Incandescent Guardians Read online

  I had to admit that I’d had more than a few fantasies about both of them. They were both fantastic women I’d date in a heartbeat, if completely polar opposites in personality. I enjoyed both their quirks, but the circumstances of our lives made it impossible to connect.

  I watched her fly off for a second, and then teleported home. If something major happened in the city, Sky would let me know. It wasn’t worth the hassle of patrolling when Venus was also out on patrol.

  Chapter Three

  The door banged hard four times the next morning. It was a Saturday and just about nine-thirty. I’d just gotten out of a shower after a good work out.

  The obnoxiously banging knocks told me that it was either the police here to arrest me, or my sister Casey. Casey was the wild one in the family. My sister Jenna was the calm and patient one. They were identical twin sisters, two years younger than I was at twenty-three. Both of them had my light brown hair, just a lot longer, and the same Hazel eyes of our late mother.

  They were both there in fact, as I opened the door.

  “Oh good, I thought it was the cops.”

  Casey rolled her eyes as she brushed past me, and Jenna gave me a quick sisterly hug before following the storm into my living room.

  “What’s the emergency, no phone call?”

  Casey glared, “I did call you. You didn’t answer. And why did I have to find out from Michelle you’d broken up. I really liked her.”

  I grabbed my phone, and sure enough she’d called when I was in the shower, just fifteen minutes ago. I sighed.

  “Sorry if my love life inconvenienced you. She just broke up with me.”

  Casey accused, “Two whole days ago. That’s hardly, just.”

  Jenna shared a look with me, that was both apologetic and said Casey and her were worried about me. Ever since the incident that had taken our parents lives and that made me a super, they’d been clingy. We’d always been close, but they’d never been so insane about it before.

  To be fair, I felt that way about them as well, you never knew just how long you had with anyone in this world. They also had no idea I was Mythic, they’d both go nuts, even Jenna, if they ever figured that out.

  “You can see that I’m fine.”

  Casey frowned, “You’re not. You haven’t been able to hold on to a woman for longer than a month or two since…” she trailed off.

  Yeah, but not because of the accident, because of my stupid double life. I couldn’t exactly tell her that though. Sometimes having a nosy sister was annoying. I also had been avoiding them, sort of. I knew they’d react this way to my latest breakup. They and Michelle had clicked instantly and strongly after all, unlike most of the women I’d dated.

  So, I changed the subject.

  “I don’t have any more lifts to orbit until next week, unless something comes up. How’s Ben and Mark?”

  Both my sisters were happily married, right out of college. I was the only failure in that regard in the family.

  Jenna said, “Good. At work. Some big defense project he’s working on is due Monday.”

  Casey sighed, “Good here too. Ben is golfing while Jenna and I get our shopping on. We just stopped by to see if you’re okay.”

  I said in mock horror, “Before you made it to the sales? I’m truly touched.”

  Casey laughed as she flipped me the bird, “You ass. Yes, and if they’re out of Louboutin’s before I get there, you owe me big.”

  Yeah, the sarcastic and silly humor ran in the genes.

  I sighed, “I’m really fine. You two should go have fun. I’d go, but I just bought three new pairs of heels last weekend.”

  Jenna giggled, “If you did, I’d know you’re really not okay.”

  That was true, I was teasing them. I hated shopping, like most males of the species.

  Casey pushed, “Bob, talk to us. What’s really going on?”

  I took a sip of coffee to buy myself time to think. Sometimes I wondered if they weren’t completely off base. Sure, flaking on dates and my secret double life as a vigilante superhero got in the way, but I was also more closed off and less open than I used to be about my past.

  I still didn’t mind sharing most of my past, women loved that shit almost as much as confidence in a man. But all the women I’ve dated lately tried to get me to open up about that day, and why I’d quickened. Fuck that. I didn’t even want to think about it at all, much less relive it in my mind.

  “I don’t have a clue. I didn’t even see it coming this time. I thought everything was going well between us when she broke it off. With a video message no less.”

  And I had, Michelle had asked all the same questions, but she’d seemed like she understood when I said I didn’t want to talk about that day.

  Jenna said, “Men are so clueless.”

  “Thanks, sis. Appreciate you.”

  Casey snickered, “Well, you seem your normal self. Jenna and Mark are hosting a barbeque next week, you will be there.”

  “Yes, maam,” I said smartly. Or smart ass.

  Jenna smirked, “Just a couple of neighbors, and a cousin or two.”

  Yeah, a cousin or two meant twenty, no doubt. Not that I minded. It also wasn’t a surprise, we usually did have a barbeque the first Saturday of June, even if it was cool out.

  “Promise.”

  Casey said, “Sky! Remind him, if he forgets.”

  I rolled my eyes, when Sky said, “Reminder set.”

  They both gave me a hug on the way out as we said our goodbyes.

  Being a superhero vigilante didn’t pay, literally I mean. There was no way to collect on any branding type work that registered superheroes got to enjoy. That wasn’t a big deal to me, because of my business. Putting up and retrieving things from orbit was more than lucrative enough.

  I also had a lot of that money overseas, just in case they ever figured out I was also Mythic they wouldn’t be able to freeze all my funds.

  It also meant I was highly recognizable, and in the news. Despite not being a superhero, I was often identified by others on the street. Especially with the new international space station, which had been huge news for quite a while.

  Point being, I spent the next week being somewhat of a hermit. I wasn’t in the mood to find my next ex-girlfriend yet, and any kind of rebound relationships or one-night stands were to avoided. They never ended well, and while I wasn’t moping in a depression, it would take me time to get over Michelle. She’d been vivacious, sweet, and a goddess in bed.

  The last thing I wanted to do was get mobbed by a crowd, or to be asked to put on a telekinesis show in a bar. Or deal with women that tried to seduce me merely because I had power, money, or for both reasons.

  Most of my closer friendships had been strained by my quickening two years ago, and they’d slowly died on the vine. The people I was closest to now were my family, and as sad as it sounds Lady Lightning and Elegant Prodigy who I couldn’t really get to know at all. It was what it was, the price for my chosen lifestyle, but I stayed in for the most part, besides a couple of fruitless patrols because I didn’t want to deal with any of it.

  I did however run into Lady Lightning on that second patrol, and she’d told me she was in and would see us at Katie’s Pub Friday night. So that was good news of a sort. She’d even suggested a hero team name, Incandescent Guardians. It was a little over the top, but it was better than any of my ideas.

  Incandescent even fit a bit, between her lightning, my light showy magic, and Elegant Prodigy’s bright silver inventions.

  It was also a huge bird flip for Uncle Sam. I’d come up with the idea as a way to keep a closer eye on my two favorite vigilantes and to make sure I could respond as fast as possible if they got in over their heads, but there were other benefits to the idea. It would drive the government crazy if we built a vigilante team, and other cities saw it and followed suit.

  Stupid law.

  The twitter war between Venus and Lady Lightning also heated up quite a bit that
week. Both of them had a lot of adoring fans, that viciously took sides in their competition. It was probably a bit silly and petty, but they really did hate each other, and I was firmly in Lady’s camp on that issue.

  I promised myself I’d get out and about again soon, but it seemed to get harder each and every time. Hell, I’d even referred to my next girlfriend as the ex I hadn’t met yet, what did that say about my chances to find the one?

  It was Thursday night, or Friday morning actually at about one in the morning when Sky woke me up.

  “What’s going on?”

  Sky said, “A fire-based supervillain, a new one, has been fighting Venus to a deadlock for the last thirty minutes. Apparently, her invulnerable shields aren’t truly invulnerable. Just with a whole lot more power behind them than anyone else she ever fought. She looks to be in bad shape, and people are speculating her opponent may be Titan class. He took out three city block’s worth of parked cars, and absorbed all her attacks, and doesn’t even look winded. Lady lightning joined the fight five minutes ago, and her and Venus managed to lure him out over the lake.”

  I froze for a moment, then jumped out of the bed and started to pull on my suit. They really did hate each other, but I wasn’t all that surprised Lady Lightning had jumped in to help.

  Especially if saving Venus gave her bragging rights to rub it in for the next year.

  “If he is Titan class, he’s holding back. A true Titan could take out the city. Either he’s not a sadistic killer, and just wants bragging rights for handing a goddess her first loss, or he’s just a powerful SP class on or slightly above her level.”

  The difference was obvious, if he was a Titan he wouldn’t kill the bitch when he’d taken down her shields fully. If he’d wanted her dead, she’d be dead already. If however, he was an SP class just a level or two stronger than she was, he might just kill her. That he pursued her over the lake instead of running told me he just might be the latter. Most supervillains would take a retreating hero as a win and split, only the sadistic ones who killed would pursue.

  Unless, he just really hated Venus, and wanted to humble her. Either way, I wasn’t going to take the chance. She was a bitch, but she was also a superhero, even if Lady lightning hadn’t joined the fun I wouldn’t have ignored it.

  She replied, “Agreed, it’s impossible to tell at this point without further data.”

  Damn, the heroes kept getting stronger, but so did the supervillains, I wondered where it would end. Titan classes could destroy cities, what if someone more powerful came along, a planetary class. That… I hoped that was impossible. Or it really would end, everything would.

  I double checked the suit quickly, and then teleported to a thousand feet over the Chicago shoreline by Lake Michigan sending out my usual golden light show. Fire, flashes of lightning, and bright white bolts of energy weren’t exactly subtle, so I saw them right away and flew in that direction.

  I waved my hand, and a suitably magical looking glowing white frosty fog surrounded my hand, it was easy enough to do with my telekinesis, and I sent a blast of cold air and ice at fire guy to say hello.

  The heat coming off of the man in blue and red tights was intense, and the stream of ice and cold turned to steam long before it even got close to his shields.

  Lady Lightning blasted him and yelled, “Glad you could join the hot party!”

  I snickered, hot party indeed.

  She flickered and appeared in a flash sixty feet away when a stream of fire blasted through her previous position.

  Venus shot an energy blast out of her fingers, but the normally radiant light of her energy blasts looked rather sickly and weak to me.

  I said loudly, “Get out of here, now! We’ve got this.”

  Fire guy, whatever his name was, sent a blast of fire in my direction. I flickered with golden light, as I teleported three hundred feet to the other side of him, my mind automatically from habit making it look magical. It’d been a lot of work, but worth it. Not even one person had speculated I was a teleporting telekinetic, and not the mage I appeared to be.

  I’d also gotten a good measure of his attack, and was positive my shield would’ve held, but I’d long ago made it a habit to hide my true strength. Better to avoid his attacks as much as I could.

  He yelled, “That bitch isn’t going anywhere!”

  Huh, so trying to kill her after all, check. He was incredibly powerful, but not a Titan, which was a relief.

  I waved my other hand and dropped the Latin word for water spout, while making my hand capture and reflect bluish green light.

  “Aqua effusorium!”

  The lake below us exploded upward in a twister to surround fire guy. While water was Lady Lightning’s weakness if she got wet, it was also her ally if her enemy was wet.

  Lady Lightning sent out a coruscating blast of lightning more powerful than I’d ever seen her expend before. The lightning bolt continued to arc from her hands to the water for several seconds as insane amounts of steam billowed out from the center of it.

  A fiery explosion from the center of the spout in all directions flash boiled every bit of it, and I flew back to escape the heat. Holy shit, what was it going to take to finish him? He didn’t even look winded or strained at all as he sent billowing fire toward me and Lady Lightning both.

  An energy blast hit him again as Lady Lightning and I dodged his flames, most of them harmlessly going by.

  This guy had to have a weakness, but it obviously wasn’t water. What else did fire need?

  I narrowed my eyes, and yelled Vacuum in Latin, which just so happened to be Vacuum, as I theatrically waved my hand with my fingers clawed and glowing light blue. Presentation was everything.

  My telekinetic power didn’t take all the air away, but it did strip all the oxygen. I didn’t want his lungs to explode after all. Fire needed oxygen to burn, and as powerful as he was he wasn’t wielding plasma.

  His fire dimmed immediately, and without oxygen he’d be passing out soon. Of course, he immediately tried to fly out of the affected area, but I made it follow him, my hand still glowing that light blue.

  Both ladies hit him with lightning and energy bolts, and that time he flinched and winced in pain. As I’d hoped, it appeared even his shields were dependent on his ability to make fire. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been putting off so much heat. I maintained my fake spell, while the ladies encouraged by the results started to hit him hard and fast. Even greatly weakened, I was sure Venus’s energy bolts still packed a punch, but it was Lady Lightning doing the most damage at that point.

  Maybe thirty seconds later, he passed out and his flames were extinguished. He started to fall like a brick, but Venus caught him easily and slapped on a pair of suppression cuffs.

  She looked at both of us with distaste.

  I rolled my eyes, “You’re welcome. How’d you piss him off so bad anyway, bad date?”

  Lady lightning giggled.

  Venus glared at her, then sniffed in my direction.

  “If you must know, I took down his brother last night. A typical A-class.”

  “Oh,” I said brilliantly, “That would do it. You got him, or do you need help to the Supermax?”

  Me being nice really seemed to piss her off, and she snapped, “I’m fine.”

  “Thanks to us you are,” Lady Lightning said with vicious joy, “Make sure you get the details right in your interview.”

  I snorted.

  Venus hesitated for a moment, but then she snorted dismissively before her and the fire supervillain were surrounded in a white nimbus, and she took off fast toward the Supermax west of the city.

  Damn, for a minute there I thought she might thank us.

  Lady Lightning started to giggle, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for that moment. Did you see her face?”

  I chuckled, “I did. I’ve never seen you hit so hard before either.”

  She shrugged, “I’ve never needed to. What the hell was that guy?”

 
; I sighed, “Not sure, but we might need a new class, between SP and Titan. If I hadn’t figured out his weakness we might’ve been in big trouble.”

  Of course, I hadn’t really been trying all that hard either, but if I’d slammed him down with telekinesis into the lake the truth would’ve come out. So far, I hadn’t had to choose between revealing myself and a partner’s safety, and I hoped that would never happen.

  She smirked, “We handled it.”

  I looked her up and down, her suit was a little singed on the edges, and her skin was a bit red. She was also covered in sweat.

  “Is it just me, or is it getting hot in…”

  She snorted interrupting me, “Your lines really are getting worse. You feeling okay?”

  I sighed, “Any party with you gets me charged up?”

  She giggled, “Better, but still weak.”

  I shook my head, “I’m fine, personal stuff this week, but no big deal.”

  She bit her lip apologetically, “I forgot about the breakup.”

  Her voice had been more than a little wistful, and an awkward silence followed.

  “Forget it, and it’s no reason not to enforce high flirting standards.”

  She giggled.

  I kind of felt the same way about her. She was the one woman on the planet that wouldn’t be a rebound if I started dating her, but what was the point since that was impossible. The easy flirting was fun, but either of us expressing deeper feelings would just be frustrating. Well, one of two on the planet, anyway. Of course I would want the two women I could never have.

  Idiot.

  That one of them seemed to really want me as well, made it worse.

  The silence seemed to drag as we stared at each other’s eyes for far too long, and I could swear she’d drifted closer to me, or had I drifted closer to her? The usual flirty sexual tension between us went up another notch, or perhaps fifteen of them, at least for me.

  She flinched back, then blurted, “I have a girlfriend,” then blushed.

  I replied, “Oh.” Surely a sign of my brilliance.

  Lady Lightning sighed, “I probably should’ve told you sooner, I didn’t…” she trailed off.