Electrum Volume 13: The Return of Silver Girl
Chapter 1: A New Status Quo
“Stop right there!” A silver spark twirls just past my fingertip like one of the many stars filling the sky above us. The only real difference is the hue, and my spark not being affected by light pollution. Past my fingertip stands a woman dressed entirely in black. Pale skin stands out in defiant contrast along with her light blue eyes from inside of her black mask. Honey blonde hair falls over her mask, tied back in a loose ponytail. In one hand she’s holding a black duffel bag.
In the other, she’s holding a gun.
Her whole body shakes with every breath she takes. It makes sense considering how fast she was running. How she expected to get away I’m not sure, but now she’s frozen. Her eyes are full of fear. Intense, overpowering fear. Fear can be dangerous, but hers isn’t really for me if all she has is a gun.
Keeping my spark aimed at the thief I slide my fingers through my silver hair, and raise an eyebrow. She hasn’t moved, or found any kind of a witty retort. I can see why some women with my powers enjoy being super villains sometimes. I would definitely have a snappy comeback.
She holds up her gun. Her whole arm shakes, but its still pointed at me even if it looks like she isn’t sure if shooting my shoulder or my face is a better idea. “You don’t want to do that. Drop the gun. Drop the bag. Let’s make this a good night.”
Midas City is a forward thinking city. If she lets me turn her in she’ll have a chance for counselling and job placement programs. If she shoots at me, she’ll have those opportunities after some remedial classes in being quiet behind bars. Most people have had enough of that lesson by the time they’re too old for the crib.
She pulls the trigger, and her eyes widen as the bullet crushes almost flat against my cheek. Right as the metal hits the skin turns to metal under the bullet, but only under the bullet. I wont lie and say something cute like how much it tickles. I do rub my cheek with a frown before sending the spark flying past her cheek just close enough for her to feel its warmth.
The thief screams. Her gun arm shakes even more. She even drops the bag. A wad of cash flies free of the bag, and its still nearly full. “Attempted murder is still a crime, even if that couldn’t kill me. Or even really dent me! You’ll have plenty of time to think that over in prison! Tell ’em Silver Girl sent you.”
“Silver Girl . . .! But-NNnnnnnmmmmmm!”
I pull my outstretched hand back to my chest, and the wayward spark flies back around to sizzle into the back of the woman’s neck. With a little concentration I keep the spark going, letting the pure mind numbing pleasure coil itself down her spine. Her helpless blue eyes turn glassy and empty as her thighs shake with the pleasure that’s sizzling away her ability to think.
“Sssssillllverrrrr!”
My winded thief falls slowly to her knees. It’s nights like this that I wish I had some kind of speed boost in my powers beyond just good reflexes, but at least I stop her from falling any further. The black of her mask contrasts with my white shorts as her face falls against them. When she wakes up she probably won’t consider that I saved her from a concussion after she tried to put a bullet through my head, but I’ll feel better about it.
“That’s right. Silver Girl. Just relax . . . It’s not like you can really do anything else. Just let go, and we’ll make sure you get the help you need, okay? Can you do that for me?” I lift the nearly limp woman into my arms and hold her tight. The night is cold, and my uniform has plenty of exposed skin. Her warmth makes everything feel a little better.
Pink lips curl into a lazy, dreamy smile. You’d think I just gave her a pony. “Mmmm help I neeeed . . . Sssssilver help . . . yessss . . . Relax . . .”
“Good girl . . . Jumping down from that fire escape would have twisted my ankle if I couldn’t slow myself down with a little silver, so you owe me one. " A breeze kicks up my cape, and I squeeze the woman tighter. My skin might match my name better if it were metal, but it feels righter to keep it in when I’m not actively using it or showing it off. Besides, Silver Girl doesn’t have metal skin. I’m just subbing for her while she’s out of town.
Footsteps echo behind me as my would be murderer repeats part of my words under her breath. I don’t turn around. Instead I sigh and shake my head. I’ve been doing this for about half a month now. I haven’t done anything that’s attracted a lot of attention—mostly I’ve just saved girls on their way home from work or a night on the town.
Mom wasn’t about getting her name on the news. She was about making the world a better place with her gift. Our gifts are a little different, but I think I can do a half decent job.
“Only you could make mind control look heroic Aurora. Her accomplices are already marching happily over to the closest police station.” It’s hard to detect a faint elven accent until you’ve been trying to learn how to pronounce things using one. Counter Spell makes it sound beautiful and enchanting. So far, I make it sound silly. “Oh sorry. Silver Girl, not Aurora.”
The silver hair doesn’t go away when the white cape does, so I’m not struggling to maintain a secret identity. Even so, my companion isn’t along just because she’s a formidable mage.
“You chose a super villain name for yourself, but you still have trouble using my super heroine name when we’re out on patrol. If you weren’t so good at what you do, and didn’t obviously wanna do right, I’d give you so much hell.” She really only had one outing as a super villain before Doctor Lys nabbed her and started reprogramming her, but she hadn’t intended to stop. At least she had the good sense to try and change early into her career.
Counter Spell laughs, and steps in front of me. “Heh. Whatever you say, Silver Girl. I didn’t know anyone was dumb enough to actually try a robbery like that in Midas. I guess it wasn’t a solo job at least . . .”
Being honest, it surprises me too. Silver Girl might have gone missing for a bit, but it’s hardly like she was the only one going around stopping ‘normal’ criminals. The police aren’t exactly slouches either. It’s amazing how stupid someone can be when the end result is tempting enough.
I lead Counter Spell around the block and help my silvered up thief take a seat on Aureus, my golden knucklehead. Her blissful, lost smile is just so innocent. I pull off her mask and sigh. She can’t be too much older than me, and already she’s out robbing in the middle of the night. It’s almost late enough to be morning. Hopefully she’ll get the help that she needs to straighten out before someone aims a gun at her.
Something tells me she wouldn’t be able to shrug it off as well as I did.
“It’s getting pretty late. Think we should start heading home? You know Mina doesn’t like sleeping without you home.” I hate to admit it but Counter Spell is right. After everything with Brighter Future, Mina doesn’t feel safe living alone but still wanted to keep going to Midas City University. Having a couple of roommates helps that feel a lot safer.
Being that it was my fault she was mind controlled by Doctor Lys makes me question why having me around would make her feel safe, but I also was one of the people who helped save her. Knowing I can save at least some of my family makes mom’s continued status as a missing person feel just a little better.
A little.
“Yeah . . . Probably should. This one won’t be any trouble. I’ll just swing by the station on the way home. Go back ahead of me and tell Mina I’m on my way?” Counter Spell could just teleport the girl to the station, and both of us back home. I could just let her do that. For some reason it feels like cheating. It doesn’t feel right to take short cuts in this job. Besides, eventually she’ll want to move on to bigger and better things than patrolling Midas at night. It’s not very glamourous work, and she’s a powerhouse.
“You bet. Thanks again, for bringing me with you like this. See you in a little bit!” Counter twirls her staff around a few times before slamming it to the ground to disappear in a puff of azure smoke.
After carefully repositioning the blonde I take off into the night with a roar of Aureus’s engine. Its nice to be doing this kind of work with a partner. Tonight was the first night we split up while on patrol. She joined me to turn her life around, and maybe I should still be concerned about letting her work alone . . . but I think she’s on the right track. Watching everything she does like a hawk won’t help anything.
The blonde murmurs the word ‘silver’ in the most adorable mantra I’ve ever heard. It almost makes me wish I could keep her.
Okay, not almost, but close enough.
“I made you some hot cocoa. I know it was cold out there.” Mina is the first thing I see when I walk through the door. The white mug is sitting on the foyer’s small little table with just enough heat rising from it to let me know it’s just what I need to warm up. Cold weather plus high speeds plus exposed skin can really chill to the bone.
“Thanks, Mina! You know you don’t have to wait till I get . . . fuck . . . its almost three am!” A careful sip really hits the spot. Things go from feeling chilly, to tingly warm. My hands should get more sensation back in no time.
You’d think things between us would be weirder after she was mind controlled into seducing me. She did a lot more than seduce, but for her sake I try not to remember the events too vividly. She admitted she finds me attractive, but told me she’s really not into sleeping with her cousin. Fair enough. I’d rather be sleeping with my sister anyway, though I didn’t say that. She already knew, thanks to Doctor Lys.
Mina blushes and shakes her head. “I know I could, but it makes me feel a little better. I was up studying anyway. There’s a new study linking caffeine to abuse of super powers. There was no way i could pass up reading it, since I’ve seen you down a couple red bulls before a patrol when you haven’t had much sleep. It’s pretty bunk.”
In addition to being a nice normalizing influence, Mina is good to have around for her expertise in metahuman psychology. She’s learned to drop it when I’ve had too much, but I won’t lie and say she hasn’t helped me at all.
She leads the way into the living room where Counter Spell is already sipping from her own mug. I follow suit on the couch after wrenching my boots free. “I could have told you that. Aurora needs her caffeine. I think a lack of caffeine is more likely to inspire her to go on a rampage. Luckily she’d pass out and fall off her bike.”
“Hey! That’s never happened! I woke up and stopped her from toppling . . .” Moral of the story? Don’t go patrolling on an hour of sleep. Adrenalin might wake you up, but it also wears you out.
The only thing missing is Sylvia. If I’m going to be honest I’ll have to say Nikki too, but I’ve been honest enough tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever met such a raw woman before. She’s strong, spunky, and she plays a wicked guitar. She also has amazing fingers.
I can’t get that night out of my mind, and I don’t think I ever will.
There’s been no sign of Sarah, or Grandma Lida for that matter. Susan is gone, too. It seems connected, but there’s the same lack of any evidence there too. I’d still be in Coredelia investigating but Argentia never had any luck being needed there, and neither did I.
Mom is probably long gone from Midas, but I feel close to her here. Her pendant hangs heavy around my neck, reminding me she’s not there whenever I might forget. It would help if I had any leads, any idea how to find some . . .
“Hey! Earth to Aurora! Earth to Aurora!” Counter’s voice knocks me back to reality, and I clutch mom’s pendant tight as I can while taking another sip. “You need to stop spacing out like that. After the cocoa I was going to try giving you another elvish lesson, if Mina doesn’t mind.”
Mina smiles and shakes her head. She curls up closer to me in the couch, making me smile in spite of myself. We might not fuck, but the cuddling is amazing. “I love how it sounds. I’ve been picking up a little too. . . Hmm . . . How was that . . . Good evening, teacher! My accent is horrible, I know . . .” MCU doesn’t teach elvish. At least, it doesn’t yet. If it did I’d have to fight for any one on one time with my tutor.
“Better than Aurora. Elvish is all about letting your breath carry the words. At least, that’s what my mentor told me.” Counter always says the word Mentor like Mother. I think she’s the only one who doesn’t notice. “Well, no reason to put it off really. I figured I’d try to teach you a few more verb arrangements . . .”
Groaning, I drown myself in more cocoa. How someone so young can be such a great teacher is beyond me. Apparently to be the kind of magic user like she is you need to study intensely for years just to cast a single spell. I guess it comes natural to be full of book smarts when you live in books for most of your life.
I could get used to living like this, even without Sylvia if I had to.
I just hope I don’t have to.