A Superhero Story Chapter 15 - When You're Evil

Ruaia walked down the street to her house, digging through her purse for her keys. She just needed to make a quick pit stop before going off to her next job. After punching in her code for the gate, she tried to step through but was stopped suddenly by a falling body.

She quickly took a step back to avoid being hit. “Oh my gosh, are you oka-” She began to say, but was stopped by something registering in the back of her mind. Not only was it odd that he had managed to orient himself and land on his feet, but he had a knife out and at the ready by the time he hit the ground, and the jacket he was wearing looked familiar. She knew she had seen that red and black jacket somewhere before...then it hit her. This was one of the guys that had been at the bank robbery that other day! But why was he here?

“You?” She asked, taking a step closer to him, making sure that it was the person she thought that it was. The young man looked up at her.

“You!” He said triumphantly as he popped to his feet. The hood he wore shrouded his face in shadows, so she couldn’t see his expression, but something in his voice told her that he had been looking for her. And there was also something triumphant about it.

“Ha! I found her! I win!” He called up to someone Ruaia couldn’t see. She looked up where he had called and saw two silhouettes on the roof tops.

“I wasn’t under the impression that it was a competition to find her, bro.” One of the others said as he jumped down to the ground. Ruaia had to hold in a laugh as she looked at him. His overall “tough guy” appearance was totally ruined by the pink teddy bear mask that covered his eyes. She managed to pull herself together by the time the two other people had made there way over to her.

“You’re just jealous ‘cause you lost,” said the first one, who she had decided to call “roof guy.”

She considered for a moment trying to hide her identity, but since she had already let slip that she knew them, that wouldn’t work. Time for Plan B...whatever that was. “What are you doing here?” She hissed, glancing around at the windows around them wondering what her neighbors would think if they saw all of this going on.

“We’re looking for you.” Teddy bear mask guy said plainly

“Why?”

“Well…” The guy who hadn’t said anything yet said slowly, “Forgive us for being just a little curious about a girl who has fire powers and can disappear completely. I mean, even our computer wiz couldn’t track you down.” Ruaia looked at them confused.

“Then how did you find me?” She asked.

“Cael here put a tracker on you.” Teddy bear mask guy said as he clapped the guy who had just spoke on the back. So that’s who had planted that tracker… Ruaia thought.

“So… are you gonna tell us who you are?” The guy who had fallen off the roof asked. Ruaia looked around again.

“Not here,” she said. “Follow me. And, Teddy Bear? Lose the mask. You look like a clown.”

“See? She wants to see my dashing good looks!” He said as he untied the mask. The other two facepalmed as they all followed Ruaia down the street. She shook her head, wondering how she got mixed up with these bozos.

Ruaia glanced around, looking for a place to talk away from prying eyes. She didn’t really want to bring a group of strange men into her house, but she couldn’t think of another place to go. She sighed and lead the way to her house.

“Can you at least tell us your name?” Roof guy asked.    

“Only if you tell me yours,” she replied.

“Sorry, that’s classified,” Teddy Bears said.

“Well, then mine is too. If you really need something to call me, you can call me Fire Phoenix,” she said, digging around in her purse for her apartment key. Walking up to her front door, she stopped short when she saw that a note had been taped to the outside of it. “Did you guys put this here?” She asked.

“No,” Cael answered. “We didn’t know which house was yours. That was the whole point of us waiting on the rooftops.”

“Do you know how much like a stalker that sounded?”

“All part of the job, sweetheart,” Teddy Bear said with a smile.

“And what is your job, sweetheart?” Ruaia asked as she tore the note off the door and looked it over.

“That’s also classified,” Teddy Bear said.

“Okay,” Ruaia said suddenly, “Is there something I can call you? Because I keep calling you ‘Cael,’ ‘Roof guy,’ and ‘Teddy Bear’ in my head.”

“Teddy Bear?” Roof guy snorted, patting Teddy Bear on his back. “I know a couple someones who would love to hear that nickname.”

The guy narrowed his eyes and growled, “If you ever call me that, I will end you.”

“The moron over there is Whispering Storm, unless you want to keep calling him Teddy Bear, in which case I will totally support you,” Roof Guy said, finally answering her question. “I’m Moonlight Demon, and that’s Cael-Kamahs.” Moonlight Demon leaned in closer and whispered, “We got him from the circus.” Cael rolled his eyes.

Ruaia nodded slowly, not really paying attention since she was reading the note already. She got to the bottom and looked up. “Do you guys have any idea what this means?” She passed the note to Cael-Kamahs who took it and skimmed it over:

You are cordially invited to the event of the century. That is, if you can make it there. Here’s a hint, made specially for you:

A picture’s worth a thousand words.
The trick is to find the words to say.
But sometimes words just get in the way
When someone else holds all the cards
And all you can see is a shard
Of someone you look at every day
Who I have managed to spirit away
To my dungeon of windows barred
Hurry fast, my little sparrow
Fly straight like an arrow
Find the key to your lost heart
And at the home where love has dwelled
Learn the place where he is held
If it’s me you want to thwart

Oh, and you only have three hours. Good luck.

Cael shook his head. “I hate to say it, but this has Psychotic written all over it. I know he’s been planning something big, and he loves to flaunt his plans.”

“Who is Psychotic and how the heck did he find out where I live?” Ruaia said, starting to get frustrated, her eyes turning gold right around the irises. People just needed to stay away from her house. She had done fine staying hidden until today. She blamed these idiots. Everything was fine until she met them.

“Woah, simmer down there, Chimchar,” Cael said. “Psychotic is a crazy yet dandy scientist, but he hasn’t gotten the best of me yet. It’s because of these notes of his that he insists on sending out all the time. They give us a chance to figure out what he’s doing before we jump into danger.”

“Why am I getting mixed up in this mess?” Ruaia asked with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t even know who this ‘Psychotic’ guy is, anyway. What does he want with me?”

“That is a question.” Cael looked back down at the note. “He always seems to go after me, so that would have made sense, or people who run in the same circles as me, but that’s definitely not you. What beef he has with you, I have no idea.”

“This smells awfully fishy…”  Whispering Storm said slowly, taking the note from Cael and scanning it over.

“It’s probably just your breath.” Moonlight Demon replied, taking his turn with the note. Ruaia couldn’t help but snicker at that comment.

“Burn, dude. Burn,” she said.

Whispering Storm frowned, and breathed into his hand checking to see if his breath really did smell. “My breath doesn’t smell like fish,” he pouted.

“Um, Cael?” Moonlight Demon asked looking up from the note. “If this Psychotic guy found Phoenix, don’t you think he might have something planned for us too?”

“We should probably get going.” Cael said as all three boys turned their heads towards where the car was parked. “And you should probably get going on your clue, Chimchar. You’ve only got a few hours to figure it out, and if I know Psychotic, it will be messy if you don’t. Here, call this number if you need any help.” He handed her a piece of paper with Shadow Stalker and a number written on it. They took off out the gate.

. . . . .

Cael raced down the street, Antain and Amato close on his heels.

“Wait, hold up there hot shot.” Antain said as he skidded to a stop at the car. “You gonna explain just who the heck this ‘Psychotic’ guy is?” Cael just shrugged as he looked around, looking for some sort of clue or something. He spotted a folded piece of paper with a fancy wax seal that was being held into place by the windshield wipers.

“He’s just this crazy guy.” He said offhandedly as he snatched up the piece of paper.

“So we find him and lock him up in a mental asylum. Big deal.” Amato said.

“He’s also about 130 years old,” Cael said in the same offhanded tone.

“So we lock him up in an old folks mental asylum.” Antain and Amato said at the same time.

Cael sighed and looked at them. “I don’t think you quite understand. He has over a hundred years more experience than us. And he’s an evil genius mad scientist. Trust me, he’s not that easy to beat

“He’s still 130. How spry can a 130 year old be anyway? I don’t think he’ll be a match for these guns of glory.” Antain said flexing his arms.

“Oh you’re so full of yourself.” Amato rolled his eyes.

“You can’t deny it. I’m awesome.” Antian said smugly

“I can, I have, and I will.”

“Ladies!” Cael shouted over top of their bickering. “Dontcha think that we have a little more pressing matter than your need to be drama queens?!” He waved the note in front of their faces.

“Yes because the fate for some unknown party is so much more important than Antain’s muscles.” Amato said coldly. Antain and Amato glared at each other of a second longer, then looked at the paper in Cael’s hand. “Where did that come from?”

“It was sitting on the windshield.” Cael said “If you two hadn’t been caught up in your beauty contest over there, you would have seen me grab it.” Antain stuck his tongue out at Cael.

“What does it say?” Amato asked, leaning in to look at the note.

Welcome, acerebral buffoons, to my Festival of Riddles. I hope you enjoy the game. Your task is hidden in the riddle below. You have three hours. Better get those little brains working full-speed.

Time to find these things three
Before all your time runs out
Or without a single doubt
What an explosion there will be
Unless you three can find the key
The capitol would be good to knockout
The Grand Station would also be good to check out
And if you’re thinking of visiting the glass tree
You might want to pick another date
Unless you can pick up the slack
And discover what I’m getting at
And change those poor people’s fates
By making up for what your brains lack
Then come find me for a little chat

The boys finished reading the note, then looked up at one another all sharing the same blank look.

“I knew that I should have paid more attention in English class.” Antain groaned.

“You went to class?” Amato asked.

“I will destroy you.”

“Knock it off you two. We need to figure this out.” Cael said, rubbing his temples.

“It’s like its written in a different language or something bro!” Antain complained

“No it’s not.” Cael explained “This is very typical of him. We just have to find the important parts to it.”

“He brought up three a few times. There’s three of us, it says three at the beginning, and it mentions three different locations,” Amato said slowly, thinking.

“Glass tree...you don’t think that he means the Tree of Heroes over at Memorial Park?” Antain asked.

Amato’s eyes darkened. “He wouldn’t dare.”

“What’s so significant about an old war memorial anyway?” Cael asked.

“Maybe nothing to you,” Amato answered, “But it’s very important to us. One of the names on that tree is our brother, Aimerick, and another is Amari’s brother Kayden. That tree holds a lot of emotion for a lot of people. If he does anything to damage that memorial, I will personally castrate him.” Subconsciously both Antain and Cael shifted their hands to cover their crotches.

“Easy there, Killer.” Antain said. “If we get there soon enough, it won’t be destroyed.”

“Fine.” Amato huffed “Lets hurry up then.”

“Where else are we supposed to go?” Antain asked looking over the note again.

“Grand Station is pretty straightforward,” Cael said, looking over his shoulder. “And ‘capitol’ probably refers to the capitol building.”

“If that’s true, then we could be dealing with more than just a few destroyed buildings,” Adamar chimed in through their earpieces.

“Were you listening the whole time?” Antain asked. “Would you stop doing that?!”

“Shut up, stupid,” Amato said. “Adamar, what do you mean ‘dealing with more’?”

“Well, just the buildings falling will cause enough destruction, but depending on the size of the blasts, the shockwaves could cause all kinds of other problems. There’s a network of tunnels underneath the city created by the subway system and the sewers. Any kind of disturbance in the structural integrity and who knows what could collapse?”

“It’s like a domino effect,” Amato said.

“Exactly. Which means you need to get moving. Now.”

“All of those locations are on opposite sides of the city. We’re gonna need to split up,” Cael said.

“I’ll take the memorial,” Amato volunteered.

“I’ll go to the capitol building, then,” Antain said, not really caring which one he got.

“Then I’ll go to Grand Station. And I’m taking the car,” Cael finished.

“What? Why?” Antain asked, caring now.

“Because I have to go the farthest. Now, let’s get moving before we run out of time.”

. . . . .

Meanwhile, Kethri sat back at the Firlanna mansion, deep underground, waiting for Adamar to finish something upstairs. She sighed and looked around the bunker she was sitting in. Well, it wasn’t a bunker anymore, per say. They needed an HQ, right? She had moved a large round table into the middle of the room and placed office chairs around it. There were enough for herself, Amari, Cael and the Firlanna family to sit around. At one end of the room, she, with Adamar’s help, had rigged up a large screen that connected could connect to any external recording device. Adamar had also done something clever with electronics and the table, although she wasn’t entirely sure what.

Kethri pushed the intercom button. “Alright, give it a shot,” she said

“Here goes.” Adamar’s voice came from the other side of the intercom. Kethri looked at the screen, and Adamar’s image popped up on the screen.

“It works!” Kethri grinned.

“It would appear so.” Adamar said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Why did we have to do this today?”

“That’s what you get for being tech support,” Kethri explained. “If we’re going to get any work as a superhero team, we need to act like a superhero team.”

“Hey, if it keeps you-” Adamar’s voice was cut off and the image went dark.

“Dang it…” Kethri frowned. One of the wires must have come loose of something, she thought, turning to go outside and check on him.

“Greetings,” an unfamiliar voice said. Kethri’s head whipped around, looking for an intruder. Her eyes fell upon the screen. Another image had replaced Adamor’s. A man was leaning up against a wall, almost completely shrouded in shadows, making it incredibly hard for her to make out any identifying features.
Her phone started ringing. “Kethri, what happened? My screen suddenly went dark, and the intercom system went down.” Adamar asked from the other end.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” she said. “There’s a guy on my screen now. He said ‘greetings,’ but nothing else yet.” There was silence on the other end or a long moment. “Adamar?”

“Hold on I’m thinking.”

“No, Adamar, listen.” Kethri held up the phone. A man in the background was talking.

“I bet you’re wondering how I got this message here. That will have to be a story for another day. There is a more pressing matter at hand. It’s up to you to figure it out. Here’s a little clue to start you on your way:

Unsuspecting victims at the mall
Each with a beating heart
Maybe with a shopping cart
Can you save them all?
Look in each and every hall
And maybe if you’re smart
You’ll find them at the start
Or leave them to what will befall
Hurry, hurry, little one
Your quest has only just begun
Hurry, or you’ll be too late
And they will be left to their fate
An hour you have left to tread
Or you will find they all lie dead.”

The message clicked off and the screen went black. Still in a little bit of shock, Kethri slowly brought the phone back up to her ear. “Adamar?” She said softly. “Did you get all that?”

“Yes. And I think I know who it is. Someone I’ve come across a couple times but never really had to interact with. Really, he’s just been on my radar because the crimes he tends to commit are interesting. But he’s the only one I can think of who would be so flowery and cryptic.”

“Well...” She prompted him.

“His name is Psychotic. A kind of self-proclaimed mad scientist. Did you see what he looked like?”

Kethri shook her head and then remembered that he couldn’t see her. “No. He was in the shadows the whole time. All I could see was a person-like shape. And a top hat. I’m pretty sure I saw a top hat.”

“A top hat...that doesn’t help.”

“I’m just telling you what I saw.” Kethri said defensively. Adamar ignored her.

“Victims at the mall…” He repeated quietly

“What do you think he’s planning?” Kethri asked

“Well obviously it has something to do with the mall, and people at the mall. Hang on. Let me hack into the secretary cameras there and see what’s going on,” Adamar said. There was silence on the other end of the line. All Kethri could hear was the clicking of the keyboard as Adamar did...whatever he was doing.

“Figlio di puttana!” He said after a minute.

“What’s wrong?” Kethri asked

“My systems fried.” He said, sounding very irritated. “Everything just went black, and this very taunting note appeared on my screen. I can’t get it off. This guys good, I’ll give him that…”

“Is everything fried? Can you get a hold of Amato or any of them?” Kethri asked, starting to feel a little worried now.

“I hope so, I was just talking to them not too long ago.” There was silence again as he checked.

“No,” he sighed. “It’s dead. I can’t hear or see anything. This is going to take a while to fix.”

“Well, while you tinker around with that, I’m going to check out the mall.” Kethri said, turning to leave the bunker.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Kethri.” Adamar said.

“I’m not just going to sit here on my hands while peoples lives are in danger. I can’t help you fix your computer problems, so I might as well go and do something useful.” Kethri said

“If you go there, I can’t help you.” Adamar said

“I’ve done just fine on my own before, ya know,” Kethri scoffed. “I’m going. Now. And there’s nothing you can say that will change my mind.” She hung up her phone before he could argue any further, and raced upstairs.    

. . . . .

All day, Azaria had been dragged around town looking for a dress for Amari’s date. After going shopping, Azaria and Amari went their separate ways. Amari rushed home to get ready, and Azaria decided that going weapon shopping was a good way to relax after the stress of having to deal with the other people while Amari had her fun. She didn’t mind supporting her friend, but that kind of shopping really wore her out. So now she was going to do her kind of shopping - gun shopping. The only problem was, the kind of gun she wanted to buy she couldn’t buy legally just yet. Time for a trip to her favorite black-market weapons dealer. Sidney Kennelly. It wasn’t his actual name - nobody knew what that was - but he had decided to pick something that sounded a little more 1920’s gangster. It was appropriate. The weapons shop he ran was in an old speakeasy in an alley downtown.

Walking casually up to the door, she did a series of knocks  - two loud knocks, three short raps, another two knocks, and another rap. A slat opened in the top of the door. A set of eyes looked through. “Password?”

Azaria rolled her eyes. “Sid, I know that’s you. Let me in.”

“That’s not the point, Shady,” Sid said, eyes twinkling. “Now come on, what’s the password?”

“I already did your secret knock.”

“Oh, don’t be such a party pooper.”

“Ugh. Fine. … knuffle bunny…” She said in a flat tone.

“See? Was that really so hard?”

“You’re lucky that if I kill you, I’ll have to find someone new to buy weapons from, and that’s just too much effort for me right now,” Azaria said as the door opened for her.

Sid had the body of a bouncer and the fashion of Al Capone. He was dressed as usual in a zoot suit and fedora. “So, what are you lookin’ for today. Anything in particular?”

“How ‘bout a Mosin? World War II if you can.”

“Of course I can. And I guess there’s no need for me to mention the cost, since that never seems to affect your decision anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just get me the gun.” Azaria sat down on a stool at the bar which was authentic from the 1920’s. She made a mental note that she needed to take Amari here. She would love to see an original speakeasy. She could be such history buff.

Sid disappeared into a back room and came back with a case. “Here ya go,” he said setting the case down on the bar.

“Took you long enough.”

“Not even a thank you,” he said, unclipping the case and opening it. “Hey, that wasn’t there before.” Sitting on top of the case was a piece of folded paper with Shadow Stalker written across the front. She snatched it up.

“Who had access to this?” She asked.

Sid shrugged. “No one that I know of. I have no idea how it got there.”

Azaria shook her head and snapped the case back down, grabbing it and throwing some money down on the counter. Sid picked it up. “Pleasure doing business with you, Shady,” he called after her.

Azaria waited to open the note until she was back in the car. She didn’t know what it said, but it was probably for her eyes only.

Hello to you, everybody’s favorite little assassin. But not all is right in your wonderland and you have three hours to figure out what’s up. And specially for you, I’ve written a little clue.

One assassin, two
Three assassin, four
Hear them practice, hear them snore
Hurry or you’ll soon be blue
A toxic gas is going to spew
From your house it will soar
Making people hit the floor
So bid them all adieu
Every person in the city
Each a tiny little ant
You’ll try to save them but you can’t
Because you’re also itty bitty
Although, maybe, if you run
You won’t miss all the fun

It seemed pretty clear to Azaria. This guy, whoever he was, was making a play on her house that would affect the whole city and that was just not cool. She started the car and sped off at top-speed towards her house.