H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (18 page)

I replied, "Sure."  I reiterated what I'd described to Black Tiger a short time before.

Lance said, "I'll fill in H.E.R.O. on the situation and that Shrinker now has new friends."

Psystar asked Black Tiger, "So what are you guys doing here?"

Black Tiger said, "I was doing a photo shoot of Diva."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, now that she changed her entire portfolio has to be scrapped.  This will hopefully let her replace it."

"I see."  She frowned, "You never offered to do one of me."

"Uh, you would do one?"

"Sure."

"Okay, Tiger.  I'll see you later on then."

"Later Babe."  He grinned at her.

After she and Lance flew off I looked at him.  "Are you close to her?"

"Yeah, she's one of my best and longest friends I've got.  Spartan too, he's been a buddy for a long, long time."

"Cool.  Shall we finish our shoot?"

"Yeah.  If we can't get some bad guys, then let's make good use of the time."

We returned to changing outfits and moving around the nearby park area for photos in different lighting and background colors.  Black Tiger seemed distracted for the duration, however.

We finished and I drove him home.  Once there he copied the disk and gave it to me so I could review all the pictures and select those to put in my portfolio.

Then I headed home to put my costume back on and see if I could get involved in something that might net some more news time.

Chapter 16 – Avoidance

Gravitix’s Viewpoint

We watched Diva fly up toward the treetops.

She was a hero?  She's pretty hot.

Sandra said, “Grab your clothes, Chrome.  Grav, Nick, grab your supplies, quickly now.”

I looked at her, “Why?” 
Is she a little paranoid, or is it just me?

“Because a hero knows where Chrome is now, and might call in a friend or two.  Go!  Don’t be slow, just grab and go.”  She had a real sense of urgency to her voice.  Not panic, though – it was more commanding.

She grabbed her jacket and ran back to the car, and then opened the doors and trunk.  She slipped on the jacket while waiting for the rest of us.  When Chrome moved to sit in the back seat Sandra stopped her and told her she’d shrink her separately.

Nick and I took everything we could carry and dropped it in the trunk before getting in the car.  In a moment Sandra shrank us, including the car, to a tiny size.  She did the same to Chrome in her other hand.

Then she took off running at a high speed through the park.  She used the foliage to stay as hidden as possible along the way.

I wasn’t sure she’d hear me, but I yelled, “Why not have me change your weight and jump?”

Without pause she replied, “Because they have a flyer, and it would be an uncontrolled flight.  I don’t want her swooping in and grabbing us.”

We were out of the park in no time and she ran at high speed through the city.  I watched the giant city blocks go by and timed it.  She had to be running at fifty miles an hour.  A few times we were jolted back and forth as she vaulted over an obstacle.

Once well out of the park area she stopped in a rundown parking lot between two buildings.  She stopped and watched for activity for a minute, and then grew the car back to normal size.  She set tiny Chrome in the back seat and quickly dressed.

She said, “I think we’re in the clear.”

I said, “I bet we could have taken her.  There
are
three of us versus just her.  Also, why didn't you just take one of your cars out of that pouch and use it?”

“Too slow.  And no fights before I can get my friends out.  I’m not going to leave mutants in there to rot.”

“Not to get off topic, but you said money’s easy to get now?”

“Sure.  Why?”

“I just want to be rich, have a kick butt house, cars, and stuff.  I’m tired of being average.”

“You aren’t average any more.  You’re Gravitix.  You can crush humans.  Besides, stick with me and we’ll get money.”  She grinned.

“All right.  I’m in then.  I’ll help you get your friends out.  How about you, Chrome?  With all three of us we’ve easily stopped two separate heroes.”

She sighed and I heard her tiny voice, “I might as well.  The law is already after me.”

I didn’t speak for the rest of the drive, and dropped Nick off.

“Sorry about that, Nick.  Wish we’d have had more time to test today.”

“Not a problem – how about we try again soon?”

“Yeah, I’ll plan on it.”

“Sounds good, later buddy.”

“Later Nick.”

Sandra said, “Let’s go back to my place and plan.”

I asked, “Do you know much about the Metrocity Jail?”

“Only that it has a section for holding supers.  There’ll be bars that Chrome may not be able to bend there.  They may have some of us sedated in there too.  I don’t know of a way to block the abilities of some heroes – like you or I.”

“You thinking to go through a wall, or over a wall?”

“They’ve got heavy guns on the corners, and they stay alert.  I would be surprised if they don’t have something like infrared to catch people sneaking up.”

I said, “Chrome, this is one time it might be wise to fully cover up.  Maybe even use coal or paint to hide your face skin.”

Sandra said, “I’m thinking I’ll shrink you and put you on a pillow.  You’re less dense than I am, and I can’t shrink myself.  Then you lighten Chrome and she jumps us way up and into the Jail.”

“She’s not practiced; do you feel safe about her accuracy?”

She sighed.  “Good point.  Second option, I shrink both of you, you sneak through the front gate, I unshrink you and you open the gate, where I’ll run in.  Hmm, not sure about that one either.”

Chrome shouted, “What about the gunners?”

“I’ll dodge them as best I can.  We’ll need to make fast headway into the Jail once inside.”

I said, "Before we go, I want to get a costume."

Sandra said, "What?"

"A costume.  I want to look cool."

"Are you talking about spandex?  Because I'm not going to help you get a spandex costume."

"No, something cool - and thicker - than spandex.  Actually, that might be a good start though.  Find some thick leather with a design on it and get your friend Caila to color it.  Perhaps an overcoat or leather jacket, that might be cool too."

"So long as you don't look like a cartoon.  I'm not hanging out with you if you do."

I grinned, "Does that mean you're willing to hang out with me?"

She slyly looked over at me and smiled. 
Man, this girl looks so seductively evil at times....

She said, "I might.  Right now I'm kind of focused on all my friends in Jail though.  I do know a place with a lot of leather stuff that should work for you.  Let's head there now."

I replied, "Excellent!"  Then I drove us there.

Chapter 17 - Exposure!

Diva's Viewpoint

Once I'd changed back into my costume, along with different jewelry that I thought matched my costume better.  I organized and hung all the clothes I'd just brought to the photo shoot.  

I thought I'd better look at the H.E.R.O. phone.  Black Tiger made it sound like I missed out on a lot of features.

For the most part it worked like a normal smartphone.  Mine was built super tough to handle my strength, but apart from that the larger touch screen, swiping and so on all worked exactly the same.

It had trouble tickets that popped up the events for heroes when a disaster or crime was in progress that needed help.  I found the setting for the range around me - it limited the range to five miles for crimes, and ten miles for other events normally.  I changed them to thirty miles, since I could fly around town.

It also had texting, web surfing, and the ability to look at the current roster of active H.E.R.O. agents - both the supers and the agents who handled the paperwork. 
Poor Agent Carson.

It turned out that Psycom had told the truth - the phone did have a photo face recognition program.  You just snapped a picture, and hit one other button and it found the faces on the screen and matched them against the H.E.R.O. database of all supers and well known non-supers. 
Hmm, now I don't know if I should stay pissed off at Psycom for taking that pic or not.  He was still kind of shady about it, and could have waited until we were standing....  No, he's a jerk.  Speaking of jerks, maybe I should swing over to those friends of Psystar's and have a little chat with them about taking advantage of people.

I liked that idea, and in a moment I was in the air and on the way to Kell's house.  I landed and rang the doorbell.

Trevin answered the door.  He was surprised to see me.  "Hey."

"Hi.  Are Kell and Odes here?"

"Yeah, come on in."  He shouted, "Hey, guys, Diva's here."

I walked in past him and heard strange zapping and roaring sounds coming from another room.  Some of them stopped and Kell rushed out of the room.  He looked pretty relaxed in sweats and a t-shirt.  He grinned when he saw me.

"Heeyyy, Diva!"  He came up and looked momentarily confused about whether to hug me or shake my hand, and then he hugged me.  I shook my head slightly and smiled.

"Hi Kell."

"Man, I just can't get used to how
solid
you are."  He had his hand above my waist at the moment.

"Is that a good thing to you?" 
I still don't know how this change will go over in modeling.  I really hope Black Tiger's right and it gets me into sports modeling.

"Yeah, you look great.  I'm just not used to touching anyone, well, so solid."

"I'm glad you brought that up, I want to talk to you guys about touching people.  Psystar in particular."

Kell said, "Aw, man."

I pointed at Trevin, "You in particular.  You know she can't do anything about that, well, thing you are doing to her, yet you keep doing it.  Knock it off."

Trevin said, "Yeah, but I didn't mean any harm."

"She's going to stop hanging around you if you can't be trusted, is that what you are trying to do?"

"Well, no.  But she doesn't mind flirting."

"You went way beyond flirting.  You even know that she has a boyfriend!"

"She hasn't exactly been clear on that."

"Lance was quite clear that she did.  You want a 6'8" guy - wait, never mind him.  You want
me
coming here and give you a ... a, damn, uh, beating you up?" 
I hate when I can't think of the right phrase for things.  Sometimes I wish I were smart like a scientist, but then most aren't very popular.

He looked me up and down, looked like he was about to make one comment, and then changed his mind and said, "I'd love attention from you, but nothing involving physical abuse from someone capable of lifting fifty tons."

I waved my hand.  "Bah, I don't think I can lift that much.  I had trouble lifting a thirty ton construction thingie last night."

"Err ... the ratio is close enough to still hold true.  In simple terms you'd wallop me."

"Yeah.  And don't forget that.  Be nicer to her, and quit making her do stuff."

"All right, all right.  I'll attempt to restrain myself in the future.  Now that I
know
she has a boyfriend I'll step back."

"I know you were mostly at my side last night, but I want your word on it as well, Kell."

"You've got it.  Besides, I happen to enjoy hanging with supers.  You're welcome to come over for a movie or something, you know."

I closed my eyes for a moment. 
Somehow I don't think he's thinking about Psystar at all.
  "Err, well, maybe when I have more time.  I'm trying to establish myself as a super hero, you know.  I need press time."

Trevin said, "How do you know she doesn’t want two boyfriends?"

I pointed at him, "I don’t think so.  Just know that I'm going to check in with her and find out if everything's okay from time to time....  Pass it on to Odes.  He didn't have her hanging on him all night, so I won't get on his case this time."

Kell said, "Sorry about that."

My phone beeped.  I pulled it out of my boot top and looked at it - it wasn't a crime or emergency, but Silverlash had sent out a notice to all H.E.R.O.s in the city that they are welcome to join her at a charity event at the Rockhaven Event Center for Children at 3 p.m.  I glanced at my watch; it was 2:30 p.m. 
Yeah, a public event, there's bound to be media people there.

I said, "Ooh, I need to go to this.  I'll see you guys later...."  I turned and headed for the door.

I thought I heard Trevin say, "Did we just get schooled by a pin-up girl?"

Kell replied, "Pretty much."

I flew around the city for a while, finally heading for the Event Center around quarter to the hour, and came down toward it just before 3 p.m.  As I approached, I saw numerous news and radio station vehicles parked around the event.  It didn't take long for one to notice me and film me flying in.  I smiled broadly and headed for them.

They asked me some questions about my involvement.  Since I wasn't informed on the event I simply stated, "I'm just here to show my support and to help another super hero." 
Ha!  Take that Trevin!  It's super space hero!  But not like Gatecrasher’s space suit.  More like a space between words.

There appeared to be a general area where everyone was congregating, and I moved toward it.  Soon I saw a woman dressed in red, gray and silvery leather.  I recognized her as Silverlash.  She had a very stylish costume - I was impressed that she pulled it off with full body coverage.

I walked up to her; she turned toward me as I did and smiled.  I wasn't sure I was a fan of her red glasses, however.  They kept me from seeing her expression.

She shook my hand - I remembered Nick's mantra from the hospital, 'don't shake hands, or don't grip them.'  Photos looked much better if you shook hands, but then he wasn't in a media heavy job.

Silverlash said, "Hello, I don't believe we've met.  I'm Silverlash."