"There's a clinic opening up over near the Handle. It's a very divisive one though since it offers abortions it's gotten some heat. There are protestors, counter-protestors, and people just trying to get healthcare. It's a mess and while threats were made, the cops feel it's not anything to worry about. A group contacted me, asking me to defuse any tension that might pop up. Make sure no one tries anything dumb," he explains. "Well me and an associate."
A shadow gets cast over us and we both look up. A woman on her cellphone slowly descends to stand next to us.
"Yes honey, I'll grab milk after this...I don't know how long this'll take...Look, I gotta go, bye Felicia!" I can hear her on the other side of the phone,
"I hate it when you say that!" the woman hangs up, offering a shy smile.
"She's gonna yell at me later. Oh well."
"Jason, this is Tanisha Thompson," he introduces her. "Also known as Star Streak." The first thing I notice about Tanisha is how tall she is. Taller than Lamar, which isn't anything to sneeze at, she has to be 6'5 at least. The second is how muscular she is. In an athletic tank top, she proudly shows off her impressive biceps and smooth, cinnamon brown skin. She has on goggles which she adjusts to her head on her short, dyed gray hair. She does a heart gesture with her hands and winks at me.
"I hate that name, what does it even mean?" she has a very sweet voice.
"I didn't want to be called Lightning Demon either, but here we are."
"So how do you two know each other?" I ask, curious.
"We've been put in a mentor-mentee relationship. In which she's the
protégé."
"Excuse me, I'm five years older than you."
"Yeah but you've had your powers for three months. I've had mine for two years."
"You got me there. Anyway, I brought your battery packs since I knew you'd forget them."
"Thank you." Lamar reaches into the bookbag she hands him. "It's 'cause she's an unusual Protagonist, like me. She has two separate abilities, unrelated to each other."
"Go ahead, guess," she asks me. I look her over.
"Super strength?"
"Nope, these babies." she stops to kiss her biceps. "Are all-natural."
"She can turn invisible. C'mon Tanisha, they can never guess it." Lamar attaches two fist-sized objects to his belt loops. They're cylinder-shaped, completely black, and smooth. They remind me of the hallway at the Protagonist board building. How they could serve as battery packs is beyond me.
"Spoilsport. Yes, I can turn invisible." Just like that she disappears right before my eyes. I can hear her laugh at my surprised face.
"In every sense of the word too, she can't be detected by any sort of sensor either. Not thermal, motion, or infrared. The only way to tell where she is is if she punches you in the face."
"That was one time and I said I was sorry," Tanisha says, somewhere.
"With that and the fact that she can reach supersonic speeds."
"I broke Mach 2 the other day," she says, from what sounds like behind me.
"She makes a lot of people nervous. An undetectable, fast-flying individual raises a lot of security concerns."
"So it figures the other massive security concern should keep an eye on me." Tanisha reveals herself and it turns out she's flying right over my head. I'm only now aware of her presence. It's unnerving. "So we ready to go? Is cutie here coming too?" she asks, pointing at me.
"Do you want to come?" Lamar asks. I shrug.
"I don't have much else going on." He shrugs.
"Good enough reason to go to a potential riot I guess." Tanisha grabs her bookbag and pulls out a hoodie and another pair of goggles, handing them to me.
"Put these on," she instructs.
"Why?" She just smiles.
"Trust me, getting dust in your eyes kinda ruins your first time flying." What?
"Have fun," Lamar says before zipping into a power line. I put on the hoodie and goggles and Tanisha wraps her arms around my torso.
"It's either this or I princess carry you," she clarifies.
"I'll go with this."
With that we start to float in the air, The higher up we get, the more nervous I get and the tighter she holds me. We get maybe forty feet in the air when she asks,
"You ready for this?"
"Not really."
"That's the spirit!" Tanisha flies forward and we zoom over the city. People, cars, and buildings rush in and out of my sight as the wind flows over my face. She's moving faster than I'd like but as soon as I open my mouth, dust flies in. I hack and cough and decide just to enjoy this as best I can. She flies higher and higher until we're above most of the buildings, save the tallest skyscrapers. She stops so that I can take in the view. Up here I can see the entire island from end to end. All the buildings that make up the famous skyline take on a new look at this angle. Oh God, I'm really high, aren't I? I start to hyperventilate a bit
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Tanisha asks me.
"Yeah it is, but this is probably a bad time to mention I kinda have a fear of heights?"
"Gotcha." Tanisha surges down and we plummet towards the city. I don't understand how she can tell where to go from this high up. We close on in where we're headed and I can see two large crowds of people, I can even hear them from here. Tanisha lands us on a building overlooking the street. Lamar appears in a flash of electricity next to us and starts scanning the scene. The two groups are yelling at each other from behind barriers. There has to be at least a couple hundred of them on either side.
Tension runs high as insults are shouted across the divide.
"Well it's not pretty but doesn't seem like there's any-" Lamar starts to say before the sound of clanging metal. The barrier on the side of what I guess is the original protestors falls over. They flood out to close the gap and the rest of the barriers crash to the ground. "I stand corrected." Tanisha flies up and before Lamar zips away I grab his arm.
"Be careful, ok?" His scar lights up before he nods.
"I will," he answers. He points to a door behind us. "You can get down through there." The two groups meet and a fight breaks out. "We have to stop this."
"HEY!" Tanisha shouts. Even over all the chaos, her voice cuts through and grabs a great deal of attention. "Backup from each other!" A small space is made for her as she descends like an angel from the heavens, a stern look on her face. "Anyone who wants to get close to the clinic has to go through me!" She announces. A few people start looking at each other, trying to see if they can take her.
"That's my cue," Lamar says. He turns into lightning and shoots into the air. Then, like a God of thunder, he lands next to StarStreak who is unfazed. The space between the two groups widens as the Lightning Demon stands as a clear deterrent to anyone that thought about doing anything stupid.
By the time I get down to the street level the situation has been defused and the protestors, reluctantly, return to their side. The two heroes keep their spot, acting as a new barrier.
"Looks like everything worked out," Tanisha says.
"Someone still might try some-"
"Lamar Brown?!" a voice calls out. He and I look to the source. The girl that it came from looks familiar. "Oh goodness, it is you!" she says with an elegance like she's at a party and not in the middle of a protest. She has an accent that I can't place. She gets closer and I recognize her as the girl Lamar saved from the helicopter. She walks right up to him, ignoring the tension that was in the air only moments ago. The girl shakes his hand.
"Here I am to oversee the opening of my clinic, and I happen to bump into you. What a coincidence!"
"Your clinic?" he asks.
"Indeed, just another of many I hope to open here in this city," she explains.
"Really?"
"My name's Imani Jordan. And I've been looking for you!"
What does a wealthy girl like Imani want with Lamar?
Chapter 2 End
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