Her Superhero Lover

“Sounds great. Ah, next caller is Felicia, from Del Mar. Felicia?”

“I just wanted to say to both of you to keep kicking butt! There have been stories that you two have also gone south of the border, is that true?”

“Yes we have. Some of the gangs we’re combating have connections in Mexico. We go where the bad guys go.”

“Next question comes from Shunsuke, in La Jolla. Shunsuke?”

“Yeah, what about the civil rights of your victims? You guys come off as fascists!”

Renee took this question. “The gunmen that took that preschool hostage, they weren’t exactly worried about civil rights either. The drug dealers, the pimps, the corporate racketeers we’ve taken down, they aren’t worried about your civil rights. They’ll kick in your door, take your money, your things, and your life, and not give a damn.”

Grady’s emergency phone interrupted Renee before she could continue. Holding up his hand, he grabbed the phone from the small table next to his folding chair, looking at the feed. “Maria, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to cut this short,” he said. “Your producers are probably getting the information now, but we’ve got to go.”

The two stood up and Grady reached for the camera, shutting it off. “What’s the call?” Renee asked, taking a deep breath. “God that last guy pissed me off.”

“I could tell,” Grady replied. “Seems we may have our very first self professed super-villian. Some guy calling himself Dominus Rex has broken into the secure area at North Island Naval Air Station.”

“So? Someone’s stupid enough to break into a Navy base, they’ll probably not last too damn long.”

Grady nodded. “Still, take a look at this.”

He handed her the phone, which had a video showing of a large man, perhaps seven feet tall and approaching five hundred pounds of ripped muscle, heavily armed and attacking some Marine MP’s with a heavy machine gun. It was hard to tell if the Marines were firing back, but the man stood still, and if they were hitting him, he wasn’t being fazed at all by it. “Looks like we got ourselves a badass here.”

“Exactly.” Grady went over to the cabinet where their accessories were kept, and opened the doors. “What’s your load?”

“Power gauntlets and knives,” Renee said. “I’m not good enough with the blaster to use it in public yet.”

Grady nodded and tossed her the weapons, custom fit to her size. He grabbed his own devices and turned. “Shall we?”

Heading out into the night, they held hands for a moment. “I love you, you know. Sorry about deceiving Maria.”

“It’s for the best. I love you too. You ready to go?”

Grady gathered his legs and jumped, letting his flying abilities carry him to a thousand feet in the air. Renee watched him climb, then closed her eyes. Inside, the nanobots in her tissue heard her mental command, and she felt the familiar shift of bones, muscle and tissue that signified she was ready. Jumping, she let the aerodynamics take over, and her own flight capabilities engage. Rolling in the air, she held her arms out, frozen temporarily in a delta wing shape to give her the extra lift to counteract her lower thrust compared to Grady, and circled him. “Let’s go.”

The two streaked off into the night, the full moon low in the eastern sky, ready to defend the innocent.

The end.