Blood Obsidian

Issue 14

A nest of hornets - Part 2

Caitlyn cursed the fact that she could only float fast, again. Reaching the nearest roof, she dropped to the surface and began running, her eyes flickering between the flying super and the way ahead. She wasn't even certain what she was doing, only that she had been given these powers, this suit, and she had a duty to use it. She reached the edge of the building, jumped and used the parapet to launch herself through the air.

Even while training with Trooper Jane, she had always held, in the back of her mind, that she only played the part. Sure, she had now fought three people and come out as a winner, but that was more luck than judgment. Those guys had battered her and bruised her and even with the suit, somehow, healing her at an incredible rate, she still had suffered every hit. Not to mention one of those fights was only a test. She wasn't certain she was cut out for this.

The super, Vezzpa, still flew up ahead, heading to the riverside and the wharf district, but Caitlyn was losing ground. Flying was better than running and jumping, and certainly faster than floating. Even with the aid of the suit, giving her a telescopic view of Vezzpa, the villain had almost flown out of sight. She redoubled her efforts, leaping as far as she could, as fast as she could, and watched as Vezzpa flew down toward the warren of warehouses, cargo containers and ships.

Landing on a tall crane, Caitlyn looked around, watching the bustle of activity below as dockworkers went about their working day. She could feel the crane shifting below her as she crouched, moving a large container along the length of its arm toward a nearby ship. She had lost the super-villain, which was about on par for what she expected. She wasn't a hero. A hero wouldn't have let Vezzpa get away.

About to leap to the nearest warehouse, to perform a floating sweep along the maze-like streets of the wharf district, she felt a sensation that someone was watching her. Then a buzzing sound reached her ears and she made an instinctive leap. Tumbling in the air, she began to float, turning around and calling for the baseball bat-type weapon she had started to prefer during her combat training.

Something struck the crane where she had crouched. Some kind of energy that crackled and sparked along the length of the crane's superstructure. Vezzpa. Somehow the super-villain had seen Caitlyn, or Blood Obsidian, as she should call herself while doing the whole superhero thing. Vezzpa hovered before Caitlyn, insect-like wings flapping so fast they were only a blur, and Caitlyn had a good look at her enemy.

A woman, that was clear. The yellow and black body suit, or armour, clung to every curve, so tight that Caitlyn could see pretty much everything. It left nothing to the imagination and almost made Caitlyn blush for the villain. A harness strapped around Vezzpa's shoulders and waist, holding the wings to her back and the 'stinger' tail, too. A tail that now pointed toward Caitlyn. With no other option available to her, Caitlyn dropped, turning off her floating ability as the energy from Vezzpa's stinger tail crackled through the air where Caitlyn had floated.

"You're new." Vezzpa buzzed and flitted to and fro, never staying in one place for long, goggles, that looked like large compound eyes, looked down toward Caitlyn. "I haven't zztudied you."

"Yeah. I could say the same, buzzy." That was a lame come-back and she knew it. Part of Trooper Jane's training involved identifying villains. Vezzpa was not among them. "What say we swap trading cards? I'll know your abilities, I'll lie about mine. It'll be fun."

"Or I could juzzt kill you." Without warning, Vezzpa fired her stinger again, causing Caitlyn to leap backward from where she had landed. "Agile. My targeting computer will zzort that out."

"I think you should 'zzort' out your terrible lisp." Avoiding another sting-blast, Caitlyn continued to prove her phys-ed teacher wrong. She totally could have reached the Olympics. "There are some great programs online that ..."