(Lin Xiao, no peeking without permission!)
August 3
I think I'm going to die, seriously! When I got home from school today, May said Lin Xiao had made my favorite mushroom soup, so I went over. Then he said he had something good to show me. I was really scared at the time. He actually stabbed me with a golden arrow when I wasn't paying attention. It hurt!
Then a giant spider appeared behind me.
He kept staring at me, and I was terrified. I called him "The Fool"-don't ask me how I knew that name. It was like someone had shoved the answer straight into my brain.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to call 911.
But Uncle Lin Xiao just nodded in satisfaction and said, "My dear nephew, you've awakened something incredible."
I thought he was talking nonsense. I'm a staunch materialist. Stand Users and all that had to be hallucinations.
They had to be.
Right, hallucinations.
August 5
Ever since the playing field was wrecked, Ned and the others had been hanging around the cafeteria every day. I almost killed him today, too.
Flash Thompson came looking for trouble again. He threw Ned's backpack into the cafeteria trash can and poured milk over my head. I was already used to it, honestly. After so many years of bullying, I'd long since learned to keep my head down and take it.
But Ned cried.
Then "The Fool" moved.
I hadn't tried to control him. He moved on his own. That giant sandy-yellow spider suddenly broke apart into countless little spiders that surged toward Flash Thompson like a tide. I didn't see exactly what happened. All I heard was Flash Thompson scream. By the time I came to my senses, he was already sprawled on the floor, his mouth full of sand and his pants wet, while a swarm of invisible spiders frantically poured sand into his mouth. The students around us were scared senseless. Nobody knew why Flash Thompson had suddenly collapsed and started convulsing.
I pulled Ned away.
My hands kept shaking as we left the cafeteria. Not because I was scared. Because... it felt good.
Was this what having power felt like?
I glanced back at Flash Thompson. The gym teacher was helping him to the nurse's office, his legs limp as noodles.
...No, I couldn't think like that. Aunt May said fighting violence with violence was wrong.
But it felt so damn good.
August 7
Ned was now the second person in the world who knew "The Fool" existed. (The first was my bastard uncle.)
I told him everything: Uncle Lin Xiao's arrow, my Stand, and what happened with Flash Thompson. Ned wasn't scared. Instead, he got so excited he nearly fell off his chair.
"Dude! These are superpowers! You're a superhero!"
"I'm not a superhero. I'm just some unlucky guy who got jabbed by accident."
"Then why not study this guy? I mean your Stand."
He had a point. "The Fool" had been following me around these past few days, quiet and well-behaved, and he hadn't gone out of control like he had on the first day. Maybe I should give him a chance.
Ned and I spent several hours studying The Fool's abilities in an abandoned parking lot. Here were our test results so far:
He could turn into a giant shield. Sandy yellow, translucent, and really cool-looking. Ned said it was like a defensive skill in a game, throwing rocks at me as he spoke, but they were all blocked. So cool!
The spider himself could grow bigger. I tried riding on his back, and he actually carried me around for a lap. He wasn't very fast, though. Ned said I looked like a turtle hovering above the ground, even though he couldn't see The Fool.
The coolest one: The Fool could turn into quicksand. Then I sank underground with him.
I nearly died of fright the first time I went underground. But once I got used to it, I realized how incredible it felt. Dirt and gravel flowed past me, and I could move freely underground, like a fish made of sand. I dug up lots of interesting things down there: a few old coins, a wedding ring, and a bottle of Coke that had been buried for at least fifty years. That bottle was now sitting on my desk. Nobody knew where it came from.
The Fool was really cool.
Maybe Uncle Lin Xiao was right. Maybe I really had awakened something incredible.
August 11
I came up with an alias for myself today: Super Fool.
Ned said the name wasn't impressive enough and suggested "Spider Tsar" or "Quicksand Reaper."
But I still decided to stick with "Super Fool."
Aunt May asked me why I kept grinning like an idiot today. I didn't tell her. This was my secret.
August 12
Lin Xiao said that to save the world, he'd take me out for "work experience" every night from now on.
My future was probably over already.
August 15
Here's how the past few days of "work experience" went:
Day one: raided a black-market arms dealer in the middle of a deal. Uncle handled the fighting, and I collected the money. Uncle told me, "Heroes need funding, too." I thought that made a lot of sense.
Day two: we intercepted a hijacked armored truck together. Lin Xiao scared the robbers, while I put the money back and held out a bag to collect the moral education fees.
Day three: busted a small drug lab in an abandoned warehouse. Lin Xiao handled everything, while I stayed in the corner making sure none of the tied-up bad guys escaped. Watching Lin Xiao teach people a lesson felt pretty cool. Ugh, what was I writing?
There was another mission this week. Uncle Lin Xiao told me to get ready, saying he had another "new case."
My life had gone completely off the rails, but Ned was insanely jealous.
August 21
Ned said I'd changed.
He said I used to walk with my shoulders hunched, but now I walked with them squared.
I said that was because the muscle-building powder I'd been drinking lately made my shoulders sore.
But this guy was seriously annoying. He immediately said, "No, it's not because of the muscle-building powder."
I didn't want to admit he was right.
But ever since I got The Fool, a lot really had changed. Not just physically. I started feeling like maybe I really could do something-something real, helping people, protecting those who were as powerless as I used to be, and collecting a little moolah on the side.
Maybe this was what Uncle Lin Xiao had been trying to make me understand all along.
Even if the way he expressed it made me want to punch him.
August 23
The Fool was getting more and more obedient. I felt like I was turning into a... I didn't know how to put it. Anyway, it wasn't something a normal high school student should turn into.
Uncle Lin Xiao said he'd take me on a "big job" next week.
I didn't really want to know what "big job" meant.
But honestly, I was actually looking forward to it a little.
August 25
Lin Xiao really did screw me over today after all.
When he shoved the transformation wand into my hands today, he only taught me the incantation, without telling me what the thing did. "Balala Energy" or whatever sounded stupid as hell to say. I asked him what it was, and he said, "It's for self-defense. You'll understand later," then went off to find Aunt May.
I stared at that pink wand for half an hour. It had little stars on it, lit up when pressed, and even played a sickeningly sweet background music intro. I quickly let go of the button, my heart rate shooting up to 180.
But curiosity really could get you killed.
At one thirty in the morning, after making sure Aunt May and that bastard were both asleep, I locked my door, closed the curtains, and held the transformation wand in front of me. Deep breath. Another deep breath. I just wanted to know what it actually did. Once I'd figured it out, I'd stop. Just this once.
I pressed the transformation button.
Then I nearly died on the spot in front of the mirror.
Pink. Bows. Twin tails. Sequins.
Luckily, the transformation only lasted five minutes. I stood in front of the mirror in that dress, feeling like my whole outlook on life had been reshaped. I tried waving my hand, and a faint flame leaped from my fingertips, nearly burning the curtains. I was already used to this sort of thing, right, The Fool?
After the transformation ended, I shoved the wand into the very back of my drawer and weighed it down with three books.
Then I heard an extremely restrained snicker from outside the window.
Lin Xiao.
He was crouched on the fire escape, phone in hand, its screen still lit. I didn't know how many pictures he'd taken, but I knew I'd never be done settling this score with that bastard.
He said it was for self-defense. Fine, the power really was strong, and the magic was real. But that dress-I'd rather die than wear that dress outside. Unless I really was about to die.
...Wait, was that what he meant by "self-defense"?
The Fool, what should I do?