Wonder City Stories

Wonder City Stories III #13

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:55:23 GMT

My schedule has just gone to heck, but here I am, giving you another Wonder City just under the November wire. I hope you enjoy it!

Enter the Dragon

Nereid was surprised and pleased to open the front door of the Young Cosmics' headquarters to find X leaning indolently against the stair rail. X was wearing a hip-length double-breasted black wool coat against the spring chill, and also neatly creased grey trousers over long, slender black-and-white patent leather oxfords. X's hair was a little shorter these days than it had been when X and Nereid were first introduced by Brainchild, with a little more masculinity and a little less androgyny. Still, X was striking, handsome and beautiful at the same time, and always made Nereid's heart do a little pit-a-pat. Just a little.

"Hey," X said in a smoky tenor. "How's it going?"

Nereid smiled and stepped back from the door. "Not bad," she said, lying through her teeth because she was really feeling pretty stir-crazy, trapped in the headquarters.

X strolled into the headquarters and Nereid saw the line of tension across those admirable shoulders relax. There was something, Nereid had noticed, about their headquarters. It was palpably more comfortable, like someone turning off a white noise machine you didn't realize was running. It didn't stop her from hating being cooped up there -- the headquarters was not designed to be some sort of self-contained habitation. Sophie often described it as being built in "Soviet Brutal" style, a bizarre, ill-lit convolution in concrete and other materials designed to resist explosions and similar supervillain assaults.

"So," Nereid said, shutting the door and turning to lead X toward the flat she shared with Sophie, "what brings you to this part of town?"

"I came to ask you all for a favor," X began, but they turned the corner and ran smack into a knot of Cosmics.

Wire, Mercury, and Vector were clustered around a tall, tanned man with longish white hair that sported a heavy lock hanging dramatically over one eye, wearing an exquisitely tailored pale grey suit. Nereid had only seen the man that her team leaders called "Mr. Moneybags" a few times in her tenure with the Cosmics, but she knew him on sight anyway -- who could miss him, really?

"Ah, Nereid," he said in a low, faintly British drawl. "How are you, my jewel?"

Wire shot Nereid a frustrated glance that Nereid knew to interpret as, You have derailed him just when I thought we were getting somewhere, and then Wire exhaled hard enough to make her floaty blue forelock flip back across her otherwise closely-shorn head. Nereid smiled quickly and nodded. "Fine, sir," she said quickly, trying to sidle past them. Mercury, resplendently muscular in his tight black spandex outfit, at least, made way for her, and she thought, for a bare second, that she could get away.

"Mr. Moneybags" managed to intercept her, twining his way between Vector and Wire, who half-reached for his sleeve, but wisely withdrew her hand. He leaned against the wall in her path in a slightly predatory way and looked down at her from his always startling height. "Are you really well, though?" he pursued. "You looked a touch pale, my dear."

"I'm fine, sir," she repeated, then said, "Have you met X, sir? X, this is Michael Frost, the Cosmics' backer. Mr. Frost, this is X."

"Ah, yes, I recall you," Mr. Frost said, raising one pale eyebrow. "You have some interesting potential, you know."

"I know," X said with a tight smile. "It's a pleasure meeting you again."

Mr. Frost's attention was not long held by X, though. His icy blue gaze was turned back to Nereid before she could think of another distraction. "I don't want you becoming ill," he said.

"Sir--" Nereid clamped down on a moment of rage, bit down on a demand to be let out of confinement, and swallowed her unhappiness, giving herself quite a stomachache. She was saved from answering by her usual rescuer.

"Hello, Michael," Sophie said, somehow appearing at Nereid's elbow. "I was wondering when you'd turn up."

Mr. Frost straightened up to loom from his full height and turned to face Sophie. His expression didn't change much at all, something that had always creeped Nereid out about him. "Brainchild," he said. "Thank you for pulling them out of an untenable situation. Again." His gaze darted to Mercury in particular, and Nereid had the rare pleasure of seeing their boisterous, cocky leader wilt.

"That's my job," Sophie said, taking Nereid's arm. "Isn't it?"

"I wish you had managed the press as well," he said.

"The press isn't amenable to my style of prediction right now," she said, also taking X's arm. "Logic doesn't work very well in the current climate."

His lips compressed. Sophie's face was her most indestructable mask of cool cynicism, and the extra lenses of her glasses were fanned down over one side of her face, which Nereid always found unsettling.

Mr. Frost turned on Mercury, Wire, and Vector with cool precision. "I will make myself clear now," he said in a low, penetrating voice. "My team will not become involved in any long-term situations that will bring the gaze of the government or media down on it. These short-term emergency actions are quite enough, and I understand that it would be... irresponsible for any hero group to fail to respond to such emergencies. But there will be no pursuit of nemeses, no trips to space, nothing of the sort, and you will always respond to even small emergencies with a full team, unless waiting would endanger lives, you understand?"

Wire and Mercury said, reflexively, "Yes, sir," at the same moment.

Sophie chose this moment to silently draw Nereid and X down the hall and around the next corner into the flat.

They all exhaled simultaneously when the door of the flat was shut.

"That was about the university thing, wasn't it?" X said.

"Yeah," Sophie said, pushing off from the door and moving into the kitchen. "And more, probably, but it's hard to tell with him."

"I can never tell anything with him," Nereid said.

Sophie shrugged and said, "Humans find it hard to read Reptilian-Americans. Want a drink, X?"

"Sure," X said, sitting on an arm of the sofa.

Nereid stopped and stared at Sophie. "He's a Reptilian-American? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sophie gave her a slightly disbelieving look, and Nereid knew instantly she'd said something stupid, and could almost say, word for word, what came out of Sophie's mouth next. "Would it have made a difference in how you interacted with him?"

Nereid sighed explosively and moved around the room, turning on more lights. "No," she said, then added, in a brighter tone to X, "You said you came to ask us a favor?"

X grimaced and glanced toward the door. "I was," X sighed, "but I think that point is moot."

"Oh, was it something Mr. Frost just forbade us to do?" Nereid said, and she could feel a whole vista of hope of getting out of the building opening up before her.

"Probably," X said with an air of gloom.

Sophie brought X a tumbler of tawny liquid and said, "No."

X nodded and sipped the drink.

"You don't even know what it is yet!" Nereid protested.

"I'm not going to buck Michael on anything he just said," Sophie said, handing Nereid a similar glass of alcohol, "because he's right. Completely. Fucking. Right. This team mostly needs its nuts pulled out of the fire, and mostly by thee and me, sweetheart."

"There's something really wrong out there and I'm sick of doing nothing," Nereid started.

"Nereid, it's fine," X said mildly. "Sophie knows her stuff here."

Nereid caught some sort of look between X and Sophie, something sharp from X and something almost... guilty? from Sophie. Looking back and forth between them, she said, "What?"

X looked at her, one elegant eyebrow raised. "She knows something she isn't telling us, isn't she?"

Nereid blinked. She'd thought it was all in her own head, but if X had seen it too... "I've... thought so," Nereid said slowly.

Sophie raised her chin in a defiant look.

X considered her gravely, then shrugged. "I know you too well to try to press you. You'd rather make something up than tell us if we do."

Nereid looked down into her glass, then looked back up and said, "I trust you, Sophie."

The defiant look shattered with sudden violence and a cry that sent Sophie fleeing to the bathroom. Nereid looked at X, alarmed.

X nodded and shrugged. "She'll tell us when she can." One corner of X's rather perfect mouth curled up in a wry smile. "Or when we can squeeze it out of her."

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Wonder City Stories II #71

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:03:29 GMT

Home From the Hill

The nurses were entirely charmed by Tam, particularly by his devotion in staying at Nereid's bedside the entire time she was in the hospital. Well, not the entire time, Nereid reflected as he pushed her wheelchair out to the waiting Young Cosmics limousine. He had always been tactfully absent -- getting food that he cadged out of the rather silly middle-aged woman who ran the hospital cafeteria -- when her parents visited. Her mother had asked about him a couple of times, but Nereid begged off talking about him or anything else. She really was exhausted and didn't feel like telling the story yet. Besides, as Tam said, she was not required to relive the whole nightmarish ordeal of Faerie for the entertainment of a bunch of voyeurs who wanted to hear about her pain.

At the car, she stood, holding his arm, and an orderly swept the wheelchair back into the hospital. Tam smiled. "At least they didn't send some old jalopy to take you home. Glad to see my girl getting the respect she deserves."

Nereid gave him a faint smile. She let him hand her into the car, where she slid gratefully onto the new-smelling leather seats. Apparently, Mr. Moneybags had coughed up for the replacement Mercury had wanted.

Tam eeled in next to her, pulling the door shut behind him. He grinned like a kid at the lush, silent interior, the little refrigerator, the tiny bar, and ran his hands over the seats and doors. "Now this is the way to travel."

Nereid put her head back against the seat and shut her eyes, feeling the car pull smoothly away from the curb. Her doze was punctuated by Tam's exclamations about this or that landmark, store, or anything else that caught his eye. She tried very hard not to be annoyed with him, remembering that he had left Earth in the 1880s, and everything must be very strange and possibly terrifying to him.

Tam nudged her awake and she realized the car wasn't moving any more. "There's people waiting," he said, and slid out of the car.

She emerged, blinking, holding onto Tam's arm, and she was immediately embraced. "Oh, Pacifica, I am indeed very happy to see you again!" Citizen Pain murmured in her ear.

Nereid hugged him back, blinking tears away. "Pay, I'm so glad to see you too."

Tam a-hemmed next to her and she recalled herself. "Citizen Pain, this is Tam Lane. He helped me find my way back after I got lost in Faerie."

Pay grinned his chiseled, impossibly beautiful grin, and a lock of his white hair fell into his eyes. He shook Tam's hand enthusiastically. "Indeed! You are welcome, Mr. Lane. We are so relieved to have Nereid back. Indeed we are."

"Well, I'm glad to have played a part in that," Tam said stiffly, glancing beyond Pay at the rest of the Cosmics.

Mercury posed with what Nereid knew to be a faux welcoming smile, his green humanoid boyfriend Tilt lurking, half-visible, behind him. Nereid noticed that Vector was growing out her blonde pixie cut, and even so, Vector still looked like a model. Wire stood to one side, her left arm in a sling, the stump neatly bandaged.

"Welcome home, Pacifica!" Mercury said. "We're awfully glad you made it back and that you're feeling well enough to get let out of the hospital."

"Thanks, guys," Nereid said, hoping the Special Moment would be over soon and she could go to bed. "Is Sophie back yet?"

Wire shook her head. "It'll be another couple of days. She was in her 'coma'--" Wire could only do scare quotes with her right hand now "--for four months, after all. She's pretty wobbly, and the Ultimate isn't taking any chances."

Nereid nodded, her one hope of the day deflated. She didn't know why she hadn't gone to see Sophie before getting discharged. She really should have. But every time she wanted to go, Tam had to go get something to eat, or sing in the lounge, or something, and she didn't really have the energy to wheel herself there.

Everyone stood there for a moment, smiling at each other.

Vector finally said, "Well, this is really awkward, so I'm going back inside."

The other Cosmics followed her promptly, except for Pay, who lingered.

Nereid inhaled and pulled herself together. "It's awesome to see you, Pay, but I'm still really beat."

"Of course!" Citizen Pain said. "We just wanted you to see that we are indeed glad you are back. Can I help you to your apartment?"

"I'll handle that, friend," Tam said, clasping Nereid's hand to his arm possessively.

Pay didn't notice any undercurrents; he just smiled and said, "Oh, indeed! I will see you later, Pacifica!"

In her rooms, Tam glanced around approvingly. "Nice place. Simple, but nice."

"The Cosmics furnished it," Nereid said. "I just, you know, live here." Her gaze fell on the stack of schoolbooks she'd bought for spring semester, still piled neatly on the edge of the kitchenette and she said, suddenly, "I hope the Cosmics got me a dispensation for missing the whole semester. I mean, I think finals are this week."

"Oh, you're in school?" Tam said, looking up from investigating her entertainment center.

'Yeah," Nereid said, biting down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from tearing up. After a second, she added, more steadily, "This would've been my second semester. Oh, I really hope they thought to handle that. I guess they'd have to do it for Wire at least, so maybe they remembered me too."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Tam said, coming to take her hands. "You're home now."

"Yeah," she said again, forcing a smile. "And I think I need a nap." She squeezed his hands, and let him put an arm around her waist as they walked to the bedroom. "I'm sorry, Tam. Feel free to watch TV or... oh, god, you probably don't know how to turn it on. I can..." She turned to go back out.

He held her still. "It's all right, love. There's plenty of time for me to learn to do that." He started unbuttoning her shirt. "We've got all the time in the world, right?"

She let him undress her, because it felt nice to be taken care of. She let him get into bed with her, too, because it felt nice to be held and kissed. She let him do other things too, because she figured it wouldn't take too long and she didn't have the energy to argue anyway.

---

Note from the Author:

Between the events of last week, our upcoming November marathon of Things Taking Up Our Weekends, the stupid Snowtober storm, and the fact that we're on Hour 59 with no power at my house (*whinnnnne*), things have been hectic and stressful and I've been forgetful. I apologize for the lack of rerun posts, and I will try to get back with the program soon, but at least I can get new episodes up.

Remember to vote for WCS!

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Wonder City Stories #73

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:56:38 GMT

Ain't Got Nothin' But Time

More people came to visit while they were sitting shiva than to the graveside service, which was just fine as far as Ira was concerned. Not many of his old friends were willing (or able) to brave the sleet and snow and freezing temperatures, though he had appreciated those that had. The tables in the kitchen and living room were piled high with food people had brought, and the wine rack on top of the refrigerator was restocked. Suzanne moved around the room when people were there, the gracious hostess, somehow buoyed up when things should have been beating her down. He watched her with vague admiration through the slowness of his brain.

Andrea chatted amiably with people from her enthronement in the corner that day. Her husband David was whisking away abandoned glasses and plates and dealing with other logistical matters in a low-key way that made Ira think uncharitably of a butler.

People talked to Ira. Sometimes he recognized them. Nox the Night-Stalker still had those amazing eyes that reached into you and grabbed you by your figurative lapels so you couldn't help but pay attention to him. Madame Destiny was another person you couldn't ignore, and that strange apprentice of hers... The Equestrian showed up the second or third day, all apologies for not meeting him to give him warning. She finally realized he wasn't really responding to her, or anyone, and had just hugged him hard. Her horse patted him on the shoulder and given him a sad look.

Ah, how the great -- or at least mediocre -- have fallen. Pity from a horse.

Ira didn't recognize her until she had stood in front of him for a long moment, young and nervous in her black dress and battered brown winter coat. She smiled tremulously when he focused on her and put out her hand. "Mr. Metropolitan, I'm... I'm very sorry."

He saw the details of her: brown hair, pale skin, hazel eyes, and freckles. Very, very young. He stood abruptly and took her hand. "I... I'm glad you came. Ruth... the Ultimate, you know... explained what happened. I'm afraid I don't understand all of it..."

"Neither do I," she said with a twitch of a smile. Her hand was hot and a little damp and after shaking Ira's hand, she shoved it into the pocket of her coat and stood awkwardly.

"Why don't you sit down?" Ira said, gesturing to the chair next to his. "Do you want a drink or a plate of something? So many people have brought food, I don't think Suzanne and I will be hungry for months. Ruth brought a big pot of red rice, and the Silver Guardian brought over her potstickers, and Carolus brought these little... cheese things that I'm a little afraid of..." He was vaguely aware that he hadn't spoken so much since it all happened.

She started to sit, then rose, alarmed. "Oh, no! That's fine, I'm not really hungry right now."

Ira made pat-patting motions and seated himself. She sat down too. They looked over the living room together: it was crowded with people who were para or friends of paras. Several of the Guardians were there, along with some of the ex-Junior Guardians who were active when Josh was active. A few of the Gold Stars had drifted in and out, but there was, understandably, no big organizational attendance. Ira spotted a couple of the Young Cosmics, High Speed's youngest boy Mercury and that android the Cosmics had rescued some time back -- Citizen Kane or something.

Suzanne, sleek and handsome in a grey pantsuit, swept up, smiling at the girl. "Thought you might like something warm," she said. "It's pretty bitter out there." She slid a cup of hot mulled cider into the guest's hand, winked at Ira, and made her way back into the crowd.

Ira and the girl watched her go.

"She... doesn't seem like a widow," the girl ventured, sipping her cider.

"It's been hard on her, all these years," Ira said. He sighed. "I expect she's been ready to get on with her life for a long time now."

The girl looked at him. "What's going to happen now? I mean, will you live alone?"

Ira shrugged. "I don't know. This is her house, you know. I earned my keep, as much as I could, by helping take care of Josh. And now..." He shrugged again. "We haven't talked about it."

"She wouldn't throw you out?" the girl said, sounding a little outraged.

Ira smiled. "She'd be well within her rights to do it. I'll just... I'll find some place. It'll be fine. But what about you?"

The girl's gaze dropped to the carpet. "I... well, I'm where I wanted to be."

"You are?"

She nodded, looking into her cup of cider, then taking a swig. "I made a deal with her... it... whatever it was. It would get me out of my parents' nightmare of a house, out of that crappy little town, and to Wonder City, and I wouldn't have to deal with any of it but the aftermath. And she... it... got the use of my body until its mission was over."

Ira stared at her, struggling with disbelief. Then he thought about the second Bombshell, who had told him late one night after the gang's Christmas party about how she'd gotten her para powers: she'd been terrified to leave her father's house on her own, afraid of the streets and afraid of her father, so had preferred to be taken aboard an alien spacecraft, bombarded with unknown rays, and taken off to a distant planet to fight in someone else's war to staying even one more day there.

Really, it wasn't that odd.

"I understand," he said, patting her hand. "Sometimes you have that one opportunity, and you have to take it."

"Yeah," she said. "I still have my room at the Y, and she... it... we got a job at this coffee house. So it's not like I'm living on the streets or anything."

"You're doing all right, then?" he said.

She nodded. "It'll be fine."

They smiled at each other for a long moment. Then she stood up. "I should go. I'll... see you around the Y, right?"

"Sure thing," he said, rising to take her hand again. "I'll be back there next week. Thank you for coming."

"No problem," she said, clasping his hand firmly.

She took a step away, then turned back. "I forgot to tell you," she said, "my name isn't actually Lizzie."

Ira smiled sadly. "I'd wondered."

"My name is Robyn," she said in a low voice. "But... would you mind if I kept using Lizzie? I... kind of like it. And I don't really like who I'm named for."

Ira's smile threatened to crack his face. "No, darlin'. I don't mind. And I think you would've liked my Lizzie, if you could ever have met her."

"Thank you." She hesitated, then kissed him on the cheek. "See you around."

He was still smiling as he settled back into his chair.

The Outsider came over to give him a cup of tea. "That the girl?" she asked.

He nodded. "Sweet kid," he said. "Nothing like her, of course. I wonder why I thought so?"

---

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Wonder City Stories #36

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:54:29 GMT

Table Scraps

"Why," Jet said plaintively, inspecting the rags that had, until an hour before, been the shirt of his costume, "do we deal with idiots like The Menagerie, while the Gold Stars get people like The Planetcrusher and Huxton Enterprises?" He, of course, looked fabulous with his dark skin and his well-earned musculature showing picturesquely through the rents and holes.

"God, I know," Vector said, looking down at her brown-splattered purple jumpsuit. "I have got to get out of this thing and get it into the laundry." Despite the additions, she still looked model-perfect with her short blonde hair and tiny body.

"Ye-ah," Mercury said, inspecting her with a grimace. His hair was always ideally rumpled despite his high-velocity combat style, and he flaunted it. "I think Macaque was aiming at you purposely."

Nereid kept putting one foot in front of the other. She'd been beat on by villains before, but this outing was particularly unpleasant. She felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to her legs and shoulders, which, she supposed, was a close enough equivalent to the Onager's hooves. There was still a lingering pain in her back where the Sloth had crept up on her and dragged her claws in a long, deep, downward blow. Tilt, Mercury's alien boyfriend and not actually a member of the team, had healed her, but she could feel the cool air against her bare skin there. She just hoped her underwear wasn't showing. She couldn't remember which pair she'd put on this morning. Surely not the grannies. Please not the grannies. Especially not the ones with the little flowers on.

She was painfully aware that she did not, in fact, look picturesque, fabulous, or perfect. She never did, but right now, she felt like she looked like a rat that had an unfortunate encounter with a steamroller.

Vector growled and glowered and stomped off into the building. Mercury followed her, manfully choking down his giggles as he whispered to Tilt. Jet rolled his eyes and trooped in too.

Wire rubbed her face tiredly. Her blue forelock was still weirdly bouyant and she'd kept her costume pristine. She and Brainchild had been quarreling since they'd received the call about the Menagerie. Wire and Mercury had decided to take the team out despite their missing heavy-hitter, Citizen Pain, who'd gone out an hour earlier and was out of touch. Brainchild had argued that the Menagerie was tough, if stupid, and going without Pay was dangerous. She'd been right, in a way, but also wrong (the Menagerie's heavy hitters were also absent), which made her temper flare. Wire was striding along as fast as she could to stay well ahead of Brainchild. She said, over her shoulder, "Sophie, no coming into the building until you get de-The-Skunk-ed."

Brainchild lifted her goggles and peered through bleary and streaming eyes at her vice-commander. "Yes, sir," she snarled. "Will you kindly provide me with the materials to build a shower out here, or do I slink into my doghouse and wait until it wears off?"

Wire sighed and looked skyward. "The 'bots can bring you your stuff. I'm off to have a soak. Getting trampled and gnawed on by the Capybara is always kind of traumatic." She didn't even look back as she nearly ran into the building after the others.

Brainchild was left standing in the courtyard, staring down at her feet, her mouth moving in some sort of internal conversation.

Nereid slowed her steps and watched for a moment. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, a little timidly, "Can I help?"

The resident inventor genius looked up, face changing from miserable to surprised to her habitual scornful expression in a matter of a second. "Well, I guess you can take the place of a water hose," Brainchild said, though it didn't really sound like her heart was in it.

"Sure," Nereid said, hoping she didn't sound too puppylike. "Can I get stuff for you?"

Brainchild stared at her hard. Finally, Brainchild wiped her eyes absently and said, "Yes, please," which startled Nereid. "I can order the 'bots to bring me the structural bits, but could you bring a couple of opaque shower curtains out?"

Nereid smiled, still hesitant. "Sure! I'll be right back!"

It was harder than she thought to find wherever the butler kept replacement shower curtains, and harder than usual to find the butler. She finally went to her own room and detached the inner plastic curtain and the outer decorative canvas curtain from her shower stall, looped them over her arm, grabbed the more tattered of her two bathrobes, and trotted back outside.

Brainchild was surrounded by a half dozen small 'bots and had already constructed most of the frame of a small, cylindrical shower stall, complete with hose and sprayer head and a square of linoleum for the floor. One 'bot with a cargo area that looked like the bed of a red child's wagon followed her around with several gallons of white vinegar in plastic jugs. Brainchild looked up when Nereid approached. "Oh. Thanks. I hadn't even thought about clothes yet."

Nereid shrugged and handed over the curtains, and Brainchild efficiently hung them on the circular pipe that was the top of her shower stall.

A few more minutes, during which Nereid shifted subtly upwind of the lemony-sharp eye-watering reek of Brainchild, finished the stall. Brainchild immediately stepped inside. "I can't stand the stink of myself any more."

Nereid blushed helplessly when she saw the pieces of Brainchild's costume tossed over the curtain onto the ground: the fingerless gloves, the faux-leather bomber jacket, the tight-fitting dark blue shirt with its sci-fi metal fastenings, the battered grey sports bra, the complicated black stompy boots, the spandex-and-pleather black pants...

She turned away before the final items came over the wall because she was afraid the blush would make her pass out by pulling all the blood from her brain.

"Okay," said Brainchild. "Screw the first gallon jug to the input valve, hold the jug upside-down, and start dumping water into the hose."

Nereid threw the bathrobe over her shoulder and fumbled her way through this process, not helped by the little red wagon 'bot that kept nudging against her ankle whenever she did something wrong. She heard Brainchild sigh impatiently, but only once.

Finally, water started coursing through the hose from Nereid's hand, working in some arcane way to pull vinegar from the jug along with it. Brainchild exclaimed when the water hit her. "Oh, hey, I was expecting it to be cold. Thanks for that."

Nereid opted not to mention that the water always came out at body temperature.

The jug emptied. Brainchild leaned out to grab a bottle of liquid soap off a newly-arrived 'bot, and Nereid had to look away again. She fumbled the empty jug spectacularly, so that it ended up about fifteen feet away, and the little red wagon 'bot beeped irritably. She attached a full jug to the valve and the 'bot beeped again and went after the empty.

"All right," Brainchild said. "I'm soaped. Flush away."

There were several iterations of this as they worked their way through the bottles of vinegar.

"God, I hope this does it," Brainchild said. "I'm freezing, and all I want is dinner. Will you come have a sniff? I can't smell anything right now. My nose is a mess."

Nereid said, "Um, sure," and hesitantly approached the terrifying bastion of nudity. She stood just outside and sniffed loudly. "I can't smell anything."

Brainchild parted the curtains. "Come closer and check. I don't want snide comments when I get inside."

Nereid really did think she was going to pass out then. Before she managed to avert her eyes down to the safety of Brainchild's feet, she'd seen everything. Everything. And her brain had somehow managed to retain all of it, and was analyzing it, and...

Brainchild stepped closer and shoved her head under Nereid's nose. "Have I got it out of my hair?"

Nereid inhaled obediently, and felt her stomach go a little wobbly with proximity. "There's... I think it's pretty much all gone. But there's a little whiff still."

Brainchild stepped back. "Well, maybe Mommy will let me in the house, and I can take yet another shower with my shampoo and stuff."

Nereid hurriedly retreated a few steps, fixing her gaze on the red wagon 'bot. "I think so. I mean, I don't really smell much on you. Um. Here!" She pulled the bathrobe from her shoulder and thrust it at Brainchild.

She heard the rustle of cloth.

"You can look now," Brainchild said, her voice regaining more of its accustomed tone. "Guess I'm pretty hideous," she added.

"No!" Nereid exclaimed. "I mean, you're not! I mean! Augh!" She had turned to look, but Brainchild hadn't belted the robe, and the view sent Nereid into a panic and another blush.

"Sorry," Brainchild said, though there wasn't a lot of contrition there. "Wire does say I've got a mean streak. Come on, let's go inside and get warm. Looks like you could do with a change of clothes too."

Nereid opened to her mouth to speak and emitted a squeak instead of the cool, suave comment she'd vaguely planned. She turned and trailed after Brainchild.

The others, it turned out, had already had supper, prepared by the butler, and were relaxing in the hot tub, watching television and laughing uproariously at something. Nereid glanced at Brainchild's face, as was surprised by the bitterness there.

Brainchild said, "When you've changed, come on to my room. I'll order pizza."

Nereid's stomach did a small flip-flop. "Oh, sure!" she said, a little too eagerly. She dragged herself back into line. "Should I stop by the kitchen and grab some drinks?"

Brainchild had started down the hall. "No, don't bother. I've got beer."

Nereid fled to her room. Part of her knew that Brainchild was being nice to her out of spite for Wire, but she was grateful for what crumbs of kindness she could get.

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Wonder City Stories #12

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:34:08 GMT

Life on the Dream Team

Nereid turned the corner on her way to the Young Cosmics rec room and nearly ran down Wire, who was making out with Brainchild.

She flung herself backward to avoid an actual collision, and part of her mind reminded her wryly, You have the shittiest reflexes.

"Oh, hey, Paci-- Nereid," Wire said, stepping back and looking around, shoving her long blue forelock aside with a hand. "Sorry about that."

"Uh-huh," Nereid said, at a loss for anything better. "Is... that, you know, allowed?"

Brainchild pulled her rather complicated glasses off and polished the main lenses on her shirt. "In what sense, exactly?"

Wire focused on Nereid more intently. "Yes, please clarify that question."

Nereid cleared her throat and tried to drag her eyes away from Brainchild's cleavage. "I... I just mean, you're the vice-commander of the team, Wire. Fraternization..." She waved her hand vaguely.

"Technically not fraternization," Brainchild noted, perching her glasses on the prominent bridge of her aquiline nose.

"Sophie," Wire said out of the corner of her mouth. Then to Nereid, "There's no rule in the bylaws against it. Besides, we were together long before I became vice-commander."

"Technically," Brainchild said, "we also stopped being together before you became vice-commander. And then started again. And stopped. And..." She fastened her jacket.

"Sooophieee," Wire said slowly and clearly through her gritted teeth. "Not helping."

"Sorry," Brainchild said unrepentantly.

"Uh," Nereid said. "Sorry." She pushed past Wire and hurried toward the rec room.

Behind her, Wire said in a lowered voice, "This is why we have to be more careful, Sophie. We just freaked the newbie."

"You mean the provisional member who's cost us a few hundred -- or is it in the thousands now? -- in fines and coffee?" Brainchild said, without lowering her voice.

Nereid opened the door and fled inside.

The television screen was blaring, but no one was watching it. A couple of other Young Cosmics -- Mercury and Jet -- were sitting around, talking. In one corner, one of the boys was working out on a weight machine. She couldn't see much of him among the weights and cables.

"Heeeey, Nereid," Mercury said. He was sprawled in his chair, wearing a cropped t-shirt and denim shorts. "How's it goin'?"

"Uh, ah, just fine," she said. His shorts were very tight. "How 'bout with you?"

"Doin' okay," he said. "I heard you had to take someone else for coffee."

"It's cool," Nereid said, dragging her eyes toward the window. The nice, safe window. "She was nice about it."

"Really nice?" Jet asked. He was wearing a full t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. He didn't flex all the time the way Mercury did. "We just got notice that the last person you said that about -- you know, the bus driver? -- is suing us."

She clapped both hands over her mouth. "Oh, shit!"

Mercury waved his hand lazily. "No sweat, kiddo. Mr. Moneybags is taking care of it. Just... you know, maybe you should stop tryin' to kill yourself? It always upsets other people."

"I'm not trying to kill myself," Nereid said.

"That's not how it looks to everyone watching," Jet said.

Nereid rolled her eyes. "Well, if I could think of another way to learn how to use this stupid power..."

"I have thought of a way!" said a voice from the corner.

The young man who had been working out stood up, smiling with the right half of his face. The other half of his face was covered with bandages. He had carefully sculpted cheekbones, a crisp jawline, and a bright blue eye. The rest of his body seemed like it had been carved out of a bodybuilding magazine, and he wore a tank top and shorts that showed it all off. The skin on the left half of his body was oddly pink and shiny compared to the skin on the right half.

"Oh, hey, Citizen Pain," Nereid said. "You have?"

"Yes, indeed!" he said, making his way to her carefully. His left leg dragged a bit, and he seemed somewhat off-balance. But his smile didn't fail. "If your power teleports you away from harm, perhaps you can catch yourself in a semi-perpetual loop by jumping off a high place. Your power might continue to teleport you higher."

"Wouldn't she reach terminal velocity if she did it long enough?" Jet said, frowning.

"Yes, indeed!" Citizen Pain said, the smile never failing. "It would indeed be an excellent way to use her power if we possessed a team member who harnessed kinetic energy!"

"Er, yeah, Pay," Mercury said. "But we don't."

"Then she would indeed require a spotter who could fly and extract her from the loop eventually," Citizen Pain said. "Regrettably, I am not fully functional at this time, or I would offer to help you, Nereid."

"Thank you, Pay," she said. She thought about the nice, safe window again, rather than thinking about being carried in his arms. "You're a sweetie."

"Am I? I am indeed pleased to hear it."

"How are you feeling, anyway?" she asked.

"I am feeling well, especially since Brainchild deactivated the relevant portions of my nociceptor network." He poked himself in the left arm. "No pain at all."

"Oh," Nereid said. "Well, that's good anyhow. A real advantage to being an android. Any idea when you'll be back in action?"

"Indeed, none of us know. My self-regenerating capability has never been so challenged before." Pay shrugged with his right shoulder. "Regrowing half my body has been difficult and resource-consuming."

"I bet," Nereid said, adding eagerly, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Mercury snorted a laugh into his hand. A blush roared up Nereid's face.

"You have my gratitude, Nereid," Pay said, thankfully oblivious. "I should get back to my room now. It is time for my nutrient bath. I will see you all later." He smiled again and departed.

Before Mercury could say anything, Nereid ran out the door to the pool.

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