H.E.R.O. - Horde (10 page)

A pair of S.W.A.T. vans arrived shortly after Rael did and we waved at the men.  All were in combat gear.

A dark skinned man led the way and said, "Afternoon, gents.  I'm Lieutenant Parks."

I held out my hand and shook his.  "Nice to meet you lieutenant, I'm Spartan."

Rael said, "I'm Black Tiger."

"So what are you looking to accomplish here?"

I replied, "I'd like to have a variety of weapons tested on me to see what, if any, can injure me."

Rael said, "I think I already know roughly what I can take, but trying to get down how to dodge when being shot at would be nice."

"Okay.  How about we start with a weapons test on the range, and then try a few runs through the gauntlet - with you two being the bad guys."

I nodded, "Sounds good, what's our goal in the gauntlet then?"

"I'm thinking we try a live fire test.  You're goal is to get your hands on my men.  I'll assume that if you can get a paw on one that he's down.  Maybe have you carry some paintballs in your hand that you crush to get the paint on you, and then when you grab any of mine he's down."

I smiled, "That could be interesting.  How do you rate us being down?"

"I'm thinking it's more target practice for them.  I have a feeling that we won't have firepower heavy enough to actually take you down - although we might try a few non-lethal tricks out on you."

Rael chuckled and elbowed me, "Ha, do we place bets on if anyone can take down the big guy?"

"Or you."

"I look forward to the challenge."

The rest of the men came forward, shook our hands and introduced themselves.  Then we moved into the shooting range.  The gauntlet building was off to the side - it was an almost entirely concrete building.

We moved into a long courtyard attached to the building.  It was surrounded by a thick concrete wall and had target posts at the far end, with picnic tables on the side near the entrance.

Lt. Parks looked at me.  "You really want to just let the guys shoot you?"

I nodded.  "Yup.  Want me to walk down there now?"

"Go ahead."

"You want me to move around?"

"No, first let's try the range of weaponry we have.  Then we'll try again with you running around.  It should be humorous if nothing else."

"Great."

I hopped slightly to cross the distance in one small jump.  Sometimes I wondered if this was what Mars would be like for a normal man.

They started off by pelting me with pistols, which felt like a weak poke of a finger.  They upgraded to the largest pistols, which weren't much better, and then on to submachine guns, machine guns and rifles.  None had any effect.  One of the guys shot me in the neck with a rifle, I'm assuming in an attempt to find a weak spot.  It didn't bother me.

One of the men yelled, "You want us to try hitting you in the eye, mouth, nose or nads?"

Rael made a comment to the guy and motioned toward me.

I called out, "I'll pass.  Not that I don't want to know, but some things I'd rather get damaged in battle by accident than intentionally while standing here."

One of the guys pulled out a large sniper rifle and plugged me in the chest.  When I barely moved from the hit, he shot me in the forehead.  I think my head jerked back slightly at that.

Another consulted with the Lieutenant for a moment.  The man nodded and a moment later, a grenade landed just in front of me.  I looked away from it as it exploded.  While there were many small hits, it was ineffective.

The Lieutenant even had all of them fire their heaviest rifles and shotguns at once at me in an attempt to knock me down.  The combined firepower all hitting me nearly instantly did knock me back a step, although none of the hits hurt.

They motioned me back, so I hopped over to them.

I asked, "What's the largest weapon you had here?"

One of the guys said, "50 caliber BMG cartridge.  It puts out up to 15 thousand foot-pounds, possibly a bit more.  How much can you lift?"

Another guy said, "He's the one that lifted that train back onto the tracks last week."

"I don't know yet.  I can lift that much if I am pumped up, but normally it's a lot less than half a locomotive.  Why?"

The guy said, "I'm thinking about how many foot pounds you can put out at various muscle points.  Were you standing ready to be shot?  Like a guy who is ready for a punch verses one who isn't ready.  The one that's not ready is a lot more likely to be knocked over."

"I can see that.  You want me blindfolded or something?"

"Sure.  Here, we've got a ski mask - wear it backwards."

"Got it."

I took the mask from him and leaped back to the far side.  Mid-air two bullets struck me, one in the lower right back, the other in the upper left shoulder.  Neither hurt, but it altered my trajectory slightly and made me stumble on the landing.

I grinned and looked back at them for a moment.  Then I put on the ski mask and let them unload on me again.  It wasn't effective.  Perhaps it was that I was still expecting them to shoot at me, but the hits just didn't feel hard against me.

The closest I came to falling came when a bunch of them hit me in my right shoulder all at the same time.  Finally, they called me back.

They decided to move into the building for that simulation.  Rael changed shirts to a bright colored one so the guys would easily know when they were shooting at one of us, and hopefully avoid any accidents against each other.  One of the guys brought Rael and I through the building to an inner room.

It was a more interesting form of training, a lot like playing cops and robbers as a child, but with live rounds.  Rael and I split up.  I saw him leap up through a hole in a ceiling to another level almost immediately.

Even though I tried to be relatively quiet, any time I tried rushing the guys it was fairly obvious to those moving quietly and listening.  The ones that tried normal weaponry did little to stop me, although several tried using a variety of grenades, from ineffective sting grenades that exploded in a hail of rubber balls to a flashbang grenade.

The flashbang worked pretty well on me - my senses weren't well protected, so I found myself disoriented several times.  One of the guys hit me with a flashbang and then tear gas.  Their attempt to lock me down failed miserably, however.

I only saw Rael once or twice during the run.

Afterward we met with the team in the shooting range area by the picnic tables.

Lieutenant Parks gave a little speech - part if it reminded the guys that H.E.R.O. was around for a reason - precisely because of problems other supers present.

I noticed that Rael had only been hit a few times and asked about how his side went.

He said, "I had a pretty easy time.  I used my claws and tentacles to work in three dimensions, and it's really easy hearing and smelling the guys come closer.  They almost got me with grenades a few times, but my teleporting came in handy.  Same thing with their best shots, I teleported behind them so the shots never landed."

One of the S.W..A.T. guys nodded, "I'm not sure which of you were worse.  The brick was easier to find and hit, but there wasn't a lot we could do against him.  The mutant was so much faster, quieter and could move around better.  I almost think the mutant was the more dangerous unless the brick were to just rush in at your target."

I nodded.  "I think that's how most tend to do it, too.  We don't try to sneak much because we fail so badly at it."

Another officer said, "I'd rather have the one I at least have a chance to take out with the weaponry on me.  If I can't even hurt the guy it's kind of pointless to even be there."

The Lieutenant said, "Seeing your wounds already healed goes to show another reason why H.E.R.O. is around.  You are less likely to die from something that could permanently maim or kill one of us.  Spartan, Black Tiger - did that help give an idea of what you were looking for?"

I nodded.  "Yeah, the flashbang really hit home.  I'll have to pick up some earplugs to see if those will help against those."

Rael said, "I'm glad you guys used live rounds in the building.  It really gave the desire to not get hit, versus something like a paintball, perhaps."

Lieutenant Parks said, "Well guys, I've got more to go over with with my team.  Is there anything else you need?"

I shook my head, "No, thanks for working with us.  If you ever need us for anything give us a call.  I'd be happy to help out."

Rael said, "Right - thanks guys.  Watch out for those mutant fights."

We left the building and headed back home.

Chapter 8 - Portfolio

Diva's Viewpoint

I swung by the printer and bought the prints I'd ordered for my new portfolio.  They looked great.  Maybe I'd have to have Black Tiger do another more personal set later on.

I flew back home, and went through my clothes to find an eye-popping set of clothes.  I showered as well to get the residual smell of the gas used by the robbers off me.

By the time I was ready it was mid afternoon, so I took one set of the prints, put them in a binder inside plastic sheets and flew to my agent's business.

I walked into Lana Marcel's office and was greeted by her receptionist.  She didn't recognize me at first - I had to remind her who I was.  She walked back to Lana's office to inform her I was there.

She came back out shortly and motioned me into Lana's office.

I walked in and said, "Hi Lana!"

She stared at me with her jaw hanging open.  "Oh ... my ... god.  What happened to you?"

"I ... I changed into a super.  I'm a super hero now too - I've gotten some news coverage, I'm hoping it'll help with the modeling...."

"Daphne, oh my.  There's no way the client will want you now.  You look all big and muscled."

"I'm not big!  I ... I guess I am kind of muscled now."

"Kind of? 
Kind of?
  Look at you!"

"Sorry - it's not like I chose what I look like."

She sighed.  "Well, we've lost this contract for sure."

I frowned, "There's no chance...?"

"No.  In fact, your entire portfolio is useless."

"I know, here - I brought a new one for you."

"Fine.  Let me see."

I handed her the binder.  I could tell she wasn't optimistic before she even looked inside it.  She opened it and looked at the first page, and then she flipped from page to page.

She said, "All right.  This isn't horrible.  With the right clothes it looks like the muscles can be hidden.  I don't like that you did them all outside."

She continued paging and then said, "I like how you got some in the air.  Are you flying in these?"

"Yes, I can fly."

"Really.  That holds potential.  Most of these I think clients will be seeking a more traditional model for.  However, the one with the sports bra and boy shorts has potential.  It capitalizes on your new shape.  Did you say you'd been on the news lately?"

"Yes."

She stared at me for a moment.  "Wait, you're Diva, the new superheroine."

"Right."

"Damn.  I wish you'd have consulted with me before selecting your costume."

"Why?  I like my costume!"

"Look, you want to model, right?"

"Yes."

"Everything you do should move you toward that goal.  You're getting news time, but with a party dress.  I'm not so sure I'll be able to get you any contracts for that type of thing.  However, if you'd been smarter and made a costume more like a volleyball or soccer player's, then you'd be in your element."

"But I can still model in those...."

"Yes, and I see you don't have any portfolio pictures like that.  How about you pick up some sportswear, go to a professional photographer in a studio, and have the pics taken.  Throw away all these pictures that try to make you sweet looking or innocent.  It doesn't come across well."

"Uhh, okay."

"Go.  Let me know when you've got a proper portfolio that caters to your strengths."

"I ... right.  I'll get it done."

She closed the binder and shifted her focus back to her computer screen.  I had been dismissed.  I turned and left her office feeling depressed.

Chapter 9 - Boom

Diva's Viewpoint

I left Lana's office in a horrible mood.  When I went to fly, I jumped up three times before I got my mind on shifting into flight mode and actually took flight.

I hovered a few hundred feet in the air, barely seeing the city below me when my phone rang and vibrated.  I grabbed at my left thigh out of reflex, realized I had it in my purse and pulled it out

It showed an event of a high-speed chase including a shooting and theft of some type of chemicals.  I almost said to hell with it, but I could fly, and thus catch up with robbers fleeing in a vehicle.

I hit the button to accept it, looked at the direction and sped off after them.  They were fast approaching the river.  I shifted into high-speed flight toward them.

I grit my teeth.  I'd show my agent, be a heroine and get on TV too.  My shirt flapped briskly in the wind at the hundreds of miles per hour I sped forth at.  I blew past the windows of the downtown skyscrapers in moments.  Somewhere along the line, my scarf tore off to float in the wind, shortly after I heard the shirt tear, but it stayed on at least. 
Damn it, I hate losing new clothes.

It was easy to see the fleeing vehicle ahead of me as it began crossing the bridge.  A horde of police vehicles were following it with all of their lights on.

I flew lower so I was only a few dozen feet above the ground.  The ground tore past just under me.  From playing around with Psystar I was pretty sure I hit around 500 miles per hour when I pushed myself, and I was mad enough to push pretty hard at that point.

I passed the last buildings and began moving over the bridge when I saw the back door of the van pop open and a pair of large canisters start bouncing on the road.

Off to the right a strange looking wave moved on the fairly calm water toward the bridge.  I'd almost reached the point where the canisters fell when I saw the men begin firing at them as they continued on their way.