Smash Gal and Esvanir is a superhero series following Kari Stewart as Smash Gal, a woman who can fly and lift just about anything, who work through the follies being a hero in a world that is uncomfortable with the very concept of metas. She tries her best to help people but there are some problems that the superheroes just cannot solve. It also follows Curtis Reese, Esvanir, a disillusioned thief who goes around stealing the valuable technologies created by billion dollar companies and provides those resources to those in need. They are old friends turned enemies. They also deal with the daily lives that are complicated by their extra-curricular activities.
Due to a fundamental misunderstanding of Sufficient Velocity and Amazon's self-publishing rules, for the foreseeable future, I will be posting a chapter a week until I catch up to what is currently published. After that, new chapters will come out every other Friday at 12:30 MST. If you would like to read ahead, I have posted several chapters in the widely underused Unlisted Fiction. I like the concept, but I'm also terribly arrogant and want more attention.
I was seven the first time I saw him. The shy boy sitting out on his porch. I was on the street on my bike. I had biked past where I was really supposed to. My neighborhood had such even streets. These streets down here had bumpier roads, which were always more fun to ride on. Even from the street, I could hear them screaming; his parents were really going at it. He looked up; his eyes were blue. His face, at the moment, was red. He must've been mortified that I knew. He knows I could hear them. How could I not? He broke the gaze and stared down at a few little pieces of cardboard. I rode my bike over his lawn, and he backed away some. I closed the distance between us and smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Kari! What's your name?"
"C-Curtis," he said, looking down. I sat down next to him, and he curled into himself a little more. I put his parents' screaming out of my head and looked down at the cards he had. They were weird. Not like sports cards or anything.
"What're these?" I asked, trying to get him to focus on anything but his parents. I picked one up. It had a dragon painted on it. "They're gorgeous. This one is a Draken Guard?"
"They're Sorcerer's Cards. It's just a dumb game that one of my mom's friends taught me," he said dismissively. But he did come out of his self-imposed cocoon. We went through the cards together.
From that day on, we were inseparable. We went to the same school. He had gotten some kind of grant to get there, but I was just there because my parents paid for it. His parents couldn't afford it. Especially after they split up. Some of the kids picked on him because he was poor. His jeans were always ripped, and he wore a broken pair of glasses that would only break further when they threw him to the ground. But I chased them off like a warthog bursting through a bunch of vultures.
During the summer, his parents got him a hand-me-down bike, and we rode everywhere. We found bike trails, we did jumps, and we would stop off for ice at different shops. I was given an allowance, and we would spend it renting movies we shouldn't have. Scary movies, romance movies, more Sorcerer's Cards. He taught me how to play, and I got good at it. Good enough to beat him. We found little competitions and played together. He was good at finding decks that were cheap and strategic and won a few tournaments. I got all of the giant creatures together and won through brute force!
When we were ten, and in middle school, we would always get paired together in everything. Lab, shop, home economics, everything. Everyone thought we were dating, but we weren't. We were just friends. Just friends; who hung out every day; who would just lay across one another; who could finish each other's sentences. Okay. We were dating a little. As we grew up, I got taller and taller. He didn't get as tall, but that's okay. He would go through stages of growing his hair out and cutting it all off. When it was long, he'd use it to hide his eyes. People always mentioned his eyes. They always said that they were older than they should have been. I don't know about any of that. I just know that when he looked at me, my heart jumped. They were always so piercing. So intense. Whenever we talked, I could tell he focused his full attention on me. He did this with everyone. Most of my other friends kept their distance when he was around.
=== Curt ===
Kari stuck around me all the time. She'd split her lunch with me when my parents . . . forgot to pack mine. She'd stand up to bullies and make sure I was always invited to anything she was invited to. And she was invited to everything. People really liked her. Which made her attachment to me all the more confusing. Despite being in the same grade, she always acted like my bigger sister. When we got to middle school, everyone thought we were dating. If one of her friends refused to invite me to something, she wouldn't go. Which must've made her life hard. Usually, if I knew she wanted to go to something and the person hosting didn't want me around, I'd make an excuse to not go. Her friends didn't really like me. Which was fair. I also didn't really like me.
In eighth grade, there was this Sadie Hawkins Dance. You know, the kind where the girls ask out the boys. I never really understood why that was so important. Couldn't the girls ask the boys out to a regular dance? Anyway, It was a big deal, apparently. The biggest deal of all of eighth grade. The few friends I had outside of Kari were all obsessed. They spent weeks trying to get a girl, any girl, to ask them. One of my friends, Bryan, bribed a girl to do it, promising to do all of her homework through freshman year. I hear they got married last June.
No one asked me. Not that I minded. I can't dance. I thought that Kari would ask me, though. She hadn't, which wasn't like her. She always took every opportunity to get me involved in social stuff. I usually didn't mind. She made it fun. But this wasn't really my scene, so it was okay that she hadn't asked me. My friends didn't believe me when I told them. "No way, bro. She's crazy about you."
"We're just friends," I responded absently, shaking my head. They were convinced that Kari had a thing for me. Which was ridiculous. "And it's fine. I don't want to go anyway."
"What do you mean that you don't want to go? This is the biggest event of middle school! A capstone! If you're not there, you're going to be a social pariah for . . . like, ever."
"Ah. Well, that would really hurt my social standing. I would lose my four friends. Because I didn't go to a dance."
The day before the dance, Kari and I were hanging out between periods. "My dress is so cute! I can't wait for everyone to see us. What're you wearing?"
"I'm not going," I said simply, pushing my lunch around.
"What d'ya mean that you're not going? I'm not going alone!"
"What are you talking about? You never invited me." I watched the gears turn in her head for a moment. She was going through every moment.
"No, no, that can't be right. I definitely asked you. I told my mom that we were going, she helped me pick out a dress, and she's going to do my hair. And I . . ." She froze, her mouth agape. I stared at her, waiting. "I . . . I never asked you."
"God, you're thick-headed sometimes, Kar."
"Oh . . . Oh no! But you have to come. Besides, of course, I want to go with you! We always do stuff like this together."
"This is our first dance, Kar," I interjected. "It's a boy-girl thing. Or, I guess, a girl-girl thing. How do gay guys participate in this?"
"What? I mean . . . That's actually a good question, but it's totally beside the point," Kari said, rolling her eyes. "What does it matter if it's a boy-girl thing or whatever? I want to go with you."
"Kar, people already think we're dating. There are a lot of guys who would love to go out with you. Take one of them."
"Nah. I wanna go with you. You're coming," Kari said with an air of finality. I swear to god, she could sit down with any world leader and get them back down. "You better get yourself something cute to wear. Something that goes well with mauve."
"What's mauve?"
"Kind of like pale purple."
"Then why didn't you say purple?"
"Because they're different. Duh!"
When I got home later that day, I hesitantly walked up to my mother's room. Mother and father slept in separate beds most nights. Thankfully. When they didn't, it got loud. In many ways, I don't care to think about. Some people think that divorce is the worst thing to happen to an unhappy family. It's not. I knocked on the door. I heard a crash and the sound of a bottle breaking. I sighed and grabbed the broom and dustpan, and opened the door.
"Curt! Curtish. Come clean this messh up."
"I'm coming, mom," I said, chest deflating. I came into her room and started sweeping up the glass.
"Thash a good boy," she slurred. I had gotten good at telling the differences between her favored alcohols. She reeked of cinnamon whiskey. She had a much different taste than my father, who liked cheap Vodka and cocktail waitresses.
"Hey, mom. Um . . ." I hesitated. I hated asking for things. But it wasn't like I had anyone else I could ask.
"What ish it? Spit it out, boy," she said impatiently.
"C-could I get some money for some clothes? I-"
"Clothes!?" She demanded. "You have plenty of clothes, boy."
"No . . . Well, yes, bu-"
"Fucking ungrateful, little bastard!" She screamed. I had to interject before this went too far.
"I don't have any . . . formal clothes. For . . . a dance," I said, just barely loud enough for her to hear.
"A dance? You're going to a dance?" She looked flabbergasted. "With who? Who would want you? You're. . . It's that little rich bitch, isn't it?"
I clenched my fists and was going to scream at her for calling Kari a bitch, but she wrapped her hand around my chin and stroked my hair. "You're a good boy, Curt. Lemme get my stuff. We'll go get you dressed good for your little dance. My little man going to a dance. So cute."
We spent the next four hours picking out clothes. And my mother did something I had never seen before; she fussed over me. It was an off-the-rack suit and tie, but she said I looked handsome. She ended the sentence with "unlike normal", but I'll take the win where I can get it. The tie we picked out even would match the off-purple of Kari's dress.
=== Kari ===
The day of the dance is finally here! Yay! This is going to be so much fun. And Curt is going to have fun, too! I'll make him. And he was going to dance. My dad drove me down to his parents' place to pick him up. My father's face grew stern as we moved into Curt's neighborhood. He kept complaining about how the streets were cracked, and the lawns were unkempt. But who cares? It's not about the house; it's about the person who lives inside. And Curt is great. So, his neighborhood is great. When we got there, his mom was out of bed and wearing more than a dirty bathrobe. She actually looked pretty nice. She and Curt had the same eyes. Sharp and taking in everything. At least right now. When . . . When she drank, it dulled their luster a lot.
But Curt looked great! They had chosen a black suit and shirt with a mauve tie; he remembered the color! Well, of course, Curt did. He remembers everything. They made us take pictures; I wrapped my arm around Curt's and grinned through it. It was embarrassing, but it was just what parents did. They both went through and took pictures separately. Which was ridiculous. You could just email the copies. Dad showed me the photos he took, and Curt's face was incredibly red. The reddest I'd ever seen. Until I looked at him just then, staring at the photo, mortified. This is great. Tonight is the best!
We finally got to the dance, and everyone was there. One of Curt's friends came up and said something that I couldn't hear over the music. Curt responded with, "Shut up, Brian!"
Brian thought this was really funny and started laughing and laughing until his date came up. Curt found a table and started to sit down until I dragged him out onto the dance floor. "Nope, no, siree. You're dancing."
"But I can't dance! People will see me."
"People will see us having fun. And who cares if they can see you? It can't possibly be worse than that time you lit the chemistry lab on fire."
"I told you, if they had labeled those ingredients right, it would have worked."
"Sure it would have. I'm glad your eyebrows grew back for the pictures, though. You look good."
"So do you," he said, taking a risk and glancing up at my eyes. When we first met, we were about the same height, but now I was taller than him. I hadn't worn heels for that reason. I didn't want the difference to be even more stark. We got out onto the dance-floor just as a slow song started. Curt looked like a deer in the headlights. He lifted his hands, which were shaking. I smiled down at him and took his hands, placing one on my hip and taking the other. I had taken dancing lessons. I didn't get too far because I wanted to do sports, too. We circled the dance-floor and slowly drifted closer until his arm was on my back. As the song ended, our eyes met again. He leaned in. I closed my eyes and did the same.
Then we were yanked apart. I opened my eyes to see the gym teacher with his hands on Curt and the bio teacher with her hands on my shoulder. The gym teacher barked, "Stay arm's length apart, Reese."
This is so unfair! He was finally going to do something!
=== Curt ===
She was always with me, through thick and thin. When my parents got too . . . involved, I could always go to her. Her parents didn't seem to mind. They would let me stay for dinner whenever I was around. They would just leave us alone, widely. We usually hung out in her room. She kept the door open, just in case. I was not going to make a move. I did not want to risk losing her. She was always the most important thing. The only stable thing in my life. And a fucking softball game is what took her away. Of all things, a god damn softball game.
We were fourteen. She had joined the girl's softball team, and she was good. She was tall with strong legs, so she could usually outrun everyone around her. I would have joined too, but I am not a girl. They offered to let me be the mascot, but there are some lines that even I won't cross! But I went to every game. Even if it meant taking three buses, I was always there. It was the finals; she was up to bat. She brandished the thing so naturally. When I tried to play baseball, I accidentally knocked out the catcher when I hit the ball. I just threw the bat back, hitting him in the head. I did not notice until I passed second base. But not Kari. She had a natural aptitude for everything except for math. But lots of people suck at math. She went up to the home plate. I readied the camera I had bought from a pawn shop. Her parents couldn't attend the game, but I know they wanted to. The pitcher wound up and threw the ball. She was good. It was a straight shot, but Kari did not swing. The catcher caught it.
"Strike one!" The umpire shouted. The pitcher threw the next one, and it was almost a mirror for the first, and still, Kari did not swing. I will never know how she missed the point of Casey at the bat. But unlike Casey, on the third pitch, she swung. There was a great crack, and the ball flew. I followed it with my camera to the best of my ability, but by the time I registered it, it was gone. I focused on her again and the bat. Or what was left of it. It had shattered into a million pieces. She took off and got to first, then second in the blink of an eye. The other team was scrambling, trying to find where the ball went. Kari rounded third and charged home. They won that game.
"Did you see that?! I got my first home run! I feel like I could fly!" She all but screamed, jumping in the air.
"Yeah, I saw it. Recorded it, too."
"You got a recording? I love you!" She yelled again, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug. My back cracked from the force; she loosened her grip and hung her arms loosely around my neck. She stared into my eyes. I shuffled my feet, desperately wanting to break eye contact. Her green eyes were a forest I could get lost in forever. She closed her eyes and leaned in a little. She was dirty, smelling like sweat and dust, but it did not matter. I leaned in. Our lips brushed. My first kiss.
=== Kari ===
Curtis emailed me my first home run. The video and the angle weren't great, but you could tell it was me. I don't know why the bat broke when I finally swung. The coach said she'd never seen anything like it. Curt had managed to get the ball flying off. "Your camera isn't very good."
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like smoke is coming off the ball! Come on, tech boy, buy yourself a proper camera," I said, elbowing him. He pushed back, and we started to wrestle. He usually had the upper hand on this, but I rolled him over and pinned him immediately. He just stared up for a moment and then shrunk away.
After that, we went to dinner with my parents. I showed them the video. They both looked concerned. They dropped Curt off at his house, which had become even more dilapidated in the last seven years. I wished he could just live with me. It'd be so much easier. And besides, we'd get to practice kissing some more.
"Kari, dear. Has anything like that ever happened to you before?"
"What? The home run? Nope! It's my first one. Pretty awesome. I feel bad about the bat, though. I guess it must've been old." My parents looked at each other, and my mother turned in her seat.
"Honey, that ball flew really far," she said. She seemed to be trying very hard to come up with words to not upset me. Don't know what all that's all about. She sighed. "Have you ever . . . Lifted anything you shouldn't have been able to? Or ran faster than you should have?"
"No, I don't think so. Why? What's going on?"
"Probably nothing," she responded with a smile. "Good job today. Your father and I are really proud."
I figured that was the end of it, but I woke up in the middle of the night. Dad had pinned down one of my arms and had a needle roughly twice the size of Texas in his hand. I screamed and struggled. He went flying and hit the back wall; his eyes were wide; he looked terrified. Mom crossed the room and helped him up.
"What the hell are you doing!?" I demanded.
"Kari! Watch your language!" My mother spat back.
"What are you doing in my room? With a needle!" I said, scooting to the other side of the bed, panting.
"We were just taking a blood sample," my father responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"While I was sleeping? Why?" My mother and father looked at each other, then back to me. They made their way to the bed.
"We didn't want to worry you," mom cooed, sitting on the bed and patting my knee. "We just want to do a test or two to . . . make sure that you're healthy."
"You didn't want to worry me, as though me waking up in the middle of the night, standing over me with a syringe is going to be calming!" I shrieked. Both of them looked guilty.
"You're right; I'm sorry, sweetie," dad said in a calming voice. He sat down on the bed. "We still need to take your blood and do a couple of tests."
"Why? What is going on? I feel great. Outside of the heart attack I just had."
"Your mom has some genetic disorders that kick in around your age in her family. We just want to make sure that nothing's going on." I searched his face. It was carved in stone; I couldn't get a read on him at all; that wasn't like him. He usually wore his emotions on his face. I could always tell when he was stressed or annoyed or pretending to be exasperated with me for telling him a long story.
"Well, if I don't let you do it, you'll just come in when I'm asleep again." I grabbed a teddy bear that Curt had won me last year and looked away, offering my arm. I hate needles. I felt something press into my arm, and then there was a snap, and the pressure was gone. I looked at my father and the needle in his hand; it had broken. He was staring at it despondently. I searched mom's face, but it had also become stony and impossible to read.
The next week was a whirlwind. Mom and dad decided we needed to move out of the blue. They were going to take me somewhere where they could figure out why I broke the needle. And how I hit a softball. As though it wasn't obvious. The answer was with a bat. Duh.
=== Curt ===
Kari moved away. She left me behind. She said that she had some medical condition and then just disappeared. I tried to visit, but her parents would not let me see her. I tried emailing her, but she gave no response to that either. I was alone. Again. My girlfriend . . . My best friend was gone. With nothing else to do, I receded into my hobbies. I liberated some money from my mom's purse and bought myself a soldering iron. She wouldn't miss it. Or at least, she wouldn't realize that she hadn't already spent it. Money was always tight, but that was mostly because mother was always spending it on drugs.
I started building things. Just little gadgets here and there. It was nothing compared to Bion, the tech hero. He was a new hero making waves. His real name was Andrew Wan, a billionaire who discovered he was dying. All of his muscles were weakening. He built himself a suit to help sustain his withering body. He had made the suit stronger than he had intended. And when someone tried to kidnap him, he threw the crook through the wall. The following week, when there was an invasion from a nation I had never heard of before, he volunteered his services. They were armed with laser cannons, plasma bombs, and one especially devoted guy had a sword; Bion managed to fight back the forces, but the damage was extensive. Cars were crushed, buildings were destroyed, and people died. Lots of people.
After Bion saved the day, he just skated away and left the damage behind him. He could fire lasers from his palms and throw cars but didn't use it to help the people whose lives were in shambles now. He had more money than he could ever spend, and yet, he just let people suffer. He . . . He had a suit that kept him alive, and he did not give this technology to everyone. He had made an advance in medical science never seen before, yet he just let people die.
It might be because, with Kari and her family gone, I was stuck eating at home, which meant I'd go hungry every other day. When I did eat, it was just spaghetti and, if I was lucky, meat. Spaghetti is fine, but it gets old when it's all you eat. I started to resent Bion. There were lots of superheroes that seemed to be rich. They had the money to just go through and build weapons of mass destruction, use them, create said destruction, and fly off to the sunset. Leaving regular people to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Assholes.
=== Kari ===
My parents took me to some weird lab and eventually got a needle that could get my blood. They also ran a bunch of other tests on me. They managed to track down that softball that I had hit. They said it was in orbit, circling the planet. When they told me that, I fell over laughing. "That's impossible! You're nuts."
"No, sweetie," my father began. "You're a little bit different than us."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, when you were born, it was right in the middle of the Grignau's Invasion."
"Duh, everyone knows about it. They were super strong aliens that almost took over the planet. There were a couple of heroes that stopped them, though. And a small nuke. Everyone knows that.
"Yes, well. Your mother and I were tasked with studying their genetic makeup. In the hopes of finding a weakness. We . . . We didn't find one. But we did come up with another plan. After we fully sequenced their genome, we started doing some experiments. We found that we could insert their genes into other things, and they would change. We did some plants, rabbits, lab mice . . . If the subject was young, just born, it would change rapidly. Get stronger. Incredibly strong. And fast. If we did it to anything that was past adolescence . . . Well, they may not survive. And it could cripple them."
"Okay. But what does this have to do with me?"
"We . . . You were a premie, hon," mom said softly. "You were very sick. And the sequence we discovered could fix that. We . . . Never got permission exactly, but we did insert some Grignau genes into your genome. You were still young enough . . . And we kept an eye out to see what would happen."
"Y-you experimented on your daughter!? You made me a guinea pig for alien DNA!?" I screamed. "What kind of monsters . . . Why? Why did you do this?"
"You were sick. You would have died. So we did the only thing we could think of to save you," My father said, staring at his feet. I took a couple of deep breaths, willing the build-up of anger in my chest to deflate.
"What does this mean? I'm a Grignau? I'm like those things that invaded? Some kind of monster?"
"No, not exactly," mom began. "You are still human. You did inherit some of their abilities. Tougher skin, for instance."
"What else?" I asked, considering it.
"Honestly, we have no idea. That's why we're here. We need to figure out what you can do. And what you want to do with whatever you can do."
My parents designed some tests for me to do. I worked at it for a long time. Eventually, they couldn't find a way to make anything weigh enough for me to not just juggle it. They also said that I somehow kept structural integrity with my mind. Dad said if I wasn't doing that, I would still be able to lift whatever, but because my hands are small, things would break around me still. So, I was grateful for that. I also could run super fast. The lab was too small to really tell how fast. This was kind of a problem, though. My speed came out of nowhere, and the first time it did, I ran through eight walls and a girder, breaking it and almost bringing the parking structure down on top of me. It was tough to control. So was my strength. I broke chairs, tables, beakers, everything.
The last thing that we figured out was that I could fly. And by figuring it out, I accidentally ran off a building. Flying was sure helpful because it was a pretty tall building. I could fly as fast as I could run, but my parents always wanted me to slow down. When I did go that fast, it shattered windows. It was also really hard to stop. But I practiced constantly; I figured out how the stability thing worked; I could control my strength. At least until something annoyed me. I could control my speed until I got bored.
=== Curt ===
I spent a lot of time helping people clean up the rubble caused by these superhero battles. There was always a lot of damage, whether it be against supervillains, aliens, dinosaurs that madmen reconstituted, or anything else. Broken buildings. Occasionally, I would stumble upon some discarded piece of technology. I would collect it and spend some time figuring out how it worked. It was amazing what they left behind. But I guess if you're a billionaire on your way to becoming a trillionaire, there's no need to collect some measly scraps. I did, though, throughout high school and trade school. I learned a lot from those little pieces. Many of them were more versatile than the inventor would have considered. The employee was undoubtedly some poor schlub who would never get credit for his work with Bion or someone else to take it for them. Unfortunately, tinkering doesn't pay the bills, and I had to get a job to ensure I could survive in the society we decided to craft.
So, I went into IT. And let me tell you, IT is never going anywhere. Because dear god, are people stupid. Ninety percent of my job is just teaching the same people, week after week, how to log into their email. What Two-Factor Authentication is. Why they shouldn't buy ten thousand dollars worth of gift cards and send them to the "CEO" with a qmail domain? Whether or not their device is on. How to plug in a mouse.
But after work, I'd always get to test out some new toys. After combining eighty-seven different pieces, some of which were a little broken, I did make a functional something. I made a very precise global positioning system. Technically, it was using one of Wan's satellites, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind. It was accurate to within a meter.
After finishing school, I moved to Avalare city and worked for a small firm part-time. I managed to create automated responses for most of the stuff they needed. 'Have you tried turning it off and on again' usually solves most of the problems. Eventually, they might be trained to do that before they contact me. Probably not, though.
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It took fourteen years, but I finally can control my powers! I don't really know how to explain what I'm doing, but it works, and that's all that matters! I don't accidentally break a cup (usually) or go so fast that every beaker I've ever been around shatters. With a bit of work, I can even go that fast and not break anything.
I was finally free. I also started creating little Tak-Tiks of life in the lab, and a lot of people really liked them. It was usually just lifestyle stuff. My parents forbade me from revealing my powers to anyone. Still, it was so hard to be separated from everyone else. I needed contact. I needed people. So, when I was offered a chance to advertise something. I think it might've been like a weight loss thing, but I didn't care. I just wanted to go out. And I did. I snuck out and flew out to the closest big city. I had grown up in the suburbs and had only visited the city a handful of times.
Avalare City was marvelous. Literally! I marveled at the enormous buildings! Skyscrapers of glass and iron. The tallest building I had ever seen was maybe a quarter of the size of one of the shorter buildings. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking when I bumped into someone, and he fell down. Brought back down to earth, I offered my hand. He took it and pulled himself up, grimacing at the coffee that had stained his shirt and the crushed cup in his hand.
"Watch where you're going," he said in a soft, angry voice.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was just a little distracted. The buildings are so tall!" He was shorter than me by a few inches. He had black hair and a surly scowl. More than anything, he had piercing eyes. Piercing blue eyes. Memories came flooding back to me. All of the bike rides, that time we had to take care of an egg for Home Economics, my first kiss. The look on his face when I left.
"Curtis," I mumbled. I managed to not think about him some days. What could have been? What he was doing, if . . . If he found someone else. I hope he did; I'd never see him again, and it didn't matter. He looked up and met my eyes, and I felt my heart skip.
"Do I know you?" He asked, venom in his voice. "Or do you just say random names when you spill someone's coffee?"
"Curtis? Curtis Reese? Is it really you?"
"No one else volunteered to be, so I'm stuck with the position," he responded dryly. "Who are you?"
"It's me, Cee," I responded. I put my hands on his shoulders, and he shrugged them off, backing up for a moment, studying me as though I were some kind of puzzle to figure out. "It's me, Kari, silly goose."
"Kari. That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time." He shook his head and frowned. "You look good. Well, have a nice day."
"'Have a nice day'? That's all I get? I took your first kiss, and I get 'Have a nice day'?" I asked, a well of pain building in my chest. He looked back. Those were the same eyes. But the skin around them had become harder. He looked bitter and angry and tired. He had always had a streak of that when we were kids, but it looked sharpened. Honed. He had sharp, angular features. He had filled out since I had seen him last. He wasn't too skinny. Actually, he looked strong.
"You should check your email sometimes. There's lots of dangerous spam, but occasionally there's a letter from an old friend asking what happened. Asking you to reach out. To call. To talk to him." His voice was masked behind a wall of cold indifference. "But it might be too late to reconnect. It has been a long time."
"Cee, I'm sorry about that. My parents wouldn't let me reach out. We were . . . I was . . ." My voice trailed off. I couldn't tell him. I had to keep my abilities secret. No one could know. "Can we start over? Get me a soda and some fries? I haven't had fries in ages."
"Fine. We can catch up." He took his phone out of his pocket, flicking through different screens with perfect accuracy. As though this was all he did all day. "49th Avenue and Main Street. 6 o'clock."
"Oh . . . Um. Okay. Yeah." My heart sank. It was so cold, almost clinical. Like it was a dentist's appointment. That hurt. He doesn't seem like the same person. It has been nearly a decade and a half. I hope the boy I knew is still in there somewhere. But it's still nice to see him.
I rushed off to do my little advertisement. It was an energy drink that was supposed to help you lose weight. They called it Energy Bomb. We spent a couple of hours taking a lot of pictures. They had me hold the can and drink from it. It was disgusting. Tasted like battery acid and melted Happy Farmers, a fruity candy that was always too sweet for me. Then they had me say a couple of lines. That took so long because I had to lie. I had to say it tasted great. My voice sounded so stilted. The director sighed. "I'm going to have to cut a lot of these takes together. But we'll get it to work."
They paid me in cash. 500 dollars! I've never seen so much money. I did make some money from my Tik-Taks ad revenue, but my parents managed that, and I never saw it. I wish I had because there were some things I wanted. 500 dollars wasn't going to buy me all those things, but I could get something. And pay for my date with Curty-poo.
=== Curt ===
Kari . . . I thought to myself. She had certainly grown up . . . And filled out. She was a gangly teen the last time I had seen her. She was still tall, but her lips had gained a poutiness; her eyes were no longer a little too big for her face; she had become . . . curvier. Even under a sweater, I could tell. But she was still sweet. Still had that smile that always felt right. Never mind that. I have to get to planning.
I walked into Wan En, Andrew Wan's research and development wing. They were doing a tour for the public, a goodwill gesture to show that they were more than Bion's armory. Andrew Wan had been active for 17 years. He was strong and capable. Had saved the world countless times. And had caused incalculable damage to the areas he fought in. Fleeing people had died from the rubble. The explosive plasma he used had thrown people against walls and given people 5th-degree burns. People died when he fought. He had a few charities that tried to make up for the damage he caused. And undoubtedly, the results would have been worse if he had not been there to stop threats.
But it was not enough. He was a trillionaire; he had more money than several countries combined, and that was just his personal wealth. His company was worth multiple trillions. And he benefited from being Bion. His company was given grants to develop new weapons for the military. He sold toys and had a ton of public goodwill. And he used his wealth to amass more wealth.
The tour was pretty basic. A smiling blonde woman in a formal pantsuit and tied-back hair showed us all the public projects like the genetic studies; energy developments that would be lent out to struggling communities; a few of the older weapon developments; an entire section devoted to Bion that had various older versions of the suits he had developed. Or at least replicas of them. I had collected several pieces of the real thing. I had to grant that he was a genius. And when he noticed the little guys he accidentally crushed under the might of his larger-than-life persona, he tried to help them. The problem with being an intellectual giant, he sometimes could not see the people below him.
There were security cameras everywhere. People in relatively nice suit jackets that mostly concealed the outline of weapons that were ready to be drawn in an instant. I kept a mental tally of all of the guards that I saw. I had loaded a digital map into my G.P.S. system. The system I had built from the scrapped technology that was just lying around from heroes like Bion. Alien technology too advanced for anyone on earth. Technology that had made Wan En one of the most powerful corporations in the world.
There was a break in the tour for the participants to go to the bathroom, grab some snacks, whatever. I stepped into one of the stalls and took out a pair of glasses. I had made these glasses myself. When I put them on, the lenses instantly darkened to an opacity, so I could just barely see the world outside. Symbols and a map appeared on the inside. It was invisible to any onlookers, but I didn't want them to see what else I was doing. I flicked my eyes, and the map shifted to another part. I was pretty sure this is where it would be. I threw out my hand, and a small remote came out of my sleeve. One that fit itself to my fingers. I snapped, and before the sound had faded, the bathroom had been replaced with a laboratory.
=== Kari ===
I left the tiny studio we were shooting in, money in hand. I pocketed it and grinned to myself. Now to do a little shopping. Get me some new clothes. Today's a great day! Maybe I can get something that will put Cee on edge enough to get him to drop the cold shoulder. That'd be so nice. I found myself in an outdoor mall. There were shops and smells of food and so many people! I had never seen so many. I found a 25 Evermore and went in. I looked through their selection and found some stuff I liked. They had a changing room, and I tried some things on. A cute shirt that was cut off at the mid-drift. I had also grabbed a hoodie that also ended at the mid-drift. They are a little expensive and maybe a bit too small, but they're so cute! I thought to myself. I found a nice pair of jeans and a skirt that both went well with it. Fortunately, the skirt wasn't too tight, but it was a little shorter than mom would ever let me wear, but I liked that about it. I was 28. I shouldn't let her treat me like a kid anymore!
A loud crash brought me back to reality. Then another crash. People were screaming. I rushed out of the dressing room, the door swinging hard and slamming into the wall, cracking the drywall. In the next instant, I was at the window, looking around. The cashier was hunched down a little bit. She looked a little apprehensive, but way less than she should be.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Some bastard is out there wrecking everything," She responded derisively. Her hands were shaking. She was terrified, but she also seemed annoyed with the situation.
"Does this happen a lot?" I asked. To be so cynical of the situation, I imagine it had to happen a lot.
"A few times a month. I think this is the eighth time this month. Think these freaks are harassing us more and more," the woman said, then ducked further when the man came stomping through. "Get down! He might be looking for a hostage!"
Someone had to do something. The man flung a car through the air, which came crashing down, the windows broke, and the hood crumbled.
"Aw, man! I had 4 more payments on that!" The woman behind the counter cried out. "I knew I should have bought Meta-Insurance. But it's just so expensive."
I had to do something. I couldn't just let this happen. My mom's voice echoed through my head. We have to keep you a secret. If people knew what we did, they could take you away from us. It's too dangerous. They could hurt you. Or use you. Throw us in jail. I shook my head and walked over to the counter, putting money down. The total came to about half of what I had. I can't just sit back and do nothing! Maybe I could hide my face somehow. There was a little display of sunglasses with a large pair that would cover some of my face. At least make it a little hard to recognize me. I put down an extra twenty, grabbed the shades, and put them on. I grabbed my hood and pushed all of my hair inside. I pulled on the strings and looked at the mirror on top of the display. When I put on the sunglasses, it changed my look. I didn't think anyone would recognize me. I rushed back and grabbed my clothes and put them in a bag. While I ran out the door, I turned around and said, "Keep the change!"
=== Curt ===
There was a scientist milling about, and I hid behind a table. I was pretty sure she had not seen me. She went about her business. I sat on my knees and raised my head just barely above the table I was crouched behind. She was bent over a table with a soldering iron. I could not see what she was working on, but it didn't matter. I made my way around the table and looked at some other projects strewn somewhat haphazardly around the room. After examining things for a moment, I found what I was looking for. I took out a screwdriver and went to work; it took me a couple of minutes to disconnect the piece. I was in one of the Biolabs and found one of the artificial flesh generators.
With the help of a local doctor, I had built most of one, but the 3D flesh printer was too complicated and required certain elements I could not gain access to. After it was disconnected, I stored it and some pieces of the material used to create the false flesh in a bag. The scientist turned around and yelped as I was getting ready to leave. She composed herself a little. "Oh, I hadn't seen . . . Wh-who are you?"
I jumped a bit and turned to her. I grinned at her and flicked my wrist, causing the remote to fly into my hands. I moved my eyes, bringing the map of the area around. I raised my hand to snap and said, "Nobody."
With a snap of my fingers, I felt the energy wrapping around me. I was back in the bathroom. I padded out of the restroom and found the rest of the group, carefully trying not to draw attention to my laptop bag that contained my ill-gotten gains. The tour guide was wrapping up her explanation of the last stop on her little tour when two of the security guards came up. They moved on me from two opposite sides. The tour guide is what tipped me off. She had noticed them and her eyes went wide. I glanced into a reflective surface and caught their distorted image. Their eyes seemed to be on me. They hadn't taken out their weapons yet. Damn it. I should've knocked her out.
"Stop right there," one of the guards said, his hand in his jacket. I turned and looked between them.
"Sorry, can't do that," I said, preparing to run. My glasses' opacity had shifted so I could pay attention to both of them. My system had started targeting them. I threw out my wrist, and my little machine jumped into my hand. Both of the guards drew their weapons in an instant and aimed them at my chest. My targeting system honed in on their guns.
"If you make another move, we will fire," the other guard said. He sounded a little more sympathetic. "If you surrender, you won't be harmed."
"Sorry. This is promised to someone else. Can't disappoint them," I said, taking a step back. They both pulled their triggers. Bright white lasers shot out of their guns. In the instant, before they did so, I snapped my fingers. Two small circling portals opened up between me and where I predicted the trajectory of their shots would be. I was off on one of the shots and tried to get out of the way. It struck me and searing hot pain radiated throughout my entire shoulder. The other portal I had made caught the blast and flew out of another portal that I had opened at the same time behind the security guards. It hit one of them in the back and threw him forward. I gripped my shoulder. The burning sensation radiated through my chest. The laser had hit the strap of my bag and burned through it. I grabbed my luggage and dashed back into the Bion Museum, panting. Sweat slicked down my chest; laser hits were no joke. The two guards chased me, firing. I brought up a map of the city and started cycling through. My concentration was broken, though, as one fired and shattered the glass, holding the mannequin dressed as Bion Mark IV.
I have to get out of here, the thought echoed through my head. The guards cornered me, approaching me from either side. Both of them leveled their smoking guns. One was limping but still up. More guards rushed in from behind them, their firearms trained on me. I swallowed. My eyes flicked between them, and the digital maps superimposed over them. I had to make a decision. I concentrated on the closest six and opened portals where I thought their fire would come from. The portals were just large enough to catch the laser fire. But I couldn't do more than six. The portals were too big. Their counterpart portals opened up somewhat randomly spaced out.
All of them fired on me, and all hell broke loose. Most of their shots hit around me. I took another two blasts, burning my flesh and destroying the lower half of my shirt. The burning sensation radiated up over my side and my stomach. My eyes teared up, and I could barely keep them open, eyes flicking through different parts of the city. The blasts I redirected went everywhere, slamming into other places. Glass shattered, and one or two of the shots struck a guard. They scattered. In the chaos, I finally chose a location. Two, actually, just in case they tracked me. I snapped my fingers and appeared on a rooftop about twenty miles from Wan En. I made my way down a fire escape and limped onto the street. I made it about a block before I snapped again.
This time I appeared in a small, clean little workspace. There were several operating tools on a small metal sheet. The only disorderly thing was a machine that was a mirror to the one I had deconstructed. It was a wreck, relatively speaking. There was a dark-skinned person with raven black hair tied into a ponytail reviewing some files on a computer screen. They looked over at me and sighed. "Again, Curt?"
"Thought I'd give you something to do, Des." I shambled over to another chair and sat down. I managed to slide the bag to them. Or most of the way.
"What was it this time? Bullets?" They asked as they crossed the room and opened up the bag. Taking out the machine parts and the fuel I had stolen. They nodded and put them on the table. "Either way, I bet you'll make me patch you up before I can get this thing built, huh?"
"Laser blasts, this time," I said, groaning as I tried to pull my shirt off. They crossed the room over to me and helped me strip. I looked down at my chest. There was cauterized flesh surrounding severely burnt sections on my left shoulder, right side, and stomach. There wasn't much left of my shirt anyway.
"You're lucky," they said with a sigh, bringing out a balm. "These are low energy blasts. They weren't trying to kill you, at least."
"If I was lucky, I wouldn't have been hit in the first place," I responded.
"Mmm," Des responded dismissively. "Well, I can put a balm on it to reduce the pain, but until I get a flesh re-constructor, I can't do anything but barely patch you up."
I groaned and pulled myself up to my feet, stumbling over to the machine parts they had put to the side. "Work, work, work."
I pulled out my tools, took their office chair, and rolled it over to the disordered machine. They followed me and started to apply some balm. I winced. "Not now. I'll get this done, and we will just replace the nerves."
"Until then, I need you to be in working order enough to finish," Des responded, absently applying the gooey liquid. I started making the connections. I had made the plugs ready for what I figured the connections might be, but I had to make some adjustments. They were atypical. Probably for this exact situation. But it wasn't too hard to adjust. "So, lasers, huh? Do I want to know where you got this?"
"Probably not. Wouldn't watch the news for a few days to make sure," I responded, wincing as they massaged it in.
"You don't need to do this, you know. We can get by without this. I did before."
"Yeah, but this will make things easier. Make your patients better able to recover." I slotted in the machine and started screwing it into place, then loaded some of the artificial flesh into a container. Then I powered it on. I cursed myself for not grabbing the operating system. I'd have to program that from scratch. Unless I went back . . .No, that would probably be too dangerous. Wan En would probably up their security. And if they had wanted to kill me, they would have this time.
Des tsked at me as I scooted over to the control. "This ain't Sherwood, and you ain't Robin Hood."
"Only because I don't know how to fire a bow," I said, booting it up. I had already built some of the operating system, but it was hard to predict what would be necessary. I winced as they squeezed my side, working some balm into it.
"I'm serious. This is going to get you killed," Des said, pulling me around to face them. Our eyes met. "There are some powerful people out there. People who can kill you without any effort.
=== Kari ===
I rushed out the door and found a hulking mass of what looked like a sidewalk come to life. I sped towards him, a gust of wind blowing up dust, debris, and papers in my wake. People hiding on the street yelped and dived out of the way. I stood in front of this thing, my voice shaking. "Stop!"
"Little girl, get out of my way!" The voice of the thing in front of me was like two stones grinding against each other. I stood my ground. When I didn't move, he raised his fist and backhanded me. I flew into a nearby wall, slamming into the stone, which crumpled beneath me. The glass in the windows shattered. I groaned slightly and pulled myself out of the wall; my ears were ringing; my face stung. I shook my head, and my vision cleared. I had never been hit that hard. But after a moment, I was fine.
He continued to walk forward. Several police officers had created a barrier and aimed their guns at him. They fired upon him, to no effect. He stomped on, slamming two officers in his way. I watched as they were crushed into the door of cars on either side of their attacker. I heard metal crunch and their necks snap. I watched their bodies fall limply to the ground.
I balled my fists; I launched myself off the ground, the cement under my feet shattering. I flew straight into his back. The cars in front of him were knocked to the side. We slammed into the ground, and he turned, resting on his back. He punched me, and I went flying again, this time straight up into the air. I caught myself and flew back down to him. He stood up and grabbed me by the neck. For a big guy, almost ten feet tall, he was quick. He slammed me to the ground a few times and threw me. I stopped myself again and then flew towards him; I threw a haymaker. It didn't have all that much force in it; I don't like hurting people. It was basically a love tap. He caught it and tossed me to the side.
"Stop this! I don't care about you. I just want them!" The man shouted in his gravelly voice.
I flew back and stopped. "And who are they?"
"The ones that turned me into this," he gestured to himself. "The ones who made me into a monster!"
"What made you a monster is when you decided to hurt other peo-" I was cut off when he slammed a fist into my face, breaking my new glasses. My clothes were torn. I grimaced and pulled myself out of the crater I had created. My hands shook. I took a few deep breaths, trying to quell the rage building in my chest. It wasn't working. I charged forward, and he raised his hand to catch my fist. I dived to the side and threw an uppercut. The stony exterior cracked, and he flew up. There was a small dispersion of air around the strike; I did it again, shattering more and more stone; blood leaked from his neck. I let him fall to the ground, creating a crater himself. I took a few deep breaths and came back to myself.
There was blood on my knuckles. Not my blood. I barely felt anything. My hands were still shaking. Less from rage than from the results of what I did. I panicked and flew down to his crater; he shifted some but fell back down with a soft crunch. He's still alive. Thank God. I don't know what I'd do if I . . . People started gathering around us. People with camera phones. I looked around. They were asking questions.
"Who are you?"
"Are you a new hero?"
"What are your powers?"
I smiled and waved into the cameras, trying to greet them all. Then I remembered. I can't get caught. Oh no. Mom is going to be pissed when she finds out. I charged off, this time remembering to create a telekinetic panel to disperse the force of my launch and protect the curious onlookers and the ground around me. I flew at my top speed to get back to mom and dad's lab.
=== Curt ===
"There was a break-in at Wan Enterprises today. They didn't tell us exactly what was stolen, saying that it was classified information. They did give us a description of the perpetrator," the reporter read off with a slightly Australian accent. It then cut to a press conference with Wan En towering behind the speaker.
"Earlier today, a white man with dark hair broke into a secured part of our labs and took some classified technology. He has the ability to disappear without a trace. Of course, we are working with the A.C.P.D. to discover the identity of this thief," the company's public relations person read off.
"This theft matches the description of a couple of other events that have happened around the city and a few others nationwide," the reporter continued, a smile spreading on his face. "I think it's time we gave this mysterious, dark-haired thief a name. He has the ability to disappear and reappear at will. Word on the street has been calling him 'Esvanir'."
"In other news, we do have a new hero. There was an attack by a new villain in the middle of the Alva Open Air Mall. Which was brought to a surprising halt by a powerful woman wearing sunglasses and a hoodie," another reporter went on. A clip of the two fighters entangled, the smaller figure punching, the larger into the air, played between the reporters. Then it cut to her standing, broken glasses still hiding her face. Her clothes were torn. People asked who she was. "Not much is known about the woman who stopped this terrible foe."
The first reporter cut in. "Well, we do know that this gal is smashing! She was smashed into buildings, breaking them, causing untold damage. She smashed the cement-man into the ground, breaking it. Truly a force to be reckoned with."
"Too right, Dave. She is smashing," the woman beside him nodded wisely. "A smashing gal, indeed."
=== Kari ===
"Smashing Gal?" Mom asked, her eyebrows taking up her entire forehead.
"Well, um . . ." I grimaced; I really didn't like that name. Smashing Gal is just terrible. I couldn't think of an excuse. "I couldn't just stand back and do nothing. People were getting hurt."
"People always get hurt, honey," my mother said, sitting next to me.
"Then why can't I help people get hurt less?" I asked.
"Because it's not your responsibility," she said, patting my hand.
"But I have these powers. I should use them to help people. Like Bion does. Or the police. Firefighters!" I insisted. My mom shook her head. My father sat down next to me.
"Dear, it's really dangerous. We don't know the limi-" I cut him off.
"We don't know my limits because we can't find them! I can fly! I can be thrown through a building and be just fine! I can lift God only knows how much!" My parents looked at each other guiltily, then down at the floor. "And I can help people! I can save them. You said that the goal of this project of yours was to help fight off threats. Well, I can fight off threats. A-and . . . And you can't stop me! I'll do this with or without you!"
=== Curt ===
"No one knows about me. How can there be 'word on the street'?" I said after watching the tweeted video.
"There's probably not. David Thrawn just likes naming metas. He named 'Smashing Gal' in the same broadcast. He gave me my name," Cindi said a few hours later, sprawling across my bed. She had been there when I got home. Just let herself in. I found the door unlocked. It was her way of showing me she was there. Not that any lock could have possibly stopped her. If Cindi wanted in somewhere, she would be there. Anyone or anything in her way be damned. She crawled on top of me, taking my phone and tossing it to the side. "Esvanir. Essy. I kind of like it. What about it, Essy? Want to help me on a job? You probably won't get blasted to hell on one of my jobs. And if you do, I'll always be there to bail you out."
"You don't need me. You just want company."
"I want your company. There are entire forums of guys willing to kill for a night on the town with the Buck Cherry," She whispered, wrapping her arms around me. Buck Cherry was the name Thrawn had given her almost six years ago. She was caught on a security camera stealing a painting of giant cherries. She was entirely naked at the time. Her face had been hidden, but it did capture everything else. She could walk through walls and fly. She was not like the other guys. The only drawback is that she had to be naked to do it. Most people would be too mortified to do it ever again. She kept doing more and more daring thefts, loving the attention. The way that the news and other sites had to edit around her nudity. The way forums and groups on Twitter and Facebook had obsessed over her.
"Well, okay," I said. She grinned and pulled me into a kiss. She always got what she wanted.
Having powers made Cindi sloppy. She relied almost exclusively on her natural talent and . . . distracting physique to get away with her things. It had gotten her captured a handful of times, but by the time the cops put her in the back of the car, Cindi was out of her cuffs. By the time they drove away, she had slipped away, leaving behind the coat or whatever they used to cover her up. Sometimes, I thought she would get caught on purpose because it was more fun, she hated the client or both.
"It won't work," I said simply after she told me what she was after.
"What do you mean it won't work? I can phase through walls, and you can teleport!"
"You try to phase through this wall, you'll be shocked until you're tangible again, and your powers will be shorted out for a few hours. Enough time to book you. Or kill you."
"How do you know?"
"Because I was planning on liberating some of the stuff a year or so back. Got a look at the security system. Marcelli's a nut. Hates metas. Specifically installed something to keep 'those freaks and thieves out'," I said, putting air quotes around his words.
"Okay, that stops me; what about you?"
"Part of the system detects weight changes. My tech briefly increases gravity when I use it. An electrified cage comes down and shocks me until I'm dead. Or unconscious."
"So, you're just going to give up. Let him beat you. Let him be smarter than you," Cindi said, poking my bare chest. We had gotten a little distracted after the news broadcast. Worst of all, she called me Esvanir when she climaxed.
"Lots of people are smarter than me. Bion, tons of the people he hires, probably Professor Mind," I said noncommittally.
"And Marcelli?" She prodded.
"Has enough money to hire smarter people."
"Yeah, he solves all his problems with money, alright," she said, laying her head back on my chest. Her long, wavy hair covered her face. But revealing the cherry tattoo on her shoulder blade. Her hair didn't entirely conceal the double cherries on the small of her back either. The media had gone nuts after she got them; I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke next. She thought she had me. "Hurts a lot of people to get that much money, too. Shame no one is smart enough to put him in his place."
I screwed up my face. "We can't do it tonight."
"Oh? But we can do it."
"We . . . We need to do recon. Make sure he hasn't upgraded the system since last year. And we're going to grab a piece of a computer he has while we're stealing your statue," I said. Cindi leaned up and kissed me, mouth quirked up into a grin. Her blue eyes poured into mine.
"Deal."
=== Kari ===
Mom and dad came around to my line of thinking. It took a couple of days, but they did. Mostly because I refused to do any tests. Broke a bunch of beakers and leaked chemicals everywhere too. It wasn't fair. What are they going to do? Keep me here until I'm 90? I thought to myself. A few days later, I found a package on my bed. I sped towards it and tore it open in an instant. Before me fell a somewhat frumpy-looking suit. It was in my favorite color, pink. With red accents. But it was so . . . Frumpy. I sped off and found mom and dad.
"What's this about?" I asked when I found them.
"Well, that's your costume. For when you . . . Fight crime," mom said hesitantly. In a spin, I tried it on. It was a tight fit in some places. It didn't show an inch of skin. Also, there was a long skirt that went down to my mid-calf.
"I don't think I can fight in this, though," I said, gesturing.
"Why not?" Daddy asked.
"Because if I tried, I'd trip over the skirt. And besides, it's not really what I want to wear."
"What would you change about it?" Mom asked, disapproval already crawling into her tone.
"Well, I like the skirt idea. But I'd shorten it to mid-thigh," I said, tracing a line to about where I would make the cut. "Make it a bit tighter. Make everything a bit tighter. Cut the chest right here."
"You'd be practically naked!" My mom shrieked.
"Mom, c'mon. I'm 28. And besides, I'd be wearing a lot more than Buck Cherry."
"Buck Cherry is a harlot," my mother said evenly. "And this will protect you better."
"Protect me? From what? What can hurt me? It took you guys three years to get a blood sample. And you had to use a diamond-tipped drill. And that broke."
Mom and dad looked at each other. "Well, what about your identity? How will we protect that?"
I thought about it for a moment. "I have an idea! We can make it have two purposes. A tinted sheer face mask. It'll keep the wind out of my eyes when I'm flying and hide my face."
"What if they recognize your body?"
"Mom, c'mon. No one's going to recognize me from my abs. They're just going to be jealous of them," I said proudly. She sighed and nodded.
We spent the next few days reworking the costume.
=== Curt ===
"Alright, we will have three minutes to get in and out. That shouldn't be a problem," I said, looking over the blueprints we had stolen. Marcelli had upgraded his system since last time. And I figured there were a few things off the books, too, but no plan survives the first contact, after all.
"Finally," Cindi said, wrapping her arms around me.
"I still wish we had more time to ensure there are no surprises."
"We already wasted three days staking the place out. We have a plan. It should work."
"Well, the good news is that there won't be any metas around. We just have to worry about regular people."
"Easy peasy," Cindi said with a smile.
"You say that, but I am a vanilla human, and I still beat your ass every time," I responded, reaching over to tickle her.
"You? Vanilla? Sure, hon," she said, slapping my hand away. "Besides. You just teleported me 40 miles away. I hardly call that winning."
"Stops the fight," I pointed out. Cin conceded the point with a shrug.
"Maybe. If we get out okay, I'll let you beat my ass in a different way. As long as you still have the silk ropes." She grinned at me. Cindi was an odd one. She usually blows (pun intended) into my life for a couple of days, and it would be great. Cin is always really affectionate. We would pull off a job together, then she'd disappear for weeks or months at a time. When I was with her, I was the only one that mattered. But I suspected she didn't remember I existed when I wasn't.
We got a little distracted again.
=== Kari ===
I stretched out my arms and charged forward. I could never hear the thunderous boom I caused, but my parents had recorded it for me. At one point, they had managed to measure how fast I was going. I was hypersonic. But that wasn't necessary in the city; I could cover the entire city in almost an instant. It was maybe 400 miles. Not that big. When I got within Avalare limits, I slowed down to a much more reasonable 100 miles per hour or so. I flew down and watched the city. I heard something coming towards me fast. Less than a second later, I saw it. I stopped completely, and a large, slightly blue, transparent missile narrowly missed me.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here? And why did you approach the city at Mach 8?" A voice called out. Seconds later, a man flew up to me and geared himself up for a fight.
"Mach 8? I can reach Mach 8? That's so cool!" I said, smiling. I even did a little loop-de-loop. The man lowered his hands and stared at me.
"Y-you didn't know?"
"I knew it was hypersonic, but I didn't know how much exactly."
"Oh . . . okay," He said, scratching his chin. Then resumed his fighting stance. "Well, why were you going so fast? Why are you here? Are you here to rob a bank or destroy the city?"
"No! I'm here to be a hero. Like Bion, or . . . Hey, you're Professor Mind!" I said, and I rushed towards him and examined his suit. He was a tall man, fit. His costume was blue and white, with PM emblazoned in a slightly darker blue on his chest. He backed up instantly and summoned a shield. I whistled. I had seen his powers from videos and stuff, but this was way cooler. His features softened, and his shield faded when I asked, "Can I have your autograph? Actually, three autographs. One for me and two for my . . . Friends."
"You . . . Who are you?" He asked again. I sighed and looked down.
"Smash Gal," I muttered in the smallest possible voice. He said he couldn't hear me. "I'm. . . I'm Smash Gal."
"Smash Gal?" He thought for a moment, then laughed. "You're that girl from the video? In the hoodie and the torn-up jeans?"
"I didn't have a costume then!" I said defensively. "And I'm going to get the name changed!"
"Good luck with that one. Once you become a hashtag, that's your name forever. Trust me," he pointed to his chest. "Might as well just embrace it now."
"So, you're here to help? That's great. Can always use more heroes," He said, gesturing for me to follow him. I did. We flew past a building, and I caught sight of the two of us. And my new costume. His mask barely hid his face. Really just going around the eyes. His hair, nose, mouth, and chin were all visible. And he was good-looking. Strong. Especially for someone who didn't have to be. Professor Mind was purely a telekinetic and a telepathic hero. He created images with his mind.
I stopped to admire my reflection, and he watched on. We kept the color scheme and added white to it. But we had changed everything else. I was wearing a skirt that ended a good three inches above the knee. I wanted it more, but mom threw a fit at the thought. She had also insisted on stockings. We got mauve boots and a matching cape that came just past my knees. Every part of the trim matched as well. My head was wrapped up entirely, hiding my hair. My ears stuck out so I could hear. Well, that was the excuse I gave. I could hear just fine, but it was uncomfortable. We had left my mid-drift entirely exposed. I had worked hard to get the ab definition I had, and by God, I was going to show it off. The skirt and top were both lavender-pink, except for the trim. We added a white belt and a white line from the neckline to the bottom of the shirt, between my breasts. Mom and dad weren't happy that I was bringing attention to my chest, but I won in the end. There was white and mauve trim lining the sides. And the headwrap was also mauve. Over my face was a face shield. It was darker on the exterior than it was on the inside. Enough to hide my face, but I could see perfectly. I look hot!
"Yeah, you do," Professor Mind said. He closed the distance between us.
"Oh, did I say that out loud?" I asked, blushing.
"No, some thoughts are louder than others, and it's hard for me to tune it out," He said, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Let's go. I'll show you the ropes, Smash Gal."
It sounds less stupid when he says it, I thought. I let him guide me. Dusk had fallen, and it was dark. The city was so loud compared to the small compound I was used to being in. We flew for a while until we found a couple of robbers sticking up a small bodega. One of them unloaded a clip onto me before realizing that the bullets just bounced off. It didn't even tear my costume! Mom said it was made of some unique material that was resistant to everything. It is dry clean only, though. Which means I'll have to find a way to dry clean it; I considered that for a moment before charging forward and body-checking one of the thieves. He started to go flying before I caught his foot and lowered him to the ground. Well, let him fall to the ground. Professor Mind had already wrapped up the other one in tight blue bindings.
"You're pretty strong," he said.
"You ain't seen nothing yet!" I promised with a grin.
=== Curt ===
We got to Marcelli's place a little after dark. I knew enough about programming to know that I couldn't hack into his security system. So, instead, I was just going to overload it. I grabbed Buck Cherry, and we snapped over to the wall. I used an ultrasound I had . . . borrowed from Des and retrofitted it for other uses, and found a wire. After Cindi had stripped, I boosted my partner up, and she slid through the wall slightly and gripped and pulled out a wire. It wasn't enough to just snip it. So instead, I stripped it, attached a small battery to it, and maxed out the voltage, overloading the system. I took all of her clothes and put them in my bag. She gripped my hand and slipped us through the wall.
We had timed the guards pretty well. And only the inside of the house could detect us. At least now that the outer cameras were down for a few minutes until the backup system kicked in. She floated us up a couple of feet above the ground. She can fly. Not very fast. In fact, it's slower than most people jog. But it's better than falling to the planet's core, getting so hot that she can't concentrate on her insubstantiality, and burning to a crisp in an instant. She hadn't liked it when I pointed out that this was not only possible but reasonably probable.
Buck Cherry and I flew through the wall, and she kept us above the ground and away from the sensors. Fortunately, only she needed to be naked for this. She claimed it was a huge waste and a disappointment that I wasn't naked. In fact, I had put on a mask. Just in case there were more cameras. Cindi had a different identity she could crawl into. Several, in fact. If I was caught, I'd go to prison for life. And some people can't just walk out of it. I was entirely dependent on a fluke accident that I managed to understand and repeat. She lowered us down and became substantial, straddling me. "Hey, big boy. How you doin'?"
I rolled my eyes and pushed her off of me. "Come on, we have a job to do and about two and a half minutes to do it."
"For you, that gives us about a minute to cuddle," she said, pouting.
"You know me; I always recover quickly enough to get you what you need," I pointed out, walking over to the other side of the room. We rushed into the house. I took out a drill gun, unscrewed a panel, then pulled out some wires. I attached one of the same batteries and overloaded the whole grid of the house this time. The lights flickered and then went off. We had agreed to do the computer first since the statue was heavier and harder to move. We got to the computer room with little trouble. It had about 8 screens and was manned by a security guard. With no power, he was desperately trying to bring it back on.
Cindi made her way over to him, grabbed him by the chin, and he convulsed for a moment and then fell back to his chair, slumped over. I smiled at her and nodded, crouching under the desk. I unplugged the computer and just stuffed it into my industrial backpack. Once we got out of the room, the lights came back on. "Oh. Oh no."
"That's bad, isn't it? I thought we had another . . ." Cherry mentally calculated. "Minute, minute and a half."
"Must've been a part of the upgrade that we missed. Damn it. Come on. Let's get your piece. Hurry. It's going to be a smash and grab."
"Oooh. I love smash and grabs," Cin said, winking as she passed me. We got into the art room. There were a lot of pretentious pieces from all over the world. Everything clashed. He had Ming Dynasty Pots next to Edo Era paintings. But we came for an Egyptian piece. A massive statue of a panther. A symbol of Baast. It weighed almost half a ton and was going to be really difficult to teleport. But it's what we're here for. Let's get to it, I thought, rushing over to it. Cindi was right next to me. It was behind a glass cube. I grabbed one of the swords, a nice piece from the Middle East, and smashed the glass. The alarm went off, and a cage slammed down around us. "I thought you said that was a bad idea. That it would electrocute us until we couldn't use our powers!"
"Five . . ." I snapped and opened a portal between us and the statue. "Four . . ."
"The counting is making me nervous," Cherry said. I motioned to the statue, but she was already there.
"Three . . ." It scraped against the ground, barely budging. I moved over to help, and it moved a little more. "Two . . ."
=== Kari ===
We had circled the city when I heard the alarm. I froze and looked over at the ceiling. Professor Mind had stopped, too, looking at me. "What is it?"
"There's an alarm. Over there." I pointed in the general direction before taking off. Professor Mind followed. I didn't go my full speed, but he still struggled to keep up. When he saw the place, he put a giant blue hand in front of me.
"Stop!" He cried out. I stopped in an instant, just before the hand.
"What? Someone's stealing something. We need to stop them."
"That's Vinny Marcelli's place. He's. . . Not friendly to us metas. He might kill us if we break-in."
"I'd like to see him try!" I said, diving below the hand. I burst through the window and accidentally slammed into a set of bars. I stopped and looked around. There was a masked figure and a . . . naked woman, hugging a statue.
"Zero!" The man called out and winced before looking around. Professor Mind flew in after me and looked around the scene, grimacing. The woman I now recognized as Buck Cherry did a final push on the statue, and it fell through a . . . hole in the floor. The portal disappeared with a snap, leaving elegant sandstone behind.
"Stop, fiends!" I cried out, internally cringing as the last syllable left my lips.
"Fiends?" The other three asked at the same time.
"Essy, let's go," Buck Cherry insisted.
"Can't. We need to buy . . ." The masked man responded, looking up slightly, then grimaced. "Thirty seconds? Fuck."
"Oh, is that all?" The woman asked, irritation plain in her voice.
"You don't have two seconds," I said, charging forward, throwing a punch. The man managed to duck under my fist, which went through the wall. He stepped to the side only to be grabbed by Professor Mind. He gripped him tight in his translucent bonds. But he had targeted the wrong one. Buck Cherry slipped up next to him and grabbed him by the neck. The Professor collapsed to his knees and the bindings faded away. I pulled my fist from the wall and shook off the drywall from my gloves.
"Super strength, super speed, strength," the man muttered. "You don't match anyone in the city. You're new."
I charged him again, and he barely dodged that hit too. I threw another punch, and this time, I heard a snap, and a hole appeared where my hand was going and a fist . . . my fist slammed into my face. I pulled my hand out of the hole. "What the hell?"
"How much longer?" Buck Cherry whined.
"Uh . . . Eighteen . . . Sixteen seconds," the man said, calculating. He tried stepping to the side again, but I punched where he was going, and he stopped, barely managing to not be clothes-lined by my arm.
=== Curt ===
My glasses had a timer counting down. It took a lot of energy to transport something that heavy. It also took a lot of power to transport something that far. But my cut would be worth it. If I lived to collect it. I dodged another punch made by this pink menace. She's faster than me by magnitudes. The only way I can avoid her is by starting before she starts moving. Which is really difficult to predict. I need to get over to Cherry before too long. Twelve seconds. I took out another toy that I had in my pocket and hoped. I slammed the thing against the attacking woman's bare abdomen and pressed the button. It was a modified taser. Powered by three of the batteries I had used to knock out the house's power.
"That tickles," the woman in pink said. "My turn."
She brought her fist down on my back, and I slammed to the ground. Cherry looked at me. Then down at Professor Mind. She shook her head, took her hand from his temples, and booked it. That's fair, I thought. She got what she came for. I pulled myself off of the ground, staggering. Eight seconds. The woman lifted me up by my shirt and pulled back her fist. There was a commotion behind her, and she lurched forward. She dropped me and turned. Marcelli and his guards were all there.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The man demanded. He was the size of a small mountain and made of harder stone. "You moron heroes let her get away! Everything was well in hand before you burst through my door and my cage."
"I was just trying to help. I heard the alarm!" The woman protested. Professor Mind shook his head and crawled to his feet.
"Well, you're doing a great job. Let them get away with my statue and one of them escaped. Are you proud of yourse-" I didn't stick around to hear the rest of it. I snapped my finger. Marcelli, his goons, Professor Mind, and the Pink Woman washed away. When my eyes focused again, I was in my apartment. My cramped apartment. Forty miles from Marcelli's vault-like house. I staggered away. Whoever that was, she hit like a fucking truck. I laid down.
=== Kari ===
"What's the matter, Marcelli?" Professor Mind grimaced, standing straight. "Afraid of what we'll find if we snoop around?"
"I am a legitimate businessman," Marcelli said evenly. "Which is more than I can say for costumed vigilantes. I could talk to the mayor and see what we can do about . . . restricting your actions, freak."
"You're a crook who abuses people for money. A drug-runner. A money launderer," Mind shot back angrily. "And were I truly the vigilante you think I am, I would tear this place apart and find proof of what you're doing."
"Which, if there was anything to find, would never stand up in court. Which is the reason you don't."
I turned away from the boys having their pissing contest. The man in the mask was gone. I frowned. He got away. He . . . disappeared! "Esvanir!"
Both of the men looked at me. Marcelli's men did, too. "Esvanir?"
"That's who that was. Esvanir. He robbed Wan En a couple of days ago."
"Obviously," Marcelli responded in a droll tone, rolling his eyes. "She must be pretty under that mask because she's not quite up to normal standards, mentally, boy."
I growled and charged him, only to be pulled back by something. I tried to reach Marcelli, but the force gripping my foot tightened. And started to pull me back. Through a strained voice, Professor Mind managed to say, "Don't. It's what he wants."
"He called me stupid!"
"And punching me is going to change my mind? Dear, you are very slow." His tone had that same bored, condescending affectation. I hated it.
"C'mon, we'll let them clean it up. Let's go." The Professor released his mental grip on my leg; we flew out together. My hands were shaking. I wanted to go back and throttle that arrogant giant. And Esvanir!
Cindi never checked up on me. That wasn't a surprise, really. She was like water. Fluid. If I tried to force her to stay, she'd freeze up and buck against me. But that's fine. I wouldn't change her. A few days after the Marcelli incident, I remembered I had a meeting with Kari that I had completely spaced. So much had happened between Wan En and planning the Marcelli job. Oh well. Not like it would have amounted to much anyway, I thought, laying on my back. I was pretty beat up from the job. Bruises and welts throbbed painfully. The Woman in Pink is way too fucking strong. I need to stay off her radar in the future. As I scrolled through the ever-changing feed of Twitter, I got a notification and a message.
Notifications [Settings]
[All] | [Mentions]
Kari Stewart @KariStews May 17
@curtreese418 follow me back, you goob
[Comments] 0 | [Retweets] 0 | [Likes] 0 | [Share]
Kari Stewart is now following you. [Follow Back]
I tapped on her profile and looked through it. There were some selfies, a lot of food pictures, and some pictures of her in the city. Links to her Tak-Tik and short videos from it. It was really her, but she had half a million followers; I had five. Not really a good thing to really be visible in my line of work, you understand. I hesitated on tapping the follow button. Old memories surfaced. Bike riding, trampolines, laying across one another, her warm smile, her defending me from bullies. Maybe I should sic her on the Woman in Pink. No one would dare get in the way of Kar. I clicked the follow button and went on my way through her profile. When my app refreshed, I saw that Kari had retweeted a video of the Woman in Pink from some small news profile. I clicked on the video.
"Why are you here?" A curly-haired reporter asked the woman in the tight spandex and the ridiculous face mask, holding the microphone to her. She was strong. She looked like a supermodel in her tights and spandex. Heroes aren't always good-looking, but most are very fit, and in some ways, that's enough. I couldn't see her face. Not really, anyway. Her stupid mask was somewhat like an astronaut's helmet. A shiny, reflective material that was more form-fitted over her face. It distorted her voice.
"I just want to help people. There are so many people who want to hurt others. Thieves and bullies who think that they can just do whatever they want. People like that concrete guy I took down or Esvanir." The way she said my apparent moniker was pure venom.
"You mentioned a man made of concrete. Was that the individual that attacked the Avalare Open Air Mall?"
"Yeah, that was me. I was just in the area and l-left my costume el-elsewhere. Figured it would be a peaceful day," the supposed heroine responded, stammering somewhat.
"So, you're Smash Gal, then?" The reporter asked, barely masking her smile. The Woman in Pink's shoulders sank, and she nodded weakly. She reinflated a moment later.
"I didn't choose that name, but I guess it's as good as any. I am Smash Gal, and I'm here to help!" She puffed out her chest. The spandex-like material stretching some. I frowned at the phone as the video started over again. There was something about her that seemed . . . familiar. Smash Gal. Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one getting an unwanted moniker. I received a message.
Kari Stewart @KariStews
She/Her | BLM
Following 396 Followed by 545,423
Hey, sorry I missed our meetup! I got really busy. Ur not mad, r u? =)
She missed our meeting too? I thought, my frown deepening. That's not like her. Well, it wasn't like her. Oh well, can't be mad at something that I didn't go to anyway. I let the message sit for a while. Percolating a response.
=== Kari ===
I sent the message. I was a little nervous. Curt had always been harsh when people missed plans. He was always so organized. So forward-thinking. He forced me to be so, too. Turns out that's a good thing. I had many followers, and I was always getting notifications, conversations, and DMs. Honestly, it was too much. I stared at the little read sign at the bottom of my message. Oh, God. He's mad; he's so mad. I wish I could tell him. I can trust Curt, right? I could just tell him.
"I'm Smash-Gal, superheroine," I said, my voice echoing in the empty lab room. I didn't have a place yet.
"Of course you are, honey," mom responded absently. "Do you want to go out for patrol? It's a little late."
"Uh . . . Well, I kind of . . . Met up with Curt when I was in the city, mom."
"Curt," mom repeated absently. Her head shot up, eyes wide. "Curt? Curtis? First-Kiss Curt? You saw him?"
"Yeah, First-Kiss Curt," I was still embarrassed that I had told her about that. But she's my mom. I can't hide secrets from my mom!
"What are the chances of that? Who would've thought . . . Did you meet him as you or as . . ." Mom let the sentence drop.
"I was me. Just plain ol' Kari," I said, not realizing that I was relieved I had not met him as Smash Gal. In that costume.
"How is he?"
"He was angry. I . . . I never responded to his emails." This wasn't really my fault. Mom and dad wouldn't let me have access to my email when we first moved. By the time I did have it back, things had changed. It had been so long. I didn't have the same friends. MySpace had faded into obscurity overnight, and everyone was on Facebook. Then everyone was on Twitter. Then everyone was on Tak-Tik. I like Tak-Tik. A lot of the people there are fun, and I can just be goofy. And there are already cosplayers of Smash Gal. Which is so cool! I should create a profile for Smash Gal! If I share a few videos as myself, I'm sure Smash Gal would be a . . . smash hit! I internally groaned at my own pun. Which means I had to share it with the world.
A notification from Twitter brought me back to reality. It was from Curt. I didn't rush over to it. At least not compared to my top speed. Mom came over and peered after my shoulder. "What does he look like?"
Curt Reese @curtreese418
Following 274 Followed by 8
I'm not mad. Honestly, I ended up a little busy and was . . . a bit late. I thought you left, so I didn't stick around for too long.
Haha, NBD. I just got distracted. Do u want to meet up?
Sure. If you want. What do you want to do?
U live in the city. U decide
=== Curt ===
I stared at the message for a long time. I didn't know what to do; I didn't know this person anymore; She isn't my Kari anymore. She's just someone that I used to know. I groaned as the song started to worm its way around my brain. Actually, I thought, this could be a great cover. I could use this meetup as a way of getting close to EnGin. See what their security is like. And there's a lovely little cafe there. Nothing too serious. It's just a meetup. Catching up.
Starburst Cafe. Fifteenth and Madison. 8?
Sounds great! I'll be there!
I spent the rest of the afternoon agonizing over what to wear. It had to be casual and long-sleeved. Ultimately, I decided on a blue sweater and slacks. The shirt was baggy enough to fit my rig up underneath, and it looked okay. I slicked back my hair. God, I feel like a teenager. I wonder if this is what it's like for everyone?
=== Kari ===
"Oh, God! Mom, what do I wear? What do I wear?" I said over my shoulder as I dug through my closet, tossing aside shoes and shirts. "I don't have anything to wear!"
"Kari, come on. It's just a little dinner. Maybe some coffee. You'll look great regardless," mom assured me, picking up my discarded shoes. I could hear the smile in her voice. "Just be yourself. Tennis shoes or heels, dress or pants, you're you, and that's what matters."
"Okay, Hallmark. But what do I wear?" I demanded again. She shook her head, still smiling. She helped me decide, finally. We settled on a floral skirt, my super leggings, heels, and a lovely purple blouse that could cover my costume with tennis shoes. An amalgamation of who I am. I was still a little nervous. I haven't been on a date since . . . ever. Not that I didn't want to. But I was home-schooled. Lab-schooled? Not a whole lot of options. I had snuck out a few times. Found some boys at the park, at convenience stores. I had kissed a few of them. Done a little more than that sometimes. I hadn't told mom or dad about that, but I think she knew. But it was all fun. And if a boy ever went too far, I could always show him what orbit was like. No always means no, but it's not even a question with me. No one can take what I don't want to give. If only all girls had my power to do that.
We put my outfit in a bag. Someone might catch me in street clothes if I fly in at Mach 8. Come to think of it, I doubt there'd be any clothes left! Well, except for my super suit. I had done a couple more patrols of the city and had gotten pretty good at navigating it. I found the restaurant Curt had suggested pretty easy. It was a small place. Cute. Curt was there 10 minutes early. It's just like him. He hasn't changed a bit. I thought. He'd chosen a seat on the outdoor patio. It was a warm night, so that wouldn't be an issue. But it was noncommittal. If he didn't like what was happening, he could bolt. That was also like him. He always had an exit strategy.
I dipped into an alley and instantly put on all my clothes, then checked a compact mirror. I put the blouse on backwards. Damn. I have to practice this! In a spin, it was on correctly. I walked over to him and was there exactly at 8. I put my hand on his shoulder, and he jumped. He looked up at me and put on a smile. "Oh, you scared me."
"I'm not that scary, am I? I asked, smiling. I took the seat across from him. A waitress came by and took our order; I ordered chocolate milk and a sandwich; I was starving after flying that fast. According to mom and dad, I can use calories much much much more efficiently than regular humans; I was still so hungry after flying that fast. "How are you, Curt?"
"I'm well. And yourself?" He said stiffly. Oh, he must still be mad. I would be furious if he didn't try to reach out to me too. But I couldn't. I also couldn't just tell him why. That I was a super-woman.
"I'm super. Just getting used to the city. What have you been up to since . . ." I trailed off. I was going to say since I last saw him, but that had been fourteen years. Tons of things happened, and he was unhappy about it.
"Since middle school?" He asked, his tone a little icy. "The usual. Went to school, got a degree. Doing some work, here and there. What about you? How have the last fifteen years treated you? You look healthy, considering."
"Considering?" I asked, frowning.
"You were sick. That's why you had to move away."
"Oh, right. Yeah. Uh, mom and dad found a treatment regimen that worked. Took some years before I got the . . . condition under control." I wasn't lying. I had a condition. It could be considered medical. And it did take me years to get control over it. The waitress saved me from having to explain further as she sat down our food. Curt had ordered a plain black coffee and a small salad. Which wasn't like him. He was voracious when he was a kid. He had filled out a little since then. No longer the scrawny little kid I first met, bordering on starving to death.
"You look good, Curt. Do you work out?" He blushed, looking away from me. Complimenting shy guys was always so cute. The shy ones never knew how to react. The arrogant ones always tripped up eventually.
"I . . . I do some sparring. Mostly me dodging hits. Had some practice at it, after all," Curt said. I got the sense that there was more to it. But I didn't press on. "As I stated, you look . . . wow. You look great. No longer that lanky girl that was all elbows and knees."
"Like you're one to talk. When we hugged, each one of your ribs stabbed me!" I retorted, unable to keep the smile off my face. He was smiling too; we chatted a bit more. I found out so much. He still played Sorcerer's some. I hadn't really kept up with it, but he said that there was a decent online app for it. It sounded like the game had changed a lot. I'd have to look it up again. I heard a slam in the distance. Crunching stone and screeching metal. I stood up and said, "I have to go . . . To the bathroom."
=== Curt ===
I watched Kari go, smiling. It was almost like old times. Some things just came naturally. But now that she was gone, this was the perfect chance. I put down some cash for the dinner, and the waitress came by as I was pulling on a coat that made me look lumpier and more awkward than I really was. "Don't clean up just yet; we'll be back. Try to hold the table for us, okay?"
She was reticent at first, but I stuffed an extra twenty in her hand, and she just smiled, nodded, and went back to check in on another table. I headed to the bathroom, slipping on my augmented reality glasses, and when I turned down the hall, I snapped. The world went sideways for a moment, but I found myself in the lobby of a building with polished marble floors behind a plant. Before I came to the date, I had mapped out some of the cameras. At least the ones on the outside and a few in the lobby. I looked around carefully. The guard hadn't noticed me yet. Good. I mapped out the cameras, highlighting them with my glasses. There were few blind spots. Makes sense, I guess. EnGin wouldn't skimp out on security. Not with the stuff that they make.
I sketched out some rough calculations with the help of my AR system. I concentrated on one of my projected blind spots and snapped my finger. My stomach lurched as I appeared there. That's why I ate light. Teleportation is rough on the stomach. I stalked over to the elevator; There was no helping it. I had tried to find floor plans, but they were always unavailable for public review. And what's worse is an elevator is a death box. You're trapped. The equations for teleporting when you're moving are incredibly complicated. Momentum is hard to lose, even when you appear somewhere else.
It was possible to negate, but you have to be willing to either be physics' plaything or really, really good at math on the fly. Or program something that is. And that's why I was here. I had found a robust predictive algorithm in Marcelli's systems that allowed him to predict all races with a 1% margin for error. Everything from horse racing to illegal street racing. It took so much into account. It was a marvelous program. And I had started butchering it to make it do what I wanted. I got into the elevator and pressed a random floor. It didn't really matter. There was a camera in here, and I just needed the elevator as a platform. Before the doors were closed, I snapped my fingers, having calculated approximately how high the elevator was. Teleporting blind was really dangerous, too. If I was off, I might get stuck in a wall or slice myself in half. That's why I invented the AR map and had specific places I could return to whenever I wanted. Default spots. The elevator started to move, and I waited for it to stop before snapping again. The elevator doors were closing on a pair of people, and they might have seen me. Fuck! I hate teleporting blind. I had to hurry, in case they did. I pulled on a mask to hide my face. I got to the stairs and looked around. With these, I had access to the whole place. I checked every floor, trying to avoid the cameras as best as possible, marking them as I went. If I appeared for a frame or two, that was fine. Human eyes would barely register me.
Eventually, I got to the floor I wanted. R&D. Excellent. They'll have the chip I need. EnGin had developed a nano-chip that was thinner than a hair and about the size of a piece of dust capable of quantum computing, the ability to do math almost instantly with the right software. I went around and mapped the cameras. Popping in and out of existence with a snap of my fingers. There was a tightness in my chest. There almost always was when I was on the job. Nerves saved my life more than once. But they also could fuck things up. When I found the lab, a fidgeting foot set off a floor sensor.
"Damn it! This is why I wanted to have Cherry on this job. To avoid exactly this," I exclaimed. The nano-chip was floating in a stasis field; this was supposed to be a recon job. That's all. Just learn where the cameras are. What their security was like. But I may never get a chance if I don't take it now. I frowned, then snapped my fingers, appearing before the stasis field. I looked around the lab. There was another stasis container about the size of a two-liter. If the nano-chip touched air, it could offset it. Dust molecules were enough to unsettle it. I was going to have to update my rig to use it. I hadn't made the modifications yet, because I didn't know exactly what it would require. Not until I got the specs for it. I popped to the computer and slid in a USB. The screen flashed alive. A login screen appeared for a few seconds before logging in. The program in the USB started scanning for blueprints, patents, and specifications. When it found any at all, it started a download. In the meantime, I grabbed the stasis bottle, dug through the cabinets, and found two batteries. I slotted one into the primary slot and one into the backup. The chip was surrounded by a stasis field, which would repel me. Another reason that I wanted Cherry on the job. I did some quick calculations and grabbed the USB, which had finished its job. Their cybersecurity was shit, fortunately for me. I took out a multitool I kept with me and removed some panels from the stasis field. It was a mess of wires. Probably some dummy wires.
I didn't have time to figure out what was what. So I set up a few portals. I could queue them to appear as long as the queue wasn't more than a few seconds long. Another thing that I might be able to figure out is how to extend with the chip. I cut all of the wires at the same time, figuring I'd already tripped the alarm. No use in subtlety now. The stasis field died. I dropped the stasis bottle, now open through a portal, which appeared under the chip. It fell in. There was a rush of air. I pulled the stasis bottle back out and capped it. I could see the little chip floating among bouncing blue waves. Good. Then I heard a voice cry out. "Esvanir! Stop where you are!"
I stood up and looked out from the other side of the stasis machine. "Smash Gal. Fuck."
Hey, guys. I'm sorry. I was in a major depressive mood and forgot to update the thread.
==========================
[h3][/h3]
=== Kari ===
"'Smash Gal, fuck' is right," I proclaimed proudly, puffing out my chest. I heard the alarm as I had been helping escort victims of a burst pipe a few blocks away. I got a lot of people out of the way and let Professor Mind take care of the rest. He didn't need my help. I was kind of getting in the way. So I sped off and found a way in and to the sound of the alarm. Esvanir stood up, and I held out my hand. "I said stop right there."
He didn't respond. I took a step forward, watching his eyes twitch. He didn't move back as I came within arm's reach of him. When I was that close, he blinked and seemed to return to himself. He snapped his finger, and I reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his coat. The world changed, and I felt the ground under my feet shift, and suddenly I met the floor on my stomach, which had been set to the spin cycle. There were a pair of feet that were running away. I shook my head as my vision cleared. We were very far from the EnGin building. At least five miles away. In the blink of an eye. Esvanir was no ordinary thief; he was good and had to be stopped. I pushed myself up and looked around. Esvanir jumped from the roof, and I heard him land on the fire escape below. I sped off towards him and caught him just as he snapped. I reached out my hand, but he disappeared the instant before I could lay my hands on it.
"Damn it!" I screamed, stomping my foot. I could still find him. I just had to concentrate. I closed my eyes and let all of the sounds wash over me. Cars rumbling, people talking, televisions blaring, the sound of buzzing lights and electricity, people moaning and screaming, and their hearts beating. All of the sounds of the city rushed in. Typically, I just ignored everything. Only paying attention to certain stimuli. It was the only way I could function. Otherwise, I'd never be able to focus on anything. There was a shifting of air somewhere. It stood out because it was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. It's. . . He only teleported a few blocks away?
I blasted off the roof we had come to and made my way to where I heard the disturbance. I scanned the street and saw a man wearing his jacket. I charged forward and landed in front of him. He was still wearing the mask, but I saw his blue eyes widen.
"Boo," I said with a grin, reaching out to grab him again.
"Super speed, super strength, super senses. Aren't we a Renaissance Woman," he said, taking a step back, snapping at the same time to appear fifty feet in front of me. I growled and threw myself into the air, flying towards him. Other pedestrians threw themselves out of the way as I passed. A millisecond before I got to him, he snapped, and a portal opened in front of him, and I flew right through it. And crashed into a tree. Well, several trees before stopping. He baited me! That bastard! I looked around my new surroundings; it was a forest. I didn't recognize it. Wherever it was, it was still night. So, probably the same time zone. I blasted off through the canopy of trees and looked around. Off in the distance, there was the twinkling of city lights. I growled and threw myself in that direction, coming in hot. When I got back to the spot, he was still there. He summoned a small portal to his side and dropped the stolen item from EnGin down it, and it disappeared. His teleports have a recharge time. That's got to be it.
"Nice trick. Bet it won't work a second time," I said, flying towards Esvanir. When I got within reach of him, I pulled back a fist. I'm pretty sure he can't do his little trick if he's knocked out. I punched forward, and my hand was enveloped in another small portal, barely wide enough for it. And I felt my fist slam into the back of my head, and I went forward. He side-stepped and grabbed my arm, and threw me into a car. I'm not too heavy and didn't really resist; the car wasn't even dented. He just wasn't strong enough to do anything to me. I grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket and flew him up. He was just a regular human with a trick. But I bet he needed to breathe. I could knock him out and turn him in.
=== Curt ===
I had managed a few cheap shots, but I was fighting well outside my weight class. There was no contest between us. Smash Gal grabbed me and quickly took me to the atmosphere's edge. I'd pass out. She was breathing heavily, too, though. I think she needed air as much as I did. I had one more cheap shot up my sleeve. I didn't know how it would pan out, but I had to do something. I calculated our velocity. Just under Mach 2. Fuck. This is going to be rough. I queued a portal to open in about ten seconds. We continued flying faster than I could believe. I thought the wind sheer alone might carve the flesh from my bones. It hurt to go this fast. But my portal opened up. It was the size of a hose head, and that's basically exactly what it was. It sprayed water down onto both of us violently. It hit her like a brick, and she stumbled and let go of me. Perfect. Now all I have to do is survive the fall.
I was tumbling in the space, and my glasses were plastered against my forehead. This was worse than teleporting blind. I didn't even have my program to help me predict where I needed to be. Just instinct. I snapped my fingers and slammed hard into the ground, knocking all the wind out of me. I rolled over, coughing, reaching up, and pulling down my glasses. They were broken. And I'm pretty sure a few of my ribs were, too.
This isn't good. It won't take her long to find me. I stashed the item away, though. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, I counted in my head. She was charging forward. I could hear the sonic booms. I could see a dot quickly becoming more and more detailed as it charged down. I had cracked her face mask. I snapped when I could see my distorted, shattered reflection in it. I disappeared, and she probably crashed through that building. I landed on my bed and groaned in pain, hunching over, then fell on my back, groaning in more pain. Then I gritted my teeth. I didn't know how far her senses extended. She might hear me. I calmed my breathing and sat completely still. Which was hard. I was going to need to call Des. My ribs were definitely broken. And so was my rig. It would be such a pain in the ass to rebuild those glasses. Fuck.
=== Kari ===
I managed to stop just before slamming into the building. Esvanir was gone! He was gone again, and he had slapped me with water. Really, really cold water! It had cracked my mask and then broke it worse as it froze and I flew down. "Damn it! He's not even that strong. Just quick on his feet!"
"Problem?" There was a voice from behind me. I turned, and the powder blue PM insignia was in my face. I stood tall, then realized that the Professor was taller than I was. And I was pretty tall.
"Oh, hey, PM. Nice to see you. No, not a problem, really. Just . . . Esvanir got away again."
"I don't need to be a telepath to know you're upset about it," he said gently. He floated down and sat on the lip of the building. I sat next to him.
"I can fly at Mach 8 and lift an entire building, but I can't stop one guy who snaps like he's a freaking extra from Grease!"
"Yeah, criminals are clever, sometimes. Looks like you did give him a run for his money, though," PM responded, nodding to the small crater. "Did you slam him into the building?"
"No, he fell. From terminal velocity."
"Ouch. He must've been pretty desperate."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And you're not even winded."
"Well, it's not like he can hurt me."
"But you can hurt him," PM responded, turning to me.
"Alright. What are you getting at?"
"Smash, I like having an extra hand around, but you are scary. Esvanir seems to be a cat burglar, and you come in with your ability to fly faster than most military jets and the ability to throw them. I might be able to stop them. But I also saw that punch you threw at him."
"Yeah, so? He's a criminal. I was trying to stop him."
"And if he hadn't deflected the way he did, it could have killed him."
"Oh, come on! It was a love tap!" I protested.
"I watched the video of you against that concrete guy. When you hit him, it cracked his exoskeleton of stone," The Professor observed. "Those punches seemed pretty close to me."
"I . . . No . . . I didn't. . ." I stammered, thinking back. I was furious when I was throwing that punch. And when I grabbed him and decided to take him on a tour of the stratosphere. "I am not used to combat."
"Yeah, I noticed." There was another explosion nearby; I turned to it. This time, so did the Professor. I sped off to see what was going on. People were screaming, and a giant lizard person crawled out of the sewers that were exposed to the entire street. He stood up and let out a loud, hissing screech.
"Hello, misplaced aggression," I said with a grin. I charged forward and wound up a punch.
"Smash Gal! Remember! Control your strength!" PM shouted. I eased my punch down on him. The Lizard Man took the hit with ease. It laughed. Well, I think it was a laugh. Then it batted me with its tail, and I went flying. Into a car. Which crunched under the force of my landing.
"Hey, Prof," I called out. "Love taps ain't cutting it."
"Okay. Then do a little more than a love tap," he said, carrying people out of the way of the fight. I launched myself off the car, crunching it further, and slammed my fist into the lizard man. He caught my fist, and the ground crunched underneath him. Asphalt cracked. So did the concrete beneath it. He then spun me and slammed me into a building.
"Okay," I said, dusting myself off after digging myself out of a crater. He grabbed a civilian that the Professor missed, reared back, and I charged. But I wasn't fast enough. I could have been, but I was still holding back. I didn't want to shatter all of the glass around me. I didn't want to burst everyone's eardrums with a sonic boom on the ground. But I got there just in time to see this lizard monster crunch down on some poor man's skull and upper chest and bite down, tearing away from the body. Blood leaked out, and one of the man's arms fell to the side. I had never seen so much blood. Pouring down the man's shirt. Down the lizard man's maw. I froze. And the lizard man took this as an excuse to grab and slam me to the ground. I kicked him. I was angry and in shock and hadn't controlled my strength entirely. He went flying but clawed into a building. Through the stone and scraping through the metal underneath. The lizard man landed heavily on the ground, crumpling it underneath. He walked forward and hissed more. "Uh . . . Professor?"
PM looked over and sighed. "Okay, okay. This guy can take it. Go nuts."
He sounded resigned. I let out a breath of relief. Combat is so much different than just doing tests. I charged forward and threw a punch. I could see the air around us ripple as I made contact. He flinched. He finally moved and felt it. Some of his scales had broken, and sickly, green blood leaked onto my fist. He recovered and slashed forward with a claw, which I tried to get out of the way of, but it caught me. His talons slashed through a part of my costume and sunk into my abdomen. The force of the blow knocked the breath out of me, but I didn't go flying. Because his hand was stuck on the inside, he pulled me down, slammed me to the asphalt, and prepared to stomp on me. Then something hit him, and both went flying. I sat up and gripped my ribs, feeling blood leak out. I glanced up. A woman in a small, hovering bumper car with a rocket on the back, wheeling herself out of a crater. People cheered.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Ah, Cannoneer. Good to see you," PM called out.
"You, too, Mind. Who's the fish?"
"Smash Gal. She's a little green, but she's got the spirit."
"Uh-huh," The Cannoneer responded, looking me up and down. My face heated up, and I felt something well in my chest. There was a rumbling behind her, and the lizard man charged forward, holding a steel beam. She wouldn't get out of the way in time. I flew towards the lizardman and interceded between them before he could bring down the shaft on her. I caught it, and it bent. I pushed back up against it. Then I switched the leverage on it, and he stumbled. I tore it from his grip with a tug and then used it as a softball bat to slam it into him. He went flying, and the beam shattered. Just like old times, I thought, as I charged after him. I caught up with him in a blink and started punching him, shockwaves spreading out with every meeting of flesh. He tried to respond, but he was loopy after a couple of hits. And after five, he was barely conscious. I caught him and flew back, throwing him on the ground and landing before the Cannoneer.
"Well, maybe she's got her uses." I looked at my reflection in a pane of glass; the wounds were still leaking down my stomach; my shirt was torn; my mask was shattered. But I was still standing. The media started circling us and asking a million questions. PM landed and stood in between the woman in her specialized and me. . . wheelchair. Her legs were skinny. But that hadn't stopped her. Cool, I thought.
"Cannoneer, over here. What do you think that thing is?"
"Defeated thanks to yours truly. Oh, and Professor Mind." I felt a rush of heat in my face again. "And Smash Gal. We hadn't been acquainted yet, but she's a real firecracker, eh?"
I looked down at the woman, and she was smiling up at me. Her teeth were painfully white; she didn't wear a mask. I was just now realizing this. "Smash Gal, Smash Gal. What do you think of working with the Cannoneer? You just joined the scene. Do you think you can keep up with someone who saved the world?"
"I, uh, well," I stammered, unable to keep up with the implications of the question. Of course, I could.
"Of course, she can," PM said, grinning for the camera. "I've saved the world a time or two, and she can keep up with me. Give her a little practice, and she'll be saving the world all the time. Well, actually, I hope not. Not that she can't. I just hope it isn't necessary."
"Yeah, she'll be great. I look forward to working with her in the future." The Cannoneer nodded. We answered some more questions, but the woman in the wheelchair eventually turned around and started off. PM nodded and kindly told them we had to go and turned, nodding for me to follow. I did so a little hesitantly; they were all still asking questions. I met up with my two peers a little while later.
"So, you're Smash Gal, huh?" the woman in the wheelchair asked. She was small. Really small. Thin. But when I looked into her eyes, I didn't see any fear or reticence. "I saw a bit about you. I'm Jenny."
She extended her hand. I reached out and stammered. "I'm, um, well."
"You're Smash Gal," PM cut in. "That's a trick that Jenny does to try and get people to reveal their secret identities. She doesn't think they're necessary."
"They're not. And stop ruining my fun. Just because it worked on you, Chu-"
"Now, you know. But I don't want the whole world to know," PM smiled. Jenny shook her head and wheeled herself around me, taking me in again. I resisted the urge to pull my cape around myself.
"Hmm. Nice costume. A little classic, but still good," Jenny said with a grin. "Could stand to show a little more skin."
"You think that of every costume but your own."
"That's because you all could. You're all so strong and good-looking. I'd love to see more of you," the woman said in a much huskier voice than before. I was very grateful for my mask, even if it was broken because I'm pretty sure my face was just as red as my costume.
"Careful now. I might start to think that you like me with that kind of sweet talk." They had their stethoscope pressed against my naked back. Why are stethoscopes always the temperature of a polar bear's dick? Someone should invent a little heating pad for them. I could do that. Wouldn't be hard. Something that you charge. Could use a phone charger. USB-C compatible.
"No one likes you," Des responded with a tone just as cold as their stethoscope. "You have had one girlfriend since I've known you, and she breezes in and out of your life, and you end up following her like a damn lost dog."
"Cindi's not bad. You know, just a little hard to tie down. That's a good thing. Especially with y'know." I shrugged.
"Yeah, it'll be really great when she turns up at your funeral. You're an idiot!"
"You're repeating yourself."
"Yeah, well. Maybe if I say it enough, it'll finally sink in." Des sat next to me and adjusted some of the wraps. "Fighting a meta? Are you nuts? And not just any meta but one who can throw a fucking car. I saw what she did to that lizard thing. Threw him up a few stories and then caught him. What the hell were you thinking going up against her?"
"Really wasn't my intention," I said, avoiding looking at them as I groaned my way into a shirt. "You know those cape and tights types. They just show up wherever they want."
"Yeah, what bastards. Showing up and just doing things that no one gave them permission to. Kind of like when you showed up in my clinic and was stealing gauze for an 'accident'." Des put finger quotes around the word.
"It was an accident! I was testing a new version of the control program. And left behind a few inch-"
"'A few inches of skin.' I remember. You left behind damn near half your fucking arm. Because you're an idiot." They smiled at me. "No one asked you to make a damn teleporter out of junk in your basement. And no one asked you to Robin Hood everything that wasn't nailed down."
"No one asked me because people are afraid to ask. With me around, they're getting the stuff they need." I winced a bit as I was getting up. It had been a couple of days since the incident with Smash Gal. I had refused painkillers. Didn't respond well to my mind being all muddled. But there were times when I'd regretted that decision.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Been laying around too long. Gotta start getting the stuff to repair my rig."
"And get yourself killed. Am I putting this visit on your tab?"
"You're keeping a tab? That machine I built you is worth half a million dollars!"
"Maybe, but the way I count it, you owe me at least a million."
"How the fuck could I possi-"
"I'm both your doctor and your shrink. You have to pay me double every time I come around."
"How'd you pass med school with math skills like that?"
"Summa Cum Laude, if I remember correctly."
"Oh my God, you're such a pain in the ass," I whined, waving them off. They left, finally, and let me plan. Well, left me to stare at my phone endlessly while pretending that I was just going to start planning any minute. I found myself on Twitter, scrolling endlessly. I found a live feed of Smash Gal fighting someone with a fashion sense equally as idiotic. This one uppercutted Smash Gal above the surrounding buildings, and the live feed struggled to keep track. Every time a new hero comes out, other costumed weirdos are eager to challenge them. They called themselves 'super-villains'. I called them attention-seeking morons.
=== Kari ===
I was flying. Well, technically, I had gone flying. After someone in an awesome costume had punched me. They were strong. I don't know how strong. At least strong enough to send me above most of the surrounding buildings. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. With a minor effort of will, I stopped myself in the middle of the air. Then I blasted off into the air and rocketed down to earth. Smash Gal! A voice penetrated my mind. I pushed it out. Stop! You can't do this. Smash Gal, please. Kari! I stopped half a foot away from my enemy. Dust and debris scattered in my wake. I had my fist raised. He was cowering.
"Fine!" I yelled. I grabbed the whimpering ball of super-villainy and punched him once. A love tap. He didn't pass out, but he did yelp. I brought him over to the police. They put the man in shackles. Not normal handcuffs. They were the size of my head! Because of all of the meta happenings in the city, the government had funded some special meta task forces, and they did their best. There were even some metas on the police, now. Professor Mind brought over a few more criminals and dropped them before a bemused police officer. I smiled at her, trying to ignore the heavy stare PM was giving me. "Thank you for all of your help."
"Uh-huh," the cop said dismissively, grunting as she pulled up the set of aspirant villains, slapping the same shackles on them. The criminals' faces drained of blood and turned a sickly gray. I didn't know much about the restraints, but I was told they somehow disable powers. Somehow. That can't feel good. But if they wanted to keep their abilities intact, they just have to not break the law! I thought, smiling to myself. I finally turned to PM and felt my face heat up.
"Smash Gal," He said sternly. "Come on, we have to talk. Thank you, officer."
He blasted off. I smiled back at the cop who had turned her back to me in the meantime, then sighed and flew off after him. I caught up to him quickly. I think if he strained himself, he could fly as fast as I could. But he never did. He always knew how much force to use. He landed on the top of a building and sat down. The sun was bright and hot, especially in the costume; superhero costumes don't breathe. At all. Wonder if I can get mom to adjust this one. But it would probably become less durable if she did. And I don't want to end up naked. Not when everyone has a camera phone.
"Kari," Professor Mind said, bringing me back to reality. "Sit."
"I don't want another lecture," I said, sitting beside him.
"And I don't want to give one. But you lost your temper again."
"I was under control!"
"You reached Mach 3. What would have happened if you had hit him flying that fast?"
"He could have taken it! He was strong!"
"He could have. But what about the street under him? The cars around him? The people who would be hit by the blast of air you're displacing. The building where glass would shatter."
"I was controlling the amount of force that got out."
"You were what?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"I . . . I can create little forcefields to prevent stuff like that from happening. It's how I kept the glass from breaking on the buildings when I was coming down."
"Huh. That's. . . An interesting ability. So, you're slightly telekinetic."
"Yeah, I can't do anything like you can. But I can create little spaces to jump off, which helps hold things together when lifting something. And I create a little tube that stops my sonic booms from booming important stuff. It's pretty cool." He sighed and took off his domino, wiping his face. I tried not to stare. It was hard. He's really handsome. Like, I knew that because his mask only covers his eyes and a bit of his nose, but his eyes are soft and kind. Brown, like a doe.
"Chuck, I'm sorry." He had told me his name after I had mentally shouted mine. He said I should also work on that, but it was hard. I wasn't used to being around telepaths.
"Well," he began, pushing his hair out of his face. "No harm done, this time. But you still need to work on your temper. It's going to get you into trouble. Gods, it's hot. Do you want to grab an ice cream?" He asked, putting his mask back on.
"Ice cream!" I screamed as I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to the ground the next instant. He screamed. But it was only like twenty stories; he's so dramatic! We landed perfectly safely, and I smiled at him. We got to the ice cream stand, and I paid. My mom had made a place for me to keep some petty cash. Which was good. You never knew when you were going to need it.
=== Curt ===
"These pictures have been all over Twitter," a woman read from a teleprompter with two photos hanging over her left shoulder. It was of Professor Mind and Smash Gal holding hands on the street and eating ice cream together. I sighed. How is this news? So what if two heroes decided to fuck? I thought. But people were really interested; this video had hundreds of thousands of retweets and likes. And I didn't have anything better to look at. I was taking the train to a shop where I could hopefully get some parts to rebuild my machine. It was really dangerous and stupid to teleport without the glasses. I didn't want to end up inside some wall. Or worse, half inside a wall and half out. That might cut me in half. "This has raised a lot of questions. Have Smash Gal and Professor Mind become Avalare's newest power couple? A lot of people certainly think so. We have brought on a local hero and friend of the potential couple, the Cannoneer. Jenny, what do you think? Are these two smashing?"
"Look," Jenny said from her wheelchair, smiling at the reporter and the camera. "I would love to dish on Smash/Mind as much as the next girl, but they have not said anything to me. And I tried calling the Prof. He wouldn't return my calls."
"Smash/Mind?"
"Well, we have to call this ship something, and I think that's the best so far."
"Okay. So there has been no official word on this from the two in question, but what do you think? Do you ship Smash/Mind?"
"I don't think that's a fair question." Jenny grinned brightly. "I have a long history of shipping everyone. This time last year, I was shipping the villains Doctor X-Ray and CONcrete."
"And you turned out to be right, there. It was confirmed that they were dating when you and Bion breached their compound and . . . Found them together."
"Yeah, they're cute kids."
"You are considered to be the ultimate romantic. One of the only openly polyamorous heroes out there. And you always seem able to predict these things, with 5 correct predictions under your belt. So, what do you think?" The reporter asked, leaning in with a slight smirk pulling at her mouth. "What does your gut say?"
"I think there might be something there. Two young heroes, fighting together. I think that builds passion. But I don't want to say too much. If something happens between the two, I think that would be absolutely adorable. Still, I am not going to pressure them to do anything. But they did let me in on another rumor."
"Oh? Do tell."
"Well, they say they tried to foil a robbery done by another super-villain couple on the night they met."
"Oooh. Who?"
"The beautiful Buck Cherry and the elusive Esvanir," Jenny said, her grin widening somehow. Fuck. I was worried about this. I don't want Cherry to come after me just because people are getting the wrong idea.
"Buck Cherry and Esvanir? Do you have a cute name for them as well?"
"Well, I considered it, but there might be trouble in paradise. According to Smash Gal, BC just up and left Essy behind to deal with both of them."
"But he still got away. Maybe it was a part of their plan." It really wasn't. It was part of her plan, and I knew it was her plan. Cindi doesn't like sticking around if things get complicated. So, it was hardly a surprise.
"Maybe. Neither has ever been caught for long enough to be booked. Maybe they're helping each other, and that's why. But then again, neither of them have ever gone up against me. I could take them down." I gaped at my phone. I don't need Cherry to escape! I never have needed anyone to get out!
The interview was interrupted by a pop-up screen. A picture of Cindi came up. She was calling. It was an artsy photo she had made me take for her. One of those nudes that doesn't show anything. I sighed and pressed accept.
"Speak of the devil," I said before answering. "Hello?"
"Oooh. You were thinking about me? Who could blame you, honestly? Essy, baby. How are you?" She said in her signature, slightly sultry, vaguely disinterested tone.
"Cin, I'm well enough," I said hesitantly. I always had a hard time gauging her mood. "How're you?"
"Oh, I'm pretty good. I am glad you got out safely," Cindi said somberly. "Sorry for legging it, but I figured we were outmatched."
"We were. You made the right call. I wasn't too far behind you. Did you manage to get our cat home?" I asked. It was always so annoying speaking in code. But I was in public and couldn't speak clearly.
"Yes, and her new owner was very pleased with the results. I still owe you your portion. Since I couldn't have done it without you," she said huskily. "We should meet. Grab a bite."
"Dunno that that's a good idea, mon cheri," I said. "People might talk if we get together too often."
"Oh, are you talking about the Cherr-Esvanir thing? I think it's cute. And it's not untrue. We are an item, sometimes."
"Damn, I was hoping you hadn't seen that." I sighed. "And that name is awful. Worse than Smash/Mind for sure."
"Yeah, I would have gone with CheSvy, personally. I'll see if I can't get that trending. Anyway, I want to see you. Get dinner. Get dessert. Maybe do an activity afterwards."
"Well, I'm kind of grounded at the moment."
"What do you mean? You haven't seen your parents in ten years. It's why I like you. We have that in common."
"Well, I had another run-in with our new friend. She broke my . . . glasses. I'm working on getting a replacement, but the prescription is special order, and I need to go to a special shop for parts."
"Our friend? Smashy?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"Oh, well. I could probably help you find a shop with the right parts. For a fee, of course."
"Yeah, okay. You can take it out of the money you owe me."
"Yeah. And we'll try to keep CheSvy on the DL this time."
The greatest thing about flying is it's like creating your own personal roller coaster. I could choose when to spin, when to do loop-de-loops, and when to do sudden drops. And I was content to do that all day. Or at least until I found something better to do. There were lots of little crimes going on all the time. Things like purse snatching and speeding, but Chuck had told me not to interfere too much with those. They were widely things that the police could deal with. Unless something was happening right in front of me, Chuck thought I should just let it pass. It made some sense. I couldn't be everywhere all at once, and people could usually find ways of handling it themselves. So, during patrol, I would usually only stop crimes that were right below me or a significant threat.
That was what I was doing today. I had created my alt for Tak-Tik. SmashGal, if you want to follow me. I do some really awesome stuff. At the moment in question, I was recording a new flying video. I found some neat videos of people in glide suits and figured I could add to that trend. Unfortunately, my flight was cut short. From miles below me, I could hear an alarm ringing off. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound. People were screaming. There was a bank robbery. I rushed down, landed on the street, throwing dust and dirt everywhere, and glanced around. Two men had come bursting out of the bank with bags weighed down heavily with their ill-gotten gains. I charged forward, and one of them stepped out of the way and blasted me against the wall with sweltering air. It was scalding. They're metas. Okay. That's good. Don't want to get a reputation for picking on vanillas.
I charged through the steam, caught the one blasting me by the throat, and lifted him effortlessly. "Put him down, Smash Gal, or I'll waste this one!"
I turned to see that his partner had an arm around the neck of a young black man with dreads. The robber's fingers on his other hand were pressed into the captive's temple, and the man was trying to lean away from his captor. "C'mon, man. There ain't no need for this. I'm just trying to get to work."
"Shut up, or I'll waste you!" The man shouted as he started backing away. Sirens were ringing out against the walls. I slammed the one I had in hand against the wall, and he slumped over, unconscious. The man with the captive pressed his fingers harder into the man's temples. "Back off, Smash Gal! I'm not afraid to ki-"
Lightning struck him. On a clear day. With no clouds. What the Hell just happened? I thought. The man slumped over, and the man he held stood up straighter and started walking away before being surrounded by the police. "Freeze!"
"Oh, come on! I ain't got nothing to do with this! I'm just trying to get to work," the man said. The police closed in on him and the two unconscious people.
"Uh-huh, sure, meta. I'm sure it's all just a coincidence. You being here just as robbery happens," one of the officers said, circling around him, grabbing his arm, and putting one of the weighty cuffs onto it. The man's skin instantly drained of color, leaving him ashen and obviously weak. "You have the right to remain silent."
"Wait a minute!" I called out, rushing down. "He wasn't involved. It was just those two. One just took him hostage."
The officer looked at me for a moment and then at her new charge. She shook her head. "Sorry . . . Smash Gal. We can't risk having another meta out on the street. Too many already. Acting without permission. Thinking they can just do whatever they want."
The man looked up at me, eyes glazed over. He was hunched. The officer pushed him forward, and I hesitated. She was a police officer. She had to know what she was doing, right? But . . . There were all of those videos of the police killing unarmed black men. And getting away with it. And he was a meta. He wasn't resisting at all. In his current state, I don't think he could have. "Okay. I'll ride with him."
"What?"
"I have to give my statement, right? I'll help exonerate him. He didn't do anything wrong."
"He used deadly force! He struck someone with lightning," the officer exclaimed. "That's assault. We have the whole thing on dashcams.
"Then you also have that he was being held against his will, and his life was being threatened."
"He still has to be in custody until a judge can make a decision."
"That's not fair!" I shouted, causing the other police to turn to me. "He didn't do anything that I don't do. If anything, he's more justified. He might've been killed if it weren't for his actions."
"Smash Gal," another officer sidled up next to me. "It'll be okay. He'll be let go if he's innocent, and it was self-defense."
The man in cuffs laughed weakly. The cop guiding him to her car pushed him forward. "Something funny, punk?"
"If I'm innocent, I'll be let go. Yeah, right. Ain't no black man with powers ever going to be let go by the police."
"He is innocent! I am an eyewitness. And you have no right to arrest him," I said, my voice shaking a little. I stepped forward, but the cop next to me grabbed my arm.
"Don't do anything you'll regret, Smash Gal." His tone was heavy with warning. I looked at him, the other cop, and the man they had in custody. What should I do?
=== Curt ===
Cindi and I met downtown. I was still moving a little more slowly than usual; fighting metas is generally not a good plan. Especially not that fucking psycho Smash Gal. Cindi looked me up and down and smiled. "You seem stiff. Is that because of me, or has someone else?"
"Well, I'm told that Smash Gal is quite . . . smashing," I said with my best grin.
"I can't believe I let you touch me."
"Me neither, honestly." We made our way down the street, and she wrapped her arm around me. She was a couple of inches shorter than me. Or would be if she wasn't wearing heels that matched her ridiculous dress. The kind of thing that, with one wrong move, she'd slip right out of. And given that I knew her attitude on underwear, I was sure it would be pretty revealing. I tried not to think about it.
"Come on, darling. I got us a reservation. It's a good thing you dress so formally already. I did bring you a jacket that they can take at the door. The pretentious fucks." She laughed. Her attitude towards the rich was always bipolar. She wanted to be rich. She loved having money and freedom and the ability to choose. But she hated the rich. Especially their bullshit rituals and formalities. "So, you can't pop at all?"
Popping was what she called teleporting. I guess that's the sound it makes. I have been constantly experiencing it, so I haven't really heard it. My theory is it's the sound of two mildly different atmospheres trying to balance out. The small portals I make are usually too small for that to matter. I shrugged. "I have a couple of presets that I can access."
We passed a street preacher who had gathered a small crowd. Cindi stopped for a moment to listen. "False prophets and idols abound! Causing the good people of this city and the world to doubt Jesus. These so-called meta-humans doing things only God should do are the works of Satan! Do not give these monsters any of your attention. Focus on Jesus!"
"What if Jesus was just the first meta?" Cindi called out. The preacher was taken aback by this and stuttered for a moment. The crowd murmured indistinctly. Cindi smiled; it was always a game to her. Putting people off balance. She started walking again.
"Y-young lady, you're blinded by the Devil! And your soul will burn in Hell unless you repent!"
"I've been to Norway," she said over her shoulder. "Hel is a wonderful city. Love the company there."
"Why'd you do that?" I asked as we continued on.
"Why do you think, darling?"
"Because you are bored and like to stir up trouble." She laughed and hugged my arm into her chest.
"You always understand me. It's why I love hanging out with you, Curt."
We got to the restaurant, and a table was ready for us. There were three chairs, but I didn't think anything of it. Until a third person joined us. A man with gray hair and pale skin, roughly the size of a mountain. Cindi turned to him. "Ah, Mr. Marcelli. It's good to see you. This is my . . . Colleague. Curt."
=== Kari ===
My mind ran through about a hundred different things I could have done as they loaded the man into the car. I had grown up with the police; my uncle was a policeman; he was a good man. Would he do this? I thought about it. I didn't know what he was like at work. I knew that when I was a kid, he would give me toy guns, and we would play cops and robbers. The man in the back of the squad car looked up at me. I stepped forward; they couldn't stop me; nothing had ever before. I glanced down at the cuffs that they had. Heavy-looking things. Well, heavy for any regular person. I couldn't let this happen; I couldn't just attack the police. That wouldn't solve anything. I took out my phone and started filming.
But I could do something. Mom had built a mic into the helmet when we fixed it. She thought that the Tak-Tik idea was pretty good branding and encouraged it. I opened a live feed on the public Smash Gal Facebook page and announced loudly. "Hey, Smash Squad. We have two police officers arresting an innocent man who was taken hostage as a part of a bank robbery I helped stop."
Both of the police officers froze. I leaned down and made sure to get both of their faces on camera. As well as the profile of their hostage. In some ways, these cops weren't any better than the man who had tried to use him as leverage. The cop at my side tried to push the phone down. "Stop recording that!"
I grinned. There were 400 viewers. For an impromptu stream, it wasn't bad. I dodged his hand and shook my head. "No! I will not stop recording. You're arresting an innocent man."
"That man struck someone with lightning!"
"A man who was threatening to kill him. It was self-defense." More police gathered around us, as well as a few bystanders. "Let him go. Take his statement. But he didn't do anything wrong. What was he supposed to do? Let himself be killed?"
"Then there'd be one less of them on the streets," one of the cops said. I couldn't tell which one of them, but I panned the camera around.
"Metas or black men?" Someone in the crowd cried out. The police looked around and shuffled. A few of them stood straighter and put their hands on their guns. There were some people of color in the crowd. There had been riots previously. I wasn't going to let that happen.
"Just let him go. He's a witness to a crime. Not anything more," I said, trying to use a calm, soothing voice. The cops looked back at the man in the car and then at each other, considering. Slowly, the cop closest to the car opened the door, pulled the man out, uncuffed him, and pushed him towards me. He stumbled, but the color returned to his face, and he stood a little straighter. His eyes focused. Those cuffs . . . They're terrifying. "Thank you. Alright, Smash Squad. I'm going to sign off. I should be back later, though. Thanks!"
I turned off the stream and turned to the man. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. Uh . . . Thanks, Smash Gal. Next time just knock their asses out."
"The cops?"
"Or the guys holding me. You're fast enough." He looked at his phone. "Shit. I'm going to be late."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I could fly you there if you like." He looked at the cops and then at his phone again and sighed and nodded. I grabbed him by his arm, and we lifted slowly into the air. He yelped, and I sped up a bit. Nothing ridiculous. Just a solid 60 miles an hour or so. He clung tightly to my arm and basically cried. Before we got to his work, I had to ask. "Come on, princess. When was the last time you let your heart decide?"
"My heart just about got me locked up and has me flying with a crazy-ass white chick. So, like ten minutes ago," the man called back up. We landed in front of his job, and he took a few deep breaths, hands on his knees. Then he looked up at me and shook his head. "Why'd you stop them?"
"You were just a witness. You could be a hero for all I know."
"I ain't no hero, lady. Just a man trying to make a living."
"But you have powers."
"Yeah, and we see what happens when I use them."
"You stopped a criminal."
"And became one myself," he said, shaking his head. "It ain't as simple as all that, lady. We ain't ready for a black superhero."
"What about Erica?" I asked. "That technomancer who shuts down crime in Cape Town?"
"She ain't American. It's not the same."
"Well, maybe it's time for you to be the first. Be an example." He stared at me for a long moment.
"I'll think about it. But I gotta go. I got bills to pay." He walked away, shaking his head. "Fucking crazy ass white people."
=== Curt ===
I glared at Cindi, who smiled back innocently. Slowly, I directed my gaze back to Marcelli, mentally preparing myself to teleport away to a third safe spot. Without the whole control system, I had to set up specific waypoints that I could refer back to. I could activate others with an app I had designed on my phone. Still, I also had a few defaults that I could access immediately with a snap. Considering the man sitting next to me, I greeted him. "Hello, Mr. Marcelli. How can I help you today?"
"Esvanir, my friend," he began, smiling. I gritted my teeth and pointedly did not look at Cindi. She must've told him. "You have something of mine that I need back."
"Esvanir? The thief? You have the wron-" The man in front of me slammed his hand down on the table.
"Don't treat me like a fool, boy. I hate that. I may not have super intelligence, but it doesn't take a Bion-level intellect to figure out who you are." He leaned back and brought back his smile. "It was easy to figure out what you wanted it for. I have to say, it's clever. Using my software to better account for conditions. Adapting it from races and stocks to the world as a whole. It's a pretty good idea."
I frowned. I was trying to think of a way out of it. He continued before I could say anything. "Have you finished the modifications?"
"Almost. There are still a couple of bugs, and I haven't been able to test it properly for my purposes." I tried to keep my tone even. Vincent Marcelli was a murderer. And unlike Smash Gal, he wasn't going to hold back just because I was weaker than him. "If you're going to kill me, can we just get it over with?"
"Kill you? I'm offended," Marcelli said. He didn't look offended. "I don't kill people. I'm a businessman."
"Sure," I responded evenly. "Who kills people or has people killed."
"Eh, I'd prefer not to kill you," he said, boredom taking over his features. "But you are going to work for me."
"No. I won't," I responded immediately, unable to keep the heat out of my voice.
"Curt, please," Cindi pleaded. She leaned forward and grabbed my hand.
"And why won't you work for me? You're a thief. Don't tell me you have scruples about my business."
"Actually, I do. You sell drugs to kids, and your gang murders people in the street. They're out of control."
"Omelet, eggs," he said blandly.
"People aren't eggs. People are people. Just trying to live their lives. For all of your hatred of metas that are so much higher than the rest of us and act recklessly, you're not that different. Your superpower is money. And you use it recklessly and don't give a damn about the common man. If you want to kill me, then do it. But I will never work for you."
Marcelli clenched the table and leaned forward before taking a breath. "I don't want to kill you, Mr. Reese. I can use a man like you. Your first assignment will be free. You'll return my program and my computer. I'm sure you made a copy."
"I can return your shit. I only took it because your security took me a while to break through. But I'm not working for you."
"Then I'll kill your friend here. Buck Cherry is a meta, and we know how I feel about them. They don't deserve to live." I grit my teeth. I can't just let her die. Even if she did betray me. I still refused to look at her, but I could tell she was waiting for me to say something.
"I've already put a bomb on her. One that she can't remove with her impurities." I would have killed him right there if I had my entire rig. It would have been easy. Just calculate where his heart was and teleport a fork in the middle of it. More complicated than a regular teleport but worth it. But I couldn't. Not yet. I just glared at him. "Give me what belongs to me, and that'll save her. For now."
I considered it for a moment. Then I took out my phone. "What are you doing?"
"Setting some waypoints. You'll have your fucking computer back, you piece of shit." He grinned at my name-calling."
"You're a brave man, Mr. Reese. Not many have the guts to say that to my face." I didn't respond. I just set the space next to my chair as a waypoint and snapped my finger. The next instant, I was at my second home, my lab. I made a copy of the original program and the modified one I had worked on and set them aside. Hefting the machine, I snapped back to the restaurant, almost running into a waitress. I hated snapping blind; it was dangerous. I could have killed her. I sat the machine next to the man, glaring at him the entire time.
"Excellent. I'm glad to see you're not a complete moron, Esvanir. I'll be in touch with more assignments. Until then, enjoy your dinner." He got up, and one of his flunkies at the next table gathered the machine and left. I stood up and started to go, but Cindi grabbed my hand.
"Curt, please." I looked at her. There were tears in her eyes. I clenched my jaw and tore my hand away from hers but sat back down. She looked hurt. It wasn't often that she didn't get her way. "I'm sorry. He captured me. That's why I didn't check in on you. He tortured me for a while, figuring out how . . . How I . . . you know."
"And?"
"I had to give you up. You stole from him, too." She stared at her hand. "Curt, I need your help."
"So, he just managed to capture you. You, of all people. The person who has never been captured in her life."
"He . . . He knocked me out. I wasn't expecting it. Then every time I tried to phase out, he'd electrocute the entire area. And knock me out again. Curt, please. You need to think of a way out of this. You're the only person I can think of." I frowned. Cindi was scared; she was never afraid; she was actually shaking. "He's going to kill me when he's done. You know how he feels about metas."
"First things first," I said. "We need to rebuild my rig. And you're going to help me with that. For free."
I hadn't gone on patrol for a few days. I couldn't. I kept thinking about how I was using my power. How the police used theirs. About the first bad guy I had taken down. He had claimed that people made him into that. And instead of trying to help him, I attacked him. It was heavy. Heavier than anything I had ever lifted. And that includes a bus. So, instead, I sat in my room, staring at the costume my parents had made. Thinking about how I was complicit in these structures of power. I knew no system was perfect and there would always be bad actors in it, but when I looked at it, that's not what had happened.
The police had seen a black man with powers and decided he was a criminal, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. And they had a massive problem with metas in general. People were going to develop powers. That wasn't going away. And even if they didn't develop them naturally, like I did. Well, kind of. I had alien DNA inserted into me with Super CRISPR. But even if it wasn't their physical bodies, people like Bion and Esvanir, guys who were just good with technology, would come out of the woodwork and do it. You can't put superpowers back in the bottle. The Genie's out, and he's singing. Not only that, but these structures protect legitimate criminals, too. People like Marcelli do illegal things, but because they have money, they get away with it. They're untouchable. It was one thing to be like Esvanir and just be really hard to catch, even for someone like me. It was a different thing entirely for everyone to know you're a criminal and for no one to be able to do anything about it.
But I had saved people; I had rescued people from fires; I had stopped a volcano from exploding; I had fought monsters; People were alive today because I stepped in. But that's also true of some police. This issue is too big. I don't know what to do about it. I took my eyes off my costume and looked down at my phone. My dad came into the room, knocking lightly.
"Sweetie? Are you okay?" He asked tentatively. I smiled softly at him.
"Yeah, dad. What's up?"
"You haven't left the compound in a few days. People are . . . People are wondering where Smash Gal is. And I'm wondering . . . Honey, did something happen?" I told him about what had happened with the bank robbery. He sat on the edge of my bed and nodded along. "Well, it sounds like you did the right thing. Maybe those . . . Maybe those cops were just some bad apples, you know?"
"I hear that one a lot. I was looking it up during my hiatus. And for some reason, everyone always forgets the second half of that saying."
"What?"
"A few bad apples spoil the bunch. Even in that one situation, none of the other cops stopped the two from wrongly arresting the guy. They all just stood there and said nothing. A good cop isn't that good if he can't stand up to a bad cop."
Mom burst through the door, her phone in her hand. "Steve, Kari . . . They're back!"
"Whose back?" Both my dad and I said at the same time. She was shaking and just barely managed to hand over her phone. My father took it, and we both leaned over it. There was a live-stream of some weird-looking people in strange garb attacking the city. They were flying forward through the air and landing. They landed on tanks and crushed them. Nothing anyone was doing seemed to phase them.
Both mom and dad looked at me nervously. Then at each other.
"Grignau."
=== Curt ===
I took Cindi to the only person I know who might be able to help. The most intelligent, most competent person I know. I took her to Des. The best thing about being able to teleport is that it doesn't leave a lot of room to talk. Just a quick snap, and we're there. Waiting for a doctor, though. Especially when we didn't have an appointment. That leaves plenty of time to talk. It was after hours, but Des' clinic was just below their apartment, and they always worked late. They were patching up some kid who had gotten shot. Judging by the bandanna around the kid's neck, a prospective gang member. Des wouldn't see us until they were sure the kid would be okay. More than okay. They'd send him home with a cookie and tell them to not get shot again. Funny. That's always the same advice they give me. I don't get cookies anymore, though. I tried not to look at Cindi. Every time I did, I felt pressure build up in my chest. I'd unconsciously clench my fists and my jaw. She'd flinch when she looked into my eyes. I was furious. She had been tortured for God only knows how long, and I was livid at her for giving me up. It wasn't fair. And I knew it wasn't fair. But I couldn't help it.
"Curt?" She asked tentatively.
"What?" I said coldly. Better cold than hot, I guess. At least for now. She flinched even still; she wasn't used to this side of me; I wasn't used to this side of me. Not anymore. She gathered herself.
"Curt, I know you're mad, but I didn't want to get you hurt. I didn't want to . . ."
"Miss Drei?" Des called out, cutting our conversation short. Thank God. Cindi stood and walked over to the doctor. "You coming, Curt?"
I thought about it for a moment. "I . . . I don't know. I'll. . . I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to think."
Cindi looked heartbroken. Des raised an eyebrow at me; I wasn't acting like myself, apparently. How could I? I now belonged to someone else, and all over a stupid cat statue and a fucking program; It was a shortcut. I knew I shouldn't have taken it. I knew it was a bad idea. But I let her talk me into it. I can't believe it. What is Marcelli going to have me do? What will he use me for? The lights were apparently set to turn off if there wasn't enough movement after a while. And when my eyes focused, I noticed that I was sitting in the dark. I frowned and stood up; the cursed lights came back on. I sighed and walked to the back room.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Doc." Cindi's voice carried out into the hall.
"What do you mean?" Des asked impassively.
"I . . . I have never seen Curt like this. I . . . I think he hates me."
"You did sell him out to a crime lord to save your own skin."
"I had to. He was tor-"
"He was torturing you. I get that. And I sympathize to the extent that the law requires me to. But you also know that Curt hates rich people. He hates people that abuse their power. And now he has to work for one for who knows how long."
"I do know that. It's one of the things I love about him. And normally he's always so . . . calm and collected. He's seldom impulsive. Always thinking his way through problems instead of just acting. He's everything that I'm not."
"That's not true," Des said wryly.
"What do you mean?"
"We're both thieves," I said, pushing open the door.
"I was going to say 'criminals'. People who think they're above the law."
"We are," I said with a smile, meeting Cindi's eyes. She smiled back hesitantly. "If people like Marcelli are above the law, then surely a nudist with superpowers and some jerk with major problems with authority and the ability to subvert it also are. Isn't that right, Cher?"
She nodded. Des shook their head. "You're both ridiculous. And she's in serious trouble, Curt."
"Should you be telling me that? Doctor-Patient Confidentiality and all?"
"Oh, now you want to have a conversation about ethics?" Des asked, rolling their eyes so hard; I'm surprised they didn't pop out and roll across the floor. They then looked at Cindi. "You two morons are basically married, right? Do you mind if I say what's going on in front of your less attractive half?"
Cindi smirked and met my eyes again, shaking her head. "Good. Your girlfriend has a bomb inside of her. It looks like it's attached to . . . a lot of stuff that she needs."
"Can she phase it out?"
"No, it looks like it's somehow tied to her body in such a way that it goes with her when she does that."
"Okay. Surgery? Can we remove it?"
"Oh fuck that. I am not a surgeon," Des said, panic building in their voice. "Besides, I think it has some fail-safes. I'm hardly a bomb tech, but I can't imagine you wouldn't install fail-safes into a bomb if your goal is to blackmail someone into committing a crime."
"Fuck!" I screamed and slammed my hand into the door frame. The metal door frame. The other two jumped in fear and backed away. And that really hurt. And so did my hand. I think I broke my pinky. I shook it out in frustration. With both hands shaking in rage, I took a few deep breaths and tried to regain what semblance of control I could have. "Okay. So that won't work. Where is the bomb?"
Des stared at me for a long while, considering. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that if I don't get the bomb out of the person I lo . . . The person who helps me out on jobs that I'll never get out from under Marcelli's thumb, and I'd lose someone incredibly important to me-y- to my operations."
Cindi was sitting there with some weird combination of pride, flattery, and fear painting her face. Des just continued to stare at me, considering. Their face was unreadable in that way that only a lifetime of trauma can teach you how to really do. They clicked their tongue and shook their head before bringing up an x-ray. The bomb was attached to her spine, apparently just below the ribs. It wasn't a large explosive. It wouldn't be enough to even give Michael Bay a chubby. But it was more than enough to kill someone.
I stared at the image for a long time, trying to think of all the possibilities, eliminating most of them even before I finished the thought. There were three, as I saw it. One: We could work with Marcelli until he let us go. It was the path of least resistance. We might end up trapped in his employ for the rest of our lives, but they might be long, relatively happy lives, considering. Two: We could find the bomb maker and force him to take the damn thing out. But I wouldn't even know how to start that. And there was the problem that Marcelli if he suspected we were working against him, could just kill her at any time. And most likely, he kept eyes on whoever he hired to do such work for that very possibility. Three: I could teleport the bomb off. I couldn't do it now. I didn't even have a rig. Even if I did it with my previous rig, the best possibility is that Cindi ended up a cripple for the rest of her life. But I was already looking to upgrade; this would just take a couple of extra pieces and a few more tests . . . It's still dangerous as hell.
"Fuck."
=== Kari ===
The Grignau were back. I had seen footage of them before, but this was different. High Definition really made a difference. They were humanoid. Much taller than humans. About seven or eight feet tall on average. They were strong and as thick as the average redwood. And everything around them was like it was made of cardboard. They threw cars and tanks; some did it with their minds; some with their four-fingered hands. The military had managed to shoot down one of them. It took seven shots from a special anti-meta tank that was quickly destroyed afterwards. There were hundreds of them. They could fly, and the streets beneath them crumpled when they landed.
"I . . . I have to go," I said softly before rushing off to the wall to grab my costume.
"Kari! NO!" Mom called out.
"Kari, please, don't!" My father cried.
"I have to!" I screamed, turning back to them. "I can't just . . ."
They both looked heartbroken. My parents were scared. Tears were streaming down the faces of the two people who mattered most to me in the world. And that was that. If I didn't stop this threat, I might lose them. I might lose Chuck or Curt or Jenny. I wouldn't have the time to have three days of existential crisis over the police if there were no police left. With a spin, I was in costume, my bathrobe and underwear not yet landing on the floor before I was out of the building. I flew.
I flew faster than I ever had before. I was in the city in seconds. It was chaos. There were fires all over the city, people screaming, and sirens crying out in protest. I rushed down to the ground. The part of the street I landed in was empty of people. I could hear them still. They were around, but they were hiding. Any sensible person would hide. But, as Curt has constantly reminded me, I've always had more luck than sense.
I charged forward and got to a barricade. I could see some Grignau down the street, making their way towards me. They were slow and lumbering until they were attacking someone. Then my eyes struggled to keep up. I can't imagine what it was like for other people. People who couldn't see like I could. It must have been like fighting Esvanir. One moment they're far away, and you're safe. In the next, you're already dead. I clenched my fist and flew forward. I created a small space of air around me to not break all the glass in the surrounding buildings because I was definitely flying at a supersonic speed. I slammed my fist into one of them, and it took a step back but caught itself. It stood a little straighter. It then lifted its arm and batted me away. I went flying into the nearest building. Breaking a lot of glass. "Well, that's ironic."
So, they could take the same amount of force I used against that lizard guy. Can I even hurt these things? My powers come from their DNA. If anything, I'm diluting their strength. I can't think like that right now. There's only one thing to do. I have to stop them. I pushed myself out of the pile of rubble created by my crash and blasted out of the building. You guys can take it. I know that now. I slammed my fist into the one that had batted me away. At least, I think it was the same thing. It was a little racist, but they did all look the same. A weird grayish blue. Kind of spiny. Black, featureless eyes. Beaks instead of teeth.
My punch sent out a shockwave which I dissipated by creating a small forcefield around it. The thing went flying and stumbled but eventually caught itself. Before it had even seemed to stand again, it was charging for me. I braced myself and backhanded it with another crushing blow. It crashed down again, and another one struck me from behind. I slammed down to the ground, asphalt and concrete breaking under me. Ow . . . I . . . I felt that. Jesus. What am I going to do?
I launched myself out of the crater and uppercutted the one who had just attacked me, only to be grabbed by the one I had sent flying. It gripped me in two of its four hands and started to crush me. So, this is what a soda can feels like. Fuck! I felt my bones pop and crack. I tried to push against it. But the Grignau were just so much stronger than I was. I was going to die here. I started breathing quickly as darkness overtook me. Tears ran down my face. My shoulder popped out of place, and I felt my leg trying not to crack in half. After everything . . . This is how it was going to end. At the edge of my vision, there was a tunnel of light.
=== Curt ===
While Cindi was getting dressed, I happened to check my phone. Apparently, the city had become a war-zone. People were fighting the Grignau, and they were losing. Poor communities were hit the hardest because they always were. The police and military focused most of their effort on protecting the well-off. There was a token effort here and there. Unfortunately, I couldn't help them. Not like this. But it did create an opportunity. And if I hurried, I might be able to help someone.
"Cher. Put on your game face. We're . . ." My eyes tracked over to Des. "Going to do an activity."
Cindi smiled at me and walked over, wrapping her arms around my neck. I gripped her hand. I was still angry. But I also knew that my anger wasn't going to solve anything. And I was only this pissed because I cared about her. "What did you have in mind, Essy?"
I looked to Des and shook my head. "Not here. We don't wan-"
"Oh, shut the fuck up!" Des yelled, throwing up their hands. "You're a criminal. She's a criminal. I'm a criminal because I patch you idiots up. Just talk here. I don't care."
I sighed and shook my head. "We're going to hit Wan En. Once we have a few pieces from there, we'll hit up EnGin."
"Again?" Des asked. "Didn't you just hit those two places?"
"Yeah. I don't know that that's a good idea, love," Cindi said. She caught my slip-up. Fuuuuuuuuuck. I am never going to live this down.
"Yeah, well, from Wan En, I took something for a particular pain-in-the-ass doctor to try to mitigate some of my apparent debt," I began, eyeing Des, who did their best to look innocent. "And from EnGin, I took a piece for a new rig, but there are a few more pieces that I can use to create shortcuts from and improve it. After we get that stuff, we can move on to a bigger target."
"You want to hit three places . . . in the same night?" Cindi asked incredulously. "You? Who are you, and what have you done with Curt?"
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't move this fast, but we have two big reasons to do so."
"Oh?"
"Well, one, if we're going to make a move against Marcelli, we have to do it in the next week or so. Any longer, and he'll probably start to get a bit of an itchier trigger finger and pay more attention to us. Right now, he's just gloating. In a week or two, that will probably change."
"And the second reason?" Des asked. There was eagerness in their tone. Despite all of their bitching about what I do for a . . . living, they were always curious. For them, it was like living in a spy novel. Just close enough to be interesting without actually being shot at.
"Pretty much everyone will have their hands full and be a bit distracted. Bion is already on the scene and trying to stop something. Looks like Smash Gal is actually having trouble. Good for her," I said, taking some pleasure in the fact that someone was bullying her for once.
"What's going on?" My two friends asked at the same time.
"The Grignau are attacking. Now will be the best time to get as much as possible, make a decent rig, and improve on it as we're going. Fortunately, while I was laid out, I started making some changes to the programming already. With a couple of modifications, I should be able to get something up and running. Provided that neither of us explodes and we can be in and out quickly." I looked at Cindi Drei. The Buck Cherry. "What d'ya say? You up for a date?"
"He can be such a gentleman when he wants to be. Don't you think, doctor?" She said with a giggle. It was her flirty giggle that she used to flatter men, the occasional woman, and a fair number of enbies. I'd like to say that I didn't fall for it, but I think everyone can see straight through that. Des just shook their head.
"You're both idiots."
"True," I said, busting out my app. I called it Popp. Technically, when I had my glasses, those were running through Popp. I had borrowed one of the Wan En satellites, which were accurate up to about a second or two's delay in real-time and within about a meter. Unlike the commercial satellites, which had a much wider variance for my purposes. I had installed the ability to upload building schematics and to take in scans of AR data from the glasses. And since I had already been in Wan En, I had a pretty good idea of where I needed to go. I chose the floor, and Cindi and I snapped off.
I didn't want to go toward the light. I didn't. I wasn't ready. Until a voice in my head called out. Damn it, Kari! Help me out here; these things are really fucking strong. I froze for a moment. Chuck? It took a few seconds for him to respond. I ain't the fucking Easter Bunny, girl. Come on. With his resistance, I had enough room to really flex my muscles. And by God, do I have some muscles. I burst from the Grignau's hand and flew out. One of my attempted captor's friends was bothering my good friend Professor Mind, in his bright blue and white costume, who dodged admirably. But what kind of friend would I be if I just let someone attack him? I threw myself off a panel made mid-air and slammed the Grignau into the ground. It hit face first, and the land under it crumpled. I had barely managed to remember to control the shockwave from my hit.
The Grignau that hit me next showed no such concern. It slammed back to me, and I could hear the impact of the hit shatter glass. I went flying into another building. I passed through and shattered glass and went through walls. I had to stop myself, but I was being jostled so much that it was hard to concentrate. I could hear people screaming and trying to get out of the way. Sometimes, I think I could feel myself hit flesh. But I was going so fast that I went straight through whatever I hit. I . . . I might have killed people there. I closed my eyes and cried out in frustration and in pain. Not from the hit. Well, not just from the impact.
=== Flashback ===
This was much worse than the first time I had accidentally gone through a building. It was on my sixteenth birthday. I had been trapped inside for almost two years and hated it. "I'm bored! Can't we do anything for my birthday?"
"No, honey. We have to do more tests. And you need to study. You only got a B on your last math test."
"None of the other kids are taking calculus right now! I'm supposed to go to dances and have fun with my friends. Not be stuck in some stupid lab. On my birthday!"
"Honey, I know it's not fun, but it's necessary. You know that, right?" My mom asked, putting her arm around me and pulling me into a hug. "We'll get you some cake."
"I . . . I just want a normal life! I don't care if I can lift a tank!" I screamed. After taking a breath and wiping the tears from my eyes, I continued. "I'll be careful. Can't I go back to school? I miss my friends. I miss Curtis. I miss Missi."
"No," daddy said sternly. It was the end of a conversation. "You are getting better at controlling your strength, but you're far from perfect. You could really hurt someone. And we don't know that that's the extent of your abilities."
"We've tested everything you think they can do. I can kind of do little forcefield thingies, but I don't have their super-speed. Or their super-perception. I can't even shield myself with the force fields like they can. I'm just strong. And I'm getting better. Can I go back to school if I get it fully under control?"
My parents both looked at each other. They were doing that thing that couples that have been together for way too long, because they're so old, where they were talking without talking. My mother stepped forward. "We'll see, sweetie. We need to run more tests."
I groaned and sat down in the observation chair, shifting uncomfortably. I sat there for what felt like ever. While they poked and prodded me with different tools, most of which they had made special. Since I broke the drill they used to get a blood sample, they have had to devise creative ways to test things. And suddenly, everything was too much. The sound of electricity was humming all around me, in the lights, and the walls and tools. I could hear their heartbeats. I could hear the heartbeats of birds outside. I heard the grinding of gears. When I opened my eyes, they focused on the wall that was forty feet away, and I could see each tiny crenelation, no bigger than a nail mark. I could see every imperfection of their skin. They started shouting. No. They weren't shouting; they were just so loud. It hurt. I closed my eyes and grabbed my ears.
"Honey? What's wrong? What's going on?"
"Everything . . . Everything is so loud and bright! It hurts," I managed. I stood from the chair and started jogging, but I tripped and fell over, crashing into a table and sending it flying. I stood up and started again before crashing straight through a wall. I slammed hard into it. Through it. I didn't stop when I got into the darker parking garage, though that was some relief. I actually sped up and crashed straight into one of the pillars holding it up. It cracked, and once again, I didn't. I stood up and looked around; my parents were coming out; their footsteps echoed loudly in the garage. And in my head. I stood up. "S-stay back! You're all so loud!"
I turned and ran, forgetting about the pillar I had just crashed into, and went straight through it. In a few seconds, I'd run straight off the edge of the garage and was running on the air. And falling. Quickly. I crashed into the ground, leaving a massive crater beneath me. My knees shook. I looked back. I had accidentally jumped two hundred feet. I frowned. They were right. I couldn't be around people. Not yet. But I missed them. I wonder if Curt remembered my birthday. He wouldn't forget. My parents hadn't told me about any recent emails he had sent.
I started to run again. Not back towards my parents' lab, but to home. I passed cars, and I think I must have broken the sound barrier because before I knew it, I was a few states over. I was in my old neighborhood. I had crashed into a few trees and tripped a few times, which sent me flying, but other than some dirt, I was okay. Nothing could hurt me. But turns were really hard. I managed to stay out of the way of cars, that was hard, and I think I might have caused a few accidents. I hope everyone's okay. I thought, grimacing. I ran, and in the next instant, I was in front of Curt's house. The one with the small cracked steps leading up to the run-down little building. I got there just in time to see Curt burst through the door and slam it. He was still terribly thin; he had grown, but I was still taller than him. He looked at me for an instant; he had the same intense eyes, but he looked angrier. A lot angrier. He wore a scowl. His father came stumbling out of the house.
"An' where the fuck d'ya think yer going, ya little fucker?"
"To a place with less drunk morons." I started to step forward when his father lunged at him, but Curt dodged and actually slammed his foot into the side of his father's head. I don't think he could do that before. His father went down, and he hurried off. Curt had always been angry, but nothing like that. It was scary.
"Curt," I said softly, reaching out. Dirt and rubble were coating my arm. I thought about what I could do to him if I made a mistake. I . . . I have to get control over all of this. He's. . . He's doing fine. He doesn't need me anymore. I'll. . . I'll find him later. I blasted off again, and I was home within an hour or two. This means that I definitely was going at least Mach 1.
[h4][/h4]
=== Present Day ===
I've found him again. And he wasn't as good as I thought he was. He needs people in his life. So I have to stop this. I have to be in control. After a second of concentration, I brought up a wall of force that stopped me. I charged through the hole I had accidentally created and over to the Grignau. Two of which had grabbed the Prof. and were pulling him apart. He was only resisting by clamping down on himself with his psychokinesis. I slammed a kick into one of the arms holding him, again controlling for a shockwave, and it flew down. Chuck hung limply for a moment but clenched his jaw and used his psychic power to burst from the other's grip. He then floated there weakly. The two and two more beyond that started circling. They started attacking, and I pushed the Prof. out of the way and slammed a kick into one of the hands, barely dodging through the rest of them. That one stumbled back but caught itself, and I was slammed down by another fist. This is bad. I don't think I can take them.
=== Curt ===
We arrived in Wan En on the same floor where I had stolen the flesh reconstructor since it was the place closest to where I wanted to be. Cherry pulled her arms out from around my neck and slipped out of her slinky dress. I was right. She was not wearing anything underneath except for stockings. Damn this woman. She pulled those off too and handed them all to me, grinning. She then put her hand to my chin and closed my mouth. "Stare later, work now, my love."
"Is there any way that we could just forget that? Slip of the tongue. Didn't mean anything by it," I said, pointedly not looking at her as I walked over to the door and opened it. It was very after hours, and no one was there. Security might be around still, but most likely, they were off keeping the Grignau out. At least, I hope that's what they're doing.
"Freudian slips count," She said with a smile. "You know, it took you longer than most men. A lot longer. Two years. I've had men propose after the first kiss. Offer me kingdoms after one night."
"Never had a ring ready. Or . . . A kingdom, really?" I looked back at her, and she just smiled that ineffable smile. "Tell you what. We get my stuff; we might save your life. Is that worth a kingdom?"
"I don't like that word."
"What word?"
"Might."
"Well, at the very least, I'm going to kill Marcelli."
"That's a little better. But I'm going to kill him. You can help. If I feel like it." She pushed past me and walked down the hall. I took a deep breath. I was really hoping that there weren't security measures that I didn't know about. We got up a couple more floors.
And there had been some security measures I hadn't accounted for. But when your partner can phase through floors, short circuit brains, and microchips, they're less of a big deal. We got up to the level we needed, and I started digging through drawers, looking for the prototypes I needed. They were scattered all around. Cherry walked around, watching me.
"Do you remember how we met, Essy?"
"Yeah, you broke into my apartment. Thought you were going to kill me," I said absently.
"You did?"
"I mean, we had some bad luck, and I figured that would cause bad blood. Who would've guessed we were going to hit the same museum on the same night? You were almost caught. I didn't know much about you, but I figured you'd disapprove of that."
"And I didn't. But I was curious. For one, you had never stolen from a museum before."
"Yeah, well, I had a client."
"A rich client."
"The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. Who wanted her grandmother's art back. The museum shouldn't have had it in the first place."
"And you were paid handsomely for it," she said, watching me.
"Less handsomely, after you took 'your 'cut."
"Well, you did almost get me caught." She stopped me for a moment and looked me in the eyes. "But you were going to give all of that money away anyway. What does it matter?"
"Money helps people," I responded simply. We've had this conversation a time or two. We had this conversation that night, really. "It allowed an apartment building to operate rent-free for a few years. All of the tenants' lives were improved by that. Could have maybe gone an extra year with your cut."
"Yeah. You're a bleeding heart." She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss. "You know, I don't disagree with you on any of that, right?"
I pushed her back and looked her in the eye. "No, you don't. You just want to serve yourself first. You like the finer things in life."
She opened her mouth to protest, but I kissed her again. "And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, exactly. It's just . . ."
"Not noble enough."
"I'm not noble. I'm a thief. I'm here to steal things. I could turn over this technology, which would probably do some good in the world. Hell, I'm planning on using it for surgery. A real doctor, like Des, might be able to use this to teleport tumors out of people. I steal because it's fun. I justify it by stealing from the rich for the poor. I'm doing what I have to do to sleep at night." I turned away from her but could still feel her eyes on me. She was thinking about what I said. I finally found the needed materials and started modifying a unique pair of glasses.
"We broke into a superhero's company, one of the best-guarded places, to steal glorified Google Glass?"
"Google wishes."
=== Kari ===
"Kari!" I heard my name from somewhere up above me. "Kari, get up! We need you."
I struggled to my feet and wobbled, almost falling. I did manage to catch myself, but only after I was already on my knees. I shook my head. I had never been hit like this before. I looked around in the crater I was in. They had flattened me straight through like eight layers of the street. I could see the subway in a hole that I think my face made. It was face-shaped; my mask was broken; my costume was ripped and torn. I heard a grunt of pain and came back to myself. I charged out of the hole I had made and spun around. They had grabbed Chuck again. My breathing started coming out in short, heavy bursts. I can't do this. These things . . . They're not like anything I've faced before. I'm too new at this. I'm not strong enough. I can't do this, I can't. . .
Kari! A voice cut through my own self-defeating monologue. Get your ass down here and save me! Save the city. Save the fucking world. Tears streamed down my cheeks and down and out through my shattered mask. I shook my head. "I can't! I'm not strong enough."
Gods damn it, girl! You can't do it because you're holding back! There was a cry of pain, and the voice in my head faded for a moment. Did they . . .
I know when you're holding back, girl. You try to kill Esvanir, and you hold back on these fuuuuucking . . . His thought was dragged out as pain ripped through our connection. "I-I can't control it when I go harder than I already have. I can't stop the damage."
Better damage from you than damage from them. They'll kill me, Kari. Please. Save me. I stared down at the three Grignau, trying to rip my friend apart. I liked him. I liked him a lot. I hadn't felt this way since . . . Oh my God. I have a crush on him? Fuck! I charged down and slammed down on the hands of one of them. It dropped its hold on Chuck, and he fell limply from one side. The Grignau tried to strike me, but I was already in motion, kicking the next one aside. A shockwave burst out. I tried to contain it, but my psychokinesis is not up to Professor Mind's level. It shattered, and I could hear the asphalt below cracking. Glass shattered. That one went down. It struggled to get up. I blasted off and did a flying ax kick I had seen in a movie once, and it sliced straight through his head. I was an ax at that moment. It went through the street and concrete underneath, and the force could be felt throughout the ground as it cracked. I had killed a Grignau.
I turned to the other two, both of which had cruelly dropped Prof onto the ground like an abandoned toy. They both attacked, and I barely managed to brace through one of their hits. My forcefield took the brunt but shattered, and I went flying again. This time though, I stopped myself before I got to any building. There was no reason for all that. I'm no drama queen, flying forty feet from a love tap. Both of them came at me, and one tried to capture me in a psychic field. I punched it, and the force reverberated back at me, and I collapsed; I felt something wet on my lip. I put a finger and brought it away. Blood. I was bleeding. I don't bleed. But I also don't usually hit myself. Or get hit this hard.
But I had killed one. And that means that they're just as mortal as the rest of us. I wasn't going to risk punching the forcefield again. They're too strong. But steel and concrete are a lot weaker. I know that because the reverberations of my punch broke some underneath me. I leaned down and punched the street. It shattered. And not just under me. The entire road shattered for a few blocks. I guess I know why those silly DragonBall cartoons always took people to a desert. The city is no place for these kinds of fights. I dropped into the subway, flew like twenty feet, and burst through the street above. I grabbed one of these jerk Grignau as I was going and took him with me. I threw him in front of me, which was a feat, considering we were flying as fast as I could. He caught himself mid-air and laughed, flying back down at me. The other one was giving chase.
I collided with the one I had thrown, and the shockwave burst every cloud in the area. I slammed my fist into it, and we struggled. The other one was catching up to us. At the last second, I threw myself out of the way, and the two slammed into each other. They growled and screamed in a language that I couldn't have possibly understood the phonemes of, and I smiled. "Learned that one from an enemy. I guess I can learn things from people like Esvanir. You might have too if you hadn't come around smashing stuff."
=== Curt ===
Most of Bion's security forces had been dispatched into the city to help people. That made sense. He was a trillionaire in part because he's a hero. So, it was just good press, really. EnGin's security forces, however, had been tightened. Which was a problem. Probably to stop potential looters. Which was a problem. Because I was a potential looter. We snapped into the middle of an elevator with ten guards. Which was mildly inconvenient. Only slightly more convenient was that Cherry was hanging onto me when she came with me. Benefits of teleporting, I guess I get the pretty girl to hang on tight, and the pretty girl can stop me from becoming Swiss Cheese when they opened fire. Which killed a lot of them. I'm sure some might have survived, but they really should have been less panicky as security guards. We became substantial again, and I pressed a floor button. I'd let the front desk know that their men were in bad shape. Soon. If I remember. Gunfire makes me forget things, sometimes.
We got to the floor I needed. I had not had time to grab the special wires I needed last time since everything was so slipshod. But to make sure my machine could keep track of the computations I would be doing on the fly, I needed to ensure that the wires were transmitting the connections as fast as the calculations were going. And they had some super durable superfiber here. Sent everything about as quickly as physics would allow. When the elevator reached the floor, there were already men there, and they fired at us. Because it worked so well last time. Morons. This time, I just snapped us behind them. Now that I had my glasses back and synced with Popp, I was back in business. But I didn't have the complete blueprints for this building.
Cher snuck up behind one of them and zapped him. She has this thing she can do with nerves. I don't really understand it, but it basically disables all but the strongest minds from doing critical things. Sometimes those critical things are breathing. More often than not, it was just keeping your legs under you. In this case, he collapsed, but not before pulling the trigger, firing out, and taking down a few more guards. She was an excellent thief, but now she was just showing off. The guards not downed aimed and fired, and my eyes tracked their guns as quickly as my muscles would allow, marking them down. On four of the eight remaining guns, I opened a portal to accept a bullet and a second portal to fire it back down the barrel. Those guns exploded in the hands of their owners, and they screamed. From there, I dived behind a desk. I felt a bullet tear through my shoulder. Fuck! That really hurts. What I wouldn't give to have Smash Gal's skin right now. I grabbed my shoulder and started making my way over to the lab I was pretty sure had the wires I wanted. Cherry cleaned up. She zapped two others, and they collapsed and knocked the remaining two out with their own guns. She was very good at martial arts, to her credit. Specifically Aikido. I was more of a Judo man myself. Mainly because that left me with the option of throwing someone through a portal and closing it. Which usually finished the fight. I should have done that this time. I gotta calm down. My anger is clouding my judgment. Heh. Easier said than done. I found the wires pretty quickly and started installing them immediately. They were pretty modular, and my rig was the same way. Part of the reason that I wanted them. It took only a few minutes to change them out. Which was helpful.
Cherry was in the background doing her Danny Phantom routine. One of her favorites was to hide in the floor, grab someone by the ankle, make them insubstantial, pull them through the ground, and throw them down somewhere. It usually wasn't lethal. As long as you didn't piss her off. I rebooted Popp and the Glasses to finalize the changes. Everything seemed to be in working order when they booted back up with the new nano-chip. With this, I would no longer need to snap my fingers to activate the teleport. I still probably would, though. It's iconic. I snapped next to Cherry just as she finished the last one, wrapped my hand around her waist, and she yelped.
"Watch your hands, Essy."
"I know where they are." Reality changed in the next instant, and we were on the street. This would also make the energy use more efficient. Which was good because technically, I was stealing the power from some generators of some rich asshole, and he might catch on eventually. We walked out onto the street. I heard a scream from up above, and I instinctively teleported Cindi and I a few feet to the side as a woman came falling from the sky. Just before she crash-landed, she stopped mid-air. It was Smash Gal; her mask was broken. She must've been fighting the Grignau. Which was confirmed a second later when they came crashing down to earth. I sighed. Then I looked back at her.
"Esva-Curtis?" The naked woman asked. "That's so cute. Essy, do you know Smashy here?"
My mind was reeling. Curtis was Esvanir. I was so flabbergasted that I didn't notice when the Grignau slammed its fist into me, sending me flying. Another went after the apparent couple. As I was flying, a detail clicked in my head. So, it's true. They're a couple. His arm is wrapped around her waist and she's clinging to his neck. The two managed to dodge out of the way of the assault from the alien foe. They separated and Cherry let a hit sink through her body and she solidified again, running up its arm. She dodged another blow with the grace of a dancer. When she got to its head, she grasped it with both hands, and then the thing was down on its knees. The other Grignau had closed in on Curtis and I rushed back. No! I can't let him die.
The alien raised its fist and prepared to slam down. Before I could get there and before it could connect with my friend . . . My enemy? A portal opened up and the attack sank through and slammed into the back of its ally. Grayish blue blood splashed out over the ground and passed through Buck Cherry who had flipped off of her target and remained in the middle of the air. The attacker roared loudly and pulled its arm back through the portal just as Curtis closed it. It caught the tip of the Grignau's finger which fell back down to earth onto the corpse of its fallen ally. It swung at my friend again and this time, I got in the way, bracing myself on two sides with a psychic field. I still went flying, but it was much more controlled than it could have been and I caught myself almost immediately.
I charged back as the monster started attacking Curtis again. It's so weird, I thought. Curt used to be this awkward kid. Someone who couldn't hurt a fly. He wouldn't put up a fight when someone was picking on him. I always had to. But I saw him take out his father. And now . . . Esvanir dodged to the side and opened two portals at the same time. The alien's fist went through and slammed down on its own arm that was going through the portal. Then both closed and the fist was lopped off at the wrist, leaving a bloody stump. The thing screamed in pain. Now he's so cold. I watched his face. There was no emotion there. No fear, no anger, no hatred. Not even instinct. He was calculating everything. Unlike BC who was pure instinct. She would pirouette in the middle of the air out of the way or decide to let an attack go through her at the last possible moment.
Enraged, their foe lifted a hand and suddenly Curtis was locked in a psychic cage from all sides. It was translucent, so I could see him take in every detail. Everything was happening in slow motion. The cage started closing in on him. Unfortunately for the Grignau, this took a lot of concentration, especially with an arm missing and blood leaking from the stump. So it didn't notice when Buck Cherry landed on its back and put two hands near the thing's temples. I didn't know what she was doing. Not really, anyway. But the thing reeled back and slammed to the ground and she flipped off of its back and landed on its chest, grinning. The cage containing Esvanir faded away. He raised a hand and snapped. A series of portals opened up and encircled the thing's body. With a second snap, they all closed immediately, chopping the monster up into pieces.
He . . . He could have done that to me. He could have killed me. I might not have fallen for it, but he also had an opportunity to take my hands several times. Maybe to cut me in half. My childhood friend straightened his back and clutched his shoulder for a moment, before deflating some. Cherry floated next to him and looked at his shoulder.
"You were hit." The words made my heart jump into my throat. I had seen what a hit from the Grignau would do to a normal human. It made them into a paste. No one could withstand it. Professor Mind cheated by psychically tying himself together and still dislocated every limb and tearing every muscle in his body. He'd need months of recovery without help. If Curtis had been hit, he should be dead. But Curtis shook his head.
"It's no big deal," he said, gripping her hand. Then he took off his jacket and I saw the blood leaking from his shoulder. "Just a few bullets. Nothing that couldn't be patched up when we have time. Help me tie this off, though. We have one more trip and then we have to see our . . ."
He noticed me floating there for the first time. Curtis . . . My Curtis had just defeated two of the biggest existential threats to humanity in an instant. He's scary . . . He's . . . My eyes focused on the naked woman tying his coat around his shoulder. There was a stab of pain in my stomach. Bile rose up in my throat. He wasn't mine. Not anymore. Memories of the Sadie Hawkins dance flooded into my mind. Of our kiss. Of all of the idle fantasies I had about us over the years. I felt tears sting my eyes. Maybe he never was. I floated forward, preparing myself for a fight. He was a criminal. They were both criminals and they needed to be stopped.
=== Curt ===
Kari flew towards us as Cindi fussed over the makeshift tourniquet. I looked down at it. It wouldn't win any awards for aesthetics, but it would do. I tensed up as my childhood friend . . . No, not Kari. Smash Gal . . . As Smash Gal called out. "E-Esvanir, Buck Cherry. You are both criminals and will be stopped. S-surrender and no one needs to be hurt."
Cherry started to laugh, but I put a hand on her shoulder and she sobered up in an instant. I stared up at the woman who had just blown back into my life after almost a decade and a half. A goddess among mortals. She could bench a tank, fly God only knew how fast and who knew what else. And I was standing here with some glasses I had cobbled together in an hour and a naked woman. She hasn't attacked yet. That's good. She doesn't want to hurt us. At least not yet. I met her eyes. Well, I met her eye. Her mask was half gone on one side, but the other was still hiding her face. Tears were streaming down her cheek. Her hands were shaking. A pang of pain rang out in my chest. I had hurt her. But she was only nominally the person I used to know. She wasn't someone I needed in my life.
"Smash Gal," I couldn't help but smile. The name was so delightfully stupid. In some ways, it was perfect for Kari. She had solved so many problems with brute force. She wasn't stupid. Not by a long shot, but she was so good at everything that she didn't ever need much in the way of nuance. "I'm afraid that we cannot surrender right now. There's too much to do and too little time to do it. For both of us really."
I checked the map and could see that there were still several more Grignau to deal with. Bion was trying but he was no Smash Gal. Who could be? Kari stiffened and I could see her lip trembling. She shook her head and gathered herself. "Cee, please. Don't make me do this. Just surrender. I don't . . . I don't want to have to hurt you."
I closed my eyes for a moment. Cherry got a little closer to me and I felt more than saw Kari's irritation guide over to my partner. I entwined my fingers with hers.
"Be reasonable, Kar," I felt Cindi's hand squeeze mine tightly. Jealousy? From Cherry? That can't be. "You're going to prioritize two cat-burglars over a literal invasion? You'll have another chance to catch us. But the city needs a hero."
"There are other heroes." Her voice cracked. "They can deal with the Grignau."
I saw a sheet of air behind her shatter as she charged towards us. But I had this prepared before she had said anything. A portal opened in front of her and took her to the center of a battle zone. There were eight Grignau that she'd have to contend with. Kari was too good a person to just abandon people in need to settle a grudge. At least not immediately. I'm really not looking forward to when she does catch up with us.
"Kar?" Cindi asked, eyebrows raised. Fuck. It's going to be a long day.
=== Kari ===
I charged towards them but before I could stop myself, I flew through one of those fucking portals. I landed on the ground and stomped my foot. "God damn it, Curtis!"
That got a lot of attention. I was in the middle of several Grignau, a few of Bion's automatons, and Bion himself. A grating, robotic voice called out from all of the robots around me. "EITHER HELP OR FUCK OFF, ROOKIE!"
The Grignau started moving. Several moved towards me and others went towards Bion and his creations. One threw a fist at me and I caught it, and changed my grip, and spun around. The alien I had grabbed bashed into the others around me that were closing in. One of them managed to dodge by jumping straight into the air and landed heavily on me. I felt something inside of me break. Nothing physical. I was past that. I was past pain. But there was some final bit of restraint that I had been holding onto that shattered. Everything went red. I felt all of my limbs shaking. I felt my chest heaving with breath. Blood pounded in my ears. I could barely hear anything. My vision narrowed to just what was directly in front of me. I don't know what happened next. I remember ripping and tearing through the Grignau. I remember glass and stone shattering. I remember things breaking. There was barely anything left of my costume at the end. There was less left of the Grignau. A barbaric species that had earned a barbaric response.
I saw the footage of what I had done, eventually. It had been leaked to Twitter and . . . It was scary. I have never lost my temper like that before. When I hit them, I could see the air being crushed underneath my fists. It practically exploded against our flesh. It broke through the gloves. It broke my knuckles. I was a bloody mess by the end of the fight. Bion could be seen in the background. He told me to stand down and seemed to be ready to rain down hell if I didn't. I had destroyed buildings and entire streets in my rage. The only thought going through my head was: how could he do this? How could he become a criminal? A petty thief? He was such a good boy. A good man. Reduced to a criminal. It echoed through my head again and again. I had never felt more betrayed. What was I going to do?Maybe it's Cherry's influence. Maybe she's controlling him somehow. But that didn't make sense. No one could make Curt do anything. He was the most stubborn person alive when he wanted to be. Damn it!
After the invading forces were taken care of, I went back home. I flew mostly naked and with no mask, but I couldn't be bothered to care. Everything I believed had been turned upside down in the last week. Cops might be bad people. Curtis might be a bad person. Maybe criminals aren't bad people. I didn't know anymore. I had spent my entire life so sure of everything. But now I was sitting in my room, staring at the tattered remains of my costume. Mom had said she would just remake it from scratch. But could I be a hero? Could I do this still?
"Honey?" Mom asked as she opened the door, knocking gently. She poked her head in. "Can I come in?"
I didn't lift my head and just mumbled something that might have been assent. She took it that way and made her way over to my bed.
"I remade your costume." She brandished the chest piece. It was basically the same as the old one. A red, pink, and white long-sleeved shirt that cut off at the mid-drift. But now there was SG emblazoned on the front. I tried to smile, but it must not have been very convincing. Mom walked over to me, setting the top on my bed, and sat next to me, stroking my hair. "Kari, what's wrong?"
I shrugged, not meeting her eyes. I didn't know how to broach any of this. She shook her head and continued to pat mine. Eventually, I lifted my head enough to lay it in her lap. I could feel tears leaking down onto her pants, but I couldn't bring myself to stop them. "Mom . . . What if I made a mistake?"
"Everyone makes mistakes, dear. It'll be okay. You just need to own up to it and try to do better in the future."
"No . . . I mean . . . What if being a hero was a mistake? I just want to help people but what if I'm not helping anyone at all? What if I'm just making things worse?"
She considered this for a moment and shook her head. "No, you're not. I admit when you first said you wanted to be a hero I was scared. I was scared because I didn't know if there was a limit to what you could do. If something went wrong and you died, I don't know that I could handle that. But you've faced my worst fear and you came out bloody but on top. I . . . I can't express how proud I was to see you do that. To stand up to those . . . those things!"
"The Grignau . . . You're really scared of them?"
"Did you see what they did in other cities they invaded?"
"A little. I know they were pushed back all around the world."
"Eventually. But the deaths were in the hundreds of thousands, globally. And it was worse the last time. Heroes and vigilantes have stepped out of the woodwork since the first invasion. We had so many more people willing to fight this time. Last time, it was just some people. People like Bion. People like your dad and I were so scared. We tried to help. We got some of their blood and tried to see if there was a weakness. They're so strong. They're so much more than us. I was so proud when I saw you stand up to them."
"I was scared. I didn't know if I could beat them."
"I was scared too. But when you did beat them, I was proud."
"I was scared when I saw the footage from Bion. From people on the streets. I am terrifying to watch." Mom took a while to say anything. I watched her take several deep breaths, considering her next words carefully. Was she scared of me too? She should be.
"You were pretty scary. But you were also doing what needed to be done. Those things don't stop. Not until they have to. And when you fought them, they had to. And that's important. I've seen your other fights. You're learning control. As long as you remember that not everyone you fight is a Grignau, I think it will be okay. You can be a deterrent for the world. I think we need that sometimes." It was my turn to consider. She had a point. I had looked more into what solutions people had for the police online since I didn't have anything better to do. Every form of police abolition kept on some force to deal with problems that couldn't be dealt with in any other way. It was just that there were more options and more ways to deal with a wider variety of problems. Which brought me back to the question that had been haunting me since the invasion. What am I going to do about Curtis?
"Mom, what would you do if someone you cared about was doing something wrong?"
"I . . . I guess it would depend. I would try to stop them. Try to help them if I can."
"And if they didn't listen? If you couldn't get through to them?"
"I would stop them. You can't force someone to be a better person, but you can at least stand in their way." I thought about this for a while. Standing in his way will make me his enemy. I don't want to be Cee's enemy. But I also can't just stand by and do nothing.
