Two of a Kind [Rowdy, Alyce]

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"The Silver Bullet" - Rowdy's Lamborghini Aventador
(This is Rowdy's two-door, two-seater sports car.)

Rowdy Yates enjoyed the view as he cruised the southside of Gotham City in his Silver Bullet.  He had never visited this section of town before, and it amazed him how much it reminded him of growing up in Virginia.  It was more of a middle-class suburb area, which Rowdy liked tremendously.  It was too bad he had already bought a house in the north section of town because there were a couple of two-story homes for sale that caught his eye.  Although he considered the sweet suburban life with its public schools and decorative gardens, he wondered what the crime rate was like after dark.  That was when all the crazy characters came out to play their sick and cruel games of violence, hate, and destruction.  He wondered how in the world Batman did as well as he did in his war against crime and still kept his sanity.  Or was “The Bat” just as crazy as the psychos he battled?  From what Rowdy had heard from patrons of his nightclub, that was highly debatable.

Rowdy passed a strip mall and read a sign that caught his eye: Spirit of the Enchanted Cat.  Because of the décor of the front display window, he realized it was a small Native American/spiritual shop and decided to stop and give it a look.  He wanted to get something to cheer up his best female friend, Vicki Vale.  Her personal life was in the toilet right now, and he thought a dreamcatcher would make the perfect gift. 


(A dreamcatcher is a circular framed net with a hole in the center that is used by some American Indian peoples to help block bad dreams and catch good ones.)

Once Rowdy walked into the shop, he began admiring the Native American jewelry and other related crafts displayed all over the store.  He assumed everything was homemade.  Then he saw the dreamcatchers on the far wall in the back of the store.  One of them stood out more than the rest.  He thought it would look great in Vicki’s bedroom, which he had helped her paint a few weeks ago.

Looking around, he didn’t see a salesclerk to help him, and so he walked to the cash register and noticed movement in the backroom.

“Hello!” he called to no one in particular.  “Are you open?  I’d like to make a purchase!”

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{This is the basic storefront, minus the papered up windows, that Rowdy (and everyone else that happens upon my store) sees. Some of the things in the window displays are various furs, such as fox, rabbit, beaver, and deer. There is also some jewelry in the front displays, as well as a couple of piece-pipes, dreamcatchers, and mandelas. Some of the other items people would see upon entering are shown around the edges of the photograph. Spirit of the Enchanted Cat also sells Native blankets, various kinds of sage, smudging bowls, various crystals, and other various spiritual items.}

Alyce was currently in the back room of her store re-organizing a new batch of stock that had just come in via shipment from North Carolina. Mostly crystals, animal bones, arrowheads, beads, and other things that neither she nor Jacob could make or get the materials in Gotham to make themselves. She was by herself at the moment. Jacob, her friend and co-owner, had the day off, and Brandi was out on her lunch break. Hopefully, she would return soon, because she had offered to grab Alyce something while she was out, and Alyce was getting hungry.

Minutes passed, when suddenly she heard a voice call from the front of the store, causing her to jump a little. She must not have heard the bell ring when the man entered. It was either that, or the thing was broken. Settling on the former, Alyce quickly dropped what she was doing and headed out to the front in order to greet her customer. Customers in her store were getting fewer and farther between, probably due to what happened a few years back, so she wanted to make sure that she tried to greet and please them all. After all, if a store gives good service, then people are more likely return.

"Hello, sir! I apologize for not greeting you sooner. I didn't hear the bell on the door go off. I was putting some stock away, and my help is out to lunch. Welcome to Spirit of the Enchanted Cat," Alyce said to the, admittedly, good-looking man that had sauntered in. "Um, you said you were ready to make a purchase?"

Obviously. There was small blue dreamcatcher sitting next to the cash register. Honestly, she was kind of impressed with this guy's honesty, since he could have easily walked out without paying. Not having heard, or felt, for that matter, him come in, he could have slipped away with his prize unnoticed.

"Ah, a dreamcatcher. Always a good thing to have," she went on a bit nervously, checking to make sure she remembered the price correctly. "Will this be all, or would you like to look around some more?"

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Rowdy smiled when the girl suddenly appeared from the back room.  She was cute -- a little young for his taste – but still cute.  He smiled at her greeting and looked around while he waited for her to take her position behind the register.  He liked her friendly welcome, and it impressed him that she carried on a conversation after her salutation.

“There’s no need to apologize,” he told her, not really paying much attention to her.  His focus was more on the merchandise.  “You have some beautiful stuff in here!  And it’s all handcrafted!  Remarkable!”

When she asked if he wanted to take his time to look at other items, Rowdy shook his head.  “No, that’ll be it,” he replied, reaching for his billfold.  Then he offered his hand to her for a handshake.  “I’m Rowdy.  Rowdy Yates.  I don’t believe you told me your name.  I know it’s got to be beautiful, like the rest of you.”

He smiled, hoping it would be contagious and make her smile, too.

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Alyce smiled politely at the man. "Thank you! Most of the items are hand-crafted, yes. Either by myself, my co-worker, or the people from 'The Rez' in North Carolina. We even have some items from a few northeastern and southwestern tribes as well. We procure things from all over the country."

She paused here, blushing because she started to ramble a little. She did that sometimes when she became a bit anxious. Ayce had never been like this prior to her mother and friends being murdered, so she attributed her anxiety to the post-traumatic stress disorder that the doctors at Arkham had diagnosed her with. No wonder they wanted her to only work part-time for a while. Oh well, she had to keep herself busy. For a couple of different reasons...

When the man introduced himself as Rowdy Yates and offered out his hand for a handshake, Alyce couldn't help but blush even more. He'd called her beautiful. The only other person to ever call her "beautiful" had been her mother. Everyone else simply thought that she was "cute". This Rowdy guy was cute, but honestly, he wasn't quite Alyce's type. She liked them a little, well...nerdy-looking, she supposed. Plus, Mr. Yates was tall. Too tall for her, which would just make her feel like the little girl that most people think she is upon first glance.

Taking his offered hand with a more confident grin than she'd given him before, she replied, "No, I didn't give you my name... It's Alyce. Alyce McArthur. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yates."

Without releasing his hand, she went on to ask, "Will you be paying with cash, or credit?"

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When Alyce took his hand, Rowdy cheated a little and reached out to read her with his empathy.  Initially, he felt her hunger pangs, her nervousness about rambling, and her desire to charge the right price for the dreamcatcher.  Then he probed deeper and sensed she was flattered by his comment about her beauty.  He also picked up that she thought he was cute . . . but not her type.

“I’ll be paying cash,” Rowdy chuckled, blushing as he answered her question.  He liked the fact that she was still holding his hand.  He of all people knew that personal touch, while providing quality customer service, made all the difference in the world to customers.  He liked this girl.

Suddenly, something very strange happened.  Rowdy’s body jerked, stiffened, and buckled as his mental powers kicked in full-force.  Writhing uncontrollably for a few seconds, images formed in his mind, appearing in rapid succession.  It was some kind of premonition – a vision – something that he had never experienced before in his life.  He wondered if what he saw had already happened in the past or if it was going to happen in the future.

First, in his mind’s eye, an older woman’s face flashed before him.  Then he pictured Alyce running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop with the speed of the wind.  Then she was lifting things -- building a house without using her hands?  Then he saw her walking toward someone with revenge blazing in her eyes.  The images didn’t make any sense to him whatsoever.

The connection to Alyce was so intense that he had to pull his hand away before his mind overloaded.  If no one knew any better, they would’ve thought he’d had a seizure.

“What the hell?!?” Rowdy exclaimed, catching himself on the counter.  He looked around, thankful that no other customers had been in the store to witness the scene.  Then he stared into Alyce’s beautiful green eyes with horror and disbelief.  Was this angel-faced cutie a Native-American psycho on the warpath?

“Did you feel that?” he asked, steadying himself before taking several deep breaths to help him regain his composure.

After a few more seconds, the pieces fell into place.

“Ohmigod.  You're like me, aren’t you?”

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Alyce was in shock. This man, Mr. Yates, had all of a sudden gone into what appeared to be some sort of seizure. Moments after this seizure-like behavior started, he abruptly pulled his hand away and let out an exclaimation. This indicated to Alyce that he hadn't been expecting anything like that to happen. Mr. Yates -- Rowdy -- was just as shocked as she was.

"Did I feel what?" she asked back, looking him over. "Are you all right?"

A few seconds passed while he took deep breaths to seemingly regain his composure. Then, he asked her something strange.

"Excuse me? Like you? I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied with a bit of confusion etched into her soft, barely-there southern-accented voice. "Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Should I call for an ambulance?"

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Rowdy stood frozen in place as he stared at Alyce for a long moment, contemplating his next move.  Dr. Emerson, his physician at S.T.A.R. Labs in Metropolis, had once told him that there were others like him out there in the real world.  He’d just never met one . . . until now.  Rowdy knew he was right about Alyce – he was sure of it!  He just had to prove it.  With a red twinkle in his eye, he decided to put his theory to the test.

“If I’m right, you’ll be okay.  If I’m wrong, I promise I’ll pay all your medical bills,” he told her, his statement sounding eerie and cryptic.  "I hope to God I'm not wrong about this . . . ."

With an exaggerated sweeping gesture of his right arm, Rowdy’s eyes burned fiery red as he channeled his telekinesis and sent a bunch of smudging bowls on display nearby hurtling Alyce’s way.  She only had seconds to react before the projectiles collided with her body and caused her great physical harm!

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"What the hell are you--" Alyce started to ask before Mr. Yates' eyes began to glow a fiery red, and a bunch of clay smudging bowls came hurtling towards her.

Not wanting to get bludgeoned by her own pottery, nor wanting any of them to get broken, she immediately held her hands up in a stopping gesture. When she did, every bowl flung stopped flying towards her and hovered in mid-air! Alyce could feel every piece of pottery, but she could also feel Mr. Yates' neck. Quickly, but gently, she set the smudging bowls onto the floor. Then, instantly, she formed her right hand into a claw-like position, holding it out in front of her towards Mr. Yates. Immediately, she grabbed Rowdy's neck with her telekinesis and lifted him into the air a couple of inches!

Narrowing her green eyes dangerously, she asked angrily, "Who are you, really? Why did you just try to attack me?! Are you working for those bastards who murdered my family?! Answer me, or I'll crush your windpipe!"

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“UrrrrrkkK!” Rowdy gurgled as he felt his windpipe being crushed by some invisible force.  He started kicking his feet in mid-air, desperately trying to breathe.  He had no idea what Alyce was talking about.  Actually, he had only caught half of what she had said because he was so caught up in the fact that he had been right about her having powers, too.  He never imagined that she’d use her own telekinesis on him in retaliation.

Suddenly, he reached out with his mind before it was too late and he passed out.

Please . . . stop!  I’m your friend!  I promise!  I didn’t mean . . .  to hurt you!

By now, his face was deep scarlet and his eyes were bulging.  A spectrum of bright light began spinning inside his head.  He couldn’t keep the telepathic connection.

Don’t kill me . . . !

His entire body writhed, stiffened, and buckled as he fought for his last breath.

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As Alyce held Rowdy in the air with her telekinetic ability, she began to slowly choke him. When he'd flung the bowls at her, she was, admittedly, stunned at the fact that he, too, has telekinetic abilities. However, Alyce had been around others with special gifts before. Jacob is one of them, as a matter of fact, so that wasn't what had caused her to react like she did. What caused her to retaliate is the fact that Rowdy had tried to hurt her, and anymore, whenever anyone tries to do such a thing, Alyce tends to react rather harshly. The doctors at Arkham said that this is caused by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which she supposedly acquired when her mother and friends were murdered. Whatever. In Alyce's opinion, people who attempted to hurt her or the ones she cares about deserve to be punished.

Just as she was about to crush his windpipe, she heard Rowdy's voice echo in her mind! This instantly caused her to lose her concentration and loosen her grip on him. She unceremoniously dropped him onto the floor.

"What the...?!" she started in sheer surprise, gazing at him with wide green eyes. Her anger towards him was now replaced with something akin to awe and wonder. "Did you...did you just speak to me in my head?!"

As mentioned before, Alyce had been around others with special abilities in the past (and present), but none of the people she knew had telepathy. It was something completely knew and strange to her, and she couldn't help but to now be very curious about Mr. Rowdy Yates. Besides, he did say that he hadn't mean to hurt her, and that he's a friend. Perhaps he'd just been testing her to see if she had abilities as well? Maybe that's what he'd meant by saying, "You're like me, aren't you?" a little earlier? Alyce started to turn red from embarrassment. She suddenly felt awful for nearly killing the man.

"Um, by the way...sorry about nearly choking you to death. It's a reaction I have when people attempt to hurt me, you see..." she attempted to apologize. "Are you all right? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

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When a startled Alyce released her telekinetic grip on Rowdy, he dropped to the floor like a limp ragdoll.  All he could do was lay there on his back for a few minutes, wheezing, coughing, and trying to regain his composure.  Alyce was talking to him, but he didn’t hear audible words.  All he heard was noise, and all he saw were white lights swirling around in his head.  He had never been that close to dying before.  This experience made him think of his mother, moments before she committed suicide.

When Rowdy’s vision returned, he looked up and saw Alyce’s beautiful green eyes staring back at him with awe and wonder.  “Yes, I spoke into your mind,” he confirmed, trying to sit up.  “Nice trick, huh?”

Sitting up, Rowdy got dizzy and ended up putting his head between his legs.  He had never met another mental-powered meta-human before.  He was delighted, intrigued, and frightened all at the same time.

“Yes, I’m like you, Alyce,” he said, looking up at her.  “Y’know, I’ve always heard that the female is the deadliest of any species.  Thanks for proving it to me today.  God, I feel like shit warmed over right now. . . ”

When Alyce apologized and asked if he was all right, Rowdy shirked the question.  She pissed him off when she said, “I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

“YA THINK??!!!??” he growled sarcastically, his eyes bulging.  “I enjoy not being able to breathe and turning blue like a goddamn Smurf!”

He looked at the floor.  They were both at a crossroads in their lives.

“We have a decision to make,” he informed her, raising his head and locking eyes with her.  “You know my secret, and I know yours.  That could be dangerous, because you don’t me, and I sure as hell don’t know you.”  To him, she was the combination of a beautiful young woman and a revengeful psychopath.  “What are we going to do about it?  Where do we go from here?”

Rowdy was very protective of his secret.  At that moment, he thought about performing a mindsweep on Alyce.

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"Yes, it is a nice trick..." Alyce replied to his comment of being able to read minds.

She was still embarrassed and in slight awe at first, but soon became a little agitated once Rowdy starting making his snide, pissed off remarks.

"Look, I said I was sorry, but you tried to hurt me, too! I mean, attempting to bludgeon me with my own smudging bowls?! Come on! I don't take lightly to anyone trying to hurt me, or my loved ones!" she exclaimed.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter, a sour look upon her pretty face. What Rowdy had done was a bit uncalled for. All he had to do was simply explain himself, or even lift the dream-catcher he was buying into the air, rather than throw an entire shelf of smudging bowls at her! When Rowdy said that they have a decision to make, Alyce frowned even more. She really didn't care if people knew about her ability. It's a part of who she is. Why hide it?

"No, we don't know each other," she responded quite calmly after a moment, having taken a few deep breaths to help simmer down. "That's why I'm not going to do a thing. I'm used to being around other people with special abilities. I view my own power as a gift from Creator. Why should we hide who we really are and what we can do?"

She cocked her head to the side a bit when she asked this, and then continued, "Are you ashamed of your powers, Mr. Yates? I'm not going to tell anyone, just so you know. Who would I tell? My friends and acquaintances are very limited at the moment, and I'm pretty sure none of them know who you are. Your secret is safe with me. There's no need to continue to be violent towards one another. Now, would you like a reciept and a small bag for your purchase, or not?"

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Rowdy eyed the young lady.  She had spoken the truth about him.

“I-I’m not ashamed of –“

He couldn’t finish the sentence, because he was lying through his teeth.  He was ashamed of his powers.  They made him different from others.  They made him stand out from the crowd.  He wanted to be like everybody else.

“What do you mean you’re used to hanging out with metahumans?” he asked, changing the subject.  “There are more of me – more of us -- out there?”

As he made his inquiry, he held onto the counter and pulled himself up on his feet.

“I wish I could say the same about my abilities, Alyce,” he confessed.  “You might view your powers as a gift from Creator, but I view mine as a curse from Satan himself.   I hide what I can do from others because it makes people scared of me.  People don’t understand me, and they fear what they don’t understand.   They treat me differently, and I don’t like that.”

Squinting his eyes, Rowdy levitated the money had had dropped and kept it floating in mid-air in front of Alyce until she took it.   “What’s with the attitude?” he asked with a hint of annoyance in his own voice.  "I told you I was sorry, too.  Didn’t you hear me?  Oh, yeah.  I forgot.  I was choking on my last breath, thanks to you.  Sorry,” he added curtly.

Hearing the venom in his voice, Rowdy stopped and scolded himself.  Then he shut his mouth and just stared at Alyce for a long moment, his fiery red eyes returning to normal eventually.  She was just like him!  He couldn’t believe it.  He felt happy and sad for her at the same time.  Yes, she was just like him -- in many ways.  From what she had told him, she didn’t have many friends either.

“I don’t want to fight,” he said.  “Okay.   Your secret is safe with me, too.”

He exhaled sharply and answered her last question.

“Yes, I’d like a receipt, a small bag . . . and your phone number.”

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Alyce grinned when Rowdy cut himself off mid-sentence. "Yes, there are others like us out there. You're not special, I'm sorry to say."

She then listened as he went on to explain himself. Alyce was aware that most "normal" people fear what they don't understand. She was also aware that most people treat those who are different differently, and could understand why Rowdy wished to keep his abilities hidden. Alyce just didn't care. If people couldn't accept her for who she is and at least try to understand her ability, then they could go screw themselves. Before she could say anything to him, Rowdy's eyes turned a bright red as he squinted them. The money he'd dropped levitated into the air. Alyce found it interesting that his eyes changed color when using his ability. Her eyes didn't do that.

"My attitude?" she asked rhetorically, picking the cash out of the air. "It's a story, Rowdy. Let's just say, for now, that I have some personal issues that I'm dealing with. Again, I really am sorry for nearly choking you to death. I'm also sorry that you view your abilities so negatively, although; I do understand what you're saying. I just don't care. People need to start learning to accept new and different things, or in our case, people."

When he asked for her phone number, she nearly dropped the money that she'd just picked out of the air. Alyce turned a bit pink, not believing that he wanted to remain in contact with her even after she'd almost killed him. As she put the money into the cash register and began printing out a reciept, she was debating on whether or not she should give him her number. Why shouldn't she? Homo-superiors like themselves need to stick together, or at least get along. Besides, she could use more friends. Once the reciept was done printing, she tore it off the register, turned it over, and wrote her phone number down with a blue pen. She then put the dreamcatcher he purchased, along with the reciept, into a small plastic bag with handles.

"Here you are," she said on, handing him his purchase with a light blush and a little wink. "My number's on the back of the reciept. Er, I'm usually free after eight o' clock on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and after five o' clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturdays and Sundays vary."

Alyce's blush deeped as she said all of this, but she gave Rowdy a pleasant, genuine smile nonetheless. Hopefully, they could both look past their rocky start, and move on.

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Rowdy frowned at Alyce when she told him he wasn’t special.  “Yes, I am,” he corrected.  “My doctor tells me that having all three abilities -- empathy, telepathy, and telekinesis is rare.  And I think we’re ALL special, Alyce.  Even you.”

Rowdy liked the way Alyce seemed to be really listening to what he was saying.  He noticed she was studying his eyes as he used his telekinesis.  “Yeah, my eyes light up like Rudolph the frickin' Reindeer's nose when I trigger my telepathy and telekinesis,” he explained with a grin.  “My doctor calls it my energy signature.  It’s unique to every metahuman.  Sometimes it's a pain in the ass, especially when I use my powers in public.”

Rowdy thought it was amusing how Alyce just plucked the floating money out of the air without any concern, as if it was a normal thing.  She wasn’t freaking out or anything.  It was like she was used to him and his abilities already, and it made Rowdy feel comfortable using his powers around her.

“We’re all dealing with personal issues,” he informed her, “in some form or fashion.  Thanks for the apology.   I appreciate it.”  He smiled when she apologized for him viewing his abilities in a negative light.  “You say you don’t care, but I think you should, Alyce,” he warned.  “People who fear you might brand you as a witch or somethin' and try to run you out of town or –“

His voice trailed off as he lowered his eyes.

“ – kill you.  I don’t want that to happen, Alyce -- not to you, me, or anybody.  It’s naïve -- and dangerous -- for you to display your abilities too brazenly.   I know you can take care of yourself, but what if you were in a situation where you couldn’t?   I don’t want to see you get hurt . . . like I did once.   And I ended up hurting someone in return really badly.   The memory of it still haunts me to this day.”

Rowdy laughed out loud at the expression on Alyce's face as she fumbled with the money after he’d asked her for her phone number.  He thought it was cute the way she was blushing, too.

“Thank you,” he said when she handed him the bag with the receipt in it.  “I want to keep in touch, if that’s okay.  I promise I won’t overuse it.  I just want to talk, y’know?  With someone who understands what it’s like, y’know?”

He made a mental note of her schedule.  Today was Friday.

“Okay,” he said.  “So tonight’s a late night.  Do you have plans for tonight?  Would you like to go to dinner?”

As he asked the questions, his sad puppy-dog eyes said it all.  He looked like a little kid anticipating a negative answer.

“It’s okay if you have plans already,” he added.  “If not tonight, how ‘bout sometime next week?   I’m just being proactive here, Alyce.  I feel a connection to you.   I want us to get to know each other better, but we’re never going to do that unless we make time for each other.  Now that I’ve found you, I want you in my life.  You have a say in that though.  It’s your choice, not mine.”

Rowdy got quiet as he waited for Alyce's response.