James slowly cracked his eyes open and glanced around. There wasn't a clock on the wall, so he checked his phone for the time. Almost noon.
With a heaving sigh he lifted his heavy head off the couch and tried to convince himself to head for the kitchen. A couple coughs shook his body, and his dry mouth indicated he needed water. Or at least something to quench thirst.
He stood, holding his aching head in one hand. He needed to find something to eat and drink, no matter how much he wanted to flop back down on the couch and sleep another day away. And after that he'd have to go on patrol again. Without Achilles, people would feel less safe, especially while Paris and Phantasma were still on the loose.
Plus the Legion. They'd want to know how he was doing, and they needed a plan to deal with any villainous activity. They should probably also work out patrol schedules so there was always someone to respond. It would be ideal if multiple people could go at a time and cover different areas, but they only had five members.
James threw some mystery meat in the microwave and poured himself a glass of water. It was lukewarm, and tasted foul going down, but he finished it and turned on the tap for another. When the meat was done, he tossed in on a piece of bread and scarfed down the sandwich, not worrying about scalding his fingers. Miracles were useful like that.
When he was done, he got a third glass of water, even if he felt like two was more than enough, and flopped back at the couch. A quick check of the TV showed nothing worthwhile. That meant he'd have to go do something useful.
But how could he do something useful if he only felt like sleeping?
What was wrong with him?
James shook his head, hoping the daze would go with it, and headed outside for the first time since he'd gotten home two days ago. For one, he needed groceries. More importantly, Achilles had to contact his Legion.
He'd done enough lazing about.
Courtney slipped in the door to Little Fancy, though the bell above the door made any attempt at stealth useless. Was it just a sort of habit of hers?
Not worth thinking too much about.
The little storefront was...busy. All sorts of fabric was leaning in rows, and there didn't seem to be a bit of wasted space. Garments hung on the walls, a shoe rack was in front of the counter, and several boxes were stacked behind said counter. Busy was a kind way of describing it. One might call it cluttered.
A woman with messy hair popped out of the back and Courtney took a deep breath.
"Can I help you?" The shopkeeper closed her sketchbook and put it on the counter, stowing her pencil over her ear.
"I hear you do costumes?" Courtney asked. "As in Jumper's?"
The woman paused for a second, then nodded. A serious look came over her face as she leaned on the counter.
"Superhero or villain?" The question took Courtney by surprise.
"What? Hero...I guess?"
"Name?"
"I thought Jumper said - "
"Superhero name."
"Uh, Lightning."
"Fine." The woman straightened and held out her hand. "Name's Louise. I run Little Fancy. It's my baby. Sorry about all the questions. Last guy to come in for a suit turned out to want it to commit crimes."
Courtney tentatively shook Louise's hand.
"What about that last guy?"
"You'd know him as Paris, as he so eloquently presented himself. If he was here, I'd kick him where it hurts."
"Yikes. Yeah, I'm definitely not on his side. I'm actually working..." She trailed off, deciding not to tell Louise that she was with the military. Might come back to bite her later.
"Yeah, Legion, right? At least you're an adult. Jumper's just a nineteen year old kid and that other one probably wasn't even in high school."
"That child will not be in the Legion if I have anything to say about it," Courtney said. Louise grinned and flipped her sketchbook open.
"So what sort of thing can I make for you?"
"I'd like the mask to expose my nostrils and mouth if possible," Courtney started. As she talked, Louise scribbled down notes. "Material should be light and flexible, easy to move in. And it should deal well with sweat. I'll probably be doing a lot of that."
"Standard fare," Louise chuckled. "Any ideas for colour or style?"
"I'm not too picky. I do need gloves, preferably with solid padding. Maybe a hard plate on the outside? But I really don't want to break my hand by accident."
"A good plan."
"Flat shoes, like runners."
"Shoes or boots?"
"Actually, I think I like the boots idea."
"Fantastic. Colour? Yellow like lightning?"
"Ugh. I guess? Maybe yellow...orange...purple? I like purple."
"It would look good with the yellow. And orange would make a good colour as well. Cape?"
"No way. Nothing to get in the way of my movement. If I can't move, I'm useless."
"Got it. Streamlined, few accents. Head covering?"
"Don't really need it." The military knew who she was anyway. "Probably gonna keep my hair bunned, so maybe a hat?"
"Hat...or I could build the mask into a sort of helmet."
"A legit helmet would be good. Gotta protect the ol' noggin."
"Alright. I haven't made a functional helmet before, so this will be a fun challenge. I'll add some lightning bolt motifs too. And the gloves...how big do you want them?"
Courtney flexed her hands a few times before answering.
"Big enough for good padding, mostly on the back of the hand, but small enough in the fingers that I can actually use them."
"Do you want spikes on the plates?"
"Hell no! II don't wanna accidentally kill anyone. Hey, in the spirit of non-lethality, can we make the plates removable?"
"Sure thing. Shouldn't be too hard if I use a pouch and zipper or something."
"Great. Thanks." Courtney looked at the sketch Louise was starting.
A large woman was the base - which was obviously based on Courtney - and she was posed in a heroic stance, with hands on hips and chest puffed out proudly. It looked a bit like a comic book character. Boots went about halfway up the woman's calves, over a pair of tight athletic pants. Her shirt had long sleeves that disappeared into a pair of large purple gloves. The gloves weren't very detailed.
Mini lightning bolts snaked down the front and sleeves of the shirt, purple bolts on orange stripes. The rest of the suit was yellow. A helmet reminiscent of a knight was next, with a T shape in it to allow for sight and the exposed nose and mouth Courtney had requested. Next to the helmet, Louise wrote "Resketch after research".
Finally she drew an enlarged version of the gloves, detailing the zipper pouches where the plates would go. One large one over the back of her hand, and one over each of the first section of her four fingers. Courtney hoped it would let her hands still function. Though, in the worst case scenario she could probably remove them.
"Can you make the gloves clip to a belt or something?" Louise nodded and scribbled down the note, then turned the book around.
"How's it look?"
"As good as anything." Courtney laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm not much for fashion. As long as the clothes function I don't care too much about what they look like."
"Sounds good to me. Lets me flex my design muscles a bit." Louise giggled.
"This was kind of fun. More fun than my roommate dragging me around to use as a dress-up doll."
"You poor soul. I will happily make any clothes you want."
"Hey, speaking of, how much will I owe you do you think?"
"Oh boy. Brass tacks, huh?"
They spent the next few minutes discussing prices and rates. In the end, Courtney was a bit surprised at how much it was, but it felt like a good purchase what with all the time Louise would pour into it.
"So Jumper referred you?" Louise asked once the money stuff had been squared away.
"Yeah. He said you treated him well and I had no idea where else I'd go."
"Ha. I guess I do have a pretty niche business, huh? It wasn't Achilles?"
"Nah. I haven't really talked to the guy, what with the whole Paris thing and him winding up in the hospital."
Louise glared and muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Paris had better hope the military gets to him before I do. I will pound that punk flat if I ever see him again."
"I appreciate the thought, but maybe stick to civilian stuff?"
"I did. And then he used my work - my pride and joy - to cause chaos and all kinds of problems! Seriously, putting Achilles in the hospital was going way too far. I might not have your fancy powers, but mark my words I will make sure Paris doesn't mess with me again."
Courtney couldn't help laughing.
"What?" Louise asked.
"You talk pretty big. No combat training, no powers, and you wanna take down Paris. Makes me ashamed of ever being nervous of him."
"Oh you should be nervous of him. Just be more scared of me." Louise winked and laughed.
"You truly are a force to be reckoned with."
"Who do you think ratted him out to the military? You keep my secret and I'll keep yours."
"Whoa. That's actually pretty badass. If you're nervous of him coming after you, I could make a point of checking in regularly."
"Thanks. But if he shows up and you catch him, I get to kick him once as hard as I want."
"Deal."
