[Part Three. It pairs well with chicken, but then everything pairs well with chicken. There's no reason to keep bringing it up.]
"The Hellfions?" Incandescence asked. She sounded amused. "Not Hellfiore, or Hellfired, or Hellfireans? Man, I sort of wish I still had a publicist on staff, Shiny." "Hey Sparky," Reflects answered, "I offered to give you the money back. You could hired all the publicists you want, then." "I don't think so," Incandescence said. "Whatever metaphysical loophole that lets you remember my old civilian life and benefit from a fortune I never historically amassed in the first place might get unlooped if we do that." "Are you saying you bribed the space/time continuum, Sparky?" Hazard asked. She and Iceweaver had gotten in at the same time as Reflects and Capacitor. Capacitor himself was being checked out by Ops in the medbay. "Someone had to, Boomer," Incandescence answered. "What are you people talking about," Kirby asked, clearly hopelessly confused. "Well," Parvenu said, always willing to try and fill in a few expository details. "When Incandescence was on Earth before, she had a different identity where she made a lot of money as a child actress, which was invested well. When she ascended to Heaven after we figured out she was dead, her will went into effect and Reflects inherited most of it. But when the bureaucratic mixup that let her return to Earth from Heaven went through, it essentially seperated Incandescence -- or Matchstick or Hellfire -- from the civilian identity she'd had before, and that civilian instead went on to star in more movies, never having been a superhero. As a result, only Reflects -- for unknown reasons -- can remember the civilian side of Incandescence's past, and as a side-effect of that she continues to enjoy the inheritance she received from--" "No, I got that," Kirby said, slightly annoyed. "Oh. Then what?" "Those three. 'Sparky.' 'Shiny.' 'Boomer.' What the heck?" "Oh." Parvenu shrugged. "I can't help you with that. "It's simple," Hazard said, standing back up. She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Incandescence. "She's Sparky." Incandescence slid out of her chair, shifting to point at Reflects. "She's Shiny!" Reflects had preemptively stood already, making her own gesture back to Hazard an elaborate, showy one. "She's Boomer! And! We are--" The three shouted in unison, executing an elaborate move with their arms that was somewhere between competative cheerleading, something the Power Rangers would come up with when drunk, and the semaphore signals one would desperately flag towards a distant boy scout camp. "Chicks! With! Attitude!" The three held pose for a long moment. "O...kay," Parvenu said slowly. "So... the Hellfions. They're a new gang, then?" "Yeah," Reflects said. "And they're fixated on Sparky from before she made the leap. Their fire powers seem to be the real deal. No idea if they really are hellish in nature instead of some other kind of pyrokinesis." "Joy," Hazard said. "I wonder if this is some kind of public relations strike against us." Kirby frowned. "Nah," he said. "No more than the Trudis do anything more than piss Trudy Galloway off. "It seems like the same-old same-old for Boston gangs. Someone charismatic came up with a Thing, and talked a bunch of other people into it. I'd put seven to two they're being supplied by the same middlemen we think the rest of the gangs use." "You are really beginning to freak me out, Kirby," Parvenu said. "I know you're Trashman's son, but--" "Trashman and Healer's son," Kirby interrupted. "That's like being 'Trashman's son' but way better and with extra brainpower." "Which I thought went to your stealth abilities," Incandescence said. Kirby shrugged. "Ask Ops. She's the superintelligent one." "So... if the Hellfions *are* using the same suppliers... how can we turn that to our advantage?" Reflects had steepled her fingers in thought. "Who says we can?" Hazard asked. "I'm just glad there's finally another enemy I can probably cut loose against, at least a little." The four looked at Kirby. "What?" Kirby asked. "Do you need more coffee?" "So-if-the-Hellfions-are-using-the-same-suppliers-how-can-we-turn-that- to-our-advantage?" Reflects repeated in a slight monotone. "Oh -- you're asking me? I'm an intern, remember?" "Sorry -- you'd just had some good insights. I just thought--" "I'm not saying I don't have an answer." Parvenu turned to look at Kirby. "You do?" "Sure. Right now the Hellfions are new -- that means they're still getting used to how they do things, and almost everyone's a recruit instead of a vet. Which means they're probably way sloppier than the other gangs when going, say, to a secret base to meet with their suppliers. That means they're easier to follow, easier to infiltrate--" "That would still take a lot of groundwork," Ops said, walking in. Capacitor and Ordinal followed him, Capacitor bandaged. "And easier to infiltrate or not, none of the active team are really experts in that kind of infiltration or investigation." "I'm not terrible at it," Parvenu said. "You're our battlefield healer. We need that too much." "Speaking of which," Capacitor said. "If you can spare a couple to un-par-broil me..." "I can take the mission," Kirby said. "When I stealth, no one can find me, and I'm great at investigations." "No." Ops didn't leave room for debate. "But--" Kirby started, clearly not getting the 'no room for debate' part. "Sorry, kid," Hazard said with a grin. "That whole 'nine year old' thing trips you up again." "This sucks," Kirby grumbled. "Be that as it may," Ops said, "how do we take the opportunity this lead represents given our current team and our current mission. Like we said the last time this came up -- we can't risk the lives of civilians even if it means--" "We have to cut this off at the source," Parvenu said. "Preferably *before* Lochaber arrests us." "We can *totally* take Lochaber," Hazard said. "Don't even worry." "You and your Murphy invocations," Incandescence said, grinning. "I'll take care of it," Ordinal said, softly. There was a pause in the room. "You?" Hazard asked. "What -- are you going to get Rip in?" Incandescence turned away. Silently, Reflects put a hand on the fiery girl's shoulder. "Rip's in the midwest doing important things," Ordinal said. "Don't worry. I know someone who can handle this." "You do?" Capacitor asked. "Yes." Ordinal looked at Ops. "But he won't do it for free." Ops frowned. "We don't exactly have petty cash, Ordinal." "I'll pay for it," Reflects said -- she being the best off of the team, financially. "How much are we talking?" "Twenty five dollars a day, plus expenses." There was another pause. "And... this guy doesn't *suck?*" Capacitor asked. "At those prices?" Ordinal smiled, almost nostalgically. "You haven't seen the expenses yet." * * * * * * Alice Mercury -- the surname was legal and everything -- made sure the oven's temperature was just right before sliding the carefully assembled Lasagna in. Off to the side she had bread dough proofing, and she needed to get started on sides. She considered wine. Lil would probably like it. Susan-- Alice had no idea if Susan drank wine or not. She'd have said 'no' a month ago, but apparently she didn't know her little sister nearly as well as she'd thought. She didn't know she'd taken up criminal hunting outside of the Exclusionary Zone, for one thing. She didn't know she'd been increasing her abilities and her control over them. She didn't know that when Alice wasn't looking, her sister -- formerly thought to be developmentally disabled -- had turned into the kind of master strategist and paranormal warrior that made her perfect to lead this new 'Lochaber' initiative. An initiative that had been created explicitly to clean up Boston's crime problem and unofficially to bring down the League. Which very unofficially was made up of Alice and Susan's friends. One of the League members had been instrumental in resolving Susan's problems, even. Alice and Elizabeth rarely argued. There was a world of difference between 'rarely' and 'never.' "You look like you're cooking enough food for an army," Buddy said. Buddy was a talking cricket from another altiverse that spent rather a lot of time in Alice's hair. He was also one of her best friends. "I thought this was just family tonight." "Kirby'll probably eat half this all by himself. And Susan's always had an interesting relationship with food." Alice took a moment to stir a couple of things and begin melting butter in a stainless steel skillet. There was a door request -- which actually was an elevator request, since Alice, Elizabeth and Kirby lived on an entire floor of the tower. "Hey MIKE -- who is it?" Alice seemingly asked the air. <<Tristan, Sammy and Harleigh,>> the building's Cybernetic Intelligence answered in his permanently genial voice. "Okay -- pipe them through." She heard the ping of the open circuit. "Hello?" <<("Hey, Ms. Mercury!")>> Harleigh said cheerfully. Like Tristan, Sam and Kirby himself, Harleigh Campbell was a nine year old student at the Academy. She was the product of the war years producing a baby boom among the paranormal community, especially among the heroes and villains who'd been hiding out at the Center of the Earth during the early stages of the war, waiting for their chance to counterattack. She was... enthusiastic. Putting her in a room with Sammy Burns was usually a recipe for trouble. Tristan Burns wasn't particularly good at restraining them, given how easily he could be distracted by interesting scientific experiments, dust motes, shiny objects.... Regardless, the group was often a disaster waiting to happen. Alice approved of this wholeheartedly, and doubly approved of Kirby's friendship with them. "Hey Harleigh -- what's up?" <<("Can Kirby come down? We're putting together an obstacle course.")>> "I thought the training rooms were still in use." Lochaber's training had displaced the students of the Academy -- the actual reason for the whole institute at this point -- almost entirely. Another point of tension between Alice and Elizabeth. "It is. We're doing it in the Load Pan Bay." "That sounds like a terrible idea." <<("It is!")>> "Just so you know. Remember, if there's so much as a scratch on Ms. Tirkoff's Austin-Healy, her wrath will be disproportionate and terrible to behold." <<("We know!")>> "Kirby's not in. Let me check in with him." {{Kirby?}} Alice sent telepathically. There was a pause. {{Kirby Rogers? If you're stealthing so I can't find you and refusing to answer me, I will personally make certain your entire collection of Hercule Poirot DVDs gets scratched.}} ((I'm here! I'm here!)) Kirby's mental voice sounded a bit rushed. Alice had been 'Momma Alice' more than long enough to recognize the mental sound of Kirby trying to cover up something he shouldn't be doing. Most days, Alice would do something about that. Today, she had too much on her mind -- besides, you had to give kids a break sometimes. Otherwise, they'd figure out you were onto them and change up their strategy. {{Good -- Trist, Sammy and Harleigh want to do something really dumb in the Load Pan Bay and want you to go with.}} ((Oh... I can't. I'm with Ooaunt Mandy, doing my independent study.)) Alice blinked. With Mandy? That hardly fit the 'doing something he wasn't supposed to do' mold. {{Hey Mandy,}} Alice sent on a different telepathic 'frequency,' out towards Mandy Harken -- old friend, ex ALU member, current Chair of the Rogers Institute and superintelligent problem solver. {{Is Kirby with you?}} ((Yes he is,)) Mandy's voice came back. ((Do you need him?)) {{No, that's fine. Thanks!}} Alice shifted channels again. {{Okay, kid -- your story checks out. Remember -- dinner tonight isn't optional. Your Aunt Susan's going to be here.}} ((And you need me to be around so everyone's civil in front of the kid. Gotcha.)) Alice rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Harleigh -- he's busy." <<("'K! Bye!")>> There was the ping of the circuit disconnecting. Alice frowned slightly. What would Kirby be doing with Mandy that would have him covering up his activities? And what was that weird mental name slip -- 'Ooaunt Mandy?' It was like he was yodeling in his mind. "Hey Alice, is that butter supposed to be browning?" Buddy asked. "Ack! No!" Alice blurred into speed, moving to take care of the cooking, distracted at least for the moment. * * * * * * Darrin Bates, aka Capacitor, was -- as we said -- a simple soul. He was an expert at all of the skills and talents that came with being a superhero... though he was somewhat deficient on the 'hero' part. But he'd been working on that, mostly. Beyond that? He was an electrical engineer in his day job and he liked pretty women. A lot. There were reasons for this, mind, but we don't need to go into those right now. Regardless, on any number of nights, Darrin would have company staying over in his apartment. As we said -- he liked the ladies. But, after getting burnt in the field, despite having undergone treatments and a few spells from Parvenu, even Darrin wanted a night off. They'd been running hard the last few weeks, and even Darrin's electrical bioenergies wasn't a substitute for sleep. Naturally, at 1:19 am, there was a rather sharp knock at Darrin's door. His eyes flipped open with the sound. Knocking? That couldn't be... it wasn't nearly that time of the month-- There was a second sharp knock. Three hits in succession. Darrin rolled out of bed, grabbing pajama pants and pulling them on. "Coming," he said, loudly enough to be heard, but hopefully not too loudly as to wake the neighbors. His condo was nice, but there were three others on this floor. Darrin reached the door, undid the chain, and pulled it open. He didn't bother to check. He knew who'd be out there. Maria Mendez, looking annoyed and wearing a black trenchcoat that was tied closed, pushed past him. She wasn't mirrored right now, and it looked like she'd recently brushed her hair, making it a touseled mane around her head. "About time." "Oh my," Darrin said, rolling his eyes. "Is it the fifteenth already? Where ever does the time fly?" "Shut up. It's been a bad couple of days, all right? It's not like you won't get something out of it, too." Darrin pushed the door shut. "Oh, I know. How I do know. Because if there's something that never gets old, it's having you condemn me for liking sex during the day and then showing up unannounced expecting it at night." "That's different," Maria snapped. "I have a condition." "A condition. That's what we're calling it, now?" Maria turned, eyes narrowed. Arm on her hip. The coat was still closed. "What would you call it?" "A security hole. Pun intended." "Thus I'm here. Or should I leave?" Darrin looked Maria up and down, feeling the interplay of electromagnetism around her -- her L-Phone's battery and circuits, her watch, her key fob-- Her underwire bra. Something she never wore, except when she showed up at Darrin Bates's condo. Darrin sent a tiny amount of voltage through the wires. The bra-taser, turned down to a sharp tingle instead of an incapacitating shock. Maria's whole body locked, her eyes closing, her breath coming in sharply. Maria was ultra-sensitive to tactile stimulation. It wasn't as bad as when she was fully mirrored and in a state of 24/7 tactile sensory deprivation, but it was still there. As the tingle passed, she moaned very slightly. Darrin knew Maria was using him at the same time she was insulting him to everyone they knew. But Darrin -- as we have said -- was a simple soul. And sometimes hypocritical sex could be the best sex of all. IS HYPOCRITICAL SEX REALLY THE BEST SEX OF ALL? IS ROMANCE DEAD, OR IF NOT IS IT ON LIFE SUPPORT? WHO IS THEODORA TESLA -- AND SHOULD WE REALLY BE ADDING NEW CHARACTERS? SERIOUSLY? THE BRA-TASER? WHO ARE WE TRYING TO KID? SO... IS MARIA USING DARRIN OR DARRIN USING MARIA? ARE THEY BOTH JUST KIND OF UNPLEASANT? ARE WE REALLY STILL DOING A CITY OF HEROES PARODY THIS MANY YEARS AFTER CITY OF HEROES WAS CANCELLED? HAS ANYONE ELSE RECOVERED FULLY FROM CITY OF HEROES BEING CANCELLED? Not me! But I'll continue reading SUPERGUY DIGEST to help ease the pain! Episode Notes and Commentary Available at the Superguy List Livejournal Community! The Superguy List Livejournal Community -- it still exists! http://superguy-list.livejournal.com/35545.html for Episode #7! This series uses characters graciously given by Executive Producer *THE* Mason Kramer As Executive Producer Mason also contributed plot elements and dialogue in places. This story could not exist without Mason. This story continues thanks to Mason.