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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Broccli_Head" data-source="post: 1115094" data-attributes="member: 105">issue #9, part IIISlipstream was near his grandmother’s house in a blink of an eye. He ducked into an alley and resumed his non-heroic persona, but then rushed into the house, prepared to do battle as Brian Parker if necessary to defend Grandma Shannon.  “Brian!” Parker looked around and surveyed the den where his grandmother was sitting and knitting, and now had just been startled as his sudden entrance. Nothing was out of the ordinary. “She’s upstairs restin’ in the guest bedroom. Someone beat her up. I was gonna call the cops, but she insisted that I didn’t.”She? Brian thought in his head making a perplexed face. He raced upstairs and his eyes widened when he saw who She was.Her face was badly bruised, but there was no mistaking. There under the sheets of the guest bed, it was Margie Preston, the woman who had been stalking him. Brian tried to tiptoe away, but she opened her eyes— beautiful sea green orbs—and stared at him. A tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled.  Margie sat up and Brian instinctively looked away. Mentally, he sighed in relief as out of the corner of his eye, he saw that she had borrowed one of his grandmother’s robes. “I’m sorry, Brian. I didn’t know where else to go.  It was horrible, horrible, and they still have Ang-, I mean Ze--.”Then Margie began to cry in earnest.  Brian stood there not knowing what to say and definitely not wanting to go and comfort her. I don’t want to lead her on…, he thought, but…“Margie, like, who did this to you?”He saw the expression on her face suddenly change. Her swollen upper lip twisted in anger. It frightened him. “D.E.M.O.N.! And it is all his fault!”Margie Preston clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She looked away from Brian and fixed her eyes on the floor. Brian’s jaw had dropped. “Who…are…you?”She looked back up at him, “I really want to trust you, Brian, but…”Could this be the lead that we need? he thought.“Look, Marge, I gots friends that can really help, but you gotta trust me.”She sniffled attempting to get composed, and then beamed, looking at him with those deep green eyes. “I knew I could count on you, Brian.”Ugh! I think I’m gonna be sick.Brian covered his mouth as he gagged. Margie rose and reflexively, he stepped back. Then she crossed the room into the adjoining bathroom. “If I’m going to trust you, then I might as well go all the way. Brian, I have a secret to share with you,” she called from inside leaving the door ajar. He wanted to run, but found himself peeking at the mirror in the bathroom.  In the reflection, he only saw her bare back. It made him wince with sympathy. He saw bruises and what looked like burns and scratches. If she wasn’t lying and this wasn’t a trick, it looked like D.E.M.O.N. had tried to kill her.  Then he heard a sudden WHOOSH! , and clear liquid splashed the mirror, blotting out her image. Water--he hoped it was water--leaked from the bathroom onto the hardwood floor of the guest bedroom. The she stepped out. Brian double blinked as he saw that Margie Preston had become translucent, seemingly made of water.  He went through the villains and superheroes in his mental database. Margie Preston was the villainess Riptide!. Now, I’m really sick! thought Brian as he suppressed another wave of nausea. They heard a CRUNCH!  SLAM! Grandma Shannon screamed. “Oh no, they’ve found me!” he heard Riptide say.She dissolved into a puddle of water and streamed towards the stairs.  Brian Parker gulped.“I don’t think I’m ready for this.”He dove out the back window and changed form in midair, sped around to the front of the house and entered the already smashed in door. He smelled fire and saw that some furniture was already smoldering. Two dogs enshrouded in fire closed on his Grandmother and Riptide. Gotta get Grandma out of here!Slipstream sped by one of the demon dogs and scooped up Grandma Shannon. Then running along the walls and out the door he deposited her two blocks away.  “Don’t let them get Margie!” the flustered old woman stammered surprised by the timely appearence of one of Boston's superheroes. I know I’m gonna regret this! Slipstream thought as he turned back towards the house and in a flash was back in the action. As he plunged back into the fray, one fiery canine flew out a first story window, steaming and yelping on the receiving end of a geyser of water. Slipstream wasted no time as he fired his own blast of energy—sound energy produced by his hyper-speed motion--at the other hell-hound that had just breathed fire (and missed!) at Riptide.  The dog howled in pain. Then Slipstream spun around to face the other demon as it leaped back into the house, through the open door at him. He connected with his Quicksilver Punch and sent it right back onto the pavement. It exploded in a ball of fire and smoke, setting off nearby car alarms. The other hound fared no better. Riptide let out another jet of water straight into its open mouth. It choked on the sudden influx of its opposing element into its system and blew up, leaving the smell of brimstone behind.  Quickly, the speedster and the human fire hydrant put out the flames. “I need to go check on m’ grandma!” he said out loud and then cursed himself. “Is that so?” replied Riptide raising what would have been an eyebrow in her human form. Since he had let it out already, and for some strange reason that Brian could not figure out, he sighed and said, “Well, I guess Rip’, we’re tradin’ secrets, taday.”He changed back into Brian Parker, and realizing that Riptide might be a bit unstable being a crazy, psycho supervillainess, went back into his Slipstream persona. “I knew it! I knew it!” she exclaimed. “I knew there was something special about you. Oh, this is the best day of my life!”Before the speedster could act, she ran, splashing up to him, and gave him a big wet kiss.</blockquote>

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