The school was almost silent now that most of the students had left for the day, save for the few unlucky ones who were forced to stay after. Karyn was one of those unfortunate souls, but she walked to the journalism classroom rather than detention hall. She had her large camera bag over her shoulder.
The room, like the school, as almost empty, all but for a lone blonde haired girl on one of the computers, typing quickly on the keyboard. Karyn recognized a number of newspaper clippings related to Miss Amazing taped to the wall around her. The blonde looked up at the sound of the door, and then slumped her shoulders.
"What are you doing here?" Sarah McMillian said.
"Mr. Larkin told me to be here." Karyn said defensively.
"Great." Sarah muttered under her breath, turning back to her work. Karyn took a closer look at the stories pinned to the wall, all about Miss Amazing. She whistled.
"Stalker much?"
Sarah sighed, "I thought photographers had good perception." She pointed to a story on the left of her monitor. "An expose on the strange behavioral changes in twenty students here." She pointed to a story on the right, "Two days later, Miss Amazing defeats Ann Droid and turns all of her students-turned-robots back."
Sarah pointed again at another pair, "A number of disappearances around town, coupled with very lifelike mannequins popping up everywhere. Five days later, Miss Amazing shuts down Captain Plastic's mannequin factory."
"What are you implying?"
"That Miss Amazing is amazingly fast and amazingly strong, but she's a twat. She never realizes that something wrong is happening until someone tells her."
Karyn folded her arms across her chest, "If I recall, that 'twat' saved you from being a permanent robo-maid to Ann Droid. In fact, I think I got a great picture of that." She pulled out her camera and started to scroll through the gallery of pictures.
"You're one to talk." Sarah snorted, "The Toy Mistress turned you into a Jill-in-the-Box for almost three days. I may not be a 'world-class photographer,' but I got a good picture of that."
"And who saved me? That's right, Miss Amazing."
The door opened again, and both girls turned to it. Mr. Larkin had arrived, and he walked to his desk and set down a number of newspapers. "Having fun, ladies."
"No." They both said in unison.
He laughed, "Well, you better start. You're going to be partners until you graduate."
"I don't need her." Sarah said, "I'm a . . ."
"Her? She's a bitch! I can't . . ."
Both girls started talking over each other, but Mr. Larkin stopped them with a hand.
"Look, you're both great at what you do. Both of you have been freelancing for the local papers. Both of you are working the same beat. It's a natural fit. I'm not saying that you need to like each other, but if you stick together for the next five months, you could set up careers for the next fifty years."
The girls looked at each other warily, neither wanting to admit the truth of that statement.
"Now, I just got a tip that there's been another disappearance; this one is at McDuramm and Wiser. It's a double, and there was ice found at the scene. I want you to head out and track down whoever is doing this."
