How to Date a Superhero Ch. 07

Mega-Girl studied him, unable to tell if Apollo was simply arrogant or if he was telling the truth. She reached across the table and wiped a spot of ketchup off his lip and asked, "Did you use your 'unfettered might' on me when we fought?"

Apollo snorted, "If I had, this entire world would have quaked."

"If you're such a bad-ass," she challenged, "How come you get so weakened at night?"

"My strength has ever been tied to the sun, but only my strength becomes diminished. My other abilities remain."

"So you can still fly, and teleport?"

"Aye, among other things."

Mega-Girl realized she knew so little about Apollo but wanted to know more, "Like what?"

"Things even I fear to unleash," he answered cryptically.

She didn't press him; instead she stole more of Apollo's food. Looking round at all the other students staring their way, Mega-Girl caught sight of someone walking through the door that made her drop the stolen fry.

The brown haired boy spotted her immediately and froze.

"Travis...?" she muttered.

Apollo glanced.

Travis stared at Mega-Girl and her companion for a moment and then quickly turned and walked back out the door.

"Do you know that mortal?" Apollo asked.

"Please wait here," she said to Apollo, sliding off her chair, "I have to go talk to him." Hurrying through the door after him, Mega-Girl spotted him on the sidewalk. "Travis!" she called, chasing after.

Travis finally stopped and turned. "What? What do you want?" he sounded perturbed. "You're sitting in the Burger Shack in your costume? With him? So the rumors are true? You're dating Apollo, now? A guy who tried to kill you?"

Mega-Girl was afraid their discussion would draw a crowd so she grabbed Travis by the wrist and pulled him into an alley, "It's complicated, but yeah, I'm with Apollo now. Does that upset you? You broke up with me!"

"I broke up with Mega-Girl," he countered, "Penny's the girl I wanted. She the one I thought I chose, until I realized you lied to me. That you were playing me."

"I fucked-up, okay? I'm sorry, Travis. I've always been so insecure as Penny, like, I'm living under my own shadow or something. I wanted you to like her over Mega-Girl."

"Listen to yourself!" Travis exclaimed, "You talk about Penny like she's an entirely different person. It's insane!"

"In a way, she is a different person... I m-mean, I am. When I'm Penny... I'm not myself. I know it's fucked-up, but ever since I became Mega-Girl I've come to realize that she's the real me. As Penny I've always had to pretend I'm something I'm not. I have to pretend I'm not superhuman. You got caught up in that, in the lie, and I'm so sorry, Travis. I used you to try and validate myself, to convince myself that when I was Penny that I could be happy. But I wasn't happy, I-I'm not happy when I have to wear that damned ring to alter my appearance. That's my real mask and I hate it."

Travis sighed, "Whatever. Look, I get it, we weren't going to work. Why are you telling me all this, now? What do you want from me?"

"Your forgiveness?" she hoped.

Travis let out a quick amused breath, "You want to know what the funny thing is? I was never really that mad. I mean, I was pissed when I broke up with you, but I got over it. I just want you to find what you're looking for. With the mask, without the mask... but one day you're going to have to rectify those two worlds."

"I know," she nodded, "I'm trying."

"I suppose you still want to be my lab partner, too."

Mega-Girl grinned, "I'm really behind. I could use your help."

Travis pushed a hand through his hair, "Yeah, okay. I'll see you Tuesday morning?"

"Okay," she agreed, "Just one more thing, though."

Travis gave her a dubious look.

"Jordan really likes you, but she's not going to sit on our couch eating popcorn and watching shitty movies for too many more Friday nights. If you like her, if you really like her, go get her. She won't wait forever."

"That won't bother you?" he sounded doubtful.

"You're always going to be special to me, Travis." Mega-Girl shrugged bonelessly, "But Jordan's special to me too, and she's a lot less fucked-up than I am. I think you guys would make a great couple."

Lifting to her toes, she kissed Travis on the cheek and squeezed his wrist affectionately. And then she walked away, turning once to smile at him over her shoulder before leaving the alleyway. Returning towards the Burger Shack she saw Apollo standing outside in front of the restaurant posing with a bunch of sorority girls for a cell phone camera shot.

Mega-Girl smiled at the scene, standing back and watching. The girls were flirting shamelessly with him; one of them even invited him to a party and offered her phone number. He politely declined their many advances, telling them he was with 'his lioness', which filled Mega-Girl with pride.

She finally approached once the girls had gone inside, "Sorry I left you."

"Unfinished business?" he asked.

"Not anymore," she smiled, "I'm all yours now, Apollo. For better or worse. I have no idea where this is going to go, but it's been a helluva ride so far."

Apollo grunted his approval, "What of thy mother?"

Mega-Girl looked surprised he would ask about her, "What about her?"

"If I am to properly court thee, it seems fitting I gain her approval."

Mega-Girl smiled, "You want to meet my mom?"

"Aye."

"All right," she agreed, "Let's go. Just don't tell her we had sex, okay?"

=======

Number Four tried to find his way through the maze of cubicles, offices, and storage areas of the darkened bank. His flashlight went out and he had to bang it with his palm to make it work again, "Number Three? Are you back here? Where is everyone?"

A hail of gunfire suddenly erupted outside. Glass erupted from a bullet penetrating a nearby window, causing the duplicate to duck and dash away. "Holy shit!" he yelled, dropping the flashlight and reaching in to his trench coat for a handgun. It sounded like a war had begun outside and the duplicate knew the robbery had turned sour. Keeping low as he ran, Number Four followed the sound of violence, which led him to the lobby doors. Pressing against a wall and glancing outside, he saw the standoff. Two-Fold and his other duplicates were pinned down behind their van in front of the bank. Further down the street were three police cars, their red and blue cherries filling the night, with officers crouched behind hoods and trunks. Both sides were firing their weapons liberally.

Worried they'd be caught, Number Four finally built up enough courage to run out of the bank. He was screaming loudly and firing off bullets towards the police, but they had the advantage of stationary cover.

Number Four was dead before his bullet-riddled body hit the street.

"Goddammit!" a duplicate yelled as a bullet whizzed by his head, "Boss! We're getting carved up out here - we just lost numbers two through four!"

Like bursting popcorn, Two-Fold generated three more duplicates. POP! POP! POP! They appeared beside him out of thin air, wearing the exact same clothes and holding the exact same handguns. "Kill those cops!" he commanded, "Shoot those fuckers dead!"

Before any of the duplicates could fire a single shot however, a deafening crash filled the night as a massive form landed on one of the police cruisers which crumpled beneath the undeniable force.

"LEVIATHAN KILL WIMPY POLICEMEN," he bellowed as the police turned their guns towards The Leviathan's greyish-blue skin.

"What the hell?" Two-Fold glanced around the side of the van to see The Leviathan picking up a police car like it was nothing more than a toy. The monster lifted the cruiser above his head and then smashed it back to the ground, crushing two unfortunate officers and killing them instantly. Two-Fold had never before seen anything so effortlessly powerful. An inhuman monster standing twelve feet tall, weighing over a thousand pounds, with leathery grey skin covered only by a pair of tattered orange prison pants, The Leviathan made short work of the police.

The Leviathan laughed after killing the last officer, casually tossing the man's body aside. "HA-HA-HAH. NO ONE CAN STOP LEVIATHAN. NOW WHERE THE DOUBLE-MAN?"

Two-Fold blinked and wondered if the Leviathan could possibly be looking for him. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out and continued to hide behind the van. "Get out there," he commanded one of his duplicates, "And see if that thing is talking about me."

But no one answered.

Two-Fold turned to see his duplicates fleeing down the street as fast as possible in the opposite direction of The Leviathan. "Fucking cowards!" he seethed.

"WAIT..." The Leviathan scratched the bony ridges on his bare scalp, "...NOT DOUBLE-MAN. TWO-GUY? MAYBE IT WAS COPY-MAN..."

Two-Fold rolled his eyes as The Leviathan continued to get his name wrong. He vainly stepped out from behind the van, "No, you oversized idiot, it's Two-Fold! TWO-FOLD!"

The Leviathan turned towards the voice and looked confused, "YOU SURE?"

"Of course I'm sure, you steroid-addled nincompoop! Do you think I don't know my own name?"

The Leviathan didn't understand half the words Two-Fold said but seemed to get the point, "MASTER DISASTER LOOKING FOR YOU. TOLD ME TO GET YOU, TAKE YOU TO HIM."

"Master Disaster?" Two-Fold sounded intrigued. Master Disaster had a reputation as a super-villain at the top of the heap. A reputed genius, he had never been arrested or captured. "What does he want with me?"

"LEVIATHAN DON'T KNOW. BUT HE SAID GET YOU, EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANNA GO."

Two-Fold swallowed nervously, "Huh. Well, I guess you don't leave me much of a choice. I doubt I could stop you if I tried."

"NO ONE CAN STOP LEVIATHAN."

=======

Lilian stood over her stove and lifted a large wooden spoon to her lips, taste-testing her own efforts and deciding the chili needed to cook longer. A portion of her attention never left an old tube television that sat on a kitchen counter nearby; a news program was reviewing events from the recent break-out at the Blockade supermax prison, a correctional institution designed to contain the world's most dangerous super criminals.

'...thanks to the efforts of Gateway City's heroes most of the escaped prisoners from Blockade have been recaptured, but one remains at large - The Leviathan. His whereabouts are unknown at this time and the authorities remain clueless as to how the explosion occurred which allowed the monstrous villain to escape. The Leviathan is potentially the most dangerous man on Earth due to his enormous strength and virtual invulnerability. He has stood toe-to-toe with mighty Apollo and it took a coalition of heroes, including Gateway City's own Mega-Girl, to bring him to justice some months ago.'

Lily was distracted from the television program when she heard someone entering through the kitchen door, which was located at the back of the house. "Penelope?" she appeared surprised as her daughter walked in, still in costume. She quickly turned the television volume down.

"Hey, mom," Mega-Girl smiled.

"What are you doing here wearing your costume? What if one of the neighbors -"

Apollo entered, following Mega-Girl. Lily's eyes went wide at the famous sight of the sun god and the way his massive biceps bulged beneath the short sleeves of his tee. "Oh my..." she said, flustered by his handsome personage. She quickly removed her stained apron and fussed with her hair.

Mega-Girl grinned at her mother's sudden vanity, "Mom, I want you to meet someone. This is Apollo, son of Zeus and Olympian god of the sun. Apollo, this is my mother, Lilian Swann."

"An honor," Apollo performed a ceremonious bow. He moved forward to take one of Lilian's hands and kissed the back of it, "Thou art as beautiful as thy daughter."

Lily blushed, "It's very nice to meet you, Apollo." She glanced at Mega-Girl, "You could have called and told me you were bringing a god over..."

"Sorry," Mega-Girl was still grinning at her mother's fluster.

"Tis my fault," Apollo admitted, "I asked thy daughter for this spontaneous introduction, so that I may announce my courtship of her and seek thy blessing."

Lily's brows elevated, "Your... courtship?"

Mega-Girl removed her mask and set it on the kitchen table before translating, "He's my boyfriend. We're dating."

Lily wasn't surprised by it as gossip shows on television had been filled with rumors, "Aren't you a little old to be dating my daughter?"

"Mom...!" Mega-Girl looked embarrassed by the question.

"I'm not displeased by the news," Lily clarified, "I'm just concerned, is all."

"I am over three thousand years old," Apollo said, "Which makes me too old even for thee, Lilian Swann."

"I suppose it is difficult for you to find people your own age," she grinned, "And please, call me Lily. Would the two of you like some chili?"

"Aye," Apollo replied eagerly, having smelled the food as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Mega-Girl looked to him, "We just ate less than a half hour ago, how can you be hungry?"

Apollo shrugged unknowingly.

Lily moved to fetch some bowls, "Please, sit. And as for my blessing, you certainly don't need my permission to date Penny. She's more than capable of making decisions for herself. Still, I appreciate the courtesy."

'...we have some breaking news...'

Apollo and Mega-Girl glanced at the television as they sat down at the kitchen table. Lily turned up its volume before serving up the chili.

'...where The Leviathan rescued Two-Fold from police following a failed bank robbery. Both The Leviathan and Two-Fold escaped from the Blockade last week and it is unknown if they are working together, or as part of a larger coalition of escapees...'

Mega-Girl frowned, "Two-Fold. I never got a chance to nab him in the chaos, last week."

"He's not the one I'm worried about," Lily placed a bowl of chili in front of Apollo, "That Leviathan monster nearly killed you the last time you fought him, and you had the help of the World League."

Mega-Girl nodded, unafraid to admit that The Leviathan was one of the most dangerous opponents she had faced during her short career in spandex.

"An epic beast, that one." Apollo lifted a spoonful to his mouth, "If he shows his hide again, we should enlist the aid of Artemis."

Mage-Girl glanced at Apollo, "No offense to your sister, but I don't think she'd stand a chance against The Leviathan."

"You're forgetting the bow," Apollo remarked casually.

Mega-Girl's eyes brightened, "You're right, I am."

Lily looked between them, "The bow?"

"The bow of Minerva," Mega-Girl explained, "Apollo's sister has it - it's what she used to shoot me in the leg. It can penetrate any armor, natural or otherwise. It would ignore The Leviathan's invulnerability the same way it ignored mine."

"Aye," Apollo agreed as he ate, "But we couldn't allow her to kill him. The bow is hexed by Pluto. Whosoever dies from an arrow shot by the bow of Minerva is doomed to an afterlife within Hades. With a titan like The Leviathan under his control, mine uncle could wreak havoc upon Olympus."

"Magic bows, gods, and death curses...?" Lily looked to her daughter, "Penny, what have you been getting yourself into, lately?"

=======

Travis lifted his hand to knock at the apartment door but paused and wondered why he felt so nervous. She had kissed him! They had made-out on her couch. He knew she was interested but Travis' stomach felt like it had a thousand butterflies dancing inside of it. Why were new relationships always so nerve-wracking? Finally, he swallowed his apprehensions and knocked.

"It's open," came a distant voice from inside.

Travis entered the apartment to find the living room and kitchen empty, "It's me... Travis. Where are you?" he called.

"In here," she replied from her bedroom.

Travis entered to find Jordan parked in front of her multiple computer screens wearing a pair of loose men's boxer shorts and a tight tee shirt, her dyed red hair fashioned backwards into a pony tail. "Hey," he greeted, "Um, what are you up to?"

Jordan typed rapidly, "I'm compiling a list of all the Blockade escapees still at large so I can start a cross-referencing loop within my media feeds and custom search engines. Hopefully some of them start popping up on the grid."

Travis sat behind her at the foot of Jordan's bed, "Sounds complicated."

"Not really," Jordan replied, "But it'll eat up a lot of my continuous processing capacity. There are terabytes of data that will need to be exchanged." She finally stopped and pressed the ENTER key with authority, "There we go."

"Now what?" Travis wondered.

"Now I wait," she spun in her chair to face him, "So what's up with you?"

"I was, um, just at the Burger Shack."

"Oh," Jordan winced, "You didn't run into -?"

Travis nodded, "She was there, with her new boyfriend. But it's cool, I guess. We actually talked. I think Penny and I can be friends without too many problems. It's just kind of hard being replaced by a god, you know? Hard on the ego, even though I realize it wouldn't have worked between us."

"He's definitely got a lot of muscles and flowing blond hair," Jordan agreed, "If you're into that sort of thing, which a lot of girls are."

Travis gave her a look, "Are you trying to make me feel better?"

Jordan smiled brightly, regarding Travis' pouty expression. He looked adorable with his short, spiky hair and brown eyes, "So you guys talked?"

Travis nodded, "Yeah. In fact, you came up. She said that she'd be cool with, you know, me asking you out."

Jordan saw that Travis was nervous and pressed him, "So you want to ask me out?"

"Yeah," Travis scratched the top of his head, "I mean, if you still wanted to see me, or, um, whatever."

Jordan laughed, "Way to ooze with confidence."

Travis sighed, "I'm sorry, I've never been very good at this kind of stuff. I've only ever had two girlfriends; one of them cheated on me and the other one used me in a competition against herself."

"You think you have it rough? Try being a girl and a comp-science major. Every day I go to class and get hit on by guys with pocket protectors asking me if I want to go with them to comic book conventions and collectable trading card expos - as if being into computers automatically enrolls me in some kind of geek fraternity. The jock types are too intimidated by a girl with more than three brain cells, the hippies think technology is causing polar melting, and the preppy boys are more interested in money than girls. I haven't had a decent date in months."

Travis blinked at her rant, "But you're like one of the hottest girls on campus."

Jordan spread her palms, "You can imagine my frustration."

"Well I'm just a simple farm kid. You want to go catch a movie tonight?"

"No," Jordan rose from her chair.

"No?" Travis watched her.

Jordan shook her head and moved to straddle Travis' lap, her tanned legs folding beneath her on either side of his jean-covered thighs, "I want to do something else."

Travis was about to ask what she wanted to do but Jordan began kissing him before any words arrived. Suddenly their hands were all over one another, feeling each other's bodies and tugging at clothes. Travis' shirt came off first, revealing his athletically slender torso. He pulled Jordan's tee off and felt her breasts, perky things with big nipples that just-filled his groping hands. After shedding their tops it was like their mouths were magnetically attracted to one another and they returned to a heated exchange of kissing.

"Is this really happening?" Travis breathed against her mouth.

"Shut up," Jordan pushed his back onto the bed and began un-working the fly of his jeans.