behind me and head to my bedroom. I dump my bag and coat on the floor next to the bed, before promptly collapsing on my bed and within seconds, I drift off to sleep.

  My eyes shoot open, although I would not know so if not for the sensation of them opening. My surroundings are dark. a dark so that I’m not sure any light could ever light it. Slowly, I become aware that I am not alone, although I can’t actually see or feel anything near me, I just know it is.

  “Mggoka'ai ya…” A voice utters, despite there being no actual sound. “Ymg’ ahor mgah…” it continues, almost like the words come into being directly into my head.

  Suddenly, there’s a snapping sound, and the darkness is gone, replaced with what I’m pretty sure is Earth, although I don’t know exactly where.

  “Ymg’ shuggog…” This time, it’s almost as if I can hear it physically; it almost has a direction but doesn’t quite manage it. I look around at my surroundings, looking at the greenery. It looks like I’m in a park. I notice out of the corner of my eye, something black and dark struck through a tree in the distance. I go to head that direction and there’s a popping sound and I’m instantly standing in front of the tree. I staggered, a little surprised at the change in location with seemingly no movement.

  Once I steady myself, I look down at the mass of darkness. It’s taken an almost physical form, although thinking of it like that makes my head hurt a little. The physical darkness is impaled through the tree, and it seems perfectly still, although, as I look longer, the surface seems to move while the rest of it is still.

  As I frown, the pain in my head worsening, I hear the voice again, now mostly coming from the spike of darkness. “Mgehye… Ymg’… Gotha…” I lean closer, transfixed, ignoring the now constant throb of pain in my head. “Ymg’ gotha… ymg’ llll ah’f’nah…”

  I reach out and touch the darkness and there’s a sudden whooshing sound and I find myself seeing, a vast array of images, flashing past my perception, planets on fire, screams for help, the most god-awful sounds of flesh ripping, and one final image that lingers longer than the others: a planet that is clearly Earth being impaled on a violet spike of energy, being sundered in two, the halves crumbling into nothing but debris and I’m filled with an almost incomprehensible sense of loss.

  With a flash, I’m once again in the void of the darkness, the pain spikes into my head, and I can feel it in every part of my body. Suddenly, the void lights up into a polychromatic kaleidoscope, infinite in its scope and depth and surrounding it is the most immense shape. My mind agonises and almost crumbles at the mere attempt to perceive it.

  The voice thunders in my head with no sound, just an inexorable, undeniable presence.

  “Ymg’ ah ya gof’n, ya gof’nnn, ya yaor llll fahf shugogg…” There’s a shuddering pause, as silence rushes in, before ultimately being banished again, with an utterance that can not be denied.

  “YMG’ AH YA!” And as I hear that final proclamation, everything shatters, and I know no more.

  With a bloodcurdling scream, I wake and immediately fall onto my bed from the ceiling, gasping for air, the lingering throb in my head reminding me of the dream I just had.

  Jesus fucking Christ, that’s the worst nightmare I’ve had in years… And, was I on the ceiling?

  I look up at the ceiling, my mind reeling, thinking back to last night. All the weird things that happened around me when that X-er broke into the museum. What with that guy accusing me of being an Extra and how I just appeared in the reception foyer when he tried to grab me. I close my eyes and breathe in through my nose, hold it for 4 seconds and breathe out through my mouth, using a meditation technique an old therapist told me about to calm down. Once I’ve calmed down enough, I can almost feel things outside myself, and as I relax and grow accustomed to that feeling, it’s like a doorway in my mind, almost.

  The more I let myself sit with that sensation, the easier it seems, until suddenly it’s like a switch is flicked and I can sense… more. I can sense the corridor outside my apartment, and every single thing is available to my senses inside my apartment, from the lounge to the kitchen. Speaking of the kitchen, I’m real fucking hungry right now and with that thought, there’s that familiar popping sound and I’m stood in the kitchen with absolutely no intervening time at all.

  As I sort myself out some breakfast, I can’t help the giggle that escapes from my lips.

  I have superpowers! I have superpowers!? How did this happen? What the fuck?

  Worried that I’m on the verge of some kind of mental breakdown, I grab my phone from the worktop and wake the screen, checking all the notifications since last night. The only one worth mentioning is a text from Hanna, my best friend, from very early this morning: FUCK I just saw the news Robyn! You best tell me all about this at lunch today, I stg!

  I sigh and rub my hand down over my face. Of course, today is my day off, and we agreed to meet for lunch. Definitely need to be doing that while I come to grips with the fact that I apparently have powers now. I check the time, it’s about half ten now, and we agreed to meet at 1 o’clock. I’ve got plenty of time to have my breakfast and then get ready and meet Hanna. The idea of seeing my best friend already puts a smile on my face as I eat my cereal.