All about Flinx

Control

"KID!" Jinx shouted, her voice rebounding slightly in the small apartment.

"Wassup?" Kid Flash responded, appearing in an instant.

"Where the hell are all my clothes?" she demanded, pointing into the empty closet where her supervillain/hero outfits had once hung.

"Gone!" he declared. "They were all purply and depressing, so I thought you'd appreciate it if I threw them out."

"You thought no such thing! How the hell am I supposed to help you fight crime if all I have is plainclothes?"

He waved the notion aside. "Don't worry about that, I've got a super-tailor coming on Monday to take your measurements and make you a new costume, something less evil-looking."

"You can't just initiate a wardrobe change without consulting me!" Kid flinched as the window behind Jinx cracked. She gave it a defeated look and sighed. "I'll pay for that."

The miniature police scanner in Kid's pocket cut in. "Robbery in progress at 1st National Bank on Route 4. Suspect is armed."

He sighed. "I'll have to take care of that, and I promised to meet with my folks right after that. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

She gave him a solemn nod. "Have you already gotten rid of them?"

He hesitated slightly before shaking his head.

"I'd like to keep at least one for prosperity."

He nodded, and, with a flash of red and yellow, he was gone.

Jinx stared ruefully at the closet for a moment before releasing a frustrated puff of air. In truth, she had also thought that the ensemble hadn't been altogether heroic, so it was somewhat unreasonable to hold onto them, but she still didn't have enough casual clothing to make up for the loss.

She sighed. "Guess I'll just have to assemble a new wardrobe."

Jinx approached the register, a wry smile on her face. Not long ago, she would have walked out with her purchase without hesitation, and with as much as she could carry.

The woman behind the counter greeted her with a perky grin. "Hello! Will this be all for you today?"

Jinx nodded, and the woman started scanning her items.

"Just in one of those make-over moods?"

"Something like that," Jinx replied.

"I get that. Your total comes to 86.77."

She handed her four twenties and a ten. The woman's face fell as she opened the register.

"Oh, of all the… I'm sorry, we're out of pennies. Whoever was on the last shift must not have… Well, that's not important. If you'll wait here for a moment, I'll just make a quick run to the bank."

"Um, no, that's not – "

"It's fine, it's fine, it's just right across the street." She shut the register and let herself out from behind the counter. "Make sure no one steals anything while I'm gone," she said as she left.

Jinx watched her jog across the street and turned away with a sigh. "Way too trusting," she muttered. She immediately occupied herself with looking everywhere but the unguarded register. Old habits die hard, after all.

She looked out the storefront window once more, hoping against hope that the cashier was already done with her transaction, and found a police officer staring at her. He broke eye contact to look at a tablet-looking object in his hand. He looked up once more and nodded to himself, then entered the store.