Chapter 22: A Walk In The Park

This feels good, Amy said, and Eric knew that it was true. Flying through the air like this. Their wings, her wings, beating when needed, gliding when not. The city far below shone up at them. The wind… well, not quite blowing through their hair, the mask covered everything except the bottom of his face. Amaranth piped up. I could fix that? 

“How?”

I can change and warp your body into that of a girl, and give you a suit that covers all of it in a way that is both flexible and durable. ‘Making a little hole at the top for your hair’ is not a tall order! She giggled as she spoke and allowed the suit to pull away from the top of Redshift’s head. Immediately, Eric felt the cold air rush tousle his hair, and he smiled. Do you want it longer?

“Well…” Eric pondered as he slowed down his flight and landed on a skyscraper. “It would fit with the whole Guardian Angel thing. But… could you make it a bit more red-blonde? That way it also fits Redshift.”

Spent a lot of time thinking about your hair, huh? Amy chirped. Alright, give me juuuust a second. There was a strange tingling sensation on his scalp as his hair grew by several inches. There. That’s about as much mass as we can lose without having a good meal. You should have a look. 

“Alright!” Eric said, and jumped off the roof. 

He spun around and beat his wings a few times to catch himself falling, then clung to the glass of the building. He looked at the reflection. The mask was still like it had been, covering the upper half of his face, leaving his mouth and part of his cheeks exposed. The little smirk that played on the girl’s lips was unmistakably his and completely alien in the best way. The eyes were a flat gold, impossible to tell what they were looking at. But the star of the performance was the red hair, flowing out of the top of Redshift’s uniform like golden copper waves, rolling down to about his abdomen. It really did have that angelic quality. The mask retreated — You’re welcome! — and the girl’s face was fully revealed. Even without being covered the eyes had a soft golden glow to them. Alyssa was gorgeous. 

“This is amazing, Amy,” he said. 

Thank you! I think I like us having long hair. Eric looked at the reflection. Something about the superheroine in the reflection was making him giddy in a way that was hard to pin down. Speaking of pinning down, Amaranth said, I hear something unsavory. 

“What is it?” Eric asked, just as the symbiote turned up his ability to hear. There were sirens in the street below, and squealing tires. “Wait,” he said. “A car chase? I thought those only happened in action movies.”

Do you want to do something about it? Amaranth seemed excited to see if she could try. The two of them had been trying to push themselves to their limits as best they could. Speed, height, turning, maneuvering, they did a bit of everything every time they went out flying, just in case it was necessary. 

Mom had been supportive, even. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to really rein  her child in, and Eric got the sense that she was a little proud of the fact that he could fly, even if there had been more ‘cats out of trees’ than 'catching  those plummeting to certain death.’ She was also under the impression that their villain — who the media had started calling Arsonal — had only run into Penumbra, and Eric wasn’t exactly eager to disabuse her of that specific notion. 

“Let’s,” he said, and did a backflip off the wall. That was never going to get old. A minor side-effect of Amy’s presence was how easy things were now. At home he could relax, but every time he left the house he had to keep himself from accidentally lifting something he shouldn’t be able to, or effortlessly leaping several feet into the air. He felt light as a feather, but strong enough to punch through brick. It was exhilarating. 

He let the air whip past him as Redshift’s senses kicked into gear and the mask came back on. It was easier to sense things that way, filtering all input through both Amy and himself. The suspect vehicle was only a block away. To the left. Time to go to work. Exit Eric. Enter Redshift. 

They spread their wings and weaved between two buildings, shooting out the other side and immediately making a hard turn. One of the more unexpected side effects of flying, and especially of changing course fast, was the pressure. Eric vaguely remembered something about G-forces on pilots, though he couldn’t recall exact numbers. Still, one of the first times they’d done a full loop, Eric had almost passed out, so since then Amaranth reinforced his brain. Now they could do some really silly stuff. 

Below them, a car dodged between traffic. The afternoon rush was hours away, so it was having a pretty easy time weaving between other vehicles, and the chaos in their wake was making it difficult for the police cruisers to stay close. 

Redshift folded up their wings and dove towards them, then turning their fall into a glide to observe the passengers. It was kids, mostly. They’d probably taken it for a joyride but going by the dent in the hood, they might have hit something — or someone. What had been a fun twenty-something daring adventure with friends had turned sour pretty bad.

The driver seemed to be a little bit older, and he knew what he was doing behind the wheel. The others were panicking or looking despondent, but he simply glared at the road ahead of him, completely focused.

“Okay,” Eric muttered. “Stop the car first. Then the driver. The others will fold after.”

Do you think a simple display will stop them?

“Worth a shot.” Thankfully, the driver hadn’t seen them yet. Redshift beat their wings. Still gliding, it was easy to keep up with the car, but pulling out ahead was harder. Still, adrenaline was a fantastic motivator. Trying to gauge whether or not the car would turn, they hurried ahead to the next intersection. It was mostly empty, but it wouldn’t stay that way. They didn’t have a lot of time. 

They folded up their wings in another backwards somersault, letting them sink back into the suit, and crashed into the middle of the road, in a perfect three-point landing that only hurt a little bit. Then, immediately after, they spread their wings again. It was important that people could see them. 

Redshift raised their arms, to indicate to traffic that it shouldn’t resume, then turned to the oncoming car, wings akimbo. They made eye contact — or tried to — with the driver. His concentration was broken as soon as he saw the heroine stand in the middle of the intersection, and he turned the wheel hard while braking. Maybe he’d intended to make a turn and immediately drive off again, or maybe he just wanted to avoid hitting her. 

Whatever the intention had been, the result was a four-door sedan heading horizontally towards Redshift at high enough speed to pulverize the average teenager. Thankfully, Redshift was not one of those. 

“Amy,” Eric whispered. “Can we take this?”

We can! Amy said. But we’re not very heavy. Dig in your heels! 

Doing as they were told, Redshift held out their arms and took a step back, leaning forward. The car crashed into them much, much harder than they’d anticipated. With the sound of crunching and bending metal, like the world’s largest can of soda being crumpled, the car came to a sudden and immediate stop. The impact was immense, but Redshift’s  arms had beefed up just at the point of impact — You’re welcome again! — and while they were being shoved back, their arms failed to snap like twigs. 

The car hissed and the engine plinked away. The machine that had just been pushed to its limits slowly recovered, like an animal trying to catch its breath after escaping a predator. Or failing to escape, Eric thought with a smirk. The kids inside seemed to all be okay, if a little banged up. They were all looking around, which meant a complete lack of broken necks. One of the girls in the back was crying though. The driver looked around wildly, and seemed to be fiddling with his seatbelt. 

Redshift slid across the hood of the car, and yanked the driver door off its hinges. “I wouldn’t try running again,” they said. “I’m asking nicely.” The boy whimpered, then slumped in his chair with a look of defeat. Behind Redshift, two cop cars, sirens at full blast, wailed onto the scene, skidding to a halt. One of them stepped out of the vehicle. 

Eric actually recognized the man. He’d been one of the older members of his dad’s precinct even back then. He looked on the cusp of retiring now. Best to make sure he wasn’t feeling threatened. Giving a happy salute, he stood to attention. 

“Afternoon, officers!” He said, the feminine voice signaling ‘not menacing’ as best he could. “Saw you were in a bit of a bother, so I figured I’d lend a hand.”

“It’s you!” The man said, stepping closer, hand on his gun but not drawn. A good sign, Eric hoped. “That new superhero!”

“That’s right,” Redshift said. “I saw these kids and was worried they might be a threat to someone, so I just did my civic duty.” 

“I… you…”

“Listen,” they said. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have some friends to catch up with. These guys —“ They thumbed behind them, “— are done. They’re not a danger to anyone anymore, so I gotta go.” With another salute and a beat of their wings, Redshift took off, leaving the dumbfounded police officers staring up at them. 

Eric could barely contain his smile, so he just didn’t. He was a superhero! He had helped people, better than he ever thought he would have been able to. Gauging by the excited happy feeling in his head, Amy was more than a little satisfied too. 

It makes me happy to see you this happy, she said. This is what I was made to do, Eric. Making your life better.

“Well,” he said, “thank you. So much.” He flew between the buildings, waving at passersby, before ascending again. He hadn’t lied, he really was planning to meet with Serena and Tony. He wasn’t ready to tell them about Redshift yet, but he needed to tell them something. Anthony especially suspected something. 

They were planning to hang out at a local park, so he flew into an alleyway and landed, letting Amaranth put him back together as Eric instead of Alyssa. He jogged into the park, where his friends were already waiting for him, sitting on a blanket. They hadn’t gone on a picnic in a while, and they were going to make the best of summer break they could, damn it. If it was going to be sweltering, at least let it be sweltering outside. 

“Hey!” Tony said, lighting up as he saw Eric approaching. He waved, and Eric waved back. Serena made a half-hearted little motion with her hand, but she was enjoying the sun too much. “No issues with traffic?” 

“Nah,” Eric said. “One dipstick tried to cut me off, but it turned out alright.” Tony rolled his eyes while Amaranth chuckled on the inside. “Anyway, how are you two?”

“We’re good,” Anthony said. “Serena can’t stop talking about her superhero crush and it would be annoying if she wasn’t so endearing.”

“Eat me, Tony,” Serena said, but the smile and blush on her face complemented each other perfectly. “You’re just jealous.”

“Nah,” he said. “You can keep her.”

“Uh.” Eric was at a loss for words for a second, trying to find the right way to say what he was about to say. 

Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to, if you’re scared they won’t understand, your safety is the most important thing. Eric shook his head. He wanted to. He had to. 

“So, there’s something I wanted to talk to you guys about,” he said, and took a very deep breath, looking both his friends in the eye. “It’s about someone named Amy.”