So Not a Hero (7 page)

Manpower returned my smirk. “We’re not idiots, Karen.” He paused for a second and then added, “at least, not all of us.” He looked up at a scanner on the far wall. “Mister Manpower. 1-6-5-4-4. Initiate confinement.”

The beams jumped into life, forming glowing yellow bars that crisscrossed the openings of both the doorway and the elevator. No advance, no retreat. I turned my attention to the wall on which I’d tapped and could see the tell-tale glow behind the panels. Apparently the confinement energy completely surrounded the small room.

“Interesting,” I looked back at Manpower.

“We made the walls semi-translucent so anyone trapped in here would know that the beams were all around. Cuts down on having to constantly repair them.”

“Get lots of unwelcome guests, do you?” I asked.

“It happens on occasion. Mister Manpower. 1-6-5-4-4. Deactivate confinement.” The beams vanished and the hero smiled. “Sorry for showing off. I just want you to get an idea of what you’ll be dealing with here.”

I held up a finger and gave him a sideway look. “I haven’t agreed to join anything.”

“Not yet. But you will. Otherwise, why would you bother coming all the way down here and subjecting yourself to a potential fight?” He turned and headed through the doorway. “Come on, let’s go meet the team.”

After a short walk down a wide hallway, we came to a large living area with a vaulted ceiling. The center of the room was recessed about two feet lower than the rest of the floor and three large sofas were arranged in U-shape along the perimeter. In the center was a stone coffee table surrounded by plush floor cushions, two of which were currently in use.

“Come on, Lexi. That’s cheating,” said the twenty-something man holding a game controller. The gigantic screen in front of him showed a crashed go-cart that smoldered and burned.

“Not my fault you changed lanes when I was trying to pass.” The teenaged girl sitting next to him giggled. The brown ponytail swaying at the back of her head only increased her youthful appearance.

Robbie Rocket and Phantasm.

“Guys, can you pause for a second?” Manpower said, interrupting their game. “I want you to meet my selection to fill Denise’s spot. This is Karen Hashimoto.”

Phantasm put the controller down and stood up, reaching out a hand towards me. “Hi. I’m Alexis, but most people call me Lexi.” Her smile was wide and genuine, full of the boundless energy that comes with innocent youth. She glanced down at the ball of charred cloth in my hand and her eyes widened. “What happened to your shirt?”

“Little misunderstanding downstairs.” I answered as I remembered hearing about the teen’s Activation on the TV in the Max’s common room.

About a year earlier, she’d been home alone when a really nasty villain named Wrecking Ball tore through her building while fleeing from the EAPF. The whole structure had come down around her, creating a pile of rubble where a three-story condominium had previously stood. Alexis had just floated up through the debris like a ghost, completely unharmed and intangible. The panic of having the walls fall in on her had kick-started her particular Enhancement: Molecular Phasing.

What had made the story so newsworthy had been the fact that less than a minute after becoming Active, the young girl had used her new powers to subdue the criminal that had destroyed her home and kept him contained until the EAPF could take him into custody. A week later, she was a member of the Good Guys.

The man behind her stood up, eyes narrowing at me and throwing hard glances at Manpower. “This has to be some kind of joke, Greg,” he asked the older hero. “You brought Crushette up here? She’s one of Doctor Maniac’s crew.”

Manpower looked over at me as if to apologize for his teammate, then he returned the glare coming from Rocket. “I am aware of her past, Robert. However, I believe her future is here with us. As a hero.”

Phantasm’s face shifted from warm and friendly into a mask of guarded concern. She tilted her head to the side, looking at me. “You’re Crushette?”

I shrugged, feeling like I’d just lost a potential friend. “I used to be. Now I’m just plain old Karen.”

Rocket pointed at me, face twisted into a seething mask. The air in the room became stuffy and warm, probably due to the thermal energy leeching out of the pissed-off hero. “Don’t listen to her, Alexis. She is Crushette. She’s one of Doctor Maniacs little flunkies.” He shook his head, never taking his eyes off me for a second. “Aren’t you supposed to be in prison? What did you do? Break out?”

I nearly spat back that I was more than just a flunky to Doctor Maniac, but I doubted that would help my case one bit. The room around us suddenly seemed way too confining and too hot. If this went south, I was going to be at a serious disadvantage. “I’m out on parole, actually,” I tried to keep my voice level and my body poised in a non-threatening manner.

My shrink had noted that I had a tendency to stand as if I were ready to punch someone. Which, in most cases, I was.

I glanced past the Rocket and Phantasm to the window on the other side of the room. Even though it was omni-plex, I could probably bust through it. It was the twenty story drop that gave me hesitation. Turning my gaze towards Manpower, I shrugged. “Told you this was a bad idea.”

Manpower slid in between me and the flyer, facing his teammate. “Stand down, Robert. Karen is here because I asked her to come. I told you that I wanted to see about recruiting the girl who helped me with the Brickwall Gang yesterday.”

“But you conveniently left out the part where it was
Crushette
that helped you.” He leaned to the side to look at me around Manpower. “What type of misunderstanding did you have downstairs? Someone mistake you for a supervillain? Oh, wait! That’s not a mistake, is it?”

I felt my lips form a snide curl. “Is this about that incident in Matthews a couple of years ago? Are you really still pissed because you were stupid enough to fly into me?”

Phantasm turned to Rocket. “You fought with her?”

I snorted, angry smile taking over my face. “It wasn’t really much of a fight, Alexis. Super Rocket Genius here thought he’d take down the easy girlie target. Of course, if he’d bothered to do his homework, he’d have known that trying that Swooping Tackle move of his would have had more success against a lamp post. Poor wittle Rocket bounced off me and tumbled head over ass on the ground, out cold.” I laughed. “Actually made me feel a little sorry for him.”

“Enough!” Manpower put his hand on Rocket’s chest. “Robert, I’m ordering you to calm down. Whatever went on between you and Karen, it was years ago and needs to be dropped.” He turned his head to look at me. “And would you please stop baiting him? You think I don’t see that you’re actually trying to pick a fight just to reinforce your argument that you don’t belong?”

I looked down at the floor. Not because I was embarrassed that he’d called me out in front of the other two, but because he was right. Part of me did want to sabotage this opportunity. “Okay,” I mumbled.

“Fine.” Rocket grumbled and turned around to stalk out of the room.

“Lexi, do you have a shirt Karen can borrow? I think she’d be more comfortable meeting the others if she was wearing more than a bra.”

The teen looked at me, the friendly expression long since vanished. But at least it hadn’t been replaced with outright hostility, which was a plus. “Yeah, I can do that.” She nodded her head towards the same doorway Rocket had left through. “Come on.”

She headed out of the room and down a wide hallway with me right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at me as we turned a corner and the walls ahead were punctuated with a series of doors on either side. The teen stopped at one marked with a large, brass number 6 and pressed her palm on the clear panel next to the frame.

The door slid open silently and revealed a rather spacious bedroom on the other side. Phantasm stood to the side and bid me to enter with a sweep of her arm. “Home sweet home,” she said, giving me the slightest hint of a smile.

Perhaps I wouldn’t be fighting with
all
of my new teammates after all.

I stepped through the doorway and paused, blinking at the sheer opulence of the quarters. Inside the room (which had to be at least twice the area of my former apartment) was a work area, complete with a desk and state-of-the-art computer, a four-poster bed, and flat-screen television that dominated the far wall. Across from the bed was another door that apparently led to a bathroom. I took in the accommodations and looked at the teen. “This is your room?”

She nodded and crossed over to the dresser next to the bed. Instead of bothering to open the drawer, she just phased her hand through the wood to come out gripping a bright pink baby-doll tee with a scooped neck. “Here,” she said as she handed the re-solidified shirt to me. “Sorry if it’s a little … tight.” Her head nodded at my significantly larger bust.

“Thanks.” I yanked the ruined shirt off my body and struggled into the garment. Thankfully, I’d managed to stay in shape during my incarceration and the only place the shirt seemed to strain was across the chest. I tugged the hem down over the top of my jeans.

“Did you really work for Doctor Maniac?” She asked, leaning against the doorway.

I looked up and into the girl’s eyes, giving her a shrug. “I guess so. I mean, I was a part of his organization. Just never thought of it as ‘working’ for him.” No, the relationship between Martin and I was a bit more than employer/employee in nature.

“Why?” The girl held up her hand. “I mean, you seem like a pretty nice person.”

“I honestly don’t have an answer to that. It just sort of … happened.”

We left Phantasm’s room and journeyed further down the hallway into the complex. We passed by door number 8 and the teen pointed at it without stopping. “That used to be Denise’s room,” she said. There was a note of sadness in her words, probably due to the absence of her teammate.

Gigantica’s death had been huge news in the Max. Even some of her former enemies had grieved the passing of their foe. Would anyone care if I died saving the city? Probably only Martin. I could understand Rocket’s anger.

His teammate had given her life to stop one of Martin’s schemes.

At the end of the corridor, Alexis pushed a button beside a closed set of double doors that whooshed open in opposite directions like something out of Star Trek. Inside was a huge room with multiple video screens on one wall and a large, round table in the center. There were eight dura-steel chairs arranged around the table and the Double-G symbol of the group was embossed on the backs of the seats and on the middle of the table.

“Welcome to the Inner Sanctum,” Phantasm said with a wave of her arm.

“Really? That’s what you call it?”

“No. That’s what Captain Awesome calls it. The rest of us just refer to it as the Briefing Room.”

A door on the opposite side of the room slid open and Manpower walked in with two other members of the team: Power Brain and Omega-Girl.

Power Brain was thin and gangly, with a greasy shock of black hair over a forehead that protruded outwards. According to the article that had appeared in last year’s People, he had an I.Q. of 410 and was also blessed with Inventive Aptitude. He was the Good Guy’s strategist and tinkerer, supposedly able to understand and create any type of mechanical construct he could imagine.

Martin had almost the same ability, only with Enhanced biology.

Omega-Girl was as beautiful in person as she was on the multiple magazines and posters she graced. Lithe and blonde with the body of a supermodel, she was the darling eye-candy of the group. If there was a picture to be had of the Good Guys, the camera focused on her over any other member.

That’s not to say she didn’t have more going on than a pretty face. From past experiences, I knew that she also possessed the powers of flight, durability, and energy projection. While not as indestructible as myself, she could still take a hit or three. She was also blessed with the rare Enhancement of self-sustenance, getting all her nutrients from solar radiation. Probably helped her to look great in her uniform without having to constantly diet.

Manpower led them over to Lexi and I. “Daniel, Darla. This is Karen Hashimoto.”

Power Brain and I had never met and he stuck out his hand with a wide smile that showed a bit of something green stuck between two of his upper teeth. “Hi. I’m Daniel. Or you can call me Power Brain. You know, if … if you want.” His cheeks reddened a little and I gave his hand a quick shake, resisting the urge to recoil from the clamminess of his palm. “So,” he continued. “The former Crushette is going to be a Good Guy? Have you picked out a new name?”

I blinked, caught off guard by the question. Why did everyone seem so sure that I was going to agree to join? I wasn’t even completely sure myself. “Uh, not yet.”

He nodded, head bouncing up and down in an overly enthusiastic gesture. “Sure, sure. If you want some suggestions or need help trolling the ENCA database, just let me know.” He smiled in a way that reminded me of someone who wasn’t used to smiling to other people.

“For God’s sake, Daniel. Stop mooning over her and go back to your lab.” Omega-Girl closed the distance between us, nearly shoving Power Brain aside. “I didn’t think Manpower was telling the truth, but damned if you aren’t really standing right here.”