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trying to convey, so I turned and followed Psycom outside.
    It was easy to spot the house; right across the street was a hole about a foot or two in size in their front wall.  Psycom flew up into the sky.  Ooh!  That’s right, I need to contact Black Tiger and get together with his friend to teach me to fly!  I glanced back at Chrome, although I could hear her thumping footsteps on the driveway with every step she took.
    I looked her up and down.  Her long t-shirt and sweat pants were ripped in places.  The t-shirt was too small, and did a good job showing her chest and abdomen now.  She was missing one sock.
    We walked across the street and she touched the doorbell.  A woman answered.
    She said, “Hello?”
    Chrome said, “Hi Sally, it’s Selina.  I … changed with that meteor shower last Saturday.”
    Sally looked downright afraid looking at the robot … err, Chrome.  Well, she might as well be a robot for all the humanity she appeared now.
    I said, “Hi, I’m Diva.  I’m a H.E.R.O. person.”  I waved to her, remembering the warnings from the hospital that I could crush the hand of a person.
    She smiled at me a moment.  “Those are quite the boots.”
    “Thanks.”  I knew the thigh highs and mini-dress would look good!
    Chrome said, “Well, Sally – I wanted to apologize for the wall.  Trying to get used to this metal skin is a real pain.”  She banged her knuckles on the other arm to highlight the point.
    Sally asked, “What happened?”  She looked like she was being polite, but was really uncomfortable talking to the metal … thing … in front of her.
    Chrome replied, “I tried doing some of my jewelry work and just destroyed it all.  I can’t … I can’t hold it light enough not to crush it now.  Then I broke the sewing machine and slapped it, and it just flew through the wall.”
    “All the way over here?”
    “Yeah.  I’m really strong now.”  I nodded at that.  My stomach and shoulder were still quite sore.
    I wisely said, “You should avoid shaking hands and touching people now.  Us bricks need to watch that.”
    She looked at me a moment with those creepy eyes – by far the only human looking thing on her apart from her body shape – but without the look of normal skin on her face, eyelids and such I couldn’t tell what she meant.
    Sally said, “I’ll see if insurance will cover it, but, ah, thanks for coming over.”  She stepped back into the house and closed the door.
    I looked at Chrome and said, “You should put on some makeup.  She’s probably scared by your face.”
    She replied, “Gee, thanks.”  She turned and walked back toward her house.  Her shoulders were slumped and her feet continued making the heavy thumping noise as she walked.  The right sock made a dull thud, while the other foot was bare and make a metallic thud against the concrete and blacktop.
    I walked with her back across the street, but neither of us said a word.  I wanted to ask her about how heavy she sounded, and what it was like having metal skin, but she just plain creeped me out too much.  I really didn’t desire to stick around her any longer than needed.
    Before entering the house she said, “I appreciate you going over there with me, Diva.  I apologize for fighting you.”
    “Oh.  Yeah.  Um, me too.  Sorry for thinking you were a robot and stuff.”  As she closed the door behind her I shivered.  Yuck, what an awful thing to look like.
    I turned and walked back to my car, rubbing my stomach and shoulder on the way.  Well, this doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would after a little while.  That’s pretty neat.
    I decided to go back to the shop with the mini-skirts as I drove away.
     

 
     
    Chapter 5 - Crushing
    Chrome's Viewpoint
     
     
    I shut the door behind the hero wannabe.  I shook my head and sighed as I walked over to the couch and flopped down.  The springs gave a snapping sound and my butt crashed down to the floor.
    I gave up and put