Nobody Gets The Girl (28 page)

“Oh my God, it’s White Lightning!” screamed
a woman directly in Keepsie’s way, pointing at the sky.

Despite herself, Keepsie looked up. She’d
heard of the Academy’s newest hero, but hadn’t seen him yet.

The sinister laugh of some villain and the
deep voice of the hero rang out above the excited crowd. A loud
crunch of breaking glass and bending metal sounded above them as
someone was thrown through a building. Keepsie guiltily hoped it
was one oft hose damn holier-than-thou superheroes from the Academy
hitting a skyscraper.

She held up her hand to block the sun.
“Another building to repair.”

Another crunch, and several people screamed.
Keepsie stumbled as people slammed into her, desperate to get out
of the way.

Keepsie had been watching to see if the hero
would get out of the building. She grunted in alarm when a massive
object ran into her. Her breath whooshed out and instead of falling
underneath whatever had hit her; she was airborne, wedged painfully
ina strong grip. She winced when she realized she was now five feet
from one of the more prominent supervillains.

Up close, her abductor’s commanding presence
was even more frightening than on television; he was seven feet
tall, bald, and handsome in a Harley-Davidson riding kind of way.
He had a monocle implanted where his right eye should have been,
and circuitry glowed under his skin around his neck and jaw line.
She had seen pictures, but had never seen him up close: Doodad,
Master of Machines. Although he looked as if he could punch out an
elephant, she had never heard of Doodad participating in a physical
fight. His power was in his brain, and his skill to bend machines
to his will.

Doodad’s flying crab machine had plucked
Keepsie painfully from the sidewalk. When the news had shown
pictures of the machine, Keepsie had giggled, reminded of the
Jetsons’ little hover car. Now, flying above Seventh City wedged in
its one claw, it didn’t seem so cute. Although the claw pinched her
bruised ribs, she clung to it and forced herself not to look down.
It wasn't as if she could fly.

On the whole, the villains didn't scare
Keepsie, but heights terrified her. Doodad wouldn’t drop her; he
wasn’t into blind terrorist acts like dropping innocents to watch
them splatter. He always had a reason for his actions unlike some
of the more homicidal villains like Seismic Stan. The wind pulled
tears from her eyes ands he gulped. At least, he’d always had
reasons for his actions in the past.

Keepsie screwed her eyes shut as they gained
altitude. Where the hell were the heroes that he’d been fighting?
Her stomach turned at the unfamiliar wish for a hero. Or maybe that
was the altitude.

Almost as an answer to her question, a
booming voice said, “Put her down!”

And then he came; his glorious blonde hair
perfectly styled and unruffled by the wind. He had apparently had
time to restyle after freeing himself from the building Doodad had
thrown him into. The hero filled out a black leotard and tights,
his costume completed with a black cape fashioned with white
lightning bolts covering it. A black mask covered his eyes, but
allowed his blonde hair and chiseled jaw to show in true superhero
glory. This must be the rookie, White Lightning. He flew, tall and
proud over the rooftops, straight for Keepsie and Doodad.

Keepsie gritted her teeth. Be careful what
you wish for. Why did it have to be the rookie? She could have
stomached being rescued by the veteran heroine, Pallas.

"Let her go, Doodad! You'll get nothing this
way!" White Lightning said, his booming voice hurting Keepsie's
ears.

"Tell them at the Academy, tell her, that if
you want to see this woman alive, you'll send me Timson by
midnight!" Doodad shouted back.

Midnight? Who would open the bar?

"You'd never drop her, you have too much to
lose!" shouted the newcomer. He hovered about thirty feet from the
flying crab machine. Keepsie’s feet kicked in the breeze and she
was thankful she'd worn boots today.

"Lose, what do I have to lose? Family? Job?
People that I love? I had none of those to begin with," Doodad
said.

The hero scowled at him, and something
caught Keepsie's eye over the skyline. A news helicopter buzzed
toward them, camera pointing right at Keepsie and her captor.

"Shit," she said.

"We don't negotiate with villains!" White
Lightning said.

Good. Go for the textbook response. That’ll
convince him. This guy was an idiot. Was every other hero busy at
the moment?

As the shouting match continued, a low
whirring sound caught Keepsie’s attention. The claw gripped her
somewhat tighter, and she squirmed.

The hero raised his hands to the cloudless
October sky and Keepsie realized too late what was about to happen.
The lightning bolt snaked down and slammed into the machine,
filling Keepsie’s nostrils with ozone and eyes with blinding light.
A millisecond later came the deafening crack and Doodad’s machine
faltered in midair.

The rubber-padded claw squeezed tighter and
tighter, causing Keepsie to cry out in pain and struggle against
it, despite their altitude. Then it opened.

She fell.