18 [ Jase Series ] By any other name...
The combat suit functions of Gomez had been stripped down to an absolute minimum in order to pass as a human being, which meant that the gravity manipulation pile was a bit too oversimplified to let me truly fly. It was more like falling with style as it negated most of my weight, but it wasn't a true propulsion system.
I had wanted something that could pass as my guardian, serve as my cook, and convert in combat armor, as well as mix drinks, so something had to go.
Future versions of the Gomez system will boost my own innate flight abilities, once they kick in, but for now, it just slows down and directs my fall enough that I, with my spider strength, can land without getting hurt.
...actually no. It’s just enhanced strength. The whole Spider thing, I’m not going to go there.
My future girlfriend hit the ground at nearly the same time as me, although the cameras mounted around my headset had showed me that she had only dropped the last few stories after making her way down the front of the building by grabbing onto various parts of the architecture, only falling near from a few stories up to ensure that she wasn’t ‘Last.’
Instead, her friend Marrow was the last to read the ground as she slid down from the second story by stabbing two bone knives into a long banner with the apartment’s logo on it to slow her fall.
Before I could say anything, let alone claim a kiss from Miss Horrorshow, a countdown in the corner of the holographic heads up display mounted on my headpiece flickered for a moment, then reached zero.
Above us, the windows of my apartment exploded outwards in a concussive blast.
And all around me, people cringed and froze in place as they looked up to see the glass shards falling toward their faces.
Oops.
Marrow yelled at people to move, my girl gathered up two armfuls of people up close to her to shield them with her body, and I launched myself to grab a hold of and push three other people out of the worst of it.
I’m guessing nearly injuring a bunch of bystanders would make me look pretty bad, so I decided to make sure it wasn’t going to be me who took the blame. Raising my fist toward the waiting military vehicles, I shook it angrily. “You maniacs! We weren't even in there! Do you even care who you hurt?”
That should do it.
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I looked over at Marrow as I grabbed my girl by her, well, her thumb, her wrist was a little too big around for me to get a hold of. “We need to go, they got a Super Soldier and guns. Do we have an exit plan?”
Glancing over my shoulder I could see the shark like mutant giving me a strange look as I tugged ineffectively at her hand before she snatched it out of my grip. “Sorry, too soon for holding hands?”
The older girl snorted. “We got a ride Romeo. Follow me. Shark girl? If you can tear your eyes away from lover boy?”
Shark girl… She can turn into a humanoid shark, and they went with that. I mean it’s not like there are a lot of other shark themed Metas in Marvel. I think there’s Tiger Shark Guy or something like that? But Shark Girl?
No, no, no. As I follow along behind Marrow, who I realize is pretty nice looking from behind, I decide I really need to help my girl rebrand.
Rushing down an alleyway across the street, I jump on top of a dumpster until my lover to be dashes past it, then hop off the back to kick it in the way of the Brazilian soldiers now mentally catching up to our appearance in front of the hotel, our presence, the explosion, and us running off, by yelling and beginning to chase us.
Catching up with…. sigh, Shark Girl, I begin coming up with some suggestions. “What do you think of the name Lamia?”
She looked down at me, “What?”
I run along beside her, nearly having to take two steps for each of hers. “Lamia, a daughter of Poseidon who got turned into a giant shark by Hera, you know, instead of Shark Girl. That name just seems like a kind of placeholder you never got around to…”
By the look she was giving me, I don’t think my efforts to fix her totally basic name were appreciated.
Marrow didn’t help me much by yelling out. “How about Lucy Gnawless, or Patricia Sharquette?”
My girl huffed and refused to look at me as I tried to come up with something to dig my way out of the hole I had just dug myself into. “Ah, I was thinking something classy, so I went with mythology, but what about something from pop culture? Deep Blue?”
She glared at me as we stopped at the end of an ally while Marrow checked around the corner. “I like Shark Girl. I used that name for a few years now, it’s mine. I own it.”
I slowly nodded at her. Fair enough.
For me anyways, but for her friend… “Hey, how about Sharkira, or Devourra?”
My girlfriend to be partially caved in the cement block wall behind her as she swung her fist back into it. “That’s enough.”
I smiled at her. “If Shark Girl is who want to be, then Shark Girl it shall be.”
And now I know how much I can tease you before I have to run.
As a former girl, I had noticed that straight girls liked it when guys tried to be nice to them, but they didn’t want them to be nice all the time. Women wanted strong men, not door mats.
The girl’s ride was an oversized SUV with tinted glass and a back seat big enough for my girl, which I let her take for herself as I slipped into the passenger seat up front as Marrow got behind the wheel. I turned to Miss Protruding Brow with a slow smile, which she returned with a look of suspicion.
“So… She is single, yes?”
Shark Girl slapped both of her hands over her face, as her friend grinned. “Very.”
My, my. My future girlfriend could swear.
“So where are we off to?”
Marrow took a sharp turn at speed. “Where all roads lead to.”
I lifted an eyebrow in surprise, I didn’t expect such a classical quote from her.
But where else would we be going in South America? There wasn’t all that much of interest down here, at least Marvel comics universe wise, but there was one place... and these were mutants.
Leaning back in my seat, I shrugged. “Nova Roma here we come.”
