Subgenre: Superhero
Conflict: Get the Band Back Together!
Element to Include: Flying Monkeys
Hope you enjoy A Night Off!
***************
“Did you get my evite?”
Darcy
didn’t look up from her computer. “I was giving you the benefit of the doubt
and assuming it was a joke.”
Lounging
in the doorway, Anna sighed heavily. All of the papers went flying off the
desk.
Darcy
closed her eyes momentarily before finally looking toward her visitor.
“Sorry.”
Anna winced, grabbing at the loose pages.
“Why
are you here?”
“Lunch
break. And you hadn’t answered.”
“So,
not a joke?”
“No.”
Darcy
turned back to her computer. “Fine, I’ll decline and you can go back to work.”
“Darce,
come on.” Anna dropped the papers on the desk and flopped into the chair across
from her friend.
“Absolutely
not.”
“What
if I said it was a matter of life and death?”
Darcy
rolled her eyes. “I’d say you were full of it.”
“Fate
of the world being at stake?”
“Same
answer. More expletives.”
Anna
dropped her head. “We need a night off. More, we deserve it. We save people
lives every day. I mean, we’re superheroes! Who deserves it more?”
Darcy
flicked her wrist and, across the room, the office door slammed shut. “What
time is it?”
Anna
sighed again, but managed to keep it controlled. “12:23 in the afternoon.”
“Well,
if that’s the time, then what I am is a human resources representative. And
what you are is a librarian who needs to keep her mouth shut.”
“You’re
right. I’m sorry. We just all really need this.”
Darcy
rubbed her eyes. It had been a difficult year and it was no secret that the
League’s morale was on the less sunny side of the street. Losing one of your
own did that.
“You
guys take the night. I’ll patrol,” Darcy offered.
Anna
shook her head. “Lara and Jen are only in if you’re in too.” She rushed on
before Darcy could refuse. “It’s not going to take long. An hour, maybe two. Still
time for prime patrolling.”
Were
they crazy? “First time we were on stage, we were all struck by lightning.”
“Freak
storm.”
“Which
turned us into the same. And the second – ”
“You
threw up, I know.”
Darcy
laughed without humor. “I think you’re underselling it a little.”
“Fine.”
Anna groaned. “You got all up in everyone’s head and made the whole audience
throw up, too. Not great, I know. But you were still getting used to your
powers. That doesn’t still happen. It’s why you work in HR, because you’re so
good around people.”
Even
just thinking back to those early days made Darcy mildly nauseous. “On an individual
level or small groups. But I avoid crowds and you know that. So, we’re done
talking.”
“You
used to live to play.”
The
twinge she felt only made Darcy angrier. She flicked her wrist, opening the
office door. And ignored her friend’s pleas as she mentally pushed Anna’s chair
from the room, slamming the door behind her. “Done.”
*******************
They
banged on her apartment door for a good fifteen minutes before losing patience.
Finally, Jen walked through the wall and unlocked the door for the others.
Darcy was surprised it took that long.
She
glanced up from her book. “You know that’s rude.”
“It
was either me, or Lara was going to rip the door off the hinges.” Jen shrugged
daintily.
“Apparently
the subtlety of a locked door is a little too much for you, so to spell it out,
I don’t want you here.”
The
other three women didn’t appear overly insulted, simply taking their favored
spots around the room as they had done countless times before. Darcy made a
point of not looking at the empty ottoman in the corner.
A
high pitched gibbering sounded from above and a small winged marmoset landed on
the couch behind Darcy’s shoulder.
Jen
shuttered. “I still don’t understand why you kept that little horror. A guest
sees a flying monkey and they’re going to ask questions.”
“Yet
another reason not to have guests.” Darcy drew the marmoset into her lap,
lightly petting his wings. “Anyway, Lenny’s a sweetheart, aren’t you? It’s not
your fault your creator was an evil mastermind who we had to imprison in the Arctic, is it?”
“Well,
this is enthralling.” Lara stood up to pace. She never sat for long. Darcy
figured there was just too much power in her body for it to be comfortable at
rest. “Now, get your fiddle, we’ve got a show.”
“No.”
Anna
moaned. “Darcy, come on. One night! If there’s any vomiting, we’ll never ask
you again. But, let’s have some fun first. We were gonna be the next big thing,
remember?”
“Yeah.
Always such a high demand for girl groups singing traditional Celtic tunes. And
do you really think our lives suffer from a lack of notoriety?” Darcy gestured to
the day’s newspaper, adorned with a full page photo of their recent
interruption of a bank robbery.
“This
isn’t about the League. This is about us. Who we really are.” Jen continued
softly, “I know you were blood, but she was a sister to all of us, Darce.”
Darcy
focused on Lenny as Jen spoke. “We all miss her and it’s taking its toll. If we
don’t find ways to recharge, we’re going to be worse than of no use to the
world. We’re going to be a danger.”
“And
you really think that playing in some dive bar is going to stop that?” Darcy
asked bitterly. “Stop me from lobotomizing the city that killed her, simply
because I can?”
Jen
knelt in front of her, taking her hands. “We’re hoping it’s a start.”
Darcy
looked up at her friends, seeing their concern clearly for the first time. Her
eyes darted against her will to the empty ottoman.
She
pulled her hands back and gave Lenny a little pat. He flew up to rest on the
stationary fan blades. Ripping her gaze from the ottoman, she stood up. “I’ll
get the damn fiddle.”
