Warhawk's Coffee RPG

Standing around, it's not that hard. Breathe in once, breathe out once. Oh, but do it over and over again, I don't want people thinking that you only breathe once and you're done, the trick is to do it over and over and over again.

I'm not good at waiting for the bus, just standing there made me feel like an idiot, a really short island in a sea of people. I looked up from my iPod and sighed. Sometimes living in New York was a pain. I had enough money for a cab, but what kind of normal kid takes a cab? I really made an effort not to stand out.

My name is Sophie Callahan. I'm 16, five-foot-two, and. . . well, kind of a wunderkind. That iPod in my hand? I built it from spare parts. I don't know how I do things, I just know that I do. And that I don't know how to not do it.

When I was twelve, my Dad left me in the care of my stepmom. But this wouldn't be a very interesting story if she was around all the time, would it? Yeah, she was some kind of a banker or an accountant or something. In Japan.

By the way, I love Japan. I have a lot of little charms that Lucy (my stepmom) sends me all the time. By the way, Lucy is great. I love her to death. She's not one of those 'evil stepmother' types, really cool and constantly apologetic for the fact that her job has her out of the country ten months out of the year.

I can take care of myself just fine, but we have an A.I in the penthouse, so I guess it takes care of me.

Where's the bus? I heard. That A.I? Downloaded itself into my iPod. It's called Bob beause when I made it, I was 13 and couldn't name a cat. Besides, Bob is kind of like, y'know, a cool name. I guess. Bob is the name that sums up the internet (which I love). Hey, at least I didn't name it 'Jarvis' or something like that.

Dunno, Bob, I answered in a text.

Well it'd better hurry up. Message from user Jade_Coffin86.

Open, I answered, my thumbs moving at lightspeed. I didn't mean to program an A.I. Sort of a happy accident, I guess.

R U on yet WarHawk??? Read the message.

No. Waitin 4 bus.

With a little blink came the next message: krap. Kk,gnna go pwn some n00b.

Geeks were so LOL. In the iPod's shiny, reflective surface, I looked at my reflection. My blue eyes used to match the blue streaks in my hair, before the faded.

The air was chilly, and right at the beginning of Autumn, in the middle of September, that wasn't weird. Rain started to drizzle over the street, and I pulled up my hood, zipping up my jacket. Not that it made much of a difference—my hair frizzed no matter what I put in it and--

“Watch where you're driving!” I screeched at the kid that whizzed past me on his bike. I watched him go, his wheels humming on the sidewalk, then off the curb and continuing down the filthy black street.

I watched him go, then my attention was drawn to the huge screen where ads for Cola usually played. I read the screen in shock as Bob relayed the same information to me.

Blue Blitz, 86, dead.

Newport City's greatest hero, a man in his prime, gone. His dead body on the news for all the world to see. Disbelief washed over me, making me cold and quiet. “Bob, call me a taxi. I'm tired of this rain.”

Flying over the street, carrying American flags were the noble Raiders, the heroes closest to Blue, the only ones worthy of being called 'superhero'. Shock washed through the crowd, and even my unbelieving eyes were glued to them. “No. . .” I breathed.  

“LADY! I TOLD YOU FIVE TIMES YOU CAN’T USE MORE THAN ONE COUPON AT A TIME!” Unique screamed at the costumer who was so persistent at getting on her nerves. “Man …you know what….I don’t need this….I quit” with that she removed her apron and walked out the double doors in anger. It took her a moment to realize what she did and she quickly 360’ed back into the store. “PLEASE I didn’t mean it, I don’t wanna quit!!!! It was the stressss!!!” She said on her knees in front of her manager who seen this from Unique, she simply folded her arms shook her head and handed the young woman back her apron.   The worst thing about this whole ordeal she still had to get back in the line and tend to the fat lady who was using too many coupons.   {Why does my life suck soooo bad, I mean I’m not a bad person, I tithe in church, I say my prayers…I give to the needy… I graduate next year and I haven’t heared from a college sooo I’m en route to be here for the rest of my... Tuna Fish} “Tuna?” “YES how much does this Tuna cost!” a woman who invaded her thoughts asked. “It’s 87 cents” Unique replied in an unchipper and monotone voice.

“Ugh…now what’s going on…” she said looking up from herself imposed “head hanging”, to see people gathering around a plasma TV, that had been mounted on the wall of the store, right before   the exit. She laid her eyes on the T.V Screen to see something she really hadn’t expected to see Blue Blitz, 86, dead.

It was like the ever present pulse from Newport City had went dormant; Unique moved here from Solace City, once the League of extraordinary Sha’s broke up she needed somewhere else to live; this city was perfect because the Blue Blitz, always had major crimes under control; without him what did that mean for everyone else.

Turning back she looked at the clock… it was time to go home; it didn’t take her long to run back to her register and clock out. On her way out the store she dialed her best friend Sophie. Sophie was younger than her by two years, but she was the first person to greet Unique when she entered Newport City. “Sophie!” she screamed as the young teen ran down the street with her phone in hand. “He’s dead..BB is dead” She said running down an Alleyway; and then taking off into the air. Flying was dangerous for her identity but she needed to get to the other side of town in a few mins. “Sophie meet me at the usual place” {Ok} the girl said confirming the invitation.

Unique dropped down in front of the coffee shop and almost flopped down on the table from exhaustion. Every hero who worked under Blue Blaze knew what time it was for now; the city would be watching to see who would step up. Unique, had experience with being a headlining hero, but she would much rather talk it over with Sophie.   One thing was for sure…. The criminals were not going to wait for one to be choosen.

Sophie glared at her iPod and sighed as she walked quickly towards Newton's, the shop where coffee was cheap, WiFi was free (not that she needed it) and someone would already be waiting for her with fresh conversation and stale horror. "News, Bob. I need it."  
 
You expect me to know something different?  
 
"That's what I designed you for!" she hissed. "Scour the headlines, anything that has some kind of truth."  
 
This is worse than the Invasion. You're panicking.  
  
Sophie had the right to panic. She wasn't the hero, she didn't have the powers. She didn't know what to do. The feeling of helplessness was almost unbearable.  
 
Heroes all over the city and the East Coast, maybe even farther would be flooding the city, filling it with people greedy for the title 'King of Supers'.   
 
SHe pulled open the glass door of the shop and walked in, all familiar smells of baked goods laced with chocolate and cinnamon, and coffee laced with cream surrounded her in a hug of sanity and safeness. But the silence; that was something different entirely. Not one word was uttered as Herald, BB's right hand, was hammered with questions as he left a hospital. He finally turned around, his young face stony cold.  
 
"You want answers? Blitz is dead. He's not coming back again. He's gone," he said, looking straight at the camera man. "Let's just hope that people have the decency to wait to turn back to crime."  
  
Still want that news?  
 
"Confirm date of autopsy," She commanded.  
 
Tomorrow.  
 
"Warhawk's Coffee," she said to Tina, the barista who already knew what she wanted--the drink was named for her. A familiar face greeted her through the glass of the store. Sophie's was caught with the same look of confusion.  
 
On the TV, news of gunshots in Tellevan District, BB's most frequented stop, confirmed Sophie's worst fears. "You know what this means for you?" she asked her blond friend. 

Unique sat in the stood awaiting the arrival of her Tech Savy friend; the shop appeared to be in a state of shock.  

 The usual sports talk wasn’t occurring; the mindless chatter about which babe the biggest rack had didn’t happen, and even the Trekkies were quiet. She didn’t really like the feeling; she hated the news so much that she had her back turned to the TV’s so she wouldn’t be bothered by the images and News coverage of the Blue Blaze’s death. 

  Despite the fact that she had never met him, BB made her job so easy; He was very charismatic; good looking and seemed to have a good soul. “This sucks” she said watching as her friend seemed to be having a technical overload whilst receiving her daily information.   For the longest time the two didn’t say anything to each other, they just sat watching as everything else unfolded around them.  

 Unique sipped her root beer while Sophie appeared to be deep in her ipod.  She thought this was a bit weird; Sophie took that ipod everywhere; but it just seemed like a normal ipod; there was nothing different about it.

Unique’s eyes darted to the rather large man wiping his hands with a towel; he was heading towards the T.V; touching the knobs the T.V began to blast off loud notify everyone of the crime already taking off in certain districts around the city. “You know what this means for you?” Sophie asked, knowing her secret identity. “Then you should know I really don’t want to go”.

There was a secret thrill in knowing your best friend was secretly a superhero, secretly. No longer able to talk to Bob out loud, Sophie turned her iPod to the right and started typing with her thumbs on the touch screen. fastest route to 3150 Boulevard.  
 
Calculating. . . .  
 
A map appeared on the screen and she gasped. "Um. . . crap. You should change."  
 
Too late.  
 
Both friends dove for the ground as the glass cracked, with an ear-splitting bang!!!  and Sophie looked up.  
 
Incoming, informed Bob.   
 
"Thanks for nothing, piece of crap," muttered Sophie as she hauled herself up, looking out the window, her heart beating erratically, her thoughts all over the place. "Blink!" she realized.  
 
The young villain stood, his face grimly determined, which was weird for him. Wasn't he one of the more playful bank-robbing techies in the area? What had changed?