Jesse & Jade #1

The searing heat of the summer sun overpowers the futile efforts of the geriatric air conditioning system and the diners at the McNulty's roadside diner feel the heat rise by another couple of degrees - from unbearable to 'Stop the world! I want to get off..' Of course that wasn't the only distraction from their meal today. There was the rather annoying lack of any cold drinks in any of the machines, an extended family of flies that have learned to avoid the bug killer above the grill and a woman in the corner with green skin!

Jennie-Lynn Hayden, formerly the superhero known as Jade, formerly a member of Infinity Inc., formerly even Green Lantern, wipes her forehead with a napkin and fans her chest with the neck of her baggy white t-shirt. She picks up the tall empty glass near her left hand and drops the last piece of ice into her mouth. At least two other diners look at her with unrepentant envy. Through the glass, Jennie can see the emerald shadow of her star-shaped birthmark. A few months ago she wouldn't be riding a Greyhound to California, she would be flying under the power of the green flame. That was then, when she was Jade. This is now, when she is alone and depressed.

Kyle Rayner. What a sleeze! You know, when a guy gives a girl a ring, it normally means something? When that guy is Green Lantern and the ring he gives you is a Power Ring, it must mean something, yeah? Not to that loser. "I love you Jennie!" Sure, until Donna 'Schizo' Troy lands back on the scene. Donna Troy, the ex-girlfriend from Hell. "It's over.." he said. Yeah, right! Well she can have him and his apartment in New York, and his exotic lifestyle and..and....

" Hey? Are you for real? What's with the make-up?" A rather greasy looking trucker on a table opposite Jennie tries to make conversation with her whilst shoveling a plate of eggs and ham down his throat.

" Pardon?"

" The green skin? Is it real?"

" As real as that boil on your chin, fatboy. Just so you know, it's my skin, yes it is green and yes, I am the green skinned model you saw in that centerfold. No, I will not be taking my clothes off for you and no, you have no chance of getting me into your truck, so don't bother asking."

" Now listen here, lil' lady.." The man tries to say something to her, but she has already put her money next to plate and is walking towards the door. Her cut-offs weren't made for the modest and one of the teenagers that had been staring at her since Kansas City started to purse his lips.

" Don't bother - really, don't bother.."

Too much, too young!

Jesse Chambers considered having her headstone made now, just so she could capture the moment. She was 23 and she had the world at her feet - literally. She was the CEO of Quickstart Enterprises, one of the world's leading consultancies in inspirational business developments. She has studied the sociology of the Metahuman at Gotham Uni., doing ground-breaking research into the field. She was the daughter of the golden age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, giving her access to a huge family of superheroic friends and membership of the new Titans and maybe even the Justice Society.

What a crock!

It all came to a head when she was away from the office, at a meeting in Atlanta. Now, the thing about Atlanta is that it doesn't have any proper local superheroes, but then again, it isn't exactly crawling with villains either. Whatever. So she's sitting in this meeting and she hears gunfire from outside. The meeting stops and everyone else is rubbernecking at the window so she takes the chance to slip out and save the day. She was just getting to the door when that young executive from Jennings and Sumner comes through, late for the meeting. They do the silly "Both move the same way to get passed the other" dance and then she is out of the room, onto the stairwell and saying her mantra - 3X2(9YZ)4A - running down the stairs and out of the building to find not one - Oh no! Never just one.. - but THREE other speedsters on the scene. Jay (The Original), Wally (The Current) and Bart (The Kid). They had all seen the shooting on CNN and ran over from Keystone. KEYSTONE!! Hundreds of miles in the time it had taken her to shimmy around some grad student.

It was the last straw! It was just a matter of luck that Max Mercury, Wonder Woman and Superman hadn't jogged over to give a hand. Maybe John Fox could have traveled back in time to help out? As usual, Jay and Wally got all the headlines and she was left to the side. Well not anymore. She wasn't going to play second fiddle to them anymore. She excused herself from the meeting and faxed the office telling them that she was going on holiday - for an undetermined period of time. They went into uproar but she didn't care. If Bill Gates could do it, so could she. After that she contacted Nightwing and told him that she wanted an extended leave of absence from the Titans. He was much better about it than she thought he would have been, being of the terminally serious persuasion. He said that the Titans were a family, not a job and that she could come back whenever she wanted.

So she had no ties, no problems and no plans apart from heading out to the sun and relaxing someplace where she could have a conversation where the words 'speed' and 'force' never enter into the same sentence. Jesse Quick was cruising towards California in a scarlet Mustang, with fun on her mind.

" Strawberry! Mango! Blueberry! Any flavour you want! The very best frozen yogurt around!" The tired voice of the yogurt vender drifts across the street without reaching the ears of any of the beautiful young things skating by her. " Cactus! Sewage! Linebacker's jockstrap!" No, not a flicker of recognition from any of them. Even in this heat, the frozen yogurt market was dead as a doornail. Now it was Smoothies! Everywhere you turned, bottles of smoothies were being devoured by the health-conscious sun-worshippers.

Kiku slumps down on the sidewalk and sticks her finger into her untouched carton of 'Forest Fruits', depositing the creamy dessert into her mouth. God, she could use a smoothie right now, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

On reflection, it couldn't get any worse than this. Yesterday was her sixteenth birthday and she was as near to bankrupt as you can get. When Johnny Thunder had taken her as his ward - being the last pure Bahdnesian on the face of the planet - he had been the co-owner of a thriving yogurt business and she was set to inherit it all. It belonged to his other adopted daughter, Peachy, who had acted as a sort of foster mother for Kiku for a while. Poor Johnny - his Altzeihmers had ravaged him and the business had drifted into the hands of the other partners that Peachy had brought in. Partners who had made some pretty silly decisions and then *wham* it was all gone. The bankruptcy had left enough to pay for his medical insurance, a small house for Peachy and a covenant for her, until she was 16. Now she was by herself and all she had was a chiller wagon and a recipe for a dessert than no-one wanted.

Now, I know you are asking yourself, what about the Thunderbolt? Well that's the killer. Johnny wanted to give her control of it, he really did, but he couldn't. He had forgotten that the controller of the t-bolt had to be the seventh son of a seventh son. A prime example of supernatural political incorrectness if ever there was one! The T-bolt was cool. They got on really well, and as long as Uncle Johnny told it to do what she said, she could work with it. However, when Johnny began to forget who she was, it was a different matter. The T-bolt didn't quite know what to do and hid himself in a pen, which was stolen and voila! Some kid ... "JJ" ( What sort of name is that?) gets custody and she is sans thunderbolt.

" Sorry kid, but you can't stay there." The policeman stares down at her through mirrored shades. " You're blocking the sidewalk."

Kiku lifts herself up and sighs. "OK, OK! I'm moving. Mango! Orange! Yogurt!"

Jesse sits with her back against the rear wheel of the car, pouring the remains of a bottle of mineral water over her head. Another jet of steam streams forth from the radiator of the car, and then the engine makes a final, desperate clunking noise and everything goes quiet.

Great!

The car had belonged to her father. It had been his pride and joy. Predictably, that meant that her mom hated it and told her that it wouldn't make the trip. Liberty Belle 1 - Ghost of Johnny Quick 0.

Jesse picks herself up and opens the hood of the car, to be greeted by a cloud of smoke and steam and that unmistakable smell of expired automobile. She waves the vapour away and prods around at the engine, hoping that some deity will look down on her and grace her with divine intervention.

No such luck!

Of course, she could run. Heck, if she ran, she could ferry her stuff to the apartment and back in less than a minute, but that wasn't the point. This was supposed to be her rite of passage! This was supposed to be where she proved herself beyond her parents legacy and stood up as a person by herself. This was when she stopped being Jesse Quick for a while!!

She jerks her head up as a small cloud of dust rumbles down the highway. Another car! Maybe a nice tanned guy, 18-25, with a thing about engines? She jogs to the side of the road and waves the cloud down. As it gets nearer, her hopes of a romantic liaison are shattered at the sight of a Greyhound coach. Still, better to get help from them than no help at all.

The bus slowly grinds to a halt and the driver pokes his head out of the cabin window. " Hi Missy, d'ya need some assistance?". Jesse explains her predicament and the driver agrees to have a quick look "To help a pretty young thing like her..". He explains the delay to the other passengers and climbs out. A few of the passengers follow him and soon the area is milling with sweaty bodies and complaining children.

"Jesse!!" A lime-green blur flings itself around Jesse's neck. Her first reaction is to throw her assailant over her shoulder but then she remembers that she only knows one person with green skin!

" Jade?"

" Yep, it's me. What are you doing out here?" Jennie is so happy to see someone she knows. The stares on the bus were beginning to verge on stalking!

" I could say the same to you? I'm on my way to California for some R&R." Jesse begins to walk away from the mob that had closed in around her car.

" Really? Me too!"

" No? But I thought that you and Kyle.." Jesse is interrupted by Jade's hand over her mouth.

" Don't mention the 'K' word, please. That is so over!"

"Ok, right, and the Green Lantern gig?"

" Finished too. I'm just plain old Jennie again and at the minute that's where I'm happiest. So where are you staying?" Jade fiddles with some loose change in her pockets and avoids looking at Jesse's face.

" Oh I've got an apartment just outside Long Beach - a little further south, nearer Laguna. I bought it on a whim a year ago and I've only used it once. It's what Daddy used to call a 'comfort investment'. The view out to sea at night is breathtaking. Where are you staying? Hanging around some of your old Infinity haunts?"

Jade mumbles a little - " Oh, yeah, I've got something .. a little.. you know?"

" Jennie-Lynn Hayden! You've not got anywhere to stay have you?" Jesse shakes her head in mock condemnation.

" I had to get out quick, OK! Ky… ahem, he was just everywhere. I'm resourceful, I'm sure I'll find somewhere…." The determination in the words is undermined by the pleading in the eyes.

" Well, it's an awfully big apartment for one person… you could always stay with me?" Jesse was trying to make out she was doing Jade a favour, but she knew that she wasn't looking forwards to being totally alone.

" Alright!! So when do we go??"

" What do you mean?"

" You're going to run, right?" Jade looks at Jesse as she stands impassive. " Aw nuts! You're on one of them ' I'm going to prove myself without my powers' trips, aren't you? Snap out of it Jesse! We can either be proud in the desert or users on the beach - what do you say?"

Jesse sighed. " 3X2(9YZ)4A"

Jade looked up from her seat on her third trunk and stared at the beautiful building where Jesse had dropped her bags. It was huge, with some of the most bizarre architecture she had ever seen. Too much mirror-glass for her liking, buy hey! It's not her apartment.

A blonde-haired streak screeches to a halt next to her and drops a couple of canvas bags. " For someone who had to leave New York in a hurry, you sure managed to pack a lot of stuff!"

" A girl has to have clothes to wear, you know, even in weather like this." Jennie smiles and wraps her arms around the small mountain of luggage. " Never separate a girl and her wardrobe!"

" So what do you think? Nice isn't it?" Jesse looks on with some pride.

" I'm sure he would have something to say about the form, or the style, but it'll do I suppose.." Jade's comment is interrupted by a jab from Jesse.

" Don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Lets get this stuff upstairs."

" How far upstairs?" asks Jade, knowing the answer.

" Penthouse apartment and the suite below - a girl needs room to exercise." Jesse hoists a trunk over her head ( aided by her over-sized adrenalin glands, courtesy of her mother.) and turns to walk towards the door. She stumbled into a small figure, hunched over a chiller cart and nearly drops the trunk on top of it.

" Hey! Watch what the #@&% you're doing will you!" The unkempt vendor snarls at Jesse and throws her the finger.

Jesse's eye's widen and her mouth falls open. " Kiku? Kiku Thunder??"

Kiku shakes her head and puts her hands over her eyes. " Say you wouldn't just like to have the earth swallow me up now?" Even though she has used the Bahdnesian magic words cei-u nothing happens. She opens the fingers of her hand so that she can peek out. " Hi Jesse. Sorry about the swearing…"

The three women lounge around the huge open plan penthouse suite, wrapped in white toweling robes with the 'JQ' monogram. In the table at the centre of the room, a small mound of pizza boxes lie defeated. Jade takes a long draft from her Pepsi and sighs. " I never took you as an anchovy woman, y'know?"

Jesse finishes her slice and tosses the crust into the pile. " What have you got against anchovies?"

" K-Y-L-E, no doubt?" Kiku giggles and hold a huge white pillow up, waiting for the abuse. " For someone who is 'so over' with him, she hasn't stopped talking about him all night."

"OK! OK! I get the picture, no more of him." Jennie looks around and crosses her legs. " So, what are we going to do now?"

" I don’t know about you, but I'm going to get some sleep. Some of us have just been portering across two states!" Jesse puts on her sour look.

" Not now! I meant tomorrow? Next week?" Jennie sits forwards a little. " I was thinking I might try to get something going with my photography again."

" In front of the camera or behind it?" Jesse giggles.

" I'm not sure? Maybe a little of both. Maybe some acting - anyone got any roles for green skinned heroines?"

" It works for Garth?" Jesse replies to blank faces. " Garth Logan? Changeling? Beast Boy?"

" OK then, maybe we knock the acting on the head. What about you Kiku?"

The young Bahdnesian shrugs. " You mean there's life beyond yogurt? I suppose I should enroll at high school really?" Jade and Jesse look at each other, aghast.

" Did we just hear what I thought we heard - you are volunteering to go to high school?" Jesse is incredulous.

" I'm 16 with no qualifications and a history of bankruptcy. I need the education. Don't think I'm happy about sitting in a room with kids younger than me when you to are doing the 90210 thing."

" Well this looks like it could work out well, " Jesse smiled and picked up another piece of pizza. " You can both stay for as long as you want. I've never had the chance to do stuff like this before - it's kinda fun. We'll need house rules, of course." The other two groan. " Not like that! Rule #1 - no superpowers in the house. Rule #2 - No alcohol "

" Jesse! We're adults!" Jade complains.

" We are, Kiku isn't and I don’t want anyone accusing us of leading her astray.

" Hey! Who made you my guardian angel?" Kiku sounds insulted " I don't like beer anyway."

" Good. Rule #3 - Lets keep any men-type-activity to the downstairs apartment?" The others nod in approval.

Jesse stretches and begins to make herself ready to go to her room. As she rises, Jade waves her hand. " Hang on, Ms Chambers. You haven't told us what you are going to do with yourself?"

Jesse answers as she strolls towards her bedroom. " First I'm going to check out the area, then I'm going to find a good caterer and then I'm going to plan the biggest party this place has ever seen!" She grins and disappears around the door. Kiku laughs out loud.

" She's more of a kid than I am!"

Well, that was easy, wasn't it? In our next installment, Jade gets a new job and attracts some unwanted attention in the process, Kiku starts at school and realises that the USA isn't the melting pot everyone says it is, and Jesse gets a visitor that throws the slumber-fest out of the window.

Hey!

Well, that was a laugh! My first issue for AllStar2000 and not one single villain was mentioned, never mind made an appearance. Welcome to Jesse and Jade - where comics meet 'Friends'. I want this to be a total departure from my usual 'epic' style of fanfic. This is going to be about the characters and their mis-adventures in LA. Sure, there will be the odd megavillain thrown in to mix it up a bit, but the trouble's going to come from other sources too.

Anyway, let me know what you think - good. bad, indifferent, ground-breaking etc. While we're on, we need a name for the letter-col. The person who sends the best suggestion will become one of the girls neighbours, immortalised in fanfic - how about that??

Thanks and see ya!

Neil