I Can't Stand To Fly

Desperate Acquisitions Phase

Carmilla glances up from the résumé in front of her. "Under 'Prior Experience,' you have here that you..." She sighs and looks back down at the paper to make sure she didn't imagine it. "...Vlog on YouTube and have competed in a cookie-eating contest."

The smaller girl before her, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and jeans, nods emphatically. "Yup! I ate seventy chocolate chip cookies in five minutes."

"You don't say," Carmilla drawls. "And why is this relevant, Cookie Girl?"

She shrugs. "It shows I have abilities beyond my super powers?"

Carmilla purses her lips and her eyes return to the paper. "It says here your super powers are shrinking, flying, memory projection, and that you know several kinds of fighting styles." Her eyes wander back to the girl. "How much can you shrink, and what fighting styles do you know?"

"The farthest I've shrunk is about a fourth of an inch," she answers after some thought. "And I know kung fu, karate, jujitsu, but my go-to is krav maga."

Carmilla doesn't speak for a few moments and regards the girl smiling back at her.

"Hon, you don't seem like a super villain," she finally says. "You barely seem like a superhero. You're like, a tiny creampuff with legs."

Laura's smile turns into a scowl. "Look, I have super powers, and I want to cause mayhem. That's what your ad said you were looking for. What else could you want?"

"Why do you want to be my minion?" Carmilla demands.

"Because you're Carmilla Karnstein of the Karnstein super villain family," Laura answers, her smile returning. She gestures to the leather-clad woman before her. "You're the one that kidnaped like, thousands of girls a while back! And you clogged the city's plumbing system a few years ago! And you've done all these bank heists and robberies!" She lets out a small squeal. "And you've got awesome powers, like draining people's energy, having claws, fangs, super strength, super speed, and you can fly like me! You're such a cool inspiration!"

Carmilla rolls her eyes and bites her lip before answering. "And you're lucky we're in a desperate acquisitions phase," she growls. "Fine. Laura Hollis, you're hired to be one of my minions. I'm your new boss, sweetheart."

Laura lets out a whoop and does a little jig.

Carmilla stands and walks to the door, leaving Laura at the desk in her bliss. "You're already my least favorite minion," she yells before leaving the room.

She bumps into Will.

"Hi, sis," he sneers. "How many minions have you hired?"

"Three," she growls back. "Some blondie named Elsie who can cause explosions, a dour little thing named Natalie that can see the future, and this annoying ball of stupidity named Laura who can shrink herself, project memories, fly, and do hand-to-hand combat."

Will actually looks impressed and is speechless.

Carmilla raises an eyebrow. "Why? Who did you hire?"

"A guy named Kirsch who's got super strength, and his girlfriend Sarah Jane who can persuade others to do her will through charm."

"Is that how they got the job?" Carmilla asks with a smirk.

Will starts to answer but then seems legitimately concerned that this was the actual case.

"Good job, mama's boy. I'm sure we've got five total winners here."

~*~

"And she doesn't suspect a thing?"

"Nope, not a thing," Laura replies. "Am I on speaker, Danny?"

"Yes, you are, Laura," Perry answers. "Did you see any sign of Betty?"

"Nah, but I'll look more tomorrow."

"Geez, Laur, where are you?" LaFontaine asks. "It sounds like you're driving with the windows down."

"You could say that," Laura responds with a giggle. "I'm flying back."

"Be careful," Perry warns. "You always fly with your back facing the ground and you don't crane your neck to watch where you're going."

"I'll be fine, Per. I just like having the sun on my face."

"We're getting off topic," Danny sighs. "Did Carmilla mention anything about her mother?"

"No."

"Dammit." Danny sighs again. "Well, just get back here as soon as you can and we'll discuss tomorrow's plan."

"Okay."

Laura hangs up and drifts between a couple roofs before doing a quick roll to fly forwards, sharply turning up and bearing right to fly alongside a bridge. She dips down low enough and reaches out a hand to glide along the water.

"Don't worry, Betty," she whispers to herself. "I'll find you."