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  • How to Date a Superhero Ch. 03

How to Date a Superhero Ch. 03

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Jordan Summers awoke with a stretch of her tanned limbs and slipped from bed, reaching for a robe hanging over the back of a chair. She examined herself quickly in a vanity mirror situated over a squat dresser, fussing over her tangled burgundy hair. "I need a shower," she yawned.

Jordan was not a morning person and didn't consider herself truly awake until she completed a shower and swallowed a cup of coffee.

Next to the dresser, on a wide desk, were six flat-screen computer monitors situated around a hulking keyboard. She paused at the desk out of habit, tapped on a key, and quickly scanned several windows of streaming data and video feeds; nothing unusual seemed to be happening in the city. Satisfied by what she saw, Jordan slipped the robe on and padded on bare feet out of her bedroom.

"Travis?" she was surprised to see her roommate's boyfriend squatting in front of a linin closet. He wasn't wearing anything other than a pair of boxer-briefs and a white undershirt, though a towel was draped over his shoulder. "Um, what are you doing?"

Travis slowly stood and turned. He was holding a red spandex costume draped across his hands; a Mega-Girl costume.

"Oh," Jordan saw what he was holding, her expression like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Crap."

Travis looked down at the spandex, "I'm sorry about last week, when I blew you off."

"What?" Jordan sounded confused.

"Don't play dumb, I know you're Mega-Girl. When you came to see me last week, and we made plans to hang out, I really wanted to... I just, I think I'm in love with Penny."

"Wait," Jordan laughed. "You think I'm Mega-Girl?"

"Well yeah," Travis gestured with the costume. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I hate to be the one to break it to you honey, but -"

Harbinger! Harbinger, are you there?

The grainy-sounding voice was coming from a speaker inside Jordan's room.

"What was that?" Travis asked, startled by how loud it was.

Jordan spun and moved quickly towards her computer desk.

Travis followed, impressed by the half-dozen screens, "Wow, what the heck is all this?"

"I'm a computer-science major," Jordan replied, sitting in her swiveling desk chair. She turned to face the monitors and hit a few key strokes.

Harbinger. Harbinger, come in.

"Who's Harbinger?" Travis wondered in a clueless tone.

"I am," Jordan said, placing a headset over her burgundy hair. She adjusted the microphone in front of her mouth, "I'm here, MG. What's going on?"

I'm being attacked by Apollo!

"What?!?" Jordan's fingers began spinning a mouse-like trackball and the camera images on the monitors panned outwards.

Travis stood behind Jordan, watching the screens as he tried to figure out what was going on. He recognized Gateway City from above, but had no idea where the images could be coming from. The point of view on Jordan's computer screens was too high to be situated on any building.

He just attacked me! He came out of nowhere.

"Why would he do that?" Jordan asked.

I don't know, but I've never fought a three-thousand year-old god before; I need to figure out a way to stop him. I need your help.

Travis watched as one of the camera views zoomed in an incredible amount, showing a downtown street from a viewpoint directly above. The figures of people were small, but he recognized one of them as the world-famous Apollo! "Are these satellite images?" Travis asked, amazed that Jordan would have access to anything so high-tech.

She ignored his question. "I'll get into it right away," Jordan told Mega-Girl. "But it might take me some time. Can you hang in there?"

I'll certainly try.

Her fingers were suddenly dancing across the keyboard as Jordan pulled up a dozen different search windows at once. Almost immediately, newspaper articles and internet reports of Apollo's past activities, along with images of the god, filled all six monitor screens. Videos of him in action populated even more windows as Jordan continued to yank as much data as she could from the internet.

"What the hell is going on?" Travis asked, overwhelmed by the speed at which Jordan worked. "Was that Mega-Girl you were talking to?"

"Yes," she answered curtly, her attention glued to the monitors.

"But I thought you were -?"

"I don't really have time to explain it to you right now, Travis. I need to figure out how someone can defeat an ancient Roman god."

"But if you're not..." It suddenly dawned on Travis, "Wait, you mean Penny is...?"

Jordan sounded irritated. "You need to either shut-up or help me figure out a way to keep your girlfriend alive."

"Are you telling me my girlfriend is fighting Apollo right now? Holy shit!"

"Damn it, Travis, Penny is in a lot of danger right now! You need to stop asking questions and help me. Apollo is like the most powerful guy on the planet. At the very least - he's the strongest."

Travis sobered, "O-okay, um, what can I do?"

"We need to figure out if Apollo has any weaknesses."

"How are we going to do that?"

Jordan pointed at her screens, "Look for anything that stands out as something Mega-Girl could use against him. Look for common denominators - things he always does, or never does. Even the smallest detail could be a clue."

Travis began studying the videos that were playing on screen, footage of the god battling various super villains. The only thing he thought any of them had in common was how savagely Apollo fought. Travis swallowed nervously, suddenly very worried for Penny.

=======

Apollo stood in his gleaming armor with the greenery of Byrne Park spread out around him and drew an arrow from the quiver on his back, "You have fought well, mortal. But thy days have reached their end."

Mega-Girl winced as she clutched at the arrow shaft protruding from her left shoulder. With a pain-filled scream she pulled it out, the arrowhead tearing her flesh. She didn't want another one of those arrows coming anywhere near her, realizing Apollo had found some way to bypass her normally-reliable invulnerability.

"Wait," she said, trying to buy some time for Harbinger. "Why are you trying to kill me? It doesn't make any sense."

Apollo notched his arrow, "I must prove my love to the mortal Lauren Smith, so that we may be together forever."

"How is killing me going to prove your love for some chick?"

Apollo aimed his bow, but Mega-Girl's question momentarily confused him. He loosened the bowstring.

"I don't even know this person," Mega-Girl continued, covering her wound with a palm. "Why does she want me dead?"

"It matters little," Apollo decided, raising his bow once more and drawing its string to take aim.

"Shit," Mega-Girl cursed, taking off into the air with the speed of a bullet.

Apollo fired but missed, his arrow arcing harmlessly through the air. Replacing the bow upon his back, Apollo flew after her, his speed equal to hers.

Flying straight upwards, Mega-Girl aimed for the clouds, but Apollo proved the faster. He reached and took hold of her ankle, flexing his mighty arm and hurling Mega-Girl back towards the earth. She landed with the force of a crashing meteor, a detonation of grass and dirt erupting around her petite frame. Her wounded shoulder exploded with the pain of a thousand stabbing daggers and she barely had time to cry out from the agony before Apollo was on top of her, pounding her face and body with punch after devastating punch.

Instinctively, Mega-Girl curled a leg between them and kicked with all her strength. Her foot caught Apollo in the stomach and sent him spinning through the air. He crashed into a park bench a hundred feet away, shattering it into splinters.

Crawling out of a crater of dirt and soil, Mega-Girl had trouble rising to her feet. The left sleeve of her costume was growing soaked with blood and her shoulder was throbbing in pain. Unfortunately for her Apollo wasn't done. He flew into her with the speed and power of a runaway locomotive, driving Mega-Girl through the air and slamming her back-first into a thick tree with a sharp crack. Once again the god's savage fists began raining blows, pinning her between the tree and his onslaught.

But Mega-Girl wasn't ready to give up. She shot her forehead towards the vicious god's face, head-butting him in the nose. In the moment that bought her, she lifted a hard knee into his groin causing Apollo to stumble backwards in sudden pain. And then, with every ounce of strength she could muster, Mega-Girl swung a massive haymaker punch with her one good arm.

The blow launched Apollo high into the air. He flew for hundreds of yards, disappearing from view to land behind a line of trees.

=======

"This guy is brutal!" Travis exclaimed, watching a video of Apollo defeating The Leviathan.

"There must be something," Jordan remained optimistic. "There must be some way he can be defeated."

"It's hopeless," Travis feared. "I mean, the only thing in common I see is that he beats the crap out of everyone he fights and that all these fights take place during the day. Not very helpful."

"Oh shit," Jordan began cycling through each of the videos and photos, glancing at each one quickly. "That's it!"

"What?" Travis was confused.

"Apollo is the god of light," Jordan remarked excitedly.

"So?" Travis shrugged

"Don't you study your mythology? Apollo is the sun god. And Look! Every single time he's been captured on video battling a super villain, it was during the day."

"So?" Travis still didn't get it.

"So why doesn't he ever fight at night?" Jordan asked.

Travis' eyes widened as he finally caught up with Jordan's train of thought, "Because the night makes him weak!"

Jordan beamed a smile, "That's got to be it. You're a genius, Travis!"

=======

Apollo re-emerged in the distance, from between the tree line, looking extremely angry. He also appeared uninjured.

"What does it take to stop this guy?" Mega-Girl muttered with a frustrated breath. With her shoulder throbbing in excruciating pain she didn't know how much longer she could hold out.

MG! Are you there?

Mega-Girl lifted a hand to her ear, "I hope you have something, Harbinger. I'm getting the crap kicked out of me!"

We think we found something.

"We?" Mega-Girl wondered, watching Apollo slowly stalk her way. "Who are you with?"

Never mind that. Apollo is weakened by the night. His power must come from the sun, or something.

"Are you sure?"

Not one-hundred percent, but it's all I've got.

"Fair enough, thanks Harbinger."

Good luck, MG.

Mega-Girl looked up at the sun, which was still low in the early morning sky. If she wanted to find night, she would need to go west and hope to outrun the dawn.

"Mega-Girl!" came a deep bellow, "Thy delays will not save thee. No mortal, no matter how strong, can defeat the might of Apollo!"

"If you want me," Mega-Girl yelled back, "You're going to have to catch me!"

Rising into the air, Mega-Girl burst westward like a streak of crimson. Apollo gave chase, soaring through the sky after her.

Straightening her body, Mega-Girl stretched her right fist out in front of her to cut through the air like a bullet. Though her other arm was curled at her side and throbbing with pain, she ignored the wound as much as she could and continued to accelerate, her blonde hair flapping behind her. "Let's see how fast you are, Apollo," she murmured.

A cone of air was visible to the naked eye around Mega-Girl's sleek body as she flew faster and faster. A clap of thunder erupted as she achieved supersonic speed and began moving quicker than sound. The ground beneath her was a blur, Gateway City far behind. She kept her altitude low, needing the horizon to obscure the sun. Glancing back, she saw a flying speck she assumed was Apollo. He was keeping pace, but not gaining. She pushed herself to fly even faster.

Fifteen minutes later, with Apollo still in sight, Mega-Girl flew over the Rocky Mountains. She finally slowed somewhere over western Utah, choosing a vast stretch of uninhabited flatland to stand her ground. Apollo nearly flew on, high above her landing spot, before he too slowed and swooshed a curving path back towards the heroine. He landed to a skidding halt in front of her.

"Coward!" he yelled.

Mega-Girl glanced to the east. The morning sun had yet to peek over the horizon and it was time to gamble on Harbinger's hunch. When Apollo ran towards her she stood firm, praying Harbinger would be right.

Apollo, crazed with anger and mad with his love of Rapture, punched Mega-Girl solidly across the chin.

She barely felt the blow.

"What's wrong?" Mega-Girl offered a crooked, suddenly confident smile. "Getting a little wore out?"

Apollo realized he had let his fury get the better of him; he had flown out of range from the source of his strength - the sun. His confidence waned in an instant and Apollo silently cursed his opponent for her trickery. There was only one last chance. Reaching for his bow, Apollo knew it would be his only hope of victory.

But Mega-Girl wasn't about to let him shoot her with that wicked weapon again. She grabbed him by the arm and spun, hurtling Apollo as hard as she could against a boulder protruding from the ground nearby. He smashed against the rock and crumpled to the ground. Without the sun fueling his power, Apollo's strength and invulnerability was vastly diminished.

The fight was over in an instant; Mega-Girl had defeated a god.

Even though the battle had reached its conclusion, many questions yet remained. Mega-Girl wanted to know why Apollo, a fellow hero, had attacked her. And who was Lauren Smith? The answers would need to come quickly however, before the eastern sky lit with the morning's dawn and Apollo regained his strength.

"Why did you try to kill me?" Mega-Girl demanded to know, approaching the god's prone form. "Who is this woman you were trying to prove yourself to?"

No answers came. Instead, Apollo simply vanished.

"What the -?" Mega-Girl gasped in astonishment. She felt on the ground where he was, in case the god had turned invisible, but he wasn't there.

It wasn't like when he teleported during their fight in the city - there was a bright flash of light when he did that. It was like he simply disappeared. One second Apollo was there, and an instant later he wasn't.

=======

"MG?" Jordan adjusted the microphone on her headset, "MG, can you read me?"

Travis sat on the edge of Jordan's bed, his foot tapping nervously. It had been nearly a twenty minutes since their last contact with Mega-Girl; both he and Jordan wore concerned expressions on their faces. Neither had bothered to dress.

"Why isn't she answering?" Travis worried aloud.

"The connection is cellular," Jordan explained. "She could be in a dead spot."

"Or she could just be dead," Travis rose and began pacing.

"It'll be okay," Jordan assured him, "Your girlfriend is kind of tough."

"Yeah but Apollo is a fucking god!" Travis gestured at Jordan's computer monitors, "You saw those videos. The guy never loses! What if we were wrong? What if it was just coincidence that he was always fighting during the day?"

"No one has ever defeated Mega-Girl, okay? She's nigh-invulnerable." Jordan activated her headset and tried again, "MG? Are you there?"

"Nigh-invulnerable? What does that even mean?" Travis continued to pace, "This is seriously fucked up. I thought I was dating a normal girl. I wanted to date a normal girl. I want to graduate college, get a normal job, maybe pop out a couple of kids. I can't spend every day of my life worrying if my wife is going to be killed by a Roman god. I mean, can Penny even have kids? She's not an alien from another planet, is she?"

Jordan gave him a strange look, "No, she's from the suburbs."

Harbinger? Harbinger, can you hear me?

Both Jordan and Travis turned towards the speaker, excited and relieved to finally hear Mega-Girl's voice.

Jordan activated her headset, "I'm here, MG. What's your status?"

I'm wounded, but not too bad... somewhere over Colorado at the moment. I should be home in about twenty minutes. You saved my life, Harbinger. You were right about his weakness; he was about as tough as a kitten as soon as we were out of the daylight.

"It was actually your boyfriend who figured it out," Jordan admitted.

Wait, he's with you?

"Yeah. Sorry, MG. He found your stash of costumes."

Oh god, is he pissed?

Jordan glanced at him, "I think he's just relieved you're okay. We both are. Do you want to talk to him?"

Yeah.

Jordan pulled the headset off, having to untangle it from a snarl of her burgundy hair, before handing it to Travis. "Don't use any real names," she instructed, "It's a secret identity thing."

Travis looked at the headset and considered, "You know what? This is all way too crazy, I'm out of here."

"Wait," Jordan frowned as Travis turned to leave the room. "Travis...!"

Travis lifted a dismissive hand, "Just tell her I'm glad she's okay, but I can't be with someone who lies to me all the time."

Jordan winced as Travis slammed her bedroom door shut.

=======

Apollo awoke to the feeling of sunlight warming his beardless face, opening his eyes to strange surroundings. He was in a bed, dressed in a simple tunic and loincloth, though his armors were arranged neatly upon a chair in the corner. Sliding glass doors led out to a marble patio, with mountains in the distance. The bedroom was plainly furnished but spacious, as though it was a spare for guests. Apollo wondered if he was in the home of a friend, or a foe.

Quite suddenly, a lean and handsome man with dark curly hair appeared out of nowhere beside Apollo, his arrival heralded by a barely perceptible tremor of air. He wore a pair of tan slacks, loose-fitting and made of expensive material, with a collared polo tee-shirt; Nike sneakers seemed overly casual in comparison. "Hello, brother. I see you are finally awake. The morning sun always did cure all of your ills."

Apollo exhaled a relieved breath and swung his legs over the edge of the bed to sit up. "Hermes," he greeted in a gruff voice, happy he was not in the hands of a potential enemy. "How many centuries has it been?"

"Three, I believe."

"That long?"

"I believe it was when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor," Hermes mused.

"Too long," Apollo grunted.

"Gods, what a party that was, though. Do you remember the French woman we shared that night... what was her name? She could do the most amazing things with her tongue..."

"Monique," Apollo recalled perfectly, running a hand through his long, blond hair.

Hermes laughed, "You amaze me, brother. How could you possibly remember her name after three hundred years?"

"She was the Emperor's niece," Apollo replied blandly. "Napoleon wanted me drawn and quartered for defiling her innocence out of wedlock."

Hermes chuckled, "Napoleon. What a pompous little cock that one was."

Rubbing his forehead, Apollo felt a subtle grogginess leaving his mind like fading morning dew, "Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You are in my Athens villa. I spirited you here, of course."

Apollo rose and moved to the sliding glass doors, staring at the distant mountains of Greece, "I did not know you were here, on this plane, again."

"It is a recent development," Hermes explained. "I've been monitoring a situation in Gateway City, a personal matter, and it was there that I chanced upon my mighty brother engaged in fisticuffs with one of the many costumed heroes of that city. Curious of your activities, I followed your chase of the mortal girl until she bested you."

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