The table with Jenny, Harm, Supa Fly and StarDust stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb; four colorful and/or brightly glowing superheroes could find no less likely place to hide than a sea of muted gray and purple uniforms. Crystal finished her business at the cash register then joined the group at the table. Whatever Harm was relating to the assembled heroes, he stopped as Crystal approached, and, once she arrived, asked of her, “You and Firefox kiss and make up over whatever you were fighting about?”
“Everything’s fine,” she flatly stated.
Far less seriously, Supa Fly asked, “You two kissed and made out? Got any pictures?”
Jenny squawked in indignation. Crystal coldly replied, “I don’t appreciate that kind of talk, Supa Fly, and I know Firefox doesn’t either.”
“That was a jive move, chump!” Jenny blasted at him. “You’d best step right, or I’mma get up in yo’ face!”
Everyone’s jaw dropped. They stared silently at Jenny in shock. “Where the f- where did THAT come from?” Harm asked.
“I asked her to do some research on 70s slang,” Crystal said, “but I didn’t think she’s have anything by now. You didn’t waste any time!” Jenny gave a smug smile.
Supa Fly laughed. “You all right, Foxy Lady.” Addressing Crystal, he continued, “Why don’t you mellow out an’ sit down? Harm was in the middle of somethin’ when you walked up.” Unwilling to let the earlier jibe slide, Crystal folded her arms and glared at him. Supa Fly’s grin slowly faded under her stern disapproval. Finally, he quietly grumbled, “All right, I’m sorry. I was just jivin’.”
Crystal’s expression immediately softened. “OK, then. Everyone take one of these,” she said as she passed a bundle of energy bars around.
“I know you live on these things,” Jenny said, “but I prefer real food.”
“This is for later. Vanguard has more work for us than the immediate task, and I don’t think we’ll have time to return to Chez Vanguard for a meal.”
“Thank [censored]!”
Everyone took their bars, leaving Crystal with a few leftovers. She gathered them up, sat down at the end of the table, opened one, and started eating while Harm resumed his story.
“So he takes the shot, and nails the Freak Chopper solid. Blows him off his feet and into the water. Then he backs up and looks around for his team… and they weren’t there! While he was lining up his shot, they all took off down another tunnel!”
“Wait,” Crystal interjected, “are you telling them about-”
“Yeah, I’m talking about Scud.” Crystal immediately started giggling. Harm resumed, “So he just takes off after the team, all the while praying that the rest of the Freaks didn’t see anything. He caught up to them at one of those choke points where they were fighting another mob and joined in.
“What he didn’t know was that the whole room full of Freakshow was running after him with only one thought on their drug-addled minds: kill Scud! They caught up to him and his team at the other fight. Now, Scud didn’t want to say anything about why fifty or so Freaks showed up all of a sudden, but he couldn’t just let them steamroller his team, so he yelled ‘Ambush!’ instead. Well, with those numbers his warning didn’t matter; they chopped him up quick, and the mediport network pulled him out. The rest of his team joined him in the hospital a few seconds later.”
Harm struggled with his rising mirth to continue the story. “So, of course, everyone’s trying to figure out what happened, but since Scud has the inside scoop, he leads off with the mother of all spin jobs to try and pin the team wipe on the Scrapper. Right to his face! He even sent a text to the team leader blaming the guy! Scud was so smooth that the poor dumb Scrapper eventually apologized for causing the “ambush”!”
Supa Fly roared with laughter. Jenny and Crystal were both giggling now. StarDust face-planted on the table and sobbed hysterically into his arms. As best he could, Harm choked back his own laughter to conclude, “And ever since then, I’ve always kept one eye on the other Blasters I team with, just so I don’t get caught in any “ambushes” of my own!”
“That’s also why whenever things go wrong, it’s the Scrapper’s fault!” Crystal added.
“Oh, [censored],” gasped Supa Fly, “that [censored]’s got brass! That’s the funniest [censored] thing I’ve heard since I moved here!”
It took several minutes for the laughter to work its way out of the heroes’ system. Just as everyone began to regain control of themselves, Bellona re-entered the cafeteria, and immediately veered to join the brightly colored heroes. As she moved up to the table edge, she looked pointedly at the pile of energy bars in front of Crystal and, in a tone that left no doubt about the nature of the implied insult, inquired, “Are you eating again, Cheerleader?”
Refusing to rise to the bait, Crystal quipped, “It was bound to happen eventually. Here, one of these is for you.” She grabbed a bar, flew up and over everyone’s heads, and presented it to Bellona without landing. “This is for later. We probably won’t have time to return for food between our next assignments.”
Bellona sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes upward. “Great. How many more hours will I be subjected to Crystal Faith da Silva?”
A deathly silence instantly fell over the table. Crystal drifted a half step backwards in surprise. Jenny’s ears perked up as she, along with all the other heroes, prepared to respond swiftly to whatever transpired from Bellona’s shocking revelation. Fists clenched. Power cells charged. Flaming auras burned a bit brighter. Bellona did not fail to notice the heroes’ reactions. She shot a wicked smirk at them, daring them to break Vanguard’s no fighting rule in the presence of so many witnesses.
At last, Crystal mildly responded, “You found out my real name. Good! Now no one has to call me by that stupid hero name I got stuck with.”
Bellona was just as shocked as the heroes, though much quieter; she had nothing to say.
“You’re admitting to your real name? In public?” said Harm.
“What the [censored]? You used your [censored] real name?” Supa Fly asked.
“You never told me your middle name was Faith,” Jenny grumbled.
Crystal pointed to each as she responded. “It’s no big deal; not really, but it’s a long story; I didn’t think it was important.”
Recovering quickly, Bellona fired back, “Who the [censored] names their kid Crystal? Sounds like a name for trailer trash or a porn star!”
“They had their reasons,” Crystal cryptically replied, “and it turned out to be eerily appropriate.” She held up a hand and formed a small diamond of ice in the palm. It sparkled pink as it refracted the light from her scintillating hands. “For you,” Crystal offered. Bellona slapped Crystal’s hand, sending the ice diamond clattering to the floor, where it bounced and slid under several tables before finally coming to rest at some unknown location in the cafeteria. Crystal frowned at Bellona before continuing, “Where’s Thunder Dragon?”
“How the [censored] should I know?”
“He left shortly after you did. I thought-”
“Yeah, right, I doubt that. Can we go now? I wanna get this over with quickly.”
“As soon as Thunder Dragon is here,” Crystal replied. She pulled out her phone and checked the map. She dialed in the resolution, and was surprised to find seven blips all at her location, so she put the phone away and turned around, looking up towards the ceiling as she did so. “Oh, there you are.”
Sure enough, he was tucked away in the rafters almost right over her head, leaning down with a prominent toothy grin. The rest of the team looked up in surprise; as he was above the lights, he cast no shadow when he entered the cafeteria, and his body was nearly the same color as the concrete.
Crystal gracefully flipped upside down, flew over the table, grabbed an energy bar, righted herself, flew up to Thunder Dragon’s perch, and presented him with the bar. “I know you don’t have to eat, but I got you one anyway. And… you don’t have any pockets…” She shook her head. “Sorry, I forgot about that detail. Would you mind if someone else carried your food for you?”
“I’ll take it now,” he replied. He plucked the energy bar out of Crystal’s hand, bit one end off, and started chewing, wrapper and all.
Crystal recoiled. “I, uh, think you’ll enjoy it more if you take the wrapper off before eating it.” Thunder Dragon swallowed his mouthful, clawed part of the wrapper away, and then resumed eating.
Slightly repelled by Thunder Dragon’s eating habits, Crystal landed and faced her ground-bound team members with relief. “OK, here’s the deal. As soon as we rescued Penelope Yin, the Rikti started kidnapping more psychics to replace her. Vanguard knows this, but they don’t know where they are right now. While they look for them, we’ll be taking care of some heavy-hitters that came through the portal before we closed it. Once we’re done sending them home, and if Vanguard has located the kidnapped psychics, we’ll go rescue them. This time, hopefully, we’ll get to them before the Rikti can use them.”
Bellona snorted. “If the Rikti are successfully kidnapping them, the psychics can’t be any good. I say let the aliens have ‘em.”
Supa Fly laughed. “She got a point.”
“We will rescue them no matter how good they are,” StarDust flatly declared.
“That’s right!” Crystal affirmed. “I get what you’re saying, but I don’t want to take the chance they Rikti can use them anyway, nor will I leave them in captivity. We’re heroes, Supa Fly. This is what we’re supposed to do.”
“So it’s OK if I execute them instead?” Bellona facetiously asked. “Rock on!”
“That ain’t cool,” Supa Fly admonished.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice issued from Harm’s armor, speaking one of his classic lines: “We’re a rescue team, not assassins.”
“For the moment, we have to rescue Earth from some escaped Rikti warriors.” Crystal tapped a few buttons on her phone. “Now you have everything Vanguard gave me. The mission entrance point is marked on your zone map. Make your own way there, and be careful. Don’t get ambushed-”
“-like you did earlier?” Bellona quipped.
“Exactly. Let’s go.”
The team stood and filed out past Crystal. Jenny hung back to talk with her friend. “Crystal Faith da Silva. Even your middle name is pretty!” Jenny sulked.
Crystal sighed, then started for the base exit. It was an old topic of conversation between them, and usually Jenny brought it up in jest, but, given her image issues, Crystal often wondered how much was humor and how much was bitterness.
As she followed Crystal out, Jenny shouted, “Hey! Aren’t you even a little concerned that one of the Rogue Isle’s most notorious residents knows your full name?”
“I’m a little puzzled how she found out my middle name. I don’t even use the initial unless I have to. But, the rest is no big deal. I mean, I don’t wear a mask, there’s no easy way to disguise my hair, and I haven’t always worn a costume. And I really don’t like that ‘Shining’ nickname. It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s appropriate.”
Dodging that particular argument, Crystal continued, “All anyone would have to do to connect that name to mine is an internet search, and then they’d have most of my life on file, including my address and my parents’ address. No one’s moved on them, thank the Lord, and I’d welcome the extra attention from some really dangerous people. It might keep the Hellions at bay!”
“That’s not funny!” Jenny scolded. “This is most every hero’s worst nightmare, and you’re joking about it!”
“It is a joke! Seriously, I’ve had dealings with Crey Industries since high school. I’m sure they know more about me than even the FBSA. They’re as sinister as they come, and they’ve thrown everything they had at me, but I’m still here. Knowing my life’s story hasn’t been useful to Crey. Bellona knows my full name: so what? I doubt it’ll be useful to her.”
“Yeah, but what else could she have found out? You shouldn’t be such a Tank about this!”
Crystal walked in silence while she considered how best to explain her position. At length, she piped up, “I know why you wear costumes, but why do you use the name Firefox when you’re in costume even though anyone who knew you before you registered is sure to recognize you?”
“Because no one would surrender to me if I used my real name!” The two women shared a laugh at that. More seriously, Jenny continued, “I had to try something. It just didn’t feel right running around Paragon using my real name. I didn’t want to make it too easy for folks to pick through my background. I also didn’t want Mom to find out what I was up to and worry herself.” She laughed again. “That didn’t work at all. But my name is… I think it’s too personal to throw around like that. It’s like the Freedom Phalanx: most people know Statesman’s real name, but he doesn’t use it when he’s on the job, and no one would dare use it to his face. I dunno. It just seems taboo to use your real name.”
“I know. That’s the only reason I use my hero name at all; the spandex crowd freaks out when I don’t use it.” Jenny coughed. “All right, MOST of the spandex crowd!” Crystal qualified. “I know it’s important to you to use the name while in costume. It’s almost like you become a different person. Hold on, let me explain” Crystal said, overriding Jenny’s impending objection. “You’re a lot more outgoing as Firefox than when you’re… not. In costume and on patrol, you’re more confident and aggressive, both physically and in conversation. You don’t shrink from fights or attention. You don’t hesitate to speak your mind. As Firefox, you’re almost sassy.”
“Sassy? Me?”
“Yes, you! And when you’re not in costume, you’re much more reserved. You’re quiet and sensitive, a bit shy, and don’t do anything to stick out; it’s clear you don’t want to get noticed. Maddy does most of your talking for you when you’re in your regular clothes. You’ve separated those two areas of your life and act differently depending if you’re in costume or not. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it is something I can’t do. I just don’t think that way.”
After a moment of silent contemplation, Jenny responded, “Maybe you’re right. That may also be why you were feeling burnt out earlier. You don’t have any easy way to separate the demands of the heroic life from your personal life like I do.”
“Could be. Still, I’ll take a whole life over two halves. I think it’s important to be whole and balanced at all times. And you could stand to port some of Firefox’s behavior to your regular life! There’s no need for you to be so reserved; you’re a good person, and you should let other people see that.”
“Sure, all they need is some binoculars or a step…” The self-depreciating comment died on Jenny’s lips as Crystal whirled around and glared fiercely at her. She shrunk back a bit.
Crystal held the gaze of stern disapproval for a few seconds more before her expression softened again. “Come on, enough of that. There’s enough to deal with now without you putting yourself down.”
Jenny sighed. “Right. There’s a pack of murderous Rikti on the loose. No time for feeling sorry for…” Her voice trailed off. Her ears perked up, and her face went slack with shock.
Crystal turned around, and her expression mirrored Jenny’s as she, too, witnessed the lights in the hallway being snuffed out by a sphere of darkness. The inky area advanced steadily and rapidly down the hallway, engulfing the two women in night. Crystal powered up one fist for illumination. The uncharacteristically feeble glow illuminated the center of the darkness and revealed its source; a pale-skinned woman dressed in long gloves, thigh-high boots, a pink top hat, and nothing else. She serenely floated down the hallway, unconcerned about her lack of clothing.
Crystal quietly exclaimed, “Oh, my!” as she turned her head.
The woman passed. The darkness passed shortly thereafter. Crystal shuddered and softly said, “What I said earlier about naked being a costume… I had no idea someone was actually doing that!”
“She’s just being fashionable,” Jenny replied. Crystal turned and looked in confusion at Jenny. “Remember? From earlier? The new spring line at Icon?” As the memory surfaced, Crystal began to laugh. “I think that particular design was called The Full Moon.”
Crystal’s laugh changed to a groan. “That was awful!” she gasped.
Before Crystal could fully recover, Jenny put an arm around her and steered her towards the exit portal, saying as they went, “All right, I know you were traumatized, but there’s no time for another of your fits. We have work to do.”