Phyxis
Perhaps tapping police scanners for fun wasn't the best idea. Maybe she shouldn't have been tempted by the idea of being able to pickpocket her way through a food festival crowd. But hey, what else was a girl to do?
It was the dead of summer, with most of the city's residents away on vacation or at Hampton beaches. The idea of spending another afternoon sweating to death in her tiny one bedroom apartment while a hundred different opportunities passed her by was too much to handle.
Phyxis closed her eyes, concentrated, and let the power flow from her fingertips and onto the wall. The surface became distorted, chipped white paint rippling and inverting on itself to become a small portal. When she looked again, her mouth turned up in a smile to see a rippling, shimmering circle, beckoning her forward.
She dove in, damn the consequences.
Atoman
Low level villains weren't the only ones who could set traps. Atoman knew that in twenty minutes, she'd be on the other side of the city. He could see her on the tracker he made himself, a red dot flickering on the screen.
"Please explain why we're here again."
Dealer and Killstreak were sitting against the brick wall on the Lower East Side, hot and bored. The temperature was a thick and humid 93 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to be intolerable for most New Yorkers.
"Where would I be without my fellow teammates?" He replied, trying to sound as inspiring as one of the Elite Superheroes.
Dealer rolled his eyes, running a hand through his freshly dyed red crew cut.
"There are a million easier ways to ask a girl out, you know."
Atoman ignored Killstreak's muffled laughter to see that Phyxis was about to pass through the building just two blocks up.
"Not as fun though."
Phyxis
The teleportation portals were dazzling streaks of color that bled and ran together, reflecting the lights and sights and sounds of the city into one vivid blur. She imagined it would be the same as traveling through a wormhole, if any of the science fiction books on her shelves were at least somewhat accurate. Yet her favorite part wasn't that, but the pause between jumping, like taking a breath before diving back into deep water.
Between portals she could see groups of people milling about, the rent-a-cops standing near the traffic barriers as smoke traveled in thick clouds from food vendors. The perfect setting for dipping into open purses or plucking watches from wrists.
Phyxis just hadn't calculated that the Asskissers--sorry, Acolytes, would be right there, waiting. She saw him, that bastard, grinning a smug smile on his face as his lips moved:
Surprise.
She banked a sharp left and gave chase; if he thought this would be an easy time, Mister Atoman had another thing coming.
Atoman
He ran, and fast. Maybe not lightning fast, but enough to make a wide arc around Avenue D, keeping pace with the bright flashes of Phyxis' portals.
Atoman dipped between a bodega and a dive bar, catching her scaling a fire escape like a lizard. He jumped up, brushing the sole of her shoe as Phyxis turned her head to him, the look on her face a mix of surprise and frustration and fear.
"Fuck off." She said, giving him the finger in her fishnet gloves.
"Lovely to see you too." He answered, following inside the portal before it shrank closed, weaving past aisles of snack food and cold beverages.
Atoman smiled again when she leapt from one wall portal to the other, letting her take the lead again. He jumped the stairs, then went left. Phyxis nearly collided with him before running down a hallway to an emergency exit, using a burst of energy to tear open the door rather than make a portal.
Over by Seward Park was the gravity field that Atoman had taken careful time setting up himself. If his hypothesis was correct, Phyxis would be heading there now, hoping to lose him in the crush of festival goers.
It was right where he wanted her.
Phyxis
Shit, shit, shit. She hadn't counted on him being so fast (since when had the prick developed super speed anyway?) or the midday heat zapping her strength enough to go on foot rather than risk making more portals.
Phyxis headed for Seward Park, weaving through the crowd in a flurry of pushes and shoves and half-hearted apologies. A dozen cars honked at her as she ran a greenlight, looking over her shoulder to see if Atoman was following.
He wasn't.
Phyxis turned, pausing to catch her breath and understand what he was playing at.
"Strange." She mused aloud.
"Actually," a voice said in her ear. "It's all part of the plan."
Atoman pushed her against an invisible but solid barrier, the contact like static electricity against her skin. When Phyxis tried to move, her arm remained pinned to the surface, useless.
"A gravity field?" she said, incredulous. "Really?!"
He shrugged as he turned her around, clapping a pair of cuffs on her wrists, then throwing Phyxis over his shoulder.
"All's fair in love and war, sweetheart."
Atoman
Back at headquarters (okay, the loft apartment in Little Italy that Killstreak's rich uncle paid for) Phyxis sat in a folding chair, arms and legs tied securely-- Atoman made sure of that. A pair of green eyes bore holes into his skull behind sharp eyeliner wings.
"Not too uncomfortable for you, dear?"
She twisted her hand to flip yet another bird in his direction and he laughed.
"Y'know, even a low level villain worth their salt wouldn't fall for a police scanner,"
He pulled up another chair and put it in front of her, sitting down casually like they were on a date. Out of habit, he flicked his wavy brown hair out of his face, a strand still curling across his brow.
"And I know you're not stupid enough to fall for it either."
Phyxis didn't look him in the eye, a flush of heat and shame on her cheeks.
"I was bored, and I wanted some excitement."
Atoman laughed. "You can get better thrills here than doing that, sweetheart."
She glared at him again. "At least I'm not playing dress up to impress real superheroes."
"No, you're just committing petty crimes and pretending you're the next real supervillain."
"Better than kissing Captain Titan's ass or tonguing his balls."
Atoman leaned forward, pinching her chin so she'd have to look at his deep onyx eyes.
"Your potential is wasted on trying to be with the Rebel Sixes. At least here you could learn how to put those powers to good use."
She jerked her head from his grip. "I already told you that I'm not interested."
Atoman stood up, putting his hands behind his back.
"And what would make you interested?"
Phyxis
He was giving her a curious look, as if genuinely interested in Phyxis' response. When she didn't answer, Atoman stood up and walked over to a small fridge, opening it and pulling out a bottle of water. In spite of herself she licked her lips, feeling her parched throat and kicking herself mentally for having not hydrated before going outdoors.
"One of the benefits of being an Acolyte is having access to the latest scientific research and technology on AB-Humans."
AB-Humans, or Abnormal Humans, was the polite term for people like them with powers, because "freaks" and "crimes against God" didn't have a politically correct ring to it.
Atoman twisted off the plastic bottle cap and offered her a drink; Phyxis hesitated, then took a quick sip, trying not to seem desperate. "Titan is running a whole program right now on Teleportation, and he always needs more participants for his trials."
A flicker of excitement passed over her face, replaced just as quickly with scorn.
"You want me to join your superhero club so I can be a lab rat in his experiments?"
Atoman shook his head. "I want you to join so you can learn how to truly use your powers."
"And what about the Minefield Controversy?"
At those words, Atoman paused, his jaw clenching. Phyxis smiled to herself at having finally goaded him.
"Whatever you read or saw, it wasn't all bad."
"Oh, you mean the reports? The ones Titan tried to keep from being declassified?"
"He only wanted to protect the identities of the victims, Phyxis."
"By lying about potentially life threatening tests and experiments? Gee, I can't imagine why he'd--"
Phyxis was cut off by Atoman tipping her chair back with his hand, holding it precariously as he leaned his face towards her, expression stern with anger.
"If I were you, I'd choose my next words very carefully."
She gulped, trying her best not to look down at the floor.
"Why am I really here, Atoman?"
He let go of the chair, letting it fall forward. Atoman went back to his chair, sitting down while his hand wound a lock of her hair around his finger. Her delicate nose wrinkled in frustration, and he chuckled.
Atoman
"If you want, I could untie you right now."
Phyxis looked at him, her gaze trying to decide whether this was real or another one of his tricks.
His hand went to her cuffed wrists, rubbing the soft skin there with the pad of his thumb.
"What's the catch?"
Atoman smiled. "You join us, harness your powers and put all your petty crime days behind you."
A bead of moisture traveled down from her collarbone to her breasts, dropping between her cleavage. She saw him staring at it and scowled.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?" He asked, feigning innocence.
"Look at me like I'm a piece of meat."
Atoman brushed the sweat from her brow.
"Your choice, sweetheart."
Phyxis bit her lip, looking out towards the window. There was a narrow wall there, just wide enough to pass through. If she concentrated hard enough, she could generate a portal there.
Anything to get away from this infuriating man and the even more vexing way he stared at her body, one that made her flushed cheeks even hotter.
"I need to pee." She lied.
Atoman cocked an eyebrow.
"You barely had any fluids."
Phyxis tried to twist her legs together in a way she hoped looked more like her holding her bladder and not like she had lost control of her limbs.
"Please."
Atoman sighed. "Fine, just give me a moment; no funny business though."
