Worlds Asunder (Closed for LordUsagi)

[LordUsagi]

“No a boom box was a radio...tape deck...decent sound,” he looked at her with a grin, “write a letter...pfft...it’s romantic and cool, watch the movie...’Say Anything’. It’s a classic like ‘She’s All That’ or...or...’The Breakfast Club.” Surely she had heard of that one.

He finally seemed to locate what he was looking for.

“Nothing special, I just remembered I had some of that cream I mentioned earlier in stoarage.” He handed her a nondescript tube, “this stuff is wonderful and you can’t buy it anywhere.”

“Oh while I am about it,” he pulled out a small pile of clothing and a toiletries bag, “that should tide you over around the house and there is a toothbrush, soap the works in the bag.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

"Oh, okay. So playing music for her. Guess that makes sense-like a serenade."

Her hazel eyes didn't indicate any sort of recognition when he mentions the movie titles, but there is a slight curve to her lips as he rattles them off.

"I'm not exactly from around here, ya know? There's a reason I live at HQ. And a reason that despite not bothering with a mask, the media hasn't discovered my "civilian identity"."

A graceful shrug. "I don't have one."

He hands her some clothes and a tube of that 'Wonder Cream', and she accepts both with a nod of thanks. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

-*-

The tank top is pretty simple, a heather grey color and a little tight across her chest, but not bad. She'd snagged her undergarments back out of the wash, not about to wander around without a bra in the thin fabric of the tank. The other thing about it was she could either pull it up to be more presentably high on her chest, or she could pull it down to meet the waistband of the shorts-not both. At five foot eight, she was a bit taller than whatever height the top had been intended for. She opted not to have a valley of cleavage, leaving her midriff and part of her hip bones partially exposed.

The shorts weren't -scandelous-, but they did reveal a significant amount of toned thigh, and they -also- were a bit too snug, the slinky basketball short mesh material tight across her rounded bottom. If she didn't know better, she would have suspected Andy to be some kind if pervert. But really, he's just making do for an unexpected guest-that had kind of rudely shown up and passed out.

To ensure some decency she had kept the stolen shirt. It was loose on her shoulders (hung off one, actually) with just a few buttons fastened Midway down, so that there was a hint of that exposed midriff when she moved but otherwise properly covered up. It also had the benefit of modesty over her pert bottom.

And those boots, of course. Somehow, the overly large shirt made the outfit look better somehow. A casual young person's outfit, something you might see on a campus somewhere. Caught between 'edgy' and carelessly youthful.

Blitz had snagged another juice box, the little straw held loose in her lips as she finished rolling up the sleeves to his stolen shirt. There's a slight sheen to her throat where she had applied the topical ointment.

She punches the straw into the juice box and takes a sip. She's starting to feel slightly restless despite her weakened exhaustion-still no one else, and she doesn't yet know what's going on out there either. Who was left. What the bad guys were up to. How it had all spun so wildly out of control in such a short amount of time.

"I might just opt for repeated washings of my costume.". She comments, shaking the thoughts away. "How we coming on the stew?"

 

[LordUsagi]

When he saw her com back he noticed a hint of the shorts and tank top as she walked. Her, his, shirt wasn’t fully buttoned up and it gave a slight hint of the shirt and shorts underneath, so he was at least happy that she had found his offering acceptable.

“The food is coming along nicely, just want it to stew a bit longer to soften the meat, but I see you are filling up on juice boxes.”

He had to stop himself from taking a double take as he noticed her toned legs that were visible beneath the shorts.

“I am glad the clothes fitted, but I see you insist on wearing non issue civilian shirts.” He smiled, letting her know he didn’t expect her to follow any sort of military dress protocol and that he didn’t mind her wearing his shirt if it made her feel comfortable.

Thinking of the shirt made him realize that she had previously been wearing scant clothing underneath before. He mentally admonished himself for such thoughts and for taking too much notice of her toned legs and the brief hint of her stomach and the tops of her hips.

“If you want to we can get you something in a few days when I go into town for supplies.”

He found a safe have in inspecting her neck with his eyes, although again his shirt hung off her shoulder in what he found a vaguely distracting way.

“Hmm...the cream is already starting to have an effect, how does it feel.” He reached up to move her head slightly to the side so that he could get a better view. It was the instinctual touch of a medical professional inspecting their patient and he only withdrew his hand after his inspection was complete.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“Tingles, mostly.” Blitz answers, staying still just long enough for him to give a look before she tips her head back, focused on poking the straw through the top of the box. She hadn’t responded to his teasing-she was thirsty. Probably wasn’t a bad idea to get some sugar in her blood anyway.

The tip punctures through, a droplet of red on the top. Blitz's amber flecked, green eyes star at it for a moment before they lift from it to him, a frown on her lips. The casual, teasing feeling present in them before had wholly dissipated, all playfulness turned serious, watchful. She can’t distract herself any further than she already has.

“So what's going on out there, Andy?” The young heroine finally asks, her voice low and quiet.

 

[LordUsagi]

It was the questions he had been dreading, but knew they were going to be asked. For a brief second he had almost replied that she shouldn’t worry about such things, but he knew she deserved the truth.

“I haven’t left this bunker since you got here, but the news doesn’t look good, and I am not sure what we will find out there. I know I said we could try get you some clothes but the truth is the local town may also be looted.”

He rubbed his eyes as if trying to dispel the memories, “the truth is it is hard to tell, some places are in chaos and in some those who have taken control have kept a semblance of normality. Later you can take a look for yourself, there are TVs around the house and you are free to logon to any terminal. The first time it will ask you to create an account and after that you will almost be a ghost on the internet.”

He looked at her seriously, “Jeanine, I am not going to tell you not to look, or not to go out there, but all I asking is you give it a bit of time. When you got here most of your wounds were superficial but you were like a rag when I carried you. Your body offered no resistance to anything I did.”

He didn’t want to bring it up but he suspected he needed to know the answer. “I could see it in the fight, it was like you were a fading light, slowly dimming as it expended itself.”

He rose and went back into the kitchen portion of the room, “give your body time to recover,” he scooped some stew into two bowls, “then you can go back out there and save the world. Who knows, maybe by then we will have made contact with some other heroes.”

Placing the bowls down on the table he returned to the fridge, “so if you want to, you can tell me your story, you said you were not from around here.”

Taking out a beer for himself he returned to the table to eat with her and maybe hear her story. Maybe she would be unwilling to talk, but at least she had seemed eager to eat and the longer he kept her recovering the better he felt it would be.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Blitz doesn’t argue and she doesn’t speak on anything he says. She vaguely...vaguely recalls showing up, how empty she’d been, the crackling edges of that imagined glass container-and then...she had told him her name. She remembers now.


“...all I am asking is you give it a bit of time.”

“I could see it in the fight, it was like you were a fading light, slowly dimming as it expended itself.”

Her lips purse, beautiful face drawing tight and somewhat closing off as he speaks. He turns around to serve up the soup he’d been making-but Blitz doesn’t want to be distracted. She wants to know. The heroine strode right past him and to the mounted television as he moved to the table, and despite his warning-pressed the power button.

It’s worse than even she thought. The panicked voices heard over the comm, her friends bearing the strain of hostile forces, scattered and alone-even that couldn’t quite compare to the visuals currently on the screen, a world gone mad in the grips of a villainous takeover. Everything she had come to know was on its head, footage from the past several days flitting across the screen as she turned from channel to channel, her lips drawing tighter until they parted with an “Oh-” as she stopped on a news station, wide eyed staring. The yellow cape of Lady Victory hung loose over the side of a stretcher, billowing in the wind and revealing a likewise dangling, bloodied arm. The ticker at the bottom of the screen had news of hidden furtive funerals, warning citizens off of them as they were prone to villain intervention.

Blitz stared at the image and the ones that followed, wide eyed horrified as confirmed casualties rolled off the tongues of newscasters, videos of mangled corpses flashing across multiple channels. Immolated, crushed, drowned and decapitated, so many brightly colored costumes burned away or covered in blood-this is worse than a bad dream.

The mangled corpse of Star Citizen suddenly took center stage on another channel, no news at all-just a still of him with no sound and no chatter, a broad muscled figure in a crater. Blitz backed off a step, then two-and then she had to sit down.

The hero’s head was crushed into a mottled, silver blooded mess. Beside him, the even more mangled body of Doom lay half curled up, the fatal injury to Star Citizen apparently the beast’s final hateful act before it succumbed to its own injuries.

This wasn’t a bad dream. It was a fucking nightmare. Even David somehow seemed like a distant, insignificantly small problem.

A sheen of tears were blinked away as the image disappeared, but Blitz had already dropped her head to her hands, drawing in a shaky breath. Oh, God-how had this happened? They were sociopaths, how had they all put aside their differences long enough to launch this large scale of an attack, all at once and when none of them had expected it?

“Krag has carved out the entirety of New York City-”

“Looting continues in the streets of-”

“Coastal towns along the West coast were devastated when eco terrorist Mist Walker flooded-”

Blitz glanced back up, grief stricken but not numb to the chaos or the suffering out there. If Andy said anything during the broadcasts, she doesn’t seem to hear him as she stands back up with a sway, her hazel eyes lowering to her uplifted fingers. A little disc of weak, faint blue light spirals into a existence, not at all the dark blue her constructs normally were. It wasn’t even tangible matter-no barrier at all. Even this much felt taxing, pulled at the tinge of empty in her chest. Despite it, her eyes drifted back to the television.

It looked like the young woman was contemplating going back out there despite her brush with death. Despite how severely weakened she was now.

 

[LordUsagi]

He had watched her skip through the channels. The news now looked even worse than when he had watched the previous day. He hadn’t had much time to keep up with the news because he had been checking with sources for survivors or potential supplies and aid. But now that the news channels were focusing on the crisis you could see the extent of the destruction and more clarity in what was happening.

“I am not letting you go out there,” he could see that look in her eye. He knew it, it was the same one he had had while she was recovering. “You still need to recover,” he didn’t feel it was fair to call her weak, she had already shown her strength.

He move in front of her, blocking her view of the screen. There was no sense in her seeing more, seeing more of her dead friends or the bedlam that was ensuing out in the big cities.

“You need to eat, you need to recover and then we need to plan.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

"You can't stop me from going." The statement didn't have any bite to it. It sounded dazed and far, far away even to her, eyes still rooted to the dimming, flickering swirl of light. But then? Even if she poofed to...wherever she could manage, what was she going to do, how could she fight like this? She's having difficulty just standing without getting dizzy.

She has to do something. People were hurting, her friends were dead, she...she has to try...

But even as she watched, the little swirl of incorporeal light flickered away into nothing. Her brow furrowed and a slightly pained expression flit across her face, shoulders curling slightly inward before she wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold.

He'd stepped to block her view of the television and Blitz...Jeanine looked up at him instead, heartbroken. Her amber, green flecked gaze was wet, a single tear overspilling to trace that side of her face.

She looked away again before giving a mute, miserable nod.

"Okay." She whispered thickly. "You're right, Andy."

If she went out there like this, she'd die. If so many were dead and gone...she had to be as smart and effective as possible, and that meant recharging so she could actually be of use.

Star had told her to live to fight another day. And that was what she would do.

 

[LordUsagi]

He didn’t smile in triumph at her decision, but merely met it with a somber nod of his own, “thank you for not making me stop you,” he said softly.

He noticed the tear slowly falling on near cheek and instinctively he closed the slight gap between them and wrapped his arms around her, “I am sorry Jea...Blue..I am sorry for your friends.” He held her with just enough pressure to be comforting, “I am sorry for all those you want to revenge.”

Andrew still kept in shape, and she was so weak that she would hardly have been able to get away if she wanted, but his grip was more a touch than a hold and even in her weakened state she could slip out if she wanted.

“Let it all out, mourn for everyone you feel,” his gentle arms held her so her head rested against his chest. “Mourn now because when we go back out there, we are going to be ruthless on those who did this.” There was a bite of anger and rage that he had not shown before.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

The young heroine was still for maybe half a second before she returned the hug, weakened but still somehow fierce in it, like he was some kind of lifeline. She nods against his chest with a sniffled, shaky inhale, not a blubbering mess but definitely needing the comfort.

“They can’t get away with this, can’t be allowed to keep hurting people. I w-won’t stand for it. I won’t.” She’s trembling a little, whether from her physical exhaustion or shock or anger it was hard to say. Maybe all of the above.

“Will you help me? I don’t know if I’ll know where to go, who to hit first by myself. It’s all so awful, and I don’t even know what I’m going to do to right it.”

 

[LordUsagi]

He held her as she trembled in his arms, he could understand all her reasons for it, but could only help her with one at this time.

“Yes I will help you,” he pulled his upper torso away so that he could look down at her, “I will do the things you can’t.” She was so young he couldn’t imagine her being as ruthless as she would need to be.

“But you will have to trust me, and listen to me, you will need to recover and we will need to train. Treat this house as your new home, you are free to roam and you can move out of the medical room if you want, but for now have something to eat.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Blitz nodded, wiping at her eyes with the inside of her stolen shirt's collar. She doesn't apologize for the emotional reaction. She's not sorry.

"HQ probably isn't even safe...". Blitz says as she lowers back to her seat, the stew he'd made. She'd been hungry earlier, but now her stomach rolled at the thought. No use, though-she's got to eat or her physical body would end up as bad off as her spiritual one.

She picks up the spoon.

"I don't know why I told you my name.". She finally says, turning her mind from the awful as best she could. "No one knew it but Star, before. I think...I think I just wanted...I don't know."

She takes a bite and rubs her forehead, swallowing. "Someone to know I had been here, that I was real.". A bit of a rueful smile. "I really thought I was a dead woman, running that low and so close to empty."

 

[LordUsagi]

He felt a little jealous when she said she never meant to tell him her name, and only Star Citizen knew it. She must have been close with him, and his death must have hit her hard. He didn’t know why he felt jealous, maybe it was just knowing that she almost viewed him as just another hero. He just hoped it didn’t show, but he was sure it did, he was bad at hiding emotions.

He watched her eat for a brief moment, before joining her.

“I doubt anyone would forget you,” he cracked his bear and took a short gulp. “So if you don’t want to tell me your name, maybe you can tell me where you are from, your powers, your origin.” He fealised that would be just the same as giving away her identity.

He smiled, “I mean I know the young woman known as Blue Blitz, the one everyone sees smiling and saluting on TV. Probably every young girls envy and every young boys crush.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“So if you don’t want to tell me your name, maybe you can tell me where you are from, your powers, your origin.”

A shadow briefly darkens Blitz’s beautiful face, something of a distant, hollow look to those multicolored eyes. She smiles but it’s a little thin, slipping another spoonful of stew past her lips. Whatever thought had flitted through her brain, she shakes it off just as quickly.

When she smiles next, it’s more genuine and somewhat amused. “Being famous is fun, but I’m not quite as empty headed as they’d have you believe.” She stirs her soup around some, thinking. David had already shown up. Maybe it just didn’t quite matter anymore.

“Well why the hell not Andy.” At what felt like the end of the world, two heroes hiding in a bunker while the world went mad, secrets seemed superfluous and pointless. Another bite before she sits back a beat, elegant fingers plucking the juice box back off the table for a sip. Well, best start somewhere.

“My name is Jeanine Winters.” A sip of the juice, straw between her pursed lips a moment. She sets it back down with a sense of finality. “And my abilities are a type of magic.”

She pushes the bowl aside and crosses her arms on the edge of the table, leaning forward slightly. “It runs in my family. It’s inherent in our blood, just as vital for life as breathing. I...each of us have a reserve, a well we draw from and recharge through meditation. Deplete it, and we die.” Her eyes widen a fraction, a hand straying to the center of her chest.

“That last, final fight with...with David? I tapped out. I beyond tapped out. I used what little energy I had left to…well. Anyway, that’s what happens. And it’s what killed both of my parents. I knew I was in trouble back in Hamsburg, tapping out. By the time I got here, I was as close to empty as I’ve ever been. You...saw how bad off I was.”

She drops her gaze to her hands, right thumb pressing into the palm of her left hand and working to loosen the muscle there.

“As for where I’m from, well-this isn’t the only plane of existence. I’m from another one, and when you see me ‘teleporting’, I’m really stepping out of this dimension and into something called ‘The Other’, moving where I need to, and then stepping back in. The plane I was born in was a pocket dimension my father’s father created to further his studies and safely raise a family.”

She shrugs. “Anyway. You know what my powers are. Space distortion, energy constructs I use as barriers, and the stepping. That’s pretty much all the magic I got a chance to learn, and what is intuitive to me. Luckily, I've been able to make use of them in a hero capacity. 'Blue Blitz'.”

 

[LordUsagi]

He listened quietly to her story, occasionally taking a swig of his beer. Ie was as interesting origin as any he knew, or believed. In his day few of the heroes claimed to have fantastical origins, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Lady Light had said she had made a pact with some strange entity and Adonis claimed he was an immortal from ancient times. Whether those were true it did not matter, both undoubtedly had powers just the same as this girl, there was definitely something other worldly about her.

One thing that worried him was how close she had, by her own admission, come to dying. For some reason a world without Blue Blitz didn’t seem as pleasant. However his tactical mind did begin to calculate that there was a way of defeating David, if he was similar. That brought up another question.

“And this David, who is he, his powers seem far more destructive than yours and I am sorry Blue, he definitely seems a lot stronger.

He was keen to know everything about her, her powers and their relation to her exhaustion and her strange flickering eye colors. Were they related, could it be used tactically.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

Blitz had already looked rather pale from her close call-but what little color had been left in her face drains, right down to her lips. Those kaleidoscope eyes are very intent on the empty tabletop and slightly widened, the young woman silent.

“He is stronger.” The young woman finally says, a near whisper and her gaze a little haunted, staring past the table top and into some other place, some other time. “A lot stronger. If he had wanted to kill me outright...he probably could have.”

She lifts her graceful hands to her eyes and presses against them as if she had a headache, exhales. “The Other is a hostile, lifeless place-but it’s rife with magic, dark, dark magic. For me, to bolster my natural born energy-I draw energy and strength from this plane, from its people. David...David draws it from there. It’s made him unfathomably powerful-and has also driven him stark raving mad.”

“He thinks I’m the reincarnation of some woman executed for witchcraft in the seventeenth century. Completely off his rocker. I came here to get away from him. I hoped he would think I got lost in The Other and perished...just like our parents did when they tried to contain him.”

She picks her head up and looks across the table at him again. Her gaze is steady, a leveled look that seemed somehow challenging, ready for mockery or derision.

“Because David...David is my brother.” A mixture of disgust and fear flickered over her features, and then a hardened stroke of acidic anger. "Didn't stop me from trying to kill the bastard, though, end of that fight."

 

[LordUsagi]

“Your brother....I see,” a part of him was relieved at that, “that must have been hard.” Another part was worried because despite her determination, killing was not something that came easily, especially when it is someone close to you.

He can see in her eyes that she is waiting to bight back at the wrong comment and he suddenly feels a bit guilty at saying that David seemed stronger.

“Well next time you face him,” he meets her gaze, “he best be well prepared, because you will be fully trained and ready for him.”

She had mentioned how she drew her energy, and he wondered if that meant she could sense the emotions in other people. He would have to be careful, she was very beautiful, but so young. She reminded him of Lady Light when he was younger and he remembered how that had turned out.

“I will hide you...train you...and when you are ready we will strike with no warning, hopefully not alone,” he reached out to give her hand a comforting touch, “and if you want, I will kill him.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“That must have been hard.”

“Everything to do with David is hard. That’s why I joined the League, you know…? I wanted to use my magic for good, absolve my family of his sins. You saw what he did to my city, to those people.”

Her eyes well up again and she looks away, willing the tears away this time. She’d done what she could, and then she’d at least gotten him away from there. God-what a nightmare his appearance had been.

He touches her hand and makes an offer she’s not sure a hero should-but what else could you do with a hero like David? Or...or in a world where the bad guys had whole sale slaughtered so many of their number? She’s quiet another long moment before her eyes lift back up to his.

Her hand turns palm up, gives his a squeeze. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that-but thanks. He’s beyond saving.”

She takes her hand back with a shake of her head and a laugh, wiping at her eyes. “Fuck, I’m not usually this much of a downer-but things are pretty dire, aren’t they? Least we’re not totally alone, right? Small mercies.” Blitz even pulls her bowl back over, determined to eat and regain some strength, dammit. Grieving would come-she just didn’t want to do it in front of him, and he didn’t need the bad feelings anymore than she did. She preferred to make people smile even in the worst of times.

“So I’m ‘an emptyheaded’ mascot, but you-you were the brains, right? League was built on you and yours, right? What was that like, back in the day?”

 

[LordUsagi]

His reaction to her giving his hand a squeeze was a bit more than he expected. He tried not to show it, and thought he did, but her brief slightly intimate touch sent a slight shimmer of pleasure up his arm.

He could sense she was still processing the enormity of what she had lived through and a slight playfulness to his answer might spark the same in her.

“Yup you are just a pretty mascot to drum up support,” his light tone matched his smile. “Just like back in the day when bikini models lounged on cars to influence us try buy them.”

He immediately regretted that extended analogy because it would sound like he was thinking she was just a pretty face of the product she worked for. Maybe she did not like being compared to an advertising gimmick from the previous century. It also made him remember her appearances on TV and pictures on print media.

He knew he had to go whole hog into the humorous teasing, “in my day, our poster girl, Lady Light, knew how to dress for the fans. She was beautiful, looked exquisite in a...” he smiled at her, “....proper heroines outfit.”

He took a long swig of his beer, “but she could also kick ass.” He knew his playful jibe was a contradiction to his earlier comments on how well she had performed under very trying circumstances, so he hoped she would recognize it as that, an attempt to lighten the mode after her deserved melancholy.

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“Snrk-yep, that’s me. The sex that sells the League these days.” She laughs, poking fun at her own expense. She’d take any distraction about now. “But hell-I slog it out same as anybody, out there. I can’t help what I look like...or what people LIKE to look at.”

Her eyes narrowed on him from across the table as he brought up costumes again.

“You keep saying that, but listen-” She gestured to her chest. “A woman needs support. We can’t all levitate our boobs with light. And-” Another bite of stew, letting her mind think about nothing but the vapid sex appeal the public put on heroines, sometimes. “What would you rather get knifed in? A leather jacket, or millimeter thick spandex? You take a bad tumble and slide in one of those painted on things, and you get road rash AND a new exhibitionist fetish.”

A sip of her juice, lips closing around the straw a moment.

“I think you’re just showing your age, Andy.” She teases. Mischievous minx.

 

[LordUsagi]

When she gestured towards her chest he suspected he may end up being bust for looking but his eyes had to follow the movement of her hands. She had great breasts and he couldn’t argue with her that they were well supported, he could see the traces of her bra through the thin tank top she had on. At least he was thankful that her top wasn’t pulled too low to expose the cleavage, a small mercy that kept his eyes from lingering too long.

“The truth is Lady Light’s boobs weren’t natural, so they defied gravity most of the time.”

The actual truth was Light did anything to make sure men noticed her. She had slept with a lot of heroes she knew and even a few of the villains. She used her sex appeal to get what she wanted and didn’t mind putting her money where her mouth was. But she wasn’t all to blame, she may have been hard to resist but they could have just said no. The old saying goes, it takes two to tango.

Not that hooking up with Lady Light had been all bad. It was through her that he realized that if his body was purged of pent up “frustrations”, then his mind became more focused. None of his fellow team knew the truth behind his brilliant plan that finally captured Darkmind.

“And sometimes that millimeter thick Spandex wasn’t what it seemed,” he smiled, “we had some kickass tech back in the day. The top heroes like Adonis and Lady Light had costumes that could almost withstand a bullet.”

“Showing my age,” he smiled sadly, “I guess that is true. I was fighting crime before you were born. I must be more than twice your age.” It made him think how inappropriate some of his thoughts had been earlier. “But I would still kick your young butt in a no powers fight.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

“The truth is Lady Light’s boobs weren’t natural, so they defied gravity most of the time.”

Blitz choked, eyes going wide as she coughed, the juice having been inhaled down the wrong tube. “R-really?” A silvery peal of laughter-but that still makes her dizzy, a hand coming up to her forehead as she stares at him from across the table. “Ohmigod, Andy-way to spill a woman’s best kept secrets.” But there’s no bite to it, just the same thrill of shocked amusement at the revelation.

About that damned spandex, she just gives another shake of her head. “I get enough press for the leather pants as it is. I’m not going out in anything of the sort, sir. You’re just clamoring for a new host of women in painted on costumes. Tsk tsk, Andy.” It’s a playful jibe, but also-she likes her costume. It was badass, like she’d said-and people sold mock ups of it all over the place. Nope, it was staying.

“I guess that is true. I was fighting crime before you were born. I must be more than twice your age.”

“I dunno, are you? I’m twenty two. Kept that under wraps so I could evasively duck questions when I’m approaching thirty.” A joke. Mostly.

As for a fight-

“Yeah, maybe.” Blitz scoffed, youthful overconfidence. “I’m not the best at hand to hand, only past couple years for experience with that-but the other stuff...c’mon, running hot?” She grins, and it’s a little wicked. “I can teleport, distort space, shield myself from blows-you’ve read the reports, seen me in action, right?” She grins, and it’s a little wicked. “I mean, when I collapse a distortion, people and projectiles go flying. I’d give you a demonstration with something breakable, but I’m barely able to keep a light construct right now.”

She pushes her bowl aside for good, now, propping her elbows on the table and resting that beautiful-if exhausted looking-face in her hands, hazel, green flecked eyes curious, watching him with a considering look. “But you weren’t a slouch yourself either, so…” Shit, maybe. He had height and weight on her, and if it was really a no powered fight…

“...I’m not sure how I would fight if I can’t teleport, actually. I might be uh, a little overly reliant on my powers, now that I think about it.” Good to know Blitz wasn’t completely arrogant. She’s not stupid anyway-wit and intelligence sparkle in those eyes.

 

[LordUsagi]

Ohmigod, Andy-way to spill a woman’s best kept secrets
“Oh I think a lot of people suspected that during our time,” he smiled at her, “we all had our secrets and little quirks.”

He became suddenly thoughtful as if remembering the past. “And to be honest I don’t think she would care, she knew who she was and had confidence in her abilities in a powered fight but....”

His expression became a little more mischievous, “...and I am pretty much quoting her now,” and his voice changed to his best impression of a sultry woman’s voice, “honey, if they are gawking at my tits they won’t see the punch coming.”

He suddenly felt a little embarrassed with his words and his face reddened. He knew the youth of today was a lot more liberal and exposed to the world, but he still felt a bit embarrassed.

Well he had gone this far, so there was no reason to shy away now.

“You are right, I guess I just like the old style of costume. There is a reason we were referred to as the tights and capes brigade.” He smirked at her, “besides I don’t know if a little sprog like you would be able to pull it off.” It was a fun jibe for more distraction. He had seen her interviews and promotions, she could pull most things off.

“Twenty two huh,” that made him a little relieved, she wasn’t the teenager he had thought, “yup I could be your father.” He was more than twice her age.

He picked up her bowl and carried to the sink, “yeah you look great out there,” he returned to sit across from her. “Your command of your powers are pretty good, and I can see you do have some fighting skills.”

He looked her in the eyes, recognizing her intelligence and understanding of what she had just said.

“But it doesn’t help that this old man, way past thirty when everything goes down hill,” he grinned at her earlier mention of that age, “could pretty much do what he wanted with you because you are as you said before, barely able to keep a light construct.”

 

[CurtailedAmbrosia]

There was definitely a bit of color to the heroine’s face as well, pale as she was right now. Goodness.

As for pulling off spandex-Blitz sniffed, pretending to take offense. “I could make burlap look good, and I think you know it.” Tease. “And you don’t look old enough to be my dad either Andy, if it helps.” A shrug, an honest, practical comment rather than empty flattery.

“But it doesn’t help that this old man, way past thirty when everything goes down hill, could pretty much do what he wanted with you because you are as you said before, barely able to keep a light construct.”

Jeanine frowned.

“That’s not fair.” She said, straightening up off of her hands. “I tapped out, beyond over my limit. It’s left me all...weak feeling, sick. I wasn’t being dramatic when I said I almost died. I’m surprised I -didn’t- die. So I’m not just ‘low on mana’, I’m physically fucked, too.” A nerdy reference there, but she’s distracted, glances to the turned off television. “It’s a good thing I made it here to another hero instead of...I don’t know. Someplace else.”

Her skin prickles at the back of her neck at the thought, but she shakes it off, green flecked eyes drifting back.

“Anyway-without powers, I’m not totally helpless in, you know, full health. But more training can never hurt-never know what can happen in the field.” She’s used to having a team to back her up, but without one, and if stripped of magic somehow without being tapped-yeah, that’d be bad.

“I’m just a regular woman behind those abilities, you’re right. I’d like to think I’d be able to put up a fight against most men, but I don’t have increased durability or fast healing or titanium bones or...anything.” Hm. Something she hadn’t really thought about before. “And you’re bigger than me, more experienced than me, and something of an expert, aren’t you? So hell, you probably would win.” She scowled and, in jest-stuck her tongue out at him.

 

[LordUsagi]

Her comment about burlap was true, and he was pretty sure she would look incredible in an old style costume. Some healed boots, totally unnecessary, would accentuate her shapely legs and he didn’t need much imagination to picture her with a bit of cleavage and a form hugging costume. He probably held the thoughts for too long and could only hope she didn’t notice.

“Yeah luckily I kept my good looks with age, clean living without extreme vices,” his smile was genuine at the thought of her not seeing him as too old. “I am still young at heart, playful and fun. Never had kids or a wife to prematurely age me.l

When she started talking about how tapped out she was, he saw her point and her frustration, but it was also making his point for him.

“I know Jeanie, you were all tapped out, you gave everything to help and save people, but it almost cost you your life.” He looked at her with a genuine concern, “Anything could have happened.”

When she stuck out her tongue his stomach churned, it was childish, cute but he also found it a little bit of a tease and arousing.

“No probably to it honey, I would win, but,” he didn’t want her to feel too put down, “you are right. I am bigger, stronger more experienced and as you said I was a professional.” He knew this was getting too serious again, and he wanted her to be a bit more relaxed while she recovered, so he made the bold statement, “but I think I could beat you even if you used your powers.”