Alele sighed "You can't just wear a balaclava to fight crime in, Candy. That's the most 'bad guy' thing to wear, you'd be attacked on sight by like, half the heroes in Valley City."
I glared at her and stuffed the mask in question back into my pocket "Well, I don't exactly have a lot of options here, I need to cover my hair and my face if I'm going to pull this off."
"Yeah, so wear a domino mask and a wig, like I said." she said, rolling her eyes
"I'm not wearing a wig to fight in, it'd get torn off instantly, and then it'd be obvious I was trying to hide my identity. Plus, I don't even have a domino mask or a wig." I pointed out
"Uuuuugh why are you so difficult?" she moaned "Can I please just take you to a custom shop?"
"I'm not trusting some random shop with my secret identity, and therefore my popularity, I need to keep my two personas separate until I'm famous enough as both to make angel..."
"Gods, have you never heard of identity exposure laws? These places thrive on chosen business, and if they ever leak a name, they get sued for everything and go to jail."
I shook my head "I know the laws, Alele, I just don't think I want to risk it."
She glared at me "...What if I let you wear the balaclava during the fitting? Would you go then?"
I thought about it. I knew I was being difficult, and part of that was because she was being so pushy about this and my natural instinct was to push back. I could't really do much with the clothes I had though, if nothing else we'd end up having to go shopping for duplicates of whatever we went with, in case of tears and damage. A custom shop would have better quality stuff than a random store, true, but did I really want to risk giving away my identity like that? I held back a snip and let myself calm down. I was just being a bitch to be a bitch, I'd wear the mask to the fitting, it'd be fine. I needed Alele on my side anyway, she was basically doing double work with me for no pay, after all.
"I guess, if I wear the mask..." I said "I do need a costume that'll make me look nice for photos. I guess a black turtleneck and cargo pants isn't really going to get me a lot of followers on CirNet..."
"Yeah, plus that's already the signature look of Freedom Fighter, from the Children of Battle." she said
"Well, he wears that little hat, too..." I muttered
"I need a new costume too if I'm going to be tagging along with you for these, and I'd like to match you at least a little, so really a private shop is our only option here." Alele said as she transformed "Here, if we go now, we can get our order in before lunch, ok?"
"This isn't going to be expensive, is it?" I asked as I transformed and opened her window to leave
"Not everyone gets magic clothes when they get chosen, think of it as getting to learn how the other half lives!" Alele said, pulling me out the window into the sky.
"Here, this way!" she yanked on my arm as we sped towards the shopping hub.
The city spread out below us, zipping past as we rocketed through the air. I let her pull me, staying behind her just enough to let her lead, but keeping up enough that she wasn't tugging on me. I watched the ground below me melt into a blur, and looked up to scan the skyline. Flying chosen weren't rare, but I did rarely see any when I was in the sky. I wondered if it was because of the buildings being in the way, or if other flyers had tricks to stay out of sight. I didn't need any of those tricks myself, if anything I wanted ways to be more flashy in the air. Alele banked towards a side street, slowing down as we approached.
"You already have a place picked out, I'm guessing?" I asked
"When you told us about your dilemma last night, I started looking! I think I found the best fit for us, they're the same shop that made the outfits for The Lacerations and The Dropkickers!"
"Isn't one of those groups made up of mostly fallen chosen?" I asked as we started dropping to the ground
"Yeah? That's how you know they can be discrete, duh." Alele said giving me a look.
We hit the ground, and I looked up at the building we'd landed in front of. It wasn't what I expected.
"This is a burger joint, Alele." I said, deadpan "And it looks like a grease trap."
"Oh, it absolutely is, that's why this is where we're going for lunch after." She said with a grin "The shop is another block up the street."
"Why didn't we just land there?..." I asked
"Because you didn't want anyone to know- gods, really?" Alele asked, raising an eyebrow "I swear you're smarter than that."
"Whatever, I just want to get this over with..." I said, de-transforming. A few people glanced over at us, eyes wide, but I ignored them and pulled the balaclava out of my back pocket where I'd stashed it, slipping it on.
Alele glared at me "Just come on..." she grumbled
We walked up the street, and I tried to ignore the looks I was getting as we approached the shop Alele had picked out. It was a two story shop, connected on both sides to other shops, and it had a big sign reading "Milton's Handmades" on a glass window. The window featured a display case with a couple fancy dresses, a nice stylized blue suit, and interestingly enough, a chosen's hero outfit, one with a hood that had yellow wings on it, with a red body and silver boots. There was a 'SOLD' tag on it, so I assumed it was only on display for advertisement's sake, to let everyone know that they did hero costumes. Alele opened the door, jingling the bell, and she waved me in.
Stepping inside, I saw that the interior was lined with fabrics on racks and drawers built into the walls, with even more outfits and chosen costumes in nooks and on podiums through the store. A halfling man behind the counter with a small mustache and smooth hair looked up and jolted in alarm as he saw us, his hand reaching for a phone on the counter in front of him. He looked underdressed for this place, just a white button-up and grey slacks, but he carried himself well, like a man from an earlier time.
"No, we're chosen, put down the phone, we're not here to rob you, we're just here to get costumes." Alele said, pointing at the man as she came in
"I just don't want my identity getting out..." I said, slightly embarrassed.
"A lot of folks don't, but there's laws for that, missy." the man said in an affected old-time-y accent, like they used to use in black and white movies "We tend to get a lot of chosen types around here, and we don't get a lot of them wearing that kind of get-up. You're liable to get taken in, looking like that."
"It's- ugh, I just need something to wear when I fight crime, can you help with that?" I said, getting frustrated
"I can, but what did you have in mind?" He asked, pulling out a pen and paper "You can't just walk in off the street and demand a costume, I need details missy."
I huffed, not liking his tone "Something lightweight, easy to move in, and durable. I'll want to punch people and stuff, but I don't want to risk making skin contact, my skin is, uh... poisonous, so tight and tough, I think."
"That narrows it down exactly none." The man said snappily "Themes, powers, moods, what are you wanting out of this?"
"We want it to be cute, and to have marketability, mostly." Alele stepped in "As for a theme... Hers needs to be candy themed, maybe bits of candy in the design? Her name is Comfit, like the sweet, and she's got enhanced strength and durability. My costume is going to be psychic themed, I'm a combat precog and my name is Trigger Warning. I'll need more armor than her though, by a lot. I was thinking we could contrast our outfits a little? Maybe have hers be bright and flashy and mine a little subtle."
"A combat precog?" the man asked "That's rare, do you girls have a team yet? I can hook you up with several who'd-"
"No, we're doing this as a duo." I interrupted "And we'd like to be kid friendly, too."
"Ok, I think I got it..." the man said, looking over his notes "For Comfit, I'm thinking... a grey leotard over a white body suit to cover your skin, with pink frills on the arm and leg holes to add the kid appeal, and small, almost flat bits of fake candy on the leotard itself to fit your theme. Masks are kinda hard, but if we go with helmets, we can have matching ones for you two, even though the outfits themselves look different. What about a darker pink motorcycle helmet for you, Comfit, with a digital face that mimics your real one, and a black one for you, Trigger Warning, with three eyes on it that mimic expressions?"
"Can mine be dark blue, actually?" Alele asked sweetly "And what were you thinking for my costume?"
He tapped his pen against his mouth "What about... a dark blue leather jacket and matching leather pants? You mentioned subtle, so it'd be close to streetwear. I could put combat armor into them, not enough to stop a bullet, but enough to stop a punch or a stab, at least."
"Ohh, I'd be the badass one, then?" Alele said, perking up "The sweet one and the scary one, and I get to be the scary one! I like that!"
"Something like that, yeah!" he grinned "Not that you're that scary now, but costumes do wonders. Now, the helmet, would you like an elven helmet? It'd have a longer face-piece for your nose, like an air filter, and it'd poke out at the sides for your ears, or we can just use a standard one and you could bend your ears and nose to fit, if you'd like to hide the fact you're an elf."
"Ick, nnnno, I'll take the elven helmet, please and thank you." Alele said, shaking her head "I want to be comfortable, she's the one who cares so much about her identity."
"It's a valid concern..." I glared at her "Anyway, uh, you." I said, addressing the man "Milton?"
"It's Romanson, actually." he said with a throwaway smile "Milton is retired these days, I took over."
"Oh, congratulations, then?" I said "I was wondering how we'll do a fitting for this, my skin is, like I said, poisonous."
"No problem! Give me your shoe size, hat size, and general waist, hip and leg, and it'll be fine. The material will stretch, so you should be ok if it's not exact." he said, making a few notes.
"Well, I want a full fitting for mine..." Alele said "Leather needs to hug the right places, and if it has armor under it, I need it looking right, and not bulking me up in the wrong places."
"Of course, do you want an estimate now? Or after the fitting?" Romanson asked
"Now would be great, please." I said, dreading his pricing
"Just the outfits themselves come to..." he tapped on his phone, adding up the notes from his notepad "About... five thousand blessings for both."
"Oh, that's not bad!" Alele said "I was expecting more!"
"Well, the helmets have to be hired out, I don't do tech." he said "That's going to be three thousand each easy for the two way coms, voice changers, the expressive screens, and an awareness mode that lets you see around you as well as in front of you."
I winced "Ah, fuck... That's, what, fifty five hundred blessings from each of us total? That's insane..."
"I've had people pay upwards of six figures for their suits, this is a very good price." Romanson said, sounding hurt.
"How the hell did the price go up so high?" Alele asked "Was it made of gold?"
"Super science built into the suit, every feature, more armor, anti-chosen measures, it adds up." he explained "I'm not even one of the more expensive ones out there, there's several people who charge twice what I do here in Valley City, just for the brand recognition, and if you go somewhere like Sound City or Archipelago City where all the heavy hitters are, you can expect to see people running around with seven figure outfits."
"Gods..." I muttered "Well, we're happy with out four figure outfits, thank you very much."
"Let's pay and get me fitted already, we can afford this, right Can-Comfit?" Alele asked, pulling out her bank card
"...Yeah, I guess so." I said, frustrated. It was still over a full paycheck for me, and I'd thought I was doing pretty well for myself.
We paid, and Romanson locked the door and led us upstairs to a small room where I gave him my sizes and Alele got undressed for him to get her measurements. I wasn't too upset about the new outfit, I liked the helmet idea, the leotard sounded cute, and I'd get to show off the tone I'd been building up via my training these past few weeks. I was pretty sure I was putting on muscle and toning up way faster than people usually did now that I was chosen, but I couldn't really tell. I'd always had a little muscle just from farm work, but I still felt like I was getting stronger anyway. My transformation was a strength multiplier, so I wanted to be as strong as I could be in my base form, because that strength was exponentially boosted later.
I thought about how I'd go about actually fighting as Comfit, and I realized I'd just have to... get my hands dirty, throw punches, nothing special, no air support, no dive bombs, no gimmicks, just my slightly stronger than normal fists and "Trigger Warning" in my ear giving me heads ups. She hadn't really gone over that name with me before she blurted it out to Romanson, and I was a little annoyed at her. It was a funny name, which could get us more followers if we played up the goofy side of things, but it also made us sound edgier than I wanted, like a tongue in cheek joke about society or something. Still, she did want to be the 'cool' one while I'm playing the 'sweet' one, and it did kind of fit a kind of borderline anti hero. I liked my theme a lot more, though, I'd even be able to eat the gummies in view of the bad guys, as part of my 'sweet' gimmick if I played it up enough.
Speaking of...
"Hey, Romanson?" I asked as Alele put her clothes back on "I was wondering, I want to eat candy while I'm fighting crime, and play it up, make it part of my character, could I get a little pouch on one hip for the candy? And some kind of hole under the helmet to poke candy into?"
Romanson frowned "Aren't you worried you'll choke?" he asked "I can add that, it shouldn't be a problem, but make sure Trigger Warning here knows how to get the candy unstuck from your air pipe..."
"I can do that, don't worry!" Alele said "She eats sweets constantly out of costume as it is, I think it's her metabolism or something."
"It's not constantly..." I objected
"It's pretty much constant, how many sweets have you had today?" she asked
I thought about it. I'd had a fancy tea with flavor and cream with breakfast, which was french toast, then I'd gone out for donuts, and gotten a peach slushie, then while hanging out in Alele's room I'd helped myself to her bowl of mints... That wasn't too much, right?
"Not a ton, I guess. Maybe like, five or six sweet things, depending on if you count the donuts separate." I said, crossing my arms
"Comfit, it's just past noon. I usually eat one or two sweet things a day, maybe. If that." she retorted
"Well..." I said, my voice trailing off "I just get cravings, and I train a lot, anyway, so whatever, shut up."
"Hm, well, if you need your outfit altered later, don't be afraid to come in!" Romanson said "We do it for a small fee, and we can be sure to make it look good too!"
"I- no, I'm not going to get my outfit altered..." I said, glaring "If I start seeing my body change, I'll stop eating the sweets, gods."
"No worries, just letting you know!" he said amiably
"Anyway..." Alele said "Speaking of eating, we gotta go get lunch, thank you so much, Mr. Romanson! When can we expect the outfits?"
"Oh, they should be done by next week, no problem!" he beamed "They're not too complicated, me and my assistants can pop them out in no time, and I have a super scientist on retainer for the helmets."
"Oooh, super science? You didn't mention that!" Alele said, perking up
"Ah, no, mundane helmets, just made by someone who can work at triple the speed a regular person can, sorry to get your hopes up!" he clarified
"Aw, well, I'm sure they'll be fantastic anyway!" she said, once again pulling my hand as she led me down the stairs "Bye, and I'll be back soon to check in on the order!"
He waved at us, and started making notes on his notepad as we left the room, heading downstairs. Alele crashed into the front door before remembering he'd locked it, then opened it up and we were on our way. We walked the street the way we'd come, and after checking for anyone looking, I pulled off the balaclava and tucked it away, leaving me once again, plain old Candy Clenson instead of secret hero Comfit. It felt almost nice to have a secret identity, most heroes didn't bother with them, but a third or so did, and they defended them to the last breath. I had always wondered why they wouldn't want the fame and fortune in their private lives too, but some people just weren't up to being in the spotlight, I guessed.
I was looking forward to the build-up of the Comfit character, though, the secrecy, the new social media account, the mysterious way I'd have to do things... There was an allure to it that I couldn't deny. Sure I'd be doing double work, but I'd also be getting double the fans, and when I made the big reveal that I was both Comfit and Angel Rouge? My follower count would double, at least. It wasn't a good idea to play my hand too early though, if I didn't have enough total supporters, or if there was too much overlap between the two fanbases, then I'd be wasting my hard work without actually getting to angel like I wanted. That said, would Alele make angel too? I couldn't imagine her power evolving into something better, it was already fantastic, but I was interested to see. Maybe she'd be able to time travel back even further?
"I need you to eat some real food here, ok?" she said, breaking my train of thought. "I know it's not as fancy as the places I usually like, but I've heard great things about it."
I looked up and saw we were standing in front of the shiny metal grease trap we'd landed in front of earlier. I could practically smell the oil oozing out of the rivets and cracks in the building. The whole place screamed 'dive', and I highly doubted they'd have what I really wanted right now, which was a brown sugar boba and a lemon bar... My mouth watered just thinking about it.
"I'd rather go back to the base and eat there, Alele..." I said, wrinkling my nose as someone left, the smell of fried 'something' wafting out the door
"Yeah, sure, so you can get treats from the cafe and avoid actual meals, again." she said "Even when Galorna makes us food these days you eat half of what everyone else does, and I know it's not because it's bad, the girl can cook."
"I just like the quick energy rush sweet stuff gets me." I said "I kinda wonder if has something to do with my power..."
Alele made a horrified face "Like- like your power is trying to make you want more and more sweets so you use it again?"
"Something like that..." I admitted.
It wasn't too much of a stretch, when you were chosen, a small part of the god or goddess's spirit was imparted into you, into the mana connection that linked you to them and gave you your powers. The gods could always just tell you in person that they wanted you to use your powers more if they wanted, they had that ability, but from what people could tell, the will of the gods trickled through the connection like whispers into your mind, pushing you subconsciously to act in one way or another.
People claimed it could change someone's personality, or make them do things they otherwise wouldn't, but the existence of fallen chosen proved that at least, if nothing else, the influence was minor enough to push past and defy. The idea that Lorgiaia, in all her infinite wisdom, was trying to get me to eat people? It just didn't sit well with me. Still, she had given me this power in the first place, she did expect it to be used somehow...
"That settles it, we're eating here to get rid of those urges, and you're not allowed to get anything sweet, got it?" for the third time that day, Alele grabbed my arm, yanking me inside the metal diner, my glove bunching up under her hand.
As we walked in, I tried not to wince. The whole place was full of a strange spicy smell that made me think of that dwarven bar we'd tried overlayed on top of the smell of cooked meat and sizzling oil. It was the kind of place that made me afraid to see the kitchen, to be honest. It was cute enough though, the checkered floor was stained, but not dirty, the shiny metal tables and countertops matched the exterior, and the creme colored walls were doing a good job at hiding any yellowing from the oil in the air. I was mildly surprised to see it was almost full, a myriad of different people were at the tables, all kinds, and I couldn't even see an open booth, just spots at the counter.
"Are we sure this place is on the up and up?" I whispered "I don't want people to see us here if it's shady."
"Does that answer your question?" Alele asked, pointing at a booth in the corner.
I followed her gaze, and saw a tall woman in a purple jacket with slightly fried fluffy blonde hair and a short, brunette, grey-green half-goblin in a green vest made from a torn up hoodie. Her arms were bare and covered in tattoos, one arm looked like it had flowers, the other, some kind of goblin runes.. I stared at them for a moment, wondering what Alele was trying to show me, when the blonde met my gaze, and narrowed her eyes. After a split second, she perked up, and waved at us, beckoning us over to her booth.
"Ooooh, we're getting recognized!" Alele said under her breath as we walked over.
The brunette got up and moved to the other side of the booth to sit by the blonde, giving us the other side, and I noticed her outfit seemed... uncoordinated. Her brown combat boots had fluffy lace socks poking out the top, she had a large black bow behind her head, and her cargo capris had flowers embroidered into the spaces between the pockets. Even her makeup was off, with dark red lipstick and teal eyeshadow but no foundation or mascara. If these were people Alele knew, she must respect them a lot to not have gone off giving her fashion advice as soon as we walked up...
The blonde grinned at me, and I sized her up. She was wearing a white t-shirt that had "DTQ" on it in college font, and she wasn't wearing any makeup at all.
She lounged back and pointed at the menus behind the napkin holders "We just ordered, go ahead and pick something out, we'll pay for it." she said casually.
Hearing her voice, I had to stifle a gasp. The lazy, raspy, crackly, smokers voice that everyone had heard a million times on the screens in the square, on TV, in movies, that I'd heard in person like a week ago, this was Miss Missile, out of costume, at a burger joint with- I snuck a glance at her companion and mentally superimposed a flowery gas mask over her- Fem-Butch, the Queen's resident commando, the rarely seen girl who usually stayed with the ground troops on missions, and almost never made public appearances. I tried to hide my shock as I reached for a menu and looked down at it, feeling a little confused at the situation.
"It took me a second to recognize you two, but Angel Rouge's hair is pretty unique. Thanks again for the takedown last week. It made things a lot easier, I rarely get to bring people back in good enough condition to question." Miss Missile said
"I saw you on the news after." Fem-Butch said "That witch girl was bugging out, huh? My name is Elma, by the way."
"It's lovely to meet you, Elma!" Alele chirped "I'm Alele, and this is Candy!"
I waved, and gave a small smile, still feeling in over my head.
"Oh, shit, yeah, you can call me Gianna, it's nice to see you off the clock, I love getting to pick new heroes' brains." Miss Missile smiled at us, and sipped her drink
"I- yeah, thanks for picking up the guy for us, and sending the news van, too, that was nice of you." I said
"Sorry it was just the one, but that night was busy. Hey, I wanted to ask about your powers, the two of you said something about time manipulation?" she said, tilting her head
"Gods, I'd love that power..." Elma grumbled "My power is just 'be better than the people around me at stuff'. I can't even go and patrol out by myself."
"Wellll it's just basic time travel, mental time travel. I can send my brain back in time up to three seconds!" Alele explained "And that lets me get kinda creative, like rewinding after Candy here dies."
"That sounds like it'd be a good party trick..." Gianna said "I'd use it to cheat at cards, as it is, my power just blows the cards up."
"I can kinda cheat at cards." Elma said "I'm just better than anyone I play with, so I'm more likely to win. Luck still can be a bitch though."
"I can do more than cheat at cards!" Alele said "Here's a game I like to play with the girls, Fake Psychic. I ask you one question, you answer truthfully, and then I tell you about yourself!"
"Ahhh, I see how this works..." Gianna said, smirking "Ok, go ahead, one question."
"What... is your favorite color?" Alele said dramatically
"Purple, duh." she responded, arching an eyebrow.
"Ok... Are you ready for me to... reaaad your miiiind?" Alele wiggled her hands as she said it, and I held in a snicker
"I guess so, yeah, go for it." Gianna nodded
Alele wiggled her fingers and spoke slowly and with a spooky voice "You... are thirty two years old! You are lactose intolerant, but took a pill for it so you can drink a milkshake with your lunch. You have no less than five girlfriends, but might have a sixth, labels are confuuuuusing! Your favorite food is lasagna, but only if there's no meat in it.... You once accidentally blew a side table through a plate glass window at the Queen's headquarters when you stubbed your toe on it! And... the most dark secret of all... you have a parasitic twin living in your lower torso!"
Elma's head whipped around to stare at Gianna, her shaggy hair spinning as she turned "You have a what?" she said, her voice cracking
"That last one wasn't true," Gianna said, laughing "but the rest were, good job! I can see how that's a pretty fun trick, very useful."
"Yeah, I'd be dead without it." I said, trying to contribute something to the conversation
"You told me..." Gianna said, her smile slipping "It's gotta be rough, knowing that."
"I..." I'd been trying not to think about it, to avoid it as much as I could. "I'm just happy I'm alive right now."
"So, have you guys had any other big interactions?" Elma asked "Maybe not fights, but like, other stuff?"
"We- uh..." I trailed off "It's complicated, we were investigating something, but we ended up closing the investigation, it was over our heads."
"We might be able to give a hand with it," Gianna cut in "I'd be happy to help, give you guys most of the credit."
"It's- it was... it wasn't technically illegal..." I said "There were loopholes and stuff, we couldn't go anywhere with it. It's not a big deal."
Gianna's expression hardened for a split second before relaxing again "Ah, one of those. We've been dealing with that stuff for years ourselves. We can't break the law for justice, but... Sometimes the laws are made by the unjust, it's a bitch."
"There's one lady in particular..." Elma grumbled "She's so fucking smug about it too, like, we can't just fucking punch her over it because she's not doing crime that can be fought. I got her on back taxes once, hired a whole firm of CPAs to sit in the room with me so I'd get my accounting skills high enough to do it, but she paid the taxes all off instantly, and got away without any backlash, like it was nothing to her."
"May I take your orders?" a new voice asked, and I glanced up to see a dwarven lady in a white and red dress holding a clipboard by our table.
"Yes! We'll both have the double bacon cheese burgers with fries, and water, please!" Alele said with a smile.
The lady smiled and made a note, walking off to the next table.
"I hadn't even finished looking at the menu!" I said, mildly annoyed
"Well I knew I needed to order for you before you saw they had an option to replace the buns with donuts, that maple syrup glaze was a topping, and before you noticed their selection of milkshakes..." Alele said, holding her nose up
"Wait, are you on a diet?" Elma asked "Dude, don't do that, we're chosen, we shed the pounds without even trying, you'll starve."
"No, my power might be making me crave sweets, she's trying to help me break that." I said
"The fuck is your power that it wants you to eat sweets?" Elma asked, confused
I stared at her for a moment "...Flying fast?" I said unconvincingly
"I don't buy that..." Gianna gave me a look "Listen, one of our most popular members' power is being an eldritch mass of body parts phasing in and out of reality, whatever your power is, it's not worth hiding. Use it and embrace it, it's what Janna did."
"Janna?" Alele asked
"Lady Lunge." offered Elma "She accepted she was scary, and now people love her for it."
"My power is less scary, and more... impossible to use in moderation." I explained
"Come on, it can't be that bad." Gianna said "Give us a hint?"
"I can't talk about it too much because of church orders, but..." I thought of a way to say it "If I use my power, someone dies."
"Oh, gods..." Gianna whispered "I mean, my power has a pretty high chance of killing, but I train super hard to avoid that, you can't do that at all?"
"No..." I admitted "training it would lead to people dying."
"Oh, fuck..." Elma muttered under her breath "Oh, fuck, you like, can't stop using it, can you? It's on right now, that's why you're all gloved up..."
"How- what?" I asked "That's- how did you get there?"
"There's someone here in the diner who's good at reading people, and someone who used to be a private investigator, as far as my power can tell. Might be the same person" Elma said "Anyway, you've got like, an actual unstable power, don't you?"
"It's not 'unstable'..." Alele said, rolling her eyes "She's got it under control! Look, just don't touch her."
"You're touching her." Gianna pointed to our elbows
"No, I'm touching her glove." Alele said "It's different. She's fine, honestly, it's not a big deal."
"I hadn't heard about anyone being killed by heroes lately..." Elma said "Did you cover it up?"
"Cover what up?!" I asked in alarm
"Well, you found out how your power works somehow." she pointed out "Someone had to die for that. We all go too far sometimes- well, I haven't, but still, chosen can't always pull their punches, shit happens. I just want to know if you hid it well enough, or if it's going to come back and bite you."
"No- I'm- The GGDS knows what happened," I explained "We're trying to- I'm trying to reverse the effect, but- it's hard, because I can't practice, but I did NOT cover it up, it's all above board."
"Hm..." Gianna said, thinking hard "I... well."
She looked at me sadly "Well... I just- please be careful. You have so much future in front of you, you just started, and I really think you and your team can breathe new life into the 240 blocks. I know what it's like to have a shitty power, before I had my boots and gauntlets to direct blasts, and before I learned how to store impacts for later instead of just exploding, I used to take out whole buildings every time I was shot or hit on the head."
She sighed "I don't know if you'll be able to figure things out, it took me years, and a lot of blood on my hands before I was able to be the public hero I am today, but at least try?"
"I can't relate to you, my power has the opposite problem." Elma said "Unless I'm around someone who's the peak of humanity in whatever I'm copying, I'm just a normal person who's really good at stuff. Not even superhumanly good, just- better than anyone else in the room. I hated my power. I almost lost my faith and went fallen over it, but I stuck it out, I met people who cared for me anyway. I found that with a good team, a support group that cares for you, and the ability to forgive yourself as you grow, almost anything can be overcome. You're more than your power, that power is just a small part of you and your journey, not your defining feature. I believe in you, Candy, and I hope you find what you need for you and your power to bloom."
"...Just had to do it, huh?" Gianna said, a mild glare on her face
"Hey, I can't help it if I'm better at being motivational than you, it's just how I work." Elma said with a smirk
"Here you go, girls, enjoy!" the waitress said, walking over with a cart filled with food. Miss Missile got two cheese burgers, a basket of fries, a side of onion rings, the vanilla milkshake Alele mentioned, and a bowl of beans, while Elma got a salad, a double bacon burger, some chili and a small bowl of fried cheese. I looked at my single burger and fries and felt like I'd been beaten somehow, in a contest I didn't even know I was having.
"You gotta eat more than that..." Elma said "We're chosen, we have magical god powers burning fat and building muscles while we sleep, live a little."
"I do!" I said "It's just usually sweets, not... I don't know... this stuff."
"Real food?" Alele offered around a mouthful of burger
"Yeah, that, I guess." I picked up my own, using napkins so I didn't stain my gloves
"I still don't understand why your death power is telling you to eat more sugary stuff." Gianna said
"Church secret, can't explain." Alele said before I could speak up "Honestly, we said too much already."
"Fair enough, I won't pry..." she said, digging into her spread of grease
I took a bite, and tasted the meat on my tongue, the grey, congealed grease coating it, the taste of something dead in my mouth. The bacon was sweet at least, but it still made me feel mildly sick as I chewed. The texture was all wrong, it was lumpy and springy and weird, my mouth didn't like it. I washed it down with some water, and forced myself to take another bite. This bite was worse somehow, I was expecting it now, but the way the fresh pickles and lettuce clashed with the sickening animal flavor felt like a bastardization of food itself. I thought of the gummy worms back home, of Homicide in my mini fridge, of all the wonderful foods we served in our lobby.
I could be eating anything, and I was eating this? I felt the wetness of the oil ooze out of the sides of the flesh on my next bite and I had to dissociate to get it down. I was almost done, just a few more bites... I swallowed, and bit again, barely letting the taste hit me as I mashed it with my tongue and swallowed, taking a sip of water to clear my mouth. There was easily another two or three bites left, but I didn't care, I pushed the rest into my mouth and forced it down my throat, using my enhanced strength to stop myself from gagging or choking, and felt the hateful, slimy thing work down to my stomach. I took another gulp of water, finishing the glass, and wiped my mouth on my napkin.
"Would anyone like my fries?" I offered, looking around the table.
Three sets eyes stared back at me, horrified. Alele reached out and pet my arm gently "Uh, yeah, we'll eat those for you, it's ok..."
"What the fuck was that?..." Gianna muttered, looking queazy
"What was what?" I asked
"You just kinda... went blank and force fed yourself a double decker burger, in like, 5 bites, it was... pretty weird to watch." Elma said
"I didn't- oh." I said. That had happened, hadn't it?
"I just didn't really enjoy it, it kinda made me uncomfortable to eat, so I just got it over with, I guess."
"Candy, I don't care what I said earlier, eat all the sweets you want, just never do that again, ok?" Alele said, looking mildly worried
"Here, I haven't drank out of this yet, will it help?" Gianna asked, handing me her milkshake
I took a sip and felt peace wash over me "Oh, gods, thank you, that helped a lot..."
I drank the milkshake, letting the sweet creamy goodness fill me up and replace the taste of animal in my mouth. I felt myself lay back against the booth as I sipped. I was trying to think of the last time I'd had 'real food', and I was drawing a blank. It'd have to have been one of the times Galorna cooked, but that was days ago... Had I really lost the ability to enjoy 'real food' in the past few days? I didn't mind too much, sweet stuff was better anyway, and if I didn't have to worry about my figure or health, there was no harm, right? I finished the milkshake with a slurp and set it down licking my lips. The others had mostly stopped talking after my display, but they all looked up at the sound of the milkshake being emptied.
"Better?" Alele asked
"Yeah, way better." I said "I don't think I can eat burgers anymore, but that milkshake was great."
"...here, I want you to take this..." Gianna said, writing something on a napkin
"An autograph?" I asked
"I- we- look, it's a private power management company." she explained, handing me the napkin "They helped me get in the right form to join the Downtown Queens. Get church approval, and see if they can help you."
"Thanks, I'll look into it!" I said politely as I took it.
"No, I mean it, I've never seen someone that affected by their own power before. Changing what you can eat? Mental shutdowns when you're in situations your power doesn't like? Not being able to turn the power off? It's bad, Candy. These people can help you."
I looked at the name on the napkin, 'Hero Helpers' and felt myself wilt. I doubted they could help, and they had a stupid name, but I'd talk to Oori about it anyway. Oori, not Debbie, screw her. I nodded and put the napkin in my pocket, smiling gratefully at Gianna.
"Thank you, Candy. Now, I still want a milkshake, wanna get another one for yourself and we can race?" she asked her green eyes sparkling
If I had to bet, she was one of those people who were immune to ice cream headaches... They were always the ones to suggest milkshake races, in my experience. Still I did kind of want more milkshake, my tongue kept finding bits of that horrible burger behind my teeth.
"Ok, you're on!" I said, flashing her a wide, put-on smile.
As the waitress brought out milkshakes, I realized with a small twinge of joy that I was working on steps three and five right now, and if I could get Miss Missile and Fem-Butch to trade selfies with me, I'd be working on step one, too! As much as I hated that burger, I was glad Alele had made me come here after all, it was turning out very productive.