Jamie Hattori hated Halloween. It wasn't so bad if she didn't look out the windows of the minivan as her mom drove down the rainy streets of Cobalt City. The spirit of the minivan had enough power to keep most of the other spirits outside of the vehicle. Though not as powerful as a house spirit, the minivan was still a sovereign domain where the uninvited could not enter.

Huddled down in her hoodie with her eyes closed, Jamie almost felt safe. It didn't block out the sound of monstrous feathered wings she had constantly heard since she left her house, but it helped. She silently chanted the nembutsu to herself--"Namu Amida Butsu"--while counting through the prayer beads of her onenju in her sweatshirt pocket.

With all of her attention pulled away from the outside of the vehicle, she couldn't ignore the radio program her mom insisted on listening to: The Prather Program. Ever since her mom found out that Jamie was the superhero Kensei, she had become even more vocal in her support of anti-superhero pundit Lyle Prather. It was as though she thought it might convince Jamie to retire from being a masked vigilante.

"For you listeners who didn't hear the news on my television appearance earlier," Prather said to introduce his next piece, "Wild Kat and Velvet have reappeared in Cobalt City."

Jamie sat up and turned her attention to the radio. Her mom only shook her head and chuckled.

"We haven't seen much of them since the team that called itself the Protectorate disbanded five years ago. The two women have focused their vigilante justice in Europe, which has granted our city a bit of respite. It's bad enough we have heroes like Stardust causing millions of dollars of property damage. But Wild Kat has claws that cut through chain link fences like butter. On more than one occasion, Velvet has tied up accused suspects with stop sign posts. We don't need women like this telling our citizens, our children, that might makes--"

The radio went silent, and the engine stopped. Jamie glanced at her mother in confusion, her mom's dark skin and Halloween costume rendering her almost invisible in the darkness of the minivan.

"We're here," her mom said. With a smile she added, "Or have you decided to hang up your mask and become one of Prather's Everymen?"

"No, no," Jamie said, raising her hands and turning toward her door to get out. "No. I can look up news about Wild Kat and Velvet later."

As she stepped out of the car, spirits flowed over her and obscured her vision. At the age of twelve, Jamie had developed the ability to see and interact with the spirits of the world around her.

The first time she had gone out for Halloween after that had been with other members of the Young Buddhist Association at her church. It had ended with her hiding in the basement of a stranger's house, screaming and sobbing hysterically. Since then, she had spent every Halloween hiding in her bedroom, with her eyes closed and MP3 player blasting. She'd be there that night too, but this year she had a girlfriend whose birthday happened to be Halloween. She was willing to brave the night for love.

With effort, Jamie focused so that the faces of the wind spirits, laughter spirits, parking spirits, and assorted spirits she couldn't identify almost faded from view. Visually they just became a blurry fog. Even then she could still hear the deep thrum of the wings in the air.

Taking a deep breath, she continued walking. The parking lot of Bifrost Roller Rink was packed, and Jamie's mom had parked at the far edge of it. Kids of varying ages wove through the cars in costumes and blocked cars trying to drive through. Under the illumination of a street light, Jamie's mom looked at her.

"You okay, sweetie?" her mom asked as she put on her pointed witch hat, the dagged sleeves of her black dress rustling in the wind. "You're looking a little punky."

Her mom had learned about Jamie's power recently, but Jamie was certain that if her mother knew what Jamie was experiencing, she'd be taken back home. So she lied. "Uh, you know. School. Lots to do."

Her mom didn't look convinced, but nodded. "Okay." A few steps later she added, "Did I tell you that Grandma Brown is coming into town this week?"

Jamie stopped. "No?"

Her mom turned back toward her. "Yeah, she's coming up for Thanksgiving. And your birthday."

"Thanksgiving is almost a month away. And my birthday is ... Thanksgiving."

"She just wants to see more of you. See how you've grown."

Jamie suspected this had to do with her maternal grandmother having similar powers to her own, but she couldn't say that in the middle of the parking lot. Instead, she just followed her mom to the rink.

They paid for admission to the skate rink and entered the cacophony of screaming children and pop music. Even with all the noise, Jamie felt more comfortable with the spiritual mob forced to remain outside the rink by the building's spirit. Jamie had barely entered and pulled back the hood of her jacket before someone skated up to her and picked Jamie up off of her feet.

"Hey goofy," Jamie's girlfriend, Parker Fiorenza, said before setting Jamie down and kissing her on the lips.

Jamie kissed back until she remembered that her mother was right there, then broke off and laughed awkwardly. Even shouting she could barely hear herself yell back, "Hey you."

Parker turned to Jamie's mom. "Hi, Mrs. Hattori."

"Parker, I told you to call me Gloria. Mrs. Hattori is my mother-in-law. What are you dressed as?"

Parker stepped back to show off her paisley jumpsuit with bellbottoms. Her short unnaturally red hair was feathered back and a lightning bolt zigzagged across her face.

Gloria only shrugged and looked confused. "Are you a disco dancer?"

"No," Parker said, looking stunned and hurt. "Ziggy Stardust."

"Right. Because your roller derby persona is David Bowie related. Major Tom...?"

"Tomboy," Parker said.

"How is derby going for you, I heard you got hurt at your last bout?"

Parker's face lit up. "It was awesome! I fell onto my side." She gestured from her armpit to her hip. "And I bounced! They carried me out of the rink on a board with my head strapped down so I couldn't do anything with my neck. At the hospital they thought I might have broken ribs and perforated my spleen. It was so much fun. I was crying so hard! And Jamie! Jamie vaulted the wall and came running for me when it happened. I thought she was going to beat the crap out of the girl who got me with a can opener."

Gloria's expression darkened. "Someone had a can opener on the rink?"

 

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