She replied, "Nearly ten years."
"Wow, were you a young teen?"
She laughed, "No, I'm 31."
"Really? Apart from the hair color you look about my age."
"Thanks. My hair turned silver when I changed, so I've looked about the same for all this time."
Psystar said, "Amazing. You know, I worked with the University of Metrocity to setup a special study on supers to try to figure out what makes us different. I'm the main test subject, but Spartan and Black Tiger agreed to come in for some quicker tests, like blood and skin samples. Diva agreed too. Any chance you would, Silverlash?"
"What's the purpose of it?"
"Understanding. I'm hoping we can figure out something to help heal people or cure some conditions."
"Certainly. I'll help with that. So long as it's not used for weapons research or to injure people I'm in."
I noticed motion at Psystar's side and a bullet worked its way out of her abdomen. She had a pained expression on her face as it did and then looked slightly more at ease.
I looked back at Silverlash and said, "Yeah, you do a lot of charity stuff, don't you?"
Silverlash nodded.
"Can I get in on the next one you do as well? You invited everyone to the last one, I'd just like to make sure I'm in on it."
"Really? I'd be happy to have more heroes involved. Hopefully the more of us that do it, the more support from the community we pull in. There are so many good causes that need assistance. Psystar - you want me to ask Hellshock about the thing you are doing? He's a great guy; I'd be shocked if he didn't help."
I laughed, "Hellshock will shock you."
She winked and grinned.
Psystar said, "Wait, you mean for tonight with us, or for the University study?”
“The study.”
“Oh, that would be great. Well … I'd love to stay and chat, but I really need to get the boys back to the U. They might still be at the cafe."
I said, "I'll go with you. I can fly the two of them back so your injuries don't hurt any more."
Psystar grinned, "Thanks."
Silverlash said, "I'll see you both at seven then. Have a good afternoon."
I smiled and said, "Thanks - see you tonight."
We walked through the back entrance to find news crews waiting. Each of us took a few minutes to give a brief interview with them.
Now this is what I'm talking about!
Before we left, Psystar looked at me and said, “Um, Diva – you might want to go through a car wash or something on the way back. That tear gas smell is really clinging to you.”
I nodded. We both took flight, but I did swing by an open car wash, where a guy was hosing down his car in an enclosed building.
I landed and asked if he would hose me down. He didn’t think I was serious until I repeated myself, and then he happily spent some time blasting the hose at me. The hard spray didn’t hurt me, though I had to hold up my mini-dress at times. I thanked him and walked out of the drive-through building. Psystar hovered in the air, waiting for me. She smiled and shook her head. I grinned at her.
Then we flew back to the cafe. The flight had me mostly dry by the time we landed back at the café. Sure enough, the two guys still sat at the table we'd been at. They were watching something on a pair of tablets. Mike noticed us enter and commented to Jim. A moment later, the tables in the room began clapping - everyone was looking at us. Then I noticed that we were on the news currently on the TVs in the corners.
I smiled and waved to everyone. They both grinned as we walked over and sat down. They'd left our sandwiches there, so we began eating as the men unloaded questions at us.
One of the employees brought over a bunch of napkins and some water for Psystar to wipe off the blood. She thanked them and cleaned herself off. Before we finished the second, larger bullet worked its way out of her left shoulder. She almost threw it away, but ended up wrapping it in some napkins to bring with her. That was odd.
After we ate and Psystar was cleaned up she brought her clothes to the restroom and put them back on. We left the cafe and I motioned the guys over to me.
I said, "She's injured, guys. You get to fly with me back to the University."
Both of them glanced up and down at me and grinned broadly. I realized that I was a good five inches taller than Jim, and six or seven inches taller than Mike with my heels on. I smiled, although I held in my laugh. Behind them Psystar put her hand on her forehead and shook her head. She had a partial grin on her face.
I asked, "You okay?"
She nodded, "Oh, yeah, just enjoying the, well, show. Sometimes I feel like I get too good a look at things through other people's eyes."
I was confused - I stared at her hoping for a better answer but she didn't offer one.
Sometimes she is just plain confusing.
I shrugged and looked at the guys. "You ready?"
They nodded eagerly. I pulled them up against me, the squishy feel of them reminded me not to crush them against me. They certainly didn't feel as firm as Black Tiger's muscles did.
Then it hit me. Here I was, I was taller than the average guy - based on these two at least. I was far stronger, harder and tougher. They both looked at me with, well, I thought it was adoration. I was a super hero.
I took a deep breath and grinned. After making sure they were secure against me I leaped up and shifted my flight gear up to soar into the air. I'm positive I heard Psystar crack up giggling as I moved away from the ground. I slowed down and hovered for a moment in the air, waiting for her. She was definitely giggling down there.
After calming down, she did her weird step-thingie to fly up after us and led the way to the University. It only took us a minute or so to get to the large campus. I tried really hard to land softly - but failed miserably. We landed with a jarring thump. I'd shifted the guys up a notch to make sure their legs didn't hit the ground when I touched down. My ankles and legs didn't feel the impact, but they would probably get injured by the hard landing.
I gave them a gentle hug before parting with them.
I stepped back and said, "Have a great afternoon guys."
The two men looked like they were stunned by the landing or something. Both were in a stupor - they were grinning dumbly. Psystar began giggling again.
She stepped up and gave me a parting hug. The way she pressed up against me I swore she was going to try to kiss me. Maybe she liked me a lot more than I thought she did....
She said, "Oh, man. Now they are going to be telling everyone that you
are
a hard body all over. See you later, Diva."
I said, "That’s good – right? I hope? And you too. Let me know if you need me to stop in for that class thingie you've got going on."
"I will - and you have a good meeting with your agent."
I grinned, "I will. See you tonight."
I turned, leaped into the air and flew back home to pick out a fashionable outfit to wear to meet my agent.
Chapter 7 - S.W.A.T.
Spartan's Viewpoint
Wednesday morning I went over to Sweat & Steel, the gym that Rael and I had been going to for years. I'd prepped the designated area for an expansion to the building - we were adding an extension to the weight lifting area especially for super-heavy weight lifting equipment.
I beat the construction crew to the building, and meandered around the weight equipment while waiting. It made me want to get this construction done as soon as possible to get back to my normal workout schedule.
The construction crew came to the site early in the morning. I spent most of the morning helping them with anything heavy - the foundation was finished by late morning, and we then had to wait for it to harden. I was a little bummed that no events came up on my H.E.R.O. phone while we worked.
Tina showed up for a workout mid-morning – an extremely late time for her. She was happy to see me, and I spent an hour helping her with her weight lifting. I think she missed having us around. After she finished her workout and showered, I asked if she wanted to do lunch with Rael and I, and she gladly accepted.
Rather than take her little car to the restaurant I picked her up and held her against me. She wrapped an arm around my neck and pretty much sat on my forearm. She was almost as short as Stephanie at only 5'4" tall and had a petite frame. It made quite a contrast to my 6'8" and super wide, bulky frame.
I leaped to the meeting place - we planned to meet Rael for lunch at one of our favorite healthy food haunts - Mama Lucci's. She had a small diner that had a large menu for health food nuts. It wasn't as big a deal for Rael and me any more, but I was sure that Tina still wanted to eat healthy.
When I landed and set her down Tina said, "Man, I can't believe that you don't just crash to the ground, Lance!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a certain form of travel power. I know some heroes can run really fast, swim fast, or in Muckman's case move through the ground. However, I got jumping. I think my legs and feet are made to handle the shock somehow."
"You, like, have pretty big feet."
"Pretty big? You're being nice. I have huge feet, a lot bigger than most other bricks do. Even Zonk made fun of me about them."
"Zonk? The clown hero?"
"Yeah."
"Ouch. Well, your feet don't look out of place, if that helps. You have huge legs - calves too. So they kind of match your legs."
"Thanks."
Rael rode up on his Ninja Supersport. He parked and walked up to us.
He said, "Hey Tina. Good to see you."
She hugged him. "Hi Rael. You too. You guys always wear your costumes now?"
"Pretty much. I might have to buy a second one soon so I don't have to throw it in the wash every day."
"I thought you guys didn't sweat any more?"
"We don't, but I'm getting into fights so often it gets dirty or bloody."
"Oh. Are you, like, okay?"
"Sure, I heal super fast."
I said, "Let's go in and sit down."
We walked inside and sat down - I made sure to use two chairs to distribute my massive weight. After ordering, we continued the conversation.
I asked, "So what did you do this morning, Rael?"
He replied, "I hit the dojo early in the morning. I brought in the tamping bar and worked on my technique with Master Kinsa. Even with my speed, he was able to give me some great pointers taking into account the weight of the bar and my new speed and strength. He said he missed my sparring sessions with the groups. He enjoyed seeing me take on groups of guys."
I chuckled, "Yeah, I think all the masters did. You really get into the fighting, and you didn't mind taking punishment. Most of the guys didn't want to take a beating."
"Yeah, he asked if I wanted to come spar with a group, but I'm concerned about doing it now. I've punched and kicked non-supers in some of the fights I've been in, they fly back quite a ways, and I'm pretty sure broken bones happened a lot."
I scratched my head. "When was this, pretty much all of our fights have been against supers."
"The fight at our house when they nabbed us. When I broke out of the kidnapper's factory, when we tried to rescue you the first time, and again the second time where we actually succeeded."
"Dang. I missed all those. Well, I was there when they hit our house, but don't remember much from it."
"Yeah. I told him I might try it once and take it easy until we find out how much I can do without hurting anyone. We might have to have the guys in padded armor at first."
"I'd like to be there for it."
"Cool. I'll let him know I'm willing to try at least once. By the way, I got a call from Lieutenant Parks from S.W.A.T. He's willing to shoot at us this afternoon in their training house."
I grinned, "That's awesome! I can't wait to see what they hit me with."
"I'm thinking to wear an old t-shirt in case it gets torn up in a hailstorm of bullets...."
"You might want to try dodging, Rael."
"No duh. I plan to, but these will be experts, in their training environment, and will be expecting a super."
"Should be fun - did he set a time?"
"Yeah, he asked if we could be there by 2 P.M. to be there for the briefing beforehand."
"Rock on."
Rael looked at Tina, "So what have you been up to, Tina?"
"Not much - especially when compared to you guys. I work, hit the gym afterward, watch some TV and sleep. That's like, everything I do. I can't believe you guys think getting shot at is, like, fun or something."
"Thanks again for letting me stay at your place last week. Damn kidnappers. About S.W.A.T. - we need to know what we can handle."
"Sure thing ... anytime."
Our chat broke down into talking about her workout routine, the sets, exercises and weight on each. I figured making her say it would help make her more accountable. She said she couldn't wait to get on my case again about my workout once the expansion at Sweat & Steel was finished. I agreed.
An event for a robbery went off not too far from the University, but Diva, Psystar and Silverlash all accepted it before I even got my phone out.
I asked Rael, "Want to go anyway?"
"Uhh, nah. I think they've got it covered. Three heroes is already a lot."
It was an odd reaction for him - normally he'd be all over seeing multiple lady supers. Maybe he was having a fight with Stephanie or something.... I figured I'd let it go if he didn't want to talk about it.
I left early with Tina to carry her back to her car at the gym. Tina seemed to enjoy clinging to me, but she had a mild fear of the height once we lifted off each time. She appeared sad to have to climb down off me to head home. I told her I'd see her in the morning and leaped off to meet Rael at the address he'd texted me.
We were early, so I spent a while on the rooftop of a building watching down on the city. When Rael pulled into the parking lot, I leaped down to land near him.