“Wow, that energy from last night did you a favor, though I’m going to miss you being my pillow on movie night,” Kat says as she evaluates Theo’s new fit shape. “Just becoming fit overnight doesn’t mean you have powers. Prof only works with people who have powers.”
In perfect Spanish, “I think she’ll want to see me.” Theo says with a sparkle in his eyes.
Kat stares at Theo, “When did you learn Spanish?” also in Spanish.
“Last night, along with every other language you’ve heard of, and the rest that you don’t know about. Same with reading,” Theo responds in English again.
“All right, we’ll go see her after we get you some clothes that actually fit,” Kat purrs, she loves to shop with other people’s money.
“After breakfast, I’m starving, I feel like I haven’t eaten in a month.” Theo chuckles while grabbing an old graphic tee with a Bob-Omb on it and slipping it on.
“Did you get taller?” Kat asks as they walk out of Theo’s room.
Neither Theo nor Kat catch the other checking them out.
The sound of happy kids eating pancakes fills the kitchen, almost drowning out Iris as she talks to Theo and Kat.
“I see how Theo might need new clothes,” Iris says exasperatedly after Theo shows her how his old “Tight” shirt fits on him now.
“We plan to go shopping after stopping by to get my suit from Prof,” Theo grins. He knows that the process of getting your first suit is a fast one, something about a smart fiber Kat mentioned in one of her stories. Changes take a lot longer to get done.
“You know what? I have an errand that you can run for some spending money.” Iris smiled at her two oldest kids. “Take my suit into Prof and ask her to fix the holes here,” indicating a few conspicuous holes near the center of the ‘Spectrum’ emblem. “You do that and I won’t ask for any of this back,” she smiles while holding out the suit and a wad of cash, there had to be $1,000 dollars there!
“That’s too much for errands Mom,” Theo says with concern in his voice. “I’ll bring back lots of change.” That last statement earns him a dirty look from Kat.
“Not necessary, if you feel bad spending it all on yourself, get something for Kat for helping you,” Iris says with a ‘This is final’ tone.
“Got it, Iris,” Kat says as she pushes Theo out the door. “Love you!” she says as they disappear out the door.
“Love you, too,” Iris says with a sad smile.
Chapter 12: Highrise and Jinlong
“I can’t believe we spent all that money on clothes in less than two hours!” Theo exclaims while trying to balance the three bags worth of clothes on the handlebars of his bike. He and Kat just finished shopping in the shopping/commercial district, New Milan. They are on their way back toward the orphanage in Midtown.
“I mean, I spent $150 of it on a new jacket, but LOOK AT IT! It’s awesome, it has Shade on the back, coming out of one of her shadow portals.” Kat beams and turns her back so Theo can look at her jacket again. The jacket is dark blue denim, trimmed in white and black. “It’s even a numbered copy! I am now one of 99 other people who have this jacket in the world and I’m number 17, my lucky number! It was fate that I got this.”
As Theo goes to reply, the sound of a gunshot and the resulting screaming stops Theo and Kat in their tracks.
“Don’t hurt us, take the money, it’s in the safe over there!” comes the panicked voice of someone inside the pharmacy ahead of Theo and Kat.
A different voice replies, “Be civilized, give us the key to the narcotics cabinets and the safe combination and no one needs to get hurt like her.” Another gunshot rings out.
Theo drops his bike and bags and starts moving toward the pharmacy, but Kat puts an arm in front of him.
“What are you doing? You just got your powers, you’re not ready for this yet. Give me a minute and Nightmare will show up and handle it. Got me?” Kat looks at Theo with a look she must have learned directly from Iris. “Just hide, a Cape will be here to help soon.”
Theo looks and feels surprised and a bit guilty, “Okay... I won’t put myself in any danger.”
“Good, now stay behind that mailbox over there until someone comes to help,” Kat says as she heads toward the alley beside the pharmacy and a candy store named The Confectionary beside it.
Theo ducks behind the mailbox as he was told. Less than 10 seconds later another gunshot rings out, followed by the sound of someone crying out in pain.
Sorry, Kat, I can’t let someone get hurt when I could stop it.
Without missing a beat, Theo hurdles the mailbox and charges toward the pharmacy. Inside there are metal shelves stacked against the front windows and entrance, it looks like these criminals are depending on a Cape not wanting to risk collateral damage to cover their escape.
He tucks into the alcove by the door and windows, trying to hide from prying eyes by sticking to the corner.
This would be a good time to try out my tremor sense in real life for the first time.
He pulses out pulses of seismic energy from the soles of his feet. They return an image of the interior for him. The interior of the pharmacy is laid out before him in his mind’s eye, like a tactical screen in a game like Fire Emblem or X-Com.
There are three criminals, two with handguns, and one holding out his hands like that was some kind of threat. That last one was obviously a Cowl of some sort. He also sees that there are three people huddled in the corner, cowering in front of the gunmen and the Cowl.
Theo lines up his hands like finger guns, stone “bullets” coalescing in front of the tip of both finger guns, both pointing at the Cowl. He focuses on the stone “bullets”, refining their shape.
Richter’s voice rings through Theo’s head, it’s from a lecture during his Earth training camp, “Focus on the normals when you get into a fight Theodore-gong. They will have less discipline should a prolonged fight break out. They are much more likely to do something like use a civilian as a shield. Also, should they have firearms, unless it’s a tank they’re pointing at you, your Stone Skin should prevent them from harming you. The civilians you may be protecting don’t have that benefit, so draw their ire and their fire.”
Theo adjusts his finger guns’ aim, now pointing at the two people with guns, his stone “bullets” having finished forming traditional bullet shapes. Theo focuses and adjusts his aim, making sure to be aimed at the hands holding the guns, not the bodies of the gunmen.
I don’t need their deaths on my conscience.
“Game-time,” Theo growls and releases the stone “bullets”. He watches as his Stone Shots pass through the gaps in the barricade and pierce through the hands of the gunmen, as well as the grips of the pistols. They won’t be threatening anyone else with those any time soon. He also sees that one of the people in the corner, a pretty blonde in a lab coat, is bleeding pretty badly from a wound in her shoulder.
The Cowl, Highrise, is dressed in a full-body suit with silver bands going down the arms and legs. He has a whip that he is currently wearing as a belt. He also has gloves that look like they are straight out of an 80’s music video, with the higher exterior points slimming down to just covering the hand on the inside of his body. He is known for his tempestuous nature.
Highrise looks at his minions, “Incroyable, completely useless, merde! You’re lucky I doan keel you maintenant to reduce the number of witnesses,” Highrise says with a French accent. The two minions scuttle out the back door of the pharmacy.
“I can’t believe I’ve had to resort to this already, I need better help,” Highrise says. He raises his arm and silver light generates along it, then he makes a slashing motion toward the front of the pharmacy. “I may as well keel the connard who disabled my minions.”
A blade of compressed air, Highrise calls it his “Wind Blade”, flashes toward the makeshift barricade in the front of the pharmacy. It cuts through the shelves, windows, and door with ease. Theo flinches back.
What
should I do? Ducking will be too slow. I don’t want to die! I have too much to live for...there goes that Cape career I've been looking forward to. Richter wasted so much time on me and I wasted the opportunity on the first Cowl I come into contact with. Why couldn’t I just wait for Kat to take care of this!?
As the Wind Blade is about to come in contact with his skin a golden light erupts out of Theo. When the golden light fades, Theo looks up and sees what the Wind Blade has done. It cut away the top half of the barricade, leaving a wide-open view for Theo into the pharmacy.
Theo looks down toward his hands and sees a sandy gold set of scales where his normal skin should be, he has gloves on now. He flexes his fingers and claws pop out of these gloves, four inches long and made out of something that looks conspicuously like diamonds.
Well, those are new. I think I can work with this.
Theo smiles and hops over the now half barricade into the pharmacy, charging toward Highrise.
As he charges in, Theo catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror that is attached to the exterior wall, it’s one of those glasses displays, the kind people use to see what they look like in a set of frames. He is in a completely gold Suit, with tan patches near the shoulders. A golden helmet in the shape of a Chinese dragon head finishes off the Suit, which is odd because it doesn’t seem to be affecting his vision.
I’m going to have to consider that more later, Highrise is trying to kill me right now!
“Some new Cape trying to make a name by taking me down? Mignon. I was wondering when I would be able to add a new notch to my whip,” Highrise brandishes his signature whip, rumor has it that it makes his attacks more powerful and less predictable. “Looks like I’ll get to add that notch today! Allons y little Cape, I can’t wait to see your blood splatter partout these walls!” He starts whirling his whip in an irregular, roughly circular pattern, small Wind Blades streaming off the tip of it.
Theo ignores the small wind blades after noticing that his Suit is not damaged at all after the first one hit him.
So, this is what my scales look like when they’re out in full force, nice!
Theo charges in toward Highrise and slashes at his hands, trying to either dislodge the whip or destroy it with his newfound diamond claws.
“Whelp, it’s 10 years too early for me to get caught by some no-name, wanna-be, Cape!” Highrise sneers as he deflects Theo’s attack with a shield of wind. He holds both of his hands towards Theo, a ball of air whirling between his hands. “Back off!” and pushes the ball into Theo.
Theo is pushed back a few feet by the ball of air. He bumps into a chair behind him and stumbles. “You’ll have to hit harder than that,” Theo laughs as he snaps off another Stone Shot toward Highrise, which gets deflected off into the cash register with a loud ringing noise as it is destroyed.
Highrise whirls his arms above his head, whip waving, a small tornado generating in his hands. “Eat this you limp wristed chump!” Highrise bellows as he sends the tornado ripping toward Theo.
The tornado passes through the air, completely ignoring the laws of physics. It picks up a chair and some diet supplements and hurtles toward Theo.
“Ahhh!” Theo exclaims as he is hit by the tornado, the force of it throws him into the exterior wall of the pharmacy. Theo crashes through the wall and into the alley, landing flat on his back. Kat stands over him, having just finished slipping into her Nightmare suit.
Chapter 13: Power Rush
Kat stares down at Theo in his Suit. “Who are you?!”
‘I may need an assist here Kat,’ Theo thinks at her.
‘THEO!!!??? Is that you in there?’ Kat thinks very loudly at the Cape in the golden dragon suit.
‘Owwww, that was a bit loud BTW, and yeah it’s me. I tried helping and when Highrise sent a Wind Blade at me this Suit popped out and helped block it,’ Theo sends as he gets up and brushes himself off.
“Highrise is in there, how many hostages?” Nightmare asks, looking over Theo, checking for wounds, and finding none. “Also, what should I call you?”
“3 hostages, one of which is injured. Call me Jinlong, Jin for short,” Theo says without hesitation, surprising even himself.
‘I didn’t come up with that name, it just came out,’ he sends to her.
“All right, Jin, let's clean up Highrise and get him into FSA custody," Nightmare says while stepping through the debris that was once the wall of the pharmacy. She is immediately repulsed by a wall of wind blocking her path.
"Not so fast little Cape, I'm not done in here, wait out there with your scaled compatriot." Highrise smirks while working fingers of wind into the safe behind where the counter of the pharmacy should be.
"I hate it when he does this! We'll have to go around the front, hopefully, he can't make a wall big enough to cover both sides," Nightmare says and starts toward the front.
"Let me try something," Jin says before he walks toward the wind wall. At first, the wind pushes him back like it did Nightmare. "I can do better!" Jin yells, drawing power from the earth, a roar explodes out of Jin, power like he never experienced in training pours out of every cell in his body.
Jin bursts through the wall of wind, dispersing it as he hurtles toward Highrise, claws completely forgotten as he goes to punch Highrise in his, now terrified, face. Jin channels all the embarrassing moments of his life into this punch, all of the times people had called him fat and useless. Roaring, Jin punches Highrise in the chin so hard that the Cowl flies back into the metal security door down the hall behind the counter area.
At this point, Jin has smoke coming from the nostrils of his suit and the eyes are glowing a soft red. Nightmare comes in through the front door and sees Jin standing right in front of where Highrise was standing moments earlier. The three hostages take this time to slip out the newly destroyed front door and into the street.
"You let him get away!" Nightmare yells.
"No, I didn't, and we won't have to worry about that anymore in just a minute," Jin growls as he stalks down the hall toward the limp form of Highrise, claws back out.
"If he gets out of my range, neither of us…wait, where are you going Jin?!" Nightmare asks frantically as she runs to catch up to Jin. She sees the slumped over body of Highrise 15 feet away from them.
'Theo, are you still in there?' Kat sends.
'Yes, and I've never felt better!' Jin thinks back.
That doesn't feel like Theo...He's in Power Rush! I need to stop him before he kills someone!
Kat does a mental scan of Highrise.
Not much there mentally, but he is alive. I need to stop Theo before he tries to “fix” that.
She reaches a hand out toward Theo and touches his mind with her powers like she has done a thousand times before, but this time instead of talking to him she thinks just one thing.
Sleep.
Jin stumbles a few feet from Highrise, his arm raised to deliver the killing thrust with his claws, and falls over asleep.
First thing’s first.
Nightmare pulls out her phone and hits a few seemingly random spots on her phone screen.
I can’t wait until I get a commlink, then I don’t have to do this stupid pattern anymore.
After a few seconds a new app opens on her phone, it has “FSA Hotline” at the top of the screen and a big button that says “Call” on it. Below that is a button that says 911. Nightmare pushes the 911 button impatiently.
I still can’t believe they make us go through these hoops to call for backup!
“911, what’s your emergency?” a pleasant, if tired, voice asks.
“Hello, this is Nightmare, I’m a Cape with the FSA. I need an ambulance to the Pharmacy on 12th street for a mid 30’s woman with a GSW, she appears to be stable. She’s currently sitting on the sidewalk out front with two other victims.”
“We’ll get an ambulance and a couple of squad cars down there as soon as possible.”
“Thanks, we always appreciate the RCPD’s help.”
<
br /> “We’re glad to do it, be safe, Nightmare, my son loves you.” With that the 911 operator hangs up.
That was a bit weird.
Nightmare types out the pattern on her phone again and hits the “FSA Hotline” button this time.
“FSA Hotline, this is Janet, what’s your designation?” a perky female voice comes from the phone.
“Nightmare, Class 1 Cape,” Nightmare says impatiently.
“Thank you, Nightmare, how can we help?” Janet asks.
“I need a pickup for Highrise, he’s stable, but beat all to hell,” Nightmare says as she looks over Highrise where he lies against the door. She checks his pulse. “Yeah, just checked, his pulse is strong.”
“All right, I will get a Cape on site ASAP to help with his transport. Do you need anything else?” The sounds of a mechanical keyboard being furiously typed on come through the phone at this point.
“Yeah...can I get a welcoming crew for a new Cape as well?” Nightmare asks with a bit of hesitation in her voice.
“A new Cape? Absolutely, I’ll get the welcoming crew ready for them. What would you say their gender is?” Janet asks pleasantly.
“Male, definitely,” Nightmare says with a bit of a laugh.
“Ah, Power Rush?” Janet asks with the sound of a mechanical keyboard intensifying.
“Yeah, I had to knock him out, he didn’t even sound like himself after that last hit he took from Highrise,” Nightmare says sheepishly.
“No problem, I’ll have the welcoming crew bring a car along. How big would you say he is?”
“5’10” 310…no wait.” Nightmare looks Jin over again. “Make that 6’ even and 240.”
Someone got blessed with his Awakening!
“All right, I’ll have them bring an SUV then.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep watch on them,” Nightmare says.
“That won’t be necessary,” a familiar voice comes from behind Nightmare, who starts at the unexpected noise.
Nightmare turns around and sees Hellion, a Cape she knows very well. She waves at him.
“I assume I’m looking at the transport right now?” she says into the phone.
Riverside City Chronicles | Book 1 | Riverside City [Capes & Cowls] Page 4