A/N: Probably the shortest chapter that will be in this story! We're a bit more than halfway towards the end. Please let me know what you think-good or bad! It makes me happy to see how many people have been reading. So thanks again!

Chapter 9: Redemption

Mysterion doesn't make it to the news the next morning, but he does blow up on the internet. I scroll through several blogs that feature phone-quality pictures of Mysterion beating up a guy on the sidewalk and returning a stolen purse to a young girl. The pictures are all fuzzy in quality, but the cloaked figure in the pictures is definitely me, and the events definitely happened.

I study my stomach in the mirror. I wince as I remember the pain from being stabbed but the pain is just a memory. My whole body including my stomach is unscathed. I am a freak of nature, but what the hell. I'm alive and well again and heading out for another day of school.

Once I'm at school and walking through the hallways, I'm surprised to hear Jeanine's footsteps catch up to mine. She walks beside me casually, as if we never lost touch with each other over the weeks. I know it hasn't been that long, but already she looks different, despite her all too familiar red Converse high tops. She looks pretty. Did she cut her hair?

She sounds excited when she says, "Hey, Kenny! So did you hear? Mysterion was downtown last night! God, I wish I was there. I have horrible timing!"

I smirk. "So you aren't mad at him anymore?"

She scoffs. "Well he still hasn't redeemed himself for all the other times he's disappeared but… I hope he's okay. He looked like he was bleeding a lot."

"I'm sure he's okay. He's immortal, right?"

"Are you mocking me? Don't mock me," she says, giving me a playful punch in the arm. She pulls out her phone to show me a picture of Mysterion in action. "Have you seen this?"

The picture she presents to me is of the thief stabbing me in the gut. I wince again as I remember the pain. Jeanine catches this at the corner of her eye.

"I know. What an ass, right? I really hope Mysterion made it out alive."

"He'll be fine. And you shouldn't be mad at him anymore. You know the guy he beat up was the same asshole we saw the other day? The one we saw steal an old lady's purse."

"Really? You can tell from this fuzzy picture?"

"Well, I mean, it looks like him, doesn't it?" I say, pointing at the man's figure in the picture. The quality of the picture makes his face look blurred and indistinguishable. Jeanine looks at me suspiciously. She looks not just at just my face, but she glances at my stomach. Is she making the connection?

"Hey if you're not busy at lunch, come find me. I have to show you something," I say quickly, recalling the Wilbert B. Hart scholarship.

The first hour bell rings. Just as the old saying goes, I'm saved.

"Okay. I will. Nice seeing you, Kenny," she says with a smile. Then she heads down the hall in the opposite direction.

…

At lunchtime we sit at the same table where we talked about Jeanine's article weeks ago.

"So? What is it?" she asks me curiously.

I pull a piece of paper out of my pocket, unfolding it in front of her and placing it on the table.

"I don't know if you've heard of this yet, but I thought you'd be interested."

She reads the flyer. By the look on her face, it's the first time she's heard of the scholarship. When she's done looking over it, she looks up at me.

"Wow. This is pretty… cool. Thanks, Kenny."

"So you're gonna do it?"

Her expression looks irresolute for a moment, but then it morphs into one of determination.

"Yeah. I mean, yeah this sounds awesome. I just have to come up with a good theme for the portfolio."

She sighs and rests her face in the palm of her hand as she rests her elbow on the table.

"You're talented. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Well that's easier said," she says with a half grin. Then she focuses her eyes on me. "Why are you doing this, Kenny?"

"What, helping you?" I ask. For the first time in a while, I feel a slight blush creep onto my cheeks. "I guess I feel bad for never finding Mysterion with you. So I want you to apply for this contest. I know you can win. I'll even help if you ask."

"Oh? So you want to help me?"

I shrug nonchalantly. "Yeah, sure. But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"We don't go looking for Mysterion."

"Deal."

A/N: I realize this may have been a little anticlimactic from the last chapter.. but what am I to do if Kenny always wakes up completely fine the next day? xP Well now that the two are back in the game together, the story will finally be a little geared toward romance a bit more. Stay posted!