Part 9: In the shadow of Atlas

I had waited no more than five minutes at the foot of the Atlas Statue when I was greeted by a friendly voice.

"Mental Maden?"

I looked up and smiled at what was a semi-familiar face. She definitely looked like her Aunt Onceti. "You must be Linceti," I said brightly offering my hand to her. We shook and exchanged pleasantries. "Are you ready for this?" I asked.

"Yes I am ma'am. And let me say its so great that I have someone to help me find my way around Paragon. I could really use the help." she said with the same cadance as her famous Aunt. The resemblance was uncanny. Oh the hair was a little different and she didn't have Onceti's trademark eye patch, but there was no doubt they were related.

"And Maden, I just want you to know that my aunt told me that your past is to be kept quiet. And let me just say that your secret's safe with me. I promise...."

"If May trusts you. That's all the promise I need. Now lets go out there and show those thugs some justice!" I said as we ran off into the streets of Atlas Park.

"No problem. Let's go." she said enthusiastically.

We spent the next few hours cleaning the streets of Hellion gangmembers and raiding Superdyne (a dangerous designer drug) labs in various warehouses. At first I showed Linceti a few pointers, but it all came very natural to her. I didn't want to be a pushy know-it-all so I let her ask me questions if needed. She was a real pro and took to hero work like her aunt. We were quickly gaining security levels and training with Miss Liberty, an old confidant, who made my first day easier by taking little jabs at me.

"Well hey there newb, do you need me to show you where the Atlas Statue is?" she asked as I trained up to security level 3. (For those unfamiliar #1 she stands under it #2 its huge!) And each consecutive level she had something new for me, always finishing with a friendly wink and a caring nod.

My commUnit rang with a tell from an unfamiliar name: Molten Quarrel. "I'm looking for a team. Any room?"

"Sure." I invited him to the team and we found him on the commUnit map. "We'll come to you."

He stood tall and strong with blue skin and a third eye. It turned out he ,too, had skills with bow and arrow as well as the power to control fire. He was quiet and thoughtful with obvious leadership skills.

We set off and teamed until just after midnight. We decided to call it a night and planned to meet up the next evening. We said our goodbyes, put each other on our commUnit friends list and headed in our own directions. I was off to Steel Canyon for a needed nights sleep.

After a long tram ride and what seemed an even longer elevator ride I was finally home exhausted and glad this first day was finally over. It had gone well; better than expected. My two teammates were good team players and sincerely nice individuals. That is rare to find in a town where the heroes seems to get younger and more obnoxious everyday. I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. (I was teaching a 7:30 Intro to Microbiology class in the morning) and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I was flying above Founder's Falls, my childhood neighborhood, it was a peaceful wonderful day. The wind was soothing with the warmth of the sun on my back. I flew around admiring the beauty of the city when a large cloud swallowed the sun. I looked at the ground and saw the shape of the cloud's shadow shift from one amorphous form to another. I stopped, hovered and adjusted my eyes when I noticed the shadow had taken the ominous form of a bird. My head began to pound a cruel drumbeat and I began to hyperventilate......I felt my body giving in to gravity as i fell towards the giant bird's shadow mouth. FLASH!!!

I sat upright in bed, covers and pillows flying in all directions. I caught my breath and slowly looked toward the nightstand. The glowing numbers on my alarm clocked flashed 3:33 a.m.

Damn it.