She had been ripped off twice in her apartment complex in the Gish. Shed been pick pocketed once on the monorail to her workplace in Steel Canyon. And she got catcalls every day from thugs, as she walked two blocks from the station to the lab. Being a strikingly tall African American, she got lots of attention, and a lot of it she enjoyed from people she trusted. But when a Skull or a Hellion started heckling and making crude references, she tended to get nervous.
The only refuge she had was her music, even if it was a bit outdated. She was the only one in her complex that watched Soul Train every evening. Shoot, she recorded it on days she had classes. TiVo was a blessing, much better than her VCR.
So it was this morning on the way to work one after another, she got taunted, propositioned, cursed at, and to cap it off, some nameless thug decided to go for a kiss. Horrid! She still felt his rough hands on her even now, as she readied yet another run on Dr Gottleibs 'Hyperkinetic Muon Damper'. Preoccupied as she was, she forgot to toggle 2 out of the 5 safety locks on the device, and as a result, when it was activated for a data calibration, some of the energy bombarding the test sample also bombarded the room she was in.
Alarms immediately sounded, and the device automatically went into a shutdown mode but you cant just turn off a linear particle accelerator. So she got approximately 45 seconds worth of exposure to energy that, theoretically, dampened the energy level of specific subatomic particles, muons as they were called, that were thought to be key components in how objects carried momentum or were subject to inertia.
Per expected protocol, men in hazmat suits escorted her to the infirmary, where she was scanned, prodded, poked, MRId, and generally made a fuss over but all tests came up as normal.
So, with a scolding about the safety protocols fresh in her ear, she was sent home for the day, supposedly to rest and recuperate after a scare, but tacitly, it was also a reprimand.
So, as she stepped across the street from the monorail station, her iPod playing Erykah Badu's cover of "Funky Nassau" ... who should be waiting outside her apartment building than two familiar Skull thugs.
Hey sweetie, wanna have some fun? Bruno, the larger of the two, wore a red doo-rag on his shaven head, and the traditional Skull facepaint, along with a leather vest and black baggy jeans.
Cmere and give me some sugar? Edge, slightly less stocky, but just as mean, had on his usual wifebeater t-shirt, and leather pants. He was acting comically affectionate, but Edge had a rep in the area as being one mean dude.
Her response was to shake her head.
Hey Bruno, looks like this one doesnt want to play with us. I say we play anyway. With that, Edge pushed away from the telephone pole he was leaning on and snickt!- a switchblade appeared in his hand.
Uh oh. Edge is in a taking mood and when he brought out his namesake, people got hurt when they resisted.. sometimes they got hurt anyway. This was looking worse than just a mugging or a few catcalls. These guys wanted her, plain and simple.
Latasha put her hands up to shield her face, and started to back away. As she did this, her hands started to glow, first purple, then blue.
What the fuuu .? Heads up, Edge, shes a paranormal!
It was too late. An obsidian purple bolt of energy erupted from Latashas hands, and struck the hapless thug square in the gut. He flew backward as if hit by a car, landing hard on his back, fifteen feet away.
Latasha shook her head to clear it. Shed felt the energy as a wave of tinglyness in her forearms the release was strangely familiar, although she couldnt place it. But now both thugs were on their feet, and Bruno fired a gun in her direction. She staggered as the bullet hit her but it glowed purple as the point contacted her skin, dropping to the street. She felt connected. To the street, to the cars, to the bullet, and specifically, there was something about these thugs she could there!
A greenish glow surrounded first Bruno, then her. He wobbled a bit, fatigued and she felt strength return where there was pain before. Ah yes cells in the human body have kinetic energy too. Energy she could bleed off, and steal for herself. And she could feel it now. All those atoms, all those subatoms, millions, billions of them all zipping around in their little preset dances waiting for her to reach out and tweak them.
And tweak them she did. She gathered pure kinetic force from the matter around her, slowing it all just slightly, yet in doing so, another strange glow enveloped her. This one persisted, orange-ish, as the air around her was accelerated and began to heat up.
Edge, rattled and infuriated by getting dumped on his butt, charged her and took a swipe at her with his knife.
As his hand crossed the threshold of this swirling orange field, a portion of the kinetic energy reacted, knocking him up and back as if hed been swatted by a giants hand. She felt the impact secondhand, realizing that this would cost her eventually as the field took some of HER stamina and endurance as a form of feedback. But no matter she was in charge!
HA!! Finally, I can meet you no-good punk-a** bi***es on your own terms! With that, Latasha ran full tilt at Bruno, who was bringing his gun up to bear again on this 20-something woman, whod up until today had been timid, unassuming, an easy mark. As she stepped within reach, he too was sent flying, landing in a dumpster across the street, out cold.
Hey Edge! C'mere, gimme some sugar, baby!! Latasha brought her hand up, her extended middle finger glowing purple.
Edge realized he was outclassed. He legged it down the street and around the corner, a blue-purple bolt of energy tagging him in the seat of his pants as a parting gift.
Latasha looked around her. Well, Dr. Gottleib must have been at least partly correct. Muons DID control some aspects of inertia and kinetic force. But, they didnt need to be dampened. Instead, they were most useful when released from their theoretical subatomic orbits and directed.
Now, what would Don Cornilius think of all this? Perhaps that logo of his, the Soul Train, could bring some equality to the streets as well as to the music scene? She had a lot of soul and with these newfound abilities, she could hit like a train. Why not?
"Yeah, them lowlifes better clear the tracks, cos check what's comin' through.... the Soulll Trainnn!!!!"
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
Latasha Gibson was tired of being a target.
She had been ripped off twice in her apartment complex in the Gish. Shed been pick pocketed once on the monorail to her workplace in Steel Canyon. And she got catcalls every day from thugs, as she walked two blocks from the station to the lab. Being a strikingly tall African American, she got lots of attention, and a lot of it she enjoyed from people she trusted. But when a Skull or a Hellion started heckling and making crude references, she tended to get nervous.
The only refuge she had was her music, even if it was a bit outdated. She was the only one in her complex that watched Soul Train every evening. Shoot, she recorded it on days she had classes. TiVo was a blessing, much better than her VCR.
So it was this morning on the way to work one after another, she got taunted, propositioned, cursed at, and to cap it off, some nameless thug decided to go for a kiss. Horrid! She still felt his rough hands on her even now, as she readied yet another run on Dr Gottleibs 'Hyperkinetic Muon Damper'. Preoccupied as she was, she forgot to toggle 2 out of the 5 safety locks on the device, and as a result, when it was activated for a data calibration, some of the energy bombarding the test sample also bombarded the room she was in.
Alarms immediately sounded, and the device automatically went into a shutdown mode but you cant just turn off a linear particle accelerator. So she got approximately 45 seconds worth of exposure to energy that, theoretically, dampened the energy level of specific subatomic particles, muons as they were called, that were thought to be key components in how objects carried momentum or were subject to inertia.
Per expected protocol, men in hazmat suits escorted her to the infirmary, where she was scanned, prodded, poked, MRId, and generally made a fuss over but all tests came up as normal.
So, with a scolding about the safety protocols fresh in her ear, she was sent home for the day, supposedly to rest and recuperate after a scare, but tacitly, it was also a reprimand.
So, as she stepped across the street from the monorail station, her iPod playing Erykah Badu's cover of "Funky Nassau" ... who should be waiting outside her apartment building than two familiar Skull thugs.
Hey sweetie, wanna have some fun? Bruno, the larger of the two, wore a red doo-rag on his shaven head, and the traditional Skull facepaint, along with a leather vest and black baggy jeans.
Cmere and give me some sugar? Edge, slightly less stocky, but just as mean, had on his usual wifebeater t-shirt, and leather pants. He was acting comically affectionate, but Edge had a rep in the area as being one mean dude.
Her response was to shake her head.
Hey Bruno, looks like this one doesnt want to play with us. I say we play anyway. With that, Edge pushed away from the telephone pole he was leaning on and snickt!- a switchblade appeared in his hand.
Uh oh. Edge is in a taking mood and when he brought out his namesake, people got hurt when they resisted.. sometimes they got hurt anyway. This was looking worse than just a mugging or a few catcalls. These guys wanted her, plain and simple.
Latasha put her hands up to shield her face, and started to back away. As she did this, her hands started to glow, first purple, then blue.
What the fuuu .? Heads up, Edge, shes a paranormal!
It was too late. An obsidian purple bolt of energy erupted from Latashas hands, and struck the hapless thug square in the gut. He flew backward as if hit by a car, landing hard on his back, fifteen feet away.
Latasha shook her head to clear it. Shed felt the energy as a wave of tinglyness in her forearms the release was strangely familiar, although she couldnt place it. But now both thugs were on their feet, and Bruno fired a gun in her direction. She staggered as the bullet hit her but it glowed purple as the point contacted her skin, dropping to the street. She felt connected. To the street, to the cars, to the bullet, and specifically, there was something about these thugs she could there!
A greenish glow surrounded first Bruno, then her. He wobbled a bit, fatigued and she felt strength return where there was pain before. Ah yes cells in the human body have kinetic energy too. Energy she could bleed off, and steal for herself. And she could feel it now. All those atoms, all those subatoms, millions, billions of them all zipping around in their little preset dances waiting for her to reach out and tweak them.
And tweak them she did. She gathered pure kinetic force from the matter around her, slowing it all just slightly, yet in doing so, another strange glow enveloped her. This one persisted, orange-ish, as the air around her was accelerated and began to heat up.
Edge, rattled and infuriated by getting dumped on his butt, charged her and took a swipe at her with his knife.
As his hand crossed the threshold of this swirling orange field, a portion of the kinetic energy reacted, knocking him up and back as if hed been swatted by a giants hand. She felt the impact secondhand, realizing that this would cost her eventually as the field took some of HER stamina and endurance as a form of feedback. But no matter she was in charge!
HA!! Finally, I can meet you no-good punk-a** bi***es on your own terms! With that, Latasha ran full tilt at Bruno, who was bringing his gun up to bear again on this 20-something woman, whod up until today had been timid, unassuming, an easy mark. As she stepped within reach, he too was sent flying, landing in a dumpster across the street, out cold.
Hey Edge! C'mere, gimme some sugar, baby!! Latasha brought her hand up, her extended middle finger glowing purple.
Edge realized he was outclassed. He legged it down the street and around the corner, a blue-purple bolt of energy tagging him in the seat of his pants as a parting gift.
Latasha looked around her. Well, Dr. Gottleib must have been at least partly correct. Muons DID control some aspects of inertia and kinetic force. But, they didnt need to be dampened. Instead, they were most useful when released from their theoretical subatomic orbits and directed.
Now, what would Don Cornilius think of all this? Perhaps that logo of his, the Soul Train, could bring some equality to the streets as well as to the music scene? She had a lot of soul and with these newfound abilities, she could hit like a train. Why not?
"Yeah, them lowlifes better clear the tracks, cos check what's comin' through.... the Soulll Trainnn!!!!"
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."