Soda Supreme, page 23
She smiled about it, still feeling highly uneasy.
“I’m still Super Hannah. Now... I need to hide this from the world?”
“Not everyone, but, in general, yeah. Maybe get with that Carl guy, on it? He’s got his head on straight.” That was the strangest, and probably nicest, thing she’d ever heard anyone say about the man.
Most people kind of hated him, for being an asshole.
“I’ll do that. Now, in fact, if he’s taking my calls today. I should find everyone, if I can. Do you need anything? You were kidnapped...”
The man grinned and shook his head.
“Other than a few cuddles and maybe a blowjob? I’m fine, love. Don’t worry about me.”
Hannah snorted.
“Oh, I’m going to worry. It’s what I do. Now, a blowjob? Aren’t you seeing Lash and Debbie? I mean, sure, we can do that, if you aren’t, or even if they’re just cool with it, but...”
She wasn’t really playing, but the man just winked, and made a portal out of there. It took about five minutes, but they didn’t say anything else.
Meaning Hannah didn’t know if he was seeing the other two, if he was rejecting her for some other reason or if he’d thought she’d brought them up to use as a tool to reject him. None of that was true. She just wasn’t going to sleep with someone in a real relationship, if that kind of thing wasn’t part of it. That was all.
Putting that out of her head, she called Carl.
He, at least, bothered to pick up.
Chapter fifteen
“What?”
Carl sounded annoyed, and a bit like she’d already asked him to do something with her, which wasn’t the case at all. She, so far, had said, hello.
So she went from there.
“We need to talk. About our relationship?”
There was silence for a bit, then, instead of proclaiming that they didn’t have that kind of thing, the man softened his tone. Considerably.
“Oh, sure. I’m in town tonight, visiting with friends. I can get some time?”
“Neat. When are you available? We can meet here, at my place, if that works?”
There was a sigh, then he said something, which had Kate’s voice speaking. Only, it wasn’t Kate. It sounded right, and was polite, but Hannah could feel that the soft sounds, easily heard, weren’t her friend. It was Devya. A person that she hadn’t known Carl knew at all.
The man just cleared his throat.
“Incoming.” Then he hung up. Hannah could feel the presence growing closer, and when she focused on it, she could actually see the three images coming at her. Carl, dressed in his Luther outfit, with Devya and a short, skinny man that she didn’t recognize at all. He had a gun in his hand, which was pointed at the woman. Her friend. That wasn’t right, of course.
Hannah pulled her own handgun then, crossed her arms in a strange, but very stable, stance, and when the three people popped into place, the smaller guy, whoever he was, was shot, instantly. She did it three times, and nearly paused, when Carl yelled at her. It wasn’t an ordinary thing to say at all.
“Keep shooting! Seven, get clear!”
Both of the others jumped to the side, so Hannah, hoping it wasn’t the wrong idea, shot the small guy in the head. Over and over again. That seemed to... mildly annoy him. Even as she hit him in the eye, the man brought his gun around. It wasn’t the kind of thing she practiced, but she could track it all, for once, so, without thinking, aimed for the weapon. It never had a chance to go off, being too damaged to fire. On her last round, the man swearing and shaking his hand, Carl tackled him, from the side. Both men went down, in a pile. The fight was rough. Fast, hard and with dirty blows on both sides.
Luther wasn’t winning, either.
“Agent Seven, can you levitate him?” Hannah was proud that she got the name right, having only used it two or three times before. As Carl desperately fought, Devya stood there, her eyes closed, grunting.
“I can’t... Do both of them. They’re too heavy.”
Carl tried to move back, but the little guy, who was kind of cute, and reminded her a bit of an older version of Daniel Pan, from the Never, if he’d been about ten years older, clung to the man in leather, and kept trying to dig his eyes out.
Hannah wasn’t closing with a man who shooting hadn’t done anything to. She did recall she had some powers now, but she wasn’t really certain what that meant. It had been why she’d called Carl in the first place. To help her work that kind of thing out.
So, she decided to take a page from John Fawks’ book and con her way out of things.
“Right... Um, okay, then, I don’t see that we have any choice. I’m going to have to burst the blood vessels in his head. I’m sorry... That will kill you, even with your powers.” She tried to look miserable, and then stood still, holding her hands up in front of herself, as if casting a spell, pointing at the man with two fingers of her right hand.
Luther screamed.
“Damsel, no! We need him alive!”
“I can’t do anything else, Luther. Just kill...”
The fake misery poured off of her and she tried to actually focus, finding the blood vessels in the man’s head. Then, recalling her lesson with Kate, she worked to feel them moving, shifting. Slowly. The man gasped. Then he pushed off from Luther and grabbed his head with both hands.
“Fuck, fuck! I give up! Get out of my brain, you witch!” The man stood up and jumped back, pushing Carl away like a rag doll.
Hannah took a deep breath.
“Good, you felt that? Why don’t you sit down, and explain this?”
She waved at the others, Carl, Luther, moving in and rather gingerly, putting heavy seeming handcuffs on the man. They had four chains, not one or two and a solid piece between the cuffs, which seemed to be nearly two inches thick. There was no rough stuff though, and Carl didn’t hit the man once he had his hands behind his back.
“Why don’t you sit?” Hannah waved at the sofa, hoping the man wasn’t going to destroy it. She was attached to the thing, after all.
It was her favorite place to meditate.
Devya chuckled, darkly.
“Nice trick, Damsel. This is Vector. Lewis Gallard. Luther was helping my team hunt him down when he got the drop on us. When you called, he decided to use me to get away from the others. I need to call this in.”
The man stared at her and made a disgusted sound.
“Fuuuuck. A trick?”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not really. I literally just got superpowers, not an hour ago. I was calling Luther here to help me learn how to use them. So, what you felt was your head about to be ripped apart, inside. I can do it again, too.”
Devya shrugged, clearly thinking she was lying, and Luther glowered.
“Yeah? Improved psychic stuff?”
That seemed to be the case, actually.
“That and physical things, too. I’d show off, but I don’t want to break my knee again. I did that earlier. It kind of sucked. Jumping. It’s fun, but the landings...”
Vector shook his head.
“Damn. Well, even if it’s a lie, that was better than these other losers did on their own. You the boss, then?”
She shook her head, and pulled her reloaded forty-four around.
“Nope. Just a friend. So, do you want a job?”
It was shocking enough as a thing to say, that the man glared at her. So did Carl.
“Job?”
She nodded.
“Look, you know the rules here. Once you come onto the radar as a threat, you can work with the Government, or vanish. You put up a pretty good fight and don’t seem that messed up, so, do you want a job? You’ll have to tell whoever comes to get you everything, and I can’t promise you anything, so keep that in mind, but I bet I can call in some favors. Unless you’re a kidnapper or a pedo?” She looked at Luther then, since she was actually serious. “In that case, offer rescinded and I will be tearing a brain apart today...”
She sounded hard on the topic, and held a glare of her own, as she noticed three people coming in, teleporting. She pointed, with her left hand to the right spot.
“Seven, Crypt and... Agent R.” She had no clue what Rick was actually called. “In three, two...”
As she said one, all three of them popped into place. That was kind of impressive, really. Kate almost always refused to travel with more than one person at a time. That might have been a power level thing, but was probably about safety or some other factor. Devya was a little less disciplined that way, Hannah thought. The kind of person who took risks, far more often.
Luther shrugged.
“Vector is a thief, mainly. He’s hurt some people, but I don’t know of any murders. Agent R, what do you have on that?” The face mask directed itself toward Rick, the man dressed in fatigues, all in blue.
A High Command uniform, she thought. Devya was wearing the same thing. Crypt was too, but also had a stylish cowboy hat on. It was gray and had a nice band in multiple colors.
Rick nodded, as if the conversation was exactly what he expected.
“Felony robbery, grand theft auto, resisting arrest on about fifteen different occasions, escaping custody, enough to pick him up for it. He’s put nine people in the hospital, over the years.”
Hannah nodded.
“We were just discussing employment opportunities. So far, he seems interested, but a bit hesitant. What can we offer him, if he actually throws in with The High Command? Prison is off the table. If we can’t make a deal, we kill him and hide the body.” She sounded... Insane, of course.
Mainly because she actually meant it. They couldn’t keep a man like that, really. Not unless she got him to the Never and took his powers away. A thing that got her to blink, then not mention. That wasn’t the kind of person she wanted to be. It was one thing to build people up, like John had done for her. A thing that still left her uneasy, when she thought about it.
Taking what made them special was just wrong.
Worse than killing them. At least if they’d earned death.
Rick swallowed, as if nervous, which he wasn’t, and stared at her.
“That... We’re fine, here, Damsel. I’m sure that Mr. Gallard wants to do the right thing. We don’t need anyone else vanishing... Right, Lewis? I can call you that? I’m Rick.”
She made a face, but nodded.
“Hannah. If we’re working together.”
“Devya Pond.”
Carl shrugged.
“Luther. I don’t work for the High Command any longer.”
Gallard took a deep breath and shook his head.
“You couldn’t trust me, if I said yes.”
Hannah shrugged.
“Can’t we? You stole some stuff. You aren’t afraid to bust some heads. None of that means you aren’t trustworthy, otherwise. I don’t know what the job pays, but a room, honest work and a chance not to be killed? That sounds like a deal to consider. Um...” She shook her head. “Just so you don’t get the wrong idea... If you say no, you really will die. I don’t want it to be a threat, but the carrot is way better than the stick, on this one. A person like you can’t just be put in gen pop, you know?”
Everyone in the room nodded, including Gallard.
“So... What then, I just get a uniform and go out and arrest people?”
Hannah smiled.
“Training and riding a desk for six months, doing paperwork, to make sure you’re trustworthy in the field? Do you have a wife?”
The man looked down.
“Charlotte. I have kids, too. Three of them.”
Rick shrugged then.
“Can they move to Texas? We’ll get you a house, so you can stay with them. Something by a good school. It’s not a bad place to live. Houston. Solid people there. Some nice churches, if that’s your thing?”
The man shrugged.
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Luther growled.
“Not if you want to be there for your wife and kids. A man with a family has to think about more than himself. More than his pride, too.”
Everyone went silent for about a minute. Then the small guy nodded.
“I’m in. What do I do?”
Rick smiled.
“First, we free your hands, then we do a lot of paperwork. Don’t worry, I’ll help you with that. We have a deal, though? If so, then I think we can change how this is going?”
The man nodded, and Luther removed the cuffs. Hannah didn’t let herself tense, but if it was needed, the man would be shot in the head again. Only, she could see that he was just going to stand there, meaning what he’d just said. It wasn’t really telepathy, of course. More like what she’d done in a trance, the day before.
Only she was doing it now, just standing there. Focused, but not that hard.
Devya took them away, leaving Carl there, with her. The man took his mask off, his rather average seeming, but lean and lined face, seeming annoyed with her, as he did it. Until he laughed.
“That was good. Sharp. I was pretty much just hoping you’d distract him with some shooting, but that was a lot more than that. Now, our relationship? What’s with that bullshit? We have a great relationship... You worked out that we’d been taken, somehow?” He grinned, which wasn’t charming, but did seem well meant.
She shook her head.
“No, which is probably a sign that I’m selfish and self-centered. I was really calling about the powers I just got. John just said that it was going to increase all my powers by five to ten times, with strength and speed, plus the mental things. I can hear better though, and the psychic stuff is way easier. I mean, I probably couldn’t have done anything to his brain, but I was trying hard enough that he really felt it, back there? I think?”
Carl whistled.
“Okay, I won’t lie, it’s been talked about, in the secret meetings we don’t invite you to. Debbie mentioned it, about six months ago, in fact. That you were so powerful over there that you could just name yourself as powerful here and it would stick. It... Well, I wanted to actually train you first. Having you able to actually fight is important, too. Now, you say John didn’t go full out on this? You can’t rip the planet in half, or anything?”
“No? Not even close. We pretty much decided that we were too big of a-holes for even real powers of note. He flat out refused to have Red Cape’s powers, by the way. I don’t know what all I can do, actually. What does being five or ten times stronger mean? I’m not huge, so, I could bench about a hundred pounds before, which was good, being my bodyweight. Can I lift a thousand pounds now? Can I run a hundred miles per hour? Run for ten hours?” She shrugged.
The man looked at her, just staring, for about ten seconds.
“I bet the answer is... Yes, no and yes. You won’t be that fast, really. The faster you get, the harder it is to improve, even a little. Let’s test some of this. Push-ups. How many can you do?”
“Before? Um, about twenty, if we only count real ones.” That wasn’t a lot, but Pleny had tested her on that kind of thing.
She just got down on all fours, then put her feet back, and went down almost all the way to the ground, pressing herself up. Instead of having to fight, desperate to keep going, after fifteen, she just kept flowing through them. Not slowing down. When she got to a thousand it started to get hard, but she was able to continue. Carl noticed the slowing, but waved at her.
“Don’t stop...”
She had to, at fourteen hundred and thirty. Even though it was way more than the twenty she could have managed four hours before. It should have been two hundred, she thought. Really, with a broken arm that number would have been zero. She simply didn’t have the ability to go on forever. Her triceps burned, as she got up.
“So, that’s a lot.”
Carl let his hand move side to side.
“Meh? It’s not bad, for someone as tiny as you are, but being able to do more just means that you have to work harder, each day. The record for an unpowered man is over twenty-five thousand without stopping, so keep that in mind. For regular women it’s over five thousand, so don’t get a big head. This is good, but you need more work.”
She blew out a breath then, and nodded.
“I get that. I can do more, so I need to. I don’t know about the shooting and all that.”
Instead of taking her into the other room, for a VR session, Carl held his right hand out.
“Slap my hand. I’m going to move it out of the way. Ready?”
She probably wasn’t but tried. Carl was still able to get out of the way, most of the time. When it was his turn to do the slapping against her palm, she was also able to get it out of the way, most of the time. He’d done better than she did, but it was close enough that, at the end, he nodded.
“Super human reflexes. Is that psychic or just biology?”
She had no clue, but when she closed her eyes, she was able to catch balls of wadded up paper when they were tossed at her. The pathways things were going to take were stronger. Clear, nearly. It was still hazy, but had color and the main pathways rang out to her, in a way she couldn’t define well.
Eyes closed, she pointed toward the bathroom.
“Kate’s coming.”
That took nearly a minute, which had the man grinning.
“Nice. So you have a longer time range that way? You’re not in a trance. What can you do if you do that?”
Walking into the room, dressed in jeans and a soft blue sweater that looked darling on her, Katherine grinned.
“What’s up?”
Hannah was going to explain, but Carl waved at her.
“She got a magical upgrade. Basically just pushing her natural abilities, so far, instead of adding something that wasn’t there. John Fawks did it. In the Never. She can do nearly fifteen hundred pushups, has hyper reflexes, and seems to be about as good at psychic stuff normally now as she was while meditating, before. We were just going to check that part.”
Instead of acting shocked, or impressed, the curly haired woman nodded and waved in an offhand fashion.
“Sure. Well, we need to check her telekinesis, too. She did that the other day, with no special powers at all.”
