#16- "A Pulsar on the Hollywood Walk of Fame"
#16- "A Pulsar on the Hollywood Walk of Fame"
The crowd applauded and cheered wildly as Sheila Grace stepped up to the podium. There were easily over one thousand people in attendance on this sunny Sunday afternoon. The occasion was being held in honor of Sheila getting her star placed on the Hollywood Walk of fame. The world famous celebrity waited for the applause to die down before beginning to speak. Numerous wolf whistles could be heard over the din as well.
Sheila Grace was one of the hottest commodities in the entertainment industry these days. She was the lady with the golden touch who had enjoyed nothing but success. Starting with her career as a supermodel Sheila then expanded into movie roles and the pop music scene. She had already won a Grammy and had been nominated for an Oscar. There seemed to be no limit to her talents.
It was easy to understand why Sheila had so many male fans. She was gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. Her figure was heavenly and there were no flaws to be found. Well-coifed light brown hair tumbled below her shoulders. Her matching brown eyes were a delight to behold and many a fan were lost in those enchanting orbs. Her dressing style was impeccable. Sheila didn't follow trends, she started them.
With one look, it was easy to understand why she had been voted the most beautiful woman in the world. Sheila's pictures were the most downloaded on the Internet, out distancing her nearest competitor by almost five to one. Simply put, Sheila Grace was the perfect woman; a male fantasy come to life.
There were rumors, whispers from her few detractors that Sheila was too perfect, too good to be true. There were those who suggested that her beauty was not natural, but rather the product of superhuman abilities. Ms. Grace scoffed as such rumors. "I've been blessed with these God-given looks and talent," was her comment on the subject. "I'm very lucky. Besides if I wasn't around, someone else would be number one. And they'd just say the same things about her." No evidence was ever uncovered to lend credence to these wild rumors. Most chalked it up to people being jealous of her unprecedented success.
"Thank you, thank you!", Sheila announced once the applause began to die down. "Please, you are too kind." The lights from innumerable cameras lit up Sheila's flawless face. The Hollywood media were out in full force this afternoon. The event was also being broadcast live on the Celebrity Entertainment Television network.
Several of Sheila's personal staff stood behind her at the podium. Her younger brother, Adam Grace, was there. Adam was Sheila's personal manager and ran the day to day operations for their production company 'A Touch of Grace'. Like his famous sister, Adam had brown hair and eyes. He was handsome in appearance, but nowhere near his renowned sibling in looks.
Beside Adam was Sheila's personal assistant Tammy Aldridge. The general public didn't know much about Tammy. She had the look of the stereotypical dumb blond and many assumed this to be true. Her hair was naturally curly and her eyes deep blue in color.
More noticeable were the two men who towered over Sheila on either side. Both men were large, muscular, and had their heads shaved bald. They gave the first impression of being defensive linemen in football. Each wore a custom black suit and tie with dark sunglasses. The mystery men were the personal bodyguards to Sheila Grace known only as Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones.
"Thanks you so much," Sheila stated as the applause finally began to wane. The modesty in her voice was unmistakable. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Maybe not, darlin' but I'll be happy to show you!" Coupled with that announcement, an energy blast streaked towards the podium and struck Mr. Jones square in the chest! The sneak attack sent the bodyguard flying backwards, crashing into Adam Grace and Tammy Aldridge dropping all three of them into the crowd behind the stage.
"What--?", was all that Sheila was able to stammer out in shock. "What's going on?"
Mr. Smith moved to interpose himself between Sheila and the unknown assailant. He didn't make it as another energy blast struck him, sending the man in the black suit flying off the raised stand. In just a matter of seconds, Sheila Grace was suddenly alone in front of the podium.
Panic swept through the crowd along with innumerable cries and screams. People started to run every which way towards safety. The media tried to film what was going on as best that they could with the chaos around them.
The crowd parted and a man in an orange body suit with red accessories stepped forward. "Pulsar!", Sheila gasped in astonishment. That announcement just further fueled the confusion. Security officers on hand moved to intercept the criminal but were sent into retreat by his energy blasts.
"That's right, babe! The King of Crime is back and he's after his queen!" Pulsar gawked at the stunning Sheila Grace with lust in his eyes. It was rather repulsive to behold. "Think of it! Just you, me and a case of whipped cream!"
Confusion and puzzlement moved across Sheila's lovely face. "Is this some kind of joke? I'm I being set up by Candid Camera, right?"
"Lots of beauty and no brains," Pulsar suspected as he joined Sheila on the podium. "That's okay, I can live with that. I want your body in the worst way, not your mind! Come on, doll face, let's get out of here!"
"Hold on a minute. Let me get this straight. You want me to go with you so that I can become the Queen to your King of Crime?"
Pulsar considered for a moment. Sheila's words barely filtered into his mind as his eyes undressed the celebrity. "Um, yeah. We can swing by your place and pick up some things if you'd like. You know, like clothes and cosmetics. You should be honored that I've decided to brighten up your life."
Sheila shook her head in astonishment. "I think I understand what you're trying to say now. There's just one thing I've got to know."
"Hey, ask away, babe! I don't keep secrets from my woman."
Anger began to form on Sheila's face. "What kind of drugs are you on?! As if I would give up a multi-million dollar career to hang out with a smelly nitwit like you! If you want me, buy a poster! That's as close as you're ever going to get to the real thing!" Just who did this clown think he was anyway?
Pulsar paused in obvious confusion. "So, what are you trying to say?"
Sheila threw her hands up in frustration. Most agents weren't this dense! "What I am saying, and I will say it using as small words as I can so that your pea brain will understand clearly, is that I am not and will not go anywhere with a low class thug like you! Now get out of here! You're ruining everything!" She waved her hands at the villain, attempting to shoo him away.
After a few beats, a smile came to Pulsar's face. "Oh, I get it. You're playing hard to get! Cool! I like chicks that play hard to get. I know that the more you say no, the more you mean yes! What say we blow this joint and start getting to work on our kids?"
"Not on your life!", Sheila answered with a horrified scream. "I'd rather have my toenails pulled out with pliers than have sex with you!"
"Oh, that's a good one! Now I know why you're such a great actress! You know, you're really turning me on!"
"No one could possibly be this stupid! You missed your calling. You should have been a movie producer!"
Sheila spun and started to walk away in a huff. Pulsar would have none of this as he reached out and grabbed the famous star by her arm forcing her to stop. "Enough playing, babe, its time to go home."
"Get your hands off me, you creep!" Wheeling around, Sheila went to slap Pulsar, but instead he grabbed her other hand. He was easily strong enough to hold the celebrity in place. "Somebody help me!", she screamed
"That's it. Cry out for help. I like my women feisty! You're just making me hotter and hotter! Give me a kiss!" Pulsar puckered his lips and moved in for the kill.
"You're insufferable!", Sheila cursed as she vainly tried to pull free of Pulsar's grasp and avoid his misplaced affections.
"Oh, I like it when you talk dirty!"
Just as Pulsar was getting close enough to Sheila to plant a wet one, a voice called out drawing his attention away. The voice was very familiar and spoke in a slow, forceful tone.
"You heard the lady, punk. Let her go."
Pulsar looked up in surprise. "Clint Eastwood?" Standing down below the podium was a man in a primarily gray costume with blue accessories.
"Thank goodness!", Sheila sighed in relief upon spotting Sabre. "And it's Dirty Harry, you moron!"
"Don't make me repeat myself," Sabre threatened continuing on with his Dirty Harry impersonation.
"Go on, beat it, Bozo!", was Pulsar's response. This came coupled with an energy blast sent Sabre's way. "Go and get yourself your own girlfriend! This one is already taken!"
Moments before the blast could strike Sabre, he simply teleported away. Pulsar's attack harmless impacted on the street where Sabre had been standing a moment ago.
"Ha! Some hero that clown is! He ran away like a little sissy boy! Guess he knew the Greatest Supervillain of Them All outclassed him! Now where was I?"
Pulsar turned his attentions back to Sheila. Mysteriously, a knowing smile formed on her face as he did so. "Now that's more like it!" Pulsar grinned back. "Come on, baby, let's tongue wrassle!"
Unexpectedly, Pulsar felt a tap on his right shoulder. He paused once more and turned back to find Sabre standing behind him, a pleased grin on his face. "Go ahead, make my day."
"Huh? How--!", was all Pulsar was able to get out before Sabre sent a right cross straight to the criminal's chin! The blow lifted Pulsar off of his feet, over the podium, and down to the area where Sabre had just been standing. Pulsar adjusted his chin back into place.
"Now you've done it!", Pulsar screamed. "You've made me mad! No one tries to steal my woman!" As he spoke, an aura of yellow energy surrounded the criminal while he still lay on the ground. Occasionally, blue sparks would fly off of the force field.
"Police! Freeze!" Once more, Pulsar was surprised. This time there was a police service revolver pointed at his face. Tracing the weapon back to its holder, he found it to be an attractive woman with short dark brown hair. She was out of uniform as her clothing consisted of nothing more than a light blue silk sundress. Pulsar could make out a bikini underneath the diaphanous garment. Attractive was a relative term with Sheila Grace a few feet away.
The look on Pulsar's face turned to one of amusement and he began to laugh. "HA! Now we've got a little girl playing cop! Put that peashooter away! You can't possibly hurt me with my force field up!"
"Care to put that theory to the test?", Jackie Carter threatened. "I won't miss at this range."
"Now I know what you're thinking," Sabre interrupted as he juggled several marbles in one hand. While he did so, a glow of energy started to surround the steel marbles. None of this was lost on Pulsar as he shifted his attention back towards Sabre. Jackie couldn't help but stare as well.
"You're thinking that they look like normal ordinary marbles," Sabre continued in his Dirty Harry mode. "You're thinking that maybe your force field can withstand them. After all, they are just marbles. But these are the most powerful marbles on the planet. They can blow a man's head clean off. So, you have to ask yourself this one question: Do you feel lucky? Well? Do you, punk?"
Before Pulsar could answer, Sabre flung one of the marbles with all his might. It collided with the criminals' force field, smashed through it and slammed into Pulsar's chest.
"You're nuts!", Pulsar cried out in pain. "I ain't gonna be defeated by a mere marble! I've battled entire hero teams! No one hero can--!" A beat later Pulsar fell back to the pavement unconscious.
All was quiet for a few moments and then the crowd broke out into a thunderous applause. Sabre bowed to the crowd with all modesty. "Thank you. Thank you. Oh, come on, you're starting to embarrass me."
"Showoff," Jackie muttered under her breath as she replaced her service revolver in her handbag. Pulling out a pair of handcuffs, she went to secure Pulsar. Event security and on duty LAPD were quickly on hand to take the prisoner away.
By now, Adam Grace had regained his wits and climbed upon the stage to check on his sister. "Sheila! Are you all right? Did that brute hurt you?"
"I'm fine thanks to Sabre here," Sheila told her concerned brother. "How can I ever thank you for saving me from that cretin?"
"No thanks are needed, ma'am. Just all part of a day's work." Sabre had reverted to his normal voice after the defeat of Pulsar.
"Look how modest my hero is," Sheila answered and she flashed her trademark, mesmerizing smile. "I know just the thing. A proper reward for such a hero."
Reaching up, Sheila locked lips with Sabre. The flashes from cameras filled the air as the media caught every moment of this event while Sheila hungrily and passionately kissed a very startled Sabre.
Jackie grumbled something underneath her breath and stalked off towards Sabre's distant car. Adam Grace ran his hand over his face in annoyance. The tabloids were just going to have a field day with this!
After almost a minute of kissing, Sheila released Sabre, a wolfish grin on her face. "There, that should take care of that." Without another thought to Sabre, Sheila turned to her brother and together they started to walk away. Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones flanked the pair with Tammy bringing up the rear. "We definitely need to work on improving our security. That creep got way to close for comfort!"
"Agreed, but what?"
"I think I have an idea..."
Behind them, Sabre continued to stand in place having not moved since being kissed by the world famous Sheila Grace. A stunned, but pleased look was locked on his face.
Ten minutes later, Sam had changed back out of his Sabre costume and joined Jackie in his convertible. Jackie sat quietly, but there was not a happy look on her face.
"I thought you were going to leave Pulsar to me?", Sam innocently asked as he started up the car.
"You just had to kiss her, didn't you?"
"To be technical, she kissed me," Sam answered. "But I didn't enjoy it. In fact it was... really... quite horrible. Yes, that's it, quite horrible. I'll have nightmares about it for days, no weeks to come. A most dreadful experience that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."
Jackie gave a sideways glance of disbelief. Slowly a smile grew on her face and she started to laugh. "You are such a liar."
"Just part of my charm," Sam smiled back as he moved the car out into traffic. "I've got the rest of the day to try and make it up to you."
Victoria Lacey eased her car to a stop. It was late afternoon by now, the day having seemingly passed by in a breeze. Together with her best friend Denise Long, Tori had spent the afternoon shopping and cruising around Los Angeles. "Here we are, right back where we started."
Denise had barely been awake when Tori arrived earlier in the day. But once she had downed some coffee and showered, Denise was back to her usual cheerful self. The two had embarked on several legendary shopping excursions in the past. Today's was a bit more subdued than usual. As usual, Tori drove on such occasions. She simply felt safer that way.
The fate of her missing teammates in the Guardians weighed heavily on Tori's mind. She hated feeling helpless to do anything about it. It was exactly the same way she had felt when Johnny was killed. If only she had believed all the stories and rumors, things might have turned out differently.
Denise had different issues to grapple with. She had joined the newest hero team to work out of Los Angeles just a few weeks back. Tori considered it to be a big mistake at first and quite frankly she still wasn't exactly sure if it was a good idea. Denise, as Morning Star, had already made several questionable decisions since joining X-Factor. Not the least of which among them was putting herself out on the limb for the criminal Icicle. Tori could only wonder just what was going through her friend's mind.
Was she acting on her own impulses, or was Morning Star trying to win Spectrum's affections? Tori couldn't be sure. Denise had previously admitted that she was attracted to the leader of X-Factor although he seemed oblivious to the situation. Even worse, he had a steady girlfriend already. A serious relationship between the two seemed remote at best given the current circumstances. Still, Tori had to wonder.
"You know, Denise, you need to get yourself a boyfriend," Tori announced out of the blue.
"We're not going to get into this again, are we?" Denise had heard it before, and to some extent Tori was right in expressing her concerns. It was just something that Denise didn't want to bring up right now. "I've told you before, I'm looking for a serious relationship, not just a casual fling."
"Hey, don't knock casual flings. They can be lots of fun."
"But ultimately not very satisfying."
"Tell you what, I can set up a double date for us," Tori offered. "Come on, it'll be fun. It'll get you out and socializing."
"You're a fine one to talk to me about dating. When was the last time you even had a steady boyfriend? What was his name? Paul?"
"Paul's old news. I've been seeing Roger Cliffe for the past few weeks."
Denise did a double take on that announcement. "Isn't he your boss at BioGen?"
"Yeah," Tori answered with a sigh. BioGen Research Labs was the full name of Tori's current employer. She bounced around jobs quite often due to her dual life, but her incredible skills always found her a new job. "He insisted and Roger can be very insistent when he wants to be."
"You don't sound pleased with this arrangement."
"I'm not. But anyway, we were discussing your dating problems, not mine. I mean, come on. You've got the kind of figure that most actresses would kill for and you're playing wallflower. You need to get out and strut your stuff. You won't find a long term relationship by staying home at night."
"I don't have a dating problem," Denise flatly stated.
"I know, you don't go out on any!"
Denise let out a long sigh. "I appreciate your concern, Tori. I will go out on a date when I find someone who interests me. You've got your own problems to worry about. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Okay, okay. I get the message. I'll stop harassing you. For now." After short pause Tori added, "Got any plans for tonight?"
"Tori!"
"This is not about dating, I promise. I've been hearing rumors on the street that the Thugmaster's Elite are back in town. I thought you might want to come along when I check them out."
The group was familiar to Morning Star, who prided herself on keeping up with the latest news in the superbeing community. The Thugmaster's Elite was a training ground for superpowered criminals, basically a criminal version of the Young Champions on Sanctuary. The Thugmaster himself remained a distant shadowy figure letting the team be handled by the Dark Knight. Full membership, staff and students, was around a dozen.
"Any idea on what they are up to?"
"Graduation ceremonies from the sounds of it."
"I don't follow you," Denise said in confusion.
"Word has it that several of their students are going to be graduating. Local criminal organizations are supposed to be on hand to check out potential new members. I guess they're looking for new recruits for the Elite as well."
"So potentially we're looking at a large gathering of criminals and organizations. If we can find out where this is all going to go down..."
"Exactly," Tori finished. "We put a major hurting on lots of bad guys. Sounds like a worthwhile way to spend an evening. Other than being wined and dined by some hunky guy."
"Very much so," Denise agreed. "I've got some errands to run and some phone calls to make first. How about we get together later on?"
"Works for me. I'll swing by about nine or so. What kind of errands do you have to do?"
"Oh, I promised I would check in on Icicle. That'll give me a chance to check out all the paint samples I grabbed this afternoon. Plus, I've got to call Shockwave and Sabre. We're setting a meeting with the team tomorrow afternoon. They don't know about Icicle or the new base as of yet."
"I would just love to be a spider on the wall in that meeting!", Tori teased. "Should be rather explosive."
"I'm not looking forward to it," Denise admitted. Opening the car door, Denise stepped out, turned around, and stooped down to look back at Tori. "See you tonight."
"Later, alligator," Tori responded with a laugh as she pulled away.
In a way, Sara Redmond felt guilty. She probably should have been working on something. There were certainly more than enough things to do. Modifying and repairing her Shockwave armor was a never-ending task. There were projects at work that could have demanded her attention. Sara had even brought work home with her from the lab, but it sat in her bag untouched.
For a change, Sara decided to simply relax. Sprawled out in a lawn recliner on her patio, she kicked back and caught up on reading the newspaper and her scientific journals. Thanks to her very generous salary from LawTech, Sara had moved in to a more upscale apartment. From her patio she could see the ocean just a few blocks away. The sunsets were spectacular.
In spite of herself, Sara couldn't help but think about the observations that Lisa had left her with earlier in the afternoon. Was TJ as interested in her as Lisa suspected? Sara honestly couldn't be sure. She still found it hard to believe that such a thing could be true.
Her and TJ did hit it off splendidly when they had first met out at LawTech. At the time she thought that it was simply because of their shared scientific and engineering interests and nothing more. Romance wasn't even in her mind at the time.
Even upon reflection, Sara couldn't really be sure. There were certainly other plausible explanations for the time they had spent together. He did visit the lab frequently; making sure that Sara was settled in properly and had everything that she needed. Was he simply being friendly, or was it all a cover for something else?
The whole prospect made Sara a bit uncomfortable. She had always been a bit on the shy side as a child. The type of person who simply tried to blend in rather than stand out from the crowd. Sara was a gifted student who excelled at her studies, doing so at the expense of her social life. The guys in high school appreciated her knowledge and would often ask her help in solving problems and doing homework. Very few of them ever asked Sara out on a date.
To be honest, Sara never even realized that she could be attractive until her junior year. During a pajama party, her and her friends were doing makeovers. The results of removing Sara's glasses, restyling her hair, and adding a bit more makeup were astounding. Sara was just as shocked as her friends were.
But old habits were hard to break. Sara had always been a bit insecure and lacking in self-confidence. As she grew older, it did become easier to go out with friends and on dates and she made herself up for those occasions. In spite of it all, the guys who seemed interested in her, she didn't find all that appealing for a long-term relationship. Conversely, guys she was attracted to never came to regard Sara in a romantic light. It was no surprise that Sara always immersed herself in her work.
TJ was different when compared to all the other men in Sara's past social life. He was fun to be with and could hold his own on engineering matters. The fact that he was handsome, charming, and rich certainly didn't hurt either. Maybe Lisa was on to something, no matter how hard Sara tried to deny it. Deep down inside, Sara just didn't want to set herself up for a big disappointment again.
The ringing of the phone interrupted Sara's thought process snapping her back to reality. Reaching out, she plucked the phone off the patio table. "Hello. Sara here."
"Hi, Sara," came the voice from the phone. It belonged to TJ Lawrence Junior. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"No, not at all," Sara answered, perking up. "In fact I was just thinking about you. I mean I was going over the things we discussed at brunch. I might have a few suggestions on how to improve Vindicator."
"That's great, and I'll love to hear them. Right now, I have a different matter I'd like to discuss."
"Um, sure," Sara answered uneasily. Just what was TJ up to now? "What's on your mind?"
"It concerns your friend Lisa."
"I see. Is there some kind of problem?"
"On, no, not at all," TJ said with a laugh. "Far from it. I was impressed by her engineering skills this afternoon. I've talked it over with dad and we were wondering if she would be interested in coming to work for LawTech. Perhaps give her a tryout as your assistant until we see if she can fit in or not."
"This is very unexpected," Sara responded after a short pause. It was certainly a surprising development. "I can ask, but I can't make any promises. I don't know if Lisa even has a job or not."
"Well, find out and get back to me. If she's as good as I'm being led to believe, then we'll work something out."
"I have to call her anyway, so I'll let her know about the offer."
"That's all I can ask for. Thanks for everything, Sara. See you at the plant. Have a pleasant evening."
"Thanks. Goodbye."
Sara switched the phone off and silently considered for a few moments. "This has certainly been a most interesting day," Sara mused as she dialed Lisa's phone number. In addition to TJ's offer, Sara was asked by Morning Star to contact Mockingbird about X-Factor's meeting tomorrow afternoon. After talking to Lisa, she would try to get a hold of Blizzard.
Groggily, Thomas Stewart reached out for his alarm clock. The ringing of the clock had roused Thomas out of his deep slumber. He blindly slapped the top of the timepiece and then tried to fall back asleep. Unfortunately, the ringing continued. Sticking his head up in confusion, Thomas finally realized that it was the phone that was ringing, not his alarm clock.
Reaching out once more, Thomas felt around for the phone, picked it up, and maneuvered it into position with his head still on the pillow. He had yet to open his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Thomas? It's Sara." Following a long pause Sara added, "Are you there? You okay?"
"Yeah. Not awake. What's up?"
"Just calling to let you know that X-Factor is getting together tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock at the Heroes for Hire office. Morning Star contacted me and I'm just passing the message along."
"Okay. Thanks."
"Goodbye," Sara added after a short pause. Were he more awake, Thomas would have noticed the unmistakably icy tone in Sara's voice. Instead he numbly replaced the phone on the nightstand.
A moment later, Thomas forced his eyes open and he glanced at the clock. It was just as well that he had been woken up by Sara's phone call; his alarm was going to go off in a few minutes anyway. His company, Heroes for Hire, had a job tonight and he couldn't afford to miss it.
With great effort Thomas crawled out of bed with a loud groan. He dragged himself into the bathroom and turned on the water in the shower. Dropping his boxers, Tom stepped into the shower and stood underneath the running water. The cold cut through his drowsiness like a knife, waking the young man up.
"Sara seemed to be in a bit of a mood," Thomas thought to himself as he washed himself. "Then again, that's not a bit surprising."
The phone call had been the first contact with Sara since she and Angie had their little blow up back at the VIPER base. Maybe she was expecting him to apologize for the incident?
As he thought back over the situation, Sara and Angie never really did seem to hit it off. Exactly why, Tom couldn't be sure. Tom had known Sara for several years now. She was a bright girl and could be fun to be with. However, she seemed to prefer her work to recreation.
Maybe that was the source of the bad feelings between Sara and Angie. Since the two had started dating, Tom had less and less time together with Sara. While Sara was his friend, Angie was his lover and certainly more demanding of his time. Sure, they had adventures as Shockwave and Blizzard in X-Factor, but that wasn't the same.
Maybe Angie's analysis wasn't as outlandish as it sounded last night. What if Sara was really attracted to him and resented Angie now being in the picture? Perhaps Sara really was jealous of Angie since she had Tom all to herself now.
That made Tom pause as the shower water ran down his body. Why hadn't he attempted to take his friendship with Sara further? They just never seemed to connect on a romantic level. Sara was attractive in her own way but didn't play up that attribute. She lacked the confidence and self-assured style of Angie.
Angie on the other hand was almost the opposite of Sara. She wasn't just attractive; she was down right sexy. Angie was delightful to hold and pleasing to the eye. Even worse she knew it. Having Angie on his arm made Tom feel like a real man when the two were out in public. He was the envy of other men and loved the feeling that it gave him.
That thought brought a smile to Tom's face. Eagerly, he exited the shower and started to towel off. In less than an hour, he would with be with Angie in her role as the Empress. Together, with Impact, they would be keeping watch out at LawTech for potential criminal mischief. Tom always did look forward to his time with his beloved Angie.
Tom quickly got dressed, pausing only to check his voicemail on the odd chance that someone tried to contact Heroes for Hire. He was pleased to find that there was a message. Perhaps this would lead to some work now that the LawTech contract was winding down.
Eagerly, Tom listened to the message ready to write down any important information. His jaw dropped as the message played. He couldn't believe just what he was hearing! Once the message ended, he played it once again just to make sure.
"Yes!", Tom cried out, pumping his fist in excitement. "Just wait until I tell Angie about this! She simply won't believe it!"
"Yes!", Mockingbird cried out in excitement as she soared high over Los Angeles. No matter how far above the ground she was, Lisa's spirit was flying even higher. Less than half an hour had passed since Lisa received Sara's phone call. She was so excited at the prospect of a new career, that Lisa donned her Mockingbird costume and had gone out for a celebratory flight.
"Things are finally going my way," Mockingbird thought to herself. First being accepted as a member of X-Factor and now the possibility of a lucrative career was looming on the horizon. "It's almost a dream come true."
Almost giddy with elation, Mockingbird glided over the City of Angels. The sun had set just a few minutes ago and twilight was beginning to take over. Lisa didn't pay much attention to the scenery as she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. That was until an explosion attracted her attention!
"What was that?" Mockingbird circled and flew off in the direction of the blast. As she watched, a fireball rose into the air from the building down below. Mockingbird accelerated towards the blast putting thoughts of her personal good fortune aside. "I better check this out! There might be people who need help!"
As Mockingbird drew closer to the blast site, she could make out other details. For instance, she spotted a man in armor standing on top of an apartment building. Projections from the side of his helmet gave his armored suit an unusual appearance, but one Lisa recognized!
"That's Hammerhead!", the heroine realized. "One of the Thugmaster's Elite! What kind of trouble is he causing now?"
As Mockingbird watched, Hammerhead fired the cannon mounted on his right forearm. A horrible screech filled the air as an orange conduit of energy exploded out of his weapon. The energy lanced out at a flaming figure that was blazing a path through the air. Hammerhead's attack sailed harmlessly past his fiery target.
This new development brought Mockingbird to a stop. "Oh my goodness! Hammerhead is fighting Feur! What am I going to do now?"
