The Starlight Sentinels: The Amusing Story of a Struggling Superhero Team

Chapter 3: Mary Misfortune

Olivia crawled out from under her sheets. Noticing it was already past eleven, she quickly got dressed in a pair of black jeans and a matching shirt from her suitcase, put in her contacts, ran a brush through her hair a couple of times, then unlocked her door and wandered downstairs into the living room. There she found Sam exercising on the floor in front of the television, clad only in a sports bra and pink running shorts.

"Hi Sam," yawned Olivia.

"Olivia," she answered while doing a push-up.

"Watching the news?" she asked.

"Not really. I just leave it on as background noise." Sam flipped onto her back and started doing sit-ups. "This way I pick up just enough bits to know what's going on while tuning out most of the bullshit." Sam started groaning in pain as she struggled to finish another sit-up.

"Your side still bothering you?" asked Olivia as she noticed the bruise on Sam's toned midsection.

"I'm fine," muttered Sam through clenched teeth.

"You should take it easy. Give yourself some time to heal."

"It's been almost a month. Ahh!" Sam crumpled onto the floor, clutching her side.

"I—"

"Don't say I told you so," grumbled Sam as she slowly stood up.

"I was just going to say, you could at least skip sit ups for the time being." Sam sat down next to Olivia.

"I guess I'll have to. I'm apparently too frail to do a simple workout at the moment," moaned Sam.

"Angela might be able to help."

"I'm not too fond of letting a demon paw me. Besides, it doesn't look like she did much good for your busted nose." Olivia turned to Sam, clearly surprised by her comment. "Oh shit, just... forget I said that."

"Is it really that noticeable?" asked a startled Olivia.

"No, it's not," reassured Sam. "I'm just in a bitchy mood. Daryl has been giving me that 'time off to get better' line every time I ask about going back on patrol and then you said it and... it's not an excuse—sorry. Being cooped up here for so long is making me feel like I'm being punished for screwing up so bad," confessed Sam.

"How did you screw up?"

"I had that Irongate freak right in front of me and he laid me out in a single kick. Kid did better than that at half my size with none of the tools. Just pitiful."

"At least you saved Mr. Tetra."

"You say that like it was a good thing," smirked Sam.

"I was useless. It took me forever to build up the nerve to break into the room and all I did was hold him for a few seconds, then he broke my nose."

"About that, how is it you can charge right through a damn wall unhurt, but a single headbutt wrecks your face?"

"I don't know. I was told my curse protects me from my own strength. I don't know how it's supposed to work though. I don't think the people who examined me did either."

"But you're still super strong. Couldn't you have knocked Irongate on his ass?"

"The Order warned me about using excessive force. They told me the whole knocking people unconscious thing is only for movies. Apparently, if you hit someone hard enough to knock them out for more than a few seconds, you probably gave them brain damage... or killed them."

"You were worried about killing Irongate?"

"No, well... I don't want to kill anyone if..." Olivia trailed off.