Chapter 11 #2
The heroes of Vanguard were self-aggrandizing assholes.
Quite literally, they hovered over the city, above us, the people they swore to protect.
Screeching boy made them a necessity. If we eradicated people like him, we wouldn’t need defenders.
But no, instead these psychos were deposited in prison and given the chance to return to the streets.
I drew back my fist, a warm light glowing across the kid’s face. This close, I could see the reflection in his eyes, a fiery ball of death, ready to break his nose before melting his skin. I eyed my fist, the fire nearly consuming my forearm and hand.
It’d only take a single punch. One.
I slapped the kid with my fireless hand.
Shaking my matchstick limb, the ball of death vanished.
I could have killed him. He might be a thieving banshee, but he was also somebody’s baby boy.
The rage pulsing outward turned inward, angry I had entertained the idea.
When he objected, I struck him again and this time, he went limp.
I turned, ready to yell at Hellcat when I caught sight of a dozen citizens of Vanguard. Their faces hid behind cellphones and tablets as they recorded a successful confrontation. This is where a hero normally posed, signed a few autographs, and kissed a baby or two.
“Nothing to see here, folks.”
“You have powers,” a young woman claimed. “A hero with powers!”
“Are you sure he’s not a villain?” A nearby man questioned her statement. When it came to heroes, regular Joe’s should question their intentions. But right now, while holding a supervillain, I needed them to disperse.
I started to wave them off, but realized there was a better chance of herding cats.
Hellcat hadn’t moved as she crushed the can before shooting it into a recycling bin. I understood where she acquired the name. Not the hell part, but the cat. She was as annoying as a sanctimonious feline. When the sirens grew loud enough to drown out the crowd, she signaled for us to vacate.
I set down the kid and pointed at the questioning man. “Make sure he doesn’t get up.”
I stormed toward the alley, elbowing through the growing crowd of superhero fans.
There was something demoralizing about a superhero having to walk away.
Could I really claim victory when it came to a slapping match with a kid?
I’d probably be painted a schoolyard bully by the media, but knowing Vanguard, I’d have the key to the city by brunch.
“You’d be a lot more useful if you could fly.”
“Yeah,” I grumbled, “I’ll get on that.”
“You haven’t said much since you nearly killed a toddler.”
“Hush.”
Hellcat had waited for hours to bring up the incident with the kid.
Instead of giving me a ‘good job, champ,’ she’d led me through the city to the rooftop of a redbrick apartment building.
I expected more fighting, or at least a chase here and there.
Instead, she was the oddest dressed tour guide I had ever seen.
“What were you thinking about when it happened?”
“It?”
She gestured to her arm and made explosion sounds. When I didn’t respond, she plopped herself down on the roof ledge. Swinging her feet sixty feet above the pavement below. I had to admit, the view of the city from this height was beautiful, even if I shared the moment with a lunatic.
“It’s an involved story.”
“Cliff Note’s version.”
“It would give away my identity.”
She froze at the mention of my mundane life.
Throughout the night, she checked her phone each time it vibrated.
Making sure I couldn’t read over her shoulder, she’d text somebody on the other end.
As her heels stopped hitting the ledge, I had to wonder if the texts were related to Hellcat’s alter ego.
“Never give away your identity. Once it’s out, they’ll come from you when you’re not prepared.”
“I’m always—”
“Or your loved ones.”
Would a villain really travel a thousand miles to take my sister hostage? I pitied the fool who tried. She had more guns than ex-husbands. Once they realized she was going to wear the pants in the relationship, that had them packing. Villains weren’t so different.
But then there were the guys. I bet Bernard could hold his own when boxing with another person, but powers? No, I think he, Alejandro, and Griffin were prime supervillain hostage bait. Then there was the question of Aiden.
“Is that who you’ve been texting?”
She slapped her thigh and let out a laugh. “No. That’s my work phone. The heroes of Vanguard are curious about a new man with abilities.”
“Curious or suspicious?”
“Both,” she admitted.
“You just casually text back and forth? Please tell me there’s a group chat.”
“No, it’s a multi-multimillion dollar cellular network using direct satellite connections. It’s a perk of having a few rich do-gooders around. Since the de-powering, they’ve helped mobilize the vigilantes.”
“Wow,” I said, “I didn’t think this was that organized.”
“I mean, we’re basically a union at this point.”
She spoke about the heroes as if they were the type of people you’d go out for cocktails with after a hard day at the office. I had assumed she was one of the discarded vigilantes who never got asked to join a team because of her lack of powers. It hadn’t occurred to me that it might be a choice.
“Do they have any idea how they lost their powers?”
“Dr. Sincerbeaux believes somebody could do it with enough smarts.”
“Tech?”
“Well, Dr. Arcane believes its magic.”
“Nobody has a clue, do they?”
“None,” she admitted.
For all their efforts and godlike abilities, they were helpless.
Their frustration warmed the darkest parts of my heart.
And yet, it was undeniable. Without them, crime was on the rise and the city was under siege.
It pained me, but right now, Hellcat was the most knowledgeable person at my disposal.
“Can I ask you a serious question?”
“Shoot, cowboy.”
“Why do you do it?”
I expected a fast reply with a sarcastic undertone, but all I got was a long pause. At first, I thought perhaps she hadn’t heard, but from the corner of my eye, she stared at the city. What had I been thinking? We weren’t close, and asking about the reasoning behind the heroics was—
“I needed a hero when I was a kid.”
“There were more back then. Plenty for you to look up to.”
“No,” she replied. “Not role models. They shot my parents when a robbery went sideways. If there had been one, they could have protected my parents. Or maybe they could have gotten them to the hospital.”
A paramedic worth their weight could have jumped in and saved the day. I’d have gladly taken that call to ensure they made it to the operating room alive.
“I needed a hero,” she repeated. “Going out there is to make sure there are fewer orphaned kids. It’s how I make my parents proud.”
I didn’t have words. The mask on her face promised broken bones, lacerations, and more than a few concussions. But it gave her a sense of identity, hope, and purpose. I respected her motivation, even if I didn’t agree with the outlet.
“And you?”
I held up my hands, inspecting the suit covering my skin.
Prometheus had imbued me with power I still couldn’t fathom.
Even if I could access it and turn into a living fireball, did I want to use it?
His dying wish had made my stance on superheroes extremely murky.
But despite my disdain, I followed her to the top of this building.
“None of this is by choice.”
“I don’t mean the mask, medic.”
Hellcat had seen my face without the mask. I shouldn’t be surprised that she uncovered my secret identity. I assumed she knew, but we weren’t going to talk about it like some sort of superhero code of conduct.
“Fixing broken things is my schtick.” It was my go-to answer when people asked about my job.
“If you say so.” She stood. Offering me a hand, she dragged me to my feet. “We’re at the end of our night. I need to get back to my life.”
“I should do the same.”
“Or…” She smiled, making her appear far more sinister than it should. “You can ask me why I brought you here.”
I assumed this building had a great vantage point. I couldn’t imagine why she’d insisted on this rooftop.
“Why?”
“There’s a journalist in apartment 7C I thought you’d be interested in seeing.”
“Aiden?” She already knew my identity. There was no point in trying to hide my connection to him.
“You need to stop being selfish. We do this for reasons beyond ourselves. When you have somebody worth saving, you’ll understand why we put on the masks.”
Before I could answer, the woman jumped off the ledge.
I peered downward as she somersaulted, and my muscles tensed as I prepared for a splat.
But Hellcat lived up to her vigilante namesake.
With an arm held out, something shot from under her jacket.
Grappling onto a building, she sped downward until the line tightened.
The woman looked like a modern-day Tarzan as she soared upward, covering blocks in a few seconds.
“Not fair,” I mumbled. I think I’d rather take on a supervillain.