H.E.R.O. - Metamorphosis

by Kevin Rau

I stepped out of the elevator, with Rael following alongside me. We moved closer to the officers, and they had to look up to look me in the face.

  I said, “Good afternoon, officers. I'm Spartan, this is Black Tiger. I was involved in stopping the mutant attack last night up on level four. We're here to talk to any available mutants.”

  The younger officer said, “You were the non-costumed super that got stabbed by some of them?”

  “That's right.”

  “I heard you wouldn't let the doctors take a look at you when it was done.”

  “I made them check on the patients in the rooms and the other supers before me. I figured it'd be dumb to jump in and fight to save people, only to get the medical care myself and see one of them die. A lot of guards were injured by that point, too.”

  “Yeah, we heard that too.”

  “Do you mind if Black Tiger and I speak with some of the mutants?”

  “You know we can't allow torture or threats….”

  “We, wait a second, we forgot to call Ste ... what's she call herself now?”

  Rael said, “Psystar. Officer, if we didn't have to harm or threaten them, would you allow us to talk to them?”

  The officers looked at each other and nodded. “I'm not seeing the harm in that.”

  Rael continued, “Our third partner was supposed to meet us here, let us go find her and we'll come back down. We shouldn't need to harm or threaten them at all.”

  Rael got this devious smile on his face. He actually looked rather vicious with his cat eyes and fangs.

  “Thanks officers, sorry about interrupting you without being ready ourselves.”

  As we were turning back toward the elevator one of the officers asked, “Is it true you leaped right through a wall, Spartan?”

  “Several. Why do you ask?”

  “You’re huge, I was just wondering how much you can lift?”

  “I actually don’t know. I smashed a few of those mutants through the outer concrete walls, but I’ve never tested my strength limit. I can throw a car dozens of feet up in the air.”

  “Cool. Hope we see you guys soon.”

  Lance nodded to him, “Thanks guys, have a good one until then.”

  We pushed the button and re-entered the elevator after a minute.

  Rael swore, “Damn it. I forgot that I need to get my phone replaced. It got damaged in the blast last night.”

  I said, “I'll call St ... Psystar. Man, it's hard getting used to saying the new names.”

  “Good to get used to it though, never know where a camera or mic is at.”

  “Right.” I gently took out my phone and quick dialed Stephanie's cell.

  The phone rang a few times, and a man's voice answered. He said, “Hello?”

  What the heck, some guy’s answering her phone? I heard the sound of plastic cracking, and noticed I'd cracked the case on my phone by gripping it slightly. Man, I didn’t even really squeeze. Rael's eyes snapped to it when it happened, he'd noticed as well. His right eyebrow rose.

  I said, “Hello, who is answering this phone?”

  “My name is Dr. Farwell. I'm a doctor at Metrocity General. Who is this?”

  Damn it, he'll be seeing the name on the phone.

  I replied, “Doctor, why isn't the woman owning this phone answering it?”

  “She's unconscious right now.”

  “I'll be sending Spartan and Black Tiger there shortly. What room is she in?”

  “407.”

  “Thank you.” I hung up. I looked at Rael.

  He tapped his ear, “I heard what he said. You jump us there?”

  I nodded. We ran to the nearest exit. I grabbed Rael and hugged him to my right shoulder, then sprinted and jumped.

  On the second jump I saw a tree directly in our path as we descended. I turned so Rael was behind me and we slammed into a large branch. The entire branch snapped off and fell ahead of us. It didn’t hurt me to slam into it, though Rael appeared to feel the impact against me. I moved the tree limb so it wouldn’t be in the way too badly, then continued our jumping.

  It took us perhaps 8 minutes to leap to Metrocity General Hospital.

  We jogged into the main entrance of the hospital, and immediately aimed for the nearest stairs. We both took the stairs half a flight at a time.

  The room was easy to pick out, hospital personnel stood partially in the doorway. We ran over to them. Given my height advantage, I looked over the nearest people to see that the room had about ten medical personnel standing in it.

  I said in a louder than normal voice, “Excuse me, please.”

  The people nearest looked back, and then up at me. One of the two said, “Whoa.” They pushed the others further into the room to make space.

  I stepped into the room as a younger doctor or intern suggested that they bring her down for an M.R.I.

  I asked, “Would someone explain what is going on here?” My tone made it obvious that I wasn’t happy with the situation.

  Most of them just stared at me. One man said, “She was with another patient. She collapsed. We brought her here.”

  Rael growled, “If she's not deeply out of it, you guys all being here are guaranteed to be driving her crazy right now. Everyone but Doc. Talker here, out.”

  A group of protests went up until Rael said harshly, “That wasn't a request.” His fingers blackened and elongated into claws as we watched. His mouth was in a snarl, so everyone could see his fangs. They cleared the room, as though a fire erupted on the bed.

  He ordered 'Doc. Talker' to move to the far side of the room, and walked over to the side of the bed. He laid his head against hers and stood over her for minutes, but nothing occurred.

  I looked at the doctor. “She was here to see a girl she had brought in earlier. Would you bring me there?”

  He nodded and walked past me. I followed him to another room. He knocked on room 414's door, waited a moment, and then headed in.

  A middle aged man and woman stood on either side of a bed with a young teenage girl in it. They all looked at us.

  I said, “Hello, my name's Spartan.”

  The man said, “You were at the accident moving vehicles out of the way.”

  “Yes. What happened with Psystar?”

  He said, “She came to see if she could help my daughter. She wouldn't, or couldn't explain what she wanted to try to do to help her, but leaned over by Gina's head for a minute or more. Her eyes were open, and they were glowing golden from within, but you could tell she wasn't looking at Gina, or anything here.”

  “She really looked like she was concentrating at times, her face and mouth got all screwed up like she was doing something hard, and her eyes glowed brilliantly gold a few times. It was really cool to see. Anyway, my daughter actually stirred after that long time. Psystar yanked her head back with some difficulty, as though her head was being held down. Then, she collapsed.”

  He continued, “Fortunately, sometime in the middle of it some of the doctors and nurses had come to the door to check on what was going on and were watching from the door. They rushed over to her when she fell to the floor. They took her to another room. We've been in here with Gina ever since.”

  I said, “Thank you. How are you feeling, Gina?”

  Gina said, “I'm doing okay. It's weird though. I'm getting music and images going through my head.”

  “That's different than normal?” Hello, that’s probably what happens when you hit your head too hard in a car accident.

  “Yeah, they are so vivid!”

  “Do you have any idea what happened?”

  “I ... I remember being alone. Then she came through a door, through it! She opened it for me - I couldn't do it. You should have seen her! She had beautiful gold hair that swept back like a breeze was blowing, and there was this gold glow all around her! She pulled me through someplace with all these animals and faeries flying around, and music playing. I
just remember her pulling me back further until I woke up. I opened my eyes in time to see her jerk back and fall over.”

  Hmm, I have no clue what she's talking about. Obviously it is something mind based. So Steph can do more than just listen to what we are thinking.

  Gina said, “I wish I had crayons and a drawing pad. I want to draw what I’m seeing.”

  Her father said, “I'll see what I can find for you, honey.”

  I said, “I'm glad you're doing better, Gina. Take care, folks.” I nodded to them and headed back to the room Stephanie was in.

  I rushed too much when I grabbed and turned the door handle, I heard metal stressing and bending. I hadn't turned the handle enough and almost ripped the assembly out of the wall. Man, I'm going to rack up tons of money in repair costs if I don't walk on eggshells when I'm irate.

  Stephanie's eyes were open when I returned to her room. She was looking at Rael. I went to the far side of the bed and gently took her free hand, since Rael had nabbed the other already.

  She appeared very tired as she turned her head to look at me. At least she got off a smile.

  I said, “How do you feel?”

  “Tired. Worn out.”

  “I take it you tried something new with psychic powers?”

  “Yeah. I think I got her out though.”

  “Gina's awake and seems to be doing pretty good. Her dad said that your eyes glowed gold when you did your thing with Gina.”

  “Really? That's cool. At least it matches my hair, then.”

  I laughed. “Leave it to you to want some glow or aura to match your hair.”

  “I'm hungry.”

  “Oh, we need to get you out of here then. You don't want to have to eat hospital food. Do you think you are strong enough to stand?”

  “I doubt it, but if one of you helps me I'm sure I can. I'm a lot stronger now, I'd think standing should be easier even when hurt.”

  “You're injured?” I asked. I watched her skeptically. She looked dead tired; her eyes barely stayed open.

  She mumbled, “No, just really tired. I could use a vivarin.”

  Rael said, “Try sitting up.”

  Stephanie slowly sat up and mumbled, “I want to see Gina.”

  Rael said, “Okay.” He took her hand and helped her stand.

  She leaned against Rael for a minute, until there was a knock at the door, and the door opened. A doctor stepped in and looked surprised. “Oh, you’re awake.”

  Stephanie stepped over to him, patted him on the shoulder and said, “No, you don't get to do your tests, Doctor.”

  She didn't walk straight when going to the door, so I stepped forward and offered her my arm. She hugged it and smiled up at me, blinking slowly a few times.

  I said, “Your reaction time is slow. If you haven't recovered by the time we leave, either you need to not fly, or perhaps we find someplace around here for something to snack on before leaving.”

  She mumbled, “Fine, fine, whatever.”

  The doctor said, “Miss Psystar, I really think you should stay here for observation.”

  She stepped closer so she touched the doctor with her bust, and said, “And what did you plan to observe, Doctor?”

  He blinked, glanced down, then back up at her face, “Umm, we can't be sure you haven't suffered some dangerous form of exhaustion. We could do, umm, tests.”

  She said, slurring slightly, “Doctor, I know what you want to observe. I don't mind being a test subject for some people, but not in a hospital. And I don't want people I don't know standing in my room staring at me, like I'm a zoo animal. I'm tired, like I crammed for a big exam for an entire weekend. That's all.” She blinked slowly as she talked up at him.

  I stepped over to her and presented my elbow again. She hugged it again, then laid her cheek against my bicep and closed her eyes. She's out of it. At least for a while, I think she does need to rest.

  I slowly led her back to the bed; she shuffled meekly along. That clinched it for me; I lifted her into the bed. She opened her eyes, blinked a few times while she looked around and started to sit up again. Now she's just being stubborn.

  Rael held up a finger, it was back to normal now. He rolled her over onto her stomach, and then massaged her shoulders. He said, “Nobody resists a massage.”

  She groaned and mumbled something, but didn't move. He kept working on the bare upper half of her back. He whispered, “I'll get her relaxed so she stays here a while longer.”

  I nodded. Hmm, what can I occupy myself with for an hour or so? I noticed a flashing light on one of her phones and pulled off the H.E.R.O. phone.

  I looked at the item on the screen. A train had derailed. Non-passenger, so that was good. They were looking for super strong heroes that could help get the units back on the track. Only one way to find out.

  I showed the screen to Rael. He leaned his ear near Stephanie's head, nodded to himself and stepped back.

  I motioned for us to talk outside the room, and we left. I'd missed that the doctor still stood there. I pulled slightly on his jacket and he followed.

  I said, “Doctor, do you mind if she rests for an hour, perhaps two?”

  “Not at all. I'll keep an eye on her on occasion. If she wakes up what should I tell her? You know, doing some tests really is a good idea. It may give us an idea of what occurred.”

  “Just hold off for now. We've got to help with a train derailment. Have her call Spartan's cell phone.”

  “Will do.”

  Rael said, “I'm not in your league for strength, think it's worth it for me to go?”

  I replied, “You can lift a car. That's enough to help, at the least. I wonder how much a train car weighs? How much does the locomotive weigh?”

  “I guess we'll find out.”

  We went back downstairs, looked at the map on the phone, and I leapt the two of us to the location.

  Chapter 30 - Derailment

  Lance's Perspective