Someone toying around on top of one of the Tri Trump Towers!
Terry had to try something he hadn't thought of before. He had heard the radio report from the restroom. He changed and flushed the toilet. Sickening thought, but it was the fastest way to a source of water. He let himself drain down the whirlpool and found himself in the sewers. Working his way through the pipes he traversed amazing distances.
HomEl's headquarters were just a bit north of the Fenton Coliseum and Convention Center. In the blink of an eye he was rushing past Marshall Kent AFB in the feed waters of Spring Lake. A few seconds later, the towers were in view. Too far away to see a person on top of the towers, Aquosus made his way to the shore just in time to see the popping out of the parachute. It was coming this way.
Waiting for the decent of the person he followed in the water. All of a sudden, the person began to fall quickly as the parachute furled up in the air. Perhaps the cables had snapped. A fall from that height could be painful or deadly if not done properly. He reached out with the available water and made a column to gently carry the person to the surface. It was a young woman. She seemed unharmed and a bit confused by her present circumstances.
"You really shouldn't have done that. Do you know how many people were worried about you?" he said to her as he carried her very quickly to the shore away from the towers. Setting her on the shore, he emerged right behind her a shimmering human shaped body of water. A brief concentration and all of the water on her soaking her clothes became a mist and she was dry.
"My name is Aquosus..."
She turned around and stared at the new hero in abject surprise. This wasn't how she'd planned her exit -- she'd planned to simply swim to the far shore, hitch a ride back into town and then take the train back home. She hadn't figured on being 'rescued' by a gallant if perhaps unneeded hero.
Still, just because something didn't go according to plan didn't mean that it wasn't still a great adventure! Looking down at her clothes that were now as dry as they had been at the top of Tri-Trump Tower Number Three she was duly impressed. That must take some remarkable control, she considered. Beth looked back up and flashed him a brilliant grin.
"Pleased to meet you, Aquosus!" Beth said enthusiastically. "That was amazing! Do you suppose they got us on camera? No, I suppose not," she answered herself. "We were pretty far away and things happened pretty fast once I jumped.
"And thank you for the catch! Really, I was fine," she assured him. "Although the assist and the drying is really nice! I was looking to have an awfully cold ride back into town."
It had never occurred to her that one way to meet new potential heros might actually to be to allow herself to fall into danger. It was the first really positive way to use her healing ability that had ever occurred to her. "Hey! Are you a professional hero?"
"Well, no, I do not get paid to be a hero. I just thought that since I have the ability to help, I do."
"'Kay. Say, um. I actually happen to know some heros who've just recently decided to start working together to try to help the situation in this city. Would possibly be interested in meeting one or two of them? Or do you prefer to work alone?"
"I hadn't really thought about my status as a hero. I would not be opposed to meeting others with abilities willing to make a difference. I haven't been "in the public eye" so far." Looking around at the remote nature of thier current location, "Would you like a ride home? I can get you anywhere in the city in a fairly small amount of time. Even faster if you don't mind getting wet again."
Beth's eyes sparkled and she laughed with good humor. "How could I turn such a thing down? Getting wet doesn't bother me at all. You don't have to transport me around the city but a lift to the nearest phone in the direction of the closest rail station would be awesome! But don't run away too fast. If you give me a chance to make that call, I bet you anything I could hook you up with a meeting. Only take a moment once we get to a phone booth, I promise!"
Without a word, Aquosus picked up Beth and headed for the water. His hands were now made of ice, but they are not cold to the touch. As they reached the water's edge, ice began to form on top of the water and Aquosus began to slide very rapidly across the surface. Quickly reaching the other side of Spring Lake, the ice began to form along the ground out of the lake as the rapid movement continued across dry land and to the nearest pay phone behind the Jacob Cole Theatre.
"Here's the phone you ordered!"
She flashed him another smile and then dialed Veronica. When she answered, Beth asked, "Hey! I just jumped off the Trump Towers and met a brand new superhero. Wanna meet him?" Beth then gave her their address.
A sudden gust of wind hurled dust into the air as Beth spoke the words new superhero. "I left when you said jumped off, but I had to look all around the area and ask a few people about a jumper and they said a chute had opened up and they thought maybe by the lake so I had a lot of ground to cover other wise I would have been here sooner what are you thinking jumping off a building like that you could have hurt yourself..."
Veronica stood before her in a new outfit, it was a dark blue body suit. It had a high neck and long sleeves that covered her hands like archers gloves, so her middle to fingers were covered. There was a semi oval shaped opening on her chest so that her upper breasts showed. Her long blonde hair had been cut short in a style that was shorter in back and left two long chunks in the front. The outfit was completed by what looked like fancy shooting goggles.
"Awesome outfit!" Beth congratulated her. She took her friend's hand and then touched Aquosus' arm. "Velocity, I'd like you to meet Aquosus!"
"Greetings, Velocity. I assume you are one of the 'heroes' Beth has been speaking of?"
He reached out to shake her hand. Velocity saw a human form made completely of water. As his hand was extended, it became ice.
When Velocity shook his hand, she noted the ice was not cold to the touch. As the handshake ended, he pulled his hand away and it became liquid water again. Looking to Beth, he asked "You said there were 'others'?"
"Yep. Velocity here is team leader, though. If you could call it a team... it's really new. Right V?" Beth didn't pause to let Velocity argue about the "leader" thing. It was something that Beth had decided right then that needed to be done and she suspected Memo wouldn't have an issue with it. And besides, Velocity really seemed to know what was going on, especially with this Black Mask person that had come up once or twice. "Velocity is a very sweet person. See how she was all concerned about my jump? Even though she knows I couldn't possibly have done any permanent damage.
"Anyway," Beth continued, "It's a small team and I'm a little unclear as to the status of one of them. But I probably shouldn't gossip about V's teammates so I'll let her do the talking about that."
Surmising from Beth's comments about not being able to do permanent damage that she had powers involed with not getting hurt, "Then you are a member of this team too, Beth? What can you do besides 'not get hurt'?"
"Uhh..." Beth looked uncomfortable. "That's it. I'm not much of a hero. I'm more like an assistant, really." It occurred to her that "sidekick" was the term most people would give her but that didn't sound all that fun to her.
Pausing and looking around Auquosus said, "Is this it? Does that really constitute a team, or is it more like a dynamic duo (deadpan humor with a total lack of proper delivery)?"
"Great to meet you Aquosos. The team is currently three members and if you like four. Myself , Memonic, and the Black Mask," Velocity said with pride.
Taking in the roster, he looked back to Beth, "Hmmm, does that make you the secretary who can't be hurt?" His watery facial featuresmorphed into a wide smile.
"I have not heard of these other two, or until now, you either. Have you been heroes long?"
Beth looked up at him, trying to read whether he was teasing or not. She decided he was and smiled back. "I'm not a hero," Beth said. "I just help out by paying attention to things in the news and letting them know. The team is new, although the Black Mask has been in the newspapers quite a bit recently. Memo and Velocity are... difficult to catch on camera or even see at all if they don't want to be seen. But the team really is very new and even at three plus me, is the largest team of gifted and powered people ever, isn't it? At least, I've never heard of any powered people coming together in groups larger than two."
"Don't let her fool you, She is more a hero than she thinks." Velocity said with a smile as she looked at Beth. "My hero at least."
Beth looked surprised at her friend's praise, then gazed at Velocity with a smile while a touch of pink colored her cheeks.
She turned her attention back to Aquosos. "I admit that is a great ability, and as for the newness, well you don't need to be in the papers to be a hero, you just need to make a difference in someone's life. It was only recently that I realized that I have the potential to make a difference in more than one person's life, to help out where others may be unable and the more people who are with me the better." She finished with a bright smile of her own.
Finally realizing that his comment could have been taken the wrong way. He explained, "I didn't mean to belittle your contributions. I just thought it sounded funny when it came to mind. 'The Secretary That Can't be Hurt!' kinda like the Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight. Of course there are many forms of heroes. The most important of which is merely a Father or Mother who is there for their child."
Beth shook her head still smiling and said, "No worries; I do what I can."
"Is there some kind of charter? If so, pass it along and I will read it and get back to you. If not, consider me a fourth for your budding group of do-gooders." Another huge smile crosses the face of the watery head and then freezes into ice in such a way that the light sparkled off of it like a movie star's teeth.
Dazzled by the sparkly her eyes went wide. "No charter just a few people with abilities trying to make a difference for the rest of the town." She held her hand out to him. "I just ask that you never use your abilities against the team, unless asked for and do what you can as you can."
"I assure you, my powers will only get used with the best of intentions. So, how do we know when and where we are needed? Is there a central location for us to gather? Will we be training together to learn and understand the best uses of our collective powers in given circumstances? How will the police respond when we start acting against crime with no police powers?" Catching himself, he stopped. "Sorry, didn't mean to ask all those questions at once. I'm sure you have a plan."
"The first step is communication," Beth said. "We've been purchasing those pre-paid cell phones. We can pay cash and remain relatively anonymous that way." Beth gave him Velocity's and her own numbers. "If we break the phone or it gets stolen, no problem. We just get a new one and notify everyone of the new number. It's not the most secure thing I can think of, being only security through obscurity, but it's what we can afford right now and will allow us to maintain private identities.
"As far as knowing when we are needed, there are those of us who are keeping an eye on the news and contacts on the streets. We can then use the phones to dial up the team," Beth continued. "All the rest of your questions really requires a base of operations. Uh... do we have that, V?"
"Great! I know I have a lot of late nights too and we do have a temp base that we can use as permanent or we can have it grow with the team. That is the best way. I know there will be alot of questions as we go along with this. I think the police will react upon our actions how we handle things. If we work with them and within the law and don't make them think we are holding ourselves above them, all will be good. If on the other hand we show a blantant disregard for the law, that will lead to the Vigilante label we are wanting to avoid at least I hope we all are.
"I think training together is a brilliant idea. I don't posses the power of super knowledge and the best way to grow and work as a team is to train and work together. Though I am currently assuming lead on this, I will turn to and depend on whoever has the best expertise for the given situation, I look at myself as the glue and if need be the inspiration. No one can be everything and I am glad to be able to count you among us, and as a friend Auquosus." Her smile was beaming, though not as sparkly as his.
The note about a temp base was new to Beth and that certainly got her attention. She really ought to try to keep herself more up to date if she was going to help her super-powered friends, Beth told herself. But she decided to ask about it later.
"Sounds like everything is in order. I will call you both when I have my disposable phone." He paused and gestured ahead of him as a bridge of ice formed out of thin air. "Good day to you both." He flashes one more gleaming smile as his body starts to slide along the ice bridge gaining speed as he went off toward the water again.
This page by Mike Brooks, Dustin Evermore, Holland Erickson, 2008.