Here Comes a New Challenger!

Price was sitting at his desk with the early morning sunshine filtering through the half shaded windows. As he felt just a little sick; the operation went well enough but it left him just a little woozy and not all there at the moment. The doctor said it would pass with time. He didn't hold much hope for it though. He lightly blinked his eyes. "Need to stop sleeping at my desk." He murmured to himself blinking away the dreariness of the morning and slowly yawned and stretched a little bit, ignoring the pain that raced through his chest section. The sword wound that Amy had afflicted him with still was capable of tearing open, but he had put heroism aside for a little while as to not make Johnny freak out with him making more excuses but a scar would settle in with time. With thoughts muddled and stretching aside he saw his computer blink a little bit, so he clicked on the blink.

His eyes darted across the screen and read the script, the light reflecting against his irises, with his eyes hiding many things as he read the news. "Hmmm." He said and closed it down. His thoughts traveled around his head for a moment and he shrugged the news away. With that he stood and lightly went to his door and decided he needed to munch on something. On what, he had no idea. As he opened the door to the house proper, Johnny was sitting at the table in her Pajama pants. Normally she wouldn't wear pink but there it was. She wore a black tank top and pink pajama bottoms with slippers that looked like monkeys. "Morning" he said and she raised a spoon his way as she munched on the cereal in her bowl. He pulled up a seat lightly moved her feet off the table and she put them down. "Well…to put it bluntly; how do you feel about a new roommate?"

Price deftly raised the place mat like a shield as Johnny spewed forth milk and bits of cereal. She wiped her mouth of with the back of her hand "You did what now?!" she asked incredulously. Price sighed, thinking quickly to cover for the fact that he, as a registered hero, was being paired with another to help control the city's recent rise in crime rates after the Hellraisers incident. "An old friend is coming to town, she needs a place to stay, and she can pay, she's just got some trouble back home." He said, hoping he could insinuate this cover story into this… Evelyn character they were sending to his residence. Weren't they supposed to provide like two weeks' notice before pulling shit like this anyway?

Johnny wanted to be mad but the current mess she had made her thinking she needed towels and rags to clean up said mess. She sighed and resigned herself to go grab a towel. "Ok…well that makes a bit of sense…so when does she get here." She said and lightly tossed a towel over the mess and continued with the clean up. "Well you see, that's just the thing. It happens that I got the mail ju-" He was cut off by a knocking at the door, and as Price promptly face-palmed, Johnny was able to put two and two together. "That's her, isn't it?" she said a little disappointed. Price shrugged and Johnny shook her head. "I'm going to go get dressed." She said and took two steps away and then pointed at him "You are going to let her in and clean up the mess" she said and disappeared into her room to go try and put on the appearance of normalcy. She decided a pair of blue jeans, white socks, black fingerless gloves and a simple dark blue top that read; Tell you boyfriend to stop texting me. She sighed and walked outside as she didn't necessarily hide her electronics, but tried not to flaunt it off. Even to this day it was kind of a touchy subject with her. After a moment to square herself, she went back out into the main room, and got the second-biggest shock of the day.

Long, blonde hair, dark enough to be considered dirty blonde by some, hanging down to the floor when she sat at the table, and light skin made for a beautiful contrast with her golden-amber toned eyes held wide open, making her look almost whimsical. This wasn't helpful, considering that her wardrobe was a long, dark grayish blue robe with voluminous sleeves and cuffs that hung freely, sparkling in a starry pattern where the sun hit it. Moreover, around her neck, on her fingers, and elsewhere, she was decked out in all sorts of jewelry, signs, and magical symbols. It looked like an occult pawn-shop had been dumped on her, and she only kept what stuck to her. Some symbols were Masonic, others were clearly Satanic, while others appeared to be neo-pagan, and more that Johnny had no idea what they meant. Moreover, there was an obscenely large suitcase by the table with scraps of paper sticking out of it, and a large file cabinet on a dolly next to where she sat.

An awkward silence spread for just about a second and the girl turned towards Johnny and smiled lightly. "Hello, you must be Johnny. Price here has told me about you." she smiled and lightly gestured towards the seat next to her. "I'm sorry I arrived at such an ungodly hour, it was kind of important to get here quickly. Troubles at home, you know?" She said, still seeming almost completely friendly. She held out a hand for her. Johnny apprehensively grasped the small girls hand and smiled. "My names Evelyn Rocheheart, I'm 17, my blood type is AB+, some people say I'm strange but I prefer the term happy go lucky, my hobbies include occult, mysticism and chatting with Price" She said.

Johnny lightly smiled and nodded as she was slightly weirded out. The handshake was fine enough what was bugging her was her eyes didn't know where to settle on her with so many bits, bops and doo-dads and other such instruments but eventually it landed on the dolly and decided not be rude since she was in the room. "So what's the filing cabinet for?" Johnny asked "Oh well that's for where I keep all my toys!" she exclaimed as she lightly put her fingers together. "You would be amazed what they can do" she said and smiled. Johnny on the other hand flushed red. "Well…that's…awesome" she said and decided to let that subject drop as well. Price with the small lull between Johnny coming out and Evelyn coming into the kitchen, had explained the situation quickly to her. "I'm supposed to be registered with a secret identity, major inconvenience." He said, his features hard as he became 'all business.' "Not that it's not nice to meet you." Well, maybe not all business. "I need a cover story, fast. Vigilante roommate, can't find out I'm a hero." She had thought surprisingly quickly, but some of what she said had weirded out Price nearly as bad as it had Johnny, he was just glad he had the willpower not to blush at the mention of toys.

"So," Johnny said, starting to think normally again. "There's a problem, we kind of don't have a third bedroom." At this, Evelyn smiled, and said "Oh, that's not a problem at all, you might want to step back, this could get a little…much." She said calmly with an air of spine tingling danger rippling from her, and she began to weave her hands and fingers in intricate patterns, where her finger were, they left a trail of fire in midair that did not fall. Before gesturing forcefully towards the wall of their apartment the small trails of fire swirled between her fingers and she snapped and a large ball of fire flew towards the wall which exploded in a curtain of fire. At the sight of flames, Price was already tucking and rolling, Johnny herself had jumped backwards, but this new girl wasn't done yet. Evelyn continued to focus, waving her hands in another, but even more confusing pattern, taking carefully calculated steps as the bits and pieces of the wall reformed, becoming a whole room built off of the side of the apartment complex, leaving another whole bedroom assembled, even the same coloration as the rest. After a long moment of thought, Price bothered to ask "So, does that void the deposit?" And Evelyn shrugged. "No way to tell, really. I'll make it up to you if it does…though it seems I'm a little short on cash I'm afraid I spent." Price just shook his head. So, that was one problem taken care of, but there were quite a few other adjustments to be made…

Not long after, Price was sitting at a café sipping on some coffee. He hated coffee with a passion, but it was something that he could do and focus on, calming his nerves from the explosions, floating objects, and unusual noises ringing about their apartment ever since the magic lady had moved in. They had honed their cover story after the first few days, and life was starting to get almost normal. Price choked down another sip, wondering if the coffee might taste better with some fresh potting soil. He just needed a break every now and then. Human life wasn't meant for this kind of stress. "Why," Price asked the clouded heavens. "Why, are all the women in my life consciously trying to make my life more difficult?"

Meanwhile Johnny and Evelyn had unknowingly decided to bond in their own way. It was evident because they had got to talking, and it hadn't taken long to figure out that Evelyn was a cape in training. She had credentials and the backing of the government, being a registered hero, so unknowingly they had gotten into a heated argument over which would be better; to have the law behind you, or to take judgment into your own hands. The argument had turned stalemate by the calm of Evelyn stating simply the benefits were much better and that she knew she had a secure job in the current economy, while at the same time Johnny had her passion thrown into the mix on how no law would ever stop her from righting the wrongs in the world and how the freedom outweighed being tied down. They eventually had somehow taken things to the kitchen, and once the toaster floated by Johnny's head, she ducked out as Evelyn in her dark blue robes held out a dainty hand as the upside down toaster that was not connected to an outlet popped out two piping hot pieces of toast. "Arrgh! Will you stop with the magic mumbo jumbo! It's creepy watching my room clean itself sometimes!" she exclaimed and at this, Evelyn just leaned her head to the left and shrug as she nibbled on said toast. "It's not my fault….by all technical it should be the faulty gravity spell that went off the other day…but don't worry it's only temporary but if you suddenly find your tooth brush inside your hair dryer it was Price." She said with a small smirk, having a little fun with Johnny.

Author's Note:

Shiney: Chances are, if you're reading this, I've already made most of my preparations to leave. I may or may not still be around. SAVE ME RAPTOR JESUS! Anyway, sorry about that, got a little excited. Anyway, enjoy the story, enjoy the productions of Tramp_truffle in my absence, and remember, reviews are gold! Even if you don't have anything amazing or innovative to say, just review and let us know you care. 3