Zed waited in the shadows. He dwelt mostly in a parallel shadow dimension. It was a desolate, empty place but right now it suited his mood. It was a landscape of dark, ill-seen forms, and towering shapes. He brooded as he watched the shapes slowly shifting. His world mimicked and parodied the real world, taking on its shape without the substance. Sometimes he wondered if it had a mind of its own, whether it had a sense of humor, as it chose its forms. Right now though, he was brooding on events in the other world.

He had heard what the Prophet had said. Sliding through the shadows, he had found the Judge and the Prophet in time to catch the majority of their conversation. He knew how ridiculous it was, but even so he had to give the Prophet’s words due consideration. The more he thought about it, the more he feared the prophet might be right. Not because the prophet himself had special vision as he claimed, but because he had seen the increasing disillusionment on the Judge’s face. If the Judge did turn, there was really no defense against him. No army could stop him. None of the other hero’s was strong enough to stand against him. The Judge had no known weaknesses. The only reason he didn’t rule the world was because he had so far not chosen to, and likely hadn’t even considered it.

So Zed and the others must plan some kind of viable defense against the most powerful being that had ever existed. Sliding into the shadows, he went to find the Mage. While his own magic was not strong enough to combat the Hero, perhaps hers would be.

……………………………………………………………..

Jon got home after a day of teaching, and realized that today was the day for his date. In the recent chaos, he had forgotten all about his anticipation. It suddenly occurred to him to wonder: had she survived the destruction in the city? Panicking, he rushed to the phone and called her. When she picked up her phone, he couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Danica? I just wanted to call to make sure we were still on for tonight.”

“Oh yes of course, I was just getting ready. I’ll come over in about half an hour.”

“Oh, I’d be happy to pick you up; you don’t need to do that.”

“No I insist, despite how we met, I’m not some damsel in distress. I’ll pick you up, so you just sit there and look pretty.”

He was enchanted. Women threw themselves at the Judge, they begged to be saved, but this was one of the only women who had ever known who he was, and still treated him as Jon. He eagerly went through the motions of preparation that men go through when they are already completely ready, but they have a while to wait. Sitting on the couch, staring at the blank TV, having run out of pretense activities, the door finally knocked. He jumped up from the couch, and rushed to the door with a childish impatience. Opening the door, Jon saw a vision of womanliness.

She wore a simple black dress, and very little makeup because she knew the art of applying minimal makeup to the maximal effect. She didn’t have a perfect hourglass figure, but there was a hint of hourglass to her shape. Her dress cut off around her knees and he could see smooth, muscular legs with well-made leather boots. What really caught his attention though was not her shape, or her clothes, but her attitude. She carried herself with confidence and surety. Her eyes had an imperious glint, and her body angled itself so that he could tell she was accustomed to getting her way.

With a bemused smirk, she looked at him, and said, “so are we going to spend tonight staring at me, or would you like to escort me to the car?”

Flushing, he stammered. “I-I’m sorry, I…”

“No, it’s ok, I was basking in the admiration, but then my stomach rumbled. Once we get to the restaurant you can resume staring at me.” Having said this, she stuck her tongue out at him slightly, and clopped off to her car with her boots making a heavy sound on the concrete. He felt like he had just been hit by a whirlwind, but after a second he shook it off and followed her.

He got into the passenger seat in the car, and buckled up. He always felt strange buckling up knowing that the worst car crash imaginable couldn’t even scratch him, but he did it anyway. Mostly to avoid getting ticketed.

He had to admit to himself that he was out of his element here, and not just because he wasn’t accustomed to dating. He didn’t know how to handle this woman, and he suspected that was the point. With all his enhanced intellect he still couldn’t think of anything to start a real conversation, but after a moment she filled in the gap. She asked him questions about himself, the normal kind of first date questions. Catching on, he responded in kind. Suddenly, they had a pleasant conversation going, and he felt like he was standing in the eye of a hurricane, buffeted by her personality, and wit; Yet at the same time happy and comfortable.

It was strange knowing she could treat him this way knowing who he was. All his powers, fame, and heroic acts didn’t cow her. In fact they only made her try that much harder to match him. Despite all his heroic traits, he felt rather over-matched, though in a good way.

Finally she asked the question he had been dreading. “Have you ever been married?”

“Yes, up until about four months ago. She… she died.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, how did it happen?”

“She had a heart attack. She stayed thin, but still died of high cholesterol.”

“Wow, I don’t really know what to say. I’m sorry.”

After that things were a bit awkward for a while. They arrived at the restaurant in a brooding silence. They got out of the car, entered the restaurant, and redeemed their reservation. By this point they regained their conversation, and continued as they had before. The night went smoothly from there, and the two flirted comfortably. After dinner, she drove him home, and dropped him off. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek when they reached the door.

“Promise me we’ll do this again. I had a lot of fun.” She said.

“Well, I’m sure I can pencil you in somewhere between brooding and moping. How about next week?”

She laughed, another thing she was very good at, and said, “Sounds like a plan, although I’m going to need a bit more detail. I’ll have my people call your people. I’m sure they can hammer something out between our busy schedules of mutual brooding.”

“Sounds like we have an activity in common perhaps that’s what we should do for our next date since we’re both so good at it.”

She laughed again, and then they made more specific plans. She left, and as she left, he admired her walk again. Looking behind her, she called out, “You might want to be more careful where you look; a woman might get the wrong impression.”

“And what impression is that?”

With a wry smile she said, “That you’re a male.” With that she dramatically flounced off, exaggerating the motion of her hips. He could feel the sarcasm oozing from her. He loved it.

……………………………………

Anarchy stopped it’s attacks for a while after the confrontation with the Prophet. Their point had been made, and they had the Judge doubting himself. They seemed content with that. Of course, everyone was still hunting them, but they hadn’t left behind enough evidence to provide much reliable information. Even the speakers used to announce them had been of little use, devoid of fingerprints or useful clues.

About a week later, Jon was at his second date with Danica, at a lovely pizza restaurant.

“So, that’s when I started dabbling in quantum theory as a method of internal energy generation, and-” Jon said, which was quickly interrupted by “I’ll quantum your theory” from Danica.

“I bow to the maturity of your quips milady.”

“I’ll bow to your face. Or should I bow to your mother? I’m not sure which one would get a funnier glare from you.”

Jon held his face in mock mortification. “How did I convince you to take me here?”

She poked him with her fork. “You invited me, now eat your food before it gets cold.”

They were chewing in amiable silence, when outside the window, the building across the street burst into flame. Jon tackled Danica out of her seat, looking to protect her, but when no explosions ensued, he helped her up with a sheepish look on his face.

“Was that really necessary?” She said.

“I thought-”

“Clearly your first mistake.” She said, as she brushed herself off. “Leave the thinking to us professionals next time.” She glared at him. “Are you going to just sit there gawking at me, or am I going to have to go run into a burning building to look for survivors?”

He could tell she was still irritated over the tackle, so he maintained an apologetic tone. “You’re right, I’ll be right back.”

He quickly changed into his superhero suit, and rushed into the burning building. As soon as he did, he began to get groggy, until he could no longer stand. As he crumpled to his knees, he saw a man in a gas mask approaching, and through the mask he could see glowing red eyes.