Episode 02

Earth

Chapter Four

When Shayera awoke the sky outside was starting to grow light. She fought the urge to remain laid comfortably in bed and threw back the covers and climbed out. After a stretch, which including her wings, she put on her helmet, her armour and stepped out of the room.

She had slept in her dark green sleeveless bodysuit, as she had done since arriving here. One of the good things about it was that it didn't pick up or retain any smells, which meant it didn't need to be washed. Any odours that did manage to get on it could be easily washed off with some water.

She headed into the bathroom and grabbed a shower. Once that was out of the way, including the cumbersome task of drying her wings, she headed downstairs where she found Lolita sat eating breakfast, which was in a bowl.

"What is that you're eating?" Shayera questioned.

"Cornflakes," Lolita told her as she looked up from her bowl. "If you want some, they're in the cupboard," she said pointing.

Shayera made her way over and pulled the cupboard open, finding a few near identical boxes inside. The only differences were the colour schemes and the names.

She picked out the box that had cornflakes printed on the front and took it to the table, before retrieving a bowl. She opened the box and looked inside.

"You pour them in the bowl," Lolita instructed.

Shayera tipped the box. A mass of flakes slid out of the box into the bowl causing it to overflow onto the table. Shayera quickly turned the box back upright as she cursed in her native tongue under her breath.

A chuckle from Lolita only made her even angrier. She closed the box back up and put it back in the cupboard, resisting the urge to slam the door shut as she closed it.

"You'll want some milk," the young human girl told her.

"And where's that?" Shayera demanded with a glare.

Lolita lowered her head and her voice became timid. "In the refrigerator," she said quietly.

The Thanagarian stepped up to the refrigerator and pulled it open, retrieving the milk bottle from the door. She moved over to her bowl and eager not to repeat the near mishap from earlier, she tipped it just enough for the white liquid to come out.

Shayera, of course, was familiar with animal milk. On Thanagar and their colonies, they too had grazing animals that were bred to produce the stuff in huge quantities.

With a spoon in hand, she took a scoop of the cereal and had a taste. It wasn't too bad. She took another scoop, then another. The cereal was uncomplicated and rather easy to eat. Before long, it was all completely gone.

"I have to get off to school," Lolita said quietly as she stood up. "I'll see you tonight, I guess."

Shayera didn't respond as the girl threw a backpack over her shoulder and left the house, locking the front door behind her. She had meant to get up before dawn, but now it was after. This meant she couldn't exactly just leave because there was a good chance she would be seen and she doubted there were many people here on this world with two giant wings on their back that could fly.

Then again, maybe there was a way.

Her eyes fell on a large raincoat that was on a hook by the door. It was a crazy idea, but maybe it could work.

She took the coat off of the hook and folded her wings tightly against her back before putting it on. It was a tight fit, but she managed to pull up the zipper and fasten the poppers.

She stepped up to the mirror that lay at the bottom of the stairs and turned sideways. She almost laughed at how stupid she looked. There was a large bulge in the back of the coat where her wings were.

It would have to do for now. If anyone asked, she would just say that she had a backpack on underneath. That would work, she hoped.

This gave her a new opportunity to view the humans at their own level, trapped on the ground in a two-dimensional world.

One thing she would have to ditch was the helmet. There was no way she would be able to blend in wearing it and she didn't have anywhere in the coat to put it.

With a disgruntled sigh, she took it off and headed upstairs, putting it on the bed. She felt naked without it, but it couldn't be helped. She couldn't wear it and because it was armoured, she couldn't exactly fold it up and put it in a pocket.

She pulled the bedroom door shut and headed back downstairs, where she grabbed the key for the back door. She unlocked it and stepped outside before re-locking the door. She put the key in an inside pocket which had a zipper on it and fastened it up before she made her way through the side gate and down the lawn onto the path that ran up and down the street.

Her gaze fell on the city ahead. That was her destination and this time she wouldn't be flying above it, she would be down on the ground with everyone else.

Shayera Hol walked along the side of the highway, her wings tucked and folded awkwardly into the large raincoat coat. The sun was beating down on her and had started to sweat. It was a hot morning, which probably meant it was going to be a stifling, unpleasant day. At least it would be in the thick coat.

The passing traffic filled the air with the stench of pollution. The people hadn't even advanced past fossil fuels, which she had already noted, but being down here amongst the stench was unpleasant.

A car slowed down and pulled to a stop in front of her. As she walked past, a man called out.

"Ya need a lift?" he asked.

Shayera stopped and looked through the open side window of the vehicle. "No, I am fine," she replied, hoping her English was passable.

"Are ya sure? It's another half-mile or so ta Midway City," he told her. "Also, ain't ya hot in that coat?"

"Thank you for the offer, but no, I will walk."

"And the coat?" he asked again.

"I am not hot."

"But yer sweatin'," he pointed out.

"I am fine," she said, not even trying to hide her irritation. "Thank you for your concern, you may leave now."

His brow raised in surprise. "Okay, if ya say so. I was only askin'."

The man pulled away and drove off down the highway. The distraction had been unwanted, but it had briefly taken her mind off of the unpleasant ache in her wings. Having them folded up inside the coat was unpleasant, painful even.

Deciding that she needed to stretch them, she moved away from the road, concealing herself in the trees behind a raised mound of dirt. She removed her coat and unfurled her feathered appendages. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

She stood there, exercising her flight muscles. After several more minutes and with some reluctance, she put the coat back on, continuing towards the population centre of Midway City.

Around an hour later, she was entering the inner city and she was absolutely miserable. Not only was she sweating and hot, her wings were also paining her again.

She was also drawing attention. After catching a reflection of herself in a window. The coat looked even bulgier than before, probably because she was struggling to keep her wings pressed against her back. She wondered if she would get less funny looks if she simply had her wings out. What excuse she would come up with to explain them away, however, she didn't know.

Unable to bear the pain any longer, she headed into the nearest alleyway. Hiding as best she could, she removed her coat. She shivered as a cold breeze blew through the alley, giving her goosebumps on her skin.

"Are ya an angel?"

Shayera spun around to see where the voice had come from. Looking down, she saw a scruffy looking bearded man, sat leant up against the wall. His face was dirty, and his hair unwashed. At a guess, the man was homeless. Or rather, he called the alley home.

"Am I dead?" he asked her. "Have ya come ta take me ta heaven? Is it finally over?"

The Thanagarian lieutenant was at a loss for words. She knew very little about Earth religions. Knowing she couldn't really explain herself away easily, she decided to give him a simple, truthful answer. "You are not dead, and I am not an angel."

"Oh, okay," he said with confusion. "What are ya then?"

"A stranger who does not want to be disturbed."

"Ya speak a little funny."

"I am not from here," she replied, trying to keep her cool.

Her English skills were one thing she definitely wanted to improve. She was sure they would, the longer she was on the planet. She just hoped she didn't gain some strange regional accent.

"What's with tha wings?"

Shayera didn't respond right away. She tried to think of a way to explain them, but nothing really came to mind, not at first anyway.

"Are ya sure ya not an angel?"

"They are decorative," she lied.

"Goin ta fancy dress or sumthin'?"

"Yes," she replied, wanting the questioning to come to an end.

"Where's the party?"

Shayera had had enough. She rested her hand on her mace, and the man's eyes went wide, as though it was the first time he'd even noticed it.

"No more questions," she told him firmly as she rested her hand on the mace that lay on her hip.

"What ya gonna do?" he asked in fear.

"Leave!" she ordered, pointing.

The man scrambled to his feet and hobbled away. He went around a corner, disappearing from sight.

With her coat draped over her arm, Shayera headed over to a fire escape. She didn't want to put the coat back on, as her wings still hurt from wearing it for so long.

Still, she had to leave the alley, as she was concerned that the homeless man might return with friends. While she relished a good fight, beating up the homeless wasn't something she really wanted to do.

Throwing the coat over her shoulder, she jumped up grabbing the ladder to the fire escape. She made her way up to the top, before climbing onto the flat roof, resting the coat back over her left arm.

Flapping her wings, she rose up into the sky. While it was probable that she would be seen, at that moment she didn't care. It seemed like forever since she had been able to take to the skies, and she didn't want to deny herself the pleasure any longer.

She cast her eyes down at the city, her gaze scouring the streets below. It reminded her of patrols back home during her first year in the military. Though they had been done in squadrons, not alone.

During that time, she had been undergoing espionage training which had lasted two years. Then, when she was ready, she had been sent off on her first mission as part of a team of three.

She was the only one that made it out alive.

Her skills in espionage had ultimately led to this. Her being stuck on an alien world, alone. She wished she could say it was an honour, but it was starting to feel a little like a punishment. These people were obviously primitives, on a planet that held no importance. Why was she here, why did Hro want her here? There had to be a reason and it as of yet eluded her.

Shayera was pulled from her thoughts by the sounds of gunfire. She changed direction and flew over to the source, then quickly began to assess the situation below.

What she saw disgusted her. Law enforcement, or the police, were involved in a stalemate with a group of men that appeared to be little more than armed thugs. On her world, this would have been dealt with quickly, but it appeared that neither side currently had the upper hand.

The cops were hiding behind their land vehicles, while the thugs were hiding behind short walls of brick and mortar.

Shayera landed on the top of a nearby building and peered down at the stalemate. She saw the opportunity for a fight, to bring order. It was something she craved.

The Thanagarian rested her hand on her mace, weighing the pros and cons of getting involved. The pros were self-gratification. The cons were her being discovered and putting her whole mission in jeopardy.

It was dangerous, it was stupid and idiotic, but she couldn't help herself. Unable to contain her lust for combat any longer, she decided to intervene.

As she her coat down on the flat roof, she unsheathed her Nth metal mace. She doubted she needed to energise it, so she left it as a simple club. She then jumped off the side of the building, letting out a loud cry. Both sides stared up at her in surprise, shock and fear.

One of the four thugs swung his rifle up at her, terror in his face as she swooped in for the strike. She smashed the weapon out of his hand, sending it flying. She then hit a second man in the gut as she flew over, knocking him off his feet, sending him hurtling into his comrades, sending them all crashing to the ground in a heap.

"Put the weapons down!"

Shayera landed back on the roof and looked down at them. It seemed her stunt had provided an adequate distraction. The police had the thugs surrounded, their weapons trained on them.

Much to her disappointment, they immediately surrendered. She had wanted more of a fight and felt somewhat underwhelmed by the whole experience. It had been a while since she had felt the thrill of actual combat and bashing a few criminals just didn't compare and certainly wasn't fulfilling.

Deciding that she had probably already drawn more attention to herself than was wise, she holstered her mace and retrieved her coat. Draping it over her left arm, she once again took to the skies.

She flew out of the city to the woodlands to the south and landed. She put the coat back on and headed back toward the Hawk Valley. She wanted to see if she had made the local news.

"New hero or menace?" the news anchor asked rhetorically.

Shayera sat forward, watching the screen intently. She was back in Alison's house, which she had landed in the yard in full daylight, though she was confident that she hadn't been seen.

As soon as she was back in the house, she had wasted no time switching on the television to see if her stunt got any news coverage. It appeared that yes, it indeed had.

The report continued, "Earlier today, police responded to a jewel store heist. During a potentially deadly confrontation, a winged stranger intervened, giving the police the chance to detain the thieves without bloodshed."

Shayera watched shaky footage of her shrieking as she bashed the weapon out of the first criminal's hand with her mace, before smashing the other into his comrades. She then flew up, the camera following her as she landed on the roof. The shot moved back down as the police shouted at the criminals. By the time the image looked back up to the roof, she was gone.

"So far there is no information on this 'Hawk girl', or her real identity," the anchor continued. "Earlier when pressed on the apprehension of the jewel thieves; which have been connected to several heists, the police had this to say."

The camera switched to a man in a blue uniform who was stood behind a dais, a series of microphones pointing up at his face.

"Whoever this vigilante is; regardless of whether she helped deal with these known criminals or not, was not only reckless, she could have easily put other lives in danger including her own."

"Do you think the wings were mechanical?" an unseen person questioned.

"Is this a new hero?" another voice asked.

"We are not in a position to speculate on anything regarding this person, nor are we taking questions at this time. That is all."

Shayera sighed to herself. She wasn't sure she knew what kind of reaction she had been expecting, but she it had definitely been something a little more substantive.

She lifted up the remote and switched the television off. One thing she could say about today was that she had absolutely no interest in heading out wearing that coat again. Her wings still hurt from being pressed against her back for so long.

Not being able to mingle and interact with people on a ground level was something she would just have to accept, not that she was too upset about it. She wasn't really the type that particularly enjoyed socialising, especially with aliens.

One thing she did enjoy was a good fight. Today hadn't really offered that, the criminals who had robbed the jewellery store had given up almost immediately. Her itch hadn't been satisfied.

Shayera heard the front door open and then close. She looked at the clock which read half-past three. Lolita was home from yet another day at school. She already knew that the girl would head upstairs for an hour or two, then come back down and make herself some dinner.

She knew there was a real danger of getting too comfortable with her situation here. She had a bed, she had a roof over her head and she had access to food. If she wasn't careful she could easily end up growing idle.

Shayera would not allow that to happen. She would find a new place to set up a base of operations and then the real work could begin. While she was here, she was limited in what she could do and where she could go, she felt a little trapped.

The Thanagarian stood up and headed out of the living room, seeing Lolita at the top of the stairs. The young human stopped and looked down at her.

"Oh, hello," she said quietly.

"You don't like me being here, do you," Shayera said.

Lolita didn't answer, which was fine as Shayera already knew what it would be.

"Don't worry, I won't be here for much longer."

Again, she didn't respond.

"You can go do whatever it was you were off to do. Don't let me stop you."

Lolita moved off out of view while Shayera returned to the living room.

Shayera pondered whether she should head out again after nightfall. She didn't want to sit in this house all day, she wanted to be doing something. She easily became restless and her current situation and the thought of complacency did put her on edge.

With a crack of her knuckles, she made up her mind. Tonight she was going out on a patrol.