The hostess finally cleared her throat audibly, getting their attention.
The two of them withdrew their lips from one another slowly and smiled as the looked into each other's eyes.
"You two want a table or a room?" the hostess said.
Despite knowing better, Thad, running on a testosterone spike, might've answered that they'd take a room, but Allison spoke first. "A table by a window will be fine. Thanks."
As soon as the hostess turned around to guide them to their table, Thad and Allison glanced at each other again and shared a silent chuckle.
A few moments later, they were at their table. Thad was on top of his game, brimming with confidence since Allison had made her feelings clear. He walked around her and pulled out her chair for her, pushing it in as she took a seat.
"Thank you, sir," she said.
"You're welcome, my lady."
The hostess rolled her eyes as she put two menus on the table.
Thad went to his chair and sat, taking note of the view of the city through the tinted window.
"Your waitress will be here shortly." The hostess delivered the announcement without inflection, then walked back to her stand at the front of the restaurant.
"So," Thad said. "What's good here? Everything, I bet."
Allison leaned forward a little. "Truth?"
He nodded.
"The cheeseburger." She glanced down at her outfit—something Thad had an urge to do too. "I'll wreck this, I know." She looked at Thad again. "It's messy. But it's sooo worth it."
"Sounds good."
"You want to?" Allison asked. "Okay. Let's go for it." She shrugged. "It'll wash out, right?"
"Can you put that in the wash?" Thad glanced at her outfit finally. "Superhero outfits, I mean."
"Sure. I do it all the time. In my case, it's mostly daily wear, maybe some Danger Room residue." She put her hand on his, which was at the side of his silverware. "Trust me. You don't want to hang out in the danger room if you can help it. Stuff's always blowing up in there. It's a mess."
"Thanks. I'll remember that."
She withdrew her hand and leaned back to her side of the table. "Do."
"So, you get to try out different suits pretty regularly, huh?"
"Yes. It's basically my job. Test them out. Make sure the powers work they way they're supposed to. Then I write up a report." She rolled her eyes. "Not a big fan of that part, but I shouldn't complain. After all, I get to play with more powers than any other super in the company."
"Yeah, that's great. Must be fun."
"Sometimes." Allison paused as the waitress came to the table and poured water into their glasses.
"The house special is baked salmon with black pepper and a lemon glaze, accompanied by a side of steamed asparagus and your choice of a field-greens salad with walnut-cranberry dressing or a baked potato, any way you like it. And, of course, fresh rolls will come around shortly, and as often as you like. Do you two need a few more minutes to decide?"
Allison looked at Thad inquisitively.
"You want to do what we discussed?"
She nodded back at him.
He turned to the waitress. "We'll both have the cheeseburger." Looking at Allison he asked, "How do you-"
"Just how it's on the menu," she said to the waitress. "Medium rare, though." She looked at Thad, and so did the waitress.
"Same," he said. "Thank you."
"Is that really how you like yours?" Allison asked.
"Of course." Thad smiled. "Any more than medium rare and all the flavor's cooked out of it."
"I know, right?"
Thad nodded toward her outfit. "So, what powers are you sporting today?"
She glanced down. "Oh, this? Well, actually, it's not really like the other suits I test."
"How so?"
She shrugged. "Aside from the standard durability all the suits have, the powers are...to be determined."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't know the suit's powers because the suit has the ability to manifest powers in response to a given situation."
"You're kidding? I've never heard of a suit doing something like that. Wow."
"Yeah. It's pretty amazing, I guess. The problem is, I'm a little afraid to put it to the test."
"Yeah?"
"You see, for the suit to manifest a power, there needs to be an extreme situation—people in real danger, a direct attack on me, or at least some sort of major threat. I don't want any of that to happen. Besides, I rarely get out in the field. It's not like those sort of things happen here."
"What about the Danger Room?" Thad felt a twinge of discomfort in his stomach at the thought of the Danger Room, but he didn't have a super suit when he was there.
"Yes. I should do that. I probably will tomorrow. The intensity level can be dialed down. So, at least I won't get hurt too badly if the suit fails to deliver."
"Oh, yeah. I see. That doesn't sound like a great way to see if it works."
"It's a lot easier when the powers are clear, when I know what a suit does. Then I can test it the right way." Allison peered out the window. She looked as if she was really feeling the frustration with the question of how to deal with the unusual suit.
"I wish I knew how to help," Thad said.
She turned back to him. "It's okay. I guess you don't have to deal with stupid problems like this. Huh?"
"No. Not like this. I..." More than ever before, he wished he was a superhero too. How could he possibly pretend to get her situation, he thought. The technical point he got, but he knew if he said whatever he said, she'd take it as coming from a non-super...a guy who works in the mail room in the basement.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Thad. I didn't mean to imply..."
He realized he'd been staring at the empty plate in front of him. He looked at her. "No. It's fine. I know you didn't mean to imply..."
He took note of the fact that neither one of them finished the sentence, which made it clear to him that she probably did think of him as a non-super, not just a guy she was having dinner with. He didn't blame her. It was true, he thought.
At least, for now.
She reached across the table to take his hand, but before she touched him a massive explosion went off outside, sending a quake through the building, rattling the bulletproof windows and knocking over the glasses on their table. The sound of the shockwave echoed between the buildings lining the streets.
As the hostess screamed from across the room, Thad and Allison turned to the window and watched a huge fireball rising from the street, then a black cloud of smoke billowed out from it until the flames were engulfed. Within a second, everything outside their window was dark.
"My God, what's happened?" Allison leaned slightly closer to the glass and looked down toward where the ground had been visible moments before, then she put her hand on the thick, reinforced glass and moved a little closer.
Thad rose from his chair to get a better look too, but Allison screamed and he turned to her. The super suit had activated, changing the molecular density of her arm so that it passed through the glass. Thad jumped toward her, reaching out to grab her as she fell into the glass. But his hand passed through her other arm. It had changed too, just as the rest of her body had. He swung his other arm around, trying to get ahold of her waist, but it didn't work.
"Allison!"
She looked up at him as her entire de-solidified body fell unimpeded through the glass, disappearing into the thick, black smoke.
Chapter 11
Thad banged his fist on the reinforced glass as he looked into dark cloud of smoke. Dust and flecks of concrete peppered the outside of the window.
Allison.
He wanted to wait by the window until he saw her, but he knew he could do her no good from there.
Behind him, the restaurant staff and few customers who had been eating were racing to the elevator. He ran for it too, but the first group of people had already taken it down.
He no
ticed the door for the stairwell at the side of the room and ran to it, ignoring the fact that he was on the thirty-fifth floor.
As he descended the first set of stairs, he remembered, from the company Christmas party, that the thirty-third floor had three elevators to handle large groups coming up to use the conference rooms there or attend events in the one of the ballrooms. He took the next flight of stairs four steps at a time, jumping the end of the railing at the turn to skip even more steps. A half-second later, he yanked open the door to thirty-three.
The lobby was empty. He rushed to the first elevator and hit the button to call it. The door opened immediately and he stepped inside and hit the button for the ground floor.
Come on. Let's go.
The door closed and the elevator began its descent. He watched the countdown of floors on the display, wishing it would go faster.
She'll be alright, Thad. You saw her. If she's still not solid, nothing can hurt her. Right?
"Okay. What are you going to do when you get down there?"
I don't even know what caused the explosion.
"There has to be more supers on the scene, though."
The building's full of them. And...the explosion already happened. She'll be okay.
"But what if that's not all? What caused the explosion? What if it's an attack? Like last month in France. Supervillains. Maybe they weren't the only ones."
Right after he had the thought, a voice came through the speaker in the elevator. "Attention Supers Incorporated employees. A large-scale attack is happening directly outside our building. Unknown supervillains are involved. All available supers are to engage immediately. All other personnel are to remain inside the building." The woman gave the message one more time.
I have to do something. Her suit might not be enough. They'll target her too.
The displayed showed the elevator just passed the twelfth floor.
"Franklin."
Thad pressed the elevator button for the tenth floor just as the display showed eleven. A second later, he felt the slowing approach to the floor, then the stop. The arrival ding sounded and the door slid open.
He jumped out. "Franklin! Where are you!"
A woman in a white lab coat stood at the back of the room with a phone to her ear. Thad could see the panic in her face. She'd clearly felt the explosion.
"Have you seen Franklin!" Thad yelled to her as he started across the room, glancing down the corridors to each side.
The woman nodded, then shot her arm out to point to the last hallway on Thad's left.
"It's supervillains!" The woman screamed again as Thad scrambled across the room. "Supervillains! Here!"
"I know!"
He pushed a chair aside and ran around one of the many long, cluttered, work tables filling the room, then skirted another. He jumped when he came to the last one blocking his path, sliding over the top of it like he'd seen people do over car hoods on television shows. His feet knocked several pieces of gear and tools onto the floor, but he ignored them. When his shoes hit the floor he continued running, barreling down the hall to find his friend.
"Franklin! I need your help! Now!"
Three doors were toward the end of the hall, one on either side and one at the end. The one on the left was open. Thad ran to it, hoping his friend would be there.
"Thad?" Franklin stepped into the doorway just as Thad rushed to get through. The two collided and Franklin, much smaller than Thad, got knocked back onto the floor. He slid a few feet until his back came up against the leg of a metal work table in the center of the room.
Thad watched a metallic blue helmet roll from the top of the table and fall over the edge, hitting Franklin's head, then dropping into his lap.
Thad hurried over to him and helped him up. "The explosion. Allison. Supervillains. I need your help, fast."
"Franklin shook his head slightly and blinked a few times. "What are you talking about? The only supervillains were overseas, and they were taken out."
"No. They're outside. More of them. The massive explosion, didn't you feel it? Allison, she...fell through the window at the restaurant."
"What? No. But...how? Those windows aren't breakable. Was the explosion that big? Oh, wow. Supervillains? This is horrible."
"The glass didn't break. It was her outfit."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind. I need your help." Thad looked around the room. "I need...something!"
Franklin shook his head. "You can't go out there. We don't even know who we're dealing with."
"I have to. She needs me."
"Our supers will handle it. Right?"
"I don't know. All I know is my future girlfriend just fell through a window on the thirty-fifth floor into an explosion and she's out there with who knows how many supervillains! Franklin! Give me something! I'm going now, with or without your help!"
Franklin tossed the helmet to Thad. "Put that on. Voice activated. The A.I. will understand you."
"What's it do?"
"By itself? Help you see what's going on." He hurried to a nearby shelf and grabbed two thick watches, both metallic blue, like the helmet. He held them out to Thad. "Put these on."
"What-"
"Just do it. She needs you, right? Hurry up."
Thad slipped one of the watches onto each of his wrists. Both of them flashed a blue light on the watch-face. A second later, the flashing stopped.
Franklin nodded toward them. "They're ready. Most advanced time pieces on the planet."
"What do they do?"
"Just get out there already. Save the girl. The helmet will tell you. Ask it."
Thad nodded to his friend. "Thanks."
He ran to the door, but stopped when Franklin yelled for him to wait. He turned around.
"Take the web gun too." Franklin nodded to the device, which was sitting on top of the small refrigerator beside the door.
Thad grabbed it. "Thanks, buddy. I owe you."
"Just don't get yourself killed, okay? I don't want to have to find a new lunch partner."
"I'll do my best." Thad gestured with the web gun to say goodbye, then ran down the hall. A few seconds later he was in the elevator, heading down to the lobby.
"Helmet."
"My name is Becky," a female voice said from inside the helmet. A heads-up display appeared on the clear glass visor in front of Thad's eyes.
"Thad. Nice to meet you. Tell me what you can do."
Becky gave him the short version of her capabilities as the elevator descended the last floors and stopped at the lobby.
When the door slid open, Thad sprinted toward the front door, leaping through the security checkpoints as Becky told him more.
As Thad pushed ran out the front of the building, he asked her if she could provide him any defense.
"Advice," Becky said. "Try to avoid getting hit."
"Thanks a million."
Thad jumped the hedges to the right of the stairs and ran like a racehorse toward the side of the building where he knew Allison had fallen.
He prayed that her body was still immaterial, protecting her both from the fall and whatever supervillainy was afoot.
Chapter 12
When Thad turned the corner of the Supers Inc building, much of the black smoke from the explosion had cleared. The first thing he saw was the the massive crater in the middle of the street. The hole looked about forty feet wide and at least half that in depth. The butt-end of a black Honda Civic sat suspended over the hole, the front of the car pointing down Heritage Parkway. The driver-side door was open and no one was inside.
A torrent of water shot up thirty feet, spilling outward into a fountain, raining down on several more abandoned cars and a handful of bystanders who hadn't taken cover inside the shops lining the street on the side opposite the Supers Inc building.
Thad kept running to the scene, but veered toward the right side of the crater, hoping to find Allison somewhere in the landscaped area surrounding the Supers parking lot, which
he'd already scanned.
"Thad," Becky said inside his helmet, which hadn't given him as much trouble while running as he thought it might. "There are multiple threats present."
Thad had been so focused on finding Allison he forgot to look out for the supervillains who were no doubt responsible for the explosion. "What about Allison?"
"The super or the one from accounting, or the one who works in the gym?"
"The super!" Thad realized Becky must have access to the company's employee files.
"Give me a sec. Scanning."
He ran to the edge of the parking lot closest to the Supers building, then stopped and turned around, hoping to see Allison. But he still couldn't find her. He glanced at the crater and feared she might've fallen into it.
Or...
"Thad!" The voice came from high above him.
He looked up and spotted Nymph hovering overhead.
"What are you doing out here?" Nymph yelled down to him.
"Looking for Allison! And trying to help!"
Nymph pointed to the other side of the crater. "Be careful!" She flew over the crater, then down into it.
Sirens sounded from a few streets away.
Thad looked to the other side of the street, to where Nymph had pointed. "Yes!" He saw Allison standing in front of one of the shops. She looked solid again, and appeared to be alright. He ran toward her.
"Thad." Becky's voice inside the helmet spoke with an urgent tone. "On your left."
Still running to get to Allison, Thad glanced to his left. A small cluster of angry wasps zoomed at him.
"Crap!" He duck and leaned, dodging them, but stumbling slightly. He quickly reclaimed his footing and picked up speed again, confused by the fact that in the midst of all this he had to deal with oddly-placed, aggressive insects.
As he passed to the right of the crate, something moving out of it caught his attention. He took a look. A silver Tesla was floating, rising higher. When its tires rose slightly above the level of the street beside the crater, it stopped. He could see a man and woman inside the car. Then he noticed Nymph flying above the car, her hands extended in front of her with her palms up. She seemed to be intensely focused on the car.
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