XX.

BAM! came the sound of Romel’s room door swung open.

“Well,” shouted Melpomene, “how did it go?"

Startled by the sudden noise, Romel lost what little control he had over his powers, and once more fell under the spell of Melpomene. ‘The Calling’ retreated as well, at least for now.

“It…” Romel answered foggily, as if he’d been woken from sleep, “It…worked.”

“You serious?” Melpomene asked. “It really worked?”

“It did,” said Romel.

“Yes!” said Melpomene, pumping his fist, “I knew it would, kid! The comics never lie!”

“That’s right,” replied Romel, “they don’t.”

“What was it like?”

“At first…good. I was me again. Well, maybe, that wasn’t so good since I tend to be kind of mopey and miserable, but it was good in the sense that…”

“You’re losing me, kid.”

“Sorry,” said Romel, trying his best to focus, but having a hard time because of his proximity to Melpomene, “So…after I was me, I started feeling people out there, in the neighborhoods around us. But they weren’t overwhelming me. They were just floating around in my head.”

“Amazing,” said Melpomene. His eyes were lit up like he’d stumbled upon a chest of gold.

“It was. And what’s more, I could jump from one to the next, choosing which person’s feelings to inhabit.”

“Just like Madame Y!”

“Yeah, just like that. Sadly, though, I ended up in this one woman’s head, and it seemed to me like she was being tortured. It was terrible, I had to feel all that pain and then, afterward,…”

“Wait,” said Melpomene, cutting him off, “you’re saying there’s a woman, nearby us, being tortured, right now?”

“Well, yeah, but my experience didn’t end there,” said Romel, intending to discuss ‘the Calling’ coming back to him.

Melpomene, though, was not interested. He was fixated. “We’ve got to help the lady, kid! That was the whole deal behind getting your powers under control.”

“Right,” said Romel, remembering. “Right. But help how?”

“Could you pick up what direction her feelings were coming from, relative to here?”

“I think so.”

“Then let’s suit up,” Melpomene shouted, “We’re going to rescue her!”