READ WEBNOVEL 40 NEW!
I flew off at my best speed and landed on top of the Daily Planet building. The large golden spinning globe was a fitting background as Lois stood there with her ponytail flapping in the wind and a small package in her hands.
Lois had a smile on her face until she saw the cast on my right hand. “Connor!”
I winced at the tone of accusation in her voice, so I cautiously approached her as I spoke. “I can easily explain this.” I said and stopped myself before I hugged her. I somehow knew that if I tried and didn't present my hand first, she would hit me or accuse me of avoiding it. I held my hand out for her to look at the cast. “I shook hands with the temporary secretary and I thought she was initiating a dominance grab.”
Lois blinked her eyes at me for about two seconds, placed the package on the roof, then she stepped past my presented hand and tenderly hugged me. “Oh, Connor.”
“Lois? What...” I started to ask her what she meant.
“Never try to do that while at work. It's never a good idea.” Lois said and placed a kiss on my cheek and then she leaned back to look into my eyes. “No matter what happens, you lose.”
“I don't understand.” I said.
“I should have warned you about it and I forgot. You can't win when you play those kinds of games.” Lois said. “When you lose, you're seen in a bad light and usually overlooked by everyone, because you lost. When you win, you're seen as a threat and need to be watched, because you beat them.”
I opened my mouth to respond and then sped up my perception to actually think about it. It took me about five minutes to realize that she was right. No matter the outcome, I was going to lose. I slowed my perception down to normal and sighed as I rested my forehead against hers.
“No, you didn't forget anything. It was my fault. I apologized to her as soon as I had my broken fingers attended to. I knew it was a mistake afterwards, because she was stronger than me. I never even thought about the consequences of the game when I thought she was trying it.”
Lois smiled and rubbed her nose on mine. “She wasn't trying it, was she?”
“No, she's just that strong. She thought I was the one trying it and fought back.”
Lois lightly laughed and eased me out of the embrace she had me in. “Well, lesson learned.” She said and lifted my cast up with both of her hands. “How long?”
“Until tomorrow or the next day. I have a full checkup to do with the nurse tomorrow at lunch.” I responded and she nodded. “I also have a date tomorrow night with the waitress from the private dining area.”
Lois's smile changed to a smirk. “You're already moving on after starting a fire with Burnin?”
I groaned. “Ugh, no puns, please.”
Lois laughed and let my cast go. “At least I'm sure that you'll keep your hands to yourself this time.”
I had to chuckle at that. “I'm getting used to hearing the dull thunk sound it makes when I try to use my right hand. I'll be careful.”
Lois shook her head. “I was warning you that whatever you planned for the date, you need to change it because of the hand.”
I thought about that and nodded. “All right, I'll do that.”
“I'm glad.” Lois said and turned around to pick up the package. “You're looking at my ass, aren't you?”
“Do you want me to lie?” I asked as she bent over without bending her legs. It hiked her skirt up quite a bit and the cloth form-fitted around the cheeks of her ass. “Good lord.”
Lois stood up with the package and faced me as she gave me a sultry look for several seconds, then she seemed to shake herself a little and then she blushed. “C-Connor, I... I...”
“Thank you.” I whispered to her.
Lois blushed a little more and I could tell that she wasn't sure what I was thanking her for. She held the package for me as I opened it with one hand and I let a low whistle out as I lifted the heavy fabric.
“Whoa.” I whispered and ran my hand over the cape. “Is it the same material as the suit?”
Lois shook her head. “This... this was your father's cape.”
I blinked my eyes at her. “His baby blanket?”
Lois nodded. “It took a long time for the support company to unweave all of that super cloth. Surprisingly, it didn't take long to dye it from green to deep red. Even the support professionals couldn't explain it.”
“Maybe it was meant to be red.” I suggested and Lois smiled. “They dyed it and then wove it back together?”
“Yes! It went much faster when they used my design and put it back together.” Lois said, proudly.
“You did a great job, Lois. Really great.” I said and her smile was almost beaming. “Put it on me.”
Lois let out a fairly un-womanly-like squeal and had the thing secured to my suit in only a few moments. “It's designed to be removed fairly easily; but, not so easily that you'll lose it with a light tug or a strong wind. You have to pull fairly hard and want it to come off without unfastening it.”
I gave her a beaming smile. “That sounds perfect. Thank you.”
“You're welcome.” Lois said and let her hands slide down from my neck and then they roamed a little over my chest.
“Lois...” I whispered.
“Connor, I... we can't.” Lois whispered back.
I glanced around and there was no one in sight and no electronic devices were in the area, despite this being a security weak point for the building. “You should tell your bosses that the roof is severely lacking in surveillance equipment. Anyone could be up here doing anything and no one would ever know it.”
Lois gave me an odd look for a moment, then she moaned when I stepped close and kissed her. Her tongue didn't hesitate to battle mine and we stayed like that for nearly a full minute before she gasped and pulled away.
“Watch this.” I said to distract her from admonishing herself for enjoying a forbidden kiss. I used my telekinesis to flutter my cape out dramatically as I slowly rose into the air.
Lois' eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sight. “Oh... my... god.”
“You were the very first person to see me like this.” I said and kept floating up and away from her.
“C-Connor... good god, Connor!” Lois exclaimed.
I gave her a crooked smile, a wave, then I turned away from her and took off at a good speed. I didn't break the sound barrier, though.
“You're magnificent.” Lois said in a normal voice. “Simply magnificent.”
I was sure that she didn't realize I could still hear her. Her next words proved that.
“Dammit! Now I need to change my panties.” Lois muttered as she went through the roof access door.
That made me laugh and kept me in a good mood as I landed in front of Endeavor's Agency. I had made it just in time as Burnin and the Flaming Sidekicks walked through the lobby to the receptionist's desk. I entered and walked over behind them as we signed the logbook.
“Neeeeigh! Connor!” Jar Jar said and held up a pawed hoof.
I high-fived him, or high hoofed him, with my left hand. “We're back on the school route today, right?”
“Yes, we had another group check out the homeless shelter last night.” Jar Jar said.
“Are you that eager to meet your little playground girlfriend?” Kido asked me with a grin.
“You bet I am! She's my first official rescue and she's a cute one!” I responded and the guys laughed.
Burnin just glared at me. “Come on, let's go.”
“Wait.” I said and held up my cast-covered right hand. “Medical recommendation for light duty.”
Burnin's glare went to my hand.
“I could have asked to be relieved of duty for the next two days.” I said as an apology.
Burnin took a deep breath and sighed. “Fine. We'll leave any heavy lifting for Jar Jar.”
“Sweet!” The other guys said and high-fived.
We left the building and started the patrol route. It went just as we expected. Not much happened and we got to spend a bit more time playing with the kids at the playground than we were supposed to. I blamed Jar Jar, because he had offered horseback rides to whomever wanted one. They were kids, so guess what? They ALL wanted one and I couldn't blame them. Honestly, I was tempted myself.
“I really like your cape.” My first rescue and number two fan said.
I knelt as I whipped it around us, using my telekinesis, and she giggled as it completely hid us from view. “Thanks. My mother had it made for me.”
“Your mother?” She asked, surprised.
I nodded. “Can you keep a secret?”
She nodded several times back.
“She used Superman's cape to have it made for me.” I whispered as I touched the yellow Hope symbol and she gasped. “That's right. I'll always have some of my father with me wherever I go now.”
She beamed a smile at me and then hugged me around the neck. “I'll never tell anyone! I swear!”
I laughed a little. “Maybe you can tell one of your friends, if you want to.”
I didn't think her smile could get any bigger or brighter. I was wrong.
“Thank you!” She exclaimed and kissed my cheek.
“No, thank you.” I said and kissed her cheek back to make her blush, then I stood and swept my cape back around to let it float slightly behind me.
“That's so cool!” One of the kids commented.
“Thanks.” I said and went over to the group of kids around Jar Jar. “Hey, can I have a ride, too?”
That set everyone off and they all laughed. Even Burnin couldn't stop her smile.
“I think that's our cue to leave.” Burnin said and we all said goodbye to the kids and went back to our patrol route. “What did you do to that little girl to make her blush?”
“I told her a very important secret and then swore her to secrecy with a kiss on the cheek.” I said.
The guys gave each other a high five.
“I told you he'd do that!” Kido said with a laugh. “He's a real sucker for the girls!”
Everyone looked at me for confirmation or denial.
“He's not wrong.” I said with a grin. “They smell nice.”
“BAHAHAHA!” Jar Jar loudly laughed.
We arrived back at the agency and we signed back in to end our shift. We went to the cafeteria to eat and I saw Green Fury, or Fire as she was calling herself now, wave me over.
“Oh, damn! It's a girl! Duty calls!” I said and the guys laughed as they gave me high-fives. I grabbed a food tray and filled it twice before I walked over to Fire's table. She was there with three other people.
One guy had a bald head and a light fiery glow around it, almost like a halo of yellow flames. The other guy wore an all black unitard with no symbols, eye holes, or even any equipment. The last member was a woman that wore white spandex and looked like she was dipped in blue liquid fire. The flow of the flames seemed to emanate from the center of her chest and moved out to the end of her limbs.
“The cape looks badass.” The woman said with a smile.
“Thanks.” I said and held a hand out to her.
She gave my cast a glance and looked at me with raised eyebrows.
I chuckled and switched hands. “Sorry about that. I just hurt it this morning and I'm still getting used to not using it.”
She didn't drop her eyebrows as she used her right hand to try and take my left. I solved the logistical problem by lightly grabbing her hand, turning it over slightly, and kissed the back of it. Her flowing flames went over both my hand and licked at my face.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Supreme.” I said and let her hand go.
She seemed quite surprised that her flames stayed on my hand and on my face, and I didn't react at all.
“Okay, I'm impressed.” Fire said with a nod and pointed at the chair beside the other woman. “Propane, take your testing flames back.”
Propane waited until I sat down before she reached for my hand and the blue flames jumped back to her, then she reached up for my face. She hesitated for a moment before touching me, so I leaned into her hand and kissed the palm. She sucked in a sharp breath as her flames jumped back to her hand.
“How did you do that?” Propane asked as she rubbed a hand over the one I kissed.
“Tempered heat training.” I said with a straight face.
The two men at the table chuckled under their breath and exchanged knowing looks.
“I don't want you to explain that, do I?” Fire asked.
I gave her a pointed look and then stuck out my tongue to flick it a few times. The two men couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed.
“I knew I shouldn't have asked.” Fire said with a shake of her head.
Propane wasn't put off by that information at all. In fact, she seemed a little intrigued by it.
“That's Burnout and that's Ignition.” Fire said and pointed at the two men. Burnout was the guy in all black and Ignition was the bald guy. “I've been telling my team about your observations and your offer to help me train.”
“Do they want in or are they going to watch me wring out your power problems until you collapse?”
“I like him! He's got passion.” Burnout said.
“I doubt he could help us before he sees us use our quirks.” Propane said. Her soft voice was quite sexy and I gave her an appreciative look. “What are you thinking?”
“Two things. You've got a very sexy voice.” I said and paused to watch her blush. “I think your quirk is Psychic Flames.”
Propane caught her breath and the two guys looked surprised. Fire just smiled.
“They reacted like living things, so there's either an emotional or logical component to both their movement and their propagation. They don't seem to spread like normal fire and the waves starting from the center of your chest are actually from your heart.”
“Damn, he's good.” Burnout said. “Propane had to take twenty minutes to explain her quirk to me before I understood what she meant by 'my flames are a part of me'.”
Fire smiled at him and then nodded at our food trays. “Eat up and let's get to the exercise room. I booked the far end precision range for this evening.”
We all nodded and ate our food. I paced myself with Fire and she gave me several searching looks as I did so. I just winked at her each time and she just huffed at me. We finished up and I followed the group to the basement and to the large exercise room. We passed a dozen other pro hero sidekicks as we made our way to the section that Fire had reserved for us.
Fire took out the papers I had given her and passed them back to me. “I want to do number seven as soon as possible.”
I glanced at it and almost laughed at her wanting to burn through steel. “Okay. Show me your normal fire attack.” I said and pointed at the closest target.
Fire held up one of her hands, palm forward, and green fire flowed over her forearm before it gathered in her hand. She shot a ball of flame down the range and it struck the target.
“How much of your energy did that take?” I asked her.
“Not a lot. I'm used to a much higher output.” Fire responded.
“Hmm.” I hummed and rubbed my chin as I worked out how to adapt Ming's lessons for Fire to use.
“I think he's messing with us. There's no way you can do that.” Propane said.
I gave her a crooked smile and turned to Fire. “All right, you normally gather your fire for a second or two before unleashing it, right?” I asked and she nodded. “Did you do your heat practice exercises this morning while on patrol?”
Fire nodded and made fists as she let her fire out... and then she dialed it back in only a few seconds.
“That's perfect. Well done.” I praised her and she looked startled for a moment, then she blushed a little. “What are you at, temperature wise?”
“Internally or externally?” Fire asked me.
“Internally. You're only ten degrees above room temperature externally.” I commented.
“How do you know that?” Fire asked and I gave her a big smile. “Never mind.”
That made the two men chuckle.
“I'm at about 200 degrees.” Fire said without glaring at me.
“I want you to close your eyes.” I said and she did so without complaint. “Now, your quirk is like a furnace. It's always ready to burn hot and kicks in when you're cold, doesn't it?”
Fire nodded without saying anything.
“I want you to stoke it.” I said and she opened her eyes to look at me. “Back-burn it. Make it as hot as possible and keep your external temperature the same.”
“You're crazy! I can't do that!” Fire exclaimed. “I cold burn this whole building down!”
I turned to Burnout. “Grab the cheapest piece of equipment and bring it over here.”
Burnout ran over to a large cushion mat and brought it back.
“That's great. I want you to use your quirk on it.”
The four of them stared at me as if I was actually crazy.
“Please. I want to prove a point.” I urged and he glanced at Fire.
“Go ahead. Let's see what he does.” Fire said with a shrug.
Burnout knelt and touched the edge of the mat and used his quirk. The entire mat... top, sides, underneath, and the stuffing inside... lit on fire instantly and started to burn and melt.
I took a quick breath and used Arctic Breath as I froze the flames and the mat solid.
“Jesus!” Burnout nearly shouted and the other three looked shocked.
“Believe me, if anything goes out of control, I've got a handle on it.” I said and Propane gave me a very interested look. I put a hand on Fire's shoulder. “I want you to concentrate. Close your eyes and bring up your internal fire as high as you can safely go. You can use the same feeling as if you're going all out against a villain as your target temperature.”
Fire looked unsure for several seconds until she looked down at the frozen fire around the frozen mat. “Just don't do that to me. I'd look terrible as a popcicle.”
I chuckled. “I can just blow out your flames or suck them in. I only used the ice as an example.”
Fire nodded and closed her eyes. She brought herself to the same slight external temperature that she had trained to sense heat, then she took several deep breaths as she increased her internal temperature. This was something that any strong fire quirk user could do, just so they would get used to exactly how much fire they could produce.
I watched her closely and kept my telekinesis ready, in case she needed some reinforcement. I could tell she was powering up quickly and put my hand back on her shoulder. She startled a little and lost her concentration. She sighed and didn't open her eyes as she resumed the exercise.
I let her go and waited until she was getting close to the same internal temperature and grabbed her wrist with my left hand. Fire flinched and didn't lose her concentration this time.
“Good. That's good.” I whispered and raised her hand to point it at the closest target. “Remember what you did to fire that fireball?”
“Yes.” Fire said as sweat formed on her forehead.
“I want you to ignore gathering the fire around your forearm this time.”
“But, I can't. I need to...” Fire started to explain.
“Your flames can come from any part of your body. You could shoot it out of your mouth if you wanted to.” I said and she sucked in a sharp breath. “No, you need to blow the other way.”
The guys laughed and Propane smacked me on the back. Fire opened her eyes to glare at me.
“Your power is inside you. It's roaring to be used.” I said and didn't turn her hand to open the palm. I folded her hand into a fist and then extended her index finger. “Concentrate and send that power here.”
“You're not going to tell me to close my eyes?” Fire asked as more sweat gathered and flowed down her face.
“No, you've got your power at the perfect level. I can't even feel the temperature difference and I'm holding your wrist. Your blood pressure isn't spiking, either.”
Fire widened her eyes a little and then she smiled. “Okay, I can do this.”
“I know you can.” I said and tapped the very tip of her finger. “Pretend this is your palm, since you've used your palm for so long as a firing point.” I tapped it several times and then tapped near the center of her palm where her other fingertips were. “Associate this feeling with that one. Your finger is your forearm and the tip is your palm.”
“This is crazy.” Propane whispered.
“Let your mind and your quirk do the work. It wants to be used more efficiently.” I explained. “Your body needs more fine tuning...”
“Hey!” Fire exclaimed.
“...beyond muscles and exercise. It needs finesse and coordination. You need to be able to use your quirk in ways that you haven't thought of yet, which is why a lot of the things on those sheets won't work for you.” I smiled at her. “Yet.”
“Okay.” Fire said as sweat started to soak her hair. “Okay. What do I do now?”
“Fire.” I said and let her wrist go. “Let some of your power out through just your fingertip and fire.”
Fire nodded and then a foot wide ball of fire formed at her fingertip and instantly shot across the room and impacted the closest wooden target right on the bullseye... then the fireball and the target exploded.
“HOLY SHIT!” A dozen people yelled at the same time. Apparently, we had drawn quite the audience.
“I've also worked out the proper technique to let you melt steel.” I whispered to her.
Fire gave me a look that I would later learn was her 'I'm tempted to let you fuck me' look.