[x] Interlude: Red Like Roses

Victoria Dallon, also known as the hero Summer Rose flicked through her note book. The assignment wasn't too difficult but the professor was a stickler for clearly marked references. Beside her, her sister Amy was complaining about some of the cities vigilante capes.

"I mean, does she even know just how much damage those arrows can cause? He nearly lost his life, never mind his arm."

"Uh-huh" She underlined a comment she had missed

"Vicky, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," Amy gave her a look and vicky rolled her eyes, "Shadow Stalker nailed another guy to a wall and the hospital had you up at the crack of dawn to save his life."

Satisfied her sister was listen, Amy huffed, "When is the PRT going to do something about her? This is third time and I could swear she's getting worse."

"It happens. Professor Wallis called the indie-cape life cycle. It goes something like; they get powers and start playing hero. As time goes on, they get more aggressive and violent until they either end up dead, forced into a gang or the PRT."

"Huh, makes sense I suppose."

"Yeah, not everyone can be as awesome as us after all. Oh, I'm going on a quick patrol after school, want to come Ames?"

Her sister winced, "Sorry, I've made plans to meet up with Lori."

"Ooh really~? Maybe I should tag along and keep an eye on you."

"Vicky… Please…"

"No, no. I think it's great, really," watching the pair of them dance shyly around each other was just adorable, "I just wish I'd found out sooner, I wouldn't have kept setting you up with all those boys."

Finding out her sisters preference had been a bit of a shock but she'd gotten over it. Now it was her duty to tease her sister at every opportunity. Although, she kinda wished she'd found out in a different way. No one wants to see their sister doing that.

"It's not like that. I don't even think Lori is into girls…"

"That'd be why her eyes are glued to your ass whenever you turn around?" Vicky quipped, "Maybe you should ask if she wants to play nurse?"

"Oh like you're one to talk! Have you seen the latest PHO rumors? Someone caught your last fight with Rune on camera." Amy shot back.

Vicky grimaced and put her face in her hands, "What are those freaks saying now? I swear, as soon as I find the idiot who started that rumor I'm going to kill Clockblocker!"

"Why would you kill Clockblocker?"

"Because we both know it was probably him who started it."

"That picture didn't help."

"It was a headbutt! I couldn't get my hands free!"

Amy was openly laughing while Vicky's protests got more heated, "Oh come on! you know it was, you patched her up after all!"

##

Vicky was still irritated at her sister when she ducked into the school changing room and slipped her costume on.

One badly, or well, depending on your point of view, timed photo made it onto PHO and now she couldn't get near the little racist without someone making a comment. Still, she took some solace from the fact that the jokes and rumors had to be pissing the Nazi off more than her.

Putting her bag down she started to get dress.

A black body sock went on first, and over that she wore a white and gold top that also doubled as a short skirt. A pair of combat boots and a short, black leather jacket with gold trim finished everything off.

Her Mom had been against the design at first, she felt Vicky should have gone with something more traditional but Victoria had been adamant. Yes, she was a member of New Wave but she was still her own person and she spent more time running solo than working with her family and her costume should represent that.

The last thing she pulled from her bag was her weapon, the force staff.

at the moment, it looked like a short metal pipe with a large ornamental weight on both ends. the whole thing was tinker-tech and it could extend into a pole-arm. The weighted ends were what gave it the name. Each one contained a Kinetic regulator, so it could still break brute's bones without splattering softer targets.

Clipping the weapon to her belt she made her way up to the roof.

The force lance came from toybox and had been and bit of a necessity caused by her powers. She was a brute, increased strength and durability combined. The problem came in with her mover power. She could run really fast over short distances, combine that with super strength and things could get… messy. (Nobody needed that wall anyway.)

Standing at one end of the school roof, she sprinted forwards, building up as much momentum as she could and lept. It wasn't really flight but she could cover most of the city in minutes this way.

##

Hitting the ground, she rolled to a stop and ignored the 'petals' that always accompanied her mover power. They weren't really petals, they had no substance and faded before they hit the ground.

It had taken a few jumps and a couple of well timed ricochets but she was close to Empire territory. Some new indie had put Stormtiger down last week and she was hoping to run into them.

Despite her reputation, she could be discrete when she wanted to be. Running across the rooftops the few Empire thugs she did spot never knew she was there.

Just as she was getting bored, she paused on a rooftop and considered picking a fight with the next banger she saw when she heard the sounds of a fight. Smirking to herself, she quickly made her way towards the commotion.

##

On a roof overlooking an empty lot between some run down buildings, she watched as a girl ran rings around a group of Empire thugs.

She was wearing black pants and a loose white shirt. Her forearms were wrapped in black cloth and despite her boots having more heel than Vicky thought sensible they didn't appear to be slowing her down. Her dark hair was flying loose, held in place by a large bow.

Extending her staff, she jumped from the roof. The weighted tip glowed as it drew in energy from the movement. Landing hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust, she charged forwards.

She caught the first thug in the stomach, folding him over and sending him sprawling. The other girl glanced back at her, recognising Vicky as a hero she turned her attention back to the Empire.

Fighting held a thrill that most people couldn't understand. When your blood was pumping and the world went white it was… well, it was intense. Some capes lost themselves to it, looking for bigger and better fights until someone or something put them down.

While Vicky was a self admitted thrill seeker, she knew enough to keep herself safe. Crossing the lot in a shower of petals, she put another ganger down. Watching the other cape, she was experienced enough to spot someone who'd had training.

Her movements were fast and confident and Vicky suspected she was either a precog or had some form of enhanced senses as none of the gangers could land a solid hit. Before Vicky could shout a warning, one of the thugs managed to get a lucky shot in with a metal bat. It hit the other girl's head with a resounding clang.

The bat passed through her head, carrying with it a copy of the girl that fell to the ground while the other spun and lashed out with a well placed kick. As he fell, the copy vanished.

Spotting movement in the corner of her eye, Vicky quickly brought her staff round on the idiot trying to sneak up on her. There was a crack of breaking bones and he went down clutching his arm.

Getting the hint, the remaining gangers finally lost their nerve and ran.

Letting them go, Vicky walked over to the other girl, "Well, that was fun. I'm Vicky, and you are?"

The other girl was shorter than her Vicky noticed, even with the heels. She was also wearing a large domino mask that covered quite a bit of her face.

"Belladonna. It's nice to meet you?" The girl sounded a bit confused, most were when Victoria happily introduced herself by her real name.

Vicky snorted in amusement, "Great, Summer Rose, Belladonna. Think we can find a couple more for a full bouquet?"

Belladonna still looked confused, but her mouth twitched upward slightly. She opened her mouth like she was about to say something when her phone rang and she cursed quietly to herself.

"I'm sorry, I've got to..." she indicated her phone and Vicky nodded.

"Sure, don't worry about it. I'll call this lot in. Oh! Next time you wanna beat up some nazis give me a shout, I use the same name on PHO."

Nodding, Belladonna took off towards the nearest building. She jumped off the wall to grab the fire escape and flipped herself upwards. It took three jumps to clear the building but the agility she displayed had to be from her power.

Vicky doubted Belladonna was the one to bring Storm Tiger down. From what Dean had said, he'd been beaten down with brute force. Bella seemed to favour evasion and counter attacks.

Still, a dozen Empire thugs were off the streets and a possible plus one friend. Today was definitely a win.