Chapter 10

“She outsped me.”

“You certainly didn’t think you’d be the fastest person in the world, did you?”

“No, of course not! I mean, there’s you! But excluding you, yes I did!”

“Donna, that is very naïve of you.”

“Come ON! We got our powers from the very universe itself! We should be unbeatable!”

“She didn’t say that to me in any moment. She said that to you?”

“… No.”

Rachel stood up, and went to the window to gaze at the traffic below. She sipped her tea thoughtfully. “Donna, I don’t think you understand what we are doing here.”

“Do you?”

Rachel lowered her head. “I don’t. But I’ve given it some thought. A lot of thought.”

“And?”

“I think we’re part of some sort of game.”

“A game?”

“Yes. We are the defenders of this planet. The Mother is pitting us against a diverse array of challenges so we prove ourselves.”

“That is bullshit.”

“Why else would she create someone that is faster than you and does not intend to do good with her powers?”

“Maybe she hasn’t got her powers from The Mother.”

Rachel was deep lost in thought. “I considered that also, of course. But then, how?”

“Magic?”

“Yes, your … thundery friend has proven magic to be real, of all things. Yet …”

Donna stood up. She was too nervous to sit down. “Rachel, I’m scared shitless here. Have you thought about what this means? Have you? I mean, this is just a petty bank robber. She is faster than me, but that’s it. But what if someone stronger than us appear? Someone that really wants to fuck things up? What the fuck will we do?!”

Rachel hugged Donna, who was trembling with fear and nervousness. She stroke her hair slowly, and kissed her forehead.

“Calm down, Donna, please. I don’t like seeing you like that.”

“I’m j-just a girl, R-Rachel …” Donna was sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m not r-ready for this … I didn’t ask for this.”

Rachel grabbed Donna’s cheek and raised her eyes, staring deep into them. She kissed her tenderly, making her crying subside.

“I’m here for you, ok? You can always count on me. Always.”

“T-thanks … Sorry … I totally overreacted here.”

“It’s ok, darling. I understand.” Rachel was actually much more worried than she seemed to be. The train of thought Donna was having crossed her mind as soon as she heard her story about her encounter with Velocity the night before. It made her bones shiver, but she had to be strong. She had to be Donna’s north. “Now, focus. We have got to stop Velocity.”

“But … How?”

“You’ll need help from the police, I think.”

“What do you mean, ‘you’?”

Rachel looked into her eyes, more serious than she had ever been to her. “This is your mission, Donna. You have to protect the people from themselves. That’s what the Mother told you. You can’t expect me to bail you out every time you don’t manage to succeed.”

Donna lowered her head. She hated when Rachel was strict like that, because she was right every time. “OK … I’ll try. I’ll go have a word with the captain.”

“You go, girl”

Donna shot to her bedroom, coming back in a second in full costume. She was wearing something that resembled an armor, with plates and scales all over, and a reinforced cape.

“You do know your skin is probably harder than that armor, right?”

“This makes me feel safer.”

“Donna, come here.” She went, and Rachel hugged her. “You won’t get hurt today, Donna. That girl can’t hurt you. She’s just fast. Nothing she can do can ever harm you. Now go get her, ok?”

With a warm and reassured smile, she opened the window, and flew towards the police station.

Chapter 11

It was late night when a sonic boom exploded halfway across the city, although only Donna heard it at the bank they were in. They placed a lure in the media, saying that a huge amount of cash from a multibillionaire transition was being held at this very bank. They were sure that would caught the thief’s greed.

“She’s coming.”

Every police officer in the building took position, as if obeying the orders of a general. All snipers were pointed to the vault door, in front of which Donna was standing. In a few seconds, Velocity appeared in the room, braking loudly until she stopped right in front of Donna.

“I see you are much more prepared today, Supergirl.”

“You’re trapped, Velocity. Surrender.”

“Bite me.”

An almost silent click was heard.

“These were the special silent doors we had installed closing. You are now trapped in four walls of several centimeters of steel. With me.” Donna added, loudly cracking her fingers.

Velocity laughed sarcastically. “As if you fools could ever trap me!”

Donna readied and launched a violent uppercut at her foe, but she vanished instantly. In half a second, all officers were disarmed and knocked out. A second later, Donna felt a rifle bullet hit her in the forehead, failing to cause any damage.

“You really are bulletproof!” said Velocity, standing in a corner with a sniper rifle in hands. “I thought this was just press exaggeration. Gonna have to try something else.”

She vanished again, and in a split second, she appeared in front of Donna, hitting her with a punch in the cheek. The speed of Velocity’s hand was so high, much superior than a mere bullet, that Donna actually felt pain, but more like if she was slapped in the face when she did not have powers.

“Crap, that wasn’t smart at all …” said Velocity, holding her broken hand in pain. Donna saw that she was distracted, and grabbed her neck with her hand, lifting her from the ground.

“Velocity, you are under arrest.”

Later that day, Donna checked in at the precinct. She walked across the room, straight to the prison cells. At the very last cell of the corridor, Velocity was sitting on a small bench, handcuffs on her wrists and a bored expression on her face. A guard opened the cell door, and Donna entered, sitting beside the prisoner.

“Hi.”

“What do you want?” Velocity did not look pleased with her visit.

“Look … We started off with the wrong foot. But … I just wanna talk. Can we talk?”

“… Fine.”

“Why don’t you tell me how the hell are you so fast?”

She sighed. “I was a runner. I ran for the high school team. Was very good. Broke some high school records, won competitions, shit like that. But one beautiful day, I was crossing a street, and got hit by a car. Completely random accident. Broke my spine. I couldn’t run anymore. Got trapped in a wheelchair. Life suddenly sucked bad. I couldn’t do nothing without help. I couldn’t run anymore, and I goddamn loved running. I had nothing more to live for. In a burst of depression, I bought a gun and pointed it to the back of my mouth. I pressed the trigger. And I died.”

Donna was almost in tears hearing her story. Velocity’s eyes were already watery. “I didn’t go to heaven, instead I went to space. Met this space goddess, The Mother. She said I could be free again. Faster than I ever was. All I had to do was use my power. Obviously, I accepted. She touched both my feet, and I came, several times. The power … was nothing like anything I had ever felt in my life. I felt invincible, unstoppable. Then I woke up in my bed again. My room was full of my blood. I stood up for the first time in about a year, and almost cried with joy. I ran … Must’ve circled the world some ten times that day. So I went to see my mother and my family. But they were still crying, all dressed in black.”

Velocity lowered her head, and her voice began to fail. “I went to my own funeral that day. I stood behind a tree, and watched as my family cried for me, and buried my lifeless body. The rest you must already know. After grieving and stuff, I had to make a living. So I started robbing banks. It was easy, until you showed up.”

Donna was drowned in tears after the end of the story. She hugged Velocity, and they both cried in silence for some minutes. Donna then looked at the girl deep into her eyes.

“Listen … What is your name again? I feel stupid calling you Velocity.”

“It’s … Hayley. Hayley Allen.”

“OK Hayley. The captain owes me and Superwoman some favors. What if I call in some of them, and get you out of here? We can … We can help people. You can use your powers to do good. Wouldn’t you like that?”

“I … I dunno.”

“You’ll love it! There’s nothing that feels better then helping people, and seeing the gratitude in their eyes.”

“But … How will I survive? What if my family sees me?”

“Trust me, you won’t need to worry about this stuff ever again. I’ve been through less than you’ve been, sure, but I got help when I needed. I think that’s what you need. You need friends, and you need to feel good about yourself again.”

“I think I could try that.”

Epilogue

Donna was sitting on the edge of a tall building’s roof, watching as Velocity saved a group of people from a burning house. She gave the press a small speech, introducing who she was, and some declarations about her shady past. Donna smiled. The girl was surely enjoying herself, and she could see she was ashamed of what she did and was trying to make up for it.

Donna was really satisfied with herself. She felt that she finally understood her mission. Rather than just saving people from dangers that other people caused, she felt like her mission was to guide new superhumans into a path for good. She must save the new superhumans from themselves, like Rachel saved her.

She felt like this was a start of something greater than herself.