THRILLING HEROICS
By Curtis C. Chen
"Sign here. And initial here. And here..."
Pamela watched as the other lawyer, McBride, flipped pages and pointed over his client's shoulder. The plaintiff, Charles Lucas, made a show of using both bandaged hands to hold the pen as he scrawled on the document.
Another flashbulb went off behind Pamela, and she heard a grumbling noise from the fourth person at the table: her client, Dyna-Gent. She leaned over to him.
"Just keep it together a little longer," she whispered.
"You didn't tell me there would be so many reporters," Dyna-Gent muttered, his eyes narrowed behind his mask.
"You should be happy. You're big news."
"I'm being sued."
"Hey, no such thing as bad publicity, remember?"
Dyna-Gent grimaced and folded his arms. Across the table, Lucas finished signing, and McBride slid the settlement papers across the table.
"All yours, Miss Kirk," he said with a smile that was clearly for the cameras.
"Thank you," Pamela said. "But before my client signs, he has a brief statement."
"An apology, I hope," McBride said.
The grumbling grew louder. Pamela grabbed the glass of water to her left, the one she'd poured earlier, and held it in front of Dyna-Gent's face. "Take a drink and count to ten," she said under her breath.
Dyna-Gent glared across the table as he took the water from Pamela. He tipped the glass back, taking a huge swig, then did a magnificent spit take, drenching Charles Lucas—and causing blue electrical arcs to appear all over his body.
"What did I just drink?" Dyna-Gent bellowed at Pamela.
"Salt water!" she said, pointing at Lucas. "Which happens to be an excellent electrical conductor!"
Dyna-Gent looked at Lucas and smiled. "Of course."
"This is outrageous!" McBride said, getting to his feet.
"I'll tell you what's outrageous," Pamela said, standing up. With her heels, she had a good inch and a half over McBride, and that would play on camera. "It's outrageous that your client is pursuing this fraudulent lawsuit against a respected community defender! The fact that Mr. Lucas is himself super-powered invalidates any claim of damages he has against Dyna-Gent."
"Not so," McBride said. "My client is suffering the after-effects of the explosion which triggered the incident in question. He was not super-powered before that unfortunate—"
"Oh, really?" Pamela pulled a file folder out of her briefcase and slapped it down on the table. "Then why did metro police detect a massive electrical surge in Mr. Lucas' basement, when public utilities recorded no matching drain on the city grid? Where did all that electricity come from, Mr. Lucas?"
"Don't answer that!" McBride snapped. Lucas' mouth hung open, and blue-white sparks jumped between his teeth. "The accident affected my client's genetic structure—"
"Give me a break. DNA doesn't work like that," Pamela said. "We'll see you in court."
She waved at Dyna-Gent, who stood and followed her out of the room.
"My hero," he said, patting her shoulder.
Pamela allowed herself a smile. "Just doing my job, citizen."
Image: Outlet by Adam M, April, 2010
