Support Shawn's writng with a donation

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Isis: All That Glitters Sample Chapter





Last week I finished a new Isis series story Isis: All That Glitters. In this story the goddess next door takes on a bikini clad bank robber with a taste for the finer things in life.

With this story I’m trying to write a basic comic book story where a hero does something simple like take on a bank robber. We don’t see that kind of story in comics anymore and it’s a shame. It’s this kind of story that shows readers how superheroes protect the community and has a relationship with people in the neighborhoods they serve. It’s stories like this that show new readers who a superhero is, what they do for them and why they should care about them.

Chapter 1

I see my breath blow before my face as a flash of light takes me from the warm offices of the Morris Phillips executive suite to the chilly sidewalk on 23rd Street in Chelsea. After I get out of the bank, I think I’ll head over to Victoria’s Secret to pick up that nightgown I saw yesterday-
Just as I’m about to head into the Chase bank branch, my iPhone rings. When I see John’s phone number I frown. I know executives work twenty-four hours a day seven days a week, but I’d like to think a sista could get a moment to run some errands on her day off. “You do know I’m off the clock John boy-”
“I’d like to think it’d be hard to do shopping without a way to pay for it Princess.” E’steem says.
“I just got paid-”
“You left your ATM card on my desk.”
Must have left it there when I was shopping online. “Guess I was in a bit of a hurry to get out of the office.”
“So you want to pop back in and pick it up?”
I could, but that’d take precious seconds away from my lunchtime shopping trip. “I won’t need it.” I say pushing past the tall wood and glass door of the bank branch. “Back in the good old days of the 1940s we had these people at the bank called tellers-”
“You know they still have tellers at banks-” 
They call them customer service associates these days. “Humor an old lady for a minute willya.” I say walking through the vestibule past the ATMs. “Now back then they had these little slips of paper called Withdrawals. We’d fill em’ out present, em’ to the teller and then they’d give you cash money you could spend anyplace you liked.”
“You and your old fashioned ways.” E’steem laughs.
“That’s how we used to do it in the olden days of the twentieth century.”
After I get off the phone with E’steem, I head over to one of the tables in the corner get a withdrawal slip and fill it out. As I get on the back of the long line near the door to wait for the tellers, I count ten heads. Maybe I should have gone back for my ATM card-
Just as I’m pondering that thought, cold air blows behind me as the door opens. A tall attractive blonde woman with a tan saunters onto the bank floor wearing only a white bikini and strappy sandals. With it being forty degrees outside, this has to be some sort of reality show stunt.
Several people on the line behind me get out their smartphones to get pictures of the blonde in the bikini as the bank manager comes out from behind the swinging door of the office area. As the stout man in the pinstripe suit approaches her he’s completely intimidated by her beauty. “Can I help you miss?” He asks.
“I’m here to make a withdrawal.” The woman says.
“Would you like a withdrawal slip?”
The woman flashes him a smile. “No thanks, I’ll get it myself.”
The bank manager’s jaw falls agape when the woman struts past him and through the swinging door he came through. He and the elderly security guard patrolling the floor are dumbfounded as she marches over to the vault door on the far side of the bank. My eyes grow wide as she grabs the solid steel door and tears it right off the hinges like cardboard.
After she props the door on the wall beside her, she strolls in and starts stuffing her designer handbag with stacks of money. I’m about to step out from behind the velvet rope to stop the robbery when the guard rushes past me. “D-Drop the money miss.” He orders pulling out his gun.
The blonde turns to the guard with an annoyed look on her face. “You better put that thing away before you hurt yourself.” She laughs. “You’re not man enough to take on this much woman.”
The air explodes as the terrified guard empties his gun in the direction of the safe. The customers who were on line recording the robber scramble for the exit on hearing the gunfire. As I dart over to the table with the bank slips near the door I’m shocked to see the bullets bounce off her breasts like Jell-O.
After his six-shooter runs out of bullets, the blonde scowls at the guard. She slings her bag over her shoulder and storms over to him. “Looks like you shot your load big man.” She says snatching the gun from him. “But it’s still not enough to satisfy me.”
Standing in the presence of the beautiful bikini clad blonde, the old man clutches his chest and crumples to the ground. She crumples his .38 revolver like tissue paper and hands it to the bank manager. “Something to remember me by.”
After taking the crumpled gun, the bank manager faints and falls on top of the guard. On seeing the men fall at her feet, the blonde has a smug smile on her face as she steps over them and starts strolling towards the door. Before she can reach it, I step out from behind the table and meet her blue eyes with mine. “Excuse me, can I see a receipt for that withdrawal?”
The blonde rolls her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna play the superhero concerned citizen-”
“Goddess.”
“I look the part more than you stringbean.” The blonde says looking me up and down.
“That’s what you think Goldilocks-”
“That’s Golden Shine.” She corrects flipping back her long blonde hair. “And you’re gonna find there’s more to this beach body than meets the eye.”
“Tell it to the cops when you wake up in Central Booking-”
I throw a punch at Golden Shine; she catches my fist with her manicured hand before it connects with her face. I knew she was strong, but I didn’t think she’d be strong enough to hold me back. “You’re good beanpole.” Golden Shine says. “But you just can’t beat perfection.”
Golden Shine grabs my arm and twirls me around. The room is a blur as I hear glass shattering and feel pebbles of raining down on me as my body skids on the floor of the vestibule. I hear Golden Shine’s heels stepping through the shattered doorway. I scramble to my feet and point daggers at her. “Still want some more of this Princess?” Golden Shine asks.
“You’re not leaving here with that money.”
“Guess I’m gonna have to teach you why you shouldn’t mess with the beautiful people.” Golden Shine says shrugging her shoulders.
Golden Shine drops her bag of loot on the floor and gets into a fighting stance. I swing on her; she dodges the punch and hits me with a right cross that sends me stumbling around the vestibule. Before I can recover, I’m grabbed by the back of my leather jacket and the waistband of my jeans. My eyes grow wide when I feel my three hundred pound body being hoisted in the air like a sack of potatoes. I catch the evil grin on her face reflected in the tall picture windows of the bank’s entrance. She laughs as the pane of glass explodes around me and I crash onto the sidewalk.
I hear Golden Shine’s designer sandals pounding into the concrete a few feet away as I shake the stars out of my head. Once I get my faculties together, I see Golden Shine strutting out of the bank and getting a key fob out of her bag and pressing it. When she steps into a White Bentley Continental coupe and starts it up I frown. Oh no, she’s not getting away from me.
Golden Shine’s car burns rubber as it bolts down Sixth Avenue. I take off into the street right behind her. In a few moments I’m catching up with her car and I’ve got her bumper in my hands. Then I feel surge of electricity jolt my body. I let out a scream as I’m forced to let it go.
My limp body tumbles into the street. As I look up I see all the midday traffic racing down Sixth Avenue in my direction. I barely have a moment to disappear into a flash of light before I’m run over. 
***
Isis: All That Glitters will be out…Eventually. I have four Isis series books on the shelf and they’re delayed due to a shortage of funds to pay for the covers. So if you could donate to my Patreon or my Paypal or give me some leads on a full-time job in New York City I could start clearing up the Isis series backlog and get those books out to you!


NOTE: Dynamite’s Hack/Slash Vs. Vampirella #3 comes out today. So there’ll be a review up of that issue on Friday’s blog!

No comments:

Post a Comment