Where there are villains, there will be heroes. Just wait, They will come
Brandon Sanderson
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmByrGQyJWn
It will be fine, He said. Don’t worry.
Yeah right.
This is why I don’t trust Dex. If there’s one thing I’m never, ever going to listen to him about again, it’s doing a live interview with one of the top news presenters in the country. Thankfully, I’d manage to look up some pointers on the internet and discovered quite a few interesting tips – like when you don’t know the answer to a question, ask your own questions.
Simple. Ingenious.
“Kidwolf, you’ve been saving the city for a quite a while now,” Laura Martinez states, crossing her slim legs as she plasters a smile for the camera. “How long is it now since you made your debut?”
I pretend to think about it, but I know the exact day I stopped my first villain. I have it marked on my calendar. I look at the date every night.
“Around five months ago, I think,” I tell her. “I was called to fight alongside the Lighters in the frontlines. We had a dangerous criminal on the loose, Cannon Ferrous. He’d nearly destroyed half of the main streets before I stepped in”228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVdxKKzYin
“That spectacular,” Laura blinks and I know I’ve got her tongue tied. I don’t think it’s easy having a normal conversation with a superhero, but I’ll give her props for trying. She smooths down her navy pencil skirt, moving on to her next question. “A few weeks ago you arrested Night-vision and now Chasm. How does it fell to put away these villains?”
A picture of the scene pops up on the giant TV screen, behind us. I shift in the plush red velvet seat, recalling that I’m not supposed to dart around. Skittering is a show if nerves, not the confidence I’m trying to fake. So I don’t hold my gaze on the coffee table separating us for too long or the cameras scattered around the set.
“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my team. The alpha squad is truly the reason so many miscreants have been put away,” I clasp my hands together, my palms clammy underneath my leather gloves. Is the word miscreants even used anymore? Is that the correct usage of it? I take a deep breath before continuing.
“I must be honest however, Laura, saving the city from criminals is not just a responsibility or a duty. Protecting the innocent is fulfilling in its own right. Do I feel good about putting away these villains? Well, of the sake of safety yes. But I can assure you, I’d rather they repent for their wrongs and free themselves from the clutches of evil then be imprisoned”
The words flow from my mouth, unfiltered, as rapid as a waterfall splashing against rocks. I don’t mean half the words I say – but for the benefit of the thousands of viewers tuning in, I say what’s right. I give the people hope and optimism That there is such thing as a black and white world where only good and bad exits. Even if is not true. Because, I believe that the villains ill not reform. They will rot away in prison for the horrendous crimes they’ve committed.
I claimed to be a superhero not a good guy.
There is a difference.
“So you’re implying that supervillains can change for the better? And should be given a second chance?”
No.
“If they’re willing to give up their old ways then yes, I do mean that”
Laura hums thoughtfully, never pausing to take a breath before her next question is shot at me, like a cocked gun unloading deadly bullets. Except in this case it’s not explosives she’s shooting but words. And that’s twice as fatal. The camera lens makes my neck prickle, and I can almost feel the thousands of viewers eyes watching me from their screens and the thought makes a trickle of sweat beads my nape. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ910Bj15vr
I keep my eyes focused up, looking slowly, attentively from the face of the cameras poised at me then to Laura as her next question airs. I reply in a levelled voice, keeping my tone even – not too slow but not too hasty. Eventually, we go through more trivial matters until the final blow comes, the one I was anticipating, striking like a snake uncoiling. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQs0w4wBkq8
“A few weeks ago the Lighters tower had been breached,” Laura says monotonously, nut I see the hungry glint in her eyes. “Care to comment on this mishap and how it occurred at the most protected security organisation in the world?”
“We’re currently rooting out the problem right now,” I tell her honestly leaving out the bits about the secret criminal network that Chasm works for. I don’t know whose watching this, but they needn’t know were onto them. “So far our investigations have turned out futile but hopefully, after much effort and consideration put in by the Lighters and my own team members, we’ll find these daring lawbreakers and bring them to justice”
Laura manages a nod. “So that’s where you stand”
“At the moment yes”
“Alright folks,” Th news present plasters on a fake smile at the camera, pearl white teeth glowing as she closes the show. I don’t stick around for much longer, leaving the second I get a green light to do so.
Avoiding the eyes of the inquisitive journalists gathered at the set and the dozens of cameras, I pull up the hood of my superhero costume and quietly exit through the backstage. The voices of eager reporters with mics at the ready are instantly drowned by the click of the door shutting, blocking me from an impending doom. But not for long. I might be able to glare at the press here and get my way but once I’m outside, all hell will break loose. There’ll be paparazzi, fans, all wanting something from me.
I take a moment just to breathe. Lean my head against the cool wooden door.
“That went well”
I slide my gaze to Dex with a scowl. “You’re insufferable”
“You deserved it,” He crosses his legs, leaning against the wall next to me. “No more stunts?”
“No more stunts,” I groan in repetition. “Why are you here?”228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAjQvnKQid
He shrugs. “To pick you up. The press are going to eat you once you come up front, you know that right?”
“Please tell me you brought an inconspicuous black SUV”228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KPuviK0zh
“I, in fact …” He pauses and hope bubbles in my chest. “Did not”
That same hope deflates, bursts like a balloon. “Gee thanks”
“You gotta do this Kourtney. Th public rely on you to give them strength. You’re an icon”
“I can just teleport from here, you know that, right?”
“Please don’t”
I push myself off the door and Dex does the same. Together we march into the chaos. Cars are screeching and people have gathered at the entrance of the news building. Crowds are onset, holding up posters, yelling my name – citizens adorned with smiles and face paint. Camera’s flash and news reporters push through, trying to get my word. I keep my mouth zipped, ignoring them with a brush of a cold shoulder, focusing entirely on the fans. I don’t hate the attention; I don’t love it either.
The fans are just there, I guess.
Dex helps me through as I sign t-shirts and skin and caps and a baby’s bald head. I oat some kids and their parents hold them on their shoulders, whispering in their ears. I smile and wave and do everything as I’m supposed to. A group of preteen girls ask me for a group selfie, and I oblige, adjusting my purple mask theoretically to make them laugh. Moving away, another kid asks me asks me for an autograph, before he walks away gazing at his Kidwolf mask replica with a smile. Some teenage boy asks me for my number, and I roll my eyes.
There’s always that one.
I keep walking when I lose sight of Dex amongst the audience. Trying not to get trampled, I edge closer to the fringe of the crowd, looking frantically on my tiptoes above everyone’s heads. The noise deafens me, and the camera flashes scald my eyes. Then, something catches my gaze – someone in black, weaving through the horde extremely suspiciously. I quicken my pace, ignoring the calls if recognition now, sweeping through the maze of people, dead set of finding this person. Whoever he is, he’s broad-shouldered but short, a hood blocking his face from sight.
I escape, finally and find myself on the pavement alongside the road. Stalking ahead, my boots absolutely silent, I follow behind the man. When he gazes around, I still, ducking behind a long fence. Cars pass by seldomly, the roads and streets are quiet. No pedestrians in sight. Nothing to hide him. Or me.
When we get to a stop street, I teleport before the strange man can cross. I seize him by an invisible tether of telekinesis, holding him off the ground in an instant. I pin the man against a light pole, my fist tightened firmly.
“Who are you?” I snarl.
“I’d rather be dead then tell you,” He growls back, hood falling off. A man in his late thirties’ stares back at me vehemently, eyes intense with bitterness. Thin, long scars mar his unshaven face, cutting across his weathered skin in deep gruesome gashes.
“That can be arranged,” I warn him in a lowered voice. Two small pouches are strapped to his forearms, and I use my mind to levitate them towards me. “What is this?”
“The stiletto code,” He holds up his chin. “You’ll never stop us”
That’s not cryptic at all.
“What is that?”
I let out a breath at Dex’s approach – how’d I miss his footsteps? I toss my boss the two pouches, letting him rifle through them.
“What took you so long?” I ask him.
Dex frowns. “I was in front of you one second and then you disappeared. I thought you teleported”
I shrug, then turning back to the stranger, I whip out a small knife I always carry. “Who are you working for?”
The man grounds his teeth. “I told you; I won’t say anything so you might as well kill me now”
As much as I would love to – that goes against protocol. Other than basically announcing he’s a criminal, this man hasn’t done anything wrong. Though he sounds exactly like that woman did yesterday when I broke into that warehouse. Its obvious whoever their boss is, they’re more afraid of him (or her) than even death.
“This is components of a gun,” Dex states, looking up from the haul. “And it has the same markings as Chasm’s weapons”
I drop the stranger and he collides with the light pole, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
Dex gives me a stern look.
“I’ll take him back for questioning,” I sigh.
For every thread we unravel of this mystery, a new web is spun. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdALhBo9p31
