Beth finally was off work from her job at a large Borders bookstore. And, as she did so often on other nights of late, she walked with a script out while she memorized lines and murmured them back. As always, she ignored the leers and looks from men, and jealous, curious, or even speculative looks from women as she passed them by on her way down from the bus stop to the train station. It was just another night for Beth, in which she took a roundabout path on the train to home, soaking in the city while concentrating on her studies.
She wandered past another of many alleys on her way to the train, past a man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper that splashed a headline in bold letters across the front which read, "Black Mask Stops Runaway School Bus". Beth stepped up to cross a curb and in that moment noted the man, the paper, and the headline. But she just made a cynical face and shook her head. There were a lot of brave people out there but she didn't feel like she was one of them. Anyway, she thought, stopping a runaway school bus, while definitely a worthy thing, was just insane. How would a person stop a bus without getting squashed like a bug? She imagined an Indiana Jones-like scene but couldn't for the life of her figure out how it might have been done.
She shrugged and walked on, however. It was nice to hear about someone helping others. After all, one far more often heard about some freak with an unusual ability hurting or stealing or otherwise using their gifts to commit crime. Maybe this Black Mask thing was a sign that the trend was changing. But whether it was or not, it wasn't her business.
It wasn't long after that Beth heard a panicked scream coming from another alley as she walked by. "No!" yelled a woman in distress. "Don't hurt him!"
That was the last thing Beth remembered hearing before her memory loss happened again. Yet it was in fact Beth who unsnapped a side compartment in her purse, and pulled out the black silk cloth. She carefully placed her script and her purse in the street-side garbage can for safe keeping and after a quick look around told her no one was watching, she stepped into the alley and tied the black silk about her head.
In a moment she had become, The Black Mask.
The Mask leaped down the darkened alley and landed lightly some twenty four yards away -- directly behind a man who was threatening a middle-aged couple with a knife. The mugger froze in surprise, managing only a "Who the--" before receiving the flurried onslaught. The Mask's first kick hit him in the wrist and sent the knife flying with so much force it slammed into a brick wall and stuck there. He barely had time to yelp in pain before the Mask's fist hit him across the jaw and sent him to the ground like a bag of wheat.
"Help!" cried the woman who'd yelled before. "My husband! He's bleeding!"
"Do you have a cell phone?" The woman nodded. "Call 911," the Black Mask told her. "And don't worry. I'm here to help."
The Black Mask knelt beside the fallen man and could see a crimson stain soaking his shirt in the area of his abdomen. He was in shock and didn't seem to understand what was happening. The Mask quickly assessed the situation and decided that she had to apply pressure until medics arrived.
A few minutes later, an ambulance did appear, along with the police. Of course, the police had questions for her but The Black Mask couldn't stay to entertain them. With a flying bound, she exited the alley, landing near the trash can where she retrieved Beth's purse and script. With another running leap, she disappeared down a side street and across another alley, far beyond the ability of the officers to follow.
"Sorry I'm not home right now I'm walking in your....."
The music blared through the tiny ear buds blocking out all sounds of the night as the wind threatened to burn her skin. Veronica pushed harder on her roller blades hoping they did not break on her, or find that one crack in the sidewalk that would send her slamming into the pavement face first.
Usually a wipe out was not too bad; a scraped knee, bruised hip. But when you are pushing the speed of light or sound barrier it could be fatal. Well Terminal Velocity was what they called it right.
It had been a while since the abilities started appearing, and this was the only way to find out her limits, push herself harder, go faster,and dodge the cat that just leapt into the path.
WHAM!
Her concentration had faltered when she avoided the cat, slamming her into what surely had to be a wall. The force of the collision knocked her earbuds out and landed her flat on her ass.
Ok so a skirt was not the best choice V, she thought as she rubbed her right cheek. "I almost swallowed my gum...."
Veronicas eyes went wide as she looked up to see a person not a wall in her path. A woman and a mask fluttering to the ground. "Beth?"
The blur had come out of nowhere and the Mask hadn't even had time to react. Luckily, her force field had held, though crumpled pavement at her heels showed how much force had hit her. The Black Mask blinked down at the fallen girl in front of her. Had she been the blur?
A note of alarm sounded in the Black Mask's mind as she registered the loss of the mask. Hoping it was not too late to preserve Beth's secret, the alter-ego super hero identity grabbed the black silk mask off the ground and quickly stuffed it into Beth's purse. Then, accepting the advice of that secret inner voice, The Black Mask released her hold on Beth's mind and disappeared into the depths of her psyche once more.
To Veronica's eyes, though it seemed that Beth merely hesitated for a moment, then put away the mask she saw fluttering to the ground.
Beth Bishop looked down at Veronica again as if just noticing her there. "Oh! Veronica!" She noted Veronica's disheveled and unladylike position on the pavement, as well as the surprise on her roommie's face. She extended a hand to help Veronica up. "Are you okay?"
"I think my underwear is torn and what was that cloth was it a mask did isee that thing fall off you and just OH MY GOD looks at the pavement what is the deal with just popping up out of no where like that you could have hurt someone guess we are lucky it is just a bruise on my bum and some ripped undies i can not believe you are out here like no way i get it now you are a black mask fan right that is so geek of you to run around with a mask hoping to run into her but really that is so dangerous you really ought to be a little more careful Beth and just look at this sidewalk, whoa I mean LOOK at it."
Veronica had accepted the hand up at the word think and was rolling in circles around her roomie examining the broken sidewalk. Her speed increasing as she did.
Beth started to look dizzy, trying to follow Veronica's circles. She looked down at the paved sidewalk and noticed what Veronica was talking about. It was rumpled and broken, though she had no idea how it got that way. Beth's eyebrows shot up and she looked around, suddenly confused. "Where are we?"
Veronica stopped suddenly. "You don't know?" She made a quick calculation in her head. Looked once again a the evident skid marks in the sidewalk, recalled the fading sirens nearby. No, could she be? Better check the papers tomorrow.
"Man you must have gotten yourself turned around in the dark Beth," she said with a wink.
Beth blinked, then she grinned. "Yeah I sure did!" she agreed. "If you are okay, maybe you could take me home?"
Veronica sniffed and touched her nose. Am I getting a cold?? She thought as her fingers touched something liquid. Her fingertips came away tipped in crimson. "Oh man nose bleed must have been when i slammed into you. Let's get out of here."
Glancing behind them as they left Veronica noted the two perfect feet imprinted in the cement. "Oh, my skate is loose you go ahead and I will catch right up."
She watched as Beth rounded the corner. Moving quickly she went back to the sidewalk, knelt and struck the pavement in rapid succession. Her hands becoming a blur of sped as the cement gave way beneath the vibrations and collapsed hiding the foot prints.
In the blink of an eye she was beside Beth again.
Beth realized Veronica was back and offered her a kleenex from her purse. "I'm sorry about your nose. We must have bumped into each other just right -- I don't even think I have a bruise."
"Guess so, it felt like I slammed into a brick wall. Do you lift weights?" Veronica dabbed the blood away form her nose and directed her friend back to the house.
Beth looked embarrassed. "No, but I've always been physically fit, ever since about my sophomore year of high school. My mom told me it was probably my metabolism or something."
"Yeah well you give the phrase brick shit-house a new meaning." She laughed.
Beth and Veronica walked home and since it was late, retired. Veronica's mind was still racing (of course it was -- it was always racing these days) and brewing over what she thought she'd seen when she ran into Beth that day.
Veronica had only just passed into sleep when she heard a thumping in the walls. A glance at her digital alarm clock told her it was 1:30 am! The sound stopped and but then it returned; another thump further away.
Lead by curiosity, Veronica followed the sound and peeked in to check on Beth and make sure that she was alright. But the bed, while someone had been in it, was empty now with the covers tossed aside. From the corner of the room, Veronica could see a light streaming from between the cracks in the walk-in closet doors.
She snickered. She's in the closet, gee she should come out. And then she attempted to walk slowly realizing that it was just way to slow. So she ran across the room a flung the closet doors open. "Gotcha!"
But the closet was empty. Dimly, she heard another thump from somewhere beyond the back wall of the closet and Veronica remembered there weren't any rooms behind this section.
"Rats..OH RATS I have rats, Beth get up, BETH!!" SHe rushed to the bed only find it empty and the thumping contiueing. She followed the sound back to the closet thinking maybe beth was sleepwalking and managed to get in the walls. She searched in a hurry and frantically rushed through the house in a whirlwind of speed searching everything, "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The sound blurred with the rate of speed.
Eventually she found her self back at the closet searching once again for the source of the sound. BUt now she was armed with oven mitts, a spatula and a pari of tongs.
As she approached, a section of wall at the back of the closet (which she was sure wasn't there before Beth moved in) opened. And there she was -- Beth was wearing the black silk mask with the eyes cut out. She blinked at Veronica a moment and then said in a strange voice that sounded like two Beths were speaking at once. "Oh. Dear."
What else was there to do at a moment like this, Veronica blinked in rapid session. "Movie moment."
Taking in the scene she quickly decided that Beth was doing something suspicious. Remembering the earlier events of the evening she leapt to a conclusion. "Beth are you robbing banks and hiding the money in a false wall that you built in my house so that if the cops come looking for you you can hide in there and make them look stupid while you spends weeks making a stinking mess in there so I have to keep your deposit?"
The masked Beth spoke in the eerie two-voices again, but the strange effect seemed to fade away as she continued. "No. Beth doesn't know anything about this. I apologize for not having asked your permission first. I was careful not to harm anything. We should talk."
The masked Beth stepped aside to reveal the open doorway. "Would you like to come inside?" She looked at the spatula and the tongs. "You won't need your weapons, but you can keep them if you want to."
The tongs snapped open and closed as Veronica thought about it. "Ok." She took a step forward and looked the masked Beth in the eyes. "But one false move and I will twist them so hard you pray I tune into Tokyo." She grinned as she snapped the tongs again. Then followed Beth into the closet.
The Mask looked a little taken aback and blinked uncomprehendingly for a moment, then glanced down at her own ample breasts. "Oh," said the Mask, the threat finally making a kind of sense.
The Black Mask led Veronica through the small door at the back of the closet, through a narrow crawl space that was more than a little claustrophobic, then into a room. Things were more spacious here, but it was still modest and rather a miracle that it existed at all. It certainly wasn't obvious that this much space might be hidden and unused in Veronica's house, but it was old and one might suspect it might have been another closet at one time that was simply forgotten and walled up due to the inconvenient location.
The Black Mask had clearly been busy in here, though. The walls, floor and ceiling were lined with a rubbery, tough coating of something that dimmed sound to an extent (but obviously not completely or Veronica wouldn't have noticed the Mask at work tonight) as well as reinforced what may have otherwise been bare brick and slat walls. Light panels were also present, though it wasn't clear where the power was coming from, or even what kind of lights they were. They were fluorescent and they certainly weren't incandescent. A bench lined one wall and it was full of strange instruments Veronica could not identify. There was also a small, round table with a few, odd chairs standing around it. The chairs appeared to be made of a single piece of material but had some amount of padding on the bottom and back. There was just one large, fluted leg that widened where it met the floor.
The Mask took one of these chairs and sat comfortably in it, demonstrating they were quite solid and safe to use. She offered another chair to Veronica.
"I was very sloppy today," The Black Mask said ruefully. "First bumping into you and then making so much noise in here that I disturbed you. I had thought I'd put in better sound proofing. But well, here we are and now you know my secret. I don't suppose there is any way I could convince you not to tell Beth about this? Poor girl has enough problems as it is. She just doesn't want to deal with all of this yet."
The crawl had been a nightmare, her chest was beginning so tighten into a knot and only moments ago had her breathing returned to normal. It had been too tight a space, not enough room to move, but she had come through and now was faced with the possibility of a mental case for a roommate.
"You are Beth or have you forgotten in your delusion? Or are you really going to rob a bank and live in my walls?"
"No. No robbing banks. And yes, I know I'm Beth but I'm also the person the papers are calling the Black Mask. Beth is like a different person because she doesn't remember this part of her life. She is afraid that if people knew what she could do, they would take her freedom away. So, there is the Black Mask and then there is Beth who is just a young person who wants a career in acting."
Veronica's eyes widened. "The Black mask built a secret base in my house that she is renting a room in OMG that is sooooooo sweet I live wit h a super hero okay a split personality mental break super hero but how is that not normal nowadays and major inspiration because I have been wondering what to do and totally relate to the what would they do dissect me fear because lets face it we all have that oh wow we could work together but I am not sharing this base of yours to be honest I almost did not make it in here I don't like being confined so what do you say team up I can handle it really."
It was here that Black Mask noticed how dangerous it could be to stand near Veronica when she gets excited. Veronica speaks with her hands, and the more excited she becomes the faster those hands of her move. A slight breeze was starting to build up as her hands blurred in movement.
The Mask observed for a moment and then said, "You do have some fast moves. How fast can you go?"
Veronica smiled. "Wanna find out?"
"I'm not sure we have the space in here," the Mask mused. "I do remember that you ran into me pretty hard earlier tonight. I think you actually bruised me, but I heal rapidly. How fast would you guess you were moving then?"
"Hmmm. I would say speeding bullet, no no actually I know exactly, though it is yet to be proven but have you heard of terminal velocity well that may be a bit slow as I said I am still pushing my limits but wait that is it! I will be VELOCITY, SWEET!!! Let's go Mask and see how fast I can go. I have an old gymnastic suit I can use for now until I get the costume made." Veronica was very excited as she inhaled to get some courage to squeeze her way back out of the tiny tunnel.
The Mask put a restraining hand on Veronica's shoulder. "Wait just a moment, yet. I need to ask you something. Do you want Beth to know that you have abilities beyond that of a normal girl? I was just thinking that maybe that even though Beth doesn't herself want to believe she has special abilities, I know she'd like to be included. You are her only friend in this city and I know she would keep this a secret. Beth's root fear is that someone will find out about her having unusual powers and ruining her life so you can believe she would never betray your secrets."
"Like I can keep it a secret, it amazes me that no one knows after all I have some control issues as you can see and I am always on the go I guess maybe I am moving too fast for people to see me or that they think I am simply the weirdest person alive not that I hang around long enough to hear what people think of me but it would be awesome to be a hero and be admired I could make my brother proud of me."
"Good," the Mask said. "Then let's you and I resume this conversation back in Beth's room. And in the next few days I'll build another door for you so that you don't have to navigate the crawl space to get to the the lab. I'm normally here late at night after Beth goes to sleep, but just for a few hours so she doesn't miss too much sleep. You can find me in here if you need me between 1 and 3 am."
The Black Mask led Veronica back through the closet entrance and out into Beth's room again. The Mask carefully closed the door and concealed it again, then removed the black silk mask and put it in Beth's purse. She took off the tight-fitting jeans and clingy tee top while Veronica waited, then pulled on a filmy green nightgown. She then got into bed. "I'll wake Beth's mind again in a moment."
The Black Mask closed her eyes and became the picture of a sleeping beauty and laid that way for a long moment. Slowly she stirred and the woke, blinking into the light the Mask had left on. "Veronica?" she said sleepily. Recognition settled in and she sat up. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
Veronica tried to turn away as Beth undressed and redressed but found it difficult, though managed at the last moment as the top of Beth's jeans began to fall. Some things should wait.
The time she spent waiting felt like an eternity but then so many normal paced things do for her. "Oh nothing I thought I heard something downstairs and wanted to check in on you, sorry I should have known better than to turn on the light."
Beth rubbed her eyes and smiled. She couldn't help a nagging feeling that she needed to do something. That Veronica needed to tell her something. She tilted her head and looked at Veronica, then swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "Wanna talk?"
"Well since you are awake is there anything you want from the store i was gonna go get some snacks i am out and i am a total disaster if i don't get my snacks, so what do you want??"
Beth shook her head. "I don't think I need anything, but thanks." Beth watched Veronica expectantly. "I try not to eat after 2 am."
"Oh come on, live a little. I want to show you something but you need to want something from the store. It is really important and I have been thinking about this for a while now. I trust you completely and well, will you come downstairs with me for a moment and I will show you?" she asked with nervous look in her eyes.
A grin suddenly appeared on Beth's face. She stood up and said, "I'm in. And maybe a nice green tea sounds good right now," she laughed. She went to the closet, pulled off her nighty (which she had only just put on, but of course she didn't remember that) and changed into her favorite tight jeans, and a tight-fitting tee. It was, of course, exactly the same choice the the Mask had made and discarded only minutes ago, but Beth was oblivious to that fact as well.
After pulling on a nice-looking but well used black leather jacket and grabbing her purse, she told Veronica she was ready. "Okay, V! I'm ready."
Once again Veronica turned away as Beth began to undress, then led her downstairs. "You won't need the jacket Beth. So tell me what you would like from the store."
"Green tea? Any brand is fine," said Beth without thinking about it much as she hunted around for her shoes.
Beth's hair flew around her face in a whirlwind as the front door opened.
Across town the late night attendant yawned at the counter surprised by the sudden gust of wind and the sudden ringing of the door chime he opened his eyes to see several items had been rung up with exact change still spinning on the counter in front of him. The newspapers blew in the the wind that must have opened the door with it. I didn't know it was going to storm tonight, he thought to himself.
Beth had barley gotten the hair out of her eyes when the front door slammed and another gust of wind tossed her hair about again.
"I got what was there though I am not certain it is green tea, it might be white sorry I hope it is ok." Veronica said as she handed Beth the bottle of tea and tore into a bag of skittles.
Beth stood up and looked around. The front door then closed, as if it took longer to swing shut than for someone to go complete through and have a conversation. Beth took the tea and looked at it. "Uh. I didn't think we had any in the fridge."
"Is it not right, darn ok be right back." Again the burst of wind and delayed door closing and Beth was holding another kind of tea while Veronica continued to down her skittles.
Beth looked left and right quickly, then down at the tea in her hand and over at the door. Her expression was so puzzled it looked comical. "Did you just --- am I not -- where did this come --" She stood and blinked. "Did I black out? Did we go to the store already and I don't remember?" She looked really worried. She though she heard some kind of whooshing sound but wasn't sure.
"Oh I know you know the guy across town that sell gyros this time of night near campus ok so her take this stop watch and when i go you push this little button right here and once the gyro is in your hand hit it again ready set go..."
She was off with another whoosh and in seconds the smell of gyro filled the room and Beth's hand was warm.
Click! Beth snapped the timer and stared at the stopwatch in disbelief. "So you are saying that you went, like, a couple miles, grabbed a gyro off the warming rack and came back in," she glanced at the second hand, "about five seconds!? Holy moly, Veronica! I could estimate your speed, but it would be way low for you because you had to stop to grab the gyro."
Beth was so amazed she barely noticed she took Veronica's gyro and munched a big bite out of it. "Why that's absolutely incredible!! Absolutely mind-blowing! Wait!" she looked at Veronica. "How do you keep from running into stuff? And people?" Light dawned. "Ooooh! I get it! That's how you ran into me, right?"
Veronica laughed. "It is a work in progress but I am getting control, it is really about adjusting angles and such depending on the terrain and the current conditions. But I really wanted to share this with you because it has been really hard, I mean things just started changing one day I am thumping my pencil nervously during an exam and the next thing I know the desk falls apart or I am erasing something and there is a friction burn oh man don't even get me started on waking up late and the fiasco that causes."
Beth joined in on the laugh. "Well that definitely puts a picture in my head," she said with a grin. After a moment, she added, "Have people noticed? Are you worried someone will find out and harass you about it?"
"Not that I know about and I am not really worried I guess because I can outrun them." She laughed even louder.
"Still, it would suck to not be able to come home because you were being picketed by a bunch of over-zealous reporters and government agents wanting to do tests on you. But don't worry," Beth said, "I won't tell anybody. Hey, what are you gonna do with your powers? Just try to keep them hidden? Ignore them? Or are you wanting to do something with them?"
"I'm gonna be a hero, a super hero. I am gonna use these powers to help out where I can then if everyone loves me they can't make me disappear not if everyone would know." Veronica was excited as she told her friend how she was going to assume the identity Velocity and help out just like the Black Mask.
Beth was impressed. "The Black Mask? Like in the newspapers articles? Wow! I really admire your courage, Veronica -- or should I say, Velocity! It's really cool you told me about this.
"Hey, I know! This could be like that old tv show, Smallville! I could be a Chloe to your Clark Kent! Only I suck at computer stuff. And I'm not as smart. But I'm really good in social situations!" Beth struggled to see how that might help. "Or... something?"
Veronica smiled. "No worries, you will be more than helpful to me, even if you think otherwise." She winked at her. "Now maybe we should go to bed, though I need to run off some energy." She said as she polished off her candy.
This page by Holland Erickson and Dustin Evermore, 2008.