I turned to follow the sliding Interrupter when the stern face and muscular shoulders of Toughy blocked my vision. I looked up just as she bitch-slapped me, sending me to the ground. When another blow didn’t follow, I looked up sheepishly, a little foggy, to see Allie side-kick Toughy, and then follow through with a hammer fist to the face, sending Toughy down on her butt.
I began crawling toward where I had seen the Interrupter sliding. Along the way, I crawled over Jones, who lay unconscious nearby with “tweety birds” circling his head. I tapped him on the shoulder. “Okay, Doc, I’ll take the fifty mill now. She’s right there,” I said, pointing to the B.I.B.Not so powerful now, eh, Doc?
Toughy used her left hand to push her right shoulder back into its socket and wiped some blood away that had begun dripping from her nose. Then she looked up at the B.I.B. with a sneer and rose.
Allie was clearly taken aback. When she hit someone they went down and stayed down. This round-two thing was new to her.
Toughy swung an arm and fired out a leg, but in superspeed, Allie was as quick as me picking out beer, and none of Toughy’s blows landed. Instead, Allie landed a roundhouse kick that put Toughy back on her butt again. “Stay down, bitch,” she commanded. “I don’t wanna hurt you.” Did that menacing voice come out of my little Allie? Whoa, that was kind of cool, I thought.
I was starting to feel hopeful for the first time since Toughy and Goldie had arrived. Jones was down. Toughy was outmatched. There was hope, if I could just find the Interrupter. I tried to get up, but felt the roof spinning. Crawling was good, I decided.
Then the roller coaster turned again. Goldie sent out a beam of light that caught Allie as she was moving in for the kill. It held her in place and defeated her speed advantage. Toughy smiled as she stood up, reenergized, and kicked Allie into a group of ventilation pipes. Every time my girl got ready to fight, she was held in place by the beam from Goldie and ended up trading blows at best. The shining, crackling tractor beam had reversed the advantage. Now Allie was a stationary target. It was wearing her down. But she kept battling Toughy, giving as good as she got. Both of them stood determinedly, trading horrific blows that would have turned a T. rex into a vegetarian or laid him out quietly, waiting to become oil.
In the distance, Goldie glowed with three sparkling beams streaming from her out stretched hands; one fed Toughy, one slowed Allie, and the other kept Rebecca housed in her cocoon.
Then a lava-red light began to form beside the stairway door, revealing a humming, sparkling column of light surrounding Jennifer Lowe. No nifty costume for her. She was casually dressed, as if she was on her way to see a movie, but surrounded in dynamic red energy.
She moved right at Goldie, who suddenly had a look of panic on her face. Jennifer’s column met Goldie’s aura and began to slowly shrink it. The humming and crashing of their powerful shields grew louder and louder, like two medieval warriors battling with swords. Jennifer’s column of red energy was growing larger and larger, closer and closer to Goldie. Eventually, she absorbed Rebecca’s cocoon.
By now, Allie was a struggling heap on hands and knees unable to rise, and Toughy didn’t need help. So Goldie cut the tractor beam holding Allie in place, as well as the one powering Toughy, to concentrate on her battle with Jennifer. With the extra power, Goldie was able to push Jennifer back. At which point, Jennifer seemed to realize she was in a battle, not merely doing her nails or having tea. Her face glowed brighter, revealing her anger, and she pushed back harder. (Just a tip, you don’t want to see Jennifer angry.) Goldie responded by cutting the tractor beam to Rebecca and shoving Jennifer back once more. Now, Jennifer was pissed.
The anger on Jennifer’s face gave way to confidence as the whining and crashing of their power shields grew. As she felt Goldie beginning to yield, a smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.
But Goldie was not without skills herself. She reached out and pulled the energy from the buildings and homes nearby, sending them all into darkness, and transferred their energy into a powerful golden jolt that almost knocked Jennifer flat on her back…big mistake.
As the two of them battled, I searched for the Interrupter, and Allie and Toughy stood off from one another, trying to catch enough breath to join in the fight. I began to walk, maybe stagger, after the Interrupter—it lay somewhere in the dark, and I had to find it.
Toughy was not in good shape herself. She was clearly exhausted, injured, and decorated with blood, but mobile. And her vision apparently worked just fine, as she and I spotted the Interrupter at the same time, just to her left, under an air conditioning unit. She crept toward it as I dove across the roof, reaching for it. She took hold of it and lifted it away from my fingers, which had arrived a second too late. She turned to the immobile Allie and smiled. “Game over,” she said wickedly.
No! was all I thought. That was when I leapt into the line of fire. Okay, maybe not leapt, but it was a good saunter or maybe a shuffle. You get the idea.
It threw Toughy off for a minute. I was no challenge; she wanted the B.I.B. on her resume. “Get away, little man. She’ll just be drained but, this fucker will kill you,” she said, pointing the Interrupter at my face.
“No,” was all I said, spreading my arms…arm, I mean, and legs, so that she could not shoot around me. Any way of prolonging what I still had of Allie was worthwhile, no matter how fleeting. Like a twig resting against a rock in a stream, I would cling to the rock until the stream washed me away. But I would not let go until I was forced to do so, and not a moment sooner. They would have to take her away over my defeated body…
“Your choice. I guess it will just have to be a two-for,” said Toughy, smiling. She was no longer trying to shoot around me, but aiming squarely at me.
“Glad I could make your day,” I said. flailing my arm feebly at her, reaching for the Interrupter. She stopped and laughed at me, prompting me to try again. Every time I reached for it, she pulled it away and laughed. Guess she laughed a little too long.
I had seen that look of total astonishment before—the helpless disbelief on Toughy’s face as the vapors formed around her and she slowly faded from life. The Interrupter dropped to the rooftop, smoking, twisted, and never able to party again. The night breeze swirled the horrible smell in the air till I could taste it in my throat. Toughy tasted as mean as she had looked.
Across the rooftop, Rebecca fell to the ground, bathed in lava light, liberated from her energy bondage, having sent Toughy into oblivion.
Jennifer closed in relentlessly now on Goldie, whose light had turned from gold to white. Goldie raised her arms to ward off Jennifer as she neared, then tried to run, only to be held in the oncoming energy of the lava-red light. The crashing sounds from the energy fields were gone, leaving only a powerful humming that surged in volume like the soundtrack to the oncoming jaws of a shark. Goldie’s aura turned a cloudy blue, then she slumped over as her energy drained further. In her last seconds, her form crystallized into bluish ice, which then started melting into a fluid that drained across the rooftop or flew away as vapors.
Jennifer continued her humming lava glow for a long victorious moment; then, in a flash, the red light was gone, leaving the rooftop in the silent dim of the emergency lights. She turned to Rebecca and helped her stand. Rebecca looked horrible, as if the effort to dissolve Toughy had drained the life out of her.
I made my way over to Allie, reached out my good arm, and helped her up. We leaned against each other and I marveled at how the now quiet rooftop had been such a lethal, frightening war zone seconds earlier. At that point, the adrenaline was still working wonders, and I kept moving, unchecked by the pain.
Jennifer and Rebecca approached, and the four of us stood facing one another.
“Maybe you’ll believe me next time I tell you that your girlfriend is in danger,” Jennifer said to me.
I nodded. “Maybe next time you could just put your number on a business card and hand it to me.” Bitch.
“Poor baby. Those numbers not as big as you hoped?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Bitch.
Rebecca was first to apologize. “Thank you guys for coming to help me. It was all my fault. I was convinced you were trying to kill me,” she said to Jennifer. “I’m sorry.” She coughed, slowly regaining her color.
Jennifer shrugged. “That’s what they wanted you to believe. Divide and conquer. They had us targeted, one by one…I was really afraid for you when you left,” she said, giving Rebecca a hug. Then she let her go and turned toward Allie. “I couldn’t let them get you either. I’ve never had so much fun as I did watching you play with them—the mayor, the Mob. It was hysterical.” Then she turned to me. “And you? I couldn’t give two craps about you.”
I probably had it coming, but even so, I knew she was jealous of Allie and me—or if she wasn’t, she would be.
Then she added, “But thanks for calling me and helping us like you did. That took some balls. Where the hell did you get those from?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question…Could we leave my balls out of this?” Bitch.
“Yeah, Logan, you were amazing,” said Allie coming over and giving me a careful hug. “You stood up to them, took a beating to protect me, had the sense to call Jennifer, disarmed Jones, then held off that nasty bitch long enough for Jennifer to free Rebecca. I was almost useless, but without you, we never could have stopped Jones’s little team. You sure you’re not a superhero too?”
All that sounded like the kind of bullshit I'd normally tell myself to make myself feel better. But this was Allie talking, and I realized that this bullshit was actually true. I had done all that. (What a friggin idiot)
Allie seemed to be recovering quickly. “Did you see the way those two worked together?” she said to the other women. “One was no match for me, but when they combined powers, they beat the crap out of me…maybe there’s a lesson in that. If I had faced them alone, as they planned, Rebecca and I would be in Jones’s lab right now.”
Rebecca nodded. “She’s right. Alone, we’ll still live in fear; together, who can hurt us?”
Jennifer paced a little and said, almost to herself, “Together, who can hurt us?” It was clear that she liked being in charge, and that partners had never been her strong suit, but their close scrape with Jones was enough to sell her on the idea.
Rebecca added, “And who knows how many more Joneses there are out there? It might not be over. We could be being stalked even now!”
Like an idiot, I thought I saw an opening to be useful. “Yeah, there were a lot of people following me. I saw three, four, five cars at my place; could be anybody after us.”
The three women simultaneously turned to me, as if to say, who asked you? I held up my good arm and backed away from the girls, leaving them to their bitch session, cosmetic party, or whatever the hell it was.
They continued to chat and plan while I staggered away. “Fine way to treat a hero wounded in action,” I bitched and moaned to myself. “See if I bail your ass out again!” Remembering Allie’s glowing eyes, though, I knew I would bail her ass out again and again. And did I mention again, twice on Sundays? What an ass to bail out…and those thighs in that skintight jumpsuit…maybe three times on Sundays…What was I talking about? Whatever.
Just then, Allie glanced up at me, smiled, and flashed those blue-then-greens for me. I didn’t feel so bad anymore.
Nearby, I saw the melting remains of Goldie. I sat next to “her,” and without giving it much thought, as was my method, I broke off a chunk of the cloudy blue ice from what had once been her arm and pressed it against my aching shoulder. The ice numbed my pain, but it also burned wherever it melted and hit my broken skin. Moments later, it dawned on me what an irreverent thing I had done. I looked at what was left of her and said, “My arm, it’s really starting to hurt…sorry. This must be terribly awkward and embarrassing for you, just sitting here melting. I mean, I’m sure you had your good side too, before Jones made you evil; parents and relatives that will miss you, maybe a dog or cat or something…I had a turtle once, so I know how you feel. He was afraid of water—or was it a newt? No, I remember now, it was a gerbil. That would explain why he didn’t like the water!”
Of course, Goldie didn’t seem the least bit interested in this, so I went on.
“I have to say, this blue ice thing you have going on looks great.” I patted what remained of her arm. “Not many women can pull off a look like that, but it works for you,” I said, nodding. “What you’ve done has melted inches off your waistline, it’s fabulous.…”
We continued our one-sided conversation for a while. Before long, I had my aching arm and shoulder wrapped around her pain-relieving form. It turned out that Goldie was a really good listener. I was able to talk to her about anything, without fear of being judged. I looked deeply into what was left of her face and thought, hazel eyes, my ass. “Well, it’s been great talking with you. Mind if I just get one more chunk to go?” I said, breaking off another piece of her arm.
Meanwhile, Allie had put her hand out in the air in front of her—Rebecca placed hers on top, then came Jennifer’s. “From now on, we work together, protect each other, learn from each other. Together, we can accomplish anything,” chimed in the B.I.B.
“We are in charge!” added Rebecca.
“I like the sound of that,” Jennifer stated firmly, smiling.
That was when we heard Jones beginning to stir. All four of us moved over and stood in a circle around him. Just a tip—you do not ever want to confront the searing anger that burned on each of these women’s faces. One woman with that look would be challenge enough, but three? And these women had both superpowers and super hormones, I suspected. Good luck, Jonesy. Nice knowing ya.
For me, that was the way of war. Jones and I had had our moments. I couldn’t hate him. Sure, he’d threatened Allie and Rebecca, and apparently killed some super women I didn’t know, but who was I to judge? Then again he had lied to me, kidnapped women, tried to take over the world, but still he’d been my friend… sort of. Come to think of it, he had that freak Toughy pummel my ass…and there were those beers he never paid me for…Freakin little bastard! Maybe I’ll give him a kick, just one kick right in the ribs.
But tell me, Jonesy, who was still standing and who was laying on the ground about to become pummeled-vaporized-energy-less ice…after having been kicked once in the ribs? When Jones’s eyes opened and could focus on us, they widened to full-moon size, and he let out a horrifying little-girl scream.
* * *
The golden early morning sun was so comfortable it betrayed the scorching heat it would deliver later in the day. As I bounded my way along the sidewalk back to the apartment with my usual bag of donuts and coffee, it left me in a whistling, happy-to-be-alive mood. Don’t you hate people like that? I know I do.
Contemptibly, I smiled and said Good Morning to every asshole that passed. I was like some dipstick escaped from a happy-happy TV commercial who had just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance or tasted the world greatest frozen waffle.
I couldn’t help but spread the happy. I saw a couple of kids sitting at a lemonade stand by the side of the street and paid them a hundred bucks for the most horrible cup of yellow water I’d ever tasted. You should have seen how their mouths hung open—they must have thought I was Bill Gates.
I passed a homeless man with a long gray beard and a long gray coat, despite the heat. I greeted him as Gandalf the Gray, stuffed a few crumbled bills into the breast pocket of his coat and continued on my merry way.
Finally I reached the apartment, feeling way too alive for this early in the day. Heck, it wasn’t even noon! I opened the door to be greeted by the usual. The living room and kitchen table were littered with Miner’s Lite bottles; empty ones, I thank you very much. I stopped at the dining room table, set down the donut bag next to the five empty pizza boxes, and headed into the bedroom
.I felt my heart leave its state of afterglow and begin to race with anticipation as I scanned the room for her.
“I don’t know if the ceilings are high enough in here for me,” Allie said. She slowly drifted down from the ceiling onto the bed and lay there naked on her side amongst my rumbled sheets.
I drank in the sight of the curving hip of the most wanted woman in the city lying in my bed. Who’d believe it? “I guess we’ll just have to do something about that,” I said, joining her on the bed. We entered into an embrace and long kiss.
Our hands began to wander, but then she stopped, as if a sudden thought had occurred to her. “Donuts. Did you get the donuts? That pizza last night just wasn’t enough… Why do they bother with crust anyway? I mean like what’s the purpose?”
I stared in awe at her as if I had just heard the echoing voice of God in the genius of her words. Until that every moment I had struggled to know if I was obsessed with Allie or truly in love. Now I realized she was the perfect match for me, and it released all the love I felt for her like a damn that had stood for years suddenly breaking. “I’ve often wondered the exact same thing,” I said pulling away until my face was few inches from her’s, a tear welling up in the corner of my eye.
“I didn’t know you got so emotional about pizza,” she joked noticing my state.
“It’s not the pizza,” I said before giving her a long soft kiss.
“Umm… It’s the donuts, isn’t it… Wait, you didn’t eat my cream filled one again, did you?”
“Maybe later.”
“There had better be two cream filled in that bag.”
“Fuck the donuts,” I said returning for a longer more passionate kiss.
“Yeah, fuck the donuts,” she panted softly the moment the kiss ended and before the next one started.
Allie wrapped her arms around me, lifting us up to float horizontally over the bed. She began a slow lateral axis rotation. I gazed into her glowing eyes, feeling totally connected with her as and the room spun around us.
“I think I left off here,” I said, lightly kissing her shoulder. “Or maybe it was here,” I said moving up to her neck. I could tell the tease was working by her low moan and the tingle that raised goose bumps on her arms. “Or maybe it was here,” I said, and pressed her lips. She moaned a reply of agreement and we began to spin faster over the bed. The glow of our bodies merging grew more and more intense until, an hour later, it flashed with a blinding flare.
Super Born: Seduction of Being Page 29