SG: Innocent Bystander #8 -- Grounded 2/2

[Whitney Taylor]

Continued from Part 1


*****


"Mom," said Mina in a low voice, "You implied--did you really, that is--did you actually KILL someone?"


Her mother looked at her sympathetically. "Bluffing is a useful skill, sweetheart. Especially with a little truth to it..."


"Mom!"


"... And the truth is, that kind of thing did happen, and I knew about it. I never had to do it myself. I thank Elvis I was never tested that way, but I think... no, I *know* that if your safety was at risk, I would have done anything. Now, that's me being honest about something I have never told you before. It's your turn now, Mimi. Can we talk here?"


Mina glanced up at the white acoustic tiles. "They have some kind of sound dampening tech installed... or maybe it's magic... and I've never seen a fight break out somehow..."


Then they were in the dining hall, where they were greeted with the spectacle of Malmechano (mercifully clad in a lime green lab coat, no armor in sight) haranguing Simone, who gazed down at him, nonplussed, from her eye level a foot or so above his. Some kind of villainous instinct caused him to look around before Mina could retreat with her mother, and he turned upon them with a triumphant "HaHA! I have you! And now I will speak with your MANAGER!"


Sophie stepped smoothly between them. "May I help you?"


The villain stopped short, confused by her stolid confidence. "You... you aren't the manager... she's taller... sexier... would look very intimidating with a whip..."


Without missing a beat, she responded, "That's right. I'm the owner." Simone, who had been giving Mina a series of helpless shrugs to indicate that she had done her best, suddenly straightened up, eyes wide.


Malmechano looked her up and down, blinking, then back at her unfazed expression. She folded her arms, raising an eyebrow, and began to tap her foot. "Ah... I see... I have a COMPLAINT!" Regaining his footing, he began to bloviate, "A COMPLAINT! YES! Your employee-- the one standing by YOUR VERY SIDE--is in fact a meddling Superguy! An interfering nuisance! A super-powered STAIN upon the reputation of this business. A pathetic and downright un-American DO GOODER. Also I find her demeanor slovenly and frankly disrespectful."


Mina's mother held up a hand, her voice showing only the slightest trace of strain as her gaze pierced her daughter. "I see...I'm sorry to hear that... please tell me more about her... super-powered activity..."


As the villain howled his way through his version of the sandwich shop heist, pointing and gesticulating, Mina covertly took in the rest of the room. They were definitely drawing some interested looks. She hoped no one could clearly hear what was being said...


"... I insist she be disciplined! Preferably with some kind of clamps... although I don't want to tell you your business..."


"Oh, she'll be dealt with, I promise you." said Mina's mother. "I intend to get a great deal out of her." Mina dropped her gaze, hoping she looked like the right kind of terrified.


Apparently satisfied with this, Malmechano chuckled, "Watch out she doesn't cough up a few hairballs as well!" Which made her cheeks burn and her feet itch to kick him.


When he had sauntered out of the door and was gone from sight, Sophie turned to her daughter. "Well, Mina--"


"I cannot believe you said that! Don't you know anything about the owner?" Simone hissed in delighted terror at the audacious drama.


"Do you, young lady?"


Simone shook her head. "Ms. Leda's terrified of her, I know that. I've only seen her once, I don't know how much of a sense of humor she has about people taking her name in vain."


Mina was starting to feel giddy and light headed. "Well, no one had better find out. Mom was a commando in the Genocide War and she murdered dozens to restore our freedom. I just learned this. Oh, and she wants a pumpkin spice latte with extra cinnamon."


Sophie smacked her daughter lightly on the back of the head. "Show some respect! And I'll have it with extra nutmeg, please."


"Sorry, mom. Yesterday was very weird, and last night... and you show up, with no warning, and drop all this on me... and start--" she dropped her voice "--*lying* to everyone..."


"Supervillains don't deserve to be told the truth, especially when my baby's safety is on the line. And if you'd call every day--even every week--"


"I've been REALLY busy! There's a lot going on--"


"A lot you need to tell your mother..." Sophie's voice trailed off. Mina, following her gaze, turned to face the perfect white smiles of Amara and Zayd, two strange customers who had taken particular notice of her these past few weeks. Their matching pink vests revealed spectacular examples of sculpted cleavage, male and female.


Zayd bowed slightly, his white hair falling forward. "Hello, dear Mina."


Amara's dark brow creased into the form of a sympathetic expression. "We couldn't help but notice..."


"...We couldn't help but hear..."


"...You had troubles yesterday..."


"...If you had only called on us..."


Amara playfully swatted her partner. "Now don't be pushy! Although you really should take our card with you when you go out. There are bad, bad people about."


"You're easy prey," Mina fixed her eyes upon the ground, but she could still feel that gray gaze pulling at her. "It's because you aren't very powerful, isn't it, dear?"


"We could help with that... in exchange for..."


"Um, no thanks!"


The pair of them burst into silvery laughter.


"How precious!" Amara pinched her left cheek, gently.


"We really will keep you safe," Zayd patted her on the head. "As much as our *limited* powers allow."


They turned in unison to Sophie, who had been watching the scene with suspicion and a quiet but growing anger. "And you're the mother! We can't thank you enough for bringing this treasure into the world!"


They locked arms, and began to walk away. "Anyway," called Zayd, as his partner blew them a kiss, "don't say we never did anything for you!"


"Mina." Sophie Westing kept her eyes on the villains as they sashayed out the door. "They seem to know you quite well."


"They did save me once..."


"Mina. I have to ask you this, honey."


"What...?"


"Have you..." she cleared her throat, delicately, "been having relations with those people?"


"Moooooom!"


"We've always known you were a bit different... you never seemed interested in any of your ordinary classmates... and you know we'll love you no matter what... but you always followed superguy news, and here you are, surrounded by glamorous superguys who seem to show an interest in you..."


"Moooooooooooooooooom!" Mina wailed, mortified beyond the capacity for coherent speech.


"...People like that will use up ordinary folks and throw us away. Even the heroes sometimes do it, and those were not heroes, sweetheart. I know the sort of things they can get up to with those powers! Of course, you're all grown up and you want to make your own decisions--"


"Mom! I did NOT have sexual relations with those supervillains!"


Sophie put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, carefully scrutinizing her face. Whatever she saw seemed to soothe her somewhat. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. I don't have another daughter to spare..."


There was a throat clearing, and Mina looked to Simone, grateful until she saw from the knowing look in the other barista's eyes that she had heard at least part of the diatribe. "Your pumpkin spice lattes... Extra cinnamon and extra nutmeg. I made one of each. I thought you might need it." She winked at Mina sympathetically.


"Thanks," she said, red faced, and to her mother, "Let's go."


"Go? There's a perfectly nice table right here."


"I, um, thought you wanted to get away from..." she gestured to the variously spandex, leather and armor clad clientele sitting in their various coteries around the dining room.


"Nonsense. If this place is safe enough for my baby to work in, it's safe enough for me to dine in. Besides, I'm starting to think that the only way I'll find out everything you've been up to is if your... acquaintances show up to let me in on it."


They took a table in the back, as far from other customers as they could get. Bit by bit, Sophie got most of the story out of her daughter, starting with the night she had broken into Malmechano's lair and ending with her most recent escape from the mad anachronists. She glossed over only details about the catgirls, and Maow specifically--she didn't need to hear a repeat lecture. Her mother listened attentively, even nodding approval in parts. But her frown grew deep as Mina described Elemental's brutal murder of her old friend, and her eyes blazed with brighter and brighter fury as she heard the tale of the colorful, poisonous Belles.


Finally, Mina was done talking. As she gratefully turned her attention to the comforts of pumpkin spice, her mother leaned back, digesting. When she finally spoke up again, her voice was calm and thoughtful.


"This Malmechano... he thinks you have powers?"


Mina nodded, her mouth full of hot drink.


Flatly: "But you do not."


Mina swallowed. "Um, no. I told you, Rezo got some that he can lend--"


"A supervillain," said Sophie distantly, "and he doesn't have to be bright to do harm, a supervillain believes you have powers that you do not have."


"Er..."


"I brought up the Genocide War earlier, Mina. I don't often do that. It doesn't bring up many good memories, for either of us, although in some ways it may seem like a simpler time. I did my part, yes, and I put my life on the line despite having no powers, having no obligation..." she heaved a sigh, "and I did it so you would have a safer world to live in."


"Mom..."


"And your father, Elvis preserve him. He went waltzing into the supernatural world and never came out. At least he stood to *gain* something for it, something precious, though he *lost* everything."


"Wasn't it normalguys who--"


"Don't interrupt. You know why it happened. What are you hoping to accomplish here, honey? I don't want to put you down, but you have no powers, no fighting skills, not even a suit of power armor, although heaven knows where you would get the funding even to cover the upkeep. You don't even have a real gun, not that I'm in love with the thought of you using one. You've caught the attention of no less than five individuals and groups of dangerous people, at least one of whom is a murderer. I understand that the money is decent, but it won't pay for your funeral. Nothing could." Her eyes bored into Mina's, until the latter looked away.


There was silence at the table.


>From the surrounding restaurant, the muffled noise of supervillain conversation filtered to mother and daughter. Against that background chorus of cheerful malice, Mina struggled to find words.


"Mom..." she began, tentatively, "it's not... that is, some--"


She was relieved of her fumbling attempt at argument by the sound of shattering glass, followed by a hurtling object which smashed itself into pieces on the back wall of the restaurant, followed by a shocked silence. Mina and her mother stared at the remains scattered on the floor.


"Is that... a potato?"


An incomprehensible roar of blended voices rose around them as villains got to their feet, removing weapons both obvious and obscure from various parts of their clothes and bodies. Those who could make their eyes glow began doing so. The bodies blocked the view of the two women at the back table, so they didn't see at first what it was that crashed through the front door. Mina began to step onto her chair to get a better view, but her mother's hand on her shoulder stopped her.


There was a loud *thunk* *hiss* noise, and the unmistakable blinding flare of a Roman candle lifted above the heads to lodge, sparking, in the ceiling. This must have broken something in the workings of the cafe, for all of the voices separated at once and became comprehensible, if you could hear them over the continuing sound of fireworks going off.


"Ow! My eyes!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"How DARE you!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"Get out of my way, weaklings, so I can incinerate this fool!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"Are those chicken nuggets?"


*thunk* *hiss*


"AWLRIGHT, Y'ALL! WHICH ONE YOU SUMBITCHES KNOWS WHERE MY EX-WIFE IS AT?"


*thunk* *hiss*


"He's got guns!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"We've all got guns, you imbecile!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"MY EX-WIFE DONE BEEN SEEN WITH MY JULEP!"


*thunk* *hiss*


"--mask made out of duct tape???"


*thunk* *hiss*


"I KNOW SHE CAME ROUND HERE ATIMES!"


"It's just pasted right on his skin, too!"


"SHE TOOK AWAY MY JULEP WHAT ALWAYS LOVED ME BETTER!"


"Good! I get to be the one to peel it off!"


The last was buzzed by the Excessively Large Beetle, who spread his chitinous wings and took to the air above the crowd, horns lifted and ready for battle. Unfortunately, while the cafe's ceiling was high, it had not been decorated with aerial combat in mind, and one of the Beetle's wings clipped a light fixture, which then exploded in a shower of sparks as the insectile villain went careening. He crashed into a man wearing orange spandex, who promptly turned his glowing eyes on this new disturbance. The black shell bloomed with iridescence as it absorbed the energy beams, leaving the coleopteran barely singed, but now with a new target. As the two began to exchange blows, the shouting voice continued.


"I BETTER GET MY JULEP BACK OR ELSE I'MA BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND!"


The crowd was moving now, taking positions around the intruder and now the fight breaking out to one side. A space cleared, and Mina could see a shirtless man standing in broken glass and rubble at the front of the restaurant. The shirtless man's head was wrapped in silvery duct tape, concealing his features, and strapped to his back was some kind of PVC contraption. In one hand he held a bottle of ketchup, which he was squirting liberally upon his surroundings, and in the other he held a lighter. He stood in front of what had once been a golf cart, before someone had sloppily welded metal plates to it. There were chicken nuggets glued on to the front for some reason, but more concerning were the two assault rifles affixed to the roof. Fortunately, the man seemed to have forgotten they were there.


Someone else must have noticed them, for they were targeted by a heat beam, quickly turning red and then exploding as the cartridges overheated. The shirtless man dropped to the floor with a yelp, performed a cumbersome combat roll, and blundered to his feet, popping a freshly cooked chicken nugget into his mouth. A hairy, grasping claw swiped at him, snatching away the pipe contraption. Mina winced as she saw the wounds opened on his back, but the man appeared not to notice. Instead, he redirected his tirade.


"YOU GIVE BACK THAT THERE POTATO CANON I DONE MADE THAT MYSELF I DIDN'T NEVER STEAL IT FROM MY COUSIN'S BASEMENT! IT'S MINE!" So saying, he launched himself at his assailant, luckily timing his assault with a thrown dagger from the other side of the room, which missed him but certainly hit someone to judge from the resulting howl.


It was at this point that Mina felt herself taken by the arm and pulled back inexorably. "It's time to go. And put that phone away! I swear I raised you with more sense!"


Obediently, Mina tapped the stop button on her recording. You couldn't see very well with all the glowing fireworks embers, anyway...


She followed her mother back, into the relative safety of the employee's only area. To her surprise, Sophie stopped, grabbing a pastry dish from the kitchen counter. "No reason for this to go to waste," she muttered. Bearing this prize, the pair retreated to the breakroom. Simone was there before them, swiftly changing her heels out for trainers as she watched a frowning Leda talk into a wall phone. Amy Sunderland sat rigid on a folding chair, but her eyes began to blaze when she saw what Sophie had in her hands.


"We're taking this," Sophie told her. "Compensation."


Before Amy could assert her rights in regards to the delicious treat, Leda Milani had hung up the phone and clapped her hands for attention.


"Assistance has been summoned. For the time being--" *KABOOM* "--Elvis, that better not have been *my* car."


"Does this kind of thing happen often?"


Leda turned to Mina's mother. "No. No, it isn't supposed to happen at all. In fact, I have no experience in dealing with this, which is why I had to call the owner."


"Hadn't we better get out of here then?" Simone piped up. Sophie Westing gave her an approving look.


"Yes... yes, we had better."


"Who the hell(tm) wants to be here when upper management arrives, anyway?" Amy shuddered, "I've seen all I ever fucking want of that woman, and her pals give me the creeps."


"Have you got everything you need?" Sophie asked her daughter softly. Mina sighed and nodded. It looked like the decision to give up her adventures was out of her hands. She wondered if she would ever see Maow again, if the catgirl would even understand why she had gone...


"This will be an unpaid vacation for you all." Leda said crisply. "I'll let you know when we open for business again. I don't know how long that will be, so feel free to use me as a reference. This is not an easy job, and you've all performed admirably." Mina straightened, ignoring her mother's frown.


"Now, I think you had better evacuate. There are defenses on this room, but there were defenses up front..." She shrugged, befuddlement breaking through her sang froid. "I really can't guarantee your safety."


Simone was already peeking through the rear exit. When she stepped out, alert but confident, Mina felt herself drawn after. As she and her mother followed cautiously, Mina's ears caught one last exchange:


"Leda, who the fuck IS that redneck asshole, anyway?"


"Believe it or not, Florida Man strikes again..."


*****


Elemental watched her target's hands carefully as he input the string of numbers and letters into the keyboard, then drifted back on the air currents, losing interest in the man as she began the ritual of committing what she had seen to memory.


Unfortunately the whisper of magic came to her just at that moment, words of warning scattering the pattern of digits and characters before they could be set firmly in her mind.


The man turned his head sharply, startled at what sounded remarkably like a hiss of frustration in what he had been certain was an empty room. Behind him, the air vent gasped and fell silent for a moment. Then the air conditioning resumed its familiar swishing noise. Finding himself still alone, he shrugged. He had been working too hard... but he knew that already.


{Everybody's going nowhere slowly

They're only fighting for the chance to be last

There's nothing wrong with going nowhere, baby

But we should be going nowhere fast

It's so much better going nowhere fast}


As she spiraled up above the buildings, she vented her irritation in song. Then the speed of her wind took her, and she forgot the little man and his annoyingly complicated passwords in the joy of flight and the anticipation of fight. Fortunately her mission had been within the city; she did not have far to travel.


Her teammates had been faster, she saw, as she slowed to a drift above the strip mall where their little business venture had been established. Homunculus, standing on the roof, concealed from those beneath had created an illusory convoy of trucks carrying cash, valuable metals, and experimental weapons. Familiar, she saw, had presented herself as a beautiful spandex-clad villain, and had drawn the crowd's attention as only she could. Elemental saw her gesturing to the convoy and shouting encouragement, then taking off in hot pursuit, followed by the greedy and easily distracted, which was most of them.


The convoy headed towards the city, which could use a good leveling anyway. Her own job would be to disarm, disable and, if necessary, dispatch any remaining combatants. Daemon... well, if they had had to deploy Daemon, they might just as well dump the whole operation into the fiery poop dimension. Luckily she could not sight him.


As she spiraled towards the rubble below, however, something else caught her attention. Several figures were avoiding the conflict, scurrying along the edges of the mostly empty parking lot. One pair, seated aboard a blue scooter, headed towards an older SUV parked as far away from the cafe as the lot would allow. Elemental swept in close, then, unwilling to put off her mission any longer, sped back to the ruined entrance to the cafe, her airy heart singing for battle.


Examining the implications could wait for later, of course. But she had seen what she had seen.



IMPLICATIONS? WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?


WHAT EXACTLY IS ELEMENTAL PLANNING FOR MINA?


IS SNITCHING ON MINA TO HER MOM THE WORST OF MALMECHANO'S MANY CRIMES?


DID THE CAFE'S SECURITY CAMERAS GET GOOD BETTER FOOTAGE OF THE FIGHT THAN MINA'S PHONE?


HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN A TRIPLE-THREAT FLAN LAYERED BAKED BUTTER DULCE DE LECHES CREAM COATED ARTERIAL MURDER TART?


HANDS UP IF YOU WOULD EAT ONE ANYWAY?


THE ANSWERS TO SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS MAYBE PERHAPS ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF



SUPERGUY!


(song credit: Nowhere Fast by Meatloaf)


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