So Not a Hero Page 9

  Most bad guys gloat. Many were bullies before Activation and suddenly having real power makes them prone to basking in the triumph of defeating an opponent. Of course, this inevitably gives the good guy a chance to recover and bring a world of beat-down on the formerly winning villain.

  Martin had trained me better than that.

  The moment Omega started to push herself up, I was already at her side. I grabbed the seat of her pants, the back of her shirt, and hauled her off the floor with a jerk. Then I slammed her face-first into the wall again. This time pieces of tile flew in every direction.

  “Do this all day, Darla? Should we put that to the test? I’m not even breaking a sweat.” I smashed her into the panels twice more before I flung her away as casually as I’d toss out a banana peel. She hit the dented sofa and tumbled onto the floor, chest rising and falling rapidly.

  “Karen, stop it! You’ve won.”

  I glanced over at Alexis and the look of horror and pain etched into her pretty young face. I suddenly realized that, until that moment, she probably hadn’t been able to picture me as the villain everyone claimed I was. But now …

  “Alexis,” I said as I held up my hand. “I didn’t – ”

  I don’t know if I was going to apologize or just try to explain myself. I didn’t get a chance to do either as Omega’s double energy blast caught me in the back, sending sent me flying through the air and into one of the jumbo screens hanging on the far wall. So much for paying attention in a fight. I hit the floor with a thud that did more damage to it than to me. I got up on my hands and knees just in time for the sparking, shattered screen to tumble down and mash me flat.

  Grinding my teeth together, I placed my hands on the floor. The television screen only weighed about two hundred pounds, but it was awkwardly draped over my shoulders and I worried that just throwing it off might injure Alexis. I rose slowly, allowing the damaged appliance to slide off with a minimum of destruction.

  I was going to beat Omega black and blue. However, before I could turn around and attack, Manpower’s voice cut through the rage boiling between my ears.

  “What in the hell is going on in here?”

  All in all, things were going about as expected.

  CHAPTER 6: FORGING FRIENDSHIPS

  Manpower came into the room, staring at the mess of broken furniture and other debris from the fight between Darla and myself and stood speechless. Captain Awesome and Power Brain arrived a few seconds later, the latter coming to check on me while the former examined a bruised and bleeding Omega-Girl.

  Manpower marched over to me and glared with an intensity that would have cowered a Marine drill instructor. “Anyone care to shed some light on what happened in here?” He glanced over at Alexis and Darla. “Anyone want to explain why the room looks like a battle zone?” He waved his arm at the destruction. “Karen?”

  “It wasn’t her, Greg,” Darla said as Richard helped her to her feet. “I hit her first.” The blonde’s hair was in all kinds of disarray, and her lip and forehead were split open in a couple of places. If not for Class One invulnerability, she would have probably needed a hospital and a good plastic surgeon.

  Manpower looked from me to Omega-Girl for a second and then back. “I see.”

  “Of course,” Darla added, “she did call me a bleach-blonde bimbo. So, I guess technically, she started it.” There was a trace smile on the hero’s face.

  “Don’t forget I also said you were fashionably-challenged.”

  Alexis blinked between us and then giggled softly. The three males, however, seemed very confused by the fact that the room was a mess, yet Omega and I were making light of the incident. Manpower sighed and pointed at the detritus around us.

  “You three, clean this up. Daniel, have Joelle order a replacement television and sofa tomorrow.” He turned and looked at Darla. “No plasma bursts except in the training room.” He faced me again. “And Karen, stop stirring people up. I’ve spent the past thirty minutes listening to Robert complain that you’re telling everyone he’s planning on watching you shower.” This set Alexis to giggling again, this time Darla joined in. Greg looked at them and threw his hands in the air. “You know, I was worried that you were going to have trouble getting along with the others. But at this rate, the three of you will be BFFs, or something.”

  I shook my head. “Darla probably isn’t quite ready to be my friend just yet.”

  “However, I am thinking of upgrading her to ‘frenemy’,” the blonde said.

  Manpower sighed and turned to walk out of the room without another word. Daniel gave me a shy smile and followed him. Captain Awesome stood to the side with a strange look on his face. His eyes went from the broken sofa, to the damaged wall, over the smashed television, and then settled on me. His mouth turned up into a smirk and he waggled his eyebrows.

  “I’m curious. Do you always end up shirtless after a fight?” He asked, gaze focusing on my singed bra. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  Darla reached over slapped him on the back of the head before shoving him towards the doorway. “Give it a rest, Richard.” She said with a level of annoyance I could feel from across the room.

  He shrugged, giving me another scan before looking over his shoulder at her. “There’s no harm in looking, Darla? Wouldn’t you agree?”

  The blonde stiffened for a second before relaxing. She nodded as a little smile formed on her face. “Yes, no harm.” There was a slight purr in her voice.

  Awesome tossed Alexis and me a two-fingered salute and left the room, whistling. Darla sighed softly.

  “Ew.” Alexis said, wrinkling her nose. “That’s just wrong.”

  “What the hell was that,” I asked looking from the stunned Omega-Girl to Alexis.

  “Richard can create a charisma field that makes him more agreeable,” Darla answered. “Of course, I’ll be pissed about him using it to avoid a fight later.” She walked over and hefted the remains of the television. “I’ll take this to the Atomizer. Karen, grab the sofa?”

  I lifted it with one hand, resting a portion on my shoulder. Personally, I didn’t see much difference between using an ability like Captain Awesome’s to end a lovers’ spat and using it to rob a bank a la Mental Master. Free will isn’t something to be taken lightly when the mentally enhanced were around. I wondered about the blonde’s change in attitude. “Darla, why did you take the blame for our fight? You could have said I started it and gotten me into real trouble. Hell, maybe even kicked out my first day.”

  Omega turned to look at me. “After the vote on your admission, I promised Greg I would give you a fair chance. Regardless of our past. Besides, name-calling is one thing, but I did attack you first. I guess I was surprised you didn’t immediately try to play Little Miss Innocent.” She headed towards the door again. “Besides, it’s not often I can actually hit someone with plasma and not worry about sending them to either the hospital or the morgue.”

  # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

  Alexis lifted a pistachio-colored blouse off the rack and held it out to me. “This would go good with your hair. The green offsets the red.”

  After cleaning up the mess Darla and I had made, Alexis continued to insist we go to the mall before it closed. With all the fighting I’d done the past two days, I decided to give in and just agree to be dragged around the Den of Ultimate Consumerism. Which, not surprisingly, seemed like a second home to the teen.

  It was impossible not to absorb a bit of her enthusiasm.

  I put the garment against my chest and glanced at my reflection in a nearby mirror. I had to give it to her, Alexis really had an eye when it came to styles and colors. I imagined wearing the blouse out somewhere (on a date, perhaps?) and considered how flattering it would look on me.

  Then I thought about my recent string of run-ins with energy projectors and I handed the shirt back to her. “Too loose. One hit from a plasma beam or a delta ray and I’m in my bra again.” I sighed and shrugged. “That’s why
my post-Maniac attire consists of t-shirts and jeans. Cheap and easy to replace.”

  She shook her head and put the shirt across her arm, rather than back on the rack. “Hopefully you’ll have less of that now that you’re a hero. I still think you should get it, even if you never wear it outside of headquarters.”

  A smirk formed on my face and I shrugged. “Headquarters was where Darla vaporized the shirt you’d loaned me. Sorry about that, by the way.”

  “It’s okay. I never really liked that shirt anyways. Robbie got it for me last Christmas, despite the fact that I abhor pink. I kept having to find excuses not to have to wear it.” The teen winked at me. “So, actually, you did me a favor.” She moved around the display and ran her fingers over the front of a very cute skirt that was definitely more her taste than mine. “I’ve never seen Greg so angry before.”

  “I thought for sure he was going to kick me out.”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t think he would. He’s very invested in your redemption.”

  “But why?” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. “It’s almost like a crusade or something.”

  “I think he misses his old life sometimes.” Alexis said.

  “What did he do before?”

  “High school guidance counselor, I think. You can see it in the way he deals with people.”

  I nodded and imagined Mister Manpower as a teacher. Probably not a lot of shenanigans in his class.

  “Hey, are you hungry?”

  I opened my mouth to claim that I was fine. However, the sheer mention of food made me think of food and then my stomach chimed in rather loudly that it would like some food. “Sure. Just nothing too filling. I’m apparently being fitted for a uniform tomorrow morning.”

  We paid for the blouse with Alexis’ Good Guys Amex card and headed to the third floor food court. After grabbing something that resembled soggy hibachi from one of the vendor stalls, Alexis weaved her way through the crowded seating area. Her head swiveled back and forth until she spotted an empty table off to one side. The sign on a pole nearby indicated that the furniture in this section of the plaza was specifically designed for Enhanced patrons.

  I felt a warm tingle in my chest when it dawned on me that Alexis had sought out a spot with me and my density in mind.

  The food was mediocre, but palatable. Having grown up with my father’s family recipes, I would have probably turned up my nose at the careless mangling of noodles, vegetables, and sauce. However, I’d learned to be a less-picky eater in prison. There, you had two choices when it came to meals: Eat It or Don’t.

  I threw in the chopsticks after having consumed just enough to keep starvation at bay and took a sip of my soda. Thankfully, there was a fully equipped and stocked kitchen at my new domicile. Meaning I wouldn’t have to live on bland take-out or sketchy pizza delivery. Finding out that more than a few villains laced food with hypnotic concoctions made me leery of anything I’d not made (or watched being made).

  Alexis scarfed every bit of her dinner and was busy looking around the court. Suddenly, her eyes nearly jumped out of the sockets and she turned away so fast her ponytail went swishing around. She stared down at the tabletop and tapped her feet on the tile floor in a staccato beat.

  I put my drink down on the table and leaned over to look at her, noticing how brightly pink her cheeks had become. “Alexis, what’s wrong?” I glanced around quickly to see what might have upset her, but the area was populated by ordinary people eating and hanging out.

  She shook her head ever-so-slightly, but her eyes darted up to look across the food court. I followed her gaze and, after a few seconds of confused searching, I realized what had made my new friend flip out. There was a boy looking at her.

  He sat at one of the metal tables near the Surf Burger stall with three others; all of them looked to be around Alexis’ age. While his friends crowded around one of their phones, he was focusing on the teen. Then his eyes made contact with mine and he smiled in an easy manner before deliberately looking somewhere else. I leaned closer to Alexis. “He’s cute. Do you know him?”

  She nodded, then shook her head. “I think so,” she said, peeking over in the boys’ direction again. “He looks like someone I used to go to school with.”

  “Well, he’s obviously interested. You should go over and talk to him.”

  By the terrified expression that appeared on her face, you would have thought I’d recommended Doctor Maniac to be her gynecologist. “No. I can’t.”

  I put my hand on her trembling knee. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  The teen looked at me with a severely serious expression. “I could accidentally ghost the table, but not the stuff on it. Then everything would fall on the floor and splatter everywhere and make a mess.”

  I blinked at the detailed specifics of her excuse and couldn’t stop the smile and laugh that followed. “I’m guessing that’s happened before?” She nodded again, risking another quick glance at the quartet. “I think you’ll be okay since there’s nothing on their table. Just don’t phase his chair and you’ll be fine.” Damn, I’m actually good at this pep-talk shit.

  "What if he's not interested?" Alexis asked. I don't think her voice could have contained more dread. The cute boy had certainly seemed to push her anxiety to its limit. Which was funny when you considered the intimidation factor of certain super-villains she’d faced.

  "Are you kidding? Of course he’s interested. You're Phantasm. Superhero celebrity. Hell, he’s probably got posters of you plastered all over his bedroom walls."

  She stiffened and, for a second, I could sort of see through her. Funky. Then she drew in a deep breath, solidified, and shook her head. "Really not helping, Karen."

  “My bad.” I stood up and looked down at her. “You’ll be fine. I promise.” When she didn’t immediately move, I tried a different approach. Maybe the boy would come to her if she was alone. “Hey,” I said to her. “I’m going to step over to that store.” I nodded my head across the plaza.

  “You’re leaving me?” She nearly jumped up out of her chair, eyes wide.

  I tilted my head towards the boy. “He might feel better about coming over if I’m not here, so I’m going to be somewhere else.” I gave her a wink. “Good luck.” Then I headed to the other side of the court, not looking back until I was far enough away to not be noticed. I positioned myself beside a concrete pillar and waited to see what happened.

  As expected, it only took about a minute for him to get up from his table and stroll over to Alexis. She glanced up as he neared and when he gestured at the seat I’d recently vacated, she nodded eagerly. This time she had a smile on her pretty face instead of a grimace of terror.

  “Good for you, girl.” I said with a smile.

  I watched them for a few moments. The conversation between them seemed to flow easily, despite Alexis original insistence that she couldn’t talk to him. It wasn’t all one-sided and I could tell within a few minutes that things were working out fine. Alexis might have acted like the shy wallflower around me, but watching her revealed the same bubbly teen that had practically adopted me into the team.

  I tried to remember if I’d ever been that excited about a boy. Before my Activation (and before Martin), boys had been one of those things that I had to deal with in school. Like furniture and doors. I’d been so focused on my studies that I’d never found time to date. The one semi-formal event I’d agreed to attend had ended with me at a table alone, watching YouTube videos of Michio Kaku on my phone while my date danced with one of the cheerleaders. Needless to say, I wasn’t asked again.

  The romantic relationship that had eventually dominated my life had been such a whirlwind, I couldn’t really remember if there’re had been that awkward beginning stage. It felt as if my status had gone from “Single Girl” to “Super-Powered Bonnie and Clyde” overnight. At least our tale had ended with a dura-steel prison cell and not an obituary.

  Thirty minutes later, while
I was trying to decide between two pairs of calf-length boots, Alexis bounced next to me with a huge grin on her face. I arched a brow and put the boots back on their display shelf. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it went well.”

  She nodded, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “Yeah. His name’s Carl and he does, or did, go to my old school.” She sighed and fought in vain to stop smiling. “He’s funny and cute and he didn’t ask me anything hardly about being Phantasm. You know, other than to tell me that he thought it was pretty cool.”

  “So, is there a date forthcoming?”

  “There is,” she said. “We’re going to the movies on Friday. He offered to pick me up at the tower, but I insisted that we meet at the theater. The last thing he needs is to get grilled by either Robert or Richard. One’s like an overprotective brother and the other like a drunk uncle that shows up unexpectedly at the holidays.”

  “Good point,” I said. I could only imagine what comments Captain Awesome would have about the boy.

  “Are you getting those,” she asked, pointing at the boots. “I think the black ones would look best.”

  The next morning, after another wonderful shower in my private bath (thank you, Hot Water Gods), I got dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and a brown Firefly t-shirt. Alexis had given me the nickel tour after we’d gotten back from the mall and I had no trouble seeking out the kitchen and the already brewed pot of coffee awaiting consumption. I poured myself a cup and sat down at the long dining table in the adjoining room. I had just taken a deep inhale of the scalding liquid and was bringing it to my lips when Manpower walked into the room.

  “Good morning, Karen.” He said as he poured himself a mug. “I trust you slept well.”