Chapter Fourteen
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Failure doesn’t mean the game is over, it means try again with experience
Len Schlesinger
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Princess Puma takes another selfie with an overeager fan, the camera on the small girl’s flashy covered iPhone flashing like the lights on the police cars. Scorpio stands out amongst the blue cladded men in his red leather costume, as he helps put another stretcher inside the back of an ambulance van. The paramedics thanks him before driving off, alarms blaring loud as the bank one was a mere hour ago. The robbery wasn’t too nasty, but two workers were injured onsite – someone, somehow managed to get a hold of the paramedics whilst the Alpha Squad captured a group of villains, known as Panic Attack, trying their luck at the biggest bank in the city.
It was a fail of course, since we’d arrested them, but I still feel horrible knowing someone was hurt in the collision. We’re superheroes – it’s our job to protect. If I can’t do that, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. What my purpose in life is.
“Hey, you good?” Skye strides to me, his mask dimming the brightness of his eyes.
“Yeah,” I shake my head. “I hope they’re gonna be okay”
I gesture with my chin towards the bank, where one wall has collapsed and glass lies shattered on the broken tiled floor, scattered like flakes of snow. This was Panic Attack’s debut assault, so at least that’s one trouble avoided. Hopefully after the police sort them out and fill in whatever reports, Dex can get hold of the group and put them in the rehab programme for villains. It’s their first attack, they can still be saved.
“A group of gun wielding criminals,” Scorpio shakes his head. “Who wouldn’t thought?”
“I think it’s a creative approach,” Princess Puma joins us as the last of the emergency vehicles clear up. Most of the press have left as well, leaving the three of us alone on the deserted street. Even the parked cars are long gone, given most of the bank staff escaped whilst they still had a chance, and Puma escorted the rest to safety.
“They were dangerous,” I note. “And it was their first offence”
“So it’s a good thing we caught them, right?” Scorpio tilts his head.
“Yeah,” I nod, but I don’t even manage to convince myself.
“Then why do you look as if we’re lost?” He asks.
I look between Scorpio and Puma. “Because we could’ve. Then what? They would have come back stringer, just like Chasm did”
Scorpio rests a hand on my shoulder. “Then we stop them again. Just like we did with Chasm”
“I agree,” Puma smiles and flips her sleek ponytail. “Besides this group was kids. Have you seen them? They couldn’t have been legal adults”
Which makes it worse. Why are such young people turning to crime? What is the driving factor? The city has feeding programmes and shelters for the needy, all kinds of organisations readily available to help anyone living in poverty. Yet criminals still exist, exponentially increasing in numbers every day. I wish there was a way to make it all stop once and for all, free our city from criminals, help those that had no other way but to turn to stealing. And then –
Then, maybe we would have been saving other cities as well. Helping countries around the world.
That’s ambitious thinking if I ever heard any. But with the rarity that is superpowers, my team and I should be able to save the world. Not just one measly city. Even if I do love Skylight.
“Their guns were pretty expensive though,” I mention. “Do you think it was supplied from the same people who assisted Chasm?”
Scorpio shrugs. “Maybe. You should bring it up with Dex, he’ll now”
“Or Blue –” Puma starts but catches herself.
“I should, head out,” Scorpio points over his shoulder. “My mum wants me home for dinner”
Puma and I don’t stop him.
“What are we gonna do about Hawk?” The blonde girl turns to me, rubbing her arm anxiously. “I worry about him”
“I’ll speak to him later on,” I promise.
“Why do you think he asked for a break?”
“Maybe he needed to study,” I shrug. “School is stressful, maybe he isn’t smart and needs the extra time”
I know that’s false, but I can’t give away too much information about Harry’s civilian life.
“I know he’s smart,” Puma deadpans. “You don’t have to lie Wolf. But seriously, do you … do you think he’ll quit”
Her worried expression mirrors my own. “I have no idea”
Just yesterday, Hawk had showed up at the Lighters towers I his full blue garb, surprising Dex, and I both He’d requested a special meeting between just the three of us, regarding the future of his superhero career. He wanted a break from it all and to say my heart galloped like a horse would be an understatement. Dex agreed with Hawk instantly, knowing it was his choice after all, to stay and fight or leave. It was his choice to be a superhero in the first place.
“Besides,” Dex had said. “You and the others gave been fighting for months now. You deserve a break”
Puma was the only one who didn’t take it do easily, she demanded to know why he’d left us. We tried explaining it was temporary but with her questions – I’m starting to believe to might be permanent. And that scares me as much as I hate to amdi.t I just got used to being in a team of four. Hawk is a different person then his alter ego and I like having him as an ally. As a friend.
And what if the other decide to quit as well? Then what? Would I be forced to step down? Or would Dex assign me a new team, with regular people – Lighters but still. People who aren’t like me, won’t understand me.
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“How did it go Kourtney?” Dex asks as I catch up to him the hallway. We walk side by side to the Penthouse, and the Lighters boss pockets his phone to talk to me.
“As well as it ever goes,” I shrug. “And your date with Miss Tydal?”
Dex gave me a sideways glance. “Excellent”
I scoff. If it was so ‘excellent’, he wouldn’t be walking to his apartment all alone. Miss Tydal must’ve wanted to go for one of those ridiculous opera performances that Dex and I both abhor. But the man won’t complain – least not to me. I can’t stand Tydal.
“This group,” I clear my throat, pausing at my door. “Panic Attack. They’re a new set of criminals and they’re all underage”
Dex nods slowly. “I am aware of this. I was at the police station just an hour ago, filing in some docs”
“Yes, so will you be questioning them?” I say hesitantly. “I think it will be a good idea trying to decipher their motives and also where their weapons were supplied from. Do a background check perhaps? I have an inkling that Panic Attack gets their weapons from the same supplier as Chasm”
“I was thinking along the same spectrum,” Dex gives me a small smile. “I’m going to see if I can get them enrolled in the Lighters rehab programme. Teens like the three of them should be taken care off, guided not thrown away in prison cells to rot after one stupid mistake”
Dex’s words instantly lifts an iron weight from my chest, making me relax. Panic Attack consists of three, teenagers who shouldn’t wander down the dark path of crime and I’m happy Dex agrees with a reasonable approach. It’s one of the things I admire about the Lighters. For a group of good guys – they sympathise with ad guys, they know which battles to fight, and which allies are worth making. Everything is not black and white.
I wave Dex goodbye, a knowing look my face and he only pushes my shoulder affectionately before opening is own door. The moment I’m in my apartment, I don’t even bother to turn on the light as I make a beeline for my room in the dark. I rummage through my modest closet, flitting between leather jackets, t-shirts and jeans and hoodies and some more jeans (I love my denim pants, sue me) to where my stealth costume was.
See, Dex designed three different suits for my team and me. Our regular day suit, an underwater one and a stealth mission one. Just like the other Lighters members have. This particular costume was designed for undercover espionage and stakeouts specially. It’s a full black set – a hoodie, some stretchy fabric resembling jeggings and silver tipped, rubber soled boots. The fabric is customed to be waterproof, fire resistant, insulated, and bulletproof. It’s the perfect suit really. After tugging on my clothes and clipping my hair so my fringe won’t cross my face, I pull up my ski mask and teleport the hell out of my room.
It’s time to pay Harry Talonson a visit.
My tracker, that I borrowed from Dex will help me trace where Harry is right now, at nine pm.
And, surprising me in the most eerily manner, I find myself at the corner of a dark street, at the front of an alleyway.
Strange, very strange.
There’s barely a car in sight on this desolate road, and a slight breeze vents through my hood, chilling my skin (the suit is comfortable, but warm it is not). I wander slowly, my feet light as I creep down the sidewalk, glancing around as if following a ball in a pinball machine. I slide my hood away from my head so I can see from my peripheral, the lack of noise around me making shivers slither down my spine. Very view streetlamps are lit, providing little to no light and I tap my night-vision lens attached to my mask for some extra vigilance. Broken windows and shattered glass glows eerily in the dark from rundown buildings, flickering dull fluorescent colours.
I’m about to check the tracker when I hear a scuffle and a strangled cry for help.
I pull up my hood and tear down the street. Using telekinesis, I clench my fist and drag a broken pipe into my curled fist. Armed, I’m ready for whatever is out there. Whatever it is, that Harry does out there. The noise emits from a dark alleyway, clearing as I enter, and my night-vision lens come into play. I notice Harry’s signature blue formal shirt, rumpled up by a gloved fist. He’s being pinned up against the wall, a wicked knife glimmering at his throat.
I trace the attacker’s outlined arm to the rest of his body. A lean built male, around my own age, dressed head to toe in black, with several silver flashing knives glinting from multiple places.
“High Frequency,” I scowl. “Let him go”
The notorious criminal, infamous for owing an indefinite supply of knives, slowly turns his head towards me. Harry does so as well and I find, to my absolute horror, a slight greyish tinge in his typically bright blue orbs. What did High Frequency do?
He slowly pulls away from Harry, white teeth shining in the shadows shielding his face. I’ve seen him without his hood on and contrary to popular belief – High Frequency does not actually look like a freak. Sure he has an unbelievably sharp jaw that could rival even his best knives and strange, metallic eyes, but he’s handsome, if not in a dangerous way. The kind of boy you can admire from afar but would never get close, The kind of boy whose soul is tarnished beyond repair, with dark heart made of cold stone. 182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyyTZWGEaH
“Kidwolf,” High Frequency drawls in his raspy voice and I manage to keep a cool expression as he tightens his grip on Harry. The latter makes a low noise of pain. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Harry struggles against the knife and the criminal glares, silencing him.
“Let. Him. Go,” I raise the pipe. I’m not playing games, not with someone’s life at stake. “And you don’t get hurt”
I make the smallest step closer. Freak’s smile broadens.
“Nuh uh uh,” He tsks, pressing his dagger closer to the skin of Harry’s neck. I feel a bucket of ice water douse me when a thin streak of blood smears his blue collar.
“Kidwolf!” Harry gasps.
“Shut it, rich boy,” High Frequency warns, then looks back at me. “Why on Earth would I let him go? Do you have any idea how much ransom money his parents would pay for him?”
Yes, I did. The Talonsons are one of the wealthiest families in the City, owning a network of successful tech stores across the country. Kidnapping Harry as a hostage and offering him for cash would make High Frequency ten thousand times richer. I loosen my hold on the pipe and before the criminal can make a move, I’ve already teleported behind him, slamming the pipe against his neck. The shot is sloppy, and I end up knocking his arm. Still, it does the damage because he drops his weapon in shock and I teleport the hell out of there after grabbing Harry’s arm.
I don’t go too far away, still able to face High Frequency.
“I always forget about the second power,” He mutters, clutching the elbow of his useless arm.
Before I can blink, there’s a dagger hurtling at us.
“I think I’m gonna –” Harry starts, hand on his mouth, as I teleport away from High Frequency’s harm.
I manage this time, to picture a clear location in my head so this time we arrive at my place. Or more importantly, my bathroom. I exit the place just as Harry runs for the toilet, already throwing up. Amateur. He’d done the same thing, the exact same reaction, when I brought him to the Lighters for the first time. I walk over to my lounge, pulling off my hood, discarding shoes and then toppling over on the couch. From the bathroom, I hear the toilet flush and water running in the basin. Harry emerges several minutes later, hair rumpled, face wet and his blue button down a crimpled heap in his hand. He’d worn a tight white t-shirt underneath.
“How’d you know where I was?” He asks, awkwardly coming to stand in front of me.
I gesture to the one-seater diagonal from the loveseat I was on. “Lighter’s tracker”
He smiles wryly, sitting with such perfect posture, my own back hurts. Or maybe that’s because I was out fighting superheroes and got hit a bit on the spine.
Yeah, that’s more likely.
“Of course,” Harry notes, rubbing his palms on his chinos. “Thank you for ... uh ... saving me Kidwolf”
“What were you doing there so late at night?” I question. Because that’s what’s been bugging me. Why a wealthy, uptight kid like Harry Talonson would go to such a sketchy location? He was bound to get robbed, but someone as smart as him shouldn’t have been a victim of a criminal like High Frequency. And he knows how dangerous the city can be. He knows first-hand.
Harry doesn’t say a word and I feel my temper rising.
“You could’ve been killed Blue! You know that! There are risks and you stupidly took one tonight! Why? Why did you go to that God-awful place?” I’m on my feet now, hands clenched at my sides. I let out a heavy breath and turn away. “You left the Lighters, fine. But putting your own life in jeopardy? Seriously? What were you thinking?!”
“I wasn’t, okay?” He’s on his own feet now as well. “You happy Kidwolf? I made a mistake; I did the wrong thing. But hell if you could understand how hard it is for me. Always being the perfect younger brother, the perfect son. I needed an escape, okay?”
He swears a string of curses and my own temper cools.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter the words but I’m genuine about it.
“Me too. I am sorry,” He meets my eye, and the greyish colour is gone from earlier. “I just ... don’t call me an idiot, but I went to an underground fighting club”
I raise an unimpressed eyebrow. He lifts his hands in surrender.
“Hey, look it’s legal, all right? Penelope Greene and I, I don’t know if you know her. Well anyway, we go there sometimes to watch some boxing. Not as a date, just as friends. And she didn’t come this week, I went alone,” He lets out a breath, shutting his eyes. “I was leaving through the back entrance, gonna call a ride to pick me up when this dude comes out of nowhere, and sprays something in my eyes”
“Wait, what?”
“My eyes. That’s why I couldn’t mind control High Frequency,” Harry explains. “I couldn’t see either but anyway, he held the knife to my throat and demanded I listen and follow him. That’s when you showed up”
“And kicked his ass,” I smirk but it fades quickly as it came. “That was one hell of a night”
“It was,” He clears his throat. “Thanks, Kidwolf, seriously, You saved my life”
I shrug. “That’s what heroes do”
“You’re right,” He fiddles with his shirt. “Heroes save the say. That’s what we do”
“We?”
“Yeah,” Harry smiles, observing my black mask. “We. I think I needed that. An eye-opener, pun not intended, to remind me why I became a hero in the first place”
“For the unlimited supply of knowledge?” I guess but we both know why.
“To help those who need a bit of assistance when the goings get rough,” He says. “I’d like to re-join the team if that’s fine with you??”
“Of course,” I smile back. “Let’s get you home”
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