The First Job Who was that person? An angel, a bird, a hero? She's a maniac, she's trouble, stay away from her—but she's a saint. Oh, the voices could already be heard, she could already imagine them saying to each other: it's her! She's the one who did this! What a woman! What a hero! She saved us all! I want to be just like her when I grow up. Amazing! She's such a— Klutz. She stumbled and fell as she landed on the building roof. So much for grace. "I really gotta get the hang of my powers," she muttered to herself. She steadied her body as she stood, wobbling, and made an effort to walk. Her muscles flexed and twisted as she leaped again, overestimated her trajectory, and screamed as she hurled herself into the sky. Cries of protest—"No, no, no! Wait, wait! Down, down—no, wait!"—came from her as she sailed, and fell, barely able to absorb the shock as her muscles relaxed from so much use. She gasped just to get her wind back. Good thing it was evening, because so far this day was going pretty badly. At last she found some means of balance as she floated from rooftop to rooftop, but slipped or lost the grip on her wild powers several times. Up, and down—crash! Up, whoops! Too high! Down, down—but not too quick! Whoops—too much force, and crash! Up—whoops, not enough power, and down, down, down she goes! Try to remember your power, and—ah, got it, but bang! Into the dumpster! Not very stylish, eh, and what happened to those applauding voices all of a sudden? This was supposed to be their hero? She's covered in gunk and can barely jump between buildings. "Ugh," she grunted, wiping the garbage off her suit, "what a rotten day. My suit's all ruined, and my legs hurt. I smell like garbage......maybe because I just landed in it. Ugh." She groaned and tried to clean herself off as she wandered out of the alley—and right in front of the convenience store that was being robbed. The girl jerked to attention as a chill went through her nerves—gunshots were going off and people were screaming inside—and here she was straight from the dump! Hastily she shook off whatever she could and prepared for her very first battle as a superhero. Four robbers came out running, running right into her, and stopped as they beheld the woman in all her smelly glory. She snorted as the stink overwhelmed her, put her fists up, and tried striking a good pose. Frankly, her first impressions as a superhero stunk. "Stop right there!" she shouted in her most heroic voice. The burglars regarded her comically. "Hey, what's this? You lookin' for somethin', bitch? Oh, hell, you smell like shit!" "You'd know, since you wallow in it every day!" she announced. The burglars just laughed. "C'mon, forget her. Let's blow." "I told you to stop." One of the robbers, a young punk about her age, shrugged at her with gun in hand. "Oh, you gonna make us, sugar?" "If I have to." "You just may with that smell," snorted another. "And what's with the stupid outfit? You going to a party?" "Ey, she can party with me all she wants!" cackled another. His friends gave him high-fives and hooted in agreement. All four of them advanced on her, but not too close since they were all downwind. "So what's your name, chick?" they asked. The woman frowned and crossed her arms. "It's G-Girl to you, punk!" The men hooted and whistled approvingly, or else laughed. "G-Girl? What kinda stupid name is that?! You spend all day thinkin' of that, blondie? What does the G stand for, anyway? G-string, Gee whiz, Gee I'm gonna give you a BJ? Hahaha!" "Hey, shut up!" The men laughed riotously, pushing the poor girl too far. She glared, flexed her muscles, and summoned her powers: the ground shook as one of the men crumbled to the floor, weighed down by a massive force. "Whoa! What the hell? Sh-shoot her!" The others were too busy gawking at their friend to realize what was going on, but the death sentence was carried out. They drew their weapons, but before any could fire, the guns suddenly felt like lead weights to them, and crashed to the ground as they slipped out. One of the men screamed as he was lifted high into the air and thrown back down; another was crushed to the street along with his comrade. The fourth, looking to be the oldest, swore violently and pulled out a stronger weapon. "Bitch!!" He roared and let the weapon spew out bullets. The girl clenched her teeth in pain as every measure of her power went into the missiles, flinging them to the ground until the pavement was pocked with holes. After several rounds, the man came up empty, but so did the girl: she wheezed and slumped down in weakness. The only man left standing ran to gather his crew, but by then a squad car had come, and four fully-armed officers poured out and surrounded the robbers. Nobody put up a fight, seeing as how disoriented they were. The girl was long gone by then. She somehow managed to float down onto a rooftop before she collapsed. She took several deep breaths and tried to move her aching arms, but after using so much power in such a short period of time, they could only protest. A miserable groan came from her throat as she rolled around, trying to move. Despite having survived her very first battle—you couldn't really call it a success—she felt pathetic and embarrassed. Good thing nobody was around to see her writhe. "That was a pretty sad show back there." Or maybe not. That voice was not hers. She rolled around until she could see, and squinted at the person angrily. "I didn't see you try and help me, whoever you are." "Hey, sorry." He—the voice definitely belonged to a man—he held his hands up defensively, walked over, and extended an arm for her to grasp. She barely managed to lift her hand up to clasp it, and felt herself lifted to her feet. She lurched as her legs buckled underneath the sudden weight. "Whoa, easy there," said the man, taking hold of her. "You spent a lot of energy fighting those crooks." "So you really saw all of it?" "A-huh. Sorry if I didn't help, but you seemed to have things under control." She looked at him as if he had just swallowed an elephant. "...Yeah right. What battle were you watching? That was awfully cruel of you, y'know. I mean, even if you're not a superhero like me—" "I am," he answered, "and I'm very sorry I didn't help you. Please, can you forgive me?" In the pale gold light of the streets, and the paler light of the moon, the girl could see his face, and he could see hers. He was indeed a superhero, or dressed like one. The man looked around her age, but he had pinkish skin instead of blue, and his blonde hair was much shorter, and it was in spikes, not long and curly like hers. He was handsome and, she could tell, helpful, for he honestly looked sorry. "Yes," she sighed, leaning on him more and more. He set her down where she could sit safely, then sat across from her as they exchanged looks. "So, you're a superhero too, huh?" "Yes, I am. I gather you're not very experienced." "No, that was my first fight. I made a fool of myself, didn't I?" The young man took a breath, looking like he was about to word something offensive. "Well, yes, but it was your first battle. My first didn't go so well either. Actually," he admitted with a smile, "my first was really not that long ago, so you could say that we have about the same amount of experience. I'm Thunder-Claw, by the way. You can call me TC if you like." The girl took his hand, and sure enough, felt the tiniest of jolts from his fingers. She gave a yelp and pulled her hand away. "I see. So is that your power?" "Sort of. From what I can tell, you have...telekinesis?" "Influence over gravity." "Oh. And your name?" She paused for a bit. "G-Girl." Thunder-Claw made a face. "That's a pretty dopey name." Instead of taking offense, the girl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know, but I couldn't think of a better one. I originally wanted to be called Gravity Girl, but that was even worse. Now if I were a man, G-Man, it wouldn't sound so stupid." "No... Well, I can help you with your name if you like—and maybe I can help you fight crime." "So you wanna be my partner?" Thunder-Claw shrugged. "I don't see why not. We novices and newbies need to stick together, unless you're the type to fight crime solo." "No," she said with a sad chuckle, "I'm definitely not the type. Thunder-Claw, was it?" He nodded. "Right. I'll tell you what. I'd be happy to be your partner, but you can't make fun of me. I don't have the luxury of having a cool name like you." "So I'll just suggest another one. Uh..." He stood up, put his hands on his head, and wandered around the rooftop for a few paces, muttering names to himself. In the meantime, G-Girl traced lines on the paved rooftop with her finger and asked her new friend some basic getting-to-know-you questions. "So how'd you get your name?" "My grandfather invented it. He was the original Thunder-Claw. He said that whenever he channeled his powers through his hand, it looked like a claw. My father adapted the name and the power, and now I've inherited it too." "That's sweet. So were you born with your powers?" "No. I inherited them." "How do you do that? I mean, I was born with mine, and so were my parents." Thunder-Claw shrugged and wandered off further. "I don't really know. It's a complicated ceremony. Ask my grandfather, he'd know. He inherited the powers from another superhero he saved." "Oh." Thunder-Claw resumed muttering names, calling a few out at random to see if his new friend liked them. "Uh, let's see. How about Gravija? Or what about simply Grav?" "No, that's stupid." "Yeah, it is. Um...Gravity...Woman?" "No." "Yeah. Uh...grav, gravity, G, G-girl, G-whatsis, uh..." "Just forget it," sighed G-Girl in defeat. "You're sweet, but it's hopeless." "I got it!" he exclaimed suddenly, clapping his hands. Thunder-Claw whirled around, pointed his finger at her, and said, "What about G-Force? Huh? It sounds a lot cooler!" The girl nodded her head, letting the name tumble around in her head, trying it on for size. G-Force. G-Force. The more she said it, the better it sounded. G-Force. G-Force. Cool. "G-Force," she grinned. "I'll take it. Thanks, TC." "Anytime, G." "So how did you know about that robbery? I saw it on the news." "Well, like any superhero, I've got connections," he told her. "My father is a member of the police force now, and he still keeps his old squawk box around. I listen in and go after the ones I feel I can take. Lately I've felt like I'm the only superhero in the city, or even the country, but I'm glad I was proven wrong." "Why? Are there no more heroes left?" Thunder-Claw shook his head. "I'm sure there are, I've just never seen them. Some of them are like that, of course, but I've been at it for a month, and you're the first I've seen." G-Force frowned as the thought passed through her and settled. The actual odds of them being the only heroes in the city were slim, but having to face all the city's crime alone, or even with a partner, was not an idea she liked. Something about all that solidarity. Weren't there others? "But I am glad I found somebody at least," he said warmly, putting his hand on her shoulder. She returned his smile and thanked him. "Me too. Frankly I don't think I could take much more of this by myself." "You just need to be more familiar with your power. I'm still getting the hang of mine. You know, I really think we should look out for each other." "I agree. But don't think I'll go on a date with you or anything." "Now I never mentioned anything like that, friend," he said defensively. G-Force grinned. "All right, just letting you know off the bat so you don't go and flirt with me. You're a nice guy but you're not my type." "As usual," he sighed sadly. G-Force couldn't help but smile at him, and walked over to give him a supportive half-hug. "Hey, there may not be very many heroes in this city, but I know there's lots of girls. Stick with me and I'm sure we'll find a few." "Oh. Great. So what sort of person is your type?" "Um..." G-Force darted her eyes back and forth suspiciously, rubbed her head, and shrugged. "Uh, no comment." Thunder-Claw nodded and let it go at that. A muffled sound came from his hip—a police walkie-talkie, G-Force learned, something he carried with him to keep in contact with his father. He exchanged words with the man on the other side, whether his dad or another officer, and clicked it off after a minute. He rubbed his hands together and gave his new friend and partner an eager smile. "There's a hostage situation at the Federal Credit Union downtown. Twelve terrorists, fifteen hostages, with nine-hundred grand at stake. Feel up to saving the day?" "I guess we have no choice," she said sheepishly. "Well we always have a choice. I admit, I've let a few things slip here and there, mostly because I believed I wasn't ready at the time." "So are you ready now?" He gave her a smile. "Well with a partner, I can't lose." "Oh, but you know me, I can't even control my powers that well." "You can use them well enough," he shrugged. He arched his head over, said "C'mon, it'll be okay!", and shimmied down the rooftop's emergency exit. G-Force watched him crawl in amusement, and used her own powers to lighten the gravity around her, thus softening her descent. She touched ground well before her partner. "Hey, if you've got influence over gravity," he called, "just send me down like you sent yourself!" "You trust me that much?" Thunder-Claw cautiously looked towards the pavement below. "It's not that far to fall. I trust you." She grinned, and exerted just the slightest bit of force to soften his landing. He wobbled and cried out a little at the feeling of near-weightlessness, but landed safely with nary a bump. He looked drained. "Whew! That was something! Now, follow me; I know where the Credit Union building is." "Got it." He ran, not quite at the speed of lightning, while she bounded up and down, taking very careful measures to make sure she didn't hurt herself or land in a dumpster again. Once they got to the Federal Credit Union building, they could see it was already swarming with police. Thunder-Claw explained the whole thing in detail, and told G-Force that the police could only negotiate; they couldn't attack. The two novice heroes arrived and hid away in a nearby dark alley, with Thunder-Claw exchanging words with the commander of the force. "Until we have a solid idea of what we're going to do, they'll stay here and keep trying to get those hostages out," he said to G-Force. "I've suggested they leave, but I don't know where to go from there. If you have any ideas—I mean, if you have a plan... I know you're inexperienced, but any idea at all..." "No, sorry," she said. "I'm still a little weary from jumping all over town, and besides, I've barely managed to use my powers up till' now. I couldn't possibly wield them in a professional manner. Do you really think it's wise for us beginners to get into something like this so early?" "Gotta cut our teeth on something," he murmured. He was right, but G-Force couldn't think of a thing, except maybe... "You said that you can store and use electricity, right? Could you store enough so that it'd suck up all the power in that building?" "No, I'd have to drain the whole city to use up all the power, but I can shut the power off. Do you think darkness could give us an edge?" "It might. How many terrorists did you say there were, twelve? Assuming they're all armed, I might be able to use my powers over a broad range and affect their weapons, but I'd hit the hostages too. I'd need you to sweep in and bring them out." "We can get the police to worry about them," he said. "Your idea's pretty good. Darken the whole place, crush them or lift their weapons up, I take on as many as I can. Six each might be a little much, but it's the best we've got. You ready?" "Yeah. Wait—how'll you disable those guys?" He gave her a mischievous smirk. "Oh, just a little jolt. I've got enough juice for eight people, so no worries. Let's just do our jobs and make sure those people aren't hurt." She nodded, and once the plan was agreed upon, Thunder-Claw called the police commander and relayed their plan. He accepted unwillingly, and asked his force to pull back. Once they were alone, the two budding heroes rushed off towards the building, found the outside circuit breakers, and went to work. "Say goodnight," whispered Thunder-Claw as he pointed his finger at the breakers. A thin little flash of lightning snaked out and licked the machinery, turning off all the power inside the building. The two had a bit of time, so they used it to run, and dove inside the building under the cover of darkness. Without even whispering, they maneuvered around in the inky air, giving themselves the best position possible to launch their strike. G-Force felt her whole body throb from the pounding of her heart. One of the terrorists shrieked as a jolt of lightning crippled him. His comrades called out to him and wailed in the darkness; suddenly, their weapons felt like boulders, and their bodies buckled underneath some unknown pressure. G-Force clenched her teeth and tried desperately not to affect the hostages, but everyone in the building was spread around so much... More and more people shrieked and fell as Thunder-Claw raced around the building, shocking them into a swoon. One of the terrorists opened fire randomly, trying to pinpoint where the bursts of electricity were going. He was quickly taken down by a fierce punch from behind. "Nice," whispered G-Force, rubbing her sore fist. Just then, as she stood triumphantly, the lights came back on and three semi-automatic weapons found themselves poised right at her. She had already used a lot of power trying to save her own life; she didn't know how much she had left to go the distance. "Um, TC?" she called. "We have a situation here! TC?" The air crackled and yelled in pain as small blasts of thunder streaked across it and coiled around the gun-toting men, choking them and snapping the weapons free from their hands. Not one to stand around in a stupor, G-Force ran towards them and kicked them sharply with her boots, sending all of them to the floor. Twelve were now down, unconscious or in pain, and most of the hostages seemed fine, although two older ones complained how heavy things seemed all of a sudden. "Mission complete," said Thunder-Claw, waving happily at his partner. She sighed with relief. "Yes. Now what?" "Leave the rest to the cops," he said, dangling the walkie-talkie. "We did our job, let's let them do theirs. Folks," he called, addressing the relieved hostages, "it's going to be all right now. The police will be here very shortly to get you home and imprison these people. You're safe courtesy of the superheroes G-Force and Thunder-Claw." "Oh, using my name first?" she said coyly. He smiled. "Well, G does come before T in the alphabet." "How gentlemanly of you." ......... After saying good-bye to her new friend and partner, G-Force leaped her way home, trying to hard to get her unusual powers under control. She slipped, fell, crashed, and flew all the way there, so that would need some working on, but at least her name was cool—well, her superhero name, anyway. At last she arrived home, a quaint two-story building she still shared with her parents, and discarded her uniform in privacy before meeting them in the den. "Hello, dear," called her mother. "You came back later than we expected. How was your first day?" "Wild," was all she could say. To put full description to it would've taken hours. "Well, just be careful, please," said her father nonchalantly. She nodded her head. "Yes, dad. Oh, by the way, I have a partner now." "Oh really? What's their name?" "Thunder-Claw. He's pretty cool. He helped me out with my last mission." "The robbery?" "No, there was a hostage situation at the Credit Union. Don't worry, I'm okay. It was actually pretty fun, except I still have to get used to my powers." "Well, we told you you'd have to," murmured her dad. "After all, it never comes easy to anyone. Just take your time and go slowly." "So what's this man's name again, your partner?" asked her mother. Her daughter grinned. "Thunder-Claw. And I'm not G-Girl anymore, mom." "Oh? Did you change your name again?" "Yup! I'm G-Force now." "Oh. ...That's nice, dear." ---------- The day is saved, but for how long? Tune in next time when G-Force and Thunder-Claw team up for another dangerous job! And who knows, they may finally meet more of the city's heroes! All this and more in the next chapter, "Catapult". You won't want to miss it!
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