Gaseous Girl and the Winds of Time: Epilogue
She's a flying brick with the power to control one of the fundamental states of matter, but no one takes her seriously. That's about to change.
The universe flashed.
Madeleine Smith watched as the ambulance pulled away. Pamela Percy had tripped out of a window and bounced off an awning. Fortunately, it seemed she would live. Madeleine sighed. If only she'd teleported or something, Madeleine might've had a job. Since she hadn’t, it was back to the usual patrol. Maybe the Rogue Jaywalker would turn up. She started to turn away, back to her apartment.
Then she caught sight of someone in the cluster of onlookers lingering on the sidewalk. Her mouth fell open. “Ben?”
He waved, awkwardly. She walked over, also awkwardly. “Hey,” he said. “It’s been a while.”
“Yeah,” she said. “High school, right?”
“Yeah. he said, looking down at his shoes. “Look, about that, I’m sorry, Mads. I dumped you for Lizzie Dern, and-”
“Hey,” she said. “Two questions. You still with her?”
“No.”
“Cool. Want to get a drink or something?”
“Sure!” Ben said, smiling.
Madeleine’s phone chirped. A news alert: evidently Behemoth Bob was off again. “Tell you what,” she said, “Give me an hour to take care of something and I’ll meet you at Carmen’s, okay?”
“Sure,” Ben said. “Do you need a ride anywhere? I’m parked nearby, it’s not as cool as the one I had in high school, but it gets me places.”
Madeleine winced. “Right. I’m okay for now, but remind me at Carmen’s later, there’s something I should probably explain. Anyway, see you then!”
She said her goodbyes and hurried off, hoping that the revelation about her long-ago torching of Ben’s car wouldn’t end the newly rekindled… friendship? Relationship? Whatever ship it was. She didn’t know. Besides, right now she had more important concerns. Behemoth Bob was on the loose. And when he was, Edison City needed its heroes. And so, Madeleine whipped on her mask, flamed up, and soared away into the sky, because she was one of the few who could take Behemoth Bob down. She was the silent-but-deadly protector. She Who Dealt It. She was…. Gaseous Girl.