Patchwork Magisters Supernatural enforcement for a superhuman world.

Kryptonite, Part Five

Catherine around the lobby of the small office building, raising an eyebrow. She glanced at the directory again for confirmation. “Third floor,” she murmured. “Sunderstorm Enterprises.”

“Not very imposing for the city’s best supervillain,” Blossom said. “I thought he’d have a big mountain lair, or a gleaming skyscraper, or something.”

“Well, I guess not.” Catherine said. “Maybe crime doesn’t pay after all.”

As the two stepped into the elevator, Blossom reached out and stopped Catherine from pressing the ‘up’ button. Catherine looked over at her. “Is everything alright?”

“That’s what I should be asking you,” Blossom said. “You’re being kind of… well, I don’t know, but it’s strange. Are you going to flip out on Sunderstorm?”

“No!” Catherine said with a laugh. “Why would you think that?”

“Well,” Blossom said carefully, “if I thought someone had stolen my powers, I’d be kind of upset.” She shook her head. “Normally, I’d trust that you’d stay in control, but there’s something different about you since you lost the flute.”

“Different…” Catherine mused. After a moment, she nodded.“You’re right, Blossom. There is. I hadn’t really thought about it until you mentioned it.”

“What is it?” Blossom said cautiously.

“I’m relaxed,” Catherine admitted.

Blossom stared at her, mask blank. “What?”

Catherine ran a hand through her hair. “Blossom, you only met me after I first got that damned flute. I’ve been holding on to my emotions, watching myself for any signs that I might be slipping. Everywhere I went, no matter what was happening, I could feel that pressure, just lurking in the back of my mind, waiting for a moment when I slipped. I got so used to it that I forgot it was there.” She shook her head slowly. “But it’s not there anymore. I can’t really describe it, but… it’s just nice to be normal again. I’m not going to get back at Sunderstorm, Blossom, don’t worry. I’m not angry.”

Blossom’s mask didn’t change. “If you’re normal,” she said softly, “are you going to leave, too?”

There was a long pause. “Oh,” Catherine said faintly. “Whatever’s happening, it’s not going to last forever. I know that. And anyway,” she added, gently pushing Blossom’s hand aside and pressing the third floor button on the elevator, “Lots of people at the base don’t have powers. Even Jack’s powers don’t help him in a fight…” She broke off, and her face clouded over. “That is, even if I don’t get the flute back, I’m still a highly trained and decorated soldier with a year’s experience fighting magical threats. I think Yousef can whip up some tools to let me contribute on the front lines.”

Blossom nodded, with a slight smile. “That makes sense,” she said.

The doors hissed open, and the two walked out into a small, comfortable-looking lobby. A receptionist sitting at the desk glanced up. “Can I help… oh!” She did a double-take, adjusting her glasses. “Aren’t you the Magisters?”

“Yes. We’re here to see Sunderstorm,” Catherine said firmly, stepping forwards.

“Oh, well, I don’t know if that’s actually possible, he’s very busy and you didn’t call ahead to say that you were coming, and today’s a Wednesday and he’s always…”

“It’s fine, Trish.” The door behind the receptionist opened, and Sunderstorm stepped out. He was a young Korean man, currently wearing a slightly rumpled sports jacket and a business shirt without a tie. “Captain Becker, Miss Blossom. Pleasure to meet you. I’m Keith Choi, commonly known as Sunderstorm.”

“Good to meet you, Mr. Choi,” Catherine said, shaking his hand. “I was hoping we could ask you some questions about that mirror you found.”

“Oh, that,” Choi shook his head with a sigh. “I’d be happy to help, but I’m not sure I can do much. Please, come into my office.”

Choi’s office was not much larger than the reception area. “We use most of the floor for testing and planning,” he said apologetically, gesturing off to the right as Blossom and Catherine sat in the only two chairs besides his own. “So, the magic mirror, huh? What a disappointment.”

“Yes, we’d heard it didn’t perform quite as advertised,” Catherine said wryly. “Are your own powers magical in nature?”

“Nah, I got my powers in a lab accident. Long story, but they’re basically imbued pseudotech.” Choi answered with a smile. “This was my first and last foray into the field. Next time, I’m buying some more Malefico goods like I usually do. Their new Generic Non-Harmful Explosives were just released. Look pretty cool.”

“How do you make a non-harmful explosive?” Blossom asked with a frown.

“No idea, I’m not a pseudotech.” Choi shrugged.

“The mirror, though,” Catherine said after a moment of consideration. “Where did you get it?”

“Nothing too special there, either. I did a team-up with the Minitaur. Fun guy, a supervillain operating out of Dublin. Super-strong, even though he’s only four feet tall. Picked up a bus and used it to knock Shatterdrive sprawling.” He sat back. “Good times. Anyway, he had the mirror lying around. Said he’d never managed to charge it up, but he thought maybe Detroit would do the trick; there’s still a lot of residual magic around from that whole Evangel thing last year. So I traded him my hoverbike for it. I mean, I can fly, I don’t really need a hoverbike, but they’re kind of cool.”

“And it didn’t work?” Blossom prodded.

“No, that’s the weird thing. When I tested the mirror on myself, it worked perfectly. Shut down my powers completely until I stepped away.” Choi shrugged again. “When I set up my next fight, I created a hall of mirrors so that no matter where Turbine and Shatterdrive turned, they’d be reflected. I figured it would buy me enough time to grab the loot I was after, but it didn’t do a thing to them. They just walked over to the mirror, knocked it over, and took the money back.” He sighed. “Maybe it only had enough of a charge for the once.”

“Maybe not,” Catherine said. “The mirror’s still active.”

“Well, no big danger there,” Choi said. “Just put a cover over it.”

Blossom sighed. “Aren’t you mad that the plan didn’t work?”

“No, actually, it worked out pretty well. Just not how I planned.” When Catherine and Blossom stared at him, Choi elaborated. “Well, an advertising company saw the fight, and they really liked the imagery. I’ve got an action figure in the works. If it works out, I could retire young.”

“And that doesn’t seem strange to you?” Blossom asked carefully.

“Why would it be?” Choi asked back.

“Right,” Blossom said slowly. “What exactly does this mirror do? I mean, word for word?”

“Uh… it renders those that it reflects powerless, for as long as their reflection sits within its glass,” Choi said after a moment of thought. “I think? It was translated from ancient gaelic, there could be some variables.”

“Right,” Catherine said, standing. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Choi. We’ll be in touch.”

As the two walked out, Blossom glanced over to Catherine. “Well, that was interesting,” she said.

“Interesting,” Catherine agreed, “but not very useful. We still don’t have any leads.” She looked back to find Blossom staring at her. “What?”

“Oh, boy,” Blossom muttered. “This thing is worse than I thought.”