《Paragons》Chapter 86 - Gear

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Gary perched on a stool behind the counter, hunched over his phone to watch the drama playing out there. New York had been attacked for the second time in his life. This time by superhumans who could use psychokinesis to throw entire buildings around. Other superhumans had appeared to defend the city. Or so the news anchors interpreted events. Gary had less faith in the strangers. Damn Angmari. They had to be. The real heroes were the same as the last time America had been attacked by foreign terrorists: the first responders risking their lives to save others.

Ambulances, police vehicles, and fire trucks swarmed the corpse of the Empire State Building on display in Battery Park. A steady stream of real heroes went inside the sideways building, emerging with victims strapped to gurneys or zipped up in black bags. The estimated death counts were all over the place. They ranged from five hundred to ten thousand dead. No one knew how many occupants had survived their wild ride. The terrorists in the street had killed about fifty people before they were put down by the woman wearing what had been identified as an Angmari uniform.

The door to the shop opened and closed. "Look around, let me know if you have any questions," Gary said without looking up from his phone. He vaguely noted the movement of the two figures from the periphery of his vision. Their conversation drifted to him, muffled by the earbuds he wore.

"Bugs in the face, Sam. I swallowed one. Disgusting."

"We just need motorcycle helmets."

"Oooh, a leather jacket and gloves would make this whole experience more pleasant."

"Superman doesn't wear a leather jacket."

"Unfortunately, we walked into a motorcycle store and not a cap store. So stylish biker gear it is."

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"Jess . . . money is a bit of an issue at the moment."

On his phone, the video stream changed to breaking news. Where the woman had left the floating bodies, the two men from the building catch had arrived, landed hard, and then walked off with the Angmari woman. Gary's lip turned up at the thought of the Angmari having superpowers. America was being invaded by brown people from the stars who could toss around entire buildings. At least one of the two guys involved in the building catch had been white.

The two women's movements in the apparel section caught his eye. They were stripping off their clothing while obscuring themselves behind a display rack and trying on branded clothing. Gary opened his mouth to halt their actions, then decided to let them continue. He shifted to one side to catch a better view. The shorter one had dirty blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a face that dimpled with her smiles. He couldn't see any more of her from that angle. The other woman, slightly taller, had thick wavy dark hair framing a long, thin face with an oversized nose. Gary's eyes caught enough skin to extrapolate a lanky frame.

He stood and made his way around the counter to confront the would-be thieves. "Excuse me, ladies. We don't have changing rooms for a reason. You can't try out apparel prior to purchase."

The taller one hastily finished pulling on her t-shirt and elbowed her friend. "You're up, Sam."

"So now you let me talk."

"Talking wasn't what I was hinting at."

Gary glanced down to see they had somehow already changed out their pants and a pair of overalls sat crumpled on the ground. "Ladies, you got to change back now. Otherwise I call the police. Your call."

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"Actually," the shorter one said, dimples lighting up her face, "we're going to do an exchange instead. We are taking these clothes, plus leather jackets and helmets."

Gary crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the two women. "And what would I get in this hypothetical situation that would be worth several hundred dollars of merchandise?"

"I can give you temporary superpowers. They last about . . . ten minutes?"

The taller woman nodded. "I had mine for about ten minutes. Try not to be very high in the air when you run out of juice."

"Oh! And you can have authentic Angmari uniforms!" The overalls on the ground lifted up into the air all on their own to float before Gary. He recognized them as very similar to the woman on the news. He forced his eyes away from the levitating clothes to look at the women.

"Are . . . are you two Angmari?"

The taller woman smiled. "We're actually from Cali. Like, totally Earth chicks."

Gary squinted at her. "California?"

"We're trying to get to New York in time to help save the day," the shorter woman said. "So we don't have time to chit-chat or mess with creepy old men."

"New York? Do you girls know what is happening there?"

"The woman killing terrorists is my mentor. I would like to catch up with her before she disappears."

Gary grunted. "So . . . can you really give me superpowers?"

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