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Author's Note: Here's Chapter Ten. We get to see Josie in school and we end with a nice cliffhanger. I'd like to thank djkauf for the wondering editing and DC Comics for their wonderful characters. I'd also like to say Happy Halloween even though I'm a day late.

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Chapter Ten:

“You’re wearing that to school?” asked my father as I came down for breakfast.

I looked down at what I was wearing. It was one of the outfits Brenda picked out for me on our first shopping expedition together, the one that was overshadowed by those bastards in the bank. There was nothing wrong with what I wearing. Ok, so maybe the jeans were tighter than they should be but they were all I had. We only bought a couple of pairs and this was the last pair that was clean. The top might have been a little much, too but it was the only blue one I had, the rest were pink and purple. Besides, I kind of liked how it made me feel. It was made of a lightweight material that felt good on my skin. Just because the neckline plunged a bit, my father was going to make a case out of it.

He folded his newspaper and set it aside. “I don’t like it. Go upstairs and put something else on.”

I groaned. “I don’t have anything else, Papa.”

From Total Avoidance to Super Protective, that’s my Dad.

He huffed and picked up his newspaper, grumbling in Spanish. Milagro said nothing, she ate her Cheerios in silence but her eyes were smiling at me. I think she wanted to laugh but she was keeping her mouth shut for fear of my father’s retribution. Me, I sat down and poured myself a bowl. I don’t like milk in my cereal. It annoyed the hell out of my father but milk makes things really soggy. So while I crunched and Milagro slurped, the three of us sat in non-conversational silence. I don’t think that’s really a word but there’s no other way to describe it.

Milagro broke the silence finally. “Did you two have fun last night?”

Last night we went back to the garage. My father once again became the doting Dad and showed me how everything worked. You remember how I was happy that he treated me like a person... well now it was driving me nuts. Instead of treating like before, where we barely said a few words to one another, now he was all over me. Not in the perverted way either, clear out your filthy minds. He wouldn’t let me do a thing by myself last night. Whenever I had to move something, he did it for me, or if I had to lift something, he said it was too heavy. There was some oil changes I should have been able to do by myself but he didn’t want me to get dirty. By the end of the night, I was so annoyed with him I wanted to scream.

My response to Milagro’s question was a lie but it was only to make my father feel better. “We had a great time, I’m learning so much.”

Milagro smiled weakly. She could at least tell when I wasn’t telling the truth. She went back to eating her cereal, but I lost my appetite. Luckily, I was saved by the knock on the side door. I got up to answer it but my father was already out of his seat. I groaned and Milagro rolled her eyes. When he opened the door, Brenda was standing there. I think she was a bit surprised about my father answering the door because he was never that nice. Especially to her. He was under the impression that a boy and a girl couldn’t just be friends. He kept telling me over and over again that Brenda was a perfectly beautiful girl and I should be dating her, not “hanging out” with her. Now I think he’d blow a gasket if I started dating her.

“Good morning Brenda” he said in a sincere voice. Brenda looked about as shocked as my sister and I. “Do you girls need a ride to school?”

Brenda was too shocked to answer straight away. But it didn’t last very long. “Umm, no, Mr. Reyes we’re going to ride our bikes, it’s not that far.”

He looked sad. “Well if you ever need a ride you just let me know.”

“Ok Dad” I said, I didn’t want to call him Papa in front of Brenda.

I got up from the table and grabbed my backpack. I had started for the door when he cleared his throat. I turned and he stood up. He walked over and wrapped me in a big hug then leaned down, his cheek pointing toward me. At first, I didn’t know what he wanted and then Milagro mimicking kissing. So I rolled my eyes and kissed my father on the cheek. He smiled and Milagro stifled a giggle. I shook her a look and she quickly went back to eating her breakfast.
Brenda and I rushed out of the house quickly. We got on our bikes---I’m still riding my boy one---and we rode as fast as we could from the house. We got to the end of the street before we both burst into laughter.

“Invasion of the Pod People?” asked Brenda.

“I’m not familiar with that race?”

I ignored Khaji. “I don’t know. Ever since we spent our Daddy/Daughter Day, he’s been acting like that. It’s kind of freaking me out.”

Brenda frowned and I could of kicked myself. Of course talking about fathers and daughters was going to upset her. I opened my mouth to apologize but she smiled brightly and shook it off as if the frown never happened. “I’m sorry” I said quietly.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey!” shouted a voice behind us, followed by furious pedaling.

We both turned to see Paco riding as fast as he could to catch up to us. We stopped and it didn’t take him long. He was out of breath, panting like a mad man. He was sweating pretty badly too, which was kind of gross. He took a few puffing breaths before he spoke:

“I thought we were going to ride together. I went to your house to get you and your Dad looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel. He started yammering off in Spanish, yelling at me about being no good for you and all that such nonsense.”

Brenda and I both started laughing.

“Josie’s Dad has become Mr. Overprotective Father now.”

Yeah, you might want to avoid my house for a while. At least when he’s around anyway. I can’t imagine what would happen if he caught the two of us alone together.”

The color drained from Paco’s face. “Your Dad has always liked me though.”

“Yeah as Jaime’s friend” said Brenda, with whimsy in her voice. “But now that he’s a she, you’re a potential suitor and her Dad will never go for that.”

Paco got paler and paler. Brenda and I laughed even harder.

We picked on him a bit and then pedaled our way to my new school.

_______________________________

Can I bore you with my first day of school? I’d rather not, but then I’m sure there’s someone who will cry foul. So what do you want to know? I can tell you that as soon as the three of us arrived, everyone was looking at the new girl. It felt kind of weird walking down busy halls where people weren’t trying to trip me or stick things down my pants---don’t ask. Brenda and Paco stayed with me the whole time, sticking to either side of me like glue. Khaji was there too but the only thing she was good for was moral support, not that I didn’t need it. As I walked down the hall, all the eyes were on me and strangely enough most of them were leering male ones.

“You’ll get used to it,” Brenda whispered in my ear.

She and Paco led me to the main office. But before we got there, someone whistled at me and another guy “accidentally” brushed against my boobs when he was walking by. Paco wanted to pound the hell out of him but I let it slide. I was new that was all, fresh meat, blood in the water and whatever other analogy you can think of. It was the same way at RA except here, the people weren’t giving me disgusted looks and hoping I didn’t infect them with fleas---once again don’t ask. Right before entering the main office there was a guy leaning against a locker, he was one of those tall, blonde and mysterious types. He stared at me with intense blue eyes and something inside of me kind of jumped.

“I’m going to home room” said Paco, bailing. He didn’t like to be late for anything.

“Your serotonin levels just elevated a bit, are you in some kind of danger?”

I flushed and didn’t answer. I continued to stare at the guy, brushing my bangs out of my face. Brenda grabbed my arm and pulled me into the office. She gave me a knowing smile, which only caused me to blush even more. My heart skipped a beat. Was it possible? No, no way in hell, not me, not going to happen.

“You were crushing on him weren’t you?” she whispered as the two of us walked up to the receptionist’s desk.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The receptionist was a pleasant enough older woman with graying hair and a nice smile. I handed her my folder and waited while she looked up my information on the computer. It didn’t take her long and she handed me a large manila envelope. I took it and tore it open, dumping its contents into my palm. I had my picture taken the day of the tests and now I had my very own SCHW ID, it was kind of cool but the picture wasn’t very flattering... but those things never are. The only other thing in the envelope was a class schedule. Brenda took it from me before I had a chance to look and sighed a few times before handing it back.

“You’ve got P.E., Math and Art with me. The rest of the stuff is kind of a let down but what can you expect for someone transferring in.”

I looked at the schedule myself. It looked pretty much like my old school schedule expect instead of Technology, I was in Home Ec. I should have seen that one coming. They also had me in a class called Women’s Studies. That kind of surprised but once again, I should have seen it coming. I flipped the schedule over and saw a handwritten note scrawled on the back: it was from my Guidance Counselor, she wanted to meet with me at the end of the week to see how I was adjusting. I groaned; I was pretty sure what that was about. But I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day.

Brenda looped her arm through mine. “C’mon, I’ll show you to your first class seeing as we’ve pretty much missed home room.”

When we got outside, I looked over at the locker where the guy had been leaning, but of course he was gone. I felt a dull ache in my stomach because of it. But then again, everyone was gone because the hallway was deserted. They’re probably all in home room. Brenda led me down the hall anyway, pointing out a door where we should currently be---i.e. our home room---but then she leads me away, taking me to the door of my first period class, which happens to be English.

“I’ll see you in a couple of periods. I’ll meet you outside your History classroom so the two of us can walk to PE together.”

Then she was gone. I groaned and looked at my watch; class wasn’t set to start for another two minutes. I slid to the floor, using my backpack as a seat while I waited. Two minutes goes by really slow, especially if there’s no one around to talk too. Except of course in my case, I’d never really be alone again. But Khaji seemed on edge this morning. I’m not sure what it was but I could sense it in her voice. In fact, she’d been that way ever since our fight outside the diner. I tried asking her about it last night but she brushed it off as being tired. I asked again this morning and she said the fatigue of using the armor so much was getting to her. But I didn’t believe either for a second. Even know she was quiet which was usually one of the two things that Khaji Da was not.

“You do realize that I can hear every one of your thoughts.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine” she sighed. “This environment is strange and unusual to me. The whole concept of educating youth this way seems so foreign to me. Whatever happened to parents educating their children from their homes or young ones learning by watching others? This is a very strange society you live in.”

Her words were shattered by the ringing of the bell. This set her on high alert. It scared me a bit too. I jumped to my feet and the halls quickly flooded with students. During the rush, I grabbed my bag and slipped into my English classroom. I took a seat in the middle, which is neither the head of the class where the nerds sat or the back where the loners sat. Kind of in-between, just like me.

Do I need to bore you with all the details of every class? Well even if you want me to I’m not going to. I’ll give a rough rundown of them though. Like I said before, my first class was English. My teacher was droll and kind of boring. I stayed in the middle while the rest of the class filed in around me. The old battleaxe didn’t even bother to acknowledge my new girl status. But some of the students did, mainly the guys who were calling me the “hot new chick”. Go figure. I’m not good in English so I won’t bore you with the specifics. I can tell you that the class dragged on longer than it should have and when the bell finally rang to let us go, I was one of the first ones out the door.

My next class was history. The teacher was short and fat. I sat in the middle again. You’ll never guess who sat next to me---yep, Mr. Blue Eyes from the hall. He smiled at me and I flushed some more. God, I need to get that under control. I’m not very good in history, either, but all of that changed with Khaji on my side. It worked out really well when you had a seemingly immortal alien sentience sharing the same body as you. She practically lived through most of it. Today’s subject was Ancient Egypt; I think someone up there really loved me. Every question he asked I knew the answer but I didn’t answer them all because I didn’t want to sound like a brain. Hey, I’m not an idiot. The new girl, showing how smart she was on her first day, it was social suicide.

Brenda was waiting for my outside my history class. When she saw You-Know-Who walk out behind me, she gave me a little shove, causing me to bump into him.

“I’m sorry” he said, catching me, his strong hands on my shoulders.

I turned and looked up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. “Itssss okkk” I stammered, sounding like a total idiot.

“I’m Josh, you’re Josephina right?”

I said nothing but motor mouth Brenda did. “That’s right, but everyone calls her Josie.”

“It was nice catching you, Josie,” he said, letting me go and slipping off down the hall.

I gave Brenda a look of daggers and she playfully stuck her tongue out at me. We both laughed and continued on down the hall toward the Gym.

____________________________________

I got to venture where no man has gone before: the girls locker room. I should have been overly excited, after all, what guy my age wouldn’t want to be in the girl’s locker room watching them all change. The only problem is that as soon as I sat down on the bench, sweating, my gym clothes clinging to my body, I was just like the rest. No matter how I tried to get attracted to any of them, all I saw were fellow girls in various stages of undress. How disappointing is that. Here I was hoping I was a lesbian and now this pretty much confirmed I wasn’t. How much does that suck. I can’t say that I’m not surprised. After all, there was no doubt that I was attracted to Josh and all throughout P.E. I kept staring at the girls in their tight tops and tiny shorts, hoping to feel something. But no matter how much I tried there was nothing.

“What the hell are you doing?" asked Brenda through her teeth, glaring at me.

“Trying to see if I’m a lesbian” I whispered back, luckily no girls were close enough to hear.

Her eyes looked as if they were going to bulge from her head. She was shocked for a few seconds but recovered quickly. “What’s the verdict?”

I sighed. “One hundred percent heterosexual.”

We continued to change. I did it without looking at anyone’s boobs but my own. After that, the two of us went to Art together. How cool is it that we have two classes in a row. Art was fun, the highlight of my day so far, especially after the depressing gym class. The teacher was a fruit, who was obsessed with color, both on the canvas and in the clothes she wore. After Art, Brenda and I separated. I went to my Women’s Study class, the one I was dreading all day. Get this; it’s some kind of freaky feminist thing. Ok, not really, but it was all about women and it kind of bored me. I may look like a girl and sometimes act like one but I was still a guy where it counted. Even though that was disappearing a little each day.

After WS, it was Home Ec. They must have thought it a joke, giving me two feminine classes in a row. The teacher was kind of nice though and she helped me start my sewing project. Apparently, we’re supposed to sew our own stuffed animals. I guess that’s kind of cool. I picked out this pink bear, I think it will go nicely with the one Milagro gave me. Ok, so I’m a girl inside too, so sue me. Brenda and I met up for Math---more snoring---then we departed so I could go to science. Science is my class; it’s the one I excel at. I didn’t care if I came across as a nerd as I took one of the front lab stations, sitting with my back straight and my mind at full attention. I answered every question, once again not caring if I looked like a dweeb.

After science came lunch. Brenda was waiting outside my door again.

“How’s the day so far?” she asked as we walked side by side down the hall.

"Like a normal school day.”

Brenda snorted. “How’s Khaji liking school?” She asked this in a whisper so no one else could hear.

“She’s been surprisingly quiet. Besides helping me in history class, I haven’t heard a peep from her.”

“I’m resting,” said a groggy voice. “I store up a lot of energy and put them in my reserves but using the armor drains that energy. Usually I can recharge after a few days or so but you’ve been using it so much that I haven’t had a chance to do so.”

Boy did I feel like a dick. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Try avoiding danger for a few days.”

We walked into the Cafeteria. It was like any other high school cafeteria; it had several round tables and was filled to the brim with chattering teenagers. The drumming noise was so loud that I couldn’t hear anything Brenda said to me as we went through the lunch line. Paco was already at a table and was waving us over. His friend from yesterday was there too, the girl with the spiky hair, Lucinda I think. When Brenda and I sat, Paco made the quick introductions. I eyed the strange girl, looking her up and down. She was a weird one, who had that many piercings on only one side of their face like that.

I wanted to tell my friends about Khaji and her limits but I couldn’t mention any of that with Lucinda nearby. So instead, I was stuck listening to their day at the comic shop. Lucinda---call me Luce---was just as passionate about Warrior Angel as Paco and me. In fact, I think she knew more about him than the two of us combined. It was kind of cool but it was so not what I wanted to talk about. I kind of droned her out and looked around the cafeteria. It didn’t take me long to see that someone else was looking too. When Josh and I locked stares, I blushed again. He smiled. He was sitting by one of the tall windows, a huge group of popular looking kids sitting around him. He gestured to an empty seat next to him but I shook my head, pointing out my two friends.

“That one wears too much cologne, he smells like a men’s catalog."

I laughed inside my head. At least I hoped it was. I didn’t want anyone to think the new girl was nuts and laughed at nothing. "You sound kind of jealous?"

This time Khaji laughed. “I’m an artificial construct; I do not have human emotions.”

I left it at that.

Brenda waved her hand in front of my face, snapping her fingers as she did so. “Earth to Josie, you there?”

I snapped around. “Sorry, what did I miss?”

Brenda laughed. “The four of us, this weekend, we’re going into the city to some concert. Luce thinks she can score us some tickets.”

I nodded. “Sounds cool to me.”

Lunch dissolved into more pointless rambling about what music we all liked and things like that. It was over all too quickly. After lunch, I had two study halls in a row. Apparently, it was too late in the year for me to take electives so they stuck me in study hall. At least I’ll be able to get all my work done, but it still kind of sucked. Well, the first one did anyway. The second one kind of rose away from sucking as soon as Josh walked into the room. Ok, its official, I’m so totally crushing on him. I can’t help it. My male brain keeps telling me it’s so damn wrong but my female brain is telling my male one to shut up and get with the program. Khaji is remarkably quiet.

Listen to my vocabulary, it’s like my mind has been taken over by the brain dead teenage girls from Venus or something. I need to stop watching all those stupid teen dramas with Milagro; they’re definitely starting to seep into my brain.

Josh sat next to me but we weren’t allowed to talk. It was study hall after all. That didn’t stop him from passing a note here and there. Most of them were questions and mainly they were about me. It was kind of funny actually, because if he knew who I’d been he’d probably kick my ass. It was kind of flattering though. I did my best to answer back, scribbling a little bit and sliding it back over. The Moderator gave us dirty looks but she never caught on to what we were doing. We had a good time writing back and forth. Yes I know it’s kind of clichéd but that’s how it happened.

When the second study hall was over, it was the first class of the day that I was reluctant to leave. When I did, Brenda was waiting for me, alone.

“Where’s Paco?”

She rolled her eyes. “He and Little Miss Warrior Angel are going to the comic shop; you and I are on our own.”

We both shared a laugh and walked down the hall toward the exit. Ok, my first day of school was now officially over. What’s the final tally: boring as hell. But I have to say thanks to Josh, I might be looking forward to class tomorrow. Thinking about him brought a smile to my lips, one that Brenda didn’t catch, thank God. I never would have heard the end of it if she caught me crushing on him anymore than I already was. It was bad enough that I was crushing on him at all; I didn’t need her adding to that embarrassment with her constant teasing.

We started toward the bike rack when we both noticed the limo. It was hard not to, after all it took up at least three parking spots in front of the school. We both knew who it belonged too as well. So when the driver got out and opened one of the doors, Brenda was already walking toward it. Her aunt got out, dressed in a white pantsuit today, her hair flowing in the gentle breeze. Several kids and a couple of teachers stopped to gawk. I stood about ten feet away, looking the car up and down. Limos were never my thing, too flashy if you ask me. At RA, a lot of the students arrived in them; it was some kind of status thing. Whoever had the biggest limo had the most money. It was like a game to the rich, trying to one up the other with size.

It was kind of stupid to me. Brenda and her aunt talked for a couple of minutes. Her aunt handed her something and then Brenda came walking back over, putting what appeared to be a bracelet around her wrist. She had another one in her hand, her face aglow with the biggest smile.

“Look what Amparo got us,” she said, holding up a bracelet that was identical to her own. “She had them specially made for us.”

“She hardly knows me,” I said as Brenda grabbed my wrist and clasped my gold bracelet onto it.

“Don’t question it. When my aunt gives you gifts, just smile and say thank you. Because she doesn’t take no for an answer.”

So I smiled and waved my wrist in the air happily. Amparo returned the smile, though hers looked more fake than mine. What the hell was her problem? I stared at her for a few seconds, my eyes narrowing into deadly slits. She returned the glare. Clearly, something about me pissed her off and I know there was something about her I never really liked.

“Did she say what she was doing here?” I asked, my dislike for her in the tone of my voice. I didn’t mean for it too sound so snarky but it happened.

Brenda ignored it. She knew how much I disliked her aunt. “She’s going out of town on business for a couple of days. She wants me to ride to the airport with her and see her off. I told her we had plans but she insisted. Is it ok if we do our homework together tomorrow?”

I sighed inwardly. Brenda and I have been spending a lot of time together. We were closer than ever now and seeing as it looked like Paco had himself a girlfriend, I was kind of screwed as far as companionship went. But there was no way I was going to tell her that. So I nodded my head. “Like you said, she doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Brenda half smiled. She leaned over and hugged me. “I knew you’d understand. I’ll see you tomorrow morning; I’ll be by bright and early.”

We separated then Brenda walked over to the limo. The driver put her bike in the trunk as Brenda slipped inside. Amparo turned me and gave me this look, one that was so sweet that it was fake. She gave me a strong assertive wave then slipped into the back behind Brenda as the driver closed the door.
What a bitch.

________________________________

I was riding home by myself again. The worst part, not even Khaji seemed up to conversation. Apparently using the armor too much was too much even for her. I tried talking to her a few times but got only grumbles in response. So my seemingly invincible friend wasn’t so invincible after all. I guess that’s a good thing to know. It meant that Blue Beetle could only go into battle every couple of days and then recharge. I suppose that was all good if there was no one to fight but I’m not sure what’s going to happen if I walk into it. What happens when the fight comes looking for me. I know it hasn’t really happened yet---the encounter with Posse doesn’t count---but the more known I get, the more likely someone is going to come looking for the Blue Beetle. It was inevitable, it happened in the comics all the time too.

“You’re thinking too much, be quieter” mumbled Khaji, apparently she wasn’t as asleep as I thought she was.

“How long does it usually take for the armor to recharge?”

“Twelve hours at most. Maybe longer, depending on how long it was used for. It should be fully recharged by tomorrow morning.”

“Good to know.”

“Now stop thinking and let me rest.”

Sure, easy for her to say. As soon as someone tells you to stop thinking, that’s exactly what you do. Like in Ghostbusters, where they were supposed to clear their minds and of course Ray doesn’t. It’s really hard to stop doing something, especially when you’re told to specifically stop doing that one thing. How can anyone really stop thinking anyway? It’s kind of annoying to think about isn’t it?

The wind was picking up. I hunched over the front of my bike and tried to peddle faster. I was coming up on the alley, which was a sight for sore eyes. It was pretty warm this morning so I didn’t wear a jacket to school. But somewhere between then and now, about seven hours or so, the wind had picked up and the air was much colder. It wasn’t so bad walking but riding it was a killer. The wind howled around me, stinging my face and my bare arms. It was horrible. What made things worse was the fact that it was getting late. Ok, it wasn’t that late but my father was expecting me home. Remember how overprotective he got; well now his daughter has a curfew. I’m supposed to come straight home from school, do my homework and tell him if I have plans so I can go out with his permission. How messed up is that?

My mother has no say this week because she’s working strange hours and won’t be around much during my waking hours. So I was stuck with my father and his tyrannical rule. There was definitely a cure coming I just needed to figure out how to organize one. I wonder if Milagro would be up to the task of helping me tie my father to a chair and locking him in the downstairs closet. He was just as hard on her too, so I’m sure she’d be all for it. I guess it’s kind of ironic though. I used to tease her all the time about how overprotective Dad was with her and now Fate seemed to be very cruel indeed.

I put on the speed, as I got closer to the alley. I zipped into it, the wind whipping my shirt as I rode. When I came to the end of it, it looked like I was scot-free. Boy was I wrong. If Khaji had been awake, she probably could have warned me. But seeing as she wasn’t, I never saw him until it was too late. A large hand came lashing from around the corner, grabbing the back wheel of my bike. Going at the speed I was riding, I went right over the handlebars. I slid when I hit the ground, scraping up the flesh on my arms and tearing big holes in my new jeans. When I finally stopped sliding, I ended up in a pile of garbage.

My head was spinning and my whole body hurt. I pushed myself up with my hands, spitting dirt and muck from my mouth. Then I turned and saw what hit me.

My eyes seemed to bulge out of my head at the size of him. He was humongous, the biggest guy I’d ever seen. He was dressed in a hooded trench coat and was holding my bicycle high over his head by the back wheel. In one fluid motion, he slammed it down on the ground, crumpling it like tin foil. I groaned it was a good bike; I was going to miss it. He picked up the mangled hunk of metal and tossed it into the disused lot. Then he came for me. I slid back, finding myself quickly out of room as my back pressed against a wall.

“You have been bested, heathen of Satan” said the thing that I thought was a man. His voice was rough and gravelly. “Repent and welcome the Lord’s worship.”

Was this guy for real? “Khaji wake up, I need the armor.”

The man walked toward me. His huge mass loomed over me, blocking out the light. “Do you repent or do I have to smite you?”

I bit my lip. I closed my eyes, trying to summon the armor on my own. But as hard as I tried, there was nothing. Damn, looks like I’ll have to improvise. So instead of saying anything, I used the wall to push myself into a standing position. I was kind of wobbly, my back and legs sore from the impact with the ground. The thing walked toward me again, now only a few feet away. It smelled absolutely horrible, like rotting flesh.

The Thing started talking again. “I am the Bottom Feeder, I am the Instrument of God, I work for those who are Worthy to seek out the justice of the Lord.”

I smiled and nodded. Is this guy for real? And why was he telling me everything, it was like he was monologuing or something. Did he think he was a Bond villain?

“Can you tell me who was so worthy to seek your employ?”

I needed to get to the bottom of this crap and fast. It was clear that this thing was lying in wait for me. Which meant someone was trying to take me out. It also meant that someone figured out who was behind the Blue Beetle mask. That was never a good thing.

“My Patron is a Worthy and Just Lady. She has sought my aid to abolish the Blue Devil and send it back to Hell from whence it came.”

I groaned. You’ve got to be kidding me. I took a stab at it. “Your Patron, she wouldn’t happen to be La Dama would she?”

“She did not give her name but called herself a Champion of Justice.”

Justice my ass. I took a deep breath and slowly starting sliding down the wall, trying to get away from this thing. If I could slip back up the alley then I could run back to the school and maybe call the police. So that’s what I tried to do, keeping It distracted by nodding my head and smiling as big as I could. Everyone said I was pretty and now I’m hoping that it will be enough to fool this moron long enough to escape.

“I’m not the Blue Devil,” I said, trying to keep him preoccupied. “But she’s a friend of mine; she lives on the other side of town. If you hurry you might be able to catch her.”

Hey, it was worth a shot.

He turned and looked in the direction I pointed. I think he debated it for a few seconds then turned back to me. Even though the hood hid his face, I could tell he was pissed. He grumbled and reached out for me. “I tire of your games, Devil.”

His hands wrapped around my throat. I tried to resist but he was so strong. He lifted me off the ground. He squeezed down on my windpipe, cutting off the oxygen. The world started to go black and blotchy, fuzzing in and out. I vaguely saw a shape appear behind him, it was a guy with black skin. I heard a shout and someone running toward us but it was all a blur. The thing let me go. I fell on my knees gasping for breath. I rubbed my throat and then took a foot to the head.

I blacked out after that.