Speed hurts

(RL Date: Sept. 2005)

Whoever decided that teens with egos needed superpowers needs a good swift kick to the head.

I was invesigating that latest bank robbery site over on Forbes, when I heard an old woman scream for help.. got there in time to see a blur go by. I sent a bolt of lightning into the pavement in front of the blur, and it knocked this girl onto her ass. She started cursing me, when I told her to give the purse back to the woman, and making comments about "fun" and "why not." Feh. She threw a hubcab at me, then I blew her over bassackwards.... then she sped toward me, jumped on a car, and then tackled me in midair, knocking us both onto the bank roof. When I came to, she was gone, damnit.

I think she called herself "Afterburner." I'm going to keep an eye out for her.

Later, that evening, I saw a news story where the police chief was asking that the person who turned in the video about the robberies to contact him. His name was VanKirk, and I debated about it a long time. I don't want those guys to go free, but I also don't want to be exposed as a "parahuman." But... Sigh. If I don't do something about it, I'm not any better than they are. So I ended up calling the police chief, and getting him to meet me at a rest stop, on 79. I kept my face hidden, at first, and we talked a long time. His name is VanKirk, and he seems to be driven man, and he has his work cut out for him--the PTA, in particular, is making his work even harder. He asked me to help him, and.... wasn't this what I had been looking for? Something more? I agreed, though I asked him to keep my identity a secret...

We talked about the video, and somehow, he persuaded me to testify before a grand jury. Ye gods, what have I gotten myself into now?