Down with the Queen

by Benjamin Medrano

  Allison used the device with barely a wince, and a dot of blood slowly welled up from where the needle had pricked her finger. Turning to Lilith, she asked, “Lilith, if you’d care to try healing me?”

  “Of course,” Lilith murmured, stepping forward and touching Allison’s hand, making certain to avoid touching the injury itself, then focused on Allison the same way she had when she’d healed Rachel.

  Unlike that time, Lilith found that she couldn’t sense the injury or anything else about Allison, only feeling the smooth warmth of her skin. She’d been expecting something like that, but it was also slightly disappointing. She tried for several more moments before sighing and looking up at Allison. “I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the injury. I could with Rachel, but… without that, I don’t think I can do anything.”

  “It’s not a problem, Lilith. I suspected that your power was an extension of the links you have with the others; we simply had to confirm it,” Allison replied, retracting her hand and blotting the blood away. “Now, you were willing to do the same, Rachel?”

  “Yes, of course,” Rachel replied, smiling slightly as she reached for the device.

  “Ah, ah… no, I need to swap the needles first,” Allison said, quickly moving it out of Rachel’s reach. “I know you’re a hero, but that’s a bit foolish, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, right, of course. I didn’t think about that.” Rachel blushed slightly, and Lilith couldn’t help a soft giggle. At the laugh, Rachel gave her a betrayed look. “Lilith!”

  “I’m sorry, Rachel. It’s just that you’re usually the one who thinks things through more carefully, so it amused me,” Lilith told her friend, smiling. “Were you trying to get it over with?”

  “Pretty much. I don’t usually deal with medical equipment much since I can heal with my magic even in my mundane identity,” Rachel admitted. “Most blood-borne pathogens don’t last long when they attack heroes, anyway.”

  “While true, that doesn’t mean you should take risks,” Allison chided gently, finishing swapping needles and handing the device over. “While it may seem like I’m taking risks during the tests, the escalation and tests have been carefully designed to make the risks as manageable as possible.”

  “I suppose,” Rachel agreed and carefully used the device, only to jerk back her hand at the prick. “Ow! I didn’t… that was a little more painful than I expected.”

  “Maybe I should’ve done it,” Gina said, grinning as she added, “I’m the one who hurt herself more growing up.”

  “Too late now,” Rachel retorted. “You’re the one who didn’t like the idea!”

  “That was then,” Gina fired back, and Lilith sighed, taking Rachel’s hand.

  “Gina… let me concentrate, please?” Lilith requested.

  “Right, of course. Though considering the circumstances last time you had to heal, I don’t think this is nearly as bad,” Gina said, leaning against the wall.

  “Last time I was blocking out everything else from blind panic. It’s harder when I’m not in a crisis and running on instinct,” Lilith murmured, staring at Rachel’s hand. “Now how… oh. Oh my.”

  Odd as it seemed, it was almost like Lilith lost some of her focus as she stared at Rachel’s hand and her senses simply… expanded. Once again, she could feel Rachel’s body, but this time her friend wasn’t in danger of death. Her body practically glowed with health, wreathed in power that made her vitality even stronger. The only flaw was where the needle had pierced the skin and Lilith guided herself to the injury, sending a wisp of her own energy into it, then more. It took several seconds but Rachel’s finger reabsorbed the blood and the injury vanished, leaving her skin like it’d never been broken. It took a little more energy than Lilith preferred, but compared to the deadly injuries the day before, it was almost nothing.

  “It worked!” Lilith exclaimed, smiling widely.

  “You had doubts?” Gina asked, her eyebrows rising. “You healed a burn that was down to the bone yesterday!”

  “Yes, I had doubts,” Lilith said tartly. “I’m still getting used to this, I’ll remind you.”

  “I didn’t,” Rachel replied softly, looking at Allison. “Well?”

  “As I thought, done through your psychic link,” Allison said, making a last note on her tablet and nodding. “Your healing isn’t healing in the usual sense of the word. Most people heal injuries as an outside force directed on the subject’s body. What you’re doing is giving her your energy and using all of it to allow Rachel to heal herself. It’s an expansion of your ability to empower them.”

  “Speaking of which, I feel the boost fading now,” Gina interjected, and Rachel nodded in agreement.

  “I feel it as well,” Rachel said, and at the same time, Lilith felt the connection weakening to its more usual strength.

  “Interesting. Almost fifteen minutes precisely. Based on what I’m seeing… I suspect that Lilith could empower each of you close to a dozen times each day if needed, which is most impressive when we’re considering a flat ten percent boost in your power. It could be that she could increase how often she could do so once she grows used to her power, but I’m not certain,” Allison explained, frowning thoughtfully. “Her healing ability is… problematic since it draws on the same reserves. Still, it’s quite effective in its own way, since it does cause the subject’s body to heal itself. The psychic connection seems to be purely cooperative, so that isn’t a worry from my perspective. It would be different if it were imposed on others. Combined with your physical abilities… you’re a high-rank class B superhuman, Lilith; possibly class A. Now, depending on how easily you could add others to your link, and whether or not your ability to empower them grows, it could easily increase your rank. If you somehow could empower dozens of heroes, all at that power level, it would be quite impressive.”

  Lilith blinked in surprise at the way Allison explained her powers, growing more relieved as she spoke. Hopefully it would be enough to convince Gina and Rachel’s teammates to relax where she was concerned, and it meant her powers weren’t like those of Shadowmind, which was comforting.

  Finally, Allison shook her head and continued. “Never mind that. In any case, that’s my final verdict on your powers. You didn’t wish to be registered as a hero, did you?”

  “No, not as of yet,” Lilith replied, relief almost making her feel giddy. “I’m glad that my abilities aren’t more… difficult to deal with.”

  “Agreed,” Rachel said, grinning as she added, “It’s comforting, isn’t it?”

  “Heh. I don’t think everything was that bad. And hopefully Spirit will get off our back about this, finally,” Gina added, pushing away from the wall and looking at Allison. “Is there anything else?”

  “Let’s go finish up the paperwork; then you’re free to go,” Allison replied, smiling broadly. “It’s been an interesting meeting. I’m glad I came out here for it.”

  “Likewise,” Lilith murmured, and followed Allison out of the room, heading for the front of the building again. She grew more amused when Gina took one of her arms with a distinctly proprietary air.

  Chapter 3

  Friday, December 20th, 2030

  Ocean Shield HQ, San Francisco

  “Gina, Rachel! It’s good to see you!” Ocean Spirit exclaimed, smiling broadly as she approached them. The team leader looked far better than she had the previous day, and considering the damage dealt to downtown, Rachel honestly couldn’t blame her for having been upset at the time. “I’m surprised you came in today, what with everything that happened yesterday. When I think about how badly you were hurt… are you doing alright, Rachel?”

  “I’m fine, Spirit. The injuries were fully healed before I had a chance to really notice them, so it isn’t like I was hospitalized or anything like that,” Rachel replied, smiling in return. “No, we came in to talk to you about the report that Insight made about Lilith’s powers.”

  “Oh, that was today, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, I forgot due to the insanity
of the last two days,” Ocean Spirit said, the beads in her braids rattling softly against one another as she shook her head. “I’m sorry about that. Galvanic, have we been copied on the report yet?”

  The command center of Ocean Shield was large, with numerous monitors and several stations to sit at. Galvanic Action was at the central one, while the only others present were Ocean Spirit, Gina, and Rachel herself. Neither Gina nor Rachel had bothered changing into their hero identities before visiting, since they weren’t planning to go out on patrol today. It had made it slightly more difficult to get inside without being seen, but they’d managed.

  “Let me see… ah, here it is!” Galvanic Action said, nodding as his eyebrows rose. “High end class B? That’s pretty damned good, but not completely out of line for what we’ve seen from her. I’m still a little surprised she managed to take down Blue Impulse. He was estimated as class A.”

  “That’s because she caught him by surprise and at close range. He didn’t have a chance to use his magic or she would’ve lost badly,” Gina pointed out with a shrug. “Her powers weren’t really applicable, but she’s strong and fast enough to keep up with him in melee. He was overconfident and paid for it, thank God.”

  “Totally agreed. Why don’t you take a seat while I look this over?” Ocean Spirit asked, gesturing over to a chair as she smiled at them. “I assume it wasn’t too bad if you came over this quickly.”

  “Not at all. I’ll let you read the full report, but Lilith’s power essentially allows her to channel her own energy into those she has a psychic link to, which boosts their power by close to ten percent for a quarter hour,” Rachel explained, moving to a chair and taking a seat, while Gina plopped into a different one. Ocean Spirit’s eyebrows rose at the explanation as she pulled up the report, but Rachel continued. “The interesting thing is that the psychic link is cooperative and based on trust. She can offer the power, but it’s up to the recipient whether to take it, and forming the link requires both her and the person on the other end to trust each other implicitly.”

  “Those are some fairly heavy requirements, aren’t they?” Galvanic Action asked, turning toward them in surprise. “I thought she had healing powers, too. Where is she, anyway? Waiting in the car?”

  “Insight says that the healing power is an extension of the power boost, and is extremely… inefficient, but useful. It takes far more energy than the other uses,” Ocean Spirit replied, the heroine obviously scanning the document quickly, looking impressed. “I also see why Orchid was impressed by her physique. For not having powers boosting her strength and the like, she’s extremely strong and fast. Not terribly tough, though.”

  “That’s right. As for Lilith, after a brief discussion, she decided to walk home and clean up a little more while we visited you and figured things out,” Gina explained, shrugging. “She’s trying to keep as far out of our affairs as she can. In particular, she’s worried about it looking like she’s trying to influence us. Considering her background, she’s nervous that people might get the wrong idea about her.”

  “Speaking of which, you’ll note that Insight said that there’s no sign of her power being able to mentally influence us, I hope?” Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow. “That was the entire reason we asked her to get tested, as I recall.”

  Ocean Spirit nodded, looking up thoughtfully as she sat back in her chair. “That’s right. I must say that looking over her powers is something of a relief. I’m somewhat surprised that you were able to form the link at all, considering how hard it is to trust others to that degree. Most heroes trust one another, but…”

  “Very true. I mean… I trust you and Galvanic, but it isn’t unconditional trust,” Gina admitted, shrugging helplessly. “I think it’s partially due to what Impulse did, but… there’s also just the fact that we work together, but aren’t close, if that makes any sense?”

  “It does to me,” Galvanic Action agreed. “So, what’re you planning? Or Lilith, for that matter? I didn’t see any discussion here about whether or not she’s going to register as a hero. I imagine that she could make a killing off the merchandise if she went for it.”

  “I don’t think Lilith is comfortable with becoming a hero. She’s still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, let alone putting herself in the middle of the public eye like that,” Rachel told him, suppressing the urge to laugh as she shook her head. “I just can’t see her doing most of what we do, anyway.”

  “I don’t know… she did rush onto the street to rescue you, Rachel,” Gina mused, shrugging. “I’m not going to push her one way or another, but if we asked her for help, you know she’d help out.”

  “Really?” Ocean Spirit asked, looking startled. “I thought you said that she was rather… distant at times, and cautious.”

  “That was before. With the way she trusts us… I think Gina’s right. And that’s a slightly uncomfortable thought. She probably would help without even asking why,” Rachel murmured, frowning deeply. “I don’t want to betray her trust. It’s a complicated situation.”

  “As you say, but Galvanic was right. What are the two of you going to do? You were both hit hard over the last few days, though in different ways,” Ocean Spirit asked, standing up and nodding at the screen, which showed a few different icons indicating crimes in progress, and the status of the police or minor heroes dealing with them. “We’re still gathering information on what happened yesterday, but there are indications that Heavy Metal, Megawatt, and another villain were in San Mateo attacking that military research facility. Worse, we think Dreamer and some others attacked UC Berkeley, killing one of the scientists there and stealing research. They deleted all of the records and wiped surveillance, so we’re not sure who was involved aside from Dreamer. Obviously, it was someone with good technical skills, but that could be any number of villains. We could use your help in trying to track them down, but I’m not going to push you.”

  “You’re right, it’s been a hellish couple of days, hasn’t it?” Gina murmured, rubbing her eyes. “To a certain extent, the complications grew so overwhelming for me that I didn’t realize just how bad it was. Personally, I was hoping for a few days off, at least until after Christmas. I need to figure out whether or not I’m going to go public, with how my appearance has changed. It’s going to be damned hard to hide a change to my skin tone like this, and I’m not sure that it’s worth the effort.”

  “That seems pretty reasonable,” Galvanic Action interjected, looking at Rachel and continuing. “Rachel? Do you think you’d be able to fix her skin and that? If it was done via magic, I’d think it could be reversed.”

  “That’s a lot trickier than you might think. Everything I’ve seen indicates that Ebon Dragon was behind the spells, and he’s a scary old man, with a lot more knowledge than I care to think about,” Rachel replied, shrugging unhappily. “I’ve had a few discussions with Orchid, since her family has disowned him, but she doesn’t know what he’s capable of anymore. I believe that I could change her back, but researching and building the spells would take at least a couple of months. Most of that time would be figuring out what he did, so I didn’t accidentally compound the alteration and turn her skin purple or something like that.”

  “Shit. I wish magic were simpler, but I suppose it’s like any other type of research in its own way,” Galvanic Action replied, sighing. “I can’t say that I blame you or Gina, though. It’s a nasty situation and going public isn’t something to do lightly.”

  “Not if you’re lower than class S, anyway. It’s smart not to go public, even for those of us who have the power to deter villains; sometimes it’s better to keep our private lives secret,” Ocean Spirit agreed, shrugging. “I’ve just never seen the point to keeping my identity hidden. My awakening was very public.”

  “True enough. Most class S supers are just too powerful for anyone to want to take lightly.” Gina sighed, shrugging. “Anyway, yeah, I’m going to have to take a few days to think.”

&n
bsp; “As for me, yes, I got blasted rather horribly by Pyroclasm, but I don’t feel that it hit me too badly.” Rachel added, smiling as she clarified, “Not that the damage wasn’t horrific, but I recovered quickly enough for it not to impact me. I’d still like light duty for a few days… things with Lilith have me confused, and I’d like to try to work things out with her and Gina. Especially now that the power test is done. I’ve every intention of being back on duty in short order, though.”

  “I can imagine. You two were rather put out yesterday when she admitted to me that she had feelings for both of you.” Galvanic Action chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement. “What’re you going to do about all of that, anyway?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Our relationship has changed very abruptly, and I never expected it. I half wish I’d decided to ask you out on a date a few weeks back, Galvanic,” Rachel said, smirking as she added. “Still, considering that you and Spirit were dating, I thought it was a bad idea.”

  “What? I… but…” Galvanic Action’s head whipped around to look at Rachel in shock, increasing her amusement.

  “I told you that trying to keep it quiet wasn’t a realistic goal,” Ocean Spirit said dryly, laughing softly. “So you’re actually considering both trying to have a relationship with Lilith? I imagine that’d be interesting.”

  “Complicated, definitely,” Gina said, blushing as she did so. With the blue undertone to her skin, it was an odd look, Rachel thought. “Still, Lilith isn’t pressuring either of us. If anything, she’s trying to let us figure out what we want to do. She acts confident in public, but she’s very uncertain where emotions are concerned.”

  “An interesting aspect to things.” Ocean Spirit laughed, shaking her head. “Still, let’s stop poking into your personal lives, shall we? Instead, looking at the schedule… Orchid wants to leave for a vacation on the twenty-fourth for a couple of weeks. Between the rest of us, we should be able to easily cover Christmas, but I’d really appreciate it if the pair of you could start back up on the twenty-sixth. Would that be acceptable?”