The following days can be summed up in one word: Recon. They were full of running around the Wealth District, trying to gather any sort of information on where our suspects could be residing. The investigation was all but swift. In fact, there was no sign Rush in the area, even dealers! I caught maybe one dealer on the first day, but he was just a street thug. After that the trail went stone cold. On the evening of the fourth day, I returned to Ray's lab, not even bothering to hide my frustration.
"Another bust?" Ray asks. She's tinkering with what seems to be a football-sized rocket on her desk.
"Yep," I grunt, dropping my helmet on an adjacent desk. "Are we sure there's anything going on down there? If anything, that part of Fulton is the cleanest part in the whole city!"
"Yeah, I've been thinkin' about that," Ray says. "I think our suspects are smarter than we gave them credit for."
I lean against the desk. "What do you mean?"
"You know how you're a big-time hero now?" Ray asks, turning to face me. "Everyone knows who you are. Any drug rings are included in that group. They probably wised up and are keeping any dealing to a minimum."
I nod. "Makes sense."
Suddenly, Ray smacks her forehead.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I'm so dumb," she groans. "We're being too predictable."
"Explain."
"We're doing everything wrong. We have you, racing down the street in your glowing blue suit at the same time every day. People see you, then post #blueblurr or some shit like that. The Allure definitely see it. So, they know when to expect you, getting off the streets in response so they don't get caught."
"So, the first guy was definitely part of the ring…" I mutter. "He warned his buddies."
Ray nods. "And he probably got killed for getting caught."
My jaw drops.
Ray breaks out laughing. "I'm just messing with you. He's not dead… probably."
"Right…"
"But now!" Ray stands up, marching over to her holo display. "We gotta get smart right back at 'em."
I follow her over to the display. "What do you have in mind?"
"We gotta go undercover," she says dramatically. "Which is why this time I'll be your field partner."
I have to admit, I was a little bit shocked by this. "You're going with me? On the mission?"
She turns to face me, wearing a mischievous grin. "What you think I can't handle myself?"
Blood rushes up to my face. "N-no, I mean like… you just never tag along and uh…"
"Oh, cool your cheeks, Zippy. I'm just messin' around."
"Y-yeah…" My cheeks, in fact, do not cool down.
"But if things get dire," Rachel says, putting on a baby voice. "I'm gonna need you to protect me, 'kay?"
I must have had the most stupid face on them because Ray bursts out laughing. She continues cackling on for a moment, but then she gets serious once more.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Ray turns back to her display. "At midnight we're gonna take my bike down to Central Wealth. We'll find us a dealer, and you let me do the talking. Odds are pretty good that they'll take us to an HQ. Bonus points if it's the main one."
At this point my head has returned to its normal temperature. I nod.
"Sounds risky."
"I know!" Ray squeals. "Isn't it exhilarating?!"
She does a little jig over to her desk, grabbing her jacket off the floor.
"I've never been to that part of town before! I'm so excited!!" She continues her little dance. "I'm gonna go get ready!"
"Get ready?" I ask.
"Well, yeah. I can go out in… this." She gestures up and down her body. She's wearing a navy blue FPD hoodie and black leggings.
"You'd be smart to change too," she adds.
I look down at myself. I'm still in my suit.
"Head home. It's 11 o'clock now, we'll meet back here in 30 minutes."
I nod. "Sounds like a plan."
I run home, which doesn't take much more than a minute for me. I get home and front door is locked. Mom isn't home.
Since I started doing hero work, I stopped carrying my house key on me. I've kept my bedroom window on the second floor unlocked, instead. I take a few steps back, and power up just slightly. Just enough to…
I sprint at my house and leap, getting the window with ease, grabbing onto the windowsill. I open the window and pull myself through. I close the window behind me and take my helmet off. It feels like I haven't been back in my room forever, even though it's only been about 18 hours. I'm usually in the lab from sun-up to an unholy hour of the night. It's been like this for a little over a week now. The life of a hero is a fast one, especially mine.
I walk over to my mirror. I stare at my reflection. I never noticed how tired my face looked. Bags were beginning to form under my eyes. My hair was starting to get kind of oily.
"I gotta shower…" I mutter to myself.
I start taking my suit off, starting with the gloves. It's super breathable, so I'm not super sweaty or anything like that. But to take the suit off and to let my skin breathe unfiltered air…
My hands are kind of pale. I haven't considered taking the suit off in such a long time… I shake my hands off then bend over to take my boots off. I unfasten the locks on either side and yank them off. A nasty smell hits my face. I start gagging and coughing. After a minute the smell dissipates. My feet were bare underneath. They've been turning pale, just like my hands. I wiggle my toes around. I need to have the suit off more often, for sure.
I reach into the neck of the suit and squeeze the little button that releases the compression feature. My suit becomes loose and the top and bottoms unfasten from each other. The bottoms drop to my ankles, and I pull the top off. My body underneath the suit has changed. Pale for sure, but also my build. A six pack of abs is starting to become visible. My pecs have become larger, as well. I do a quick flex in front of mirror. This is incredible! Especially since I haven't even been working these muscles. At least… I don't think I have. Maybe it's a side effect of the rush mutation in my body? I should talk to Ray about that.
I grab a change of clothes and walk to the shower. And man… that shower… It felt like I haven't had water touch my skin in years. I was in there for what like hours. When I stepped out, I saw that it had only been…
"Oh shit!" I shout at myself. It had been 40 minutes! I was supposed to be at the lab by now!
I race around my room, putting together my best street clothes. A white t-shirt with a button-up shirt, (unbuttoned of course), over it. I have my best jeans and my favorite blue high tops. I throw the window open and climb out I shut and cling to the windowsill, mapping out my course in my head.
No time to ease myself down. I charge up, then kick off my windowsill. Truth be told, I push WAY too hard. I soar for a solid 7 seconds become my feet hit the ground. And I hit the ground running.
I enter the police building through a cloaked door that Ray had installed herself. The door takes you straight into her lab.
I stumble in, the door sliding shut behind me.
"You're late, Blue," Ray says.
"I know, I know. I just…" Stammering I dust myself off and stand up straight to face Rachel. My voice suddenly gets caught in my throat.
She's sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed facing where I just entered the room. She was wearing a bright red blouse with jeans and black boots. And her hair… her red hair seemed extra curly this evening. I'm pretty sure she has lip gloss on, too.
She looks at me and cocks her head, a mischievous look on her face. "How do you have super-speed and still arrive late?"
"I… I… uhh…" I want to reply but the words will not form.
Rachel hops up from her seat on the desk and walks over to me. She pats my shoulder and continues to the door.
"Doesn't matter. We got a mission to complete. Let's get goin!" she squeals excitedly.
She grabs my hand and yanks me out the door.
We walk around behind the police building.
"What are we going back here for," I ask.
She leads me over to a large metal crate.
"Well how do expect us to get there? Last I checked, I don't a have drug-induced mutation that gives me superpowers. And we sure as hell aren't walking."
She walks over the crate and grabs an upper corner. She yanks it and the crates flies off like it was a tarp. The image of the crate flashes and melts away, turning into a silver cloth in Rachel's hands.
"Whoa…" I exhale.
Underneath the cloth was Rachel's hoverbike. It doesn't look like a FPD issued vehicle anymore though. This one is bright blue with a white racing stripe traveling from front to back.
"Oh yeah…" Rachel walks slowly over to the vehicle. "This is my baby right, here." She runs hands over the vehicle. Whispering things under her breath that I can't really hear but can assume are weird.
I have to pinch myself to keep from giggling.
After what feel feels like an appropriate stopping point for whatever is going on here, I clear my throat.
"Don't we have a mission we need to be on about now?" I say politely.
Ray stands up and clears her throat. "Um… yes. That is correct."
She picks up her helmet off the seat of the bike and straps it on. She hops on the bike and starts it up. There is a low whirring as it rises a few inches off the ground.
Ray turns to face me. "Well? Hop on blue boy."
I carefully get on the bike. It wobbles a little bit, and I grab the sides to keep from falling. I hear Rachel start giggling.
"You can ride like that for sure. Wouldn't advise it. Or…"
Rachel reaches back to grab my hands and puts them around her waist. My heart jumps into my throat.
"There ya go," she says. "Nice and secure?"
I'm unable to respond. My heartbeat is kickboxing my eardrums.
"Perfect. Let's go find us a Drug Lord!"