Trucks Gone Wild- Magnum Opus

“Moe, come here- I want you to see something!” the prof called.  I had been trying on a new pair of gold lamé stockings- made with real gold, I guessed, given how much they were supposed to cost- and I padded over to his workstation.  He had an incredibly dorky set of headphones on- the kind that glow in the dark and make you look like a singer in one of those weird bands from the eighties.  Juxtaposed with his traditional lab coat, wire-frame spectacles, and wispy goatee, the effect was stunningly nerdy.

“What’s up, doc?” I drawled as I leaned over him, cheerfully giving him a full-on sideboob.

He scooted over a little in his chair, trying without much success to put a little room between us.  “I just intercepted a strange transmission.  It seems something has taken control of a number of trucks and is causing them all to drive south through the city.  Further, each of these trucks appears to be taking control of other vehicles that come within a certain range of it…”

I yawned.  “So what?” I asked.  “It’s not like they can get to us, is it?”

The prof snorted.  “Unlikely,” he admitted.  He picked up a pencil and started chewing on the eraser.  “I want one, Moe,” he said finally.  “Disable one- the footage suggests that it may be possible to disconnect the fuse box from the truck and that will stop it- and bring it to me.  Be careful, though.  Try not to damage the vehicle any more than you absolutely have to.  I want to see how it works and what makes it tick.”

I rolled my shoulders, turned, and kissed him on the top of his head.  “Sure thing, doc,” I agreed.  I stood up and checked my outfit.  I needed boots, I decided, and maybe a tanktop and some bangly jewelry.  I had a couple diamond-studded bracelets that’d look okay.  I pulled on a pair of glossy black leather boots with two inch heels and flew out the door.

As soon as I was outside, I shot up into the air and began making a sweep across the city.  It looked like a lot of the trucks had already been dealt with, but there was one moving down near the docks that no heroes had gotten to yet.  I smiled.

Nice of that kid to loan me his flight powers- he hadn’t even known I’d taken them.  It would’ve been better, of course, if I’d had a chance to see him do anything else besides fly off into the distance, but, well, sometimes you just have to make do, right?

I flew down to the truck and jammed my fingers into the hubcap of the front wheel.  I shoved my arm straight through until I could grab ahold of the axle, the squeezed until it could no longer turn.  I was reasonably sure this wouldn’t damage anything the prof wanted, and it allowed me to turn my attention to the actual cab of the truck without having to worry about it slipping away from me somehow.  I suppose I could have just flown in front of it and stopped it that way, but I wasn’t quite certain how my flight powers were working, just now- if it didn’t let me counteract the trucks mass, then landing in front of it or flying into it at speed would be about as effective as a fly hitting a windshield.

The professor once told me that curiosity was a trait that went deep into my genes- I like to find things out, and at least part of that is because the more I know, the more I can do.  Every time I see someone use their powers, my genes somehow figure out how it’s done and let me do the same thing.  According to the prof, it’s not true copying- I don’t somehow Xerox their powers or anything- it’s more a case of mimicry, where the powers that my body already has somehow mutate to simulate the observed powers.  Unfortunately, the process is subconscious- basically, I mimic every aspect of the observed superpowers, including their weaknesses, and I can’t really cherry pick just the things I want.

At any rate, once I had the truck immobilized, I dug my hand into the space between the door and the frame and snapped off the locking mechanism and the latch.  Unlike learned powers, my strength is pretty constant- well, it can grow, I suppose, maybe if I ever get in a fight with one of Angel Falls’ really, really strong heroes, but even without any sort of enhancement I’m probably the strongest person most anyone will ever encounter.  I can lift better than ninety tons over my head without much effort; crushing metal is relatively easy.

I yanked the door open as a small subcompact hurtled into me, thus confirming something I hadn’t been willing to test- my current iteration of flight powers did, in fact, allow me to focus my strength into remaining immobile.  The car careened off my hip, mangling that side of the car and killing it completely.  It looked like there was someone in the driver’s seat and maybe a kid in the back seat, but I honestly wasn’t paying much attention.  At any rate, the engine didn’t land in their laps, so they were probably okay.

I climbed up into the cab and pursed my lips.  The fusebox actually wasn’t hard to find, despite the fact I didn’t know much about cars, and disconnecting it looked to be simple enough.  I opened it up first, though- if it was booby-trapped, I was going to have to be careful.  The prof wanted this thing intact, and I intended to get it to him that way, but there was no way I was going to bring a live bomb into his presence.  The prof is an egghead, sure, but he’s just not as durable as I am.

Once I satisfied myself that there was no hidden explosive charges, no acid, and nothing that appeared in the least bit dangerous, I snapped the few wires that fed it power.  I then got back out, ignoring the traffic that seemed to be- mostly- coming to a stop around me, and examined the hitch between the tractor and the trailer.  It looked to be of pretty sturdy construction, but I didn’t want to take chances.

I reached under the trailer, placing one arm on top of the tractor’s frame and the other just behind the hitch, then I levered my arms apart.  I have to give the manufacturers credit, here- the trailer didn’t accordion at all, which made the next part of my plan much simpler.  I walked back to about midway down the length of the trailer and shoved my hand into it until I was sure I had a secure grip.  I then lifted the monster and carried it with me around the side of the tractor, where I did the same thing with my other hand.

The weights were a little unbalanced, I admit, but my flight powers helped to keep me from tipping over- another useful side effect- and, further, kept me from sinking into the ground to my waist.  Cargo in hand, I slowly took to the air again, carrying my somewhat unusual payload back to the professor.