Challenge 14: An Original Short Story
Apr. 8th, 2013 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eaemiliaTitle: The Birth of a Hero
Word Count: 1155
Rating: T
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): none
Summary: This is the day that Cat changes everything. This is the day she becomes a hero.
The suit is leather, not quite skin tight, but still tighter than anything her parents would ever let her wear. Black, gold accents, a utility belt, and a pair of shimmery bee wings. A gold mask hides her face.
It isn't the greatest costume in the world. It doesn't really compare to anything that the pros wear, but Catherine likes it, and Liz made it, which makes it even better.
Liz is grinning behind her, and Cat's heart beats quickly at the sight of it. Liz is probably the most beautiful girl in the world, and one of the few that know that Cat has superpowers. She is the one who gives Cat the courage to start fighting.
Her parents don't want her to fight, it is too dangerous, and besides, once you start, you can never stop. You are recorded in the League of Heroes' immense logs, and either you continue to help them, or you never use your powers again.
Technically, everyone who has a smidgeon of power is supposed to be recorded, but a lot of people are able to sneak under their radar. As long as you don't show off your powers, there is no real way to figure out who has them and who doesn't because scientists still hadn't come up with a surefire way to test people. They don't even really know what causes powers to manifest. Something genetic, they think, but they can't tell what, and most likely every power is caused by something different, so they’ll need a hundred different tests.
Most people like that. Not normal people, because people flying around and moving things with their minds has always freaked them out, but people like Cat. There is a small group of them that Cat knows, that her parents had introduced to her to, and they had told her that just because the League told you that they would never force you to work for them, that didn't make it true.
All of them are afraid to use their powers, to help other people, but Cat isn't like them. She aches to use her powers and to fight villains. Sure, flight isn't the best power, not like telekinesis, but she can still do her part, and with the help of Google, Amazon, and a few raids on the science cabinets at school, she has a nice range of poisons to use against any villains.
Cat isn't like the others. She isn't a coward. Her parents will be mad at her after, because she'll blow their own cover, but lying is second nature to all of them. And she doesn't want to stand around anymore.
~*~*~
"There's something going on at the convenience store," Liz says. It's almost three in the morning. Liz's brother had set up a radio system for them, so they can listen in on 911 calls. This is the first call they've gotten so far that isn't some sort of accident. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Cat says, but her voice is a bit weak. She swallows. "I'll see you later." She hugs Liz quickly and leaves her house.
It's quiet outside, and it’s a bit eerie. For a second, she hesitates, but then she takes a final, deep breath and takes off. She hasn't flown very often; her parents' paranoia, and her own, has prevented her from doing so, and she can't quite shake the feeling of wrongness as she soars over the silent town.
Flight is far faster than walking though, and in only a few minutes, she is on the other side of town and touching down in front of the convenience store. No cops have shown up yet, and through the window she can see the silhouette of two men.
It's a terrifying moment, walking into the store.
This is the moment that everything changes, and she's not sure she's ready for it, but she goes in anyway.
The ringing of the bell of the door is unnaturally harsh and draws the attention of both men.
For a moment, everything is silent.
"Who are you?" the robber bites out. He is pointing a gun at her. She hadn’t counted on a gun.
"I'm the Golden Bee," Cat says putting her hands on her hips and straightening her back. She hopes her voice isn't trembling. "And I'm here to stop you."
He laughs, and the convenience store employee doesn't look at all that confident in her either. "A little thing like you? You couldn't stop a fly."
She bites her tongue. There's no need to respond. She’ll show him. Instead, she flips open a pocket on her belt and pulls out one of the little bombs that she had made.
"What the fuck is that?" he asks gesturing at the bomb with his gun.
"Just a little present for you," she says and lobs it at him. The throw would have made her softball coach proud.
He drops the gun as he scrambles for it, but he can't grab it, and it explodes in his face. Screaming, he falls to the floor, scratching at his eyes. The poison doesn't cause anything permanent, just a temporary blindness, and it hurts like crazy.
Cat walks over to the man and picks up his gun. "Here," she says, giving it to the employee. He's only a couple years older than her, maybe twenty or twenty-one.
"Th-thanks," he says taking it and gathering money that had been scattered on the counter.
In the distance, she can hear sirens starting to blare. On the floor, the would be robber is whimpering in pain, and she feels a bit of guilt. Perhaps she shouldn't have made the poison so strong, but it's too late now.
"I guess my work here is done," she says, and she winces a bit at how much like a cliché she sounds. Smiling at the man behind the counter, she turns away from him and runs out of the building. The lights from the police car blind her, but in a second, she is up in the air, and flying back home.
Liz is waiting for her on the front porch when she lands. "How did it go?" she asks.
"Good," Cat says as she takes off her mask. "Good."
~*~*~
The next day, her face is on the front page of the paper. Well, not really her face, just a drawing of her mask covered face based on the employee's description of her, and a grainy image taken from the security camera.
A thrill fills her chest whenever she sees the picture or hears someone talking about her, and every time her eyes meet Liz's, they share a secret smile.
And at the end of the day, when she's walking home, a woman is waiting for her. Her white hair is an odd contrast to her young face.
"Hello," she says as Cat walks up onto the porch, "are you the Golden Bee?"
Word Count: 1155
Rating: T
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): none
Summary: This is the day that Cat changes everything. This is the day she becomes a hero.
The suit is leather, not quite skin tight, but still tighter than anything her parents would ever let her wear. Black, gold accents, a utility belt, and a pair of shimmery bee wings. A gold mask hides her face.
It isn't the greatest costume in the world. It doesn't really compare to anything that the pros wear, but Catherine likes it, and Liz made it, which makes it even better.
Liz is grinning behind her, and Cat's heart beats quickly at the sight of it. Liz is probably the most beautiful girl in the world, and one of the few that know that Cat has superpowers. She is the one who gives Cat the courage to start fighting.
Her parents don't want her to fight, it is too dangerous, and besides, once you start, you can never stop. You are recorded in the League of Heroes' immense logs, and either you continue to help them, or you never use your powers again.
Technically, everyone who has a smidgeon of power is supposed to be recorded, but a lot of people are able to sneak under their radar. As long as you don't show off your powers, there is no real way to figure out who has them and who doesn't because scientists still hadn't come up with a surefire way to test people. They don't even really know what causes powers to manifest. Something genetic, they think, but they can't tell what, and most likely every power is caused by something different, so they’ll need a hundred different tests.
Most people like that. Not normal people, because people flying around and moving things with their minds has always freaked them out, but people like Cat. There is a small group of them that Cat knows, that her parents had introduced to her to, and they had told her that just because the League told you that they would never force you to work for them, that didn't make it true.
All of them are afraid to use their powers, to help other people, but Cat isn't like them. She aches to use her powers and to fight villains. Sure, flight isn't the best power, not like telekinesis, but she can still do her part, and with the help of Google, Amazon, and a few raids on the science cabinets at school, she has a nice range of poisons to use against any villains.
Cat isn't like the others. She isn't a coward. Her parents will be mad at her after, because she'll blow their own cover, but lying is second nature to all of them. And she doesn't want to stand around anymore.
"There's something going on at the convenience store," Liz says. It's almost three in the morning. Liz's brother had set up a radio system for them, so they can listen in on 911 calls. This is the first call they've gotten so far that isn't some sort of accident. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Cat says, but her voice is a bit weak. She swallows. "I'll see you later." She hugs Liz quickly and leaves her house.
It's quiet outside, and it’s a bit eerie. For a second, she hesitates, but then she takes a final, deep breath and takes off. She hasn't flown very often; her parents' paranoia, and her own, has prevented her from doing so, and she can't quite shake the feeling of wrongness as she soars over the silent town.
Flight is far faster than walking though, and in only a few minutes, she is on the other side of town and touching down in front of the convenience store. No cops have shown up yet, and through the window she can see the silhouette of two men.
It's a terrifying moment, walking into the store.
This is the moment that everything changes, and she's not sure she's ready for it, but she goes in anyway.
The ringing of the bell of the door is unnaturally harsh and draws the attention of both men.
For a moment, everything is silent.
"Who are you?" the robber bites out. He is pointing a gun at her. She hadn’t counted on a gun.
"I'm the Golden Bee," Cat says putting her hands on her hips and straightening her back. She hopes her voice isn't trembling. "And I'm here to stop you."
He laughs, and the convenience store employee doesn't look at all that confident in her either. "A little thing like you? You couldn't stop a fly."
She bites her tongue. There's no need to respond. She’ll show him. Instead, she flips open a pocket on her belt and pulls out one of the little bombs that she had made.
"What the fuck is that?" he asks gesturing at the bomb with his gun.
"Just a little present for you," she says and lobs it at him. The throw would have made her softball coach proud.
He drops the gun as he scrambles for it, but he can't grab it, and it explodes in his face. Screaming, he falls to the floor, scratching at his eyes. The poison doesn't cause anything permanent, just a temporary blindness, and it hurts like crazy.
Cat walks over to the man and picks up his gun. "Here," she says, giving it to the employee. He's only a couple years older than her, maybe twenty or twenty-one.
"Th-thanks," he says taking it and gathering money that had been scattered on the counter.
In the distance, she can hear sirens starting to blare. On the floor, the would be robber is whimpering in pain, and she feels a bit of guilt. Perhaps she shouldn't have made the poison so strong, but it's too late now.
"I guess my work here is done," she says, and she winces a bit at how much like a cliché she sounds. Smiling at the man behind the counter, she turns away from him and runs out of the building. The lights from the police car blind her, but in a second, she is up in the air, and flying back home.
Liz is waiting for her on the front porch when she lands. "How did it go?" she asks.
"Good," Cat says as she takes off her mask. "Good."
The next day, her face is on the front page of the paper. Well, not really her face, just a drawing of her mask covered face based on the employee's description of her, and a grainy image taken from the security camera.
A thrill fills her chest whenever she sees the picture or hears someone talking about her, and every time her eyes meet Liz's, they share a secret smile.
And at the end of the day, when she's walking home, a woman is waiting for her. Her white hair is an odd contrast to her young face.
"Hello," she says as Cat walks up onto the porch, "are you the Golden Bee?"