Before she really knew what she was doing, she had stepped into the alley. She heard a voice yell "Hey you creeps! Leave them alone!" and was surprised to
discover it was her own voice. The closest she'd ever come to real violence was a domestic issue or two while working. Once a man came at her with a knife, but she was able to talk him down.
Maybe these guys will just run?The spotter turned on her with his gun, "Hey lady, nothing here to see. You just move yourself along." The other two looked up.
Bullshit
, she thought to herself, I'm not leaving when I can make a difference. Her heart rate accelerated and a fearful sweat arose on her skin. Oh shit, a voice in her head said,
what the hell AM I going to do?...
"Ain't you listenin' lady? I said move on!" the thug advanced on her and one of the others drew a gun.
First, a force field. A lavender
wave washed over Jennifer from head to toe. The advancing ganger stopped short and his friends both pulled guns. One kicked a victim to make sure he stayed down. "No," she said sternly as her
confidence rose. "No, I won't be leaving."
"She's got powers!" one of the trouble-makers yelled and he ran for the fire-escape.
The other two toughs didn't wait. They
immediately opened fire. Jennifer felt a sharp pain every time a bullet bounced from her gravity shield. Well, at least it works!
I know in theory how to use these powers, but this is going
to be the first real field test. Why can't they have knives? Jennifer took several steps forward, stretching out her arms as she did so. Twin beams of lavender light erupted from her fingers. One
beam struck each of the two thugs causing each to stagger and collapse on the ground unable to support his own weight. The bullets immediately stopped.
"Whatever you did witch, you're gonna die!"
mumbled one of the thugs through heavy lips.
"Tony, you wuss, cap her!" shouted the other.
From the fire-escape, three stories above bullets rained down into the alley.
Jennifer
instinctively dodged away from the others while glancing to see where the bullets where coming from. The adrenaline rushed through her blood. With long years of athletics, Jennifer's thoughts and actions
flowed together. A few more bullets and the muzzle flash betrayed the shooter. With a dash, leap and tuck-and-roll, Jennifer was sprinting up the side of the building. When she got level with the thug,
light fell across his face and she could see the fear and rage in his eyes.
"Die bitch!" he yelled and fired in her direction. His shots went wild.
He's not aiming. He's too berserk and afraid to aim.
Jennifer realized. With her own rush of anger, she bolted straight at him covering the few strides quickly. Jennifer flinched at the pain in her shoulder and side where two bullets struck her shields.
You remember 'freight-train Mulligan' next time you want to mug someone creep! Without hesitation, she used her body as a ram and crashed into the thug. Unbraced for her angle of attack Tony went
right over the railing, dragging Jennifer with him.
Without effort, Jennifer changed their relative gravity. The kid had the strong, agile body of a street thug and he fought hard against
Jennifer despite his total disorientation at the sudden change of gravity. Unfortunately for him, Jennifer was stronger and had no trouble with the gravity. Despite the effort to maintain the gravity warps
holding down the other thugs, Jennifer managed to twist her foe around and she unleashed her own anger and fear as a barrage of right-fisted blows to his face and head. By the time they drifted to the ground, the
thug was unconscious. Blood ran from his lips and nose.
Her feet back on solid ground, Jennifer came back to her senses with a snap. She held the limp form of her attacker turned victim by a
fist full of jacket in her left hand. Her right hand was wet with blood from his broken nose. Her breathing was coming fast and ragged, sweat was warm on her face. Adrenaline roared through her veins.
She dropped the kid and looked to his victims. "Have either of you got a phone?" she asked in a rasping voice. "We'd better get you an ambulance and call the police."
"You did good,"
came a burbling voice from the shadows. A wet humanoid form schlumped from the darkness. Despite the obvious potential for further danger, Jennifer felt only that she could trust this person. "I'm
Nightcrawler. With the Millennium. You handled these guys well."
With a conscious effort, Jennifer slowed her breathing. Wow! Someone from the Millennium! Gotta look good
here. Be cool. "Uh, thanks." God, that sounded stupid!
"I'll secure these guys," the Nightcrawler continued, "while you attend to their victims." A long pseudopod extended out
handing her a cell phone.
"Yeah," Jennifer said, squelching the urge to recoil from that pseudopod, "I'll do that." She took the phone and punched 911. Jennifer the hero drifted to a warm fuzzy
space in her heart as Jennifer the paramedic turned to attend her rescued charges. As she turned, a grin crept across her face. "I did good," she whispered to herself as the phone started to ring, "I did
good!"
