First Patrol (Pt. 2)

--- Maya ---

“It’s time to put all of that running to the test.” She told her other selves as she took off towards the break-in.

(What about Tommy’s party?) Her inner logic asked.

“He’s been going to these things for years and given how he’s driving me around I doubt he’ll drink enough to make himself an easy target.” She explained.

(You think he’ll be drinking?)

(He’s a teenager at a party, if he isn’t then he’s a disappointment of a cool older brother.) Her inner madness scoffed.

(Or he’s a responsible older brother.) Her inner reason argued.

“Either way, he can take care of himself.” She interrupted before they could start fighting and give her a headache. Something she couldn’t afford if she was about to enter a fight.

Running as fast as she could, she managed to reach the sight of the break in in just a little over ten minutes. Thankfully with all of her running with Izzy this was not enough to actually exhaust her.

(Which, given how those two are loading their car with what is assumedly stolen merchandise from that pawn shop, is probably a good thing.)

“Hey!” She shouted as she got closer. “Away from the car!”

One of the two thugs looked over at her, letting her see the ski masks over his face. “Shit, it’s a Mask! In the car, now!”

The thugs slammed the car trunk before quickly moving to the front of the car and getting in.

“Hey! I said stop!” She yelled at them before throwing a bolt of electricity towards the car and hitting the lamppost next to the car instead. “Shit!”

The driver of the car seemed to slam on the gas, sending the car speeding forward and leaving the smell of burning rubber in the air.

Catching up to where the car had been, she turned and raised her hand ready to blast the car with a bolt of lightning as-

(Wait! Don’t do that!) Her inner reason practically screamed.

She blinked, not having expected the voices in her head. “Huh?”

(If you shoot them, they’ll crash. What’s more shooting lightning in neighborhood when we have terrible aim is not a good idea.)

(Oh, come on! Our aim isn’t that bad!) Her inner passion argued.

(It’s not that good either.) Her inner reason reminded her. (And it’s especially not good enough to hit a moving target in an area where collateral damage is… Well, it’s not a good idea to say the least.)

With a grimace she couldn’t help but agree with herself, especially given how far the car had gotten away from her.

“Damn it!” She cursed, kicking a nearby lamppost -the same one she’d already zapped- in frustration. “I don’t need the commentary right now! Just… damn it!”

By the time she finally managed to calm herself down, she heard a police siren coming in from the distance. “Great, and the cops are late as usual…”

(We should probably talk to them to let them know what happened.) Her inner reason pointed out.

“I guess…” She sighed.

She sat on the curb as a cop car pulled over and two got out, each pointing a gun at the unidentified Mask. “Put your hands up!”

(Damn it. They know we’re Mexican.)

“Not the time.” She growled quietly through grit teeth as she raised her hands before opening her faceplate and calling, “The thieves already got away officers!”

The two cops, one a white man and the other Latin woman, gave each other a look before nodding.

“Can you tell us what happened, ma’am?” the male officer asked.

“I got here as these two guys were loading their car up with stuff from the store, they saw me screamed ‘Mask’ and drove off in their car.” She explained just a little listlessly. “Unfortunately, I don’t really have anything that can disable a car without making a bigger mess for everyone.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Well, while the shop keeper may not be happy, you made the right call.” The female officer assured her, apparently having picked up on her mood. “You have no idea how many masks respond with too much force to this kind of thing. Ends up making things more difficult for everyone who gets involved.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.” She nodded. “Still sucks that they got away.”

She idly noticed the two cops exchange a couple of looks, before the male officer started making his way towards the pawn shop and the female one took a seat next to her.

“Hey, I don’t think I’ve heard about any new tech masks around these parts, you new?” The officer asked.

“This is technically my first patrol.” She admitted.

“Well, while you may not have caught those two, you still made the right call in that situation.” The officer reiterated. “So, don’t go beating yourself up because you could’ve done a lot worse than you did.”

“I get that, just kind of sucks is all.”

The officer just nodded at that, before eventually giving her a look. “Hey, you mind if I ask you something?”

“I don’t really know much else about what happened here.” She told the cop.

“I wasn’t going to ask about that.” The cop assured her. “I was going to ask why you’re out running around in a mask, because you seem kind of young to be doing this kind of thing.”

“I’m an M.A.D.” She explained waving a hand towards her gear. “Figured if I have to build stuff might as well use it to help people.”

“Uh-huh, and there aren’t other ways for you to do that?” The woman asked, not quite skeptically but more concerned.

“None, without telling my family I’m a Deviant. Which I’d rather not for a number of reasons.” She admitted not quite meeting the older woman’s gaze.

The woman gained a pinched look. “Are you okay at home?”

“What? Oh, yeah, no. That’s not a problem.” She assured the older woman. “I’m not telling them, because while I’m sure they’d accept me, it’d still change how they look at me.” (Which is why I haven’t told them about a couple of other things either…)

“Right.” The woman nodded looking relieved. “But wouldn’t that mean they’d be worried if something happened to you?”

(They’d have to notice first.)

“I…” She sighed. “Look I get what you’re trying to do here, talking me out of being a Mask and everything because I’m just a kid, but given how I was…” She cut herself off. “Given how stuff happened before I became a Mask, being one isn’t going to do me more harm than good. Especially since everything I’m building for this hero thing means I have to worry about all of that stuff less.”

The officed grimaced in understanding. “Okay. Then if you’re that sure about it, it’s not my place to push. Though I do hope you’re being cautious about all of this.”

“I am.” She promised, purposely not thinking about her fight with Decker. “M.A.D.s are all about slow and steady.”

“Good.” The woman nodded once more as she stood.

“Oh, wait, hold on.” She told the officer as she finally remembered something.

“Yes?”

“What’s your number?” She asked pulling something up on her headset.

The older woman blinked once before offering her a confused smile. “While I’m flattered, I’m also straight. And even if I was a bit curious you’re also a bit too young for me.”

“What?” She blinked herself, before realizing what the older woman was insinuating and promptly shaking her head. “No. No. No! I mean you’re pretty but… no. Just no, I… um…”

The older woman gave her a chuckle at that reaction. “I’m sorry, but there’s a policy about giving Masks personal information, it’s meant to make sure cops and Masks have proper clearance to be helping each other. If I’m remembering right, it’s set up that way so a Mask can’t implicate an officer if they mess up with collateral. It’s also to remind cops they can’t send Masks in to deal with a situation that they don’t really understand.” The officer informed her in a kindly manner.

(Damn, cause she really is pretty. And I wouldn’t mind having her number…)

Shaking away her inner emotion’s commentary, she began explaining that, “No. I just remembered that I had my camera going for my run in with the criminals, I only turned it on when I saw they’d broken into the pawn shop,” She assured the officer, remembering what Decker had told her about illegal recordings. “And while their faces were covered, it should still have the car and its license plate.”

“Oh,” The officer nodded before calling out to her partner. “If you have a recording that can definitely help us out here. Though do you think can you send it to an email address instead of a phone?”

“Uh, yeah. Easy.” She nodded back as she pulled out her COMP before taking in the email address and the officer’s badge number. “There it’ll be the one without a return address.”

“Thanks, this should be a big help in catching these two.” The officer assured her, taking the statement in stride and not giving her a chance to brag about her (brilliant) computer skills.

“Uh, sure no problem.” She told the officer, “I don’t suppose there’s anything else I can help you with?”

The female officer gave her an amused look for some reason, before shaking her head. “No, it’s mostly going to be us stuck standing around until the shop owner shows up.”

“Oh…”

“Look, like I said, you’ve been a big help tonight.” The officer assured her once more. “And while I do think you’re too young to be doing this kind of thing, it’s still nice to know that at least one of the street level masks is actually responsible enough to be a help.”

She tried very hard not to blush at the praise.

“So, if you’re going to be out here, just… stay safe, okay?”

“Right, like I said. Slow and steady.” She nodded.

“Good. Now I’m sure it’s getting close to your curfew or something, so you can go ahead and get going.” The officer smiled before waving her off.

“Uh, right. Thanks.” She nodded once more, before making her exit.