Chapter Two – Of Boys and Men
Agatha impatiently tapped her stilleto'ed foot against the ground as The Boss continued his tirade about how angry he was that she was late to work that morning. It was already half past 7 PM. Was it MY fault that I was out there FIGHTING CRIME? she thought bitterly. Secretly, Agatha deeply resented the fact that her powers only worked when the sun was shining. The fact that it had been a cloudless morning made it her duty to go after the bank robbers. "Mr. Paladino. I apologize for my tardiness, but I had a legitimate reason for being late." she interrupted.
"Oh, really? Let's hear it, then." her employer said with a smug grin, folding his arms against his chest. Agatha froze. Obviously, she couldn't tell him that she was Apogee and that she was saving the Metroville Bank. The fact that he wore very large sunglasses made it impossible for her to make eye contact, which only made her feel even smaller.
"I, uh. Um..." she stammered, unable to come up with a good excuse on the spot.
"You know what? I don't even want to hear it." he sighed. "Just leave." With a happy smile and in disbelief at her luck, Agatha rose from her chair and turned to go out the door. "Oh, wait a second." Slowly and warily, Agatha turned around.
"Yes?"
"I've, uh, got a date tonight, and I want to sort of...show that I have a sense of humor. Ladies like that. Can I tell you a joke, and you tell me what you think?" Knowing full well how much The Boss needed to lighten up, Agatha was reluctant to stay. Mr. Paladino's desperate tone finally won her over, though, and she nodded. "A neutron goes into a bar and asks the bartender, 'How much for a beer?' The bartender replies, 'For you, no charge.'"
"Sir?" Agatha queried after a pause.
"Yes, Agatha?"
"You might want to cancel your date."
--
Putting on her suit, she decided to let her hair out of the head covering, at least, but still kept the goggles on. One thing she loved about her body was her hair; long, blonde, and every girl's fantasy. It was ironic, really, but putting on her suit gave her so much more confidence. You'd think that donning a mask and being forced to hide your true self would make it harder to be a hero, but Agatha found that she much rather preferred being Apogee to being Agatha. Evidently she wasn't the only super who felt this way, because night-time super parties were never in short supply.
Coincidentally, she was on the way to one such party herself, one being held by Gamma Jack. Pretty much all the supers would be there except Everseer, of course. Being around a lot of people frightened him, as he had a large phobia of germs. Besides, somebody had to be out on the streets looking for criminals.
As she entered the pavilion, she saw many familiar faces: Stratogale, Mr. Incredible, Blazestone…She walked over towards Gamma Jack to say hello, only mildly annoyed by the fact that he was surrounded by women and nearly impossible to approach.
"Jack!" she called out, trying to get his attention.
Brightening considerably, Gamma Jack pulled away from the mob, but they still followed. "Hey, look! Universal Man's here!" he yelled, pointing towards the door. Screaming wildly, the crowd of girls ambushed the poor super as soon as he walked in. Smoothing his hair back coolly, Jack walked over to Apogee. "Hey there, sunshine. You're looking bright tonight."
"You aim to please, Jack. Suave, as usual." She teased, tucking a stray wisp of her hair behind an ear with a smirk.
"I notice your hair's down today." He moved in closer. "It's…sizzling. Just like the sun."
Apogee laughed. "I think you need to work on your pick-up lines, though."
Jack shrugged as he walked backwards toward the other partygoers. "Hey hey, don't worry. I know you want me, sunshine. I like the ones that play…hard to get." Jack licked his lips. "Anyway, I gotta go mingle. Have fun, girl!"
Apogee waved as Jack walked off, rolling her eyes with a smile. "Didn't I tell you," a voice said from behind her, "That you're prettier when you smile?"
"Gazerbeam." Apogee sighed, slowly turning around.
"Apogee." Gazerbeam bowed his head slightly. "You look radiant tonight."
Apogee decided that it wouldn't be ladylike to be rude to Gazerbeam like she normally was, especially when he was trying to be polite. Besides, it was a party. She was supposed to be having fun. "Thank you. I thought it would be nice to let my hair down for a change."
There was a long, awkward pause before Gazerbeam cleared his throat. "Well, I wanted to…apologize for my behavior this morning. It wasn't fair of me to criticize you, and my powers aren't exactly Meta Man's either."
Now she felt guilty. "I'm sorry, too, Gazerbeam. I'm sure it's hard to not be able to see eye-to-eye with anyone."
"Wouldn't I know it," he muttered. "Let's enjoy the party, all right? We supers hardly ever get to catch a break these days."
Apogee lifted a champagne glass from a tray held by a waiter passing by and held it up. "Cheers to that."