Arc 8 Superficial
Chapter 11
Caroline awoke with a migraine the likes of which put her usual hangover to shame. The buzzing of silence filled her ears, popping occasionally, until sound returned. She blinked, looking over the somewhat distorted room to find a familiar face, it was Ichigo oddly enough. She was supposed to have gone home already and yet she tentatively pressed a wet rag onto Caroline’s forehead.
“Oh, you are awake.”
“Wha- what happened?”
Ichigo tapped a finger to her mouth while looking around before finally shrugging, “Hmm… I dunno. It was like this when I got here.”
Caroline looked past her realizing that there were paramedics and several of the talents were being carried away on stretchers. She saw the broken glass and the door had been broken down. It looked like a natural disaster had been through here. For all of this destruction, Caroline could not recall what exactly happened. The last thing she could recall was this voice, not just any voice, it sounded like an angel. A resounding echo beyond this earth. Inhuman, no, beyond human. It put everything she had heard over her years to shame, disgraced the very image of beauty. It haunted her even now.
She stood up, wobbly. Somebody grabbed her by the collar, shaking her and yelling, “You need to control your Talent! She hurt a lot of my students and then just took off.”
It was Darren. He was usually tolerable to be around, now though he seemed hysterical. Something wet dribbled down her face and she flicked it, seeing her finger coated red. Blood? It was coming from her nose. Caroline was not in the mood to be shaken like a rag doll. Her hand shot up, thrusting him square in the middle of his face with an open palm. He stumbled back several paces and then fell flat, passed out.
“Ah… oops,” Caroline stared at the still man for a moment.
Ichigo looked a little concerned, “Was that really necessary?”
“He was asking for it.”
“You are always so violent.”
“Only when it is warranted,” said Caroline, looking around the room at the shocked rescue workers, “Where is Mecha Fairy?”
“Apparently she ran away.”
Caroline took a deep breath and then sighed deeply, rubbing her temple, “Oh for fuck’s sake, again?! Twice in one fucking day. I don’t get paid enough for this shit. I want a raise, no make that three raises. Ah, fuck it, I quit!”
Ichigo said softly, “You don’t mean that.”
She glowered, “I know, if I quit there wouldn’t be any decent people around here.”
She pat her, “And I am thankful for that.”
“You would be the only one.”
Ichigo seemed to think something over for a moment, “I would like to meet Mecha Fairy formally. Maybe that would cheer her up?”
Caroline frowned, “She is a weird one. Although she seemed to be looking forward to meeting you herself. I guess it couldn’t hurt. Only problem is, I don’t know where the fuck she is.”
“Oh, I know that. It would just be a little weird if I went there by myself.”
“How… never mind. Where is she?”
“She is in her room. Where else would she go?”
“Well, let’s get to the bottom of this.”
The daunting front of the Fire Station stood before the pair as they stared at it for a moment. The Hero League sure did like to show off their connections and wealth. Did they really need Super resistance glass? Probably, but that wasn’t the point. After a moment they continued in through the yawning doors. People bristled and swarmed about the interior like ants in a colony. The Hero League personnel were easy to spot due to their color-coded uniforms. They approached the reception area to make a visitor petition. Behind the counter stood eight men and women each wearing a pearly white jumpsuit. They wore the familiar looks that any veteran of the retail business had, cold uncaring eyes. Dealing with people who complain and bitch and whine all day every day tends to do that. This was going to be annoying.
The lines were moderate, mostly due to being split in between the eight people. Soon enough, it became Caroline’s turn. She approached and the tired eyes fell on her.
“Hello Ma’am, how may I help you?” asked the young man with bags under his eyes.
“I am Mecha Fairy’s manager for her sponsorship. I would like a visitor pass.”
“Caroline Vasska?”
“Yes?”
“You have already been approved, Dreamer sends her regards.”
She froze for a moment, “Already? A little quick isn’t it?”
“Dreamer already put through the paperwork last night. Normally these things take a week or so, but she put it through as urgent.”
“Oh well… tell her I said thanks.”
“I will pass it along.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know which room is hers?”
“She is in the junior ward. A Team. There will be a sign above the door.”
“The Junior ward?”
“Second floor, that way,” he replied, pointing to the elevator at the far side of the cavernous room.
She took the badge and attached it to her suit jacket. This had gone far easier than she had expected. Usually, it was a bureaucratic nightmare to even try to visit a hero at the base. She hadn’t even expected to actually be allowed into Mecha Fairy’s room, rather gotten her called down to talk was what was expected. Most of the time they had to be caught out on patrol or otherwise out of the base. Heroes were generally reclusive during their off time, well most of them. This left a strange taste in her mouth. Caroline didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. They were too accommodating and that usually meant that something fucky was afoot. Like with anything there were merits and demerits with being associated with certain groups.
The second floor could be seen even down here. It was a corridor circling the domed ceiling with thick glass that had hallways leading deeper in at intervals. A tingling spread up her spine, like spiders crawling, it reminded her of some sort of insect nest. An uneasiness filled the back of her head. Why did she have to be reminded of that thing? Why now of all times? She shoved the thoughts aside and entered the elevator punching in the button for the second floor. Ichigo pat her on the back reassuringly, almost as though she saw the turmoil inside.
The Junior ward was not hard to find and after people saw the badge on her chest nobody seemed to bat an eye in their direction. A-Team was surprisingly the last along the hallway. It was somewhat odd that the cream of the crop would be off in a secluded corner rather than out front and center. The B to F teams hardly had a rank 4 among them. Whereas the A-Team had nobody lower than rank 4. Mecha Fairy was apparently the highest rank among them but was not the leader of the team. From a pure numbers point of view, this was foolish, however, having met her Caroline knew exactly why Mecha Fairy was not leadership material. She lacked self-confidence and had some trauma about being a Super which aggravated this problem.
These problems would interfere with the sponsorship. Thus Caroline’s true work had begun. She was going to have to build this girl from the ground up. She tapped her chin, thinking it over. She has an amazing voice, if not the best then one of the best that Caroline had ever heard. So it was not a matter of talent or even effort, rather it circled back to confidence. This was not the worst case scenario, a talentless good for nothing who expects the world would be far worse. Berating Mecha Fairy, while she was already down wouldn’t do anything productive.
They knocked on the door and it opened after a moment. A young man with blond hair appeared, his face was covered with a small mask. He wore an undersuit that was black and hugged his skin. He stared at them. “Hello?”
“We are looking for Mecha Fairy,” said Caroline.
“I don’t think she is interested in company. I am going to have to ask you to leave.”
“It is not like we came to yell at her. We came to cheer her up.”
“Still. She has gotten a little weird today.”
Both Ichigo and Caroline raised an eyebrow, “Well, how weird could it be?”
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“She came home crying and for some reason had a bunch of bags filled with tubs of ice cream. She has been locked in her room ever since.”
Ichigo mulled over it for a moment, “Oh, that is nothing. I think she is just watching movies and eating ice cream.” Or so she said, but for some reason, she had a glint in her eye as though she were expecting more.
Still, the young man rejected, “I think you two should just leave. I think she just wants to be alone.”
“Gravity Squeeze, you worry too much. This is like girl problems. The worst thing that we could do would be to leave her alone.” Said Ichigo.
“How did you know my name?”
“I am a fan.”
He smirked a little getting full of himself, “Oh is that so?”
“Mhmm. You were so gallant taking out Blaze Runner the other month. I saw that.”
He stuck his chest out a little, “It was nothing really.”
“Well, maybe we can hang out later.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” he beamed.
Ichigo smirked, “Sounds like a date. Ok, I will talk to you about that later, for now we are going to talk to Mecha Fairy.”
“Try to cheer her up,” he said, glancing to the door at the far side of the living room below the second floor and the rooms up there.
He watched them for a moment before leaving. Ichigo knocked on the door tentatively, but there was no reply. Listening it was pretty hard not to hear the crying coming from the other side. Caroline knocked a little louder, but even that went unnoticed. She glanced at Ichigo who then nodded. Caroline opened the door to find a dark room and a low sobbing sound emanating from somewhere in it. The bed rustled as a form shifted below the covers. Straining their eyes, they could just make out Mecha Fairy shoveling spoon fulls of ice cream out of the tub into her mouth. She wasn’t even chewing it or enjoying it, just inhaling it while blubbering. Scattered around the floor around ten or so empty two-gallon containers were crushed and ripped. Oh, this is weird. They felt eyes on them from the murky depths of those blankets. It froze for a long moment, before the mass bumbled over the side of the bed hiding.
“Get out!” she screeched at them from the other side of the bed.
“I am not going to yell at you so calm down,” said Caroline.
“I am naked! Get out so I can get in my suit.”
This scene sparked a familiar feeling in Caroline. She frowned for a moment recalling an event very similar to this one. Vesper did this very thing back in high school, well minus the Super Hero identity crisis. It was after she threw the championship game and ended up getting ostracized by her team. She locked herself in her room and cried. That was the first time that she had cried in years. She had ignored it at the time, Vesper usually pulled through most things on her own. Caroline regretted not intervening. This was the day that started Vesper’s descent into being a weirdo anime obsessed basement dweller.
Caroline’s eyes started getting blurry, she wiped the tears. Why? Why was she crying? This wasn’t Vesper, this was some super named Mecha Fairy. She should be better than this, she has superpowers for fuck sake… she was just a girl. A girl in a suit just as vulnerable and emotional as anybody else. Of course, if you hurt somebody you didn’t mean to you would feel sad. That was human. This person they needed encouragement. Or else she probably won’t ever sing again.
“Get dressed then and then we can talk.”
They peered at the empty suit next to the door and promptly shut the door.
~~~****~~~
I sat in the darkness, still not entirely sure that had really just happened. Eh… mom knows where I live and showed up uninvited. Who let her in? Oh no?! Did she see? Judging by the fact she didn’t scream and start throwing things at me, I think it is safe to say my secret identity is safe. At least knock will you? Rude, rude! So damned rude. Who just invades somebody’s room? She is lucky I was just drowning my sorrows in Sicilian pistachio gelato… if she had been here earlier, I would have been caught stirring the honeypot. I could have been having pity sex for all she knows! I doubt she is going to leave me alone, though, she came all the way here and is a stubborn old bitch.
I crept over to my suit wiggling into it. My antennae flicked smelling and hearing… strawberries? Wait a minute there were two scents. Who, who!? There were two of them? I didn’t even see the second one. It smelled like Ichigo, but, but why? How does she know where I live? Oh no, this changes things. I flipped on the light and all the strewed things laying about were no longer hidden by the darkness. My room is a total disaster! Embarrassing, Helix have pity on this poor wasp!
I quickly picked up the littered tubs of ice cream and emptied T.V. dinner plates, stuffing them into the trash can. My eyes glanced over the room, spying the long, sleek shaft of one of my toys protruding out from under the bed. I kicked it under there, stay where you belong! Hmm, well now that I looked at it, the place isn’t actually all that bad. I mean there are no piles of dirty clothes, since I don’t wear any. No gratuitous amounts of hair clogging in the drains in the bathroom or scattered across the floor since I don’t shave anymore. I mean there is a little bit of Sunshine’s hair in the shower, but that was about it. Surprisingly, I am a very clean creature.
Wearily I pried open the door, peering out at them. Sure enough, it was Ichigo. Her adorable light blue hair was actually about as long as Neon Nurse’s hair, though the styles were different. Ichigo was wavy whereas Neon Nurse was straight and smooth like a doll. Her wide blue eyes stared at me, I almost melted right then and there. The knee socks! Oh my god, oh mi god so cute! The magical fairy has come to visit me! I just want to hug her and snuggle. Calm down, calm down. We don’t know her like that yet. We aren’t even friends yet.
“It is a little messy… I wasn’t expecting company.”
Ichigo smiled, “No worries. We were the ones who came over uninvited after all”
“Thanks for coming all this way,” I said, ushering them in.
They sat on my bed and Ichigo sniffed, looking around, “It smells like sex in here.”
I almost died, falling over, “Ichigo! Where did you learn how to talk like that?”
“What? You act like I am a virgin or something,” she said, dropping bombs on my sanctity.
“Nooo!” I cried, my Ichigo has been defiled!
“What is wrong?” she asked, “What are you a virgin or something?”
“N-n-no,” I replied reflexively… wait, was I a virgin currently? Well, no I had sex a few times back when I was human and then there was the eh… Glitter Kitten incident, though I don’t remember that too well.
“Ichigo it is not nice to pry into people’s private lives. It doesn’t matter who she is, or isn’t having sex with,” Scolded Caroline.
“Sorry,” said Ichigo not sounding sincere at all.
Caroline stood up and opened her arms as though to embrace somebody. I looked behind me, expecting to see somebody, but nobody was there… Me?! She actually wanted to hug me? Who are you?! Impostor, you are not my mom! She would never love me. Oh, oh right, she doesn’t know it is me. That explains the lack of violence here. Just cause I feel like I need a hug don’t mean I want one from you.
She didn’t really listen to me though, and pat me on the head, so what if I leaned into it a little. She smiled, it had been a while since I had seen Mom smile. I didn’t have the heart to reject that. I guess I can let it slide this time, she did bring me an Ichigo. I just let her give me a hug not that I could really feel it through that hardened suit, “It is going to be fine.”
“Why did you have to bring that up? No, it is not. I am going to get fired, besides, I quit. I don’t wanna go back.”
“So what if you hurt some people?”
“I hurt people! I am dangerous.”
“People get hurt. It happens. If you try to please everyone then you will please no one.”
“There was blood!”
“When a woman gives birth there is blood too. It hurts, it sears, it is an agony that sometimes even kills. And yet, from that pain something wonderful emerges. Is that a bad thing?”
“That is different. Don’t get all philosophical on me here. How is my horrible voice even remotely comparable to that?”
“Your voice isn’t horrible.”
“Yes, it is! It broke glass and made people bleed from their ears it was so bad.”
“That just means that it was powerful. I thought it was beautiful.
“No… wait you did?”
Caroline smiled, “Yes. It was the voice of an angel.”
“You are just patronizing me! It was not good. It was garbage, a flaming dumpster.”
“Ichigo, what did you think about her voice?” asked Caroline looking over.
She thought it over, “It was interesting, to say the least. I didn’t know you could get a voice that high. I felt it in my chest.”
Gugh! We have been hit, captain! Our hearts can’t take hits of this magnitude.
‘Shut up, Sub. You are making it worse.’
But it is Ichigo, Ichigo! She is sitting on our bed, roll her around so that her scent will be ingrained.
‘That is not a bad idea…’
As though she had read my mind Ichigo flopped back on my bed, being all cute and stuff. I just want to bundle her up and take her home. Er, this is my home though. It is hard to imagine that I was just playing with myself there. Ichigo covered in my goo ohoho. I squirmed just imagining busting a nut all over her cute little face. As though a mouse had darted around, she sprung up off of the bed. She rubbed her hand clean on the covers. Ah, she must have touched some of the wet spots.
“Igh all sticky, there was some mucus.” Said Ichigo.
I don’t have a nose so that was most assuredly not mucus.
“Well, what did you expect Ichigo? She was crying after all.”
“Oh wait this is ice cream,” said Ichigo, licking her finger.
You… you dirty girl, Ichigo. Eh, eh, why am I popping a lady boner? Ichigo why are you doing this to me?! Do you even realize how much danger you are in? She is tempting me. I don’t know if I want to fuck her or dress her up and snuggle. She is too cute.
Why not both?
‘Cosplay, play! You are a fucking genius.’
Fufufu, I try.
“I am glad that you are feeling better,” said Caroline.
“Thanks.”
“I think we should go out and have some fun,” said Ichigo.
“How about we just watch some movies or play some games?” I countered.
Ichigo rolled her eyes, “Boring. Hey, hey, I know this cool club we could hit up.”
I refrained, “I am not really a club person.”
“But it is fun. There will be drinks and other things if you so choose. I know people, you know.”
I frowned, “I am not really a big drinker. Or other things for that matter. Drugs are bad, I have seen what they do to people.”
“You are being a stick in the mud. It will be fun. We don’t have to do drugs you know. We could just dance and party.”
Caroline interrupted, “If she doesn’t want to then that is her choice. Besides there are likely a bunch of regulations for personal conduct in the Hero League.”
“Well, it is not like we can’t drink if we are of the legal age, but anything in excess is bad.”
“Just do a jello shot with me. They got these awesome Strawberry vodka shots.”
I gulped, “Strawberries?”
“Yeah, it will be fun. I mean you don’t have to if you really don’t want to. Besides, maybe we can find a guy for Mecha Fairy.”
I crossed my arms, “That is a nice thought, but uh, I am a little picky. Isn’t doing drugs and stuff the main appeal of that?”
Ichigo grabbed my hand, “Come on, come on. You need to get out of here, otherwise, you will never feel better.”
“Hmm, where exactly did you want to go?”
She grinned, “Oh just a little place called Atomic Strobe.”
“Well, you guys are old enough to make your own mistakes. Just remember we have work tomorrow so don’t get shit faced and stay hydrated,” said Caroline.
“You make it sound like you are not coming,” scowled Ichigo.
“I didn’t say that, but I can’t guarantee that I am not going to get wasted.”
“What the hell kinda chaperon are you?” I asked.
“Who the fuck said I was watching you kids?”
“Eh, eh you think you can keep up?” laughed Ichigo.
Caroline laughed, patting her, “Don’t even get me started.”
“But you are more fun when you are drunk. Oh, oh we can crash at my place afterwards. Girls night!” excitedly said Ichigo.
I feel like things are out of my hands at this point. Oh well, that isn’t too bad. They are trying to cheer me up. I mean Dad works there. Oh, I could hang out with Dad for a while. Come to think of it I haven’t visited him at work in a while. Eh, but how will I play it off to Mom? It is not that uncommon for people to meet and it is not like Mom and Dad have been talking all that much lately. That works, I guess, we could just act like we hit it off at some point. This will be fun. Drunk Ichigo… I bet she is even more adorable or maybe she is wilder. Either way, it is exciting to see a new side to her. I thought that I knew her, but she is a bit different than what I had researched.
I mean it is not like I am going to get hammered and do something stupid. No, no, no I learned my lesson already. Well, maybe just one Jello shot. I will be like the DD, somebody has to protect Ichigo’s chastity.