New Markets - 02 (17 page)

Silverlash is a popular hero, but I don’t think she has any powers that work off her skin – well, she can’t with a full body costume like that.  She’s proof that you don’t need to show skin to be popular and look good, though.

“Can’t.  One of my other powers needs open skin.  I can make people calm by making my skin tingle.  Someone I know thinks it is a pheromone.  The costume maker said it would restrict the range severely if it were full body.  I actually wonder how much even this restricts my range.  Besides, I like wearing this.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Also, how would I hide a full torso-and-arm covering spandex type shirt underneath the shirt I wore here?  The entire neck and chest around it are uncovered, and it goes down in front.  You’d see that.  This top will work under most women’s clothing.  I can even fold it up on the bottom to wear a belly shirt.  Same with the bottoms being low cut to allow for hip hugger jeans or skirts.  I wanted a costume I could wear underneath most clothing.”

Megan said, “Wow, that’s smart thinking!”

“Thanks.”  I grinned at her.

Kell asked, “You’ve got blood on your boots.  You mentioned it was your blood, yet you don’t appear injured….”

“I heal very fast.  I don’t have a knife or I’d cut myself a little to show you.”

Kell pulled a pocket multi-tool out quickly and handed it to me.

I looked at him sourly.  “Gee, thanks.  Just what I wanted … to harm myself.”  I sighed and carefully cut my forearm, ensuring it wouldn’t drip off my arm.  The wound sealed almost instantly, and I wiped off the blood with a tissue.  I displayed the forearm to them.

“Do you have to lick or wipe off every wound afterward, or does most blood just disappear, like some vampire TV shows?”

“What?  No.”  I rolled my eyes again upon seeing his mental image of my trying to lick my leg or back.  “My tongue isn’t that long.”

Odes asked, “So you don’t have any attack powers?”

“I can do some mental tricks.  I’ve been able to make someone re-live a memory, and I can make them afraid.  But no, not really.”

Trevin asked quietly, “How did your own blood get on your boots?”

I looked him in the eye.  “I was shot … something like ten times from a fully automatic pistol this morning.  Or should I say very late last night.”

Megan leaned forward, “Are you all right?”

I nodded.  “Yeah, it took I think half an hour to expel the bullets from the wounds and for my body to heal them all.  Hurt like hell though.  The pain meds they tried didn’t work.”

Odes asked, "Where were you hit, just out of interest?"

My eyes went up as I thought back on the gunshot wounds.  I pointed to my right arm, shoulder, breast, abdomen in several spots, and left leg in multiple spots.

"How far was he when he shot you?"

"At first perhaps twenty feet, but I was flying at him, and got into hand to hand.  He sprayed me a few times while I tried to grab his arm."

"Dang.  And you walked away from that like it was nothing?"

"Um ... no.  Actually, it KO'd me.  If the F.B.I. hit team hadn't come in right after he took me out I'd be, um, worse.  They said he ran out of bullets shooting at me."

Kell held my arm while he looked for a wound on the biceps and shoulder.  He failed to find any.

Kell said, “You've got great healing, I can't find anything.  Aha, I’m going to take you drinking.”

“I’m not twenty one.”

“Pfah, like that’s stopped anyone else on campus.  Fine, I’ll pick up something and we can do it at our house.”

“I’m not big into breaking the law.  I just joined H.E.R.O., that wouldn’t set a very good example.”

“You need to do a test of it.  If your healing eliminates the effects of the alcohol, then you know you can use it as a tool in your fight against crime.  If not, then you know to avoid it.”

“Why do I think this sounds like a bad idea?  Okay, at some point I’m willing to try it to see if I’m resistant to the effects.  At least I don’t have to drive.  You think flying under the influence is a crime?”

Kell laughed, “Not that I’ve ever heard of, but barfing while flying might be.”

“Eww.”

Odes said, “Didn’t need to go there, bro.”

I ran my hand through my hair and nodded in agreement.

Kell asked, “Have you flown into a building or anything yet?”

I coughed into my fist.  “My first time I shot up at high speed, did a big loop and slammed into the ground.  It knocked me out for a while.  Otherwise I guess just today, I missed my first class and was running late to get to the second, so I flew in too fast.  I hit the ground but then smacked into the wall outside.  Got a bloody nose from that.”

Megan narrowed her eyes and said, “Wait a second.  Yesterday I was hearing about a super flying in and out of campus a few times.  I even mentioned it to you, that was you, wasn’t it?”

I looked at her sheepishly, “Yeah … I know, I lied to you then.  Sorry again.  The guys here can kind of thank you for me fessing up today.  I really felt guilty about that.”

Trevin said, “Ah, I had you pegged already.  I recognized you in the picture.  Even with the hair and eye color difference, it was still you.”

Odes said, “Jeez, I didn’t even recognize who she was when she first sat down here.  You must have a good eye.”

Kell said, “Or he studies Stephanie closer than we knew.”

Odes said, “Hmm, that could be….”

Trevin flushed slightly and avoided looking at me.  His thoughts betrayed how much he watched me when I wasn't looking though.  I winked at him and grinned when he glanced back my way.

Odes asked, “So … no other powers or side effects?”

Trevin said, “Yeah, other than having other people be able to control what you do?”  Kell immediately thought to ask Trevin later on how he did that.  I blushed.

I replied, “I can’t say as I feel cold any more.  I need to eat more than I used to.  I have a natural, uh, scent that people seem to like.”

Megan jumped in, “Yeah, you do smell really good.  Is it the same today as yesterday?”

I pointed to my right.  “You saw Kell….”

“True.”

Trevin leaned near me and smelled my skin.  His eyes widened and he said, “Oh my god, she smells great!  I thought that was some perfume you had on.”

I said, “Here’s an, um, interesting test.”  I leaned close to him and breathed at him through my mouth.  It’s something I’d never have considered in the past after eating a hamburger and fries.

He breathed in deeply and smiled.  “Yeah, you smell awesome.”

“I just ate a hamburger and fries before coming up here, can you tell?”

“You did?  No way.”

I nodded.

“So what happens if you work out and sweat?  Do you smell then?”

Megan said, “Nice thing to ask a girl, slick.”

I chucked, “Actually, I don’t sweat any more.  And no, after a lot of exertion I’ve not noticed any difference in smell.”

Odes asked, “Do you still sleep?”

“Yeah.  I haven’t noticed any change there.  In fact, I’ve been more tired than usual the last few nights.”

Kell asked, “What about your own sense of smell, sight, hearing, touch, taste?  Any of them better than they used to be?”

“Hmm.  Not that I can really tell.  Also some things, like touch seem really, really sensitive because I feel it, and I feel the other person feeling it.  Taste is the same way.  It’s really cool sitting at a table with people who are really enjoying their food, it’s like the best meal I’ve ever had.”

“Funky.”

“So this touch thing … you’ve had sex since the change then?”

“What?!  No!”

“Well, how would you know if something is enjoyable to both people then?”

“Kissing, and I gave someone else a shoulder massage.”

Kell got the image of a room full of people being massaged in his head.  “Hey, you should try to get a massage at a massage school.  In a room full of people being massaged, you’d probably love that.”

“That sounds wonderful.  To be honest I’m not sure I could handle that much enjoyment, I don’t know what would happen.”

Megan snickered, “I think I do, you should try it.  My friend Thomas is in massage school, I’ll see if he can get you in there.  He's cute, too.”  She winked at me. 
Hmm, that doesn’t sound like a safe idea to me….

Kell asked, “Have you tried any gymnastics with all this strength?  I’d be interested in seeing if you can do any moves slowly due to a difference in the ratio of strength to weight.  For example, if you can lift 500 lbs. and only weight 100 lbs. then you are probably over five times stronger than most women.  If that ratio is high enough you should be able to do a handstand purely by strength and some agility.”

“Why would I need to do that?”

“Why not?  To test yourself?  To know your limits?  To enjoy your abilities?”

“That’s easy enough to test.  Stay sitting, you two.”  I grabbed the hard back of the couch and lifted my waist up, legs straight out.  That was easy; it wasn’t even taxing on my legs or abdomen.  I slowly curled my torso and legs into a ball and rotated through my arms so I was upside down, then straightened my legs out into a straight handstand.  I felt light.

I said, “Wow, this doesn’t strain me at all.”

I shifted to a single hand handstand, again without a problem.  The guys began staring at my butt, so I rotated myself and dropped back down in the seat.

“Okay, I guess I can do that.  That and I know that if I do it in public all the guys will begin staring at my butt.”  They all flushed and found other things of interest in the area to look at.

Megan said, “I can’t blame them.  You have like supermodel looks now.”

Kell said, “No, she’s more like a perfect pro volleyball player.  Supermodels are skinny, and most swimsuit models are voluptuous, but not defined.  Steph’s got the perfect muscle system, and the extra build to be a swimsuit model.  Oh, man, did I just say that out loud?”  He smacked himself loudly in the forehead.

It was complimenting that the other two guys nodded and mentally agreed with him.

I laughed, “I would have heard you think it anyway, Kell.  I appreciate the compliments, though I wish I’d have heard a line like that when I had to bust my butt during workouts.  This was practically given to me.”

Trevin asked, “Speaking of workouts, do you need to workout now?”

“A friend’s mom is a brick, and she said that she hasn’t had to since she changed.  She looks like a six foot amazon with super defined muscles and an overall great body.  So I’m guessing she’s right.”

Kell said, “Well, I think I’m the only one here who works out, apart from you, so I’ll be the sacrificial lamb.”  He stood up and walked around next to Megan, then knelt in front of the table and shifted into an arm wrestling position.  “Okay, bring it.  Just don’t snap my wrist or anything.”

I knelt down opposite him and grinned.  “Oho, time to bring the mighty down.”

We locked hands and counted down.  Kell had to have a hundred pounds of weight on me, but I had the strength.  It was no match; he couldn’t even move my arm.  I grinned at him.  “Sorry Kellster.”