Shock and Awe (Enhanced Book 1)

Chapter 13

"—So, I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . Awe, will you go on a date with me?"

I stare dumbfounded at Archie, completely in shock at his question. "Um— you don't even live in the same town as me, Arch. How, uh, how would that work?"

He shrugs, kicking a limb off the edge of the roof. "I get weekends off, you know. I could go to Tri-City for those days and we could spend some time together."

I know my eyes are wide in disbelief and I try to wipe the expression off my face with little success. "We aren't supposed to associate outside of work, either."

"You can wear your mask," he tries.

"Awe," a deep voice calls from the doorway. "My techie has something."

Grateful for the interruption, I spin on my toes to face Amaze. "Oh, good. I'll be right there." I look back at Archie, scooping up the new suit materials from his arms. "Thanks for the upgrades."

Archie's shoulders sag in defeat, a dejected smile on his face. "Sure, Awe. It's no problem."

Caught between a rock and a hard place, I weigh my options. I juggle the items to one arm and extend my free hand. "Here, give me your personal cell."

His smile brightens immediately and he struggles to pull the phone out of his pocket fast enough. Once I have it, I program the number into his contacts, simply naming it "S". He checks the name when I hand it back, a curious look on his face. "I'll text you," he promises.

With a polite smile in return, I turn to follow Amaze inside and to his Techie's office. I've never met Alisha, but when I do, she immediately reminds me of Benita. Her room is set up with a bunch of monitors and gadgets, only a small section designated for suit-making.

"Here," Alisha says with a pop of her pink bubble gum as she hands me a stack of circular metal emblems. They are gold in color, about three inches in diameter, and have and 'A' in the center attached on the edges to the round frame. "You wear them like this." She picks one up and separates the back from the front, then sticks her hand inside my collar.

"What the hell are you doing," I demand and rip my body forcefully from her. "Do not touch me."

"She's right, Alish," Amaze says. "You don't have to touch her. Like this, Awe." He takes one of his own identical emblems and detaches it like the Techie had. Then, he slides the flat end under his collar and down his sleeve to rest on the side of his shoulder. He places the 'A' side on top of that and it stays, most likely due to a magnet of some kind. There's a soft click as it latches itself together. "Don't worry. It wont damage the suit. Now," Amaze twists the emblem until the A is sideways and immediately an alarm goes off from the object. It sounds just like the ones the police use at high profile crime scenes.

Amaze straightens the emblem again and the alarm shuts off. "Easy as pie," he declares. "We'll wear one on each side. If the other is far away, we can trigger both and it will be even louder."

Satisfied, I add the metal objects to my new collection. "It's getting close to time, Amaze. We should head out."

The super agrees and in five minutes we're off, heading back to Tri-City.

Today is Amazing Man's first public appearance since the fight with Crimson Current. Archie actually worked on a suit for him since he is more of an outfit guy, whereas Alisha is more of an electronics gal.

Amaze's suit now bears a resemblance to mine. Gone is the skin tight body suit leaving nothing to the imagination. He now wears dark blue boots like mine, dark blue cargo pants — fit perfectly to his athletic build —a duty belt holding extra tech, and a diamond-plated dark red shirt with dark blue accents. Archie has added the diamond plating to protect Amaze's abdomen, leaving the outline of his abs most likely due for PR reasons, and across his chest. The material fits way better than the old spandex and will help against any electricity strikes from Crimson Current.