Chapter 13

“So, how are going to go about this?” William asked.

“I figure we could split into teams.” I told him my thoughts.

“Yes, that could work, but I have an idea I’d like to work on here if that’s okay.” William said with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

“Yes, team leader.” I said with only the barest hint of sarcasm. He shot me a look that started out menacing then shifted to a slight smile.

“Alright then. Team one will be Wayne and Neil. You two will focus mainly on the villains Captain Quake, Lady Frost, Phantasm, and Switcher.” William told the table.

This was followed by nods from team one.

“Team two will be Ray and Megan. Since you two have speed you will go to Baron Speed’s mattress store. After that you will go talk to the Sludge followed by Dark Omen and The Voiceless Angel.” Mastermind continued giving us our assignments.

I didn’t want to face Angel, not yet, but I felt like someone was looking at me. I turned to look for the eyes watching me and met Megan’s gaze. She blushed before looking away.

“Finally, team three will be Allen, David, and Richard. You will focus on the remaining heroes.” He finished the giving orders. Not noticing the look on Hopper’s face.

“How did he know my name?” Hopper asked quietly.

“I know right, it’s weird.” David said not answering his question.

After that we all split up, getting into our super suits and getting ready to head out.

I stood just inside the lobby of the tower waiting for The Streak to come down. I noticed that the now clean room was just empty.

“Solemn, is there anyway you could furnish the lobby and possibly staff it?” I asked the AI.

“I have the ability to do that, but I do not have the funds to do it.” The room responded with its characteristic sadness.

“How much would you need?” I asked.

“Depending on the quality of staff and furniture, anywhere from fifty-thousand to five-hundred thousand.” He deadpanned.

“I am going to have Travis set up an account that you can use to fully furnish the entire building, but don’t furnish any personal rooms without someone telling you what they want.” I told him.

“And staff?” Solemn asked.

“I want at least the lobby done, and a cafeteria with a staff would be nice too, but no higher up than the lobby.”

“It will be done.” Solemn responded as the elevator doors opened up.

Megan stepped out in her Streak disguise, which is still something I haven’t gotten used to.

“Ready to go to get the Baron?” I asked her.

“Yeah let’s go.” It was her changed voice that made her sound like a man.

“That’s just weird now that I know the truth.” I told her.

“Get used to it, male heroes get taken more seriously.” She said matter-of-factly.

“That’s not always true. It depends on how you handle yourself.” I said memories of a past Honor Guard flooded my mind making me sad.

“What’s wrong?” She sounded concerned when she asked.

“There used to be a female hero I worked with, before we made it into the big leagues. When she spoke, everyone took her seriously.” I said trying to keep my sadness from my voice.

“What happened to her?” the Streak asked.

“She was killed trying to defuse a hostage situation.” I stated.

“Why do I feel like there’s more to the story.” She probed.

“There is, but now isn’t the time. We were given a task and we should do it.” I said trying to get the conversation to end.

She looked like she wanted to say more, but she just nodded and pulled out her phone to find the location of the mattress store.

“So, the mattress store is over by Centurion’s Park, about two streets over it looks like.” Megan said, in her male disguised voice.

“I’ll meet you there, I’m gonna take the long way to clear my head.” I told her and before she could answer I ran the opposite direction.

I ran for the edge of the continent and slipped into my thoughts.

“Hey, wake up! We have a hostage situation at a small-time bank.” A familiar female voice told me as she shook me awake.

“Five more minutes.” I told her.

“Ray you have to get up now! I need you to get me there quick!” She yelled.

She really knew how to motivate me. Someone was in danger and I couldn’t let them get hurt. In the blink of an eye I was up and in my fledgling super-suit. She was already in hers.

“All right, Donna let’s go save the day.” I said, standing in a hero pose.

“When I’m in this it’s Delay!” She lectured me gesturing to her suit.

“Whatever you say sis. Let’s go!” I told my younger sister with a smirk.

I came out of my deep thoughts as I made it back to land. Speeding up, not wanting to keep Megan waiting I ran at max speed to the address she gave me. I must have been going faster over the ocean than I realized as I arrived exactly when she did.

“I thought you were going to take the long way?” Megan asked.

“I did.” I told her.

“Oh, okay then. Let’s go meet this Baron Speed then.” She said.

“I’ve actually met him before… multiple times.” I said.

“Oh really? What should I expect?” She asked.

“Expect a chase.” I said bluntly.

We opened the door to Cool Night’s Sleep and stepped inside.

We saw a man sweeping the floor of the otherwise empty shop, save for the mattresses.

“Hi welcome to General Cool’s…” He trailed off as he turned around and saw me. Before we could react, the man was gone, and the broom finished it’s sweep before it fell to the ground.

“Told you he’d run.” I gave Megan a smirk before I took off after him in a blast of energy.

I caught up to the man with far less effort than I could give. He was almost seventy levels behind me, so it made sense. I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

“Why did you run?” I asked.

“Old habits die hard I guess.” He said sheepishly tapping the tips of his fingers together.

“Did you do something wrong?” Megan asked as she came to a stop beside me.

“NO!” He yelled. “I swear! I work for one of my archrivals at a mattress store. I am under strict supervision because of that.”

“Wait… General Cool owns that store? Is he around? I miss that guy.” I asked

“No, he went to a business meeting, he’s thinking about franchising the store.” Baron said, my hand still on his shoulder.

“Oh well. Anyway, we have an offer for you.” I told him.

“An offer… for me…” He sounded confused, understandable really.

“We started a team and are offering the chance for villains to reform and join the good fight.” Streak told the man.

“You mean go against the Bridgers?” He asked.

“Not exactly but we want to get back in the super game.” I said.

“What’s the pay? The benefits? Can I get dental?” He asked excitement in his voice now.

“We hadn’t discussed that, but I assume we will offer medical coverage. Afterall we want our members healthy.” I said pulling out my phone and shooting a message about healthcare to William.

“Well I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to at least look into it.” Baron mused.

“Well we are doing a month trial run for new recruits, not just villains, heroes too. So, don’t think you can return to villainy if you work with us.” I told him plainly.

“Right, where should I go?” He asked.

“Eternity Tower.” I said no funny business in my voice. He gulped.

“Now have a nice day they are expecting you.” I told him and he ran off.

“Now who’s next?” I asked Megan.

“We have The Sludge, Dark Omen, and The Voiceless Angel left. So, dealer’s choice.” She said.

“Right let’s go see Angel.” I told her.

“Why is he called the Voiceless Angel?” Streak asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough, he works as a tattoo artist not too far from here. Follow me,” I said as I went to move, I stopped.

“Do you have your civilian clothes on you?” I asked.

“Yeah I have them in my storage bag. Why?” She seemed confused at my question.

“Let’s walk there. If that’s ok with you?” I asked her.

She seemed to think it over for a minute before nodding and starting to walk towards a phone booth, man it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those.

“Hey, wait!” I started, “Before you change, what do you look like as the female version of Streak?” I wondered out loud.

She pulled out her phone and hit a button, changing her form from an athletic looking male with his short hair sticking out of the top of his face mask, and an average but muscular form, into a stunning woman, whose short hair morphed into long hair stopping at her shoulder blades with a slimmer athletic form.

“What?” She asked breaking me from my stupor while blushing slightly.

“N…nothing, you just look amazing.” I said before I could stop the words flowing from my brain to my mouth, bypassing any filters in between. I blushed myself.

“Um… I’m going to change.” Megan said before she zipped towards the phone booth, a tornado of motion within, before she reemerged in her civilian clothes. I did the same thing changing my clothes in the same booth she just vacated.

“Shall we?” I said holding out my arm for her to take. She hesitated before taking it.

We walked, in a comfortable silence, for around ten minutes before we reached the nondescript building listed on Eveningstar’s contact information. This recruit was one I wasn’t really wanting on the team. This has nothing to do with his abilities, he’s a strong warrior, and a very devout friend and team member, but we have a history.

“Is this the right address?” Megan asked. Looking around I noticed something just left of the gate.

“It’s the right place.” I said.

“How can you tell?” She asked.

“I’ve been here before.” I told her, sadness tinging my voice.

“What’s wrong?” Megan asked.

“Nothing, but if anything happens, don’t interfere.” I said plainly as I walked to the gate and pushed the buzzer to the right side of it.

Three flashing lights from inside the building showing someone had rang the buzzer.

Within seconds the midday sun overhead seemed to be growing dark. After a couple of more seconds, I saw the two large wings spread from either side of his body growing closer to us. I started to tense up.

He landed his back to us and slowly turned to face us. He walked slowly towards us never looking up from the ground. He stopped only a few feet in front of me.

POW!

His fist collided with my face. Megan started to run forward to get between us. I stopped her with a hand and a look that told her not to do anything.

BAM! POW! POP!

Three more blows hit me, two in the face the third in the stomach. Right after he collapsed to the ground to, tears streaking down his face. He finally looked up and made eye contact with me.

His hands started moving in a flurry of motion.

“Why did you come here?” Eric asked in sign language.

“I had to. We are working towards something great. I was asked to talk to you.” I signed back at him.

“How could you show your face here after what happened?” his hands were trembling the whole time he signed.

“I’m sorry, I know how much it hurts, I miss her every day.” I barley made the motions, as my sadness threatened to take full control.

I stood up, holding out my hand to help Eric up. He slowly took it and I pulled him into a hug.

Just two grown men hugging and softly sobbing. Totally something I wanted Megan to see this early in our relationship.

“Um… is everything okay?” Megan asked.

“Oh… um… yeah, sorry let me introduce you.” I said motioning to Eric, while signing to let him know what I was saying too. “This is Eric, my brother-in-law. Eric, this is Megan.”

“Okay…” Megan seemed to draw out the last syllable for an impressive length of time. “Hi nice to meet you Eric.” She finally managed to get out, still confused.

“Nice to meet you, now what do you two want?” Eric signed.

“We made the team. No one on it knew our connection. I still wanted you to be apart of her dream.” I said and signed.

“I don’t know if I can do it without her.” When he finished his head went back to hanging and his arms sat weakly by his sides. I touched his shoulder to get him to look back up.

“That’s fine, you’ll have a spot when or if you ever decide to join. Are you still painting?” I asked.

He answered me with a simple nod.

“That’s good, I would like to see them sometime, if that would be ok?” I signed. He just shrugged.

“Look if you’re ever ready, meet with us here.” I signed before handing him a card with our address on it. He took it but didn’t show any emotion other than sadness.

“We have some others we have to meet. Can I stop by again sometime?” I asked. He looked like he wanted to hit me again, but then he nodded and pulled me in for another hug.

I told him bye and started to walk back the way I came.

“Hey, what was that all about? If he’s your brother-in-law, where’s your sibling? Don’t you want to say…” She cut off when the realization hit her.

“So where to next?” I asked wiping a tear off my face.

“The next closest is in the industrial district.” Megan said quietly.

“We should probably change for this one, it’s the Sludge, right?” I asked.

“Yeah since he’s a villain that would be a good idea.” She agreed.

I walked into an empty ally and changed coming out to be lookout so she could change. When she came out, she wasn’t in her male disguise, she stood there a slight blush seen at the edge of her mask. I smiled then nodded at her.

We took off running through the streets trying to reach the factory where the villain worked.

We arrived at a large two-story factory, the information said that it produced chemicals that could harm the environment. We walked to the offices and asked to see the Sludge monster, one of the security guards escorted us to the very back of the factory and out a door leading into a large pond, that seemed to sheen with oils and other chemicals in the water.

“He’s in there, I’ll wait just inside the door, let me know when you’re ready to leave.” The security guard told us.

After a minute of waiting a the water started to bubble and it looked like it was moving toward us, slowly one step at a time the creature stalked out of the water as he passed the sheen from the chemicals seemed to be absorbed into his body.

“Hurrg yar naar.” The Sludge garbled at us.

“Good and you?” Megan replied.

“Wait you understood him?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s the translation app. Don’t you have one?” She seemed to be shocked at the idea.

“No? What app?” I asked.

“Let me see your phone.” She said taking my phone as I handed it to her. She hit a few buttons, then my HUD flashed.

Translation activated. Analyzing conversation.

Sludge: How’re you now?

“Woah. This thing is awesome!” I said excitedly.

“You are one excited fella, aren’t ya?” The Sludge said and I could understand him perfectly.

“He can be!” Streak said bumping me with her hip.

“Well, Sludge we came to ask you a question.” I said

“Sorry there fella, but I don’t care to much for that name, call me Simon.” The Sludge, or rather Simon said.

“Oh, I’m sorry Simon.” I apologized.

“No worries there friend, what can I do for ya?” He asked very politely.

“No offense but you seem much nicer than any villain I ever met.” Streak said.

“Well see that’s the funny part. I never was a villain, everyone just thought I was because they couldn’t understand me, and I look like a big ole monster. That didn’t help much.” He said.

“But didn’t you blow up a factory once?” I asked.

“Now that was an accident, there were ecoterrorists in that factory trying to put chemicals into the air, I absorbed all the harmful stuff, but in doing so I couldn’t stop the factory from exploding. Plus, everyone but the jerks made it out safely.” Simon said defensively.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry Simon.” I told the monster-man.

“No worries, luckily the owner of that factory realized what I was doing then hired me here to clean up any toxic chemicals for him.” Simon said.

“Well thanks for what you’re doing for the planet.” I said to the oozing slime before me.

“Oh no thanks required there. What brings you twos?” he asked.

“Right, we are recruiting for a hero team, and were asking old heroes and villains to join with us.” Megan said taking the lead.

“Well that sounds swell, but I have to come here at least once a week to clean this waste, woulds that be a problem?” Simon asked with some worry in his voice.

“Not at all, in fact I think it is a great thing you’re doing, and I believe we’d support you entirely.” I said.

“Then I see no reason not to, where should I meet ya?” He asked.

“Eternity Tower.” I told him. He started to laugh; it was a very scary laugh that shook a small area around the massive waste monster. He looked at us seeing we weren’t laughing with him.

“Wait, yous are serious?” He asked.

“It’s for real. Eternity Tower is our headquarters.” I said.

“Well alright then, I guess I can see you guys there. Thanks for stoppin’ by, but I got some chorin to do. Y’all take care now.” Simon said as he waded back into the water.

“That went better than expected.” I said.

“You really didn’t know about the translation app?” Megan asked.

“Really? That’s what you’re going to take away from this?” I asked returning the hip bump form earlier.

“Anyways the only person left is Dark Omen. That sounds like an ominous name for a hero.” Megan said.

“Actually, she’s an anti-hero, and it seems her location is near Eternity Tower. We should get going.” I said.

“I bet I can beat you there.” Megan challenged.

“You are so on!” I said excitedly.

“On your mark, get set, GO!” We said in unison before speeding off towards downtown.