I caught just a blur out of the corner of my eyes, before I was slammed straight down into the concrete sidewalk, the impact was intense, and my body felt beat up as my shields and other systems strained to keep me alive. There were limits, I still had over half my energy left, but I could only channel so much of it at once.

  One thing was for sure, I was done for if I didn’t go on the offensive, but the bastard had been nothing but a blur to my eyes, and my scanners, he was gone again. What the hell?

  Right about then, I almost missed the ex-heroes. I’d never been in a fight with two S-class supervillains before, not with powers like that. The only good thing was both Alyssa and I were immune to the thirds powers.

  I slowly got up, and I felt a little dizzy as I took a shot at the woman with my rail gun. The round was burned up by her shield, and she glared over at me.

  The leader made a tsk noise, “Don’t do that again, or I’ll change my mind about leaving her alive. Stick to your own fight.”

  The order galled me, but at the same time I knew the White Witch could easily be crushed to death with that gravity field, and there was no way I could take out the bitch fast enough to stop it. I had no choice but to comply for the moment.

  Rose said, “Right.”

  I dodged to the right as fast as I could, with a jump and my flight systems. Bash screamed by me and I was shocked by the exploding windows down the whole strip, both cars and buildings, he must’ve been going several times the speed of sound. I lined up my gauntlet and shot out an electric attack, and I completely missed.

  Then he was gone again.

  “How’d you know?”

  Rose said patiently, “You did, you just can’t feel your sixth sense over the adrenaline and pounding heart. And Alyssa’s screams. Calm down.”

  Shit, she was right, but that didn’t make it easy. I took a deep breath, and I closed my eyes. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done, tuning out Alyssa’s agonized screams, but it was what it was and if we were to have a chance, I needed to win my fight first. She couldn’t win hers, not without my help. It’d be at least another minute or two before Red Siren and Myriad could get on scene.

  And for all I knew, their arrival would signal Alyssa’s death.

  I felt him coming, and instead of dodging I turned in that direction and swung my own punch, even as I released one of the stasis spells. The spell I never thought would come in handy outside of working with Nate and his team.

  The punch part was a horrible idea, I couldn’t win against his strength, and I was slammed back into the road. My suit dug a shallow ditch as the pavement was torn apart, and my whole body ached as dust plumed into the sky. The punch had also been a necessary idea. I groaned, even as I looked up, and saw him stuck in anger, glittering red. The spell wouldn’t stop him, but just like stopping a normal hero’s speed so Nate and his team could shoot the bastard, it worked the same way for me against Bash, that speedy and way too strong bastard.

  I lifted my arm and started to fire my rail gun, alternated with plasma, as quickly as I could. The bastard was tougher than normal too, not just too fast and too strong, but five seconds was long enough. Using both gauntlets at my fastest firing speed, I put over fifteen projectiles into his chest, and eight plasma bolts into him before his meta-energy and partial invulnerability failed.

  Without that new spell, there’s no way I’d have hit him twenty-three times before he’d taken me apart, as it was, I was down to about a third of my power. Hell, I doubted I’d have hit him more than once, my ring kicked in and the soreness started to fade, and my mind cleared.

  Lastly, I hit him with a cuff spell, and his arms and legs snapped together right as the spell ran out, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of grain, unconscious.

  The leader screamed, “Kill her now, and kill him!”

  But I’d already been moving when he’d started to speak. It was just across the street, and while I was no bash, I moved in a blur and hovered a foot behind Alyssa before his third word.

  “Rose!”

  I was both using White Witch as a shield against the bitch’s plasma bolts, and I was supporting her with my drive, as Rose extended my gravity field to surround and shield her from the crazy bitch’s crushing gravity well.

  White Witch started to cast, and while I could still hear the pain in her voice, I was obviously blocking enough of the crushing effect with my field to allow her to function.

  It was a short spell, two phrases, and three seconds later she lifted her hand as an ice storm exploded from her palm, and it started to swirl and congeal around Sissy.

  It was her turn to scream, as she was encased in ice, save a hole to breath out of. It was deadly effective, and in just a few seconds her energy was drained, and I hit her with a cuff spell.

  “Awesome.”

  She looked over her shoulder, “Thanks. That wasn’t fun. If you haven’t already figured it out, gravity is my only and main weakness. My magic can’t affect it for some reason. I suspected her weakness is cold, which looked to be right given how fast she wilted.”

  Yeah, most heroes had a weakness. At least, the truly powerful S-class ones, that weren’t vulnerable to all kinds of attacks to one extent or another, like the rest of us.

  “Are you okay?”

  We heard running footsteps, and we both looked over to see the leader beating feet down the street, at a normal human running speed. I bet he was just a D-class psychic, and it was his sick mind and orders that had turned his sister into a monstrous slave, and the other guy too.

  Maybe, or maybe I was giving the fairer sex too much credit, and I was just naïve.

  Either way, I hit him with an electric blast that made him fall on his face and twitch against the blacktop. I followed up with another cuff spell. D-Classes had only one power and usually had a much lower meta-energy potential as well. Besides, my cuffs would drain whatever he had left, without super strength or an energy attack, he wouldn’t be able to break my cuff spell even full up.

  Alyssa answered my question, “I will be,” and she started to cast a healing spell. The look on her face was vulnerable, thankful, and I’d even say intimate to a certain extent. She didn’t say anything else when her spell was finished and took effect, but there were no private conversations with the earbuds so that wasn’t all that surprising.

  “We don’t need that backup anymore, Jenna.”

  “You don’t say,” noted a mesmerizingly beautiful voice, and I turned my head to Red Siren and shrugged sheepishly. Of course, my armor didn’t move, so she didn’t see that part. Myriad was there too, toeing the knocked-out Bash with her boot.

  “Sorry. Meet Bash, Sissy, and I don’t know who.”

  She smirked, and said, “Stuff happens. If Myriad had been screaming like that, I wouldn’t have hesitated to call for help either. I just have one question, why are those two ladies just standing there?”

  Oh right.

  Alyssa smirked, “I can free them of it,” and she started to cast another spell.

  We headed back to the building after that, secured our prisoners and notified supermax they had three pickups. When I went to fill in my paperwork, which would probably take until dinnertime, I stared at the entry screen in disbelief, the report was filled out, and in more detail than my previous ones.

  Rose said, “I hope you don’t mind, I used your phone app to access it and fill it out. Your last report was less than accurate.”

  I laughed, “Mind? I love you.”

  There was a startled silence.

  Rose finally asked, “That was hyperbole?”

  I laughed again, “Yes, Rose, it was. I just meant I’m very thankful, and you can do it from now on, if you want?”

  Rose replied, “Of course. I’d be pleased.”

  I certainly wasn’t going to argue. I hated the paperwork, and she apparently hated inaccuracies, so it was a win-win.

  Rose added, “I’ve also looked into fixing today’s issue, of identification. The next time you run into a supervillain included in the database, I’ll be able to display their names, known powers, and weaknesses.”

  “Wow, that’s good, how did you manage that?”

  Rose said, “Through your phone, you have an app that can access it. It’s not as fast as my new network interface, but that has no access to MTF systems.”

  Right, still very cool though.

  “Thanks.”

  Rose said, “You’re wanted in the command center.”

  Right. I got up, and then headed for the stairs.

  When I arrived at the command center, I saw two strange people in there with Millicent, Tina, Carol, and Alyssa.

  The woman had short light blonde hair just long enough that it tickled her shoulders, and blue eyes. She was five foot eight, and average in appearance in her mid-thirties. Given the white lab coat she had on, I guess she was most likely Angelina Dare, the doctor we’d been waiting on.

  Which probably made the man the press liaison, Dane Andrews. Dane was six foot one, with salt and pepper hair and beady brown eyes. He had an average physical build, and he looked to be in his late thirties, or perhaps early forties. He had on a shiny gray suit jacket and matching slacks, with a light blue collared button-down shirt, and a red tie.

  Millicent nodded, “Daniel, meet Dane Andrews and Angelina Dare.”

  Dane’s smile gave me an oily feeling, like a shady used car salesman’s would. Angelina’s smile was polite but distant.

  I nodded, “Nice to meet you both.”

  Millicent nodded at Angelina, and the doctor vacated the room briskly.

  “I just wanted you to meet her, we have some business with Dane.”

  Right, the rules for dealing with the press.

  I sat down next to Alyssa, and put an interested look on my face, while I hoped the meeting wouldn’t last long.

  Alyssa smirked at me, and I hoped everyone couldn’t see through it as easily.

  Dane said, “All interviews will go through me. Obviously, none of you can speak to the press about active investigations. Just say no comment, and if they persist refer them to this office. If you want to give a few sound bites after a typical supervillain takedown, unrelated to an ongoing case, you can do that. I’ll furnish you with suggestions on how to handle that.

  “I’ll be working on branding, and getting you all contracts over the next weeks, so don’t be surprised if I drop by with a contract for you to approve and sign. If any companies approach you for advertising or branding, or some other type of support, you are to refer them to this office.

  “Autographs are allowed, but signed photos will only be offered by us through marketing.”

  Alyssa nodded, “So we can talk to people, and sign autographs.”

  Dane said, “Absolutely, that’s just good press, and even encouraged when there are reporters around.”

  Alyssa sighed, and I got it. She didn’t care about good press, she just didn’t want to disappoint little kids with stars in their eyes.

  “How about selfies.”

  Dane nodded, “Cell phones you mean, pictures with kids or whatever, that’s fine.”

  There was a pause.

  Dane said, “Excellent, just one more thing. We’ll be scheduling interviews for you on the news and other formats such as local radio. I’ll be giving you a script, which will also be provided to the interviewer. Don’t answer any questions that haven’t been covered and approved by me. We want it to seem natural, so I won’t tell you exactly what to say, but I’ll give you the guidelines of how to say it, and the angle we want to approach.”

  Dane fidgeted, and looked at Carol, who was staring at him with her signature cold stare.

  “Do you have something?”

  Carol shook her head, and said softly, “No.”

  I tried not to laugh, that was just Carol, quiet, almost shy, and scarily intense. I still found her intense stare intimidating at times, even though I knew there were no evil thoughts behind it, she was just a very quiet person, who for some reason or another didn’t follow the five second social rule.

  Dane looked at Millicent.

  That was it? Days of training and seminars in D.C., for that? Of course, I was sure there was a lot more to his side of the job, but still. Then again, I wasn’t going to complain if we were free already. Shortest meeting, ever.

  Millicent said, “You’re free to go. Good job today, by the way. Although the damage was extreme to the city, that supervillain team is wanted in over twenty states, and they’re quite dangerous. We managed to identify them when you brought them in.”

  I had to agree with that, I was still a little disturbed when I remembered Alyssa’s screams. She could have died today, and that felt like a vise around my heart. I’d have made her a gravity shield enchantment in a heartbeat, but it would be too weak without me to power it, so there was no point.

  Alyssa said, “Thank you,” while I nodded.

  The four of us got up, and left the room, before she changed her mind.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alyssa looked stunning, in a red sundress that showed a generous amount of her cleavage, and it went down to her lower thighs. The skirt was flowing, while the torso part conformed to the soft tight curves of her body, and the smile on her angelically beautiful face and in her warm brown eyes made my heartrate pick up speed.

  “You look fantastic, truly stunning, Alyssa,” I blurted, right after leaving the building. Damned bugs.

  She blushed, and then gave me a shy look as she bit her lip. I’d accuse her of being artfully seductive, but it was painfully obvious she came by naturally. It was also the first time I’d bluntly given her a compliment about her looks. That was a dating thing, not a friendship thing, and over the flirting line we’d previously established.

  “Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself.”

  I joked, “What, this old thing?”

  That was normally a woman’s line, what made it funny was I had on the same casual khaki’s and blue pull over collared shirt. Clean thanks to my amulet, but at least my other clothes and my furniture would arrive the next day, on Monday.

  She grinned, “Yes, you do. Today was… rough. Thank you for that, I was terrified.”

  I nodded, “Me too, and you’re welcome, anytime.”

  I don’t know what she heard in my voice, concern, regret, or maybe guilt, but it caught her attention and her whole face softened.

  She reached over and touched my arm for a moment, and her smile felt like a gift for me alone. She was mesmerizingly spellbinding, and I couldn’t look away.

  “I’m fine, thanks to you. Let’s drop it.”

  She kept her hand on my arm, wrapped around the inside, until I nodded, then she dropped it.

  I felt a surge of excitement, my heart pounded, and I also felt that first date anxiety. It wasn’t really a date, was it? It felt like it was, she’d even put on some makeup, and was wearing nice black shoes with two-inch heels. I’d never seen her wearing a dress so slinky before either.

  The last thing I needed to do was fall for a young and painfully beautiful young woman that I worked with, but hell if I had a choice in that. It’d been four days, and I already felt a little lost.

  Too fast, but a part of my mind argued the opposite, that she was perfect for me. Still, I felt no compulsion to speed things up either, at the same time I gave up on fighting it. The look in her warm brown eyes, her touches, and everything about her told me I wasn’t the only one.

  She said, “I’ve been thinking about dropping college.”

  I knew she didn’t really want my advice, or even encouragement, she was just using me as a sounding board. I could do that, the instinct to fix it was relatively easy to push aside.

  “Why?”

  She sighed, “Because I have my career already, who I am, what I am, is my life. Not my whole life certainly, but my professional life, my passion, my calling if you will.”

  “And?” I sensed there was more.

  She smirked up at me, “The college experience is the only other reason to go, and that’s lost on me. People go to college for two reasons, higher education for their career aspirations, and to get out of the house and be on their own for the first time. Maybe make some mistakes, grow up, and make friendships and contacts that might last a lifetime. That part of things doesn’t apply to me. To the people at college, in my classes and who I pass on the campus, I’m a goddess, or a freak, or intimidating, or someone to use. Besides, I grew up two years ago.”

  I nodded, “I can see that, but I know the real reason.”

  She gave me a suspicious look, probably from the teasing tone in my voice.

  “What’s that?”

  I replied in faux arrogance, “You pine for me when you’re there.”

  She giggled, “Damnit, how did you know?” she teased.

  I grinned, “How could you possibly resist?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  I sighed, “Too far?”

  She giggled, “Maybe, but I think you miss me more.”

  I shrugged, “I wouldn’t bet on that not being true.”

  She looked surprised at that, and after searching my face for teasing, and not finding any, she turned smug.

  “Oversharing again?”

  I nodded, “Obviously. I can’t seem to help myself around you,” I teased, just to keep her guessing.

  She asked, “Where are we going?”

  I frowned in mock confusion, “You don’t know? I was following you.”

  She gave me a look, and I grinned.

  “Italian?”

  She smirked, “Sure.”

  We continued our fun dance of flirting and playful words during dinner at the restaurant. It was invigorating, and a blast, while at the same time we were both obviously being cautious. Neither of us wanted to make a mistake, we were partners, and at the very least becoming close friends, but really it was the coworker thing only that truly gave me any pause.

  I also sensed pushing her on it would backfire badly, and I was content to take the lead at her pace. Just three days ago, she hadn’t trusted me at all. Still, it was fun, because I wasn’t fighting myself anymore. I’d given up, and just enjoyed the feeling of a new nascent relationship, drowned in the warm regard of soft brown eyes. She was dazzling, stunningly beautiful, sweet and mischievous, and a hell of a woman. Yes, she was only eighteen, six years younger, but as she’d said earlier, I suspected she’d grown up a lot at sixteen. Quickening, betrayals, and tragedy no doubt, she was not a naïve young woman just finding herself.