Challenge #01619-D158: This is the Best Thing
Super person comes to rescue of someone they are really Big Fans of. Marvel, D.C. Whatever.
Brownie points for "OMG! You're Them!" moment. -- Knitnan
Being a Power isn't as much fun as the comic books would make you believe. For a start, the seemingly endless battles with the Big Bad hardly ever happen. And when they do, it's not something you want to live through. Most of my life is patrolling the streets and trying to stop trouble before it starts.
My hero name is The Shield. I can make a force field to protect people or contain troublemakers. I also have a helmet and chest-cam to record everything I see and hear. It's admissible in court, so the people who clearly do wrong can't claim bias. You would not be surprised how often that happens when it's a white cop who tried to shoot an unarmed black person and got stopped by a Latina hero.
But that wasn't what was going on that night. It was a slow night, for a change. It could be so simple to go home and binge on netflix, but I owed the city another hour. And just as I turned a corner, I found a stopped car in an out-of-the-way alley and a mobile dead zone. This was one that wouldn't need my powers, but the Ready Bag in the boot of my tiny little car.
What? You thought I could fly? Yeah, not everyone does that noise. The best I can manage is maybe a three storey jump, and that's not really useful in a city full of skyscrapers.
Anyway, it was late, and the car was locked with its emergency lights on, and I was doing my Never Fear Citizen thing. Same old. And then the car opened and the occupant emerged into the headlights.
I think my brain imploded. The odds against tripping over the world's best singer/actress/superstar in the WORLD are so astronomical that they might as well be making a new universe out of it. That's right. I was face to face with none other than Miranda "Totally Fabulous" Schaquiraquai.
It's a good thing I don't have super voice powers, because I squee'd. Completely lost professional conduct for an entire minute. But I got on with the job, looking into what was wrong with the car and effecting enough of a repair job to get it and the idol of my heart to a place of safety. I do remember babbling the words, "big fan" and hearing her say something like, "I guessed."
I do remember repeatedly telling myself to keep it cool before I finally had to tow Ms Amazing's car to a place of safety. Way out of my assigned patrol zone, but so very, very worth it. And my contacts list included this technomage who had sleep issues anyway. It went a little something like:
Me: Three guesses who I just towed to Marty's Mechanicals.
Them: Since it's fuckoff in the morning and you sound like you mixed coffee, a Monster, and freakin' speed... one of your weirdo singer-actor idols.
Me: She is not weird. She just plays roles that stand out from the crowd.
Them: Okay, that's narrowed it down to Miranda Scheherezade.
Me: You know damn well you can't meme at me and get a bite. Get your ass over here. She needs her car fixed before all the groupies find out.
Them: You're lucky I still have my pants on.
Master Mechanic can fly, but ze's scared of heights, and tends to skim along the streets at "it can't hurt to fall from here" height and speed. So when they're in a hurry, they take their scooter.
I was... bouncing a bit when ze turned up.
"Oh God," they groaned, "You're not going to shut up about this for months."
I introduced my bestie. "This is Master Mechanic, they're agender. If you can't conjugate ze/hir, then the singular 'they' is fine. I... kind'a make them watch all your stuff. And rave at them."
"A lot," said Mechanic. "A real lot." For them, it wasn't hard to find the flaw and fix it. Mz Schaquiraquai must have had a stalker fan with rescue fantasies or something, because that car was sabotaged. I suggested she find a more mundane name to rent cars under, and gave her a free tracker-finder so she at least had proper anonymity. And my Patreon URL so she could fund my groceries and bills if she wanted. Not mandatory.
And then I nearly blew it by saying, "Can I have a selfie? With you?"
Long story short, we exchanged selfie opportunities, and Mechanic got dragged into it because it made a fantastic Twitter Tale for publicity. Her agent would get into contact with me at a later date for shop-related questions because if Mz Schaquiraquai actually called me I would just DIE.
That selfie's on my Hidden Hero Pride Wall. My alter-ego keeps a copy from the news sites as part of her collection of Miranda Schaquiraquai fandom crap. It gives me a reason to go on. Even when I'm up against the villain-of-the-week obsessed with ruining the world.
And no, by the way. I did not shut up about it for a month.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / lineartestpilot]
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