H.E.R.O. - Rise and Fall (14 page)

"So food is still used as some kind of fuel."

"I guess.  I can't say as I worried about it.  Look at me, do I look unhealthy?"  She gestured up and down her torso.

"Uh, no.  Quite the opposite."

"There you go.  You've just gotten better.  Better than any normal human, that's for sure.  Enjoy it and realize just how powerful you are."

She's got a point.  If I can continue fine-tuning my gravity powers, not much will be able to stop me.

She slid out of bed and dressed.  She smiled at me as I watched her - she kept her mouth closed, I noticed.

The sound of glass shattering out in the main loft made her head snap toward the door.

She said, "See you in the common room.  I'm going to check on Selina."

I nodded and quickly dressed as well.

Once in the main room Chrome surprised me - she stood in front of a wall mirror, or at least the remains of one.  Technically, I guess she wasn't wearing any clothing - although a casual bystander would have a hard time realizing that with her reflective metal skin.

She saw us in the bits of remaining mirror, turned toward us and said, "What's the point?  I don't even look like a person any more.  I see now why that idiot hero kept saying I was a robot.  I don't look human."

Sandra said, "Well, you're a super now, not just human.  So you are right.  On the other hand, what you wear can help define how you feel about yourself.  If you run around naked - even if other people don't pick up on it, will that make you feel better about yourself?"

"Probably not.  I'd get even more stares, I guess."

I thought for a moment and said, "I think you look great.  If you were a model I'd want to take photos of you.

She looked back at the shattered mirror.  "Even I don't see a human when I look at myself."

Sandra stepped up to her and said, "I wouldn't want you to.  When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't check out the normal, human looking parts.  I look at my claws, eyes, teeth, tattoos and hair.  You've got a killer set of tattoos on each side and on your arm.  You should get more."

Chrome said, "I doubt I can get any more."

"Sure you can.  You know, part of me wants to tell you to run around naked.  Be brazen and throw old ways to the wind.  You look wicked cool like this.  I love seeing your tattoos.  Also, my friend can tattoo even a brick."

I nodded, "They do look pretty cool."

Chrome asked, "I don't look like a robot to you guys, do I?"

Both of us replied, "No."

She gave an odd expression and said, "Serious?"

I said, "You ... hmm ... you look exotic.  It's hard to liken it to anything else, because to be honest you look unique now.  I mean, you've got a great figure, although it's harder to see clearly because you reflect the room around you.  If you wore a tight bodysuit - you know, like some heroes wear - then every guy would stare at you, guaranteed."

Chrome replied, "You think I should wear a full bodysuit then?"

"No.  Not even for a second.  Your metal skin looks awesome.  Like I said, it makes you unique.  Maybe you just need a full getup if you want to be in disguise when wandering the city or shopping, and then do this when out on the town."

"You actually want me to go out naked on the town?"

"Nah, that's not what I mean, I mean show off the metal.  Wear I don't know, shorts or a short skirt and a half top.  It's too cool to hide all the time."

"You want me to wear something like they put on me when they took me over?"

"I don't know what you had on...."

"A black sports top and boy shorts."

"That would look good - we could see your tattoos then."

Sandra said, "If you wanted a disguise you could wear a mask or put on makeup to conceal your face, and then wear full coverage clothing.  I hate the idea of hiding who I am, though.  I'd hate to see you do it either."

Chrome sighed.  "Fine.  Doesn't make me feel human though."

Sandra replied, "That's just something to get used to - like I did with my fangs, eyes and claws."

Chrome carefully slid her clothes back on.

I said, "How about we go get some food?"

The others agreed and we left the loft.  Sandra brought us to a diner she knew of nearby - one where she knew they wouldn't call the police on Chrome if she were on the news.

I noticed that each of the people working in this particular diner - the Fang Cafe - were in great shape.  As we sat down I began noticing little things about each of them, the odd eyes and ears on a few.  Several had claws.  One of the waiters had a sword instead of a hand.

I asked Sandra, "Wow, is everyone working here a super?"

She nodded.  "Don't spread it around.  They work here to hide from the police and H.E.R.O., so they can't lock them up.  My friends and I come in here all the time because it's a no-judgment zone."  She sighed.  "Well, my friends
used to
, before they were brought in."

As I glanced around, almost all the patrons were out of the norm as well.  I was pretty sure that most were actually normal, well ... humans - but they had odd hair colors or styles, a lot of them wore leathers and spikes and had heavy tattoo coverage.  Piercings were very common.

Sandra said, "You should get a tattoo."

I said, "I don't know, I've never really thought about getting one...."

She continued, "Not like mine.  Pick something cool that fits your personality.  Something gravity related, not that I can think of anything that is, but maybe you can."

"Does it hurt much?"

"Hah, if it did, you'd heal it in minutes.  You're a super now.  But my friend that does art; she does tattoos too – as in she has an ability that ‘paints’ them onto your body.  She doesn’t use a needle any more.  Damn it, well, she could – she’s one of those in Jail right now.  She's the one that did all the art on the walls, and my own tattoos."

"Would it stick?"

"Mine have.  I think bricks have problems because a normal needle can't dig in, but it works for the rest of us.  Caila’s are permanent though."

"Hmm, I'll see if I can find anything that might work.  A black hole might be cool looking."

"Ooh, nice idea.  It'd be like a drain effect?"

"I'd get something like that showing the event horizon I think.  Whoa, you think I can crank up my power like that?"

"You
want
to make a black hole?  Don't those suck in planets and such?"

"Oh, yeah.  Bad idea - perhaps not that powerful, then."

Chrome said, "That's an interesting thought.  Can you create a ... a, ugh, I don't know the word.  A point where there's a ton of gravity to suck everything toward it?  Not right by you, but something like thirty or forty feet away?"

I said, "A singularity?  I'm not sure if I can just make a point like that, but I might be able to make an object super high in gravity.  Like I made that guy weightless last night, I could try to do the reverse."  I noticed that Chrome had already bent her silverware.  Any time she didn’t watch while she held it she crushed it out of shape.

Sandra said, "That's got potential.  It'd be a gravity bomb.  I'm not sure of what effect it would have though."

"It depends on how powerful I could make it.  A few extra g's won't make much difference.  If I can put ten or twenty g's on an item it might.  I'll have to try."

"Even so, if it just acted like a big object rather than a small one - like a hill instead of a baseball, it wouldn't do anything.  We aren't pulled toward a hill, after all."

"Yeah, I guess it depends on what my power does.  I can try it and see what happens.  In fact, Nick and I are going to go pick up some altimeters and test how high I can throw objects before they fall again in a while."

"Today?"

"Yeah."

"I was hoping you'd hang with us today."

I grinned.  If she meant anything like last night then that sounded like a winner.  "How about you two come with us?  Apart from picking up the altimeters at a hobby store we figured we'd drive out of town a bit.  We could bring food and make it a group outing."

"I ... I don't think I've ever even done that.  What do you think, Chrome?"

"Sure, sounds fine to me.  Not like I can go home and work on jewelry or anything, and my husband's in the hospital.  Shit, I need to go see him.  I hurt him pretty bad like."

I asked, "What happened?"

"I hugged him and crushed him by accident.  Broke a bunch of ribs, punctured a lung, I don't recall everything else.  I think I ruptured something else.  He’s in critical care."

"Holy shit.  Just from a hug?  You're wicked strong now."

She sighed and put her face in her hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that you're wicked and mean.  Just that you are super strong.  I was impressed."

"I know.  I just hate my life now."

The waiter dropped off our food and handed a note to Sandra.  She flicked it open with her claws and hissed.

She looked up at him, "Serious?"

He nodded.

She continued, "Damnit."  She made little clawing motions with her fingers a few times.

I asked, "What's up?"

"They've got word that the Feds are moving some of my friends out of Metrocity Jail on Monday.  I need to get my friends out ASAP."

"You're really going to hit the Jail?"

She stared at me a moment, and then called over the waiter with the sword hand.  He stopped at the table and asked how he could help.

"Arkad, how're you doing?"

"Same old, same old.  How about you?"

"Pissed, my friends are in Jail.  Have you been stopped just because of your sword arm before?"

"By the police?  Yeah, I was last week.  Guy got on my case about having a permit for a carried weapon.  Like I can't carry it or something."

"Have you gotten stopped much before that for having it?"

"You know I have.  Was the worst at first, almost everywhere I went I got crap for it.  Now I just avoid every place that it might be a problem.  Why do you ask?"

"These two don't believe that the police stop us.  Or that eventually they'll try to lock us all up - anyone not in their H.E.R.O. program probably."

"Pfft.  Yeah, so long as they don't see us it's not a biggie to them, but man, bring a few people with wicked claws or swords, or who looks more like a demon than a human - yeah, then you got problems."

"Right.  You're lucky that you're a pretty super, Zach.  They won't stop you at first - until you try using your powers.  Chrome's more like us; she's going to get harassed all the time.  After last night, she'll be lucky if they aren't hunting her down."

Chrome said, "You think so?  Ugh, damn."

Sandra nodded.  "That's absolutely certain.  They won't allow someone to throw a few construction vehicles into a building and get away with it.  Too high cost and too high profile.  Sorry, Chrome."

I asked, "So what can we do about it?"

I noticed that Sandra's eyes kept flicking over at a guy sitting at the counter.  He looked like an extreme case of a mutant.  Skin black as night, claws, yellow eyes ... and black wings.  He was scanning the cafe as well.  Our eyes met for a moment and he smiled, showing a mouth full of fangs.  At first glance you'd think he was actually a demon. 
Dude should work in movies; they wouldn't even have to do makeup.  Can't imagine him having kids and showing up at the daycare to pick them up - that'd cause a panic.  I can see why Sandra's so pissed off about their treatment.  I got to be one of the lucky ones, but it's not fair to them.

Sandra shook me out of my thoughts when she said, "Nothing that I know of.  If Joe Blow drove his car through a bank building wall, you think they'll care if it's just because he's drunk?  He'll still have to be arrested, go to court, pay fees, fines, the damages, and probably do time."

Chrome's eyes got big.  "Oh no, really?!"

Sandra said, "Well, yeah.  Actually, in your case they'd add in that you're a danger to the populace due to your strength and armor.  Listen, guys, this stuff just goes downhill over time.  You can either be very, very careful and not piss off the normals.  Or you can hide like Fang and the guys here at the cafe.  Or ... you can say to hell with it and fight against them."

The waitress stepped over from two tables over and said, "She's right, you know.  It's not an easy life, but these are the cards we've been dealt."

There was a murmur of agreement from about five others in the cafe.  One of the guys over at the counter - a good twenty feet away - said, "Sorry about that.  Most of us can hear extremely good."

Well?  Extremely well.  But yeah, I get it.

I sighed.  "You know, when I was in the hospital I just kept thinking about how this might be my ticket to getting rich and no longer having to work like I do.  Yet none of you are."

Sandra said, "I've never tried.  If I wanted money it would be fairly easy to get."

"Legally?"

"Hmm, probably not.  Although at some point you'll be classified as a criminal anyway."

"Then I think I need to practice my powers as soon as possible.  You guys about done?"

Sandra shook her head, "Give me a minute."  She slid out of the booth and walked over by the guy with wings.  I realized that people, even mutants, had avoided sitting in several seats to his right.  His left was against the wall.

She sat down with the counter against her back and began speaking with him.

He stood up quickly after a moment and waved his hand.  He loudly said, "No, I'm not about to help the group of mutants that caused so much trouble."  He looked around the cafe; most people were watching him now.  "We may not have chosen what we look like, but we sure as hell can choose how we act.  You want to be a rebel and tear the town up?  You're going to face opposition.  Damn you all, I look more hellish than almost all of you and I'm not crying in my pillow.

He threw money on the counter and walked out.  I noticed he had a tail as well. 
Dude went full more mutant somehow.  I wonder why some look so extreme and others don't?

Sandra sighed and came back over to us.  She said, "That was disappointing.  I'm betting he's been hiding a lot lately.  Once he sees how he's treated he'll realize that we're his friends, not them."