Of Capes, Cowls, and Cuddles (NEW Issue 3 Chapter 9 Up! 11/25/18)

[Selpharia]

Chapter 9: The Home Front

Bridget’s room was dark, the shadows of the walls just beginning to lengthen with the setting sun. When she turned the light on they retreated, but that only revealed another problem. Her powers of recovery and her recent effective-but-disastrous feeding had left her with no injuries immediately visible, but the same couldn’t be said for the sweater she’d worn. It bore the scars of Mi’cha’s insectoid assault: huge rents where claws had barely missed her, and the scent of Tenkai's smoke bomb caught in its fibers. She shuddered to think of what her mom would say if she saw her, and resolved that would never happen. Bridget stuffed the shredded grey remains of her outerwear into a corner of her closet and wore just the old pink tee shirt underneath that bore a mortifyingly cutesy heart design outlined in silver sparkles.

Her clock had to be lying. There was just no way that it was only 4:30. If it wasn’t, that would mean that the entire Vector ordeal had lasted about four hours. It seemed she’d even beaten her mother home, judging by the absence of audible bustle downstairs. Bridget’s body strenuously disagreed though; her bone-deep exhaustion was the kind that she imagined would come from running a marathon. She wanted nothing more than to just lie on her bed and sink blissfully into slumber. But even as drowsiness began to fog her mind, the clock remained insistent, declaring with its usual mechanical tyranny just how little time she had before she was due to meet up with Margot.

Aw, crap.

Her stomach rumbled a familiar, human hunger, and so she started downstairs. A quick snack and a shower, and she’d be ready, or as ready as she’d ever be anyway. She considered dressing up a bit, showing off for her former best friend, but that seemed a little much, trying too hard.

<<Why not, little one? Buttressing vulnerabilities with social armor is simply tactically sound. Consider how effective it was for those early humans who encased themselves in metal to avoid being pierced or bludgeoned to death.>>

Bridget went down the stairs and into the foyer, imagining herself in full Joan of Arc helm and chain mail, extending a gauntleted hand to Margot in greeting. But, rather than flee, the imaginary Margot bowed and put her lips to the cold metal and breathed a gallant kiss onto it.

Bridget shook her head, dismissing the nonsensical ramblings of her exhausted subconscious, and willing her cheeks to stop burning.

“Hello there, Bridget. How are you?”

Bridget looked toward the source of the question, and found Sami sat at the kitchen table, laptop open in front of her. The young heroine's golden eyes glared straight into her sister’s face. There was suspicion in that stare, although Bridget couldn’t be entirely sure it wasn’t just a reflection of her own guilt.

“Oh, um, I'm fine just kinda been on my computer, y’know. Getting ready to hang out with Margot later and all.” Bridget wouldn't call herself a good improviser at the best of times, and Sami's arched brow suggested that her hasty improvisation hadn't exactly been a smashing success.

“I see. It’s good to hear that you’re recovering so well from your...episode last week.”

A seared-in memory of burning lungs and the expressionless flesh-mask of an alien warlord bubbled to the surface of Bridget’s mind for an instant, before the reality of Sami came back into focus, lips thinned into a grimace that barely hid an unspoken rebuke.

“Y-yeah. I’ve been feeling a lot better,” she fumbled awkwardly. “How about you? I figured you’d be busy with heroine stuff or something.”

“Yes. So did I,” Sami replied coldly, “but somehow, my calendar just cleared right up in the last few days.”

“Oh.”

Bridget had the distinct impression that Sami was talking about losing her opportunity at Vector. She hadn’t had the nerve to ask what had happened after the party, but Sami’s stony expression answered the question clearly enough.

“Well, that’s just more time for patrol stuff, right? Bringing the shining light of justice to evildoers, and all that.” Bridget tried to force a smile.

“Oh, I'd love to be out doing something useful. But everyone else is off doing something else: job interviews, award-winning experiments, and incomprehensible magical rituals or whatever. So now it’s just me, sitting in an empty house. Going nowhere.”

Bridget stood silent, unsure of what to say.

“Speaking of, where were you today?”

“Huh? I told you, I wasn’t anywhere, I-“

Sami stood up suddenly and stepped toward Bridget.

“Don’t lie. You’ve always been a terrible liar. Mom may be too busy organizing things to notice, but I’m not. I’m sure you were absolutely nowhere important. Just like you made exactly no noise and were completely invisible when I called and went to look for you. And just like you just happened to have a freak-out just in time to ruin my shot at making it big,” she spat bitterly.

<<Credulous fool. She should be on her knees thanking you.>>

Bridget just gritted her teeth. Wonderful, another clueless Sami lecture once again proving that her sister’s strongest superpower was missing the point. She tamped down her frustration and annoyance. Hopefully it would be over soon.

“So I’m going to ask you again. What stupid, shortsighted, selfish thing were you doing that you’re hiding from me? Even after I saved your life!”

This was too much for Bridget. She’d just returned from fighting a horrifying monster and nearly dying who knew how many times, only to have to listen to Miss Perfect lecture her about selfishness? Her hands balled into shaking fists at her sides as fury roiled beneath her face.

<<Exactly, little one, you should->>

But Bridget was way ahead of her.

“You saved my life? The only reason I ever got kidnapped was because they wanted to get at you! But I’m soooo glad that my kidnapping gave you a chance to show off.”

“It’s not showing off!” Sami rose up in the air a head above Bridget, and seethed down at her. “A heroine sacrifices to keep others safe and keep them from suffering. Not that you’d know a damn thing about suffering or sacrifice, since all you do is play video games, unless Mom gets on your case enough to make you do homework, you lazy ingrate.”

“I am not! I’m good enough at physics that Leanne wanted me to go for the St. Rose’s summer program.”

“Yes. Summer camp. How very mature.” Sami rolled her eyes, but Bridget pressed on. 

“At least I’m more than a tank-brain who just lasers everything in front of her. Don’t think I don’t remember what a whiny attention-seeker you were before you won the power lottery, either.”

“I care because I remember how it felt to be less than everyone! Don’t you belittle that. I shudder to think what you would do with powers. You know, aside from your power to be insufferable.”

“Oh, I’m insufferable? I’m not the one whose friends all ditched her 'cause she’s a self-important wannabe corporate tool!”

“You have no idea how the real world works! A job at Vector would have supported our family!”

Bridget just scoffed.“Supported our family, or supported your precious ego? Just because Mom and you are on the same bullshit doesn’t mean that people with more than two brain cells can't see straight through your preening.”

“Why you-”

Sami’s eyes brimmed with searing golden light, and Bridget stepped back in instinctive fear as her sister lunged forward.

But Sami caught herself, her glow fading with the lowering of her hand. She turned away sharply with a growl of irritation, and returned to staring at her laptop.

Bridget stormed back up the stairs, fury eclipsing the hunger she’d come down to satiate and burning away the fog of fatigue like the noonday sun.

That stupid, miserable, stuck-up-

<<Put her out of your mind, little one. You’re quite correct to be angry, but we don’t want you grumpy when you meet your friend.>>

Nnnnnngh, fine, Bridget admitted grudgingly.

<<And, speaking of, you should shower as well. While I see nothing wrong with smelling of battle during a social engagement, I do believe other humans might frown upon it.>>

Bridget said nothing, but grabbed a towel and made a beeline for the shower.

Once there, however, she made a horrifying discovery.

“Ugh, we really still only have Mom’s stupid old lady shampoo? Fantastic. Could this get any more embarrassing?”

<<I highly doubt she would be intimately familiar with your mother’s scent profile, considering both the lack of specific information that the human sense of smell provides, and that it has been years since the two of them have interacted.>>

Yes, thank you, Professor.

Bridget continued grumbling all the way through getting ready. The only brief interruption came when Margot’s text arrived saying she’d be there in a maddeningly vague “few minutes.”

This, of course, only led Bridget to prepare and worry at a more frenetic pace. She was still kicking herself for not picking a better outfit, not that same sparkle-heart pink top with a plain white skirt, by the time she headed out the door.

She chanced a look back at Sami as she went, but her sister just narrowed her golden eyes and said nothing.

The autumn air outside was crisp, and just cool enough to make Bridget shiver and wish she hadn’t lost her favorite sweater as a casualty of battle.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a lone black car crested the nearby hill. Its headlights shone like stars in the suburban sunset as it glided toward her. Bridget didn’t immediately recognize the car, but it could only be Margot’s, it was driven just slightly faster than any of their stodgy neighbors would have countenanced.

It rolled to a stop in front of her, and the passenger window slid down with a creak.

“Hey,” Margot said, beckoning her inside

Bridget almost leapt in, eager to escape the cold and the penetrating gaze of the golden-eyed sentinel she could feel even through the front door.

--

Thanks again to everyone reading and commenting

[Wannatripbaby]

An excellent chapter. :)

It's been a while since we had a decent character mement that didn't come in the middle of an action sequence. How will Bridget and Sami work out their issues? Tune in next July and maybe we will have found out! ?

[YourFNF]

This why you don't where nice clothes to a combat zone *tisks*

 

Good chapter, I like the insight into her and her sisters dynamic.

Still waiting for checkov's pullup to go off.

@Selpharia

[one_screaming_kitten]

Time to start a life of crime to fund new clothing lost while fighting for the forces of good...

I'm curious as to where that mindset is going to take Sami. Is she going to go down the dark side?

[kerry]

I love the sisterly interaction. ?

[Selpharia]

I'm glad you enjoyed it kerry, it's something I've wanted to check in on for a long time. 

one_screaming_kitten, I suppose both of these are possible, though I feel like Bridget's got too strong of a moral compass to ever steal selfishly, and too weak of a sense of fashion to mke theivery of that kind worthwhile. As for Sami, I can see where she's coming from. As someone who has little sisters, they somehow know how to push all your buttons. But I don't think she'd want to become a villain, it would make her so unhappy. She'd lose out on everyone being proud of her, and everyone wants to feel appreciated and valuable. She does, I think, honestly want to do good. Even if it's reasonable to think Sami's being a bit self-centered here, she is trying very hard. 

[one_screaming_kitten]

On 11/27/2018 at 7:02 PM, Selpharia said:

and too weak of a sense of fashion to mke theivery of that kind worthwhile.

Going to a lot of effort to steal an ugly sweater or a tacky pair of tights is the best thing, though.

Related: Do Voidwalkers have a sense of fashion, and how good/bad is it?

On 11/27/2018 at 7:02 PM, Selpharia said:

As someone who has little sisters, they somehow know how to push all your buttons. But I don't think she'd want to become a villain, it would make her so unhappy. She'd lose out on everyone being proud of her, and everyone wants to feel appreciated and valuable. She does, I think, honestly want to do good. Even if it's reasonable to think Sami's being a bit self-centered here, she is trying very hard. 

So either no one's told her about the shady aspects of Vector, or she's so angry that she doesn't believe it.

I wonder how she would respond if she ever figured out that her little sister has powers.

[CDfm]

I would have really liked to see Bridget show off her powers and put Sami in her place. I know this wouldn’t have been the best time to do so but I sure want to be there and see it happen. This was a bit shorter than most other additions but still worth a like. I am looking forward to seeing more. 

[Selpharia]

I’m sure Bridget shares your frustration! If Val weren’t there, I’m sure she would have considered doing just that! This one was a little short, but I plan to give you plenty of long chapters in future