THE NEXT DAY, ON SATURDAY a package arrived…

… Caroline signed for it. The medium-sized brown box from the United States was for Peter – so she called out upstairs to his bedroom.

-O-

The shirtless one-armed boy was on his bed, watching the latest episode of ‘Rick and Morty’ on his iPad. He heard his mother’s call – but only came downstairs after finishing the animated series…

… while coming down the steps, Peter saw a brown package on the couch – he could ‘not’ remember ordering anything online.

It was a lighter content package when he picked it -- with no info of it was on the ‘outside’ – except it was printed in bold:

‘PROPRIETARY ITEM – NOT FOR SALE’

While on his feet, figuring out the mysterious box – Caroline came out from the kitchen, carrying an empty laundry basket.

“What is in the box? Are you wasting money on eBay buying shoes?”

“… no…” replied Peter flatly -- who was still confused at that moment…

… then it dawned, that he wrote an email to Jack Turner, 3 days ago…

‘… is it the bionic-arm – can’t be – the box is small unless – it was a DIY parts-and-bits of self-assembled robotic-arm like an IKEA furniture…’

“Open it – I want to see,” the inspector-mother said.

… Peter placed it on the kitchen counter – and went to fetch the kitchen knife. He cut along the sticky-tape – to unpack the ‘single content’ wrapped in a sheet of bubble-wrap…

“That looks expensive,” said his mother to the dumbfound son…

‘… mediocre…’

… Peter was ‘disappointed’ of the item which he had received.

<><>

FROM HER BED, JANE FACETIME HER boyfriend in his windowless bedroom – to share-info on Peter – who was on-their-watch…

“… he had contacted Uncle Jack saying that he was from ‘the future’ – and told he was ‘promised’ a robotic arm, which he wanted ‘delivered’ on the final term…”

“… so, did your uncle sent him one?”

“No, my uncle called me instead – ‘saying’ that one of my classmates had emailed him-- with absurd claims that he was from the ‘other-future-Perth’ – and asking me if I ‘know’ a Peter Walker? I then told my uncle to ‘ignore’ him – that he is a looney-bin, who is no-hoper in studies in class.”

They both laughed…

“… instead of the arm – my uncle sent him a ‘brain’ – Peter would be getting a SIM set to improve his studies in the final term…”

“Wow, your uncle is so-generous…”

Jane sighed…

“… now I have to programme the set for that drongo in such short notice – AND BEING ‘BLIND’ and managing Boyyo on my ‘own’ is so-tedious…”

“No worries, I know some ‘basic’ coding and I can help – provided he ‘ask’ me nice…”

“Thanks, Paul… well anyway, he always wanted a SIMY set for studies and had pestered me since the last term if he could ‘buy’ it in the black-market – and since now he got one for free – he should buck-up his effort as he did ‘promise’ to Principal Harris yesterday, that he would study hard.”

“But will he study?” Paul thought out aloud.

“That is up to him – we both should stop worrying about Peter and get on with ‘our’ lives and study hard too as we made a pact with Ali yesterday that we would excel in the final term – that ‘what’ I’m going to do -- and ‘not’ be the last girl in class, just like my-teenage self in Perthland – what you reckon…?”

“…yea…” said Paul as he did ‘not’ want to argue with the ‘positive’ natured Jane at that moment – but he stated…

“… we haven’t heard from Mercury for ‘more’ than a week…”

“I hope ‘NOT’ EVER again,” she said in a loud tone…

“… why Jane?”

“… because I want my life back – and be a regular student again – ‘not’ the superheroing stuff, that is ‘cursed’ -- and bringing everyone I love ‘down’…”

Blind-Jane briefly paused…

“… I now have my Piper and my best friend in this ‘reset’ – I HOPE NOTHING CHANGES from now onwards – you reckon so that is the best outcome, Paul…?”

“… yea in a-way… but… we have a duty to protect Perth, right…?”

“Stop-it-Paul, the ‘more’ you think of the negative, the ‘more’ you attract it – and we have to face our ‘cursed lives’ again-and-again in every circle in ‘every’ world we live in – please do me a favour -- for once to ‘stop’ thinking’ of the superhero in us and rather to be ‘normal’ as 12-year-olds regular kids – just like our classmates in Stamford High!”

… Paul was quiet… and he listened…

“… maybe this is it – maybe this ‘reset’ ends it all -- and we will ‘not’ hear from Mercury ever-again – and live our lives with ‘no troubles’ if we think positive from now-onwards!”

After some awkward silence from both the tweens – Jane told her boyfriend that she wanted to study and ended the call…

… soon, Paul sat in his windowless room – pondering on her words…

‘… the ‘more’ you think of the negative, the ‘more’ you attract it…’

… is that true?

… isn’t the gift of becoming a superhero was a ‘golden ticket’ in his crippled life…?

But Jane was in denial – she had been so SINCE DAY-ONE -- as the reluctant superhero…

… who tend ‘not’ to use her powers – and he even had to re-teach her ‘how-to-fly’…

… but now she WAS QUITTING…

… just like in Perthland – she wanted to ‘quit’ school because she could ‘not’ read-and-write then…

‘… is it for good, this time…?’

But Paul NEEDED HER… in ‘their’ missions…

… because she was the ‘strongest’ of them – in the Cursed-trio -- with her explosive blasts.

Knowing too that they both have returned to this reset-Perth for a reason – which was to protect’ the city…

… that was ‘why’ they still ‘HAVE THEIR SUPERPOWERS’ …

Paul thought of the ‘missing’ Red-demon…

‘Mercury, don’t ABANDON US, MATE – WE DON’T KNOW ‘what’ Peter is up to next…’

<><>

PETER WAS STARING AT THE LEARNING DEVICE on his bed. It was a headset attached to a 5-terabyte small electronic tablet – that was ‘not’ as ‘sophisticated’ as Janey’s – which ‘hers’ came with sunglasses with ‘directional-mode.’

There was a ‘note’ to him – addressed by Janey’s Uncle Jack…

… which he read-only’ once – leaving him with ‘more’ disappointment…

Dear Peter,

We apologize that we can’t build you your ‘robotic-arm’

as you had requested.

But as a consolation, we are sending you our prototype

SIM™ Learning device that is scheduled to be marketed

worldwide next year.

Hope you can put it to good use -- and offer our company some

good feedback in return.

With regards,

Jack Turner

Head Scientist,

Kimura Star Corp

PS. Please contact your classmate Jane -- and she will assist you to programme the device.

Peter was disappointed he got the learning device instead of the robotic arm which Taro and Hiro had demonstrated in the other-Perth – as he had big plans to train with it in the final term.

-O-

Peter thought of his tennis practice which he had with Frenchie -- 2 days ago – where he had been ‘grounded-at-home,’ ever since that day…

…while in the 2 hours of practice -- he had ‘learnt’ some background info -- on the lanky senior-girl Bella Beaulieu…

… that since her Canadian parents divorced 2 years ago – Bella was sent from Montreal to Perth to live with her guardian-uncle, Mr Jared Wilford.

Now with having her phone number too – Peter had the ‘urge’ to call her – as she had ‘disappeared’ since Thursday – while he was ‘detained’ at the vice-principal’s office…

… Peter wanted to get’ her on-the-same-page – with the lies-to-the-denial which he ‘told,’ to coverup -- if she was ‘questioned’ on Monday when school reopened for the final term.

But Peter was shocked to learn…

“What!!? You are ‘not’ coming on Monday…?”

“Yes-Peter, I’ve been suspended from school for a week for ‘using’ the Boys Room – Mrs Burnell had called my guardian about it…”

“… damn that bloody curry-muncher who ‘reported’ on us – THIS IS UNFAIR – ‘why’ did I ‘not’ get suspended too…?”

“… well, you are the son-of-the Perth’s inspector – that’s ‘why?’”

Peter recalled that Thursday-noon – when Mrs Burnell had ‘talked’ to his inspector-mother outside the office – and he had ‘been’ left off the hook since…

… and no one spoke of the Boys Room incident ever – ‘not’ even Principal Harris…

… during his lunch visit at Janey’s house yesterday…

The one-armed boy felt bad for her – and apologized – and Bella told him ‘no worries…’

They both facetime which led them to ‘talk dirty’…

… left to continue ‘what’ they-did at the Boys Room ‘that’ Thursday…

Bella took off her blouse – to show her ‘puppies’…

… she teased and seduced him – to ‘come’ over to her address…

Peter had to decline – with his inspector-mother who was on leave-from-work…

… keeping ‘an-eye’ of his every ‘grounded-movement’ at home…

… to-which – Bella ‘dared-him’ to sneak-out later that night…

<>

PETER TOOK A BRIEF SATURDAY afternoon nap – he came downstairs for tea -- and saw his mother and twin were at the IKEA table having tea with an open packet of TimTams. Caroline called him over to join them…

… since he doesn’t drink hot tea or coffee – he went to the fridge and poured a glass of milk, and joined them to snack on the chocolate biscuits. His mother told she was making burgers for dinner…

‘… yea-yea-yea, making burgers, spag-bol and ham-and-cheese are the ideal Mommy’s choices of home-cooked food – thank God, come Monday, we will all going our separate ways – and I get to order pizzas again…’

Since Paul ‘shared’ the same emotional vibes with his twin – he ‘sensed’ emotions of arousal a ‘moment-ago,’ and was wondering if Peter ‘had-been’ surfing porn earlier…

‘… what are you looking at…?’

… Peter made less eye contact with his twin across the table, as he ‘still’ had a beef with him since Perthland – where Paul ‘shot-and-killed’ him over there a week ago, and ‘now’ they are all ‘stuck’ in this damn time-loop where – he did ‘not’ get his robotic arm…

Caroline asked…

“Have you figured out this SIM set?”

‘… why is she asking me this…?’

“I’m working on it.”

“… then work faster – the day after tomorrow is school.”

“Hey, Mom – I just got the package in the morning – I still need to ‘figure out’ things…”

“Have you ‘asked’ Poe here – he can help you, as he knows some coding…?”

‘…what the eff… have they both been sitting around the table, and figuring out on ‘how-to’ help me…?’

“I don’t ‘need’ his bloody help – if he wants to meddle with codding – let him get his ‘own’ bloody device from Janey’s uncle!”

“I don’t need a device to study – I can do it on my own,” the confident Paul responded.

“… yea-yea – the Stephen Hawkins genius – big-brains-short-legs!”

“Hey-stop it, you 2 – Peter, have you thanked Jane’s mom for the device?”

“Huh-what!? What has the SIM got to do with her mom?”

“That scientist who gave you that device is her brother, yea – it would be ‘nice’ if you thanked her and your friend Jane.”

‘…how the eff did she ‘know’ that it is ‘her-brother’? Bloody sticky-nosed short-legs…’

Peter lifted his glass of milk with his one-hand, and stuck outpointing his index finger…

“Listen-Mom, my ‘business’ is with Mr Jack Turner ‘only’ – ‘not’ with anyone else for the matter -- and certainly ‘not’ with Jane’s mom or grand-mom. If I liked a glass of milk, I wouldn’t be going around and ‘thanking’ ever cow that passes by me.”

… Paul sniggered – Peter glared at him. Caroline spoke again…

“Okay, point taken – but don’t procrastinate too and get going yourself and code that device on your own and do something with your life – and ‘no excuses’ this time and be left out to be the ‘last’ boy in class again – you had told Principal Harris yesterday that you are going to buck-up and study hard this ‘next’ term – just do it and prove yourself…”

The agitated Peter stood up…

“I don’t have to prove myself to anyone – ‘not’ to Principal Harris or his buddy the Mayor Blake of Perth or Prime Minster Blake of Perthland or whoever else next! I’m ‘who’ I am!”

He grabbed a handful of chocolate biscuits and hurried upstairs to his room – leaving his mom and his twin in deep-sighs.

<><>

AFTER A COUPLE OF HOURS, he heard his mother calling him for dinner. He left his room and was downstairs. He saw his twin had already ‘parked’ at the IKEA table -- and having pork-patty burgers and French fries…

… as a meat-eater, he disliked pork burgers – which was ‘not’ as succulent-and-juicy-and- tender as beef burgers – because it was cooked bloody well-done – and it tasted a dried-and-stale chicken biscuit – as per Mommy-knows-all cooking…

‘… bloody semolina-virus my-ass…’

… he can’t wait to go to Maccas on Monday once school reopened.

The Walkers had a quiet dinner – no one was poking-on each-others affairs like a busybody at the table – and that was ‘what’ Peter preferred.

Paul suggested a popcorn and movie-night Saturday to Caroline– as there was the movie, Equaliser 2 in the network TV at 9 PM. But Peter saw that way-back in 2018, so -- he went straight upstairs to indulge in anything current on Netflix.

-O-

He saw a couple of text messages from Bella on his iPhone -- and he ignored it – and spent the next hour on YouTube to learn the computer coding basics to programme his SIM device. The basics were simple – but the intermediate coding was ‘getting’ complicated…

… in frustration, the one-armed twin gave up -- and sat briefly listening to blazing gunshots in the TV’s stereo downstairs – that urged him to resort to picking his own movie on Netflix.

He stumbled upon ‘Extraction,’ a 2020 movie that starred Chris Hemsworth who was an ex-Aussie special forces vet – who went to Bangladesh on a mission to ‘rescue’ a kidnapped teenaged boy from a cruel drug-lord… it reminded him…

… of the lame Captain-Australia-John-Rambo-Hart – who got his ‘glory’ in the local media for his bravery in Treeton, where he ‘allegedly had’ rescued bunch-of-tween handicaps…

‘Yay! Bloody Elvis faker!’

The movie was gritty and violent with a lot of body-counts – from the many gun-battles and knuckle-crunching fistfights scenes – also with the intense and realistic street actions stunts – of vehicle chase scenes and crashes in the 3rd world streets of Dhaka…

‘Yay! Way-to-go Thor Odinson!’

Then it went to the scene where the hero and the boy hid in the dirty rat-infested sewers from the dragnet of the hunting gangsters-and-police – then in came David Harbour – who was the hero’s war-buddy to the rescue…

… but then came ‘betrayal’ later – where the hero ‘fought’ his friend…

‘Yay! Thor vs HellBoy!’

It was close to midnight – and by then, Netflix was ‘watching’ Peter – as his sleepy eyes forced himself to watch the movie’s 3rd-act…

… he gave-up – and wanted to continue the movie tomorrow, after coming back from Sunday church mass. He switched off the iPad – and was in the silent reality of the big house which his father had built-in awareness, that his mother and twin had already gone to bed.

He switched off the table lamp – and with one last peek at his iPhone, in the darkened room – with Bella B’s last text ‘invitation’ notification, which he had been ignoring-and-avoiding…

Peter slept…

-O-

… he felt he ‘was’ physically moving…

… OBE-ed in his kip… his aura floating away upwards towards the ceiling…

He was stuck in the ceiling as he crawled about involuntarily with ‘another’ body – Peter finally opened his eyes and he was upside-down in his fours – and slinked above in a bedroom that was ‘not’ his…

‘… huh… am I dreaming…?’

Right-below…

… he saw a sleeping girl – and recognised her as Bella B -- in deep slumber on her bed…

‘… what am I doing here, in Frenchie’s bedroom? Am I dreaming…?’

In stealth agility, he leapt on the bed without her knowing and stirring – his furry hand removed the cover – and discovered her naked under the sheets…

‘Whoa – what am I doing…?’

Instantly he was aroused and he could ‘not’ control his lust – and he had sex with the unconscious girl – although his aura resisted…

… but he was controlled by a ‘different’ entity, that he was possessed into…

It felt like an eternity as he pounded effortlessly – even though his aura tire – but was he forced to drain-out in exhaustion.

The worn-out Peter turned his head over his shoulder, and saw a mirror…

Lo’ and behold…

…it was the long-tailed incubus – that looked a lot like the Nightcrawler of the X-men… was having sex with Bella…

… the last time he encountered the entity – was the mirror-reflection of himself in Perthland’s Stamford suite, under the influence of a drug called Gochi…

Soon-later, the entity crawled out of the window and left…

-O-

… the one-armed boy was panting as he was speeding, on his bike in the empty street – the headlight of his 2-wheeled-DeLorean shone on the road, to get back home in the dead of the night…

‘… what am I ‘doing’ here at this hour…?’

In next to no time, in the moonless night, Peter was in front in the main gate of the Walkers’ House – staring at the left slightly ajar front door, with the security system shut…

‘…crikey … did I ‘do that’ just now…? I ‘just’ can’t seem to remember…’

Silently, the sweating one-armed hoodied tween pushed his mountain bike into the garage – and he then escaped into the house – by covering his ‘tracks,’ in reactivating the settings to the security system.

He was really thirsty…

… and he gait in the dark to the kitchen – for a can of coke. He found the fridge and opened its door…

… the built-in light shone from the fridge into the loom, and it brightened the wall with the kitchen clock -- showing 4:11 AM… Peter picked up the red-can…

… and felt at that moment that -- HE WAS ‘NOT’ ALONE – fear struck, turning his head…

His twin Paul was sitting at the table, in the dark…

‘… Jesus…’

The cripple rose from his wheelchair – and ethereally levitated close to his one-armed twin…

“Where did you go?”

… Peter shoved back at Paul’s chest -- and ran saying…

“It’s none of your bloody business, short legs!”

… shaking his head, Paul sighed in confusion -- seeing Peter running up the stairs...

'What did HE DO...?'