How to Date a Superhero Ch. 01

He didn't have long to contemplate his insecurities.

"Travis?" he heard a female voice call from behind. "Hey, Travis?"

Travis turned to see one his fellow students trotting towards him. She was a disheveled girl with glasses and wavy black hair that went every-which way. She was wearing tattered jeans and an oversized grey GCU sweatshirt. Travis recognized the girl from his Chemistry class but couldn't remember her name.

"Hi Travis," the girl smiled when she reached him. She pushed the rim of her thick, round glasses up the bridge of her nose, "You're going to Chem class, right? Mind if I walk with you?"

"Uh, sure." Travis had been sure the girl was going to ask him about his encounter with Mega-Girl. "You're in my class, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she bobbed her head. "I'm Penelope, Penelope Swann. Everyone just calls me 'Penny'."

Travis began walking beside her towards the large, domed science building. Many of the other students walking nearby continued to point and look Travis' way. He tried to ignore them.

"What's going on?" Penny asked, noticing the attention.

"You mean you don't know?"

Penny shook her head, "Know what?"

Travis sounded surprised, "Oh, I assumed that's why you wanted to talk to me. I, uh, was in an accident yesterday. Mega-Girl saved my life."

"Seriously?" Penny sounded impressed. "You met Mega-Girl?"

"Sort of. I mean, we didn't really get a chance to talk or anything before she flew off and -"

"That's so cool," Penny interrupted. "I wish I had boobs like hers. Do you think they're big? Or do they just look that way because of the spandex?"

Travis gave her a surprised glance, "Uh -"

"Anyway," Penny continued, "The reason I wanted to talk to you was that I heard your chemistry lab partner dropped out."

"Yeah," Travis affirmed. "He was actually my roommate. One day I got home from class and he was packing up all his stuff. I think his dad got ill or something and he needed to go home."

"I'm sorry," Penny offered.

Travis lifted his shoulders, "I barely knew the guy. We didn't meet until the first day of freshman orientation, and six weeks later he was gone. He was a weird kid, not really into socializing."

"You're a freshman?"

"Yeah," Travis nodded. "You?"

"Sophomore." Penny stopped outside the science building and pushed a thick strand of dark hair away from her face. "My lab partner dropped the course and enrolled in Geology. You know – 'rocks for jocks'? I think the periodic table freaked him out. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hook-up?"

Travis' brows slowly raised up his forehead, "Hook-up?"

Penny snorted out a cute laugh, "Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm not asking you to sleep with me."

Travis blushed.

"I'm wondering if you want to be my lab partner." She pointed at him, "You need a partner," and then she pointed at herself, "I need a partner... do the math, 'Romeo'."

Travis made an embarrassed laugh, "Right. Yeah, sure – that sounds great."

There was a long moment of silence as the two stood outside the science building. Penny looked expectant.

"Uh... did you want to talk about something else?" Travis finally asked.

"Aren't you going to open the door for me?" Penny gestured towards the science building with her head. "Geez. And I thought chivalry wasn't dead."

Travis quickly reached for the door handle and pulled it open, letting Penny walk in first. He was surprised by how outgoing she was, considering how nerdy he thought she appeared. She put him on his heels, in a good way, and he wondered how he had never taken notice of Penny before that day. She had an odd confidence that Travis liked.

His chemistry class suddenly became much more interesting. Plus, she had gotten his mind off his sudden fame and superheroes.

After dark was Mega-Girl's favorite time to fly; late in the evening, when the city's energy was still very much alive. From high above, the lights of Gateway City seemed a magical thing combating the darkness. The lit towers of the city's skyscrapers were like fingers from a warm hand reaching to embrace her. It was peaceful and serene and Mega-Girl wished she had someone to share the moment with. It was a lonely thing being able to fly, she thought.

You there, MG?

Mega-Girl lifted a hand to the blue-tooth device at her ear. "I'm here," she replied, the device picking up her voice and transmitting via a cellular signal.

Anything going on out there tonight?

"No... the city's quiet." Angling her body to lower the altitude of her flight, Mega-Girl took a pass over the warrens to scan its narrow alleys for any signs of trouble.

Good. I'm not getting anything on the police bands, either. Maybe the bad guys are finally giving you a night off.

Mega-Girl smiled as she soared towards the downtown district and past the Keppler Building, the tallest skyscraper in the mid-west, "After my fight with The Leviathan two nights ago I could use a night off. You know – I actually felt it when he hit me?"

That doesn't surprise me. He stood toe-to-toe with Apollo a couple of years ago.

"Yeah, he was tough. Well, I better do one more fly-by through downtown and then I'll call it a night."

Cool. By the way, I have that information about your new boyfriend you asked for.

Mega-Girl mentally rolled her eyes, "He's not my boyfriend. We barely know each other. Did you find his address?"

He lives on-campus in Freedom Hall.

"That's the freshman dorm, right?"

Yep. Room 402.

"How am I supposed to know which room is his from the outside?"

Fourth floor, southwest corner.

Mega-Girl smiled at the precision, "Thanks, Harbinger. You're the best."

You can thank me later - if you get laid tonight.

Laughing at the vulgarity, Mega-Girl professed, "I am NOT going to have sex with him."

Either way, I won't wait up. Later, MG.

Swooshing through the air in a 90 degree turn Mega-Girl aimed her flight towards campus. "Later," she replied, lifting a hand to disconnect her blue-tooth device.

Travis sat in his dorm room lounging on a tiny loveseat sofa and staring at a history textbook, wondering how he would ever pass his European History course, when he heard a knock on the sole window's pane of glass. He glanced towards the window, which was obscured by a thin shade, and wondered what could have caused the noise. A bird, possibly? Then he heard it again – a gentle tapping.

"What the hell...?" Travis asked himself as he rose. His dorm room was on the fourth floor and easily thirty-five feet off the ground. It would take an extension ladder to reach his window and Travis wondered if one of the fraternity houses was out playing pranks. Setting his book down on a computer desk he reached to pull the shade open and was greeted by a masked female face smiling at him from the other side of the glass.

"Oh crap," Travis cursed when he realized it was Mega-Girl, suddenly self-conscious about the fact that he was only wearing a pair of boxers.

Mega-Girl grinned amusedly as she watched Travis scramble around his room to put on a pair of jeans and a plain white tee. He was cute, and definitely sexy, with a leanly-muscled frame. She liked his nearly-shaven brown hair that was barely long enough to be spiky on the top. Mega-Girl liked boys with short hair.

Once decently dressed, Travis finally slid the window open.

"Uh, hi," he said shyly. "Sorry, I like to study in my underwear. I don't have a roommate, so..."

"You've got a cute butt," Mega-Girl teased, hovering outside.

Travis blushed. He was never the shy type before, but faced with a gorgeous girl who could bench-press a semi-truck made him slightly nervous. After all, what normal boy wouldn't be intimidated by Mega-Girl?

"So... are you going to invite me in for that cup of coffee you offered yesterday?"

"Yeah!" Travis slid the window further upwards before stepping back, "Yeah, come on in."

Mega-Girl half-floated, half-crawled through the window. Once inside she looked around the small room appraisingly. To her left was a set of bunk beds, though only the bottom mattress held any bedding on it. To her right was a desk with a laptop and a mug full of miscellaneous writing instruments. On the floor next to the desk was a mini-fridge that stood waist-high; a small microwave sat atop it. On the far side of the rooms, near a door, was a loveseat couch facing a 27" flat screen television. Travis had two posters – one of a bikini-clad girl advertising beer, another featuring Einstein and his famous E=MC squared formula. Everything was neat and tidy.

"I like your room.," she complimented. "It's cozy. No roommate?"

"No, he dropped out." Travis fidgeted nervously with his hands; he couldn't believe a superhero was in his dorm room! "It's so cool that you're here, but uh... how did you find me?"

"You were on the news last night." Mega-Girl picked up the history book Travis had been reading and glanced at the back cover, "Once I had your name it was easy. I have a friend who can pretty much find anybody."

Travis got lost in Mega-Girl's profile for a moment as she thumbed through his textbook. She was amazingly sexy. Her costume, skin-tight spandex, clung to her form like a second skin. Like a one-piece swimsuit with long sleeves, little was left to the imagination regarding the tight shape of her backside or the bountiful size of her breasts. It was red, with blue-colored wrists. More blue was located at the neck and around her waist. Everything was trimmed or outlined in black. As enticing as her figure was, Travis had a hard time imagining her slender 5'7" frame possessing any power at all. But he knew different; Mega-Girl was perhaps the strongest human on the planet (save for mighty Apollo, who was in fact a god and not human at all).

She glanced at him, "So what do you study?"

"I'm mostly getting my general courses out of the way this year. I haven't decided on a major yet."

Mega-Girl set the book back down, "Isn't that kind of important to figure out?"

"I'm only a freshman," Travis explained. "I still have time to decide."

"So you're what... nineteen?"

"Yeah. Um, how old are you?"

Mega-Girl made a coy smile beneath her mask.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to -"

"It's okay," Mega-Girl stopped him from apologizing. "It's just that I have to be careful, you know? If my enemies discovered who I am they could hurt my friends; my family. In fact, I shouldn't even be here right now."

"Please don't go," Travis lifted his hands pleadingly. "At least have some... ah, shit."

Mega-Girl gave him a questioning glance.

"I just realized I don't have a coffee maker," Travis lamented.

Mega-Girl laughed, "It's okay. I don't drink coffee anyway. I mostly came because..."

Her sentence trailed off and Mega-Girl's expression sobered, becoming reflective.

"Do you want to sit down?" Travis offered, gesturing towards the loveseat, recognizing something solitary and lonely in the set of her lips. "I've got soda, or a beer."

Mega-Girl gave him a teasingly authoritative look, "Aren't you a little young to be in the possession of alcohol?"

Travis' eyes turned owlish, "Oh, shit. You're not going to bust me, are you?"

She laughed and moved to sit on the couch, crossing a bare leg over her opposite knee, "I'm a superhero, not a narc. A soda would be great. Something caffeinated."

"Is it because you're all alone?" Travis wondered, fetching a cola out his small fridge. "Is that what you were about to say? About why you came here?"

Mega-Girl turned a surprised expression towards his accuracy, taking the soda can from Travis. She snapped it open absently, unsure of how to answer his question.

"I mean, sure – you're Mega-Girl, one of the most famous people in the world, but nobody knows who you are. You have to hide behind a mask and you probably can't tell any of your friends about all the amazing stuff you've seen and done."

Mega-Girl continued to be surprised by Travis' intuition.

"That's got to be hard, not being able to talk to anyone about it."

"A couple people know," Mega-Girl admitted softly as Travis sat next to her. "I have a mentor... well, more like a father-figure. And my best friend knows. She helps me."

Travis cleared his throat, nervous about asking his next question, "Do you, um, have a boyfriend?"

Mega-Girl smiled and played with a wavy strand of blonde hair that had fallen over the front of her shoulder, "If I did I wouldn't be here."

Travis blinked and wondered if she was flirting with him.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," Travis shook his head. "I did, but we broke up. We dated in high school, but she went to college in California. The distance got to us."

"I've never had a boyfriend," Mega-Girl added matter-of-factly, looking down at the can of soda in her hand. She suddenly realized she wasn't thirsty.

"Seriously? How is that possible? You're like, the sexiest girl ever."

Mega-Girl appeared flattered, "I've dated, both with the mask and without. But nothing serious. Nothing long-term."

"You dated someone as Mega-Girl?" Travis sounded curious.

She let out a soft laugh, "Yes, have you ever heard of Tigro?"

"Of course, isn't he based in Florida or something? The cat guy?"

"Miami," Mega-Girl nodded. "He was a total jerk. One of those god's-gift-to-women types. He was always making these purring noises and trying to paw at me. So annoying."

"Creepy," Travis commented. "Why did you go out with him?"

Mega-Girl shrugged bonelessly, "You were right. I do get lonely sometimes."

Travis saw his opening, "Um, do you want to do something sometime? With me? Like go to a movie, or something?"

"I can't," Mega-Girl gave him a soft look.

Travis let out a deflated, "Oh."

"It's not that I don't want to," Mega-Girl quickly added. "I'd love to, but if we went to a movie together it would be all over the news and all my enemies would find out who you are and try to use you against me. It's just not a good idea."

Travis nodded, trying to appear understanding despite his disappointment.

"Maybe we could just hang out?" she suggested. "Do you like video games?"

"Are you kidding? Of course. I've got a Playbox 5 in the closet. Why, do you like video games?"

"I love video games," Mega-Girl smiled.

"Do you want to come over tomorrow night?" Travis offered, his voice hopeful. "Like right after dark? That way no one will see you fly through my window."

"Okay," Mega-Girl agreed. "But if I'm late don't get mad at me. It just means some psycho is trying to destroy the city."

Travis grinned. How cool was it that he had a date with a superhero?

Blonsky led the way through a back-alley entry into an abandoned warehouse. Behind him was his boss, Tony Cicero, and Tony's new mistress – the mysterious Rapture. The lingerie-clad woman made Blonsky nervous, but Tony had insisted he was with her now. Tony paid the bills, so Blonsky did his best to forget the overwhelming fear she had somehow made him experience back at the Arches Hotel. But that wasn't the only thing about Rapture that was making Blonsky nervous. They were walking into a meeting of gangsters, the top guys from each of the various criminal organizations in Gateway City. They were not the type who easily accepted outsiders into their private sit-downs.

As he ushered Rapture and his boss towards the circular table in the middle of the dimly-lit warehouse, Blonsky saw they were the last to arrive. Each of the other bosses had already taken their place at the table and were surrounded by their own bodyguards and lieutenants. There was Tommy-gun Harris, a throwback to the era of Capone who always wore outdated pinstriped suits; Bobby 'the Boss' Boone, who ran things in the warrens; Jimmy Collins, a young up-and-comer who controlled a small army of muscle for hire; Johnny Figgero was an eccentric pimp who had cornered the prostitution market; and lastly, but certainly not least, was Neon Thomas. Neon was an enormous African-American who controlled all of the white-collar crime downtown. He had more power and wealth than all the other men in the room combined, though he was content with controlling downtown and allowed the other gangsters to do as they wished as long as they didn't encroach into his turf.

"What the fuck?" Harris suddenly spoke up when he saw the trio of Blonsky, Cicero, and Rapture approaching.

"Who's the masked broad, Tony? You know we don't allow no broads at the meeting table."

All the other gangsters looked to Tony Cicero's companion with dangerous eyes. Blonsky grew more nervous by the second. Not only did the crime bosses dislike outsiders, they hated 'masks'. People who wore masks were generally vigilante crime fighters, or insane super-criminals; both types liked to meddle too much.

Before Tony could answer Rapture stepped past Blonsky to address the group of men; her step was confident and poised, "My name is Rapture, and I'm here to enlist your help."

Jimmy Collins laughed, "Babe, you couldn't afford our help."

"But I know a way you could make some cash," Johnny Figgero joked as he eyed Rapture's lingerie-clad form with appreciation. The other gangsters all chuckled.

"What is the meaning of this?" Neon Thomas asked in his deep baritone voice, rising from the table. "You called this meeting, Tony, and then you bring a mask? I should have you killed."

Blonsky stepped protectively in front of his boss and reached for the gun inside his jacket. Tensions suddenly soared as all the other men in the room did the same, bosses and lieutenants alike tensing and reaching for weapons.

"Gentleman, relax," Rapture urged, "We all want the same thing, I assure you."

"I don't work with masks," Neon sneered defiantly.

Rapture looked him in the eye, pausing a moment to convey her confidence. Then she spoke a single word in a discouraging, throaty tone, "Despair."

Neon Thomas immediately fell to his hands and knees, a morbid expression of helplessness decorating his face. "Nooooo," he moaned softly, "Lord help us, there is no hope...."

With the most powerful man in the room laid low from a single word, the remainder of the men grew apprehensive. None of them had witnessed Neon in a moment of weakness. He was the toughest, most ruthless gangster of them all and the masked woman had disabled him with a single word.

Rapture smiled cruelly, casually stepping towards Neon in a way that made her high heels click on the concrete floor. "What's wrong, Mr. Thomas? Is life getting you down?"

Neon looked up from his hands and knees with tear-stained eyes, "There is no reason to live," he whimpered.

"Jesus," Jimmy Collins whispered, horrified by the sight of Neon in tears.

"Then why go on?" Rapture asked in a passionless tone. "Why don't you... kill yourself?"

"Stop!" Bobby the Boss scowled, "Why are you doing this to him? Somebody shoot this bitch!"

Blonsky drew a massive revolver and leveled it at the crowd before anyone could make a move.

Neon, meanwhile, had drawn his own gun and was sweating profusely, as though he knew the end was near but had no power to stop himself.

"Go ahead," Rapture prompted him. "End your pain. End the fear. End your despair."

Neon's hand shook as he raised his pistol, placing the barrel between his lips.

"Holy fuck," Figgero looked away. "He's gonna fuckin do it...."

A loud report echoed through the warehouse when Neon Thomas pulled the trigger, causing a spray of brain matter to explode from the back of his head. His lifeless body slumped to the floor. Every one of the hardened men in that warehouse flinched at the gunshot and turned away from the grisly sight.

"Does anyone else refuse to work with masks?" Rapture asked of them, looking from man to man.