Umbrakinesis: the ability to manipulate shadows and dark energy.

"You really couldn't think of anything else to lie with except the plot of Mulan?" Tiana says as soon as they leave her house, walking down their street to the bus stop.

"I'm not a good liar, okay?" Josh grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I panicked."

She claps her hands together. "It's chill, I'm just teasing you. Okay, so I've been thinking, we have wings, but there were two explosions. So, what if we got more than just wings?"

"What, like powers?" He laughs.

"Yes, idiota, like powers. I'm being serious. I mean, your eyes are blue, mine are red, which match when we got knocked out. I've got a nice new pair of biters and you can see in the dark."

"I can't-" he pauses. "Holy shit, I have night vision."

"No shit, genius. Anyways, what kind of powers would Alley Cat need to defeat The Medium and Chimera?"

"I have no clue, how do you defeat a psychic lady and a guy who can turn into a mythological beast?"

Josh stops to rummage through his bag for a notebook he has with an alphabetized list of every known hero and villain's abilities (yes, he's a massive nerd, but he never actually thought it'd come in handy until now). He finds it and pulls it out, seeing the cover ripped halfway off and a corner of it singed.

"Oh, shit." He holds the notebook up for Tiana to see. "Burned."

Tiana takes it from him and flips through the pages as the bus approaches from behind her. "How'd it get damaged? It was in your bag the whole time."

"I mean, there's that four hour gap neither of us remember, plus the two explosions," he suggests.

"Fair point. Still sucks, though. I got you this notebook."

They climb onto the bus, and Tiana tosses the notebook back. Josh thumbs through the first few heroes before landing on who he was looking for.

Villain: Alley Cat
Location: Atlanta, GA
Real name: unknown
Origins: potentially created when several stories were blown up in VESSEL Industries building in 2012, killing over twenty scientists. Could be a survivor.
List of known abilities: ferrokinesis, alchemical magic, object animation, elemental manipulation, extreme intelligence, and super healing.
Weaknesses: most of his power is directed into the giant mechanical lions he control. Can't use his other powers when controlling the lions.
Strengths: giant metal robot cats. Unknown power source. Freakishly huge.

"Okay, so he's basically invincible," Josh says, looking over at Tiana, who's peering over his shoulder as he reads. "Well, so are The Medium and Chimera, so I guess it evens out."

"Okay, so he can control metal and give life to the robots, which go hand in hand. The Medium can give ghosts physical bodies and can copy and paste other people's powers into her. Chimera- he's just a scary dude and could kill Alley Cat in one hit if he got close enough. What does that leave us with?"

Josh holds his place in the book and flips to the first empty page. "That leaves us with... night vision, teeth, and bird wings. So, not much." He remembers that night and how Tiana had been covered in smoke. "Wait, what about that weird black stuff that was all over you?"

She sends him a confused look. "What weird black stuff?"

"You know, the smoky black stuff. It was weird, like some sort of dark... energy surrounding you."

"I don't remember that." Tiana perks up. "Maybe that's exactly what it is. A manifestation of dark energy. You read that article on how dark energy could theoretically make up over 60 percent of the universe's energy."

"Duh. You know, it could also be some tangible version of shadows," he says.

"That's right. Either way, it might be a power, so we should write it down."

Tiana draws a line down the middle of the page, and Josh notices her nails. Usually, she keeps them short, mandatory as she's on the varsity track team, but now they jut out like claws from her fingers. She seems to notice them too, pausing halfway down the paper and lifting her hand, staring at her razor sharp nails.

"Okay. Claws. Cool."

Josh jots down what they already knew on either side.

JOSHUA WILLIAM DUN
wings
night vision??

TATIANA ISABELLA ROSARIO-TORRES
wings
double canines/ claws
dark energy/ shadows???

"Wait a minute. How come you got more powers than me? All I got were wings and night vision," Josh pouts.

Tiana laughs. "I'm sure you have cool powers too, we just don't know about them yet."

"Fair point."

They get off at their stop about a block away from he library. As soon as Josh steps off the bus, the hairs on his neck shoot up, a sharp tingle running through him. He freezes on the sidewalk, looking around for whatever was setting off his fight or flight.

Instinctively, Josh grabs Tianas arm to stop her from walking ahead of him. The blistering end of summer heat beats down on them from above, but when he looks up, a large, bulky figure blocks them from the sun. It takes him a moment to realize it's the bottom of a large metal paw.

"Giant robot cat, giant robot cat!" He screams, freezing up completely.

Tiana yanks him backwards as leg descends upon them. Josh tries to keep up with her, but he trips and ends under the belly of the walking metal beast, the sun completely covered. He cowers and covers his face with his arms, waiting for the impact, but it never comes.

When he opens his eyes, a figure in black towers over him, hands above their head. A translucent white dome surrounds the two, the lion's paw pushing against the barrier.

Chimera looks down at him, eyes glowing blood red like Tiana's but darker, as he struggles to hold up the force field. "Go! Get out of here!" He shouts.

"Wait! I need to talk to you about-"

"Shut the hell up and run, kid!"

Josh scrambles and slips out just as the protective sphere shatters, staring in horror as Chimera disappears under the lion's paws. The robot cranes its head back, releasing a bone rattling roar.

White spots cover Josh's vision, making him squeeze his eyes shut. The noise pierces his brain, cutting right through his core. When it dies down, Josh isn't on the sidewalk anymore, but inside of the library, standing with his back to the front doors.

A librarian peeks out from behind a desk has a look of terror on her face. "How-"

"Don't ask, this is all new to me too," Josh gasps, feeling his heart beating a mile a minute.

"Josh?" He hears Tiana's voice from behind the front doors, and he pulls them open as she launches herself at them.

She trips and flops onto the carpet, a stream of dark flickering smoke following her to the floor. An aura of that same energy surrounds her now, causing her eyes to glow red.

"Smoky black stuff." Josh holds a hand out for her, and Tiana takes it, a lick of the smoke wrapping around his arm as she stands.

"Woah. This is so cool," she laughs, looking down at herself. "How to hell did you get in here? The doors are locked from the inside."

Josh shrugs. "I don't know. One moment I felt like my head was gonna explode, and the next I'm standing right here."

"Wicked. Teleportation, check."

The librarian retreats from her place behind the desk, stammering at them, "a-are you here to check out a book or just browse?"

Tiana sends her a toothy smile, which probably didn't help as the lady goes when paler than she already was. "We're here to do some research. Do you guys have a section on superpowers?"