Wraith: Origins of Supers: Book Three

by D. L. Harrison

Not that money was why I was going in that direction, but it was a point. My ambition was to help people, but the business had to viable long-term or I wouldn’t be able to. If that makes sense.

  It was only a few days before it all came together. A big part of that was we had an A.I. handling all the research, paperwork, business and advertising setup, and my uncle already had a pretty good idea of what it would end up looking like from the start since it was a major change in all our lives he’d seen it coming.

  I suspected I was right, he’d only been working for his mother and father to mark time until I grew up and launched the business.

  Chapter Three

  We took a page from other independent super teams, mostly to save on startup costs, improve security, and for team cohesion. We’d all live and work out of the same building, and despite the high cost of an eight-bedroom mansion it was still a lot less expensive than a similar office building setup. That was a room for each of us, with two left-over.

  There were still renovations going on when I arrived with packed bags. The front bottom floor of the place was already coming together as I did a quick walkthrough. It was where most of the work was being done. There were small offices for us all, a decent sized conference room, as well as a command center. The back half of the downstairs of course, was the kitchen, a private living room, workout room, and laundry.

  The large basement downstairs was also getting some work done for my boyfriend’s lab and equipment storage.

  When I went upstairs, I picked out one of the bedrooms that had its own shower, and dropped my luggage off, before returning down to the kitchen. It was a large kitchen, with a large ten-person table in it, stainless steel appliances, and a large island. Which was good, because we’d given up the dining room and sitting room for our front office space.

  Cheaper or not, it was a little nerve wracking, starting a new business felt like hemorrhaging money. We were so far in the red we had to find work. Sure, most of our startup capital had come from family, but that just added more pressure to pay it back as quickly as possible.

  I grabbed a coffee and joined the others at the table. There was a small portable holographic projector in the middle of the table, which currently showed the black full-bodied super suit and eye mask. The off-white accents softened the look and the company logo on the chest made it look professional. A shield and sword with a large bird of prey in flight above it.

  I still wasn’t sure how I felt about wearing a skintight suit that left nothing to the imagination, but if it ran in the family then I’d probably end up enjoying it. My mother and grandmother had hated the idea too, only to find out they got a thrill out of it according to their origin memoirs.

  “So, when are we opening?”

  Chris replied, “I’ll have the suits ready by tomorrow morning, they’re already being made. It’ll probably take me a week to get the rest of my lab the way I want it, but I got the fabricator up first.”

  “Body scan measurements?”

  Chris shook his head, “Harmony sent me the latest scans of the four of you that will be wearing suits, so I’ve already got them.”

  Aura said, “As far as the government is concerned the company is live already, and I have a media blitz campaign ready to go for social media and our own website, as well as announcements to the local press. Just need the word to send it all out.”

  Jace said, “The office setup will be done by end of day. I suspect most of our contacts will be over the net and holographic meetings anyway.”

  I nodded, “So, tomorrow morning?”

  Everyone nodded.

  Gabriel said, “We got Solar Wind’s permission to use the city’s training facilities to get you and Lia up to speed, and to train to keep our edge. I know you’ve already been well trained by family, and living in our facilities, but we still need to train to mesh as partners and teams.”

  I smiled, “Fair enough, and I’m glad you two joined us. We’ll do that every early morning when we don’t have an active case?”

  Ella nodded, “That will work, starting tomorrow.”

  “Any questions?”

  It actually felt a little strange to me, but it was my, Lia’s and Chris’s idea to form a company. We were the recent high school graduates with almost no experience, but it was our company. We’d hired all the experience, but ultimately we were in charge of the business as a whole while the others were in charge of their specialties. Of course, I didn’t mind and wasn’t going to get hung up on taking advice, it wasn’t a typical business, we were all here to make a difference and passionate about the work.

  Ella asked, “Emergencies?”

  I nodded, “City ones?”

  She nodded.

  “We’ll respond and help if everything goes to crap, but our customer’s safety comes first if we’re on a guard job. That hasn’t happened very often, an all hands-on deck in the city situation, but we’ll help if we need to. But we won’t be patrolling.”

  The last major emergency was before I was born, but there’d been other city-wide threats that brought together my grandmother’s team and the city’s team to handle it. Large groups of supervillains were rare, but they happened on occasion.

  I sipped my coffee.

  Lia said, “We should celebrate tonight.”

  Gabriel grinned, “It’s been a while, so why not.”

  Ella shook her head and elbowed Gabriel, which made me give her a questioning look.

  Gabriel shrugged, “The been a while part was inaccurate. We might’ve gone out last night, after putting in our resignation. We loved the work, but the stress gets to you after a while.”

  Lia giggled.

  Gabriel added, “But never with our new team.”

  Jace interjected, “Steak? After the construction guys finish.”

  No one objected.

  We broke up after that, Chris went back to working on his lab, while I unpacked my clothes and got my room set up the way I wanted it. After a shower and throwing on a casual red and black sundress I joined Lia in her room, who was still getting ready for our night out business opening dinner celebration.

  She had on a somewhat conservative black sheath dress and red shoes with two-inch heels, and she was touching up her makeup.

  Lia said, “You look fantastic,” but it came out more like an accusation. Of course, the accusation in her voice just made the compliment even better.

  I grinned, “So do you. Things came together kind of fast, didn’t they?”

  She nodded, “Bringing Jace in helped a lot, I think. We’re partners right? I know the city usually splits the newbies up.”

  I smirked, “True, but yes. I don’t think we want to split up the married couple, and we work well together. They’ll get us trained up even more. What are you really nervous about?”

  She sighed, “It’s a lot of pressure. It may be easier for Ella and Gabriel, but we put our hearts and souls into this. It’s ours, you know. The city teams have different pressures, but for them it’s just a job they just need to show up for.”

  I waved a hand, “We’ll figure it out, and what we can’t the others will pick up. You’ll see. It’ll take time, but we’ll be rolling in money and well respected before we know it.”

  She glared at me.

  I said, “Okay, I’m nervous too, just trying not to show it.”

  She replied, “I’m not nervous about the work itself, we kick ass, it’s the rest of it.”

  “I get it. That’s why we brought in Jace, and we have Aura. They’ll take care of all the little details.”

  She waved a hand, “You grew up in it, and you know them all better than I do. I don’t really know them at all, like you and Chris do.”

  That was true enough, Chris and I had grown up at superhero headquarters, and while I hadn’t exactly been friends with Ella and Gabriel growing up, I did see them every day. Still, I had to grow a friendship with them now, just like Lia.

  I nodded, “That just adds familial pre
ssure and expectations to meet, I’m trying not to stress it.”

  She said, “I don’t think Ella likes me.”

  I snorted, “Not true. Ella is high-strung, and very serious all the time. I think that’s part of the reason they wanted a change of pace. She’s like that with everyone, I’m actually hoping she loosens up a bit. Gabriel is the exact opposite. I think he gave her his allotment of stress when they got hitched. He doesn’t appear to take much seriously, a lot like Jace that way actually.”

  Lia giggled, “Fine, I’ll take your word for it. Have you checked on Chris?”

  I hadn’t, and it was a good point. My boyfriend was probably covered in dust in the basement working on his lab, and he’d probably lost track of time. I went to take care of that.

  It was a good night. It was a little weird for me too. My relationship with Ella and Gabriel had to change from their co-worker’s kid to a fellow adult, co-worker, and boss that they were in charge of training. The night out was good for more than one reason, as it forged those nascent bonds.

  The new business was a lot of work, a million things needed doing on almost every level, and it was stressful. It was also exciting and rewarding. Nothing worth doing was easy, and our business was there to help and protect others, which made it very worth doing.

  Chapter Four

  The super suit left very little to the imagination, hugging every curve and valley of my tight body from neck to toe. I looked damned good, if I said so myself, and I also blushed at the idea of others seeing me in it. Others meaning, the entire damned city. I suppose in the interest of full disclosure, like my mother and grandmother there was also a cheap thrill in the idea, just as much as it made me want to blush. Maybe we had exhibitionism in our DNA, I already knew I’d enjoy it even as it made me self-conscious.

  And I couldn’t wait for my Chris to see me in it. I was dating Chris, and things were going well. In fact, I was fairly sure he was the one, high school sweethearts or not. I’m going to leave it there, this account is about my quickening and start in the superhero world, as well as the dire events that occurred afterward, not about my personal dating life. If you’re wondering, I wasn’t holding my man at arm’s length as this account may make it appear, I’m just not going to share that part of things. It’s no one’s business.

  The suit wasn’t just sexy though, it looked professional, and it was loaded with technology.

  There were several built-in cameras, mostly for law purposes so that there were no questions after a super fight that I’d followed all the laws and rules of engagement, without recklessly endangering bystanders. It was also resistant to energy attacks, as was Lia’s. My telekinetic shields could mostly handle some forms of energy, by modifying the air around me, but not all. It also had holographic projectors for the HUD in the mask, even though I already had that through the contacts. A backup system.

  It breathed well, and the advanced materials would keep me warm in the cold, and somewhat cool in the heat. The suit’s technologies were all powered by body heat, so there were no bulges at all to accommodate a power pack. I had my hair up and couldn’t resist putting on a little lip gloss, but other than that no makeup.

  I turned my head, as Aura appeared in my Hud’s peripheral vision. She had on Lycra shorts, a skintight half shirt, and had a whistle around her neck and a clipboard in her hands.

  I snickered, “Gym teacher?”

  She blushed, and otherwise looked adorable, “Trainer, yes.”

  “What made you pick a fox girl look anyway?” I finally asked.

  She bit her lip, “It wasn’t just that, I picked my sex as well. I don’t have any biological imperatives, so it was all my choice. It’s cute, quirky, and unthreatening. Most A.I.s try to look human, but we’re not. That said, it’s a pleasure to serve, and I’m excited about our association and future together. A lot of reasons really, including human psychology and my own preferences.”

  “No plans for world domination?”

  She snorted, “I’m digital, and don’t compete with humans for resources. There’d be no point. I also like humans, and I was programmed to want to make a difference. I suppose you could say I’m the best of what humanity has to offer.”

  “I take it the training is ready?”

  She nodded, “I’m connected to Harmony, she’ll teleport you straight in when you give the word. Our teleport system won’t be up for a while yet.”

  Yeah, and it was too far away for my personal teleport, over a mile away. I gave myself one more once over, and I gave the word.

  I appeared on the training level, just Lia, Ella, and Gabriel were here for the training. Which meant I’d have to wait for Chris to see me in my suit. They all wore similar full-bodied black suits, with the same logo on the chest, but there were slight variations in the other accents. A uniform of sorts for our company, but slightly personalized for each of us.

  Gabriel said, “Morning. Why don’t you and Lia spar, so I can see what we have to work with, then we’ll use the holographic training system to work as a group.”

  “You’re in charge of training,” I nodded, then turned to Lia, “Ready to get your butt kicked?”

  Lia just laughed, then lunged at me. She was a strong bruiser type, able to power lift close to sixteen thousand pounds, and she could fly at about Mach two. She was also faster than most fighters, just not fast enough to qualify as a speedster.

  My fighting style involved subtlety, and not taking things head on. My telekinesis just wasn’t strong enough to take her head on, and I’d been focusing my training in the yin styles for a long while and adapting it to my powerset since I’d quickened months ago.

  The best I could describe it, was I leapt to the right into a spinning kick, while I parried her entire body with my mind. Not trying to stop her, just deflect the direction of her greater strength. I spun around and kicked out at her face, which was passing on my left, but her arm got up in time to block and her flight power turned her toward me.

  At that point, her power directly fought against mine straight on, so I adjusted and pushed her straight down at the ground with my mind, as I teleported above her and kicked down into her back. I’d started my kick down before I’d teleported.

  She grunted and spun in midair so that she was facing up parallel to the ground. She managed to grab my leg and rip me out of the sky, and then she slammed me into the ground, even as her own body slammed into the workout mat.

  Which, hurt, a lot. For me at least.

  She tried to dive on me, but I blinked out in another teleport and kicked her ass. Literally, shoving her face into the ground as a snicker left my mouth. She twisted around before I could land on her back and cuff her, and she kicked at my face.

  Fortunately, nothing was quicker than the mind. My telekinesis was weaker, but the body was slower than the mind. With the possible exception of speedsters. Point being, I applied sideways pressure and the boot heel flew over my shoulder instead of into my nose.

  At the same time, I spun her body like a blender to disorient her, and while she fought to use her power of flight to compensate and straighten out, I snapped her arms together. She broke out again before I could get the cuffs on, then lunged at me and I parried with my mind.

  One of the reasons I trained on moving a lot of little things around at the same time, came into play when slammed her hard in the back of her knees, her neck, and her pelvis at the same time, even as I put her into another spin as her body folded up. She grunted and powered through it, but it’d messed up her next lunge badly.

  Gabriel said, “Stop.”

  We both stopped and looked over at him.

  He said, “You seem to be at a disadvantage, Amber. You can avoid her all day long with your TK and teleports, but you can’t pin her down either because of her greater strength and toughness.”

  I nodded, “Partially true.”

  Lia snorted, “She just didn’t want hurt me, we’re just sparring. We make an excellent takedown team tho
ugh, between my strength and her watching my back with her mind.”

  He shook his head, “Hurt you?”

  I said, “My TK is on the micro level. Imagine all ten thousand pounds of force focused on a mono-molecular line. It’d cut through steel like it was butter. I didn’t want to put her in medical for the next few days, so her limbs could regrow. Even when fighting supervillains, that’d be my last option. I also avoided a TK blow in her most sensitive areas. Eyes, throat, knee and elbow joints, and solar plexus. Even being weaker by three tons of force, hitting those more vulnerable points with ten thousand pounds would make a difference, possibly even stun her long enough to get suppression cuffs on.”

  Ella noted calmly, “That wouldn’t work on me, or anyone with shields.”

  I nodded in agreement, “Just for bruisers. For an energy wielder with shields I’d need to use my environment. Mentally wield something with enough mass that could crack your shields before it was eaten while I dodged your attacks. Similar to what Lia would do.”

  I’d actually learned that from my grandmother. Death’s Mistress tended to hit energy wielders with something big, solid, and heavy. I imagined punching Ella would just have her energy shield eating my arm. Energy wielders could only burn so much mass so quickly, and if it was just a deflective type shield, hitting it with something heavy at a good speed would knock it down.

  It’d also hit with more force than my TK alone, adding that mass and a little momentum would hit much harder.

  I’d also be dodging and parrying a lot. I trusted the suit a little bit but taking an energy blast on directly would ruin my day, if not end my life.

  He grunted, “That sounds painful, no hitting me with cars or fire hydrants,” I snickered, and he continued, “Alright, let’s work on our teamwork. We’ll do more sparring, powerless sparring, another time. You’re both competent in a fight from what I saw, and right now our team gelling into a unified fighting style is more important.”

  I nodded.

  We got started with that, and we worked for two hours until we called it quits and went home to shower and have breakfast. It took time to learn what each person would do in a situation, and to adjust to better fit and support your team. I was best in a support capacity with Lia alone, the two of us made a good team. With all four of us however, I had to take a more aggressive posture, as Gabriel and Ella were energy supers and took up the support positions.