THE MOMENT
The bronze-skinned girl with bright, neon green hair walked through the park with vague determination. She wasn't going anywhere; but, she was annoyed and trying to burn off the energy while she mumbled to herself.
"Less than four years...," she growled under her breath. "...I can deal with it for that long..."
It was close to lunchtime on a Wednesday morning. The park was relatively empty; everyone was at work or at school. She should have been too, but she let her anger guide her that morning and chose to skip out. She knew she'd still get in trouble, but it was the only thing she could do to get back at her parents. It was bad enough they gave her a "unique-sounding" name when she was born. But, they also refused to sign the paperwork for her to change it. She needed to wait until she was legally an adult for that. While trying to reassure herself that she could endure four more years of constant teasing, she let her emotions burst out.
"...BUT I SHOULDN'T HAVE TOOOO!!!!" she yelled at the cloudy, grey sky; and, a startled boy with dark hair. She didn't realize anyone was in earshot and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth out of embarrassment. "Sorry..," she squeaked politely. He chuckled.
"You okay?" he asked as he took a step closer and introduced himself. "I'm Turbo," he said.
"Mary," she gave him the name she used for strangers. But, she couldn't believe what she just heard. "Your ....name is Turbo?" she asked.
"Yep!" he nodded and his chest puffed out with a hint of pride.
"But... that's ..a word? Like... an everyday word with a definition and everything."
"Yep," Turbo nodded with a grin. "And, I use my name every day." For the first time in her short life, Mary felt like she found someone that would understand her. It was odd that he was proud of such a random name; she wondered how he got like that. 'Turbo' wasn't as bad as her name. But, it was unusual enough that she was positive he got picked on at school. He probably didn't have any friends either.
"You're not mad at your parents?" she asked.
"Nah," Turbo said. "They couldn’t help it." Mary's brow furrowed and she tilted her head at Turbo. "It's... complicated," he said. "My name is what I can do," Turbo looked to his left and right, then, he was suddenly taller than Mary.
She heard a soft hiss and looked down to see several tiny, flaming jets coming out of Turbo's shoes to make him hover. She looked back up at him confused and he pointed at his left shoulder. A tiny jet flame shot out of his arm and pushed him to the right; he hovered a circle around her, then landed again with a shrug.
"...Turbo," he smiled.
"Well, you have to explain that," Mary said. She saw a look of hesitation flash across his face. "Please...," she added. His answer may not make any sense to her; but, Mary was hoping to glean something useful.
"Oh god, where to start...," Turbo mumbled under his breath. But, he did nod. Mary felt relieved he was willing to chat with her. He was also pretty cute. Dark, mostly mussed hair and tanned skin. His eyes were a dark brown color that seemed to have a few shades of red included; it was a color Mary had never seen before. But, now she felt like she could stare at his eyes forever.
"Okay, let me know if you get lost," he said. "I'm something called a Unique Soul. Unique Souls get special powers and mine is...," he held his hand out with his palm facing upward and fired a long blue jet about four inches up. Then, it disappeared. "...that."
Mary nodded. She couldn't argue with the fact that he seemed capable of firing jets from any part of his body.
"So, this is where it gets tricky," he said. "Unique Souls come in different varieties. In my case, I'm a 'Calavera' Unique Soul. So, not only are there other varieties of Uniques; there are also other Calaveras, okay?" Mary nodded. So far she understood.
"Calaveras tend to use a naming convention that explains their powers. You've seen what 'Turbo' can do. But, there are others. A Calavera I know named Flutter has wings. Another, named Frost, can coat himself in... frost," he chuckled.
"These are their... names?" she asked. Turbo nodded.
"Riot, Keys, Dread, Ruin...," he rattled off some more names without explaining their powers. Mary's eyes went wide.
"DREAD??? RUIN??" she asked. Those names hit close to home for her. She had no idea people with names like that existed. Not only that, they were special. Maybe she was too. Turbo nodded.
"Dread has a hell of a scream and Ruin ....," Turbo gave Mary an encouraging gesture with his hand.
"Ruins things..?" she asked. Turbo nodded.
"He can disintegrate anything or anyone."
"So... your parents have to name you after your power?" Mary asked. Turbo shook his head.
"The universe usually has us named before we're even born. My parents said, 'Turbo just sounds right' he smiled. "They didn't even have to discuss it. They probably wouldn't have let me change it if I asked," he chuckled.
"So.. how does someone know if they're a Calavera?" Mary asked with interest. His last line had her convinced she was one, but she had no idea what that would mean.
"Oh, that's cake," Turbo said. "What's your favorite number?"
"42," Mary replied before she registered the oddness of the question. But, Turbo grinned.
"Mine too," he said. "Congratulations, you're a Calavera." Then, he gave her an appraising look.
"Though, I don't know what kind of powers being 'Mary' gives you," he said.
"Mary decided to be honest. Turbo was already very helpful, and if he knew her real name maybe he could help her get used to it more. Though, knowing that people with names like Ruin and Keys existed did help ease her mind.
“I lied about my name," she said before she lost her courage.
"Oh?" Turbo asked.
"My name isn't Mary....," she took a deep breath. "...my name is Outbreak."