Generation Why Bother

I’ll just let you know that flying back to Chicago was a little more difficult with four people holding on to Shira as she powered us through the atmosphere. Though she didn’t break a sweat lifting us into the air, it had to have been hard to have people dangling from not only her hands, but her legs as well. I had to wonder how often she did that sort of thing.

The whole time, Chuck and Riley were completely aghast at the world spinning beneath us. Unlike us, they hadn’t even been exposed to Shira before and the unearthly powers she possessed. I don’t even think they knew what or who she was. They probably just assumed she was a guardian just like us; everything was bound to get squared away soon, or at least when we got to the apartment.

We got back to the band’s flat at about eight in the morning. Shira landed us behind the building in the dark alleyway, and that was when Tegan and I took the lead up to their room, knowing that Shira had only gone there once and probably wouldn’t have remembered. Then again, her crazy sense of direction would have made up for her lack of exposure, but we just didn’t take the chance.

The look on Andy’s face when he opened the door and saw all five of us standing there so casually was interesting, to say the least. With one eyebrow cocked and his mouth open so wide a bee could’ve flown in, it was safe to say he was confused. Combined with the fact he was wearing nothing but a tanktop and boxers with pickles all over them, I’d say we caught him a tad off-guard.

Anthony, sitting at the counter and looking on from a distance, said, “You know, you guys could still be in school at this hour…”

“No need to thank me or anything, but we wrangled these two up ahead of schedule,” Shira boasted, arrogantly strutting into the apartment with the rest of us following a little less prideful. “We even managed to squeeze the power out of this one.” She jabbed her thumb back at Riley. “He’s got the power of ground.”

That was when Anthony leaped off the barstool and walked over to the group, standing next to Andy with the same shocked appearance. “What?” he huffed.

“Good God, you might be a little shit, but you managed to do the impossible,” Andy gasped.

I could almost hear the questions flying left and right from our two new recruits, but they were both cut off by Chance entering the room, rubbing his sleepy eyes and doing a double-take at them so early. A huge grin swept over his face and he walked over to Shira, holding his hand up for a high-five and cheering, “All right, Shira!”

She left him hanging, her arms crossed.

Instead, she blew a stray hair out of her face and declared, “Well, my work here is done for now.”

“Wait – so you’re just gonna leave?” Andy asked in disbelief.

Looking at her fingernails that poked out of her fingerless gloves, she nonchalantly said, “My only orders were to assist you in rounding up the two remaining guardians, and since that is done, you are on your own from this point onwards.”

Everybody simmered down and understood her reasoning, but Tegan just couldn’t let it die. “You can’t just go now! Who knows what else you could help us do?”

I shot her a knowing smile and she wrinkled her nose at me.

Shira actually held eye contact with her as she announced, “I have helped as much as I should, and for that, I will be leaving. I’ve stayed on Earth for two nights, and frankly, I have learned everything I’ve ever cared to know about you humans. Frankly I don’t understand your broken mannerisms and your odd obsession with genitalia in regards to mating habits, and for that, maybe I’m more alien than I thought. I’ll be going now.”

We all looked on in a quiet sort of respect for the Daltian girl as she silently walked out of the apartment on her way back to her home planet. She may have caused a few injuries along the way, but she did get Chuck and Riley up in Chicago, and she did trigger two of us learning our powers. She didn’t look back at any of us, and instead, closed the door as she exited.

For a moment, there was a silence in Shira’s wake.

Tegan broke it like a bull in a china shop.

“Damn it! When am I ever gonna meet another hot alien girl?!”

I reached over and awkwardly kind of patted her arm to try to comfort her at least a little bit, knowing she could get through it. She was tough like that. When she glanced up at me, she had a smile in her eye that let me know.

“Well, if it’s any consolation,” Andy shrugged, “I think she just dropped a hint that she likes girls…”

Regardless, Tegan groaned in defeat.

More importantly, Riley was the one who got us back on the topic at hand and reminded us why everybody except Mick was gathered in the same room on a random morning. “Uh, so what about us?”

Andy’s eyes widened in remembrance and he pointed at Chuck and Riley. “Right, you two. C’mon, sit down on the couch here. I’ll tell you everything you ever needed to know.”