Chapter Four: A New Friend and a Necessary Talk
"Not bad. Loud Knight. You sure are good at stopping muggers and jewel thieves and illegal gun owners, oh my." A woman's voice said as Lincoln ducked into an alley, hoping that the police wouldn't follow him. Lincoln started.
"Who are you?"
"Oh… I've had so many names over the years. And besides, how important are names really? It's who you are, not what they call you that matters." The woman said.
"Right. But how can I address you if I don't know your name?"
"Call me Switcharoo if you want to. I don't know. I hate having to come up with names on the fly." She said.
"Technology may change, the leaders may change. But the world never really does change, does it? If the police force who are hired to protect the city need a vigilante to do some of their work, they can't really be that effective, can they?" Switcharoo asked.
"Mmm… No, I guess not. They're doing their best. I'm guessing they're just overwhelmed right now because crime has gone up so quickly." Lincoln said. The woman laughed.
"How charitable of you. You know, I like you. How would you like to get to know me a bit better?" She asked teasingly. Lincoln gulped lightly.
"I appreciate it. But I'm not available." Lincoln said. Switcharoo chuckled.
"Suit yourself. I'd like to meet you again though. Any way we could 'run into each other' again some night?" She asked.
"It's possible. Do you have a real name that I can call you by?"
"Well… Deirdre if you want a real name." That was one of her names. She'd been known by a lot of her names in her life.
"Deirdre. Okay, Deirdre." Lincoln said. He looked around the corner and saw that the police had cleared out. He went back on the patrol, looking around the town, making sure things were safe.
"Are you a vigilante as well?" Lincoln asked. Deirdre chuckled.
"Not really. I make myself useful when I'm needed. But I don't consider myself a protector of the public." She said.
"Now fly, fly away little Loud." She said teasingly.
-0-
The next morning, Lincoln called Jordan and Stella. He wanted to prove to them that he would be alright, even being a vigilante. He wanted to get them back.
"Hello?" Jordan asked.
"Jordan? It's Lincoln. I'd like a chance to talk with you and Stella. I know you're not happy about me being a vigilante. But I want to show you something that may change your mind. Please? Give me this chance?" Lincoln asked. Jordan sighed. She wanted to give Lincoln a chance.
But she didn't want to encourage Lincoln putting his life in danger, no matter the reason. She admired his bravery. But he was just a 21-year-old. He was extremely smart. He'd gotten a 1585 on his SATs. He'd graduated 4th in his class, which wasn't at the very top. But he'd done extremely well in school. He was on the debate team, track and cross-country. He was known for being extremely smart and athletic. He was still into his comics and sometimes Jordan wondered how he managed to balance his job and his hobbies. But she admired him for doing it.
But she couldn't condone him putting his life in danger like that.
"I'll bring Stella over. You have 20 minutes to convince us why we should condone you putting your life at risk every night." Jordan said, thinking that he'd have a better chance of convincing them that he was the secret son of Jeff Bezos. But she'd give him a chance. He was the Man with the Plan after all. She went over and picked up Stella, driving to Lincoln's home.
"Alright. What's up, Loud?" Jordan asked.
"Alright. Now, bear with me here. I want to show you something interesting." Lincoln said, showing them a knife, handing it to Jordan.
"Test this to make sure it's sharp." Lincoln said.
"A magic trick? I appreciate your showmanship, but is this really the time?" The brunette chuckled.
"No tricks. Only treats." Lincoln said. She ran her finger along the edge, gasping as it cut her finger open.
She had fast healing thanks to Lisa's bionics and nanomachines as well. She'd accepted the procedure as had Stella, though Stella's father hadn't exactly been thrilled about it.
"Okay. Good, it's properly sharpened." Lincoln said, raising it and stabbing it hard into his arm, hissing as he moved it around in his forearm.
"Lincoln! Are you out of your mind! What is this going to prove! That you can mutilate yourself?" Stella gasped, horrified at the blood spilling from the now very messy wound.
"Watch. Just watch. Don't worry about me." Lincoln said, squeezing his fist open and shut, letting his Body Manipulation heal him. The two young women gasped as his bleeding stopped within a minute and continued healing over the next two minutes. His healing was getting faster. It was hardly instantaneous. But as his body adapted to the new ability, he got faster with it. It wasn't even conscious. His body just healed itself.
"Now, I need you to do something for me and don't question it. Just trust me." Lincoln said.
Stella was a little green in the face. She had trouble looking at blood, especially so much blood. She could smell it and her enhanced abilities allowed her to taste what she could smell and the taste made her sick to her stomach.
"Stella, go on into the other room and close the door. It's okay." Lincoln said, feeling guilty that he'd forgotten about Stella's sensory overdrive.
"O-okay…" Stella gagged as she ran into the other room, slamming the door. Lincoln grabbed a sledgehammer and put his arm down on a wooden box.
"Jordan, bring the hammer down on my arm as hard as you can. Don't worry about me. If you hit my hand or hit my elbow, it will hurt about the same as if you hit my forearm." Lincoln said. His body adapted as he took injuries. His bones got stronger, his muscles developed to cushion damage in the future. Jordan grimaced.
"You're insane." Jordan breathed. She didn't have the same sensory overload that Stella did when she smelled blood or other bodily excretions. But she was still a little alarmed by Lincoln's ability to take this.
"Lincoln, I believe you. Don't make me do this." Jordan said.
"Okay." Lincoln said.
"Anyway, you can regenerate now? How did you manage that? Did you get like some crazy amount of nanomachine enhancements from Lisa?" Jordan asked.
"Not exactly. After my spine was damaged, Lisa repaired it. But she also attached some nanotech to my spine and to a few areas of my brain. I don't know exactly what she did. But my mind is moving faster than it ever has. It's almost like the rest of the world is slowing down around me. I can't explain it. And my body heals super fast. Lisa says that I may have Body Manipulation.
"That I now have perfect control of my own body. I'm still working on gaining full control of that power. So it's hardly perfect just yet. But you can't argue with the results. Look at my arm." Lincoln said. Jordan saw that after only seven minutes, but it was already starting to scar over. The wound looked raw and painful. But it was already healed pretty significantly.
"And this is your argument for why we shouldn't be worried about you being a vigilante?" Jordan asked. Lincoln sighed.
"No. I'd be disappointed if you weren't worried about me. I appreciate that you worry about me. It shows you love me." Lincoln said. The young man hesitated.
"It's more that… I'm showing that any damage I take I can heal. My body is a perfect machine now." Lincoln said.
"And from what I've seen, my body is already becoming more resistant to damage after the damage I've already taken." Lincoln said. He could see that Jordan was shaken already.
He sighed. He'd taken the wrong path in impressing her.
"Sorry. This was the wrong way to go." Lincoln said. Jordan laughed humorlessly.
"Ya think? You made Stella throw up and you even scared me. If having this 'Body Manipulation' just means you're going to be more reckless, that's not exactly the reassurance I was looking for." Jordan said.
"No, of course I'm not going to be reckless. I was just showing that I… I'm not… In danger like I used to be." Lincoln said gently. Jordan nodded.
"I can't convince you not to be a vigilante, can I?" Jordan asked. Lincoln sighed, shaking his head.
"I understand." She said. She loved Lincoln. She wasn't going to leave him over this. She'd overreacted a bit. She would always be worried about him.
"I won't leave you. But I want to be part of your 'career'." Jordan said.
"How do you mean?" Lincoln asked, worried that she wanted to go out there and patrol with him. He guessed he couldn't say no. But he didn't want to put her in danger.
"Not how you think. Let me keep track of the city. I bet with someone like Lisa on your side, you have access to every camera in the city."
"Well, really more like half of them. But we're working on getting the rest of them on line." Lincoln said.
"Don't you go to college during the day though? You're off from school right now." Lincoln said. It was still summer vacation. Fortunately, his suit had cooling and heating properties inside of it. It would keep his body temperature stable. It constantly monitored his bio-stats.
Jordan nodded. She wanted to be able to help him. She wasn't willing to do something as dumb as going out every night and patrolling the town for criminals and fighting them. But she could help in other ways. At least she wanted to.
"Well, while you think about it, let me go check on Stella." Lincoln said, going and knocking on the bathroom door. Stella had left the kitchen and gone to the bathroom to throw up.
-0-
"Stel? I'm not bleeding anymore. I don't smell like blood anymore." Lincoln said. He'd absorbed the remaining blood on his shirt. He didn't have full control over his powers, but he'd discovered that he could absorb organic material through his skin. Stella came out. She looked better than she had a few minutes ago.
"Are you okay, Stella?" Lincoln asked. Her breath smelled like mouthwash. He kissed her lightly.
"I'm sorry, Stella. I shouldn't have shown you that particular display." Lincoln said.
Stella nodded.
"Look, I can't force you to stop being a vigilante. But even with your crazy regeneration, I'm worried about you." Stella said.
"And I don't think it's a good idea to continue to do your vigilante work. Even with all the technology in the world, even with bionic organs and regeneration and Body Manipulation or whatever… Are you sure you can't just… I don't know, donate like 20% of your annual income to the police?
"There are ways to make the city a better place without putting your own life on the line." Stella said. Lincoln nodded. He'd considered doing that. He was hardly a billionaire. But he was cautious with his money and made more each year than he spent. He could afford to donate maybe 15% of his annual income to the police. That didn't mean that he wouldn't go out and patrol. He'd come to like doing that, and the police still couldn't be everywhere. And it would probably be better to donate money to social programs that would help people rather than paying the people who get paid to punish people.
"I'll figure out something to do. But for now at least I'm still going to be going out each night. Stella, I promise, I'll be okay." Lincoln said. Stella could tell he really believed that. She wished she could be as confident as he was in that. Stella kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Okay. I trust you." Stella said. They went back to the main room and Stella and Jordan got ready to go. Jordan had plans with some friends and Stella was expected at art classes. She was working on her drawing skills and her parents had helped her pay for the lessons.
"I love you two. Are we still on for our date tomorrow?" Lincoln asked. Jordan nodded. Stella hesitated for a long moment, but then answered in the affirmative.
"Yes. We'll both see you tomorrow. It's a double date with Clyde and Chloe, right?" Jordan said.
"Yeah. They're working together to cook a lunch for us all to enjoy together." Lincoln said. Clyde and Chloe were going to the Culinary Institute in Poughkeepsie, and they wanted to show off their skills. Clyde had always been a gifted chef. But now he was getting more formal training in it.
"Alright. We'll see you tomorrow then." Stella said, kissing Lincoln. Jordan then kissed Lincoln and the two went to Jordan's car.
"You know, you two are welcome to come live with me. You can spend less on an apartment that you only use during the summer and you'll have a nice place to live." Lincoln said. Up to now, they'd decided to live on their own.
But Lincoln made a good point. Their stuff would still be there on holidays when they came home. But they wouldn't have to pay for an apartment that they only inhabited a few months out of the year.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Jordan said. They closed their doors and headed back to the apartment.