FIC: Thundera (2/?)

["Cilia" <cilia@xxxxx>]

Hi! 

Part two of Willow's superhero adventure :-)

Take care,

Cilia



Thundera by Cilia



Chapter One: Field Testing



Willow stood with her hand clasped s behind her back looking out over
the city from the 113th floor of the W. Lab tower, her long red hair
falling over her shoulders and her grey power suite made it look all the
more redder. It wasn't the tallest in the city, but its architecture was
beyond approach and the board room sat near the top, with a commanding
view of the city. Wearing said grey power suite, she looked poised and
ready, but her mind was a million miles away. Turning round and staring
down the board member who had just finished speaking she placed her
fists firmly on the table and started a speech that she had been
reciting with regular intervals for almost five years.

"No," she said and before the man, a junior executive with blond hair
and wearing a suit pressed to perfection could respond, she went into
her Willow is good rant. "Tell the top brass and daddy that we won't in
any shape or from work for the military in any capacity, we will not do
R&D work for them, we will not build prototypes for them and we
certainly will not give them access to our teleportation technology or
anti-grav technology prototypes," she said as her voice steadily grew in
volume as the list went on and the executive grew paler and shrank
before her piercing gaze.

"And I don't care if the president himself knocks on my door asking for
it, I will not give any of MY technology to the government no matter
what the reasons. And if they come asking again, tell them that a number
of other countries are offering much better deals on tax breaks and that
we do employ a large part of the population in this part of the
country." 

By this time her knuckles were turning white and the executive was
turning pale as the fear of Willow seeped into his bones. An elderly man
sitting next to Willow cleared his throat after the silence had hung
long enough. He was tall, his hair showing signs of having once been
black and his eyes squinted behind delicate glasses marking years of
pouring over the books.

"I believe this meeting is of the board is adjourned, unless
there are any other matters on the agenda?" he asked in a cultured
English voice. The response was a rush, albeit a dignified one, to the
doors and the stunted junior exec was rolled out of the room still
sitting frozen in his chair.

"Thank you Rupert," Willow said to her co-founder and
vice-president of W. Labs. A man in the later days of his life, with
steal grey hair, but still every inch a commanding figure smiled at her.


"You really must learn to control your temper Willow, this
is the third one this year and wouldn't it be easier to insert a trap
doors," he said with a small smile as he poured a glass of water and
walked over to the window where Willow was resting her head against the
glass.

"Where do we find these guys anyways?" she asked. 

"Harvard," Giles answered. "I told you that we shouldn't
recruit from the States, but you wouldn't listen," he added with a
smile.

"How much do you want to bet that his dad handed him that
deal he was proposing?" she asked with a van smile as she sipped the
glass and gazed out over the city.

"Shall I demote him back down?" Giles asked.

"No, if he'd made it this far he must be good, but sit down
with him and remind of our policy against the Old Boys Club," Willow
said as she placed the glass on the table.

"Are you alright?" Giles asked as he studied her profile.

"I'll be fine Giles, just a lot on my mind," she said as she
turned her gaze out towards the city. The elderly gentleman quietly
excused himself and left his charge to her musings.



Willow soon retreated from the board room to the roof of the W. Labs
Tower. Standing on the edge she spread her hands and just enjoyed the
feeling of the cold breeze at a thousand feeds up. Then there was a loud
rumbling sound and a cloud of smoke rose up from the financial district.
Grinning Willow pulled of her jacket, pulled on a pair of fingerless
leather gloves and then brought her wristwatch to her lips. 

"Jeeves active SDS sequence Alpha," she said into her watch
and the watch blinked blue in response.

"Certainly miss," the voice of her A.I. butler said over the
link and then 



Willow felt the tingle of the teleportation sequence, as various parts
of the exoskeleton snapped into place. The handle of the hammer she'd
forged appeared in her hands and she felt her feet lift from the roof as
the antigravity boots replaced her comfortable yet fashionable shoes.
When the light of the teleportation faded the most visible changes were
that her face was now hidden behind a concealing visor that covered it
down to her mouth and she was flying above the roof with her red hair
flying behind her. The business suit was still there and her white
blouse billowed a bit in the stiff breeze, in her hand she held the
hammer above her head and took of into the summer sky.



The data she was getting through her visor indicated that the financial
district had just been assaulted by a being seemingly possessing some
sort of an advanced battle suit. No other superheroes were reported at
the scene and the police was keeping the crowds at bay. A small video
feed pop-up in the corner of her visor, it was a security camera footage
of what seemed to be a rampaging Delta Class Battle Armor, a design she
remembered well, being one of the reasons for her distrust of the
military. 

"Oh this will be fun," she said to herself as she approached
the financial district and brought up the schematics for the design.
Glancing at the video feed she saw that her turkey was blasting away at
the sealed doors of the First National Bank. W. Labs had designed the
system of course, so at the first hint of danger they would slam shut
and stay shut unless you were an Alpha Level Superhuman, which the idiot
in the Delta Armor wasn't. 

"The villain calls himself Destructo," a helpful news
broadcast informed and she couldn't help to chuckle at the name. Some
people had no imagination.



The media cameras turned towards her as she landed a short distance from
the rampaging cybernetic juggernaut. A friendly reminder from Jeeves
popped-up on her visor to turn on the image scramblers.

"That won't do you any good big boy," she shouted at the
rampaging armored juggernaut. "Those doors could stand up to a nuclear
blast." She said with a grin as the hulking battle armor turned to face
her. It really was a good design, she had to admit, standing roughly
nine feet tall and completely shielding the operator it had been her
finest work, ten years ago that's to say, now it was just yesterdays
tech to her. 

"What is this," the voice coming from the armor was
digitized so it sounded terrible and a bit like Stephen Hawkins on
steroids. It made a comical sight, since Willow wasn't that tall to
begin with and the full armor was still on the drawing boards, so armed
with nothing but a big hammer and an invisible exoskeleton and a visor
she must have appeared insignificant and non-threatening to the man
wearing the eight feet tall battle armor. 

"Just a concerned citizen," she said with that same laughter
in her voice she used to secure business deals. It was a fluttering
laughter, it made people think she was much more fluffy then she really
was and disarmed just about everybody except for the most hardened
businessmen. 

"Well you look like a little girl with a hammer to me," the
voice crackled from the armor and a warning light flashed in her visor
that the armor was powering up for a plasma blast and she responded by
twisting the handle of the hammer and a soft hum could be heard as the
hammer charged. 

"Now no need to be me mean," Willow said and she got a good
two handed grip of the hammer and the visor showed a full charge. The
blast came so fast that her system barely registered it, but the plasma
bolts tore into the pavement just seconds after she jumped out of the
way. Whatever she was facing it had been upgraded from the design she'd
done ten years earlier and she cursed at herself for her arrogance. 

"Ok no more miss nice hammer-girl," she said as she slammed
the hammer into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete and
send a wave of shock and electricity towards her opponent. The wave
struck true, but only managed to scorch the armor and knock it back
step.

"That should have." she muttered.

"Increased armor thickness little girl," the voice from the
suite bragged in it's crackling voice as it charged and Willow only
managed to block the blow partly with the hammer, the exoskeleton took
the brunt of the blow and the dampeners worked like a charm, but it
looked bad and the crowds gasped as she was thrown against the building
across the street. 

"The woman." 

"Knocked clear across."

"Not moving." 

The jargon from the news feeds jarred her back into consciousness and
helped clear her head. As her vision snapped back into focus she saw
that the walking mechano set had turned its back and went back to
hammering the doors of the First National. Setting her face in a grim
scowls and rising slowly to her feet she grasped the hammer firmly in
both hands and the charged with a snarl and her red hair, trailing
behind her. It was a impressive sight of destructive fury as she charged
the few meters that separate from her foe, her blouse had been torn
showing the gleaming exoskeleton underneath and also giving the cameras
at nice view of her red bustier. 



The first blow from the hammer spun "Destructo" around and the next one
smashed the right hand plasma blaster as he tried to aim it at her. The
third blow broke the left arm clear of, sending it flying in a high
arch, the fourth knocked the top of the unit exposing the driver within
the armor and the final blow was aimed at the feet, toppling the mangled
armor to ground with a earthshaking thud. The fury of the attack had
temporarily stunned the crowd, but once it came clear that the good guy
had won and that "Destructo" was not getting up the crowd broke into
cheers and the media circus began as the flashbulbs flashed and the
cameras whirred under the steady stream of the babble of the reports. 

"I suggest a dramatic exist at this time index," Jeeves said
in her ear as she slowly regained her senses. Sparing a final glimpse at
her defeated foe, she adjusted her blouse and then she raised the hammer
above her head and took to the skies, leaving the snapping and whirling
sounds of the news' cameras behind her. 



She flew through the clear summer sky and by pushing her flight speed to
the max she felt the sonic boom as she out ran the news helicopters.
Going in low she passed just over the traffic of the city and left a
bewildered traffic cop in her wake. When she was clear of all followers
she sped up the shadow side of the W. Labs Towers and landed gently on
the row. 



As she pulled of her visor and leaned against the radio mast at the top
of the W. Lab Building she grinned and looked out over the city. The
news feeds were still blaring in her ear. Calling her Thundera and
saying that Light City had a new hero. Closing her eyes she let out a
long breath and when she opened them again she was faced with the
scowling face of Giles. 

"Have something you want to share with the board Miss
Rosenberg?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and Willow gulped and then
nodded meekly.