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Mutants & Masterminds: Heroes United - [Fic] night out


darksol-aeternium

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It had been some four to five days after the infiltration; Keeper had taken this time between jobs to take Scout up on his offer for hand to hand training. He had a hell of a time trying to explain away some of the more obvious bruises and abrasions, especially once his sister started poking around in his business. This was the fifth call she’d made to “check on him” since the incident downtown with the lava monsters. He’d been back home once before for holiday and they’d all been worried about his health after the incident, he’d spent those days deflecting questions, saying that he’d gotten his minor injuries during the incident while escaping with the other people. Even now he was in the midst of evading another round of the same battery of questions from his sister Aisha.

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“Look, you saw the news, you saw what happened. I was almost in the middle of that shit, the few bruises and scrapes I got were nothing compared to some people. Since I got an income now, I figured I’d take some self-defense classes in case there’s another incident.”

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“Fine…fine…let’s move on then.” She was using that tone of faux resignation that indicated that she’d resume this line of questioning later. “So you have an income now, so now you can afford to take people out?”

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“Well yeah, but I gotta pay off my loans first. And you know I promised to help Mom with the mortgage…” These were the stock excuses, they wouldn’t last long, but by the time they ran out he’d have new ones.

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“Yeah, yeah…nice of you D. Really responsible and decent, breadwinner material. That’ll impress the new friend I have who wants to meet you. So what’re you doing this weekend?”

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Ah Crap! Once again she’d gone behind his back to try and pimp him out to one of her friends. And he’d been stupid enough to let her know that he had a greatly expanded income, so no more using that excuse. This weekend was a legitimate lull in missions since Slither and Scout had to recover from their cage matches, so there was no deferring this one. Sighing to himself he replied “Nothing, I have this weekend off.”

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“Perfect! Turns out she’s free this weekend too, you can take her to a club or something.”

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Keeper shuddered, a club was what started the whole superpowers thing. “How about I just take her to a movie instead. You remember the last time I went to a club?”

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“That was weeks ago, maybe months! The chances of that going down again are ridiculous!” she retorted.

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“In a world where cities can be invaded by giant lava monsters, I’d rather not take those odds.”

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Keeper could almost hear the wheels turning over the phone as she tried to find a legitimate counter-argument for that one. Eventually she replied, “Hmm, point. I’ll tell her you’ll take her to a movie instead.”

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Victory! “Fine, I’ll meet her at 8.”

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Liza was a nice girl, about a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. Not as assertive (or pushy) as some of Aisha’s other friends, but she could make small talk. This was to her advantage as Keeper was usually very shy (which was part of the reason why his sister kept pimping him out like she did). After their movie he opted to take her to grab food, they were currently walking back to the parking structure. This evening was different though in that he didn’t shrink into himself as much as he got distracted, constantly. Little things kept catching his eye and making him stop to focus on them. At one point he thought he saw things lurking in an alley. Things, not people, and almost went to investigate when Liza called his attention back by asking him;

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“Hey are you alright? You’ve been looking over your shoulder this whole time.” She sounded genuinely concerned, to Keeper’s relief. He wasn’t trying to ignore her and didn’t want her to feel neglected or anything.

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“No I’m alright; it’s just…well maybe it’s just a little too soon.” It struck him as he spoke; he was still keyed up from the earlier missions. It really was a problem trying to go back to a normal life after superhero work. He’d have to ask some of the others how they managed to do it, if they even did it at all.

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“Too soon? You mean from the attacks?” she said with the beginnings of a conciliatory tone.

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“I guess so, yeah. After going through all that I guess I’m a little on edge. I’m really sorry, I guess I seem really distracted.” He gave her a sheepish half-smile

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“It’s alright, I know I’d have lost my mind if it was me being chased down by those things.” She gave him a little hug for

encouragement. It worked in that he responded with a much warmer smile and seemed to focus more.

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When they reached the parking structure it was almost midnight. Traffic was slowing to almost nothing and the streets were clear in this part of downtown. All was quiet around the two as they ascended the stairs, the only sounds were of their footsteps and friendly conversation. Neither paid much attention to their surroundings till they were near the car. Keeper noticed first, just a split second before 2 muggers jumped out from behind a beat-up RV and almost surrounded them. He stopped short and pulled Liza back just quickly enough to keep the two assailants in front of them. Liza instantly grabbed him around the waist with the grip of the terrified, whining in fear the whole time. The larger of the two spoke first;

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“Keep that bitch shut up and hand over the cash, and you won’t get cut.” He brandished a 6’ switchblade to punctuate his threat. His partner had a pipe section, and looked to be ready to pounce should they try to run. Gatekeeper assessed them both and found himself unimpressed. Unimpressed enough in fact, that he couldn’t fully stifle an amused snort.

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“Da fuck you think is so funny motherfucker!?” The leader growled angrily, which had no effect on Gatekeeper but did cause Liza to hide her face in his coat behind him. A fact he picked up on immediately, and which caused him to smile a dangerous smile.

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“What? I’m supposed to look at that and not laugh?” he sneered in reply. "Size DOES matter." Even as he said it he slipped into a stance and started concentrating.

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“You punk motherfu-“ the leader was cut off by a quick punch, augmented by a small spatial burst at impact which sent him flying into the RV. He crumpled into a heap of mumbling unconsciousness, with his knife clattering to the ground.

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The other assailant was about to charge the couple when he saw what happened and stopped dead in his tracks. Gatekeeper turned to face him with a bored expression creeping on to his face. He carefully kept Liza’s head behind him though, in case he had to do something really outlandish.

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“I’d take my wounded and go.” He said simply, working to exude confidence and trying to do the quote justice.

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After an uncomfortable silence, the second attacker dropped the pipe and carried his partner off. Gatekeeper felt somewhat disappointed as he’d been preparing to send him careening into the bay without his clothes, but the more rational part of his mind told him he was better off since he had witnesses. Liza looked up from behind him after the two attackers were on their way down the stairs.

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“What happened!? They ran away after one punch?” she said with surprise and no small amount of awe.

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“Don’t be too impressed, that first guy just had a glass jaw and no balance. I got the other one with pure bluff. If he’d have come at me I’d have told you to run so at least you could have got away.” He’d never been one for boasting, and this was no time to start. Couldn’t have his sister thinking he’d turned into some kind of street fighter character, he’d never hear the end of it. “Lemme get you home before something else happens.”

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Yeah, like losing control and spacing someone right in front of my date…

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