Damsel: No More, page 7
part #1 of Damsel Series
Well enough that Debbie had to come get her, when the Uber got there.
“There we go, sweetie. Now, if you have any trouble with these things... Well, then work it out? I don’t know how to help you with any of it. The way I was taught to shoot was very different. That seemed to work, though. I’ve been doing it for years and I can’t hold a four-inch group at ten yards, most of the time...” That came with a hug, from the woman, which she did back. Lashondra got one as well.
Then she started to jog out, but managed to smooth her stroll, into a more rolling motion, when she realized the woman in the car was looking at her phone, instead of Hannah. She waved, to get her attention.
“I’m Hannah...”
The woman, who had raven black hair and who, frankly, was too attractive to be a credible Uber driver. Very attractive women rarely had to really work for a living when in their twenties, unless they were making a point of it for some reason. Which was cool, if it was the case. The hottie smiled at her.
“Hi! I’m Veronica, your driver for the evening. You need to go to Manhattan?”
“That’s right.”
“Cool. I have one small detour first, is that all right?”
That didn’t sound normal, but Hannah, while suspicious, didn’t go for her gun or even the knife that was pulling her track suit bottoms down.
“Sure... Where are you going?” If it was the liquor store, Hannah was getting out. Not because the woman was drunk, either, it would just be too tempting to do her own shopping, which was a poor idea.
There was a slightly panicked look from the woman then, as something made a noise from her phone.
“Uh... There’s a fire, between here and there, in a brownstone. I...”
Hannah didn’t know why, but she got all the way in and sighed.
“You’re one of those super types? Do you know a blue guy who can teleport and move things with his mind? I mean, the outfit was blue, I don’t know about the skin.”
The woman shook her head.
“That’s Wisp, but I’m...” The noise changed again and she took off, speeding fast enough that Hannah had to slap her seat belt on. From the porch, behind her, Lashondra waved.
“Sorry...”
She rushed to get a belt across her lap, which happened just in time to keep her from being flung out through the side window. She still slapped her face into the glass, which stung, since it was already injured.
“So, is it really a fire, or do I need to start stabbing you in the neck and hope that the crash isn’t too bad?”
They were on a straight away and the car, an older model that wasn’t very big or nice, though spotless inside, sped up. It was loud.
“Fire... You were at Lashondra’s? Who are you, then?”
She got that the woman was asking what her code name was, as if she were going to whip out some tights and help her save people. A thing that literally wasn’t happening. She had a cute outfit that might have worked, but it was safely at home, in her closet.
“I’m Hannah.”
That got a bit of heavy breathing, in return.
“I got that, but I mean, what can you do? Are you one of the people whose name I know or are you new?”
“I’m not... I’m just me, not what you think I am.”
There was silence for a bit, then a soft whistle came from the front seat.
“You were at Lashondra’s though? Only the best get to work with her and her team. Lash is... Well, in certain circles, she’s famous. That... It kind of means that you’re someone, doesn’t it?”
Hannah didn’t answer for a while, then nodded.
“Everyone is someone, aren’t they? I don’t have any powers though or training or special skills that will help people trapped in a fire.”
There was a glance back then.
“Well, just don’t do anything silly and you should be fine, then. You can guard the car for me.”
That sounded unlikely, and unneeded, but she nodded, just in case the crazy person driving was serious about it.
“Right. I’ll stay in the car. Like that’s going to happen?” After all, she wasn’t in an ivory tower any longer. That meant being safe wasn’t always going to be an option. Then, it never really had been, for her.
For some reason, Veronica the Uber driver simply nodded, then drove a bit faster, almost as if her life depended on it.
Chapter five
“I’ll park a few blocks away. If we can, we need to leave before the police get here.” The very good-looking woman, who really did seem out of place, stepped out of the car, looked around and then stripped most of her clothing off. Even the panties came off, showing that under those and her bra she had a very fine, almost see-through body-hugging thing on. That altered in color, from white girl flesh tone to stark black after a moment, the other clothing thrown back into the older model car. “I need to change. Don’t freak out?”
Hannah didn’t get the warning, for about ten seconds. Then black goo started to rise from the poured on Veronica’s flesh. All over, it seemed. Even the hair was covered after another twenty seconds, her features distorted and flattened. She looked like a thing made out of clay. Only shiny, like glass. Like the beginning of a sculpture, where none of the features had been more than roughed out.
Then the woman ran, heading toward the collection of firetrucks and yelling men, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble with the blaze. That was a redstone building, not brownstone and it already looked to be a husk of its former self. Luckily it wasn’t that big, being no more than five stories tall. Away from the fire, the smoke still billowing densely, a man was on fire.
Being an idiot, clearly, Hannah tried to shift her weight forward, walking with the funny gait that Pleny had shown her earlier. It was smooth enough, and whatever else Veronica had going on, it didn’t give her super human speed, it seemed. Meaning that, for once, even if she was the one with the short little legs, she wasn’t really behind the person she was jogging with. Not that she was doing that. The other woman was though, and the shiny black face moved in her direction. No words came out. Not at all. Not even telling her to, sensibly, stay back.
When they got to the man, about fifty feet away, it was clear that he wasn’t just having a problem with burning clothing. He was dripping fire, which was being flung at the building.
“That fucking cunt got everything! She cheated on me, then the court gave her all of it! Well, she can’t have it!” The drops of fire were thrown like water. Like a deadly rain. They traveled a good distance though, nearly thirty feet, so Hannah stopped, and then backed up, trying to get out of range.
The firemen were, rather bravely, trying to jump out, hit the building with water, then moving back to prevent themselves from being hit by the guy on fire. In the distance, well away from things, there was the sound of children. Crying.
“Daddy... No...”
Not being a lawyer, Hannah still got the basic idea. The man who was flinging plasma around felt like he’d been treated poorly by the legal system. Which, being he had some kind of real power, meant that he didn’t have to simply take the abuse. So the old house that his wife, who apparently was a cheating cunt, according to him, had been given, wasn’t livable any longer.
That was already done. The issue was that there were sirens in the background, and the cops were probably going to be there inside a few minutes. Or less. A thing she was fine with. Still, it looked like Veronica was planning on engaging with the man, who had his back turned for the moment. Hopefully she was fireproof.
A thing that Hannah didn’t know at all, so panicking a bit inside, wondering if shooting the man was the right idea, she called out.
“Guys! That man is on fire. Hit him with the hose and don’t stop!” She didn’t know why she was getting involved, but it made some sense to her for the fire fighters to stop the heart of the problem if they could. It was related to their job, after all.
It took a few seconds, but they did it. Which meant hitting Veronica at the same time. The flames didn’t go out, but the man was on the ground, suddenly, since most of the force hit him. What touched the woman closing with him did very little to her at all.
After a moment, one of the men, who was probably in charge, yelled something.
“That goop isn’t going out! We need to try foam suppression. Get the rig going, McKenny!”
That was a bit different, though as Veronica slapped the downed man, rather gently, fire coming over her as well, a team of four men moved in, spraying tan colored foam over the whole scene. That worked, though it didn’t douse the burning building, which the men had to go back to, almost instantly. Leaving the fight between the man who was now a white pile of foam, being beaten by another pile of the same thing. That lasted about half a minute, since, once the fire was gone, the disgruntled divorced guy went limp, and didn’t get up.
Then, as fast as they’d come in, the other woman turned and physically ran off. Back toward the car. Hannah followed, since, for the second time in the day, she realized that her ride might leave without her, which would be annoying. Again, she tried for the fourth gait. For the third time that day, she sort of failed at it. Still, she was, she thought, getting a bit closer and it truly was easier than jogging, if not really faster for her yet.
As they moved Veronica began changing back into the hot woman version of herself. The outfit she had on changed color, to match her skin tone it seemed, which left her looking naked, without her goodies actually being on display. As soon as she had a mouth again, she called out.
“Drive. The keys are on the seat. I need to... Get a towel from the trunk. That stuff they sprayed on me worked, but it didn’t all come off when I changed...”
That was a bit of a problem. Technically Hannah could drive a car, of course. She just didn’t have a license, because New York made getting one a chore and she’d always had drivers. James had shown her how to do it, just in case she needed to, in an emergency. Which, after a fashion, they were in at that moment.
Being a vigilante was illegal, even when they saved lives. It was a strange thing, really. The police would show up at crime scenes, see a costume and a handled situation and then pull their weapons, trying to bring the useful people in for questioning and punishment. It normally didn’t happen, probably because, as they were currently doing, most of the costumed freaks ran off, after saving lives.
Even if they were the heroes of the moment.
She fumbled for the keys, got a belt across her and had the car started by the time Veronica was in the back seat. Then, rather nervously, not speeding at all, since that would be asking for an accident in even the evening city traffic, she entered the flow, ignoring the sounds and movement of the woman in the back seat. From the sound the woman was ducked down, letting her passenger do the driving.
Then, after getting her clothing back on, which took some shuffling and scooting around to make happen, the woman spoke, softly.
“Pull over.”
Hannah did it, wondering what the trick was. Her possibly being dumped on the side of the road came to mind, but when Veronica hopped out, while she did go to the driver’s side door, she just wanted to drive. It was her car, so that made sense. Hannah moved to the front passenger’s seat, since the potentially crazy woman waved at it.
“Now... Manhattan?” She started in what was, probably, the correct direction then, seeming well enough pleased with herself.
Hannah just sat there, not speaking. She wasn’t upset, not really. Finally, she shrugged.
“Um... So, do you have a special name when you do that kind of thing? An origin story or whatever?”
That got a laugh, which seemed real and a bit manic, for some reason.
“So, right to brass tacks, huh? Yeah... My father was a mad scientist. I mean, full on, has an island base, minions that he’d genetically engineered, the whole nine yards. I was pretty much raised by animal people. Chimeras. Anyway, when I was nine, he decided to see if he could change me into, well, he wanted me to be useful. So, I was altered. First to look prettier, since he wanted...” She shook her head then. “That isn’t really important. Then, when I was eleven, he made it so that I could produce diamonds from my skin. Only, the process didn’t really do that very well. I mean, I’m covered with a kind of liquid diamond when I do that, and don’t need to breathe, because there’s an exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the carbon crystal that I put out. There’s a bunch of air bubbles in it, which is why it isn’t clear. So... I’m called Cry Diamond. At least in my other shape. That’s pretty much impenetrable armor, and, you know, dad left me pretty strong, otherwise. I have that all the time. I heal faster too. How about you?”
She shook her head then and grinned.
“I don’t... I keep being kidnapped. The other day the Red Trio, if that means anything to you, they tried to kill me, I guess. For anti-capitalism or something like that. So, I tried to fight back. The, um, that Wisp guy? Well, he hooked me up with Lashondra and her pals, I guess.”
There was silence for a bit, about a minute, then Veronica sighed.
“Wow. I mean, that’s not normal, is it? Lash and her crew... Look, you know about the costumed crime fighters. It’s in the news every day, practically. There are levels of that kind of thing, obviously. I mean... Cry Diamond takes on little things, most of the time. What we did back there probably won’t really be mentioned, unless some blogger caught it on their phone. Even then, it wasn’t a big deal, really.” She drove for a bit, then nodded, almost to herself, as if debating going on.
When she did, it was conversational, not as if she were speaking of great or important things.
“You know about the big names, of course. Everyone does. When a man catches a flaming meteor over a city, that gets talked about. But the thing is, there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of real threats, that aren’t that flashy. That almost no one in the world can handle. Like the demon invasion, last year? Hardly anyone even knows that it took place at all, but if Lash, Wisp and The Moore hadn’t stepped in and closed the gate, you’d be being raped in a pit of fire right now. I would too, most likely. Demons are no joke. The thing there is...”
The woman stopped then, focusing on driving for a while. The streets were packed with cars, so Hannah didn’t distract her. When she pulled up to the building, the woman shook her head.
“Anyway, I should come up with you. Where do I park for that?”
Hannah giggled, not really meaning it. The woman was a bit weird for her taste. Then, she really wanted the information, at the same time. Debating the idea for a bit, she sighed.
“We have underground parking. It’s secured. This way, to the right?” To get in she had to present her thumb print, which meant getting out of the car and touching the scanner, then climbing back in and then pointing ahead. “Nine-B. Which means you now know where I live. If anyone asks, that means we’re dating. Um...” She shrugged.
Then smiled at the woman.
“That honestly could come up. I’m followed by tabloid vultures, occasionally and someone just tried to kill me the other day, so they might be watching.” That probably wasn’t going to be good for the other woman, having a secret identity like she did.
Instead of laughing, or demurring, the hot woman smiled, hugely and looked over at Hannah, with big green eyes.
“We can do that, then. You’re cute. Plus, I can use you to get in with Lash. Not that... I mean, I’m totally talking about a whole groupie stalking thing here, so you don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not powerful or skilled enough to be in that crowd. I just want to stand back and gaze at them lovingly. You get the idea.”
Hannah nodded, then cleared her throat.
“Okay. That makes me feel loved and special... Anyway, park here. We can go up, I guess. Though, seriously, don’t be a stalker. That’s creepy.”
That got a sigh and a nod.
“I know, I know. I’m not that bad, really. I mean, I took the call because it was her house, but I only knew that, because Wisp had mentioned it. She’s in with that group, but also bothered to try and chat me up. Not to hook up or anything. She’s straight.”
There was dead silence then, as the woman hunched over in place, stopping the vehicle. She didn’t yell about her mistake. Hannah didn’t mention it either, though it was clear to her. The man in blue, with the fake deep voice, was a she, for some reason.
Which could mean a lot of things. Debbie was a she, after all. Also a sweetheart, obviously.
Instead, she got out of the car, let Veronica lock up and secure the used towel in the back, in the trunk, which had a change of clothing in it, which the woman grabbed, carrying it with her. Since she still had chemicals all over her, that made sense to see to.
Hannah thought so, anyway.
“I have a shower. This way.”
The elevator took a code and a thumb print, before it would open. The ride was direct though, since, while big, only about a hundred people lived in the building at all. Each floor had four apartments on it, and the top levels weren’t residential at all. Office spaces of some sort. At least she thought that was the case. You didn’t accidently go to the wrong floor there, at all.
They didn’t speak, until they got to the ninth floor. Then, seeing the layout, Veronica went wide eyed.
“WTF? This is... How can you afford this?”
That got a gentle wave, since she didn’t want to talk about the subject. Especially in the hallway. When she used the eye scan and thumb print, along with the code number on her front door, the woman just shook her head. Then, when they were inside, Hannah pointed to the left.
“The shower is that way. Do you... want me to get your back for you? Since we’re dating now?” That was spoken in a teasing, fake flirting way. They’d just met, after all. Not that she hadn’t made time with people with less interaction than that, in the past. Women too, so when Veronica nodded, she just went in that direction.
