Mod Superhero

Chapter 1.2.2 - Another Day, Another Score

Athena used her forcefields to smash the van and the remaining crates. Then Emmett followed her back up to the roofs, using her invisible platforms instead of his broken whip.

They sprinted away from the scene across the skyline of Belport. Despite their blistering pace, Emmett kept both hands on his hoodie pouch to keep the vials from jostling too much. When they were ten blocks away, they slipped over the edge of an apartment roof and rested on a fire escape.

Athena wiped the blood from her face with a handkerchief and pinched her nose to stop the bleeding.

"That was fun!" she said, her voice nasally. It took Emmett a moment to realize that she wasn't being sarcastic about it.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh yeah! I didn't drip anywhere, did I?"

Emmett chuckled. Somehow she'd managed not to get any on her glass-lined jacket or her T-shirt underneath. "No, you're good," Emmett replied. "What happened back there? That guy didn't even hit you."

"Good observation," she replied, still holding her nose.

"It was because he destroyed your forcefield."

Athena smirked and checked her nose, satisfied that the bleeding had stopped. "Can you guess what that guy's name was?" She folded the handkerchief and wiped the blood off her lips.

"No idea," Emmett replied.

"His name is Feedback. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of him. He's not exactly a big time super. His energy manipulation isn't that powerful, but the damage can travel through projections and back to the creator."

Emmett found himself considering the villain in a new light. That would be a useful power to have...

"But you knew about him. That's why you changed tactics."

Athena nodded, her face finally blood free. "I wasn't sure at first. Quite a few supers like wearing leather, but as soon as he attacked my barrier, I knew."

Emmett didn't let up, though. "I've been trying to research supers in Belport so that I can be prepared, but there's not a lot of information on low-level supers."

Athena smirked and leaned against the railing of the fire escape. "You won't find a lot of newbies or Class one and two heroes on the internet."

"So, how did you find out about him?"

She shrugged. "There's a lot of low-level supers in Belport but not that many. It's a smaller community than people realize. Word gets around, and it's good to pay attention to supers that are hard counters to your powerset."

Emmett nodded along, then extended his whip part way from his right arm. The last several linkages were damaged from where Feedback had hit it.

"Did that hurt?" Athena asked, curiosity on her face instead of concern.

Emmett nodded. "Not much, but I felt it."

"Weird—in a good way. I didn't want to ask how much feeling you had in that arm."

"Should the damage have hurt more?" Emmett made a point not to look at the traces of dried blood around Athena's nose.

She said simply, "His power caused feedback damage through my forcefields. Your prosthetic isn't a superpower."

Emmett suddenly felt self-conscious. He retracted the end of the whip and once again his arm looked otherwise flesh-covered and normal.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Athena added, unconcerned. "We all have our strengths. Your arm is one of yours."