To: Jason; From Rachel; Subject: Re: Assistance Required;

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. If you want to meet up tomorrow I can see about setting up an appointment with a technology analyst that I know from police work. He can help narrow down the list of possible suspects. Thanks for entrusting me with this. Stay safe.

Best,

Rachel

The message was clear and I told her when I was available tomorrow. We decided on noon tomorrow based on both her availability and the availability of the technology analyst she was in contact with. I returned home with the box of parts with me. I did it for two reasons. First was that I knew breaking and entering the warehouse was a distinct possibility as soon as I had shut off or started modifying the box. By keeping it with me and at home especially I would have more layers of security. The second reason was that I simply did not want to bring my eyes away from it. Figuratively of course. It was my only lead and piece of evidence I had collected so far. If I was to discover more about this then I would need to start by following where this box took me.

The next day to kill time I began working on my first personal project. I was surprised that it had never come up for my past self, but I did seem to always have a busy schedule no matter what version of me it was. The only future project I had to work on was Rachel’s suit and John’s assignment that I had been dreading. I was hoping that this recent injury and bringing credible threats to light would buy me time on that front.

What I began working on I titled ‘Protective Heat and Blast Wear Modified Pants’, named after the hoodies of the same name. I brought in two extra pairs of pants from my closet and hoped I would only mess up once in this process. The pants were both loose-fitting soft jeans that were made of a slightly stretchy fabric.

I brought up the design documents for the hoodie and began reading through them. I had already checked it once the night before but now I was taking a more thorough look. The design for the pants wouldn’t be the exact same because of the material type that made up the hoodie versus the pants but that would only affect the first steps and last steps when I was tearing open the pants and putting them back together.

I put the pants on the table and laid them out before retrieving the materials I needed. The first steps I took to make the modifications were to begin tearing out the seams of the pants while getting the chemical mixer started. The exterior of the pants would need to be coated in several layers of a heat-resistant mixture before going through a drying and sealing process. By going through these steps, the jeans would become like the hoodie and could replace a traditional flame-retardant suit. I tossed the chemicals in the mixer as instructed and modified it to stick to the jeans as needed. Like I was following a baking recipe I mixed and heated the pan until it was golden brown.

With an old painter's brush and a low-lipped tray, I set the jeans in and coated the mixture everywhere. The jeans took it all in and soaked up the first pass until it had darkened and looked wet. Slowly the jean would dry over the next hour and when I saw that the coating had become invisible I could start again. I went through each of the pieces three times over three hours. The chemical mixture was sticky when applied which was why I had had to separate the different parts of the jeans beforehand.

The next steps were much harder and more likely for me to mess up. I had applied the protection against heat part to the jeans and now I was working on tearing and general wearing over time protection. This part had protected my chest from receiving any shrapnel in it. The supplies I needed for this step was an artificially synthesized spider webbing material that when woven correctly could stop smaller caliber bullets.

I read through the instructions on the spider webbing tool and began going through each piece of jean fabric and inserting the webbing. I followed the pattern guide from the hoodie instructions and went about mapping it out onto every piece. According to my previous self’s notes, the pattern I was creating in the jeans was the most optimal design for protection after several tests were done. Funnily enough, the pattern turned out to be a spider’s web of sorts. I would start with a tight spiral and move outwards around the center of the fabric and then add larger and larger circles along with diagonal lines afterward.

I was at the point of reassembling the jeans and had just gotten started when I saw Rachel. Through the cameras, I saw her land in front of the warehouse and walk towards the door. I hurriedly shut off the devices I had on and pushed stuff aside. I grabbed my stuff and the bag with the metal box stuff and ran over to greet her at the door.

“How are you doing?” I asked awkwardly. “Did you want to get going now or is the meeting with the tech guy right away?”

“I’m doing ok. Working on this can keep me distracted while I wait for my suit that you should be working on.”

“And working on it is what I’ve been doing along with other stuff. I should get it done probably Wednesday depending on how much this stuff sidetracks things,” I said holding up the bag.

“Let’s get going. I will fly us over to his place.”

The flight over to the meeting location was unique if I was to say very little. I had to put on my goggles like I had when running around with Nate. The breeze was much colder than when I ran with him. Rachel had her hands under my arms and carried me only a little uncomfortably above the city. From up above I could see all of the small cars driving around and its other movements as the largest city I had ever been in.

“Wow. This view is great,” I remarked as we turned to face the ocean for a few seconds.

“I guess it is pretty nice. It is even better during the sunrises and sunsets.”

“I would like to see that,” I said before looking down to check our approximate location. We were hovering over some office buildings near the main freeway running alongside the ocean. “Where are we going exactly? We have passed at least two police stations by now and I don’t know how many other buildings.”

“Because this is short notice, the weekend, and currently unofficial we need to stop by his apartment. He can get started today and get us both more detailed results once he is back in his office.”

“Oh okay.”

We flew for another minute when I saw another flying superhuman. I had thought them to be a bird first with their mostly white uniform but as we got closer I saw the streaks of color mixed in. I looked up to Rachel to see if she recognized them.

“Who is that coming towards us?” I asked showing my ignorance. They were coming towards us now.

Rachel’s face was one of anger.

“Not good. This next bit might be a bit rough. He is one of my annoyances that has tried to challenge me as Legacy. Of course, he would come to challenge me even though I am technically off duty until I get the new suit. I hope you haven’t eaten much today.”

Astro-Stomper, who I would later know the name of, shot out light blue lasers of energy towards me and Rachel. I felt weightless for a second and then a force downwards as Rachel dropped her height to avoid the attack and to move us closer to the buildings. Until I was out of her hands I would be a liability.

Mr. Astro flew closer and created a blue shield around himself as he fired another burst of energy. A second later I was dropping but this time Rachel was not holding on to me. I fell through the sky and was barely holding back a scream as I flailed my arms and legs wildly. Rachel had brought up her hand to block the blasts that came at her. Some of it missed while some hit her arms and burned her sleeves.

Rachel charged at Astro-Stomper in the air and threw some punches in the air pushing him back. This gave her some room to fly back and then drop down. She flew straight for the street below as Astro-Stomper gave chase. I was nearing thirty feet to the pavement below when I felt Rachel’s tug as I was slowed and then thrown forward. I wasn’t given much more attention as Rachel returned her focus to Astro-Stomper. I stumbled and rolled back up to my feet while trying to get clear of the fighting. Random people were running away and getting to cover while others braver than I took out phones and just stood there recording it all. I moved behind the cover of an outdoor restaurant table and chairs while I watched the ongoing fight.

With her hands free of me, Rachel put all her energy into fighting off Astro-Stomper. With one hand she brought out something from her bag and activated it. A small shield appeared and blocked the next round of attacks from Astro-Stomper’s abilities. Rachel rose higher in the air to meet him and to avoid possible damages and casualties. All she needed to do now was hold him off until other superheroes could come in and assist which was easier said than done.

Rachel moved in close while evading in the air to dodge the projectiles. She wouldn’t get anywhere if she stayed further away and let him freely attack her. The stray attacks hit the walls of the buildings causing some of the brick to fly off. She dodged to the right as another bolt flew as she threw a left hook at the same time. Astro-Stomper went spinning through the air for a moment before he righted himself.

“That was a good hit little girl,” he said wiping blood from his lips, “It was a shame you can’t wear yellow anymore. It was such a good color on you. I had hoped to see you in it for a bit longer. Alas, it cannot be. Just like I cannot let the injustices you have brought upon my brother continue. Once I’m done pummeling you until you can’t use your flight to hold yourself up I will have my brother brought out of prison.”

“Your brother got what he deserved, and you know it,” Rachel shouted back.

“It does not matter. Might makes right and I will use mine to crush you.”

Astro-Stomper rose in the air briefly before rushing at Rachel. He slammed into the shield she held up and pushed her back with all of his energy. They were angled to hit a building and Rachel was forced to spin the shield around to protect her back as they hit the rooftop of one of the buildings. Astro-Stomper followed up with punches to her gut after she hit the rooftop.

Rachel pushed him back long enough for her to roll out of the way of a kick to her prone body. Following his namesake, Astro-Stomper hit the ground with his foot causing a hole to form in the roof where Rachel’s head had once been. The stomp shook the building and Rachel as she moved to get away from him. She spun the shield around from her back to her front as she searched for a better way to approach the fight.

Her eyes darted around the rooftop and to the skyline beyond. She needed to buy more time and stall for help. Her eyes settled on a metal pipe from a smokestack that had become bent during their fight. She hurriedly grabbed one end with her free hand and stepped on the bent corner before breaking it free. It creaked and held for a moment before her strength took it out from the rest of the rooftop. As she lifted it free Astro-Stomper slammed into her.

She rolled while holding tight to her new weapon. It was only three feet long but was jagged from its abuse. There was the mark of her shoe on the far end of her weapon from when she broke it off.

Rachel swung it at Astro-Stomper while his energy attacks largely bounced off the shield. It flickered every time it was hit. She had never had to use it for this long, but she could tell from how it looked that it was approaching empty. Her arms grew tired from blocking and her heartrate and breathing increased.

Astro-Stomper took the hits from her makeshift club weapon in stride. His energy abilities became a shield around his skin and suit when needed. He stomped the ground again causing the roof to collapse in more places. He picked up pieces of the chimneys as he moved closer to her and threw them at her. The shield flickered some more. Even the small brick pieces caused the shield to destabilize. A few seconds later it shut down completely and Astro-Stomper took his shot. He rushed forward tried to grab Rachel’s head. She tried to dodge but he grabbed her hair instead. She was thrown down and she moved her hands to protect her face. With one hand she tried to claw his forearm. He lunged at her again for a follow-up with his free hand.

The situation changed when I saw a familiar costume that I had never seen in person. Quinn Reyes, also known as Harmony to most people, was flying through the air to the scene. Around her floated several blades that my previous self had made for her. As soon as she got close two of the blades went into Astro-Stomper’s feet. The blades sunk into the ground and his momentum carried him forward and down. Harmony’s powers allowed her to telekinetically manipulate objects and willing people if needed. This allowed her to create an effective style of combat with blades or other objects collected in battle in use to great effect.

He released his grip on Rachel’s hair. As Astro-Stomper unexpectedly fell forward Rachel sidestepped the fists originally meant for her and put some knuckles of her own into Astro-Stomper’s jaw. Before he could do anything else another two blades went into his hands as soon as they hit the roof. Another three dug into his gut. Astro-Stomper grunted coughed up blood as his white suit was stained with red. Harmony’s blades spun around her before settling into position as her feet landed on the rooftop.

“Stand down,” said Harmony in a firm tone. “You are only going to get hurt more if you let this continue.”

Astro-Stomper laughed. “Go fuck yourself witch. This fight is between the two of us. Not you.”

Harmony twisted the blades in Astro-Stomper’s feet. “I really don’t care if you have beef with her or anyone else, but you attacked her out of uniform and out of active duty currently. You have made a few too many bad mistakes today.”

“Don’t try and convince me. I have done what I wanted to and do not regret it. My brother will walk free of his prison, and I will do so as well eventually.”

Harmony brought some superhuman cuffs over to him and he did not resist as they went around his wrists. After they were on the energy around him dissipated and Harmony removed the blades in him.

“Thank you for coming to help,” said Rachel.

“It is not a problem,” said Harmony. “I’m glad you are only mildly hurt. You should still go get some treatment. I will take care of him and the reports.”

Quinn left Rachel and took Astro-Stomper with her. Quinn lifted him up and he resisted at first until she knocked him unconscious. The two of them floated away toward the nearest incident facility where Astro-Stomper could get dropped off for healing and then police processing.

Rachel returned to the ground after putting away her now dead shield and cleaning the blood off her hands and face. I had come out from my hiding place and so had the other people. She landed next to me.

“You ready to go?” she asked as if nothing had happened for the past few minutes.

“Are you not going to go home first or…?”

“We are only two blocks away and I will be fine. Randy will have some med-kits and I can clean up there while the two of you chat. I wouldn’t want to hold you up any longer.”

“As long as you feel good to fly. Let’s get out of here. It is much too crowded here and I am sure this incident will be reported to your family in the next few minutes if it hasn’t already reached their ears.”

Rachel spun me around to lift me up and we began ascending into the air.

“I will deal with them and try to keep you out of it. I should have been more cautious of him trying to find me especially when I have been flying around more recently. I put his brother in jail last month and he has been growing more aggressive towards me, but not as great as this. Usually, it has been more of a spar. I get called to the scene and find the two of them. I beat them up a little but neither side goes for killing blows. Neither side wants to cause more collateral damage unless it’s necessary. They ramp up the power when they need to make their escape. Sometimes they are followed and attacked by others. Sometimes they escape.”

“It seems to me like something snapped when his brother was caught,” I said, “I wonder why else he would go against the established norms of previous fights. I’m glad Harmony came to assist. It could have gotten a lot worse otherwise.”

“Yeah. This is the place. Let’s go inside.