So Not a Hero by S.J. Delos Page A

baited. Not surprising. She had far more self-control than Rocket, not to mention that we’d thrown down several times, always to a near-draw. It had been over two years since we’d been face to face. I’d been ripping up chunks of concrete to throw at her and she’d been zapping and dodging them. “Decided to try things from the other side of the law, huh?”
    I shrugged. “Maybe.” I pointed at Manpower. “All I did was give him a hand with rounding up some bad guys and all of a sudden, he’s signing me up for truth and justice.”
    One perfectly arched brow slipped upwards a tic. “Oh? That should be interesting to see. I don’t exactly share his view on rehabilitation so be assured that if you revert back to being Crushette, I will beat you down.”
    “That would be a first.” I sighed and looked over at Manpower. “See? No beating on the heroes. I was listening, you know.”
    Alexis defused the situation by speaking up as she looked at Manpower. “How’s Robbie?”
    The hero shrugged. “He went for a flight. Said he needed it to calm down.”
    Darla looked at me. “I take it he’s still pouting because he flew into you and knocked himself out?”
    The teen’s head whipped around to us. “How come everyone knows this story but me?”
    “You were still un-Activated when it happened,” I said.
    The door behind me whooshed again and when I turned around, I was greeted with the presence of one of the planet’s richest men.
    Richard Paulus wore a pair of black slacks and a light gray silk shirt with an open collar. Dark brown hair perfectly coiffed and a grin on his face that said he’d just thought of something extremely pleasing. Probably just learned he’d made another million. I had to admit, he was a very handsome individual. When the door closed behind him, he drifted over to the five of us, hands shoved into his front pockets.
    Everyone but Daniel got a nod of acknowledgement.
    He looked at me, lingering longer below my neck than I’d preferred before turning to Mister Manpower. “Greg, who’s your new friend?”
    Manpower gestured in my direction. “Richard, this is Karen. Our new recruit. Karen, this is our leader, Richard Paulus.”
    I stuck out my hand but the billionaire arched a brow. He looked me up and down again before walking in circle around me. One hand came out of his pocket to tap lightly on his lips in contemplation. I felt like a piece of meat on display in the butcher’s window. When he faced me again, his gaze rested on the chest of the tight pink t-shirt for a few seconds.
    He finally looked at my face and smiled before turning back to Manpower. “Okay, she’s definitely hot. I thought you said you were bringing some Japanese chick here. Moshimoto or something like that.”
    Over his left shoulder, I saw Power Brain roll his eyes and Omega-Girl face-palm. Alexis giggled and Greg just looked uncomfortably embarrassed.
    I crossed my arms over my chest to block any further ogles and glared at him. “It’s Hashimoto. And I’m only a half-Japanese chick .”
    The leader of the most renowned super team on the East Coast turned back to me and gave me a wink that practically begged me to black his eye. “It’s got to be the bottom half because the top is all-US of A.”
    And that’s how I met Captain Awesome.

CHAPTER 5: A BRAND NEW START
    The team debated for a half hour before finally deciding to give me a chance to prove I could be a hero.
    Even though they had me wait in a locked room with a TV I couldn’t find the remote for, the raised voices carrying through the closed door let me know some of the Good Guys thought my induction would be the worst idea since Particle Man’s run for President. Giving up on being able to turn the channel to something other than MSNBC, I removed a rather ugly piece of modern art from its spot on the wall and put it in front of the screen to block both the images and the obnoxious reporter. Then I went over to stand next to the door