Lodestone

" Light Of Day " by Martin Maenza


The I-85 rush hour traffic impeded their progress. Beverly Harper steered the midnight blue conversion van off of the Georgia highway that ran directly through the heart of Victoria. Given the urgency of the situation, which she monitored since they left home via the car's radio, she concluded that this would be as close to downtown as she could get. "Are you ready, honey?" she called into the back area.

A teenage girl's voice responded rather excitedly, "Oh yes, Mom! Just adjusting the belt."

She pulled the van around to the far right of the rest area, bypassing the route where cars typically traveled. The last thing they needed was to have some tourists see what was about to happen. Beverly drove the van past a number of parked eighteen wheelers. The drivers were typically busy checking their rigs, and the sizes of the vehicles would make for a perfect cover for Clare's departure. Beverly stopped the van and turned her head to the back seat.

She took a quick moment to take in the view. The sight in the back, Clare adjusting the red mask, made Beverly's own adrenaline pump just a bit faster. This was the first time she had seen her daughter dressed in the gray spandex costume with red trim that she herself had worn many years ago as Magnet. Beverly's smile beamed. "You had better get going! The police have kept the situation under control as much as they can, but the destruction hasn't slowed."

Clare grasped the door handle with her red gloved hand and opened the sliding door on the passenger side. "Wish me luck," she said.

"Good luck, honey. Be careful and remember everything I told you."

"I will, Mom."

As the door slide shut, Beverly wanted to hop out of the van to watch as her daughter lifted off into the sky but decided against it. Her gawking upward might attract undo attention to both Clare's departure and her point of origin.

Beverly turned the key in the ignition and prepared to pull out. That was when she noticed, about forty feet from the van, a large black Fruehauf tractor trailer. Along the side, scribed in electric blue script was the name Witchfire. What struck her odd, even more than the truck's name, was the large German Shepherd that was standing near the rig. The dog trained his eyes up at the sky in the direction Clare would have flown. Then he looked over at the van's driver; his gaze caught Beverly's own. The look was intense, as if the dog had comprehended everything it had just witnessed.

Beverly shook her head. Probably just her imagination, she thought. She put the van in drive and headed back home to the Ashebury suburb to the north.

The dog watched the van pull away. Then, he heard the familiar whistle of his master as she rounded the corner of the truck. "Shaman, c'mon," the pretty blonde woman in a black cowboy hat said. "We've got us a long way t'go before mornin'." The German Shepherd snapped to attention and bound back for the Witchfire cab. 1

***

Golden energy sparked around him, hiding his features beneath a golden aura and filling the air with a sickening electrical smell. The man laughed as the power continued to well up and explode from his fists. With the simplest gestures, cars, store fronts and other obstacles in the street were transformed into smoldering heaps of slag.

Not that anyone could stop him! These pitiful American policemen with their simple guns are no match for my incredible new powers. The golden field of energy that encircled him deflected each shot as simply as one would swat an annoying gnat. Each burst of energy that he directed back upon them, however, quickly destroyed the squad cars, the mailboxes and every other barrier they chose to conceal themselves behind.

There was little doubt in his mind that these new powers would change everything for him. No longer will I have to hire out my services and take all the risk for the gain of others; from now on I reap all the rewards! No more would I have to hide in the shadows; now I will boldly take whatever I desire the moment I desired it! To punctuate his thoughts, he hurled a ball of crackling energy at the jewelry store window across the street and sent shards of glass showering in all directions. He smiled at how easy that was.

Suddenly, pain shot through his upper back as something solid hit him firmly from behind. He spun around on his left heel and saw the hood of the Chrysler Le Baron that he had shot up a few minutes ago rattling on the street before him.

"Hey, Mr. Glowworm!" a young woman's voice called from above him. "It's not nice to destroy other people's property! It just might come back to haunt you." Focusing his gaze about ninety degrees upward, he caught sight of a blonde woman in a gray and red costume flying above him.

A smile returned to his face. At last, a challenge!

"You may address me as Lumiere!" he said in a thick French accent. "Remember the name well as it will be the last name you hear!" The lambent man raised his right fist and a burst of light seared through the air.

The young woman barely had enough time to zip to the left and out of its deadly path. "You need to be faster than that to tag Lodestone," she said as she flew around him.

"Mon petite, there is nothing faster than light!" Lumiere fired again at her and the shot was directly on target. This time, however, the blast crackled twelve inches from its mark and dissipated around her. She recoiled slightly but remained unharmed and still afloat. So, she had the ability to summon up her own form of shielding. I will need to be a bit more creative then.

Not possessing the ability to fly, Lumiere concluded that he would have to bring her down to his own level. Glancing from side to side, he quickly found the diversion to satisfy his needs. "Let's just see how quick you are, mon petite." He pointed both fists at the wooden police blockades which held back the gawking onlookers and released two blasts of deadly energy.

"No!" Lodestone screamed and zoomed down to intercept the blasts. Using her magnetic powers, she snatched an abandoned hot-dog cart from the sidewalk and towed it into the path of the deadly blasts. When they collided, the cart was transformed into a pile of slag and charred hot-dogs littered the street. The aroma of a barbeque gone out of control filled the air. At least the people were unharmed save for a random spotch of ketchup and mustard here and there.

Lumiere thought, "Now, I have you, mon petite!"

One of the crowd shouted to Lodestone just as another blast slammed into her from behind. The incredible force knocked her twenty feet through the air, and she landed firmly and without grace on the hood of one of the police cars. The two officers crouched behind it jumped back suddenly as her body thud against the metal.

For a moment, Lodestone lay still. Then, slowly, she lifted herself up to her elbows.

Lumiere simply held his ground down the street, like a crazed desperado in a spaghetti western waiting for the sheriff to step back into his line of sight. From all that he had read about American super-heroes, they simply never knew when to give up. That was fine for him. He secretly hoped this young woman, this Lodestone, wouldn't quit so easily. He relished the idea of mopping up the streets of Victoria with her before terminating her career. That was the perfect way for him to establish his new reputation.

***

Ten blocks south on Spring Street, Kyle Harper stepped out the front door of the Convention Center with a rather pleased look on his face. The inspection had gone without a hitch; the Center would be ready for its grand opening next week. Being the head architect on the project, Kyle felt like a proud father standing outside the nursery in a hospital. If he had any cigars on him, he probably would have been handing them out.

Suddenly, three police cars sped past, blue lights flashing and sirens blaring. Kyle wondered what all the excitement was just as two young boys on skateboards whizzed past him on each side of the sidewalk. Startled, he shifted to his left and stepped directly in the path of the third. Both tumbled to the ground. A boy with baggy pants and a wrinkled plaid shirt landed on top of him.

"Watch it, pops!" the ruffled-hair youth said as he scrambled to his feet.

"Sorry," Kyle answered as he sat up. He knew the kid was equally to blame but doubted he would get an apology. He was more interested in the information that he could extract from him. "What's the rush anyway?" He picked up the boy's psychedilic-shark decaled board and held it out to him.

When the young man tried to pull it away, Kyle held it firmly, as if waiting for something. "Let go, man. I'm going to miss it." Kyle cocked an eyebrow at him, his grip still firm. He wasn't relinquishing the skateboard without an answer to his question and the kid eventually realized that. "Ain't you heard? Some guy made of energy or something is blasting up the shopping district and now this costumed blonde babe showed up to stop him!" Kyle released the board suddenly.

The kid staggered back and realized he could make his departure. He tossed his board to the ground, leapt upon it and took off down the street.

Oh no, Clare! You didn't!, Kyle thought. He spied his portfolio by the Center's steps where it had fallen earlier, popped it open and pulled out his cellular phone. A quick speed-dial later with no answer from home confirmed his suspicion. It had to be Clare fighting whoever this menace was! Deciding that foot travel might be more prudent, Kyle Harper hurried uptown.

***

One of the police officers upon whose squad car she landed helped her to her feet. "Are you all right, miss?" he asked. "What can we do to help?"

She massaged her right temple and the ringing in her ears subsided slightly. Lodestone was quickly realizing the negative side of being a hero, getting one's butt kicked by power happy yahoos. This was definitely not an aspect that her parents often talked about and she could see why. "I'm okay," she answered.

Still, Lodestone knew that she was best equipped to handling this super-villain. She just needed to find a way to take him out quickly.

Then she thought of something. "Say, officer, have you guys got any of that knock out gas?" She recalled that had taken the fight out of the terrorist Assault a few weeks back so maybe it could help make her job easy again. 2

Like a soap bubble blown to large too fast, her inspiration burst when the officer said "Sorry, miss. We tried that earlier with no effect. That energy field around him seemed to protect him from it just as it did our bullets. Either that or he doesn't seem to breath."

Lodestone looked down the street where Lumiere waited for her. The arrogant creep was simply shooting blasts at other objects and basking in the fearful reactions of crowd. Obviously he was just waiting for her to recover so he could go another round with her.

Very well then, she thought. If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he's going to get. But this time, it's going to be on my terms!

After taking a few moments to fully assess the environment around her, Lodestone brushed herself off and marched down the street confidently.

When Lumiere spied her approach, he laughed heartily. "Well, the little one didn't run scared. How typical." His hands began to glow again. "Well, I promise to make your death swift but not painless."

He raised his hand to fire and was blind sided from the left by a trash can. And then another car hood hit him low and to the right. And then a street sign ricocheted off of his skull. Anything metal that Lodestone could find to hurl at him she did.

"You foolish American child!" Lumiere spat. "These things will not prevent me from killing you."

Her gaze remained firm, focused. It was time for phase two of her plan as suddenly each of the items she had hurled at Lumiere seemed to join together. The pieces of metal wrapped around him from all sides, pinning his arms to his side and his legs together. The villain remained standing but immobile.

Lodestone was now able to breathe a little easier. It had taken a lot of effort on her part to pull the stunt off but it had been worth it. Lumiere was cursing in French as he squirmed inside his metal strait jacket. "What can I say, Frenchie. You're just too attractive for your own good," she joked.

Suddenly, she got a very uneasy feeling.

Lumiere screamed out, "Aaaraaaah!" From his uncovered head she could see the glow around him increase in intensity. The bright light shown through the few gaps in the metal bonds just before the metal itself began to glow in a red hot intensity. A second later, the bonds burst outward, sending metal fragments flying.

Instinctively, Lodestone was able to put up a magnetic barrier to deflect the shrapnel that showered in her direction. So much for that plan of attack. It appeared that all she had managed to do was to tick him off more so. She was quickly running out of ideas to try.

The incredible glow around Lumiere began to diminish after the explosion but his anger had not. "No more games, Lodestone!" He thrust his fists forward to send a searing blast at her. She winced behind her barrier and prayed it could deflect the blast.

Both combatants were very surprised when only a slight burst was emitted from his hands. The French man's expression went from anger to disbelief. "What is going on?" he proclaimed.

The young heroine stood up confidently. "Guess someone forgot to pay his electric bill," she quipped.

Lumiere thrust his arms out again but no blast came forth. Even the glow around his body was starting to fade. He looked directly at Lodestone and then bolted in the other direction down the sidewalk.

Lodestone pursued Lumiere into the narrow alleyway, one eye watching where she stepped and another alert for any attacks. Believing the sign to be true, there wasn't any exit at the other end. She quickened her pace and then saw the man huddled against the back wall. No longer was he glowing; she could make out some of his European features though he was desperately trying to hide in the shadows.

She had him now. Lodestone put her hands on her hips in a confident stance. "Okay, Lumiere, are you ready to come along quietly?" She could see his eyes grow large, his confidence gone along with the fringe effect of his powers. Was he that afraid of her?

The man cried out in surprise. "Wait, what is going on?" Lodestone was confused too and hesitated. Before she could react, she could see the shadows of the alleyway seemed to open up, to envelop around him! As she took three steps closer to investigate, the man vanished into the shadows!

Cautiously, she approached the spot where the man had been standing. Nothing out of the ordinary was there now. He had simply vanished. Based upon his reaction to it, it was not of his own doing.

"Great," Lodestone said in disgust. "I wear the bad guy down only to allow him to escape. Some hero I am." She turned and headed back up the alleyway to face the long list of questions she did not have answers for.

***

A twelve year old, red-haired boy with thick glasses strained his neck to see past those crowded behind the Police blockade. When Lodestone finally emerged from the alleyway empty handed, the crowd around him started to murmur more among themselves but did not budge from their positions. He had no interest in their chattering; the young woman who had driven off the villain held his full attention.

This sucks, he thought. If only I had been at home instead of on this unnecessary errand. I could have zipped down here as M.E.C.H., vanquished that villain in no time at all and been right at her side, dazzling her with my intelligence and skill.

Suddenly, a hand with long, polished red nails grabbed him firmly on the shoulder and spun him around. "Edward Hackett, how dare you run off on me? You scared me half to death! Now, come along!" The woman with shoulder length red hair grabbed her son's right arm and dragged him back up the street, much to his annoyance and embarrassment.

***

The only light in the seedy hotel room came from the red glowing vacancy sign outside the window. Shadows draped most of the room. From the darkest corner of the room, two forms emerged, stepping out of the shadows themselves.

The smaller man struggled to support the other who was weakly muttering. "L-Lancelin, the power failed me..."

Lancelin lugged his exhausted cohort to the nearest bed and lay him down with a slight thud. Then, he lifted both of the vertical man's feet from the floor, swinging them up. Catching his own breath, he looked down as the other man groaned wearily "N-next time, next time she will die..."

"Sleep, my brother," he said softly in French. "Let the dark replenish your strength." Lancelin knew he did the right thing by disobeying orders and following Michel. He feared that the abilities they acquired from the explosion were more a curse than a blessing; Michel's rampage only confirmed those fears.

Lancelin moved confidently though the dark to his own bed and sat down. He would need time to figure out how to save them both from traveling down an irreversible path.

1 Breezy and Shaman appear in Sue Grau's Ravenscliff stories!- the Editor.
2 See "Under the Gun " in issue 1 for more details.- the Editor.