Velocity
Girl
Hi! I'm Mary Woods. I'm sixteen. I live with my mother, stepfather, and little brother, Max, in a trailer court in West St. Louis County. Until eighteen months ago, I would have described my life as normal enough, if kind of depressing. Like many young girls, I was very self-conscious about my weight and I lacked confidence, except when it came to my grades. My grades have always kicked butt. As a science geek, I found a semi-satisfying social niche with a small group of cerebral companions. I missed my real Daddy very much. He died when I was ten. I resented my stepfather's efforts (sincere though they were) to form a friendship with me.
Today, nothing in my life is what I would describe as normal. Eighteen months ago, while walking through the trailer court neighborhood, I fainted. A neighbor who had been looking out a window rushed outside to help. When I didn't wake up, an ambulance was called. I woke up the next morning in the hospital to discover that I had lost an amazing eighty pounds of weight in one night!
Although my doctors were baffled, they eventually permitted me to return to school. In the often cruel and superficial world of high school, my new appearance was not an unnoticed minor event. On the outside, I was now a "bombshell", but on the inside, in my mental self-image, I was still the same insecure and overweight fifteen year-old girl I had been before the fainting spell. Years of mental programming and beliefs about one's self-worth do not change overnight. With boys now paying attention to me in ways they had never done before, I was about to learn hard lessons about the feminine mystique. What is truly beautiful compared to what society says is beautiful?
To my amazement, that was not all I was about to learn. Because my grandmother had taken part in genetic manipulation experiments, the recent changes in my physique were accompanied by amazing super-speed powers! Under the tutelage of Xuàn Hú, an older, retired villain who sees a chance to atone for his past by training young heroes, I developed my super-heroine persona, Velocity Girl. Knowing that guns, knives, and bullets are real, Xuàn Hú gave me a choice with his ultimate trump card: "You will obviously do this super-hero thing with or without me. Accept me as your mentor so my training can keep you alive, or I'll tell your parents about your secret identity," he said.
In my latest adventure, I traveled into the depths of outer space, bonded with a p'ckit dragon named Smerd, and brought him back to Earth. Learning to live as the host of a p'ckit dragon has been yet another big adjustment in my life.
It's a lot to juggle: saving the world from super-villains, getting through school, Xuàn Hú's training, being Smerd's host, finding a college. Even with the help of my little brother, Max, and my step-father, Sam, (who have both recently discovered my secret) will I be able to keep the secret of her double life from my mother, who would totally freak out if she knew her daughter literally dodging bullets no matter how fast she is?
I think Sam's decision to keep my secret was mostly so he could finally cement a real stepfather relationship with me. He paid a high price, though, when I think about it. He's lying to his wife (my mom) and having dishonesty in his marriage. I hope things work out someday when that hits the fan. Will I be able to continue to keep Smerd "on the downlow"? Luckily, he's hidden in his pocket dimension most of the time and holding stock still, pretending to be a toy if he is out in public.
Like I said, I would definitely never describe my life as normal now! |
Xuàn Hú
I watch my student move with grace and power through the motions of her kata. Her breathing is slow, controlled, and regular. In the early days, it was hard for her to focus like this. Part of it was just being a Western teenager and part of it was her newly acquired super-speed power.
She has come a long way, and so have I.
Since I have begun training some of the young people with strange powers that are emerging in our population, the nightmares do not come as often. The memories of the faces of those I have killed and the fires of the villages I have ordered to be burned have begun to fade. They will never be completely gone, but they no longer haunt me so. I have begun to make new memories. Good ones.
Velocity Girl completes her exercise and instantly appears in front of me in a burst of super-speed. "How'd I do, Chief?"
"Very well for today. Why don't you go home early?"
"Don't you need help at the art gallery tonight?"
"No. Tonight I'm going for a walk. I have things to think about." |
