New Markets - 02 (24 page)

I put my hand on his arm and asked, "Please don't make me take my clothes off again.  I don't want others walking past and seeing me in costume."

He stared into my eyes and thought of me lifting my shirt and flashing the costume at him.  After I did it I glared at him as I slid the shirt back down.

He sighed, "All right, all right.  You're so easy though.  I can't believe a superhero has such an easy weakness."

Yeah, that's my worry too.

I asked, "So ... you guys are all okay with this whole thing?"

Odes moved his finger in a circle, "All of us are.  Carey ... not so much."

Kell said, "Yeah, but none of us hate supers."

Odes said, "True dat."

Mental voices entered my range.  They were searching the library for me.

I put my hands on my face and sighed.  "Great."

Kell asked, "What's up?"

"A group of students that saw me land outside are combing the library, looking for me.  You guys want me to go?"

"Why are they looking for you?"

I mentally 'listened' for a moment to the voices.  None focused on why they sought me, just that they did.  I shook my head, "They are focused just on finding me right now, no idea why.  If they meant harm I'd think that I'd hear something about readying weapons."

Trevin said, "So let them come.  It should be an interesting social experiment."

I nodded.  My hair was a dead giveaway, so if they even caught a glimpse of me they'd know I was the super.

It took them another two minutes to find us.  They gathered together and came to see us as a group of six.  There were five men and one woman.  Most were extremely tall; I recognized them from the Metrocity Monsters – the university’s basketball Team.

Brian, their apparent leader, stepped forward and said, "You're the super that just flew here."

I sighed and looked up.  "Why would you say that?"

The woman, Jenny, said, "Your hair.  Plus you look all sooty, and the news has been talking about the golden haired Psystar helping with the fire downtown."

I glanced at my arm. 
Damn.  Forgot about all that smoke.
  I shrugged, "Okay, you've caught me.  Did you want something?"

Their mental chatter showed me clearly that they had gotten excited about hunting down and finding this super.  They hadn't considered anything past that point.

Brian said, "Uh, well, why are you here?"

"I know some people here.  Is that a crime?"

"I think you go to college here."

"Okay ... and?"

"Well, what are you doing here?"

I shook my head, "Well, if I go to college here, then maybe I'm studying?"

He thought hard about that for a moment.  "Yeah, I guess that makes sense.  Are you into basketball?"

"I've gone to some of your games, yes.  You guys did okay this year."

"Well ... yeah.  We had some tough competition.  You going to join the girl's team?"

"No, that wouldn't be fair."

"What, they don't test for supers, do they?"

"I don't pee any more, it'd be hard to do a drug test at all, I think."

Kell looked at me.  "You don't pee any more?"

"No, my body consumes everything that I eat."

Brian asked, "So what's your name?"

I sighed. 
If I give him my real name, it'll get spread around that Stephanie Quinn is a super.  If I give him Psystar, people will know Psystar goes to Metro U, but hopefully not make the connection to Stephanie.

"I'm Psystar."

"So what can you do?"

"Are you always this rude to girls you just met?  You know, someone 'cool' would have walked up, said hey, nice to meet you, I happened to see you fly in.  Just wanted to say 'hi' or something.  But no, you sound like you are interrogating me."

Brian looked a little flustered.  His friends were thinking that this wasn't so cool after all.  As sports stars on campus, they were used to getting attention, not giving it to someone else.

Will tried to salvage the situation, "Hey, uh, Friday night we're having a party at the frat house.  If you want to come, you're invited.  You, and the pretty lady there, and the guys too."

Brian said, "Hey, good idea Will.  That'd be cool, right?  Can you make it?"

"If I don't get an emergency call I'll try to stop in, okay?"

Brian said, "Way cool.  The party will start at say, nine P.M."

Will nodded, "Good time, I like it."

I said, "Thank guys, we hope to see you there."

They nodded, a few bumped fists together, and the group walked off.

Once they were almost out of mental hearing range I rolled my eyes and said, "Wow, that was different."

Kell said, "So ... are you going to their party?"

"I really didn't plan on it, did you?"

"It might be interesting to see how they party.  If they think a super is showing up they might go all out on trying to make it a good one."

"Hmm, I suppose.  I'm not sure I want to be the center of attention of that many people though.  Can you imagine how many times I'd get asked the same questions?"

Trevin snorted, "Damn, that'd suck.  Yeah, I wouldn't go if I were you.  Besides, you promised to go drinking with us to test your endurance and healing."

I looked at him.  "What?  I didn't promise to go anywhere."

"It was implied."

"Oh jeez.  I can't imagine if Lance even found out about it what he'd do.  He's a bouncer."

"Lance is that workout buddy of yours?"

"Yeah.  The really huge guy I've mentioned."

"Wouldn't he be working on a Friday night?"

Dang, he's good at deductive reasoning.
  "Yeah, but Rael wouldn't be, and he likes going out."

"Rael ... is he the martial artist?"

"Yep."

"Well, he's not your boyfriend, just don't tell him."

Oh, like that'd go over well.  He wants to be my boyfriend.  He's also one of my best friends; I doubt I could dis him like that.  What am I getting myself into....

Odes said, "We don't have to go out, we could have our own party in our basement.  We've got a pool table, foosball, big screen T.V., etc."

I glanced at Trevin and said, "Somehow ... I might be safer in a bar."

Trevin said, "Not a problem, so I'll pick you up at eight o'clock?"

I sighed, "All right.  Are you coming too Megan?  To save me from them, if nothing else?"

"Sure, Joss can come too?"

Kell asked, "Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if he drinks and has fun, sure."

Odes said, "I've never gone bar hopping before."

I said, "Well, I've never gone to them while drinking, so I'm with you there."

Trevin said, "Kell, let's make a bet.  I'll bet that alcohol will have no effect on her, or almost none due to the enhanced regenerative abilities."

Kell said, "Hmm, you're likely right, but I'll bet against just in the hopes that it does.  Twenty bucks?"

"Okay."

I looked at Megan.  She grinned and said, "Willing to bet against me too, Kell?"

I said, “You guys
do
know I’m sitting right here with you right now, right?”

Kell grinned, "Yep.  And, uhh, no, Megan.  I've never seen a super drink before, but if the liver, and perhaps even blood heal extremely fast I'm guessing I'm about to lose twenty on Friday.  Anyway, on to a more interesting current matter….  What was the fire thing about?  We watched it on cellphone video."

I said, “A fire started on the eighth floor.  I picked up my partners on the way there and we got to work.  Spartan ripped the doors off to get to the people, he and Black Tiger directed them up to the roof, and I ferried them over to the next building.  While I did that they looked for survivors down on the level that was on fire.”

Trevin said, “There’s also that new heroine that showed up, Firebane.”

“How’d you know she’s new?”

“I read up on all the Metrocity heroes, plus a fair number of those around the country.  I’ve never seen her before.  You seemed to enjoy getting up close and personal when you flew her away.”

“I hold everyone like that.”

“Did she kiss you on the neck when you two flew off?”

He was remembering how she leaned in at me when we first took off.

“Huh?  Oh, I see what you are thinking of.  No, she was just reacting like Kell did earlier.  Almost everyone does that.”

“You’re okay with that?”

“What am I supposed to do, drop them?  Slap them?  Come on.”

“Just asking, not trying to get you riled up….”

Odes asked, “How’d you get the soot or smoke on you?  Did you fly through the smoke coming up from the vents or windows?”

“No, I tried to avoid those; it wouldn’t be good for the people I carried.  I went back after bringing Firebane to H.E.R.O. HQ.  A fireman somehow got caught under a soda vending machine that toppled over.  The floor was in bad shape in that area.  I flew back in and helped him, then flew him to Mercy.”

“That wasn’t on the news.”

“No, it was the last thing I did before coming back here.  I wasn’t looking for media attention or money.”

“Money?”

“Yeah, heroes get paid a commission, or reward, for tasks completed.”

“How does that work?”

Trevin said, “Odes … haven’t you read up on H.E.R.O.?  It’s funded, or was, by some super wealthy people putting a ton of money into a foundation when they died.  H.E.R.O. operates out of the interest and proceeds that gains.  Well that and some government funding.  The more people saved on a scene, property damage averted, bad guys captured or stopped, and otherwise any improvements to public safety or the ‘grid’ are rewarded.  Like clearing a big traffic accident scene so that people get flowing sooner.”

I stared at him, “Wow.  I couldn’t have said that any better.”

He shrugged and tapped the magazine with the pictures of me, “I like heroes, so I study up on them.”

Megan asked, “Mind if I ask how much you’ve pulled in so far?”

I said, “I have no idea right now, let me check.”  I pulled out my H.E.R.O. smartphone and used the built-in features to check on the status of my profile and rewards.  My jaw dropped when I saw the number.

Megan asked, “Are you okay?”