EIGHT

Katie was on her way back home on her scooter. Nurse Katie was such a nice woman, taking care of some sick days for her to get over the death of Hank’s dad. She figured the event should have been quite traumatic to her. Honestly though, the fact that she’d gotten the power of invulnerability during the event kept her mind too busy for any trauma. She was just filled with a sense of curiosity and wonder like she’d never felt before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two police cars speeding by, sirens flashing. She wondered what was going on. Maybe it was something she could assist with? Helping the firemen save a kid that morning had felt so good… She followed the police cars.

She saw them park next to some other police cars. The cops were standing next to a barricade of patrol cars, all with their guns drawn. They were parked at the Moulton City Bank. Katie parked the scooter at the street corner, slipping into a deserted alley. There she got her costume from her backpack and slipped it on.

She walked over to the cops. One of them, a freckled, young one, spotted her.

“Get back! It’s dangerous here!”

“I laugh at danger. Or at least giggle,” Invulnergirl said, giving the cops her best superheroic pose, confidently crossing her arms.

“You some kind of new superheroine?” the cop asked.

“Name’s Invulnergirl. I’m indestructible.”

“Well, we could use a superhero right now, I guess,” the cop said. Then he hollered, “Sarge!”

A muscular black cop walked over to the freckled cop. His head was shaven, his chin was covered with a goatee and he was wearing glasses. He was as imposing as a superhero. “What’s up, Junior?”

The freckled cop pointed at Invulnergirl. “We’ve got a superheroine on the scene.”

The sergeant scowled at Invulnergirl. “Who are you supposed to be? Never seen you before.”

“I’m new, I’m the indestructible Invulnergirl.” She did her best to still look heroic even though she felt a bit intimidated by the big cop.

“I’m sergeant Vic Epps. I don’t like working with you super-types much. Usually all you do is create a lot of damage and draw in a lot of supervillains and monsters out for revenge. But I guess you might be able to help here if you’re really indestructible.”

“Tell me more,” Invulnergirl said.

“According to the security cameras at the bank there are three armed robbers in there, holding the people in there hostage. We’ve been trying to negotiate with them. They demand a helicopter to arrive within half an hour or they start shooting people. We won’t be able to make that deadline though.”

Invulnergirl nodded. She knew the bullets from the robbers would be unable to hurt her. But how would she prevent them from hurting the hostages? And would she be able to defeat the robbers? It’s not like she was a trained fighter. She might have held her own against the Red Raider’s henchmen before, but that was probably part due to the adrenaline and anger rushing through her veins. She couldn’t really just walk off now, could she?

“I’ll go in there,” she told Sgt. Epps.”

“But how will you get in there before they shoot the hostages?” Epps wondered.

Invulnergirl glanced at one of the patrol cars. “Full speed ahead.”