The kid zipped his jeans up and turned back to the cooped up rooftop pigeons.

“Sorry about that, I was desperate,” he said apologising to them. “So where was I? Yeah so, then the principal called us in to his office and Julian just lied to his face. Said it was me! Ok so I did it once ages ago but this time it wasn’t me at all. But the principal didn’t believe me and put me in detention for the rest of the week. I hate him. And I hate Julian. And then I go home and get all that crap dumped on me. I hate everything!” he growled, and then sighed. “I wish you could talk back and tell me what to do. Although, what would you actually tell me? You’re pigeons... I’m just going to sit over there on the corner if you actually have anything you can tell me.”

The boy skulked off to his usual ledge corner that overlooked the beautiful Austin view and sat down, his skinny legs dangling over the edge of the roof of the ten storey apartment building.

He started picking at the hole in his blue jeans that was just above his right knee. The scab underneath almost gone.

For a while, he sat there appreciating the silence, the view and taking in the news he had heard earlier. What did it mean for him now? Was there a point in carrying on doing this? At least Mom would be pleased if I stopped, he thought.

The police scanner in his helmet broke his thoughts suddenly, as he focused on the latest chatter.

“All units, we have a 10-90 in progress at America’s Choice Bank on West Bassley. Any units respond?”

“548, I’m 76, 10-40,” came back a response.

“Received. All units, single crew officer will need backup for a 10-90 in progress on West Bassley.”

No response.

But by this point, Otto Akgul had already leapt off the roof, swinging his grappling hook to swing to the rescue.

***

Four hours earlier.

“Otto! Can you get the door!?” his mom yelled up the stairs. He tutted, huffed and threw the games controller onto his bed and ran down the stairs.

“You’re closer to it than I am!” he shouted back.

“And I’m busy!” she yelled back. “Just do what I tell you to do!”

“I AM!” he screamed as he swung the door open. “Oh,” he mumbled at a more hushed volume when he saw who was at the door.

“Hey Otto. How are you? Can I come in?”

“Who is it?” Otto’s mom called out as she came to see for herself. She stopped taking off her rubber gloves. “Oh Brad. Hello, come in.”

“Thank you. Sorry for coming by unannounced like this. I know it’s been a while,” he said as he stepped into the hallway. He ruffled Otto’s curly brown hair. “Christ, Otto. You’re so big now. Ten, right?”

“Yup, double digits.”

“Ten going on twenty,” his mom muttered. “Come through.”

Brad took a seat in the armchair whilst Otto and his mom sat on the couch opposite.

“Would you like a drink?”

“No thanks Dana.”

“Did you come by Eagle-One?” Otto asked enthusiastically.

“Yeah, only to the airport at least. Then I hired a car, which isn’t as exciting.”

“Nah,” Otto agreed, laughing. It had been a while since he had seen Brad. The last time was maybe eighteen months after his dad’s memorial.

Brad inhaled sharply. “I, um… have to tell you something that won’t be easy to hear.”

“Brad, have you found Anton’s body?” Dana asked.

He winced. “Kind of, yeah. Thing is Dana, Otto… He didn’t die four years ago, like we assumed.”

“What?” Mother and son said in chorus.

“How do you know?” Dana asked straight after.

“A few months ago we came across some information that suggested he had been in China and living under the name of Guy Phoenix.”

“A few months ago?” Otto repeated, looking at his mom.

“Why didn’t you tell us then?” she asked Brad bluntly.

“Because… because unfortunately it looked like this Guy Phoenix was… working in opposition to America’s values,” he admitted, speaking in somewhat official terms. He waited for the two to process what they were being told.

“I-I can’t believe it,” Dana mumbled, almost inaudibly.

“I know. It was a shock for us all as well,” Brad said.

“Are you going to arrest him?” Otto asked. “Does he remember us?”

Brad straightened his back and clasped his hands together. This was the hard bit. “Our hope was to find him and bring him in, yes. But he found us first. He was there at the attack on The Facility last month.”

“What?” Dana asked, almost hysterically. None of this was making sense. She was washing up ten minutes ago and now she was being told all of this. “What the fuck Brad?”

“Otto, can you get your mom a glass of water?” Otto obliged and silently went off to the kitchen. “Dana, believe me, I’m really sorry but I can’t really say why or what he was doing there, except that he was there. And was Guy Phoenix.”

Otto tentatively came back through with a glass of drink for his mom, filled quite near to the top.

“That’s not it, I’m afraid,” Brad continued, taking a breath. “I’m really sorry to have to tell you, but Anton… Guy Phoenix… he died at The Facility. I’m afraid he’s dead for real this time.”

Dana burst into tears and Otto just sat there, still and silent, but with tears rolling down his little face.

“I know this is upsetting but I need you to know that this man wasn’t the same person as your father and husband. He had changed. Mostly through choice. He had become a not very good person. I truly believe that Anton died on that day in 2027 when we thought he had. So I hope maybe there is some comfort to be had in that…”

No one said anything for a while until Otto got up.

“Where are you going?” his mom asked.

“Out.”

“Don’t Otto. Stay here. Please just for the love of God don’t go out tonight,” she pleaded.

“Nice seeing you Brad,” the boy said, ignoring his mom’s wishes and leaving the room to go upstairs.

She buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry about him.”

“It’s fine. Is he… he ok going out by himself?”

***

Otto swung round on his rope and landed on the roof opposite the bank. Between his multistorey high leaping and grappling to get height on taller buildings, Otto had got there quicker than the lone police officer on his way.

Looking down at the bank, it looked fairly calm to Otto, considering it was being robbed. The alarm must be a silent one. No lights on inside, but there was a four door car running outside. Bingo.

Otto jumped from the roof, arms wide out as the winged cape helped him to glide across the street into the bank’s parking lot. He ran towards the car, taking his pointed mallet out from his waist band.

The driver got out, perplexed at the small winged figure running towards him. Otto leapt up onto the hood of the car and kicked the getaway driver down.

He wasn’t completely knocked out and grabbed up at Otto to take him off balance. The kid dropped a knee down onto his assailant’s face, disorientating him before doing a wrestling style people’s elbow type drop he’d seen on TV, which did finish him off.

Otto rolled to get himself back up towards the bank and pushed into the front doors, heading for signs of activity round the back.

Three balaclava wearing men spun round and looked equally as puzzled as their driver at the boy who had turned up to the robbery.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Otto was stood there, his heart pounding in his chest. In the light of the vault, his get up was clearer to see.

He wore a blue baseball helmet that had a homemade black peak shaped into a beak protruding out above his brows. Underneath, he had black tinted ski goggles that concealed the top half of his face. In his helmet, he had Bluetooth ear pods playing the police scanner app he had on his phone.

Otto had on a bright blue zip up hoodie, blue denim skinny jeans and blue high top Converses. But the thing that finished off the look was the winged cape attached round his neck and cuffs around his wrists. The wings were decorated with rows of blues, blacks and whites, just like a-

“I’m The Blue Jay, and this is not your night.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” one of the men snarled.

“The police are on their way and your getaway driver is knocked out in the parking lot.”

“Get the kid out of here,” one of the other men said to the others. They advanced towards Otto who jumped up and kicked out in the splits mid-air, catching the men in their faces.

With gravity doing its job, he landed low and with one leg out, spun 180˚ and taking them out from underneath themselves.

Otto stamped down on the privates of one of the men on the floor and on the knee of the other.

For the last remaining thief, who was still desperately trying to stuff in wads of cash into the duffel bag he had, Otto threw his hook out towards his leg. Once it caught around the back of his calf, The Blue Jay pulled hard, crashing him to the ground as well.

“Police!” yelled a voice from the front. A torch beam swept along the wall. Otto shot a look towards his only exit. From listening to the scanner, he knew there was only the one officer on scene for now, so he had a good chance of escaping still.

The Blue Jay light footed it out into the main part of the bank and came face to face with the cop.

“There’s three of ‘em in there,” he told the officer, who had slightly lowered his gun at the sight of the kid.

“Stay there! Show me your hands!” he commanded, raising it again.

“I can’t stick around sir. It’s past my bedtime!” Otto side stepped to the right and the officer went the same way. He then quickly stepped to the left and the police officer copied his movement. Otto then dummied a step to the right, but instead made a step to the left and ran past him, giving him a shove for good measure.

The Blue Jay had a clean run for the main doors, back out the way he came in. The officer didn’t follow so bird boy kept going.

He ran out towards the flashing cop car lights but stopped dead in his tracks.

Leaning on the getaway car, was a rather casual looking Brad.

“Well hey there little blue bird. Let’s get you home shall we?”

***

“I can’t believe you told him!” Otto yelled out to his mom as he was frog marched through the front door of his home.

“Oi, show a bit more respect. I told you not to blame her, didn’t I?” Brad said sternly.

“Sorry Otto, but I don’t like it and it stresses me out when you just go out like you did. I just have to talk to someone about it because you just don’t listen to me.”

“And listen Ot, I get it. I get why you are doing this, to carry on your dad’s legacy as The Red Cardinal. Your mom explained it all. I get it.”

“Well I’m not sure I even want to now he was bad.”

“Like I said, the man- Guy Phoenix- wasn’t really your dad. I think of it as your dad, Anton, died as we thought all those years ago. That’s the man you’ve been honouring with… all this. It’s pretty decent, Otto.”

“I’m The Blue Jay.”

Brad raised a smile. “I know, sport. But you get your mom all worried up. You’re a ten year old kid in a baseball helmet fighting crime at night and beating up bank robbers.”

“You what?” his mom yelled with wide eyes, hearing this for herself. “Jesus Christ Otto!”

He raised a soothing palm towards Dana but carried on looking at Otto. “I’ve spoken with your mom, and if it’s ok with you too, I’d like you to come back with me for a bit. There are… some people I’d like you to meet.”