Chapter 9: How Marie got here part II
Marie woke up thankful that it was a Saturday, and Olivia was gone for the weekend. Marie got up, got washed, dressed, and ready. Marie took a good look at herself in the mirror. She was taller than her Mother at 5'10" and more athletic. She had always been that way. She had a toned flat stomach that could easily become a six pack with a little work, and the rest of her muscles showed whenever she moved. She loved how she had made herself this way; I may not be as busty as Chloe or Olivia, but I'm a hell of a lot faster, and I'm still smoking hot. Jerry never said anything, but Marie knew how much he loved watching her leave. She then looked at her face.
Most of her features were her mothers, her hair, eyes, all from her. She had inherited few things from the bastard that raped her mother and sired her, her powers, her cheekbones, and her height were all that came from him. Marie thought back to when she discovered that she was the daughter of Vlad Plasmius. One of the few bright things that day had been discovering Nathaniel, her brother from an alternate reality. I wonder how he and Lily are doing. She had always wondered about him, even though they only knew each other for a few days, finding out about a sibling and alternate realities was not something she would forget.
Marie finished getting ready, making sure to wear pants today, and left her room. Her phone rang, it was Jerry. "I'm feeling in the mood for waffles today, you?" "Send me the address," Marie told him; then checked her wallet, she had enough to pay for both of them if needed. She got in her car and heard Jerry say next to her, "Morning Beautiful." "Why are you invisible?" Marie asked him. "I'm dodging the fan girls. They actually broke into mine and Rodney's dorm and tried to take me around five. I escaped and managed to keep Rodney's virginity intact," Jerry explained. "Buckle up," Marie told him, and saw the seat belt buckle itself.
Halfway there Jerry became visible again. "You look like your Mom," Marie told him, he had dyed his hair black like Sam. "I know I know; it was this or red head. I didn't think you'd want to think we're siblings. And I prefer this color," Jerry told her as they reached the restaurant. They went in and for once could hang out with no one at all pay attention to them, it was even better than the food. Jerry had to have some coffee though because of the attack of the fan girls earlier. "Things are going to get better," Marie told him. Jerry nodded, "Yeah, but when is the question. Things only got better for Dad after the Disasteroid Incident. Before that, his life was on the corner of Shit Hole and Hell. I doubt there's going to be another asteroid coming for Earth anytime soon."
"So, you ready for our test?" Marie asked him, wanting to get away from heavy subjects. "Yeah, it sucks that I'm the smartest guy in the class, everything's too easy. You?" "I need to study a little on my History, but I'll be fine. So glad Olivia's gone, she was always on her phone, either chatting it up or doing phone sex for half the state. How's Rodney?" Marie asked him. Jerry had a bite of his strawberry waffle before saying, "He's good. He has a little difficulty with his stomach, but that cut wasn't as deep as feared. Rodney tells me that one day he'll pay me back for saving him, but he hasn't done anything, yet. Aside from that, he is pretty angry about the fact that he can't do sit ups or other core exercises. Jealousy is such an ugly thing."
Marie and Jerry laughed at that then Marie thought about the future; she sometimes did that when around Jerry for some reason. "What are you going to do after College?" Jerry put his food aside for a second and looked out the window, "After College, I'm going to try to figure out how our abilities work, and duplicate them mechanically. Dad once told me that he hated the fact that there were only two ways for him to help the world, through his fists, and through his fortune. He once told me that I have a gift in my intelligence, that if I wanted to, I could outshine him if I chose to. I choose to, I'm going to invent things to help people even more, like Aunt Jazz."
"Wow," Marie couldn't help it, she never thought that Jerry had such high goals in his life; he always seemed laid back about everything unless someone's life was in danger. "What about you? What does Marie Ferrier want to do with her life?" Jerry asked her with a smile on his face. Marie looked down and brushed her hair back to keep it from falling into her food. "Growing up was tough for me, Jerry. Mom and I were always moving; Mom was always struggling to keep a job and raise me right, all while keeping my powers secret. I want to help kids going through similar stuff. I think I can really reach them, you know?"
Jerry looked at her in shock and they just looked at each other for a minute before going back to their food. "Anyway, where are we at now?" Jerry asked her. Marie knew what he was asking, are we ready to get engaged? It wasn't technically sex, but I'm NOT about to tell Mom about it either. Things have changed… "I don't know." Jerry nodded at this, "Things are going to get complicated; I just know it. Every time something good happens to me, something bad happens too." "That's exaggerating it a little, don't you think?" "Maybe," Jerry said, and they finished up their breakfast and headed back to Vanbilt Tech.
As soon as they got there a teacher came up and said, "The Principal wants to see you in her office now Mr. Fenton." Jerry and Marie blinked and Jerry whispered, "I'll be fine," and left with him. Marie headed back to her dorm and tried to distract herself from Jerry by thinking about their powers. Jerry, Chloe, and their Dad can make shapes with their energy. Jerry and Jack can make weapons with their respective powers. I can do something, right? Marie went Ghost and looked at her hand, letting electricity form in her hand. Marie concentrated and the lightning bent into a vaguely spherical shape. Come on, if I can contain the energy… Marie powered up and concentrated harder, and the lightning turned into a shining ball of energy.
Marie tested it's durability by tossing it in the air and catching it like a baseball. The 'lightning ball' for lack of a better term, felt solid when Marie gripped it. Marie went intangible and flew a good distance from the College and tossed the lightning ball into the distance. The explosion was loud, the light fantastic, and the crater about thirty ft. across when it hit the ground. "Go me," Marie said out loud, this was even stronger than she had expected, instant army destroyer. Marie then thought about how Danny, Jerry, and Chloe could blast rays from their eyes. They never really talked about it, like it wasn't a thing. Marie went back into her regular Ghost form and concentrated on the ground, directing her electricity to leave through her pupils instead of her hands.
For a second she was completely blind before stopping the flow. She blinked and saw a charred spot next to the crater. So, not something to do when fighting crowds of ghosts; might get hurt while I'm blinded. Marie nodded as she surveyed the area and flew back into her room. She spent the next two hours studying before she heard screaming coming from outside. Marie went Ghost and flew out to see Jerry; below him was a crowd of people who looked like they wanted to see him in a bad way. Marie went invisible so the crowd below wouldn't see her and flew next to Jerry, "What's happening?" Jerry sighed and said, "I'm being expelled."
"WHAT!?" Marie barely kept her concentration and remained invisible. "For the safety of the other students, I have been given 24 hours to vacate the Campus. Part of it was because of the ghosts that showed up yesterday," Jerry explained. "And the rest?" Marie asked. Jerry flew up higher till the crowd couldn't see him and Marie became visible again. "They wanted me to tell them who my 'sidekick' was. I refused to tell them about you; that also played a part in it." "Oh Jerry," Marie started. "Don't, this isn't your fault. I thought this might happen when Jack was exposed. I'll think of something," Jerry told her, and they turned invisible again and flew down to where the crowd wasn't and turned human.
Jerry's roommate Rodney saw them and came running towards them, "Those bastards really did it!?" Jerry and Marie blinked; Rodney wasn't the kind of person who cursed. "Yes, I'm expelled," Jerry managed. Rodney then uttered a few words that sounded like Arabic and said, "They won't get away with this. I'll get my Uncle Jamal up here; he'll kick their asses and get you back in no time." "Isn't he a lawyer?" Jerry asked. "Yes, the best there is. You heard about that big scandal at Bose-Force Corporation?" Rodney asked him. "Your Uncle is Jamal Ghaazi!?" Marie yelled; he was one of the top five civil lawyers in the country; he had single-handedly taken down Bose-Force Corporation with his lawsuits over their polluting of third world nations. Rodney flashed a big smile and took a picture out of his wallet.
It showed a Middle Eastern couple and five children, three boys and two girls. The mother of the family was stunningly beautiful, while the father was homely, but not quite handsome. "Dad always said that if Uncle Jamal could talk Aunt Taybah into staying married to him, he could talk anyone else into anything no problem. Time to see if he's right," Rodney said as he took the picture from Marie, whom Jerry had passed it to. "I…don't know what to say, thank you?" Jerry managed; he was clearly in shock at this display of generosity. Rodney just smiled and said, "It's the least I can do for you. You saved my life from that ghost; this is just me returning a little bit of the favor."
"Thanks," Jerry managed. "Look, I gotta pack, when I'm done, I say we all go out and enjoy the town, what do you say?" Rodney and Marie looked at each other and nodded, "Sounds good," Marie told her boyfriend, and Jerry went Ghost to fly into his room to pack, leaving Marie and Rodney alone. "Are there any clubs here that have non-alcoholic drinks?" Marie asked she had no idea. "I'll check," Rodney got out his phone and after three minutes said, "Found one, 'The Image', it's a comic book themed place, Jerry can go there as himself, and no one will bother him. I can whip up a costume, you too. Sound good?" If you only knew, Marie though, "Alright, let's do it," just as Jerry came out of the dorm.
"Do what?" he asked. "We're going to a superhero club, it'll be great. You can go as yourself, we can dress up, have some fun," Rodney told him. Jerry smirked a little and looked at Marie. Marie nodded and went Ghost, Rodney yelped and said, "Sheesh, is there anyone in this college who isn't a superhero?!" Marie and Jerry just laughed and Jerry said, "We'll be waiting for ya at the girl's dorm, we'll go there in Marie's car, cool?" "Yeah, just don't start making out till after we get to the club," Rodney said as he went to his room.