Ben Baker stood at the top of the parking garage leaning against the low wall, gulping down an energy drink. Beside him, his best friend Roger Adams was leaning over the edge looking down. Ben was impatiently tapping his foot and looking down at his watch. The air was cool, a slight breeze blowing through the dark night air. The city was quiet with sleep. It was three in the morning and no one and nothing seemed awake but them.
“So what’s she like?” Roger asked suddenly looking up at Ben. Ben turned to him, the corner of his mouth fighting back a smile as he thought about his first encounter with Eleanor Washington. He hadn’t known what to expect when he called her into his office. He knew her background and nothing more. Ellie was a whirlwind of smiles, fast talking, and awkward comments, but Ben couldn’t get his interview with her out of his head. He had never met anyone like Eleanor Washington.
“She talks a lot,” Ben replied, figuring it was the best way to sum her up. Roger frowned.
“Perfect. That’s what you need for someone who knows about your secret.”
“She won’t tell,” Ben said confidently. “She’s smart, probably the smartest person Bakersfield has in their employment. Did you know she invented the Wonder Key? Her name isn’t on any of the patents and you have to do a ton of research to find her name connected to it at all, but she did. She admitted it to me.”
“She should sue if someone took her idea,” Roger commented.
“I don’t think she cares,” Ben said, sounding amazed. “She’s brilliant but she specifically applied for the data entry job instead of a higher up one she’s more than qualified for. She doesn’t seem to care about getting recognition, which is exactly what we need if she’s joining our team.”
“True.”
“And she’s loyal.”
“You’ve met her once.” Roger rolled his eyes. “You really think you can judge loyalty from one meeting?” Ben looked back down at his watch, not registering the time, just wanting to look away from Roger.
“I trust her.” Ben replied. Roger looked over Ben with curiosity for a moment.
“I get it,” Roger said. “She’s pretty and you have a crush on her.” Ben turned to him quickly.
“Defensive,” Roger noted. “I’m totally right.” Ben let out a sigh, rolling his eyes. A car was heard making it’s way up to the top of the parking garage. Both men looked towards it as the headlights appeared over the ramp and began making its way towards them. As it neared, Ben looked over the beat-up vehicle with disdain. The car parked beside them and Ellie stepped out. Her hair was in two long braids under her ears, the top of her head covered in a light pink beanie. She wore a long black peacoat and pink gloves. Ben looked her over as she approached, unable to keep himself from smiling.
“Cold?” He asked walking towards her.
“Yes,” Ellie said with wide eyes. “I may have been born here but I’m pretty sure I was meant to live in a tropical climate. I get cold far too easily.”
“Yeah,” Ben pursed his lips. “I can spontaneously burst into flames so I don’t really have that problem.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed, watching him. Roger loudly cleared his throat.
“Well, Ben, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Roger asked stepping towards them. Ben turned to Roger looking frazzled.
“Yes,” Ben said. “Ellie, this is my best friend Roger.”
“Good to meet you.” Ellie turned to Roger and held out her gloved hand and Roger shook it. Ellie turned back to Ben. “You needed a fashion consultant to approve my design?” She grinned.
“Exactly, can’t sign off on a new suit without his approval.” Ben teased. Roger glanced between them, hiding his smirk. Ellie turned back to her car and moved to open the trunk.
“So, Mr. Baker, I was looking over your previous suit,” Ellie said as she began pulling out a box. “Who designed it? Because there were many flaws. It was one more spontaneous combustion away from completely disintegrating.”
“It's already happened...on three occasions actually,” Ben said. Ellie looked towards him with wide eyes.
“Lovely. Well this new fabric I designed is not only fireproof, but has a natural cooling feature that should prolong it’s life since it’s impossible to keep it from deteriorating at some point, but this way it will last and by then I’ll have something even better for you.” Ellie grinned. “I followed all your specifications but added in a few special features I thought might be useful.”
“Like what?” Roger asked curiously. Ellie glanced at him.
“You’re the Speedster aren’t you?” Ellie asked. Roger frowned and glanced at Ben. Ellie began rambling at a quick pace. “Sorry, he didn’t tell me or anything, I was only assuming since you’re here, you clearly know his secret, and you seem the same size as the hero I’ve seen on TV. It kind of explains your presence here as I’m guessing you’re not actually a fashion consultant and I just figured you might as well be the Knight Dragon’s partner.”
“Partner?” Roger asked raising an eyebrow towards her.
“Sidekick seems so insulting. I mean, you help him out with everything and are fully capable of doing it on your own. You’ve always seemed more like a partnership who choose to work together, rather than one of you being the leader, even if the news doesn’t agree with that and still chooses to categorize you as a sidekick.” Ellie said. Roger grinned and turned to Ben.
“I like her,” Roger said. Ben laughed.
“Yes, she’s quite charming,” Ben replied. “You can exchange numbers after this.”
“He’s joking,” Roger said shaking his head. “I have a fiance.”
“And I have a boyfriend,” Ellie said with a slight smile. Ben’s head whipped toward her, surprised by her announcement. “So we can exchange numbers if you want help with your suit as well, but I think we mutually agree to no dates.”
“Exactly. No dates.” Roger agreed, glancing towards Ben, gauging his expression.
“Right,” Ben breathed in deeply. “What did you add to the suit?”
“A communication system, a heart rate monitor, GPS, and just some other cosmetic details that go with your hero name. Dragon-ified it, to put it in the best terminology. Although I never fully comprehended the name before. Your suit was never like a knight or a dragon.”
“I always thought they just misspelled the word night, considering I only come out when it’s dark.” Ben shrugged.
“Either way, you can fulfill your childhood dream of dressing up like a dragon every night now.” Ellie grinned.
“What about the weapons?” Ben asked. Ellie lifted a finger, signaling for him to wait, and reached into the box, pulling out a thick utility belt with small pouches. She opened one and pulled out metal throwing stars.
“You asked for these,” She held one up. “The red tipped ones explode.”
“Any chance of them going off before I want them to?” Ben asked.
“I highly doubt it.” Ellie shook her head. “They will go off about ten seconds after they make contact into something. Basically, they won’t go off if you’re just lightly tossing, the tip has to have pressure on it for ten seconds before it’ll go off.”
“Is ten seconds too long?” Roger asked looking over the throwing stars.
“Depends on how fast he can get away,” Ellie replied. She looked down at the belt again. “I also included these.” Ellie pulled out white round disks. “When thrown, like those snap popper things during the Fourth of July, they release a powder that disperses through the air that acts like a fire extinguisher.”
“I don’t need a fire extinguisher,” Ben said. Ellie raised an eyebrow.
“You are aware that in the past year you’ve set over twenty buildings on fire just by being in there?” Ellie asked. “Your power may be great at stopping villains but it’s also a dangerous one. This way you can help keep the city from burning and keep your popularity up.” Ben rolled his eyes.
“She has a point,” Roger spoke up. Ben stifled a groan.
“Can I try on my new suit now?” Ben asked. Ellie nodded and handed over the box. Ben hid behind Ellie’s car as Roger and Ellie went over to the edge, looking down.
“I run too.” Ellie blurted. Roger glanced at her. “Not as fast as you. Not even close. But I’ve done a lot of running in my life. It’s very freeing.”
“I would agree with that.” Roger looked back over the ledge. “So what kind of things would you make for me?” Roger asked her. Ellie shrugged.
“Whatever you need.” She said. “Though I will work on hooking up his new communication system in your suit as well as that lair you guys use.” Roger nodded.
“A new suit entirely might be nice,” Roger said, mulling it over.
“Just let me know what you want and I’ll get it done.” Ellie smiled.
“So if you’re so good at all this type of stuff, why work as a data entry worker?” Roger asked. Ellie looked away, leaning her upper body over the ledge. “Ben told me you don’t even work in the technology department at Bakersfield.”
“It was my decision.” She replied. “And I don’t think I have to defend my decisions.”
“It just doesn’t make much sense,” Roger said with a shrug. “If you’re capable of being higher up in Bakersfield, why not go for it?”
“Maybe I don’t enjoy the limelight,” Ellie said. “Besides, this technology and engineering stuff, it’s more like a hobby anyways.”
“I was told it was your major.” Roger countered.
“Do most people not choose their favorite hobbies as their majors?” Ellie asked with a grin. Roger chuckled.
“How does it look?” Ben asked. Ellie and Roger both turned around to look at him. The black, almost skin-tight suit showed off his lean muscular body. Triangular spikes ran down his back and up over the hood that cloaked most of his face. Ellie breathed in deeply, a chill running through her. It was unreal standing before her favorite hero, even more incredible knowing it was Benjamin Baker.
“You look fantastic,” Ellie breathed. Ben chuckled. “Not that I’m conceited and just admiring my own work. It’s you that makes it look amazing. But not in a weird way, I’m not saying you’re… I don’t know what I’m saying. You should just test out your abilities now.” Ellie folded her arms across her chest, turning away as her cheeks flushed red. Ben looked over her, unable to keep from grinning.
“Right,” Ben replied. Ben stepped away from Ellie’s car and drew in a deep breath. His whole body ignited into flames. Ellie jumped, having never experienced the Knight Dragon’s power up close. Ben stood still for a moment before the flames disappeared into smoke. He glanced down at the suit, looking it over carefully. He looked up at Ellie.
“Nice.” He said. “Not restricting at all.” Without warning, flames burst out of the bottom of his feet, propelling him upward. Ben flew up into the night sky, allowing his whole body to ignite again to gain better control of his flight.
“You must be used to this now,” Ellie said. Roger glanced down at her. “Him just igniting like that. Because personally if I saw my friend just burst into flames I’d have more of a reaction.” Roger smiled. Ellie riffled through her shoulder bag and pulled out a headset, placing it gently over her hat. “Ben, can you hear me?” She said into the microphone.
“Very clearly,” he replied over her headphones. Ellie grinned.
“Perfect,” Ellie said. “There is a small button on your neck that can allow you to turn on and off your microphone, I can show you it up close when you land.”
“Good to know,” Ben replied. “So this boyfriend of yours, is he a new boyfriend, or have you been together awhile, what’s the situation there?” Ellie immediately blushed and glanced towards Roger.
“Umm, Arthur and I have been together since high school.” She stammered. Roger raised an eyebrow towards her but said nothing.
“So long-term situation,” Ben said stiffly. The blur of flames was heading back towards them. The flames disappeared and Ben fell in front of them landing in a crouch. He stood and looked between them. “It’s perfect,” Ben said with a nod.
“Good.” Ellie smiled. “Any cosmetic issues you want to be fixed?”
“Nothing I can think of now.” Ben shrugged. He glanced towards Roger. “What do you think?”
“I think I want an ‘Eleanor Original’ suit too,” Roger replied. Ellie blushed and bit her lower lip.
“Well just put in your order soon before all the heroes start wanting one.” Ben joked.
“Right, umm,” Ellie stammered. “I should get back home before my boyfriend notices I’m not there.”
“You live together?” Ben asked with a frown.
“Yes, that sometimes happens when you’ve basically been dating for eight years,” Ellie replied. “So I’m going to go. But I’ll work on setting up the communication system in your little control room thing soon and if you need anything else just let me know.”
“You haven’t told your boyfriend about all this have you?” Ben asked.
“Uh, no.” Ellie stammered. “He, um, he wouldn’t really know how to process it and I figured this is very top secret stuff. I mean, Benjamin Baker is a hero, that’s rather classified information I’m sure.” Ben winced.
“Yeah, I would keep that quiet.” He replied. “Thank you, Ellie, for everything you’ve done.”
“Well thank you for giving me the opportunity,” Ellie said moving into her car. She started it up, the old car making some peculiar noises, and then drove off, Ben staring after her.
“She’s pretty great,” Roger spoke up.
“Yeah,” Ben said letting out a sigh.
“And you totally have a crush on her.”
“Shut up, man.”
Next Story
Hello my friends! This past week has been crazy and I was so scared I wouldn't get this posted on time. Chris was my editor for this story and oh man, he stressed me out so much last night. He's probably one of the pickiest, most critical people I know and I'm already the most insecure person when it comes to my writing. I'm getting more okay with people reading my writing, but when people I know personally read my stuff it stresses me out. I love this series but it's turning me into a big ball of stress.
Let's aim for 100 reads on this story by next week! I'll make it simple, just CLICK HERE and you can automatically Tweet about the story!! (With an existing Twitter account.) I would love your help sharing this.
Because we are officially in the first rollout of the series I am excited to announce that bonus information and my writing process are going to start appearing on the blog as well. Any bonus Heroes & Villians posts will appear on Wednesday as a part of "Writing Wednesdays" which is basically a dumb day on my blog where I occasionally post writing prompts but fail miserably at it. But, yeah, check on Wednesdays for bonus Heroes & Villians stuff.
Oh! And the Twitter page, @SupersSaturday. I try to post something daily on there. And... tomorrow (Sunday) I will be Tweeting a lot about the series. So be sure to check that out at well.
Well, it's currently 1 AM, I'm volunteering all day... today? Saturday. All day Saturday. And I haven't gotten over six hours of sleep any night this week while working 40 hours this week. I'm beyond exhausted. Blame Chris for this rambling because he is taking so long to edit. Love him though.
Thanks for reading! Oh, and by the way, the unofficial song for today's story is "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" from How I Met Your Mother, but apparently it's not on Spotify so I couldn't add it to the playlist. But I love this song. It was my ringtone for a long time. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing.
SHOP ELLIE'S WARDROBE
This is great! I like the banter between the three of them. Eleanor's boyfriend is totally going to turn out to be a bad guy, I got a feeling.
ReplyDelete*Kaylee grins and presses her fingers together while leaning back in her chair*
DeleteKaylee! I love this! I hadn't read this one! I can do more editing for you too. I just forget about it, but maybe I could set up weekly reminders! This is great, and I love it! You're such a good writer!
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