I noticed, after reading Inspector Brown's review, that I am terribly inconsistent with the whole numbers thing. I say Thrilling Three, and Chapter Nine, but I use digits in the rest of the fic. headdesk Will fix that, thanks for pointing it out.
Chapter Nine – CrescentiaAgatha's ankle had proven to be of little consequence. After a good night's sleep, it stopped bothering her. Agatha had gone back to work, secretly hoping that Mr. Paladino's trial would go well. During her lunch break, she took a few minutes to call Everseer to thank him for his help. Everseer only laughed and said "Heaven helps those who help themselves."
As soon as work was over, Agatha diligently began the walk to The Thrilling Three Towers. She felt guilty for skipping out on them that other night, and was trying to make up for it. Bomb Voyage had been caught, thanks to Dynaguy, but had managed to break out of prison with a bang. Literally. Legislature had yet to approve strip-searching prisoners before letting them stay at the jails. A pity.
She walked into her tower and quickly changed into her super suit. She took the elevator up to the 6th floor and sat herself down in front of the computer to keep watch. Momentarily, she saw The Phylange appear on her screen. "Apogee?"
"Who else would it be?" she snapped, suddenly annoyed.
"Just checking." He shrugged. The Phylange leaned back into his chair and put his feet up on the computer console. Agatha had the slight impression that he was trying to act cool, but at the same time, she knew that he was doing a terrible job of it.
"It's my turn for guard duty today, Phylange," she informed him, rolling her eyes at his unnecessary bravado.
"Hey, I figured you might need me here," he stammered, voice tone showing that he was unsure of what he was saying.
"Why would I? The sun is still out, and will be for a few more hours," she reminded him, pulling off her gloves and examining her nails out of boredom. Agatha had always spent much too much time on her appearance. She supposed that it came with being blonde. The Phylange didn't bother answering her question, just closed his eyes.
--
It turned out, much to Agatha's relief (as well as that of the rest of the firm), that Mr. Paladino did, in fact, win his case. As such, he was subjected to an endless onslaught of news media for the rest of the week and hate letters from the families of Washington Energy's staff. "There's a good and bad side to every coin. Sure, I stopped a bunch of people from getting poisoned, but I also caused a bunch of people to lose their jobs," he had said to Agatha bitterly right before a mob of paparazzi burst in through the door Thursday morning. She didn't understand how the famous supers could stand it. On the one hand, they were assaulted by the media when in costume, which was normal, yet they were subject to the same treatment in their private lives, as well. When did they ever catch a break? I would hate it Agatha thought, if my entire life was watched by a camera crew. When she had a spare moment, she brewed more coffee and filed away all the hate mail to spare The Boss a little.
--
Agatha was walking back to her apartment after a shift at the Towers; it was nearly midnight, and her feet ached from being in those pointy boots (for what supersuit was complete without boots?) for so long.
"My, my. What's a little solar-powered super like you doing outside in the moonlight?" a voice called out. A shiver went down Agatha's spine; the voice sounded like poisoned chocolate. Warily, she turned around.
On the flat rooftop of the building next to her, a woman was standing, arms crossed, and hair blowing in the wind. The woman was beautiful, probably one of the most attractive Agatha had ever seen. Her hair was an indigo colour, sparkling by the light of a lamppost nearby, and was very long, almost to her knees. She, too, was in costume, though the design reeked of something sinister. Agatha felt uneasy watching her. "What, cat got your tongue?" the woman laughed haughtily.
Agatha shook her head, though she was unsure of whether the woman saw. "Hardly. You're new around here, aren't you?"
"You could say that," the other smiled, playing with her hair. Agatha was getting pretty sick of her Holier-Than-Thou attitude. Squinting, she could see a butterfly insignia on the woman's chest. "It's a lunar moth." The woman explained, noting Agatha's stare.
"Who are you?" Agatha asked, her voice a mere whisper. She was getting more and more nervous by the second.
The air around the woman glowed and as she thrust her right arm forward, it collected into a beam and shot at Agatha, hitting her in the chest. Surprised by the sudden attack, Agatha could see the world turning black around her. "I am the shadow of all that is holy. I am the moon in the night sky. I am Crescentia."
--
The first thing she noticed as she awoke was that there was a terrible pain in the middle of her chest. Initially, Agatha thought that there was something wrong with her lungs, as she was rewarded with a sharp pain every time she inhaled or exhaled. Soon, however, it was clear that whatever she did that involved her chest gave her pain. She opened her eyes and blinked tentatively, instantly noticing that she had been resting against a lamppost. Memories flooded her mind of the night before, and one name stood out in her mind: Crescentia.
Cursing her own stupidity, Agatha lifted herself off the ground. At least she had been in her supersuit…Crescentia didn't know about her true identity yet. Why had the woman been so hostile? Was she really another super hero simply trying to lay down the law in a new town…or a super villain against whom Agatha would have to fight? Neither prospect seemed too good to her, and it was a very annoyed Agatha that got home and had to call in sick for work again. She was too drained to do much of anything, let alone work.
Agatha called Dynaguy, who was currently on shift at The Thrilling Three Towers, and asked him to do a search on Crescentia. Nothing showed up, and Agatha sighed. Whoever she was, this Crescentia really was new on the scene. She made a mental note to be more wary, then collapsed onto her bed and slept.