West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide (36 page)

“Mostly against
stalking or harassing,”
Matteo
agreed.

“The same rights
that actors and politicians have,” interjected Gabrielle, “which means, not
many.”

“That’s not fair,”
said Camille. “These people are constantly after me! It’s like they’re trying
to ruin my life.”

“Ah the perils of
being a shameless flirt and publicity whore,” mused Seawolf.

“What the fuck is
that supposed to mean?” said Camille into the stunned silence that followed.

Seawolf rolled her
eyes and Starfish laughed almost hysterically. Cosmic Kid exchanged a worried
look with
Matteo
. Clearly the meeting was making
people unhinged.

“Can we wrap this
up, Gabrielle?” asked Dr. Sterling. “I need to speak with our esteemed team
leader about our continuing investigation into the Boardwalk attack. In my
office, Blue Star.”

“Of course, that’s
all I’ve got,” said Gabrielle, looking around the room in some alarm.
“Remember, we want the press to focus on what we do, not who we are!”

11:45 a.m.,
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

WPS
Headquarters

West
Pacific, CA

“Do you
have a moment?” Seawolf asked Starfish as they left the conference room
together. She desperately wanted to know if there’d been any leads on her
mutant
sealife
investigation, but he never seemed to
be in his office when she called.

“I would love to,
but it appears that you’ve got company,” replied Starfish.

“What do you mean?”
she asked. She turned around and saw Camille bearing down on her with an angry
expression.

“Catch you later,”
said Starfish with a grin as he headed for the elevators.

Seawolf stopped and
waited for the younger woman. “What the hell was that back there?” Camille
demanded.

“What?” Seawolf
asked, moving to one side as Cosmic Kid and Blue Star hurriedly walked by.

“Don’t give me that.
You know what - that crack about me being a publicity whore.”

Seawolf grinned. Her
teeth were a little larger and sharper than most people’s so she usually only
showed them all off on special occasions. This seemed like one of them. “I’m
just telling it like it is, Camille. Your outrage over this whole incident is
laughable. You love being the center of attention - you probably orchestrated
the whole thing.”

“Orchestrated?!”
Camille was sputtering. “I have no idea what delusional world…”

“Oh please,” Seawolf
said. “I’m not the one with delusions. I’ve heard the tape. You were flirting
with him.”

“What?!” Camille had
turned a peculiar reddish purple.

“You flirt with
anyone who looks,” Seawolf continued calmly. “And pout when someone doesn’t.
Maybe it made sense when you were 19 and wore a miniskirt, but I though the
whole point of that little incident was that you were all grown up now.”

“That little
incident?!” Camille was struggling to control herself. “I don’t know what your
problem with me has always been, Seawolf, but that ‘little incident’ was about
me standing up on behalf of all female supers against teams trying to sexualize
them for the sake of marketing revenue. I lost my job over that.”

Seawolf rolled her
eyes. “Spare me the heroics. You got tired of people staring at your perfect
legs, so you created a drama, milked the story for all it was worth, and
managed to get traded up to the Infinity Team to boot. Hardly being thrown out
on streets.”

“My perfect legs? Is
that what this is all about? You’re jealous of how I look?” Camille sounded
incredulous.

Seawolf looked at
Camille for a moment, thinking of how envious she had always been of Camille’s
grace in the air, her smooth furless skin, and the way people seemed to
instantly warm to her. Even back when Camille was just the newest troubled kid
at the Academy, people saw potential in her, just because of the way she
looked. Seawolf shrugged. “Don’t you understand that in order to be sexualized,
you have to be judged normal enough to be attractive? If I had your legs, I
would be thrilled to display them in a miniskirt. Get over yourself, Camille.
The truth is that the superazzi are only interested in you because you’re
attractive and you know it and aren’t afraid to use it. If Starfish and I had
had the same conversation at the same restaurant, no one would have even
cared.”

“That is so not
true!” said Camille, sounding petulant. Seawolf wondered idly if she were going
to stamp her foot.

“And yet,” said
Seawolf, “if you actually read the marketing and publicity reports you would
see that it is indeed so true. Little boys may wish to grow up to be the
Monster of Detroit or Cicada Man, but little girls most assuredly do not want
to develop fur and webbed fingers.”

Camille stared at
her. “I work hard at what I do, Seawolf. I do the same amount of heroics as you
do - actually, given my power set, I’d say I do a fair share more. Maybe I get
more of the spotlight, but it’s not like you ever try to be popular with the
press. And you know what? It’s not easy being in the spotlight all the time! I
get followed back to my house, my family is practically always under
observation, my daughter’s teacher is obsessed with what I do, my husband gets
asked more questions about me at his concerts than he does about his music,
everything I say or wear is analyzed on national news…What?”

“You are so
self-absorbed,” Seawolf observed. “It’s too bad that you can’t hear yourself
speak.”

“What are you
talking about?”

Seawolf shook her
head. She hadn’t thought that Camille was really this dense. “
Your
family,
your
daughter,
your
husband - not all of
us have those things, Camille. Perhaps the demands of your job affect them in
unfortunate ways, but then again, perhaps you should have thought of that
before you gave up your secret identity. Like Gabrielle said, you can’t have it
all.”

Camille frowned.
“I’m sorry that your life is so pathetic that you feel a need to take it out on
me. Whatever you may think, my life is not perfect.”

This conversation
had gone on too long. Seawolf looked at Camille and spoke quite slowly. “There
are people with actual problems in the world who need attending to.” With that,
she turned, wrenching her still-painful leg, and stalked slowly off to the
stairwell.

10:32 a.m.,
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Training
Gym C, WPS HQ

West
Pacific, CA

“So
who’s your new soul mate?” asked Cosmic Kid as he neatly sidestepped a tire
iron and then grabbed and tossed the big guy facing him into one of the padded
blue zones, which removed him from play. He and Blue Star were in another Dr.
Sterling training scenario. Today they were being beset by West Pacific
College’s football team and had to rescue the team’s cheerleaders who were
being held hostage. West Pacific College was a Division III team, which meant
no athletic scholarships for its players. Thus Dr. Sterling tried to do her
best to use West Pacific College athletes for training exercises and to pay
them well for their services.

“Soul mate – what
are you talking about?” asked Blue Star as he iced the floor and caused the
first string quarterback and one of the team’s kickers to crash into the
ground.

“Gabrielle said you
needed a steady girlfriend before anything else, even training, and here you
are training – so I figured you found a special someone. So what’s she like?
It’s not the mayor’s daughter or anything like that, is it?” asked Cosmic Kid
as he sprung up and kicked who he believed was one of the team’s wide
receivers, sending him flying into another blue zone.

“No. Listen, Kid, I’m
team leader – the PR director doesn’t order me around.” Blue Star caught three
more players in a flurry of snow. They were bundled in padding, but they
quickly fell back against the freezing cold.

“So you’re having
problems connecting with someone – or is it performance problems? I can
understand the former, but I’m young, so no idea about the latter,” said Cosmic
Kid as he jumped up to the ladder leading to the next level.

Dr. Sterling’s voice
boomed over the intercom through the upper training center: “I can see why the
Sea Turtles lose most of their games – you guys are pathetic little girls! The
woman’s field hockey team did twice as good as you sissies. It’s a senior
citizen and a teenager – come on, kick their asses!”

Cosmic Kid had to
admit Dr. Sterling was right. The woman’s field hockey team had come to play
hard and worked as a team; the football team on the other hand had no unity and
seemed genuinely intimidated. However, it did appear as if Dr. Sterling’s words
had sparked the team a little, but that would only give them a small boost.
Battles were always won before they were fought and the football team lost this
one the moment the bus dropped them off at the building.

“I’m not seeing
anyone right now and it’s none of your business anyway,” snapped Blue Star who
was floating up to the second level.

“Actually, it’s all
over the tabloids so technically it’s everyone’s business.” Cosmic Kid leapt
the last few rungs to the platform where three big guys were running towards
him with baseball bats.

Blue Star decided
instead of using his ice powers to simply crash into one of the bat boys.
Cosmic Kid frowned as two was not as exciting as three. He evaded one swing and
positioned himself to use that guy as a shield against the other. He caught a
second swing with one hand and kicked the swinger back into his other opponent,
while keeping a strong grip on the bat so that he ended up in possession of it.
Blue Star hefted his crumbled opponent towards a nearby blue zone.

“No, it’s not,” said
Blue Star irritably.

“Oh my god, it’s not
that you can’t find someone - it’s that you have a crush on someone! Is it
someone on the team? Seawolf and you would have such precocious and sweet
children.”

Blue Star couldn’t
help but laugh. “DSA would reverse policy and pay us to not have children. How
about you, Kid - dating anyone?”

“Trying to change
the subject with a question reversal – nice, but I’m dating Emily, your
granddaughter, remember?”

“I thought you two
broke up?” asked Blue Star stopping for a moment to catch his breath.

“I’ve been trying to
convince her that I’m a super who can handle a serious relationship,” said
Cosmic Kid, waiting for Blue Star to start moving again.

“How’s that going?”
asked Blue Star as he started to walk forward.

“Poorly,” said
Cosmic Kid. His attempts to show his seriousness were grating Emily and he
feared it wouldn’t be long before she simply dumped him.

Blue Star stopped in
front of the reinforced door that led to where the hostages were being held. He
yelled out, “Operations, is there another way into the room?”

Dr. Sterling’s voice
boomed out over the intercom. “Nope – and in 30 seconds the blue zones turn
green and everyone is back in play.”

“Can you bust
through this door?” Blue Star asked Cosmic Kid. “It sounds like you’re stalking
Emily; if you are, I might have to get involved.”

“What are you going
to do? Get elected President and keep me off the President’s Team?” Cosmic Kid
examined the door. The hinges were on the other side and it was a heavy-duty
steel door. He couldn’t effectively knock it down without more mass for
leverage, but he could probably blow the lock with one of the explosive charges
on his utility belt.

“You should respect
your elders,” said Blue Star.

“I do! You’re like a
hero to me, except I believe in monogamy,” said Cosmic Kid as he set up the
charge on the lock.

“I do too,” said
Blue Star grumpily.

“I had dinner with
Linda the other night,” said Cosmic Kid, stepping back from the door.

“What? How? Why?”

Cosmic Kid laughed.
“Linda was in town and took Emily and me out for dinner.” He had been happy to
meet Linda, the former Lady Titan of the Paragons, though he was surprised to
see she was about 20 years younger than Blue Star. She was attractive, smart,
and personable, though she had to have some judgment issues to have married
Blue Star a second time.

An explosion blew
open the lock.

“Emily isn’t related
to Linda; she’s Gwen’s granddaughter,” said Blue Star.

“Family is family,”
said Cosmic Kid dashing into the room. He saw that most of the second string
was inside, many armed with paint pellet guns, and in the back was another
door, which probably led to the cheerleaders. He ran to the side as paint
pellets flew around him, some hitting, and threw a flash-bang into the center
of the room. It went off with a deafening crack and flash followed by a few
chords of
Twinkle
Twinkle
Little Star
, or was it
Ba
Ba
Black
Sheep
?

Blue Star entered
the room and began putting people on ice. “Yeah, Gwen and Linda get along;
trust me, you never want your ex-wives to get along.”

“I’m not planning on
having an ex-wife, just a wife,” said Cosmic Kid as he knocked two ‘gunmen’
down.

“That’s everyone’s
plan at the beginning, Kid. Did Linda say anything about me?” asked Blue Star
nonchalantly as he knocked down several others by dropping a thin sheet of ice
on them.

“That you’re younger
than I am,” said Cosmic Kid, tossing a cornerback into a defensive end. Linda
had been pretty uncharitable to Blue Star, but did admit he had his moments.
Though she really wouldn’t go into detail about when those moments actually
were.

“I don’t think
that’s a compliment,” said Blue Star, flying towards the second door.

“Hey, at least she
doesn’t think you’re old – that has to be a plus,” said Cosmic Kid, following him
on foot. “Anyway, enough about your problems, I have a problem you can help me
with.”

“If it involves
Emily, I don’t want to hear about it.” Blue Star slicked the floor of the room
to slow down the football team while they dealt with the door.

“No, I don’t have
problems with women,” lied Cosmic Kid. “However, I think I botched a patrol
with Starfish a few days ago. I was a real ass, trying to show off before the
experienced team member.”

“Showing off is what
supers do – we naturally compete and that’s what makes us better.” Blue Star
created ice in the hinges and wall around the door causing it to expand and
crack.

“Yeah, but you can
compete in a nice way or a mean way, and I went the mean way. Believe it or not
I can be arrogant at times,” said Cosmic Kid, slamming into the iced door.

“No, you’re
kidding,” said Blue Star sarcastically.

“Seriously though, I
showboated,” admitted Cosmic Kid. “I’m just not meshing well with Starfish.”
The door he was slamming against gave way into the next room, in which five
more football players were each pointing a paint pellet gun at the head of a
cheerleader.

“Surrender or the
cheerleaders will die!” said one of the football players with a smile. He
obviously hadn’t seen what had been done to the rest of the team.

“It’s mutual; the
two of you don’t respect one another,” said Blue Star. “I was in Ops with Dr.
Sterling during the patrol and heard everything.”

“I know you have to
earn respect, but he does treat me like a kid sometimes.”

“That’s because you
are a kid. If I treat you like a kid, you can take that, because you look up to
me as I am pretty much a superhero legend and because I don’t mean anything
personal by it. Starfish treats you like a kid because you’re a threat to his
status as team genius and resident wit,” said Blue Star, who continued to lower
the temperature in the room.

“So you think I was
mean to him because he doesn’t respect me because I don’t respect him?” asked
Cosmic Kid.

“Respect is a
two-way street.”

“Hey, we have
hostages!” said the leader of the football players who shivered slightly.

“Sorry, one moment –
I’m about to have an epiphany,” said Cosmic Kid.

“You wish, Kid -
she’s out of your league,” said Blue Star. “Psychics are more trouble than
they’re worth.”

“Fortunately for you,
Linda isn’t a psychic,” retorted Cosmic Kid. “She isn’t seeing anyone and you
two were married twice before – you guys must have some serious connection. It
would also mean a lot to Snowflake.”

“You know Katie?”
asked Blue Star.

“You know you have
never asked me that question in all these months, and yes, I do know Catherine.
Teen Infinity and Teen Ultimate teamed up to deal with that wannabe anti-Christ
last year. Your daughter is cool, literally, but she would be happier if her
dad was more involved with her life.” Snowflake was a few years younger than
Cosmic Kid and was born during Blue Star and Linda’s brief second marriage. She
was a nice kid, but lacked confidence. She was the daughter of two superhero
legends, but like every kid from a broken marriage she had more than her fair
share of issues.

“She doesn’t like me
and for good reason,” said Blue Star.

“Respect is a
two-way street. You have to respect yourself before you can expect others to
respect you.”

“Harsh, but probably
accurate, Kid,” said Blue Star with a sigh.

“Hey, I’m going to
shoot Tina!” said the football player.

“Go ahead,” said
Blue Star who gestured at Cosmic Kid. They advanced menacingly on the five
football players. Three of the players wisely dropped their ‘guns’, probably
because if they had shot the cheerleaders they would have faced grief for
months over it. As for the two who pulled the triggers, they discovered that
the paint pellets had jammed due to the cold. Blue Star and Cosmic Kid had
tested out the paint pellet guns’ tolerance for cold a few nights previously to
toss a surprise back at Dr. Sterling.

Soon the
cheerleaders were free, though they were fast approaching hypothermia. The
football team gave up at that point. Hopefully with their Season starting in a
little over two months, they would have time to heal up. Cosmic Kid wondered if
Dr. Sterling’s training sessions were one of the reasons that West Pacific
College’s athletic program lost most of its games.

“Dr. Sterling is
developing another secret raid against the Infinite Circle. I want you to head
it up with Starfish and Camille,” said Blue Star later as they showered in the
gym after the training session.

“Really? What’s the
target? Shouldn’t Starfish lead it? He’s the most senior.”

“You need to
practice being in charge, I’m not going to be around forever, and this is a
chance for you to make a connection with Starfish. As for the mission, the
details are confidential up to deployment.”

“Alright, thanks,”
said Cosmic Kid. “How about you – are you going to see Linda? She’s going to be
in town through the weekend.”

“No, I’ve burned
that bridge twice already. You have to go forward, not backwards in life.”

“Then you definitely
are after someone else, aren’t you?”

“I’m not saying,
Kid,” said Blue Star with a slight smile.

“Please tell me it’s
not Camille.”

Blue Star scowled.
“I don’t do that. The only marriages I’ve ever screwed up are my own, Kid.”