The Village, Tuesday morning, Nov 27th, 2007
Mornings… Mornings were the bane of my existence, the archenemy I could never quite defeat no matter how many times I tried. For a night owl like myself, who had spent decades sleeping in until the crack of noon, Mornings were particularly vile.
“The only thing mornings are good for are Saturday cartoons,” I muttered to myself as I performed my morning exercises. “And those sure aren’t what they used to be.”
I silently counted each time I lifted the weight. Eight. Nine. Ten. After reaching fourteen, I set my now empty coffee cup down on the table. That was all the exercise I needed for now, since it was still too early for anything more strenuous.
“I have GOT to stop staying out all night,” I told myself, though I knew this wouldn’t change. Decades of habit were hard to break. It was easier to just get a little devisor coffee in my system. “And how come I’d never even heard of this stuff before coming to Whateley?”
Once I was finished dressing, I checked myself in the mirror to make sure that everything was in place. Spiffy and stylish work threads? Check. Comfy shoes that I could sneak around and run in if necessary? Check. Freshly polished horns. Double check. Yep, I was ready to go.
With that, I grabbed a folder containing my lesson plans and stepped out of my apartment. I paused to glance at Maria’s door, but knew that she was probably already gone. I’d been a little slow in getting up this morning, so Maria and Donna had probably already taken off for breakfast. As it was, I wouldn’t have time for anything more substantial than my coffee if I wanted to make it to class in time.
A short time later, I arrived at my classroom, the official one, and took my place behind the desk. I glanced over my lesson plans for a few seconds, then began to absently doodle on a piece of paper while I waited. Before long, the doodle ended up turning into a full-blown sketch as inspiration struck for a new painting. I probably wouldn’t finish it before the art show this weekend in Boston, but it could definitely be ready before the next show.
I took note of when the first students arrived, though I didn’t spare them a glance. Instead, I continued with my sketch, quietly singing to myself as I did so.
“The knee bone is connected to the…thigh bone,” I cheerfully sang. “The thigh bone is connected to the…tail bone. The tail bone is connected to the…elbow. The elbow is connected to the…neck bone.”
“Thank God she doesn’t teach anatomy,” one student commented.
Another one responded, “No kidding.” I just smiled at that and continued working.
Students continued arriving, though I only paid half-attention until Monkeywrench stepped through the door. The furry boy was one of my favorite students, so I’d noticed his absence yesterday. When I’d asked around, I’d found that he’d missed all his other classes too, which wasn’t like him. If he hadn’t shown up this morning, I would have gone looking for him myself, or even brought it to security.
“Might as well make some use out of them,” I muttered to myself.
Fortunately, Monkeywrench was back in his usual seat, so there was nothing to worry about. However, half a minute later, Melissa came hobbling into the classroom. She had a cast on one of her arms and legs, and was moving around on crutches. I felt a surge of anger at the sight of her like this, though I didn’t show it other than with a couple furious swishes of my tail.
Yesterday, someone jumped Melissa and put her in the hospital. Thankfully, Whateley’s doctors use magic and a few other things that normal hospitals don’t have, which meant that Melissa was mostly healed already and would probably be out of her casts in just a few more hours. Still, the fact that she was healing quickly didn’t excuse the attack.
Melissa refused to say who was responsible for her injuries, and she’d even asked me to keep my nose out of it so that she could handle it herself. Doing that, standing back and doing nothing at all, was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time…or not done.
Of course, I couldn’t resist helping out a little, even if it was just to give her a few more tools. Last night, I’d given her a couple holdouts, which I’d planned on giving her in a week or two anyway, and I’d even called her aunt about another holdout. I just hoped that Melissa was able to deal with this without being hurt again. Unlike me, she didn’t have any regen.
“She’s a good kid,” I quietly reminded myself, “and a good apprentice. She can handle herself against another student.”
Once all the students had arrived, I carefully set my sketch aside and then stood up to face the classroom. All of the students were watching me, some with eagerness and expectation to see what I’d do today, while a few others looked nervous or even worried.
“Stupid video,” I muttered under my breath.
A few days ago, someone leaked a video of that SIM match I had with Barney, and ever since then, some students…and even some faculty, were looking at me differently. I guess it was one thing to know that I used to be in the villain profession and yet another to see proof that I could actually be dangerous if I chose to.
“If I find out who leaked that video,” I quietly promised, “they’ll get itching powder in their underwear drawer.”
“Okay, everyone,” I announced in a cheerful tone. “I have something special for you today…”
“Are you going to dress up as Bob Ross again?” one student asked, his tone suggesting that he thought this was a good idea.
“Are you going to make all of US dress up as Bob Ross?” Monkeywrench asked with a broad grin. It was obvious that he thought this would be a great idea.
“Afraid not,” I responded with a chuckle and a swish of my tail. “But that can be arranged if you’d like.”
“YES!” Melissa exclaimed, giving Monkeywrench a high five. Several other students suddenly looked worried for an entirely different reason than before.
I gave her an amused smile. “Today, we’re going to be working with clay.”
Mina raised her hand and asked, “What’s so special about that? We’ve done clay already?”
With that, I went over to a table that I’d set up in the front of the classroom, and dramatically pulled off the cloth that covered it. There were several dozen big bricks of clay, enough for each student to have one, a couple for demonstration purposes, and one just for me.
“This isn’t like the soft clay that you worked with before,” I explained. “This stuff is a bit harder and isn’t meant to be molded and reshaped the same way. Instead, you’re going to try carving. This is similar to carving wood, or sculpting statues out of stone, and so on, just with a somewhat softer material so it will be easier to work with.”
“Can’t we carve pumpkins instead?” Monkeywrench asked.
“Nope,” I responded cheerfully. “Not right now, though this will help you get better at pumpkin carving…”
After this, I began the lesson, showing each of the carving tools they’d be using, and then demonstrating on a brick of clay. Then, I gave a proper demonstration, quickly carving a brick until it was in the shape of a dog. It was a little rough and would need some fine work, but I’d shown them how to work the clay.
“Go ahead,” I announced. “Take a brick and a set of tools, and play around with them a bit. Get a feel for how the tools work and how much pressure you can put on the clay.”
Most of the students were eager to start and quickly went to work. Most of them were also very quick to ruin the figures that they were trying to carve by forcing it and gouging out too much material. However, this was perfectly fine as they were learning about the tools and materials, and every mistake was a little bit more that they learned.
“This is too hard,” one boy exclaimed in frustration.
“Hard?” I asked, making a show of pulling up my pants and switching into my best Chris Farley impersonation. “Hard is living in a van…down by the river…”
I got a couple chuckles out of that one, though I earned four times as many blank looks. I just shook my head in disappointment and let out a sigh. Were my jokes too old and outdated? These kids certainly seemed to think so.
“Now I’m starting to feel old,” I muttered. Then a bit more loudly, I exclaimed, “Zoinks.”
However, a couple seconds later, one girl asked, “What does zoinks mean?”
I stared at her, then at the other blank expressions before face-palming myself and muttering a few curses about the poor state of modern education.
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Arena 91, Tuesday afternoon, Nov 27th, 2007
“Zombies,” I announced in a serious tone. “You never know when the zombie apocalypse is going to break out, so you have to be ready.”
I paused to look over the group of students who were gathered around me. Some were giving me looks that suggested they thought I was crazy, while a couple were grinning in anticipation. Melissa and Monkeywrench actually gave each other high-fives.
This probably wasn’t what the students had been expecting when they’d come to their fifth period survival class, but that was the point. Anderson probably would have given them a grim lecture about how they needed to watch their backs and be paranoid if they wanted to survive crossing the street. Since I’d agreed to substitute for him today, and he’d told me to focus on urban escape and evasion…my specialty…I decided to have a little fun with it.
I noticed that one girl was giving me a very wary look, so I let out a sigh and silently cursed that video. I didn’t know who released it, or if they did it because they wanted to make things hard on me, or if they just wanted to show everyone what a buffoon Barney was. It could be either of those or both. But unfortunately, I was now receiving more of those looks…ones similar to what I’d always received in public but had managed to largely avoid at Whateley.
It was frustrating to have kids look at me like I was a serial killer…and teachers. Anderson had been a bit more wary of me since that SIM match, but that hadn’t stopped him from asking me to look after his class for him.
For a moment, I wondered what Barney would think of this situation. I had little doubt that he’d take advantage of the opportunity to remind everyone that I was a dangerous villain, and that I shouldn’t be allowed on campus. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about him at the moment. The day after our SIM match, he’d lost his temper in class and had freaked out on some of the students. Immediately afterwards, he’d gone on sabbatical, or more accurately, had taken an involuntary leave of absence. I had absolutely no idea of when he’d be back…or if he even would, but I really hoped that this would be the last I saw of him.
“Okay,” I said, turning my attention back to the topic at hand. “Today, we’re going to have a zombie apocalypse…”
I gestured past them to our surroundings, Arena 91, which had been set up to look like a city block, though there was a small suburbs section as well just to add a little variety. The students were already looking at the buildings with wary anticipation, obviously expecting a horde of zombies to suddenly emerge.
“ANTS,” Blackbox said. “I bet there are a bunch of ANTS made up to look like zombies.”
“A good idea,” I told the chubby boy. “But not quite what I had in mind.” I flashed them all an evil grin, swishing my tail back and forth as I did so. “YOU will all be the zombies…”
That got a reaction as they looked back and forth at each other, as well as stared at me curiously. I had a feeling that would get their attention.
“If we had more time, I’d dress you all up as zombies,” I cheerfully explained, “and then do a performance of Thriller…but this class isn’t long enough for that.”
“So,” Jinx asked, looking a bit confused. “Are we supposed to hunt down the ANTS and try eating their brains?”
“Nope,” I answered, still grinning. “You’re going to try eating each other’s brains…”
With that, I pulled out a bag that contained a bunch of ribbons with adhesive strips on them, then passed them around the class. I told each student to put one on their back, chest, or belt. Once they’d done that, I gave them their instructions.
“Those of you with ribbons are uninfected,” I explained. “Zombies will chase after those with ribbons, trying to take your ribbons. If a zombie removes your ribbon, you join the zombies and try to get the ribbons from others.”
“Oh, I get it,” Monkeywrench exclaimed. “Sort of like a cross between flag football and tag.”
“Bingo,” I responded cheerfully. “Give the monkey a banana.”
“Awesome,” Melissa exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down. She’d gotten her casts off during lunch and seemed to be fully healed, though I noticed that she was still moving a little slower than usual. “This is gonna be so cool…”
“Now remember,” I said, looking around at each of the kids. “You don’t want the zombies to catch you, so you’d better make use of your run and hide skills.”
It only took a few more seconds before someone brought up a small detail that I hadn’t covered. I’d been wondering if anyone would catch that omission.
“If we’re all uninfected,” Peacock asked. “Then where are the zombies.”
“Right here,” I said, quickly snatching the ribbon off her shirt. “Tag, you’re patient zero…” Peacock just stood there with a look of surprise. “Run,” I ordered the other students. “She’s a zombie…”
That was just the signal everyone needed, because a second later, the students ran off in all directions, leaving me and Peacock behind. She looked around, then seemed to finally realize that she was the zombie. After giving me a brief glare, she hurried after a couple of the slower students.
I stood back and watched as several students escaped Peacock, one after another. Finally, one of them looked back to see if she was still behind him, and she used her powers. Suddenly, she had a gig blowing peacock tail made of light, and the boy she was after froze and just stared at her. I didn’t blame him, because at that moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off her either.
Peacock calmly walked up to the boy and snatched his ribbon with a somewhat smug look. “Got you.”
Now there were two zombies, and this boy joined Peacock in trying to ‘recruit’ more. It was slow going because most of the students had learned enough from class to stay out of reach. However, that all changed the moment Peacock used her power to catch Melissa. Once Melissa had ‘turned’, team zombie suddenly had a major advantage.
Melissa grinned evilly and called out, “BRAINS!” Then she teleported to another student, appearing right behind him and grabbing his ribbon. I chuckled at that, pretty sure that Melissa had let herself get caught, just so she could play zombie.
Having Melissa become a zombie completely changed the balance. With her teleportation and invisibility, she was able to sneak up on her classmates without warning. The zombie plague began to spread like wildfire.
A number of students had managed to get out of sight and go into hiding, which was the perfect way to handle this at the moment. However, with more and more of the students turning zombie, the ones who remained were becoming increasingly outnumbered.
This exercise was a lot of fun, for me and the students. However, that wasn’t the only reason that I’d chosen to play zombie apocalypse today. In the real world, you could never tell when you’d be outnumbered and chased, whether it was by Humanity First, supervillain minions, or a random angry mob. This was good practice for that kind of situation.
A short time later, a group of ‘zombies’, five of them, had surrounded an uninfected student. But instead of rushing him, they stood back and chanted, “One of us… One of us…” Monkeywrench seemed to be leading the chant, which was no surprise.
By the time class ended, only two students remained uninfected. One had done a damn good job of hiding while the other had been able fly out of range.
“Good job,” I told the class. “As you can see, it’s hard to avoid that many opponents, especially when your own friends and allies can turn and join them at any moment. In this kind of situation, you really need to keep on your toes and look for anything you can use.”
“That was awesome,” Melissa exclaimed. “Can we do this one again? I like being a zombie. I mean, not a real brain eating zombie or anything like that, just this game zombie…
“Yeah, she’s definitely back to normal,” I mused with a smile. It was nice to see Melissa bounce back from her attack so well. Of course, she still needed to deal with her attacker, but I’d leave her to that.
“I can’t believe Blackbox got me,” one girl muttered in disgust, while Blackbox looked rather proud of himself.
“You walked into an alley and got trapped,” I said, explaining what she already knew. However, this was a good teaching opportunity, and I wasn’t going to waste it. “Whenever you walk into a potential situation, always have an escape plan…or three.”
“Yeah,” the girl grumbled, glaring at Blackbox.
After this, I announced, “Okay, go hit the showers everyone.”
As soon as all the students were gone, I closed up shop and began walking back to my regular classroom. Art Appreciation was next, and it was one of my favorite classes to teach.
I was halfway back to my classroom when my phone began to ring. Before answering, I glanced at the numbers, only to freeze at the sight. I didn’t recognize the caller’s number, but I immediately knew who it had to be. After all, this wasn’t one of the normal numbers that were forwarded to my phone, but a number that I’d created years ago and had only given to one person. This was the first time anyone had EVER called that number.
For a moment, I just stared at my phone, then I took a deep breath before cheerfully answering, “Imp’s Roadkill Café. You kill it, we grill it.”
“Imp,” a voice responded. It was deep, raspy, and a little weak, though there was no missing the iron behind it.
“Doc M,” I said in a polite tone. This was proof that I actually could do that if I really wanted. “I assume that this isn’t a social call.”
“You owe me a favor,” Doc stated from the other end, not changing his tone at all. “I am calling it in.”
I hesitated for only a moment, scowling slightly as I did so. “What do you need?”
“Not on the phone,” Doc told me, sounding slightly annoyed. “Come to me and I will tell you what I require.”
With those words, Doc hung up. I stared at the phone for several seconds before putting it away. This favor had been hanging over my head for a long time, and a large part of me was relieved that I would finally be able to pay off that debt. However, I was suddenly very worried about what this was going to cost me.
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Schuster Hall, Tuesday evening, Nov 27th, 2007
I was sitting on the roof of Schuster, smoking a cigarette and staring off into space. By all rights, I should be doing this at my apartment building in the Village, but I’d worked a bit late and this was more convenient.
My thoughts were on the phone call I’d received earlier, and on the favor I had to repay. Even though I had absolutely no idea of what Doc was going to ask, I was nervous. He’d saved this favor up for a long time and wouldn’t have called it in now unless it was for something big.
It was quite likely that Doc was going to ask for something that I didn’t want to do, and I wouldn’t have much choice in the matter. This was not the kind of favor I could refuse.
“Time to pay the piper,” I mused, taking one final drag from my cigarette before stubbing it out. “Maybe he’ll just ask for me to go get him a latte or something.” Somehow, I doubted that I’d get off that easily.
I looked around, half expecting Louis to pop up for a conversation. He had a habit of showing up without warning whenever I was enjoying a little private thinking time. However, this time, he remained absent.
After another minute, I finally stood up and stretched. Taking my time, I straightened out my clothes, then looked over the edge of the building, making sure it was clear below before I leapt off. It was late enough that almost everyone had gone in for the night, but better safe than squashing a student.
Just then, I noticed a strange glow from the corner of my eye and snapped around for a better look. My eyes shot wide as I saw a massive black dome with glowing purple streaks through it, smack dab in the middle of campus. In fact, from what I could tell, it even cut through a corner of Dunn Hall.
I gaped at the dome for several seconds before blurting out, “What in the Wide Wide World of Sports?”
Several thoughts passed through my mind. This was Whateley, where strange things happened every day, but this was a new one on me. Then, I wondered what could have caused this. My guess was on some devisor experiment since this seemed like the kind of thing that they might do. Or finger wigglers… On second thought, magic seemed like an even better choice.
“You never know what those tricksy mages are up to,” I mused.
I remained where I was for several minutes, just watching the dome to see what would happen. It didn’t take long for security to show up. Several small security teams appeared and began circling the dome, and though they looked like they tried getting through the dome, none of them did.
“Force field,” I thought aloud.
After watching for only a little longer, I decided to go get a better look. I was definitely curious about this thing and that made me a little wary since curiosity most definitely did NOT kill the Imp.
With a shrug, I stepped off the roof and concentrated my PK shell in my legs so that when I hit the ground, my shell absorbed a lot of the impact, then I slipped into a roll which took care of the rest. Once I was done, I sprang back to my feet and hurried toward the dome.
Instead of going for the nearest group from security, I made my away around until I saw one being led by Samantha Everheart. And though I was tempted to ask if they were looking for the Lorax or that naughty Grinch, I realized that this wasn’t the time and bit my tongue. This was proof that I could do that on occasion.
“What’s going on?” I asked curiously.
Everheart gave me a look of annoyance and I could tell that she wasn’t pleased to see me. I didn’t take it personally though since people have been giving me that look for my entire life.
“We’ve got this,” Everheart told me. “Back off and less us handle it.”
At the same time, one of the guys standing next to the dome announced, “Force field won’t let us through…” He poked the dome with the barrel of his gun, showing that there was no reaction.
I focused my PK aura around my hand, forming a blade that I poked into the strange dome. It didn’t go through at all. When I tried to synchronize my aura to the force field, I couldn’t. If this dome had been any sort of PK or telekinetic projection, I would have been able to do that.
“Then, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” I said, turning and slowly walking away.
Of course, just because I was getting some distance, that didn’t mean I was going to stop watching. My curiosity had been aroused, and an Imp’s curiosity was a powerful force.
I had only gone about twenty yards, when suddenly, the dome vanished. As I snapped around for a better look, Everheart and her team were already going through where the dome had been. However, I remained back, resisting the urge to rush in and investigate.
“I’m not sticking my tail in a trap,” I commented. At least not without good reason. Instead, I just looked over the area, which I could now see again now that the dome was gone. I didn’t really see anything unusual. So, with a shrug, I turned and continued walking away. “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”
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Schuster Hall, Wednesday early morning, Nov 28th, 2007
I was standing in Carson’s office and not exactly thrilled about it.
This meeting was for a campus security issue, but for some reason, I’d been pulled into it.
“I knew I should have kept my tail out of this dome business,” I muttered in annoyance. All I’d done was dip my tail in, but it had been enough for Carson to grab hold.
Of course, I wasn’t the only person here, though I was probably one of the more awake. After all, this was the time period where I’d done much of my work back in my old career. For once, being a night Imp was to my benefit.
Carson was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, having changed into her ‘comfy’ clothes right before the whole dome thing came up. She hadn’t bothered changing back into her business attire since, not that I blamed her. If it had been me that had been called in after I’d settled down for the night, I would have shown up in pajamas and bunny slippers.
In spite of the hour, Carson actually looked wide-awake, which probably came from her being an exemplar. The fact that she’d been headmistress of Whateley for years and was probably used to these odd-hour emergencies likely played a role too.
Everheart, like Carson, looked wide-awake, and if anything, even more so. Then again, she was some kind of cyborg or something, though I didn’t know the details. What I did know was that she didn’t have quite the same limitations as even a normal powered person. As if the words ‘normal’ and ‘powered’ should ever be used together.
Grimes, on the other hand, looked tired and was currently sipping from a cup of coffee. That amused me, since if anyone should be used to working at ‘the witching hour’, I would have thought it would be her.
Elyzia Grimes, or Magica De Spell as I sometimes liked to call her, was the very stereotype of a witch. Not the ugly old witch with green skin, a hooked nose, and warts, but more the kind with a slinky black dress. I probably should have called her Morticia rather than Magica, but that was just too on the nose.
Finally, there was Delarose, who also looked tired, though he was doing a better job of hiding it than Grimes. He had a deep scowl on his face which matched the ones everyone else wore.
The mood was so serious that I couldn’t resist going, “Jinkies. Now that everyone is here, let’s unmask the spook.” From the flat looks I received, nobody found this funny. “No respect,” I said, adjusting my imaginary tie. “No respect at all.”
“If its any comfort,” a new voice said. “I found it rather amusing.”
“Thanks, Louis,” I said, greeting the psychic projection who’d just appeared.
“Now,” Carson demanded. “What do we know about this dome?”
“It appeared at nine-oh-eight,” Delarose answered in a professional tone, “then vanished approximately seventeen minutes later. When the dome appeared, it completely cut off all communications from that area, including footage from the security cameras.”
“Attempts to scry inside the dome failed,” Grimes added grimly. “Admittedly, if there had been more time to prepare a more powerful spell, the results may have been different.”
Louis nodded. “Similarly, I was unable to sense anything at all from within the dome, or even project myself inside.”
I watched them all with a thoughtful expression, then commented, “I believe some of the cameras have local recordings and battery backups…”
“There are some that do,” Everheart agreed, though not looking happy. She looked to Carson as she continued, “As you know, about half the gadgeteers and devisors on campus try finding ways around the cameras, just to prove they can.” Her eyes went to Grimes. “Similarly, some of the magic students also try to find ways around them…”
Delarose cleared his throat and said, “That doesn’t even take into account all the other students who sabotage the security cameras just to hide what they’re up to.” His eyes went to me, a silent accusation since I myself had done that once or twice.
“The cameras are repaired as soon as possible,” Everheart continued, “but they can’t always be repaired as quickly as we’d like. As a result, between five to eleven percent of security cameras are inoperative at any one time.”
“And that’s probably one of the reasons you have so many,” I thought aloud, earning a nod from Delarose.
Carson scowled. “I assume that you’re reminding us of this fact because the relevant cameras, with local backup recordings, were among those that were inoperative.”
“There was only one of those within the dome,” Everheart agreed. “But yes. It was inoperable at the time.”
“The dome was impenetrable by any physical methods my people attempted,” Delarose explained. “And it vanished before magical methods could be attempted.”
“My claws couldn’t get through it,” I told Carson, who nodded slightly in understanding. She and Delarose both knew how my powers worked, and I was pretty sure that Everheart and Louis knew as well. Going legitimate had really cost me some of my best tricks.
“Once the dome was gone,” Everheart said, “we investigated the covered area. There was minor landscaping damage, but no worse than what the students frequently cause on a daily basis. However, we also found the shredded remains of a female school uniform.”
“I contacted the house parents,” Delarose told Carson. “None of the students appears to be missing or inexplicably injured. We also found no witnesses of what happened inside the dome…or of what caused its appearance.”
Carson continued scowling, looking back and forth between us. “Is there any chance that this was caused by a student?” From her expression, it was pretty clear that she doubted it had been.
“No,” Delarose answered. “Almost none.”
“This dome was not mystical in nature,” Grimes stated. “And it appeared at the same time that something bypassed the campus wards.”
“It got past the wards?” I asked in surprise, as well as professional curiosity. Whenever I encountered magic wards, my go-to solution was to throw iron at them and hope they shorted out. “I thought those wards could block anything.”
“Someone did,” Louis agreed. “Or something.”
Grimes gave me a look, then began to lecture as though I was a student. “The campus wards are very powerful for the standards of this world, but we simply don’t have the resources to make them completely impenetrable. At best, we are able to direct the wards to blocking or redirecting threats or intrusions from the most obvious, dangerous, relevant directions, along with many others. However, there are still…holes…in them.” She looked like she really didn’t want to admit this, especially to someone who specialized in finding holes in security.
“So, this was an outside intrusion,” Carson said thoughtfully, looking a little angry.
“So far, we have no evidence of attackers or hostile action,” Delarose explained, probably in order to put things into perspective. “Only of the intrusion, and we are still unsure of the who or why. As for the dome itself, our investigations have determined that it was less a force field and more of a stasis effect, caused by space somehow being out of phase.”
“Perhaps a powerful warper,” Louis suggested. “Though any who was able to create such a powerful effect would have to be very high level.”
Everheart cleared her throat in order to get everyone’s attention. Once we were all looking at her, she stated, “I have been searching for reports of similar domes, and one person has been identified as a possible cause. A mercenary known as Killzone is reported to be a powerful teleporter, who is able to create large force field domes of a similar appearance.”
That had Carson’s full attention. “I see…” She was clearly thinking of this as a possible violation of Whateley neutrality and what could be done to Killzone for punishment. However, from her look of frustration, she was probably remembering that we didn’t even know for sure if Killzone was involved.
“Do you know this Killzone?” Grimes asked me.
“What?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and a swish of my tail. “You think all supervillains hang-out together or something?”
“No,” Grimes responded, looking a little annoyed at me. “I was wondering if you might have heard something of him from your business associates.”
I gave her a look of mock offense. “What? Do you really think supervillains just sit around some bar, gossiping about each other?”
“Of course not,” Grimes said, just a little defensively.
I just smiled at that. Supervillains most certainly do NOT gossip. We gather intelligence about our competition.
“Now that you mention it,” I mused, thinking aloud. “I have heard of Killzone before…”
If I remembered right, it had been about two years ago while I’d been playing a game of poker at the Black Mask with some of my business associates. Killzone’s name had come up because Red Riot had been complaining about the ‘rookie upstart’ who’d beaten him to a job.
“From what I’ve heard,” I explained, “he’s fairly new to the business, but is already building a solid rep. Apparently, his MO is to teleport in with a group of heavily armed goons, then he teleports them all out when done.”
“I don’t remember hearing any reports of armed goons,” Louis commented.
Then, I remembered one other bit of gossip…I mean…intelligence, that I’d heard during that poker game. “Oh, rumor has it that Killzone’s father is the Widowmaker.”
“The Widowmaker?” Carson abruptly asked. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I admitted. “Like I said, it was just a rumor I heard.” I looked back and forth between her and Delarose, who also looked thoughtful. “Okay, what am I missing?”
Delarose turned to me, still scowling. “One of our students happens to be Widowmaker’s daughter.”
“His daughter?” I asked in surprise. I knew who all the Bad Seeds were and had made a point of checking them out at the start of the school year, however, this was the first I’d heard of Widowmaker having a kid here.
“I think we may need to ask Porcelain a few questions,” Delarose said, answering my question as to who Widowmaker’s daughter was.
Everheart had been standing there with a look of concentration, then abruptly announced, “Porcelain was caught on video, leaving Dunn Hall shortly before ten. It appears that she may have been in the area during the intrusion.”
“Talk to her,” Carson told Delarose. “Find out what she knows but be gentle. We don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing on her part.”
“If this actually was Killzone,” I pointed out. “And we don’t seem to have any real evidence it actually was, then he could have been here just to visit his sister.” I shrugged at that. “Probably not the smartest way to go about it, but it’s not exactly an armed assault.”
“True,” Carson reluctantly agreed. “We don’t have enough evidence to take any action as of yet, but we can continue investigating.”
Delarose and Everheart both nodded at that. “I’ll question Porcelain and increase security patrols for now,” Delarose said. “Just in case.”
“I’ll adjust the wards,” Grimes added, “to make sure that this particular type of intrusion doesn’t happen again.”
“And I’ll go home and watch cartoons until its time for classes,” I offered. For some reason, everyone ignored me, except for Louis, who gave me a look of amusement.
“Then I believe we’re done for now,” Carson said, looking to Delarose and Grimes. “Keep me informed of your progress.”
After this, we all left and I made my way back to the village. Unlike Delarose or Grimes, I didn’t have any tasks to complete, other than being ready to teach my classes in the morning. As I made my way back, I absently wondered if I had any devisor coffee left in the kitchen.
--------------------
Whateley Academy, Wednesday late morning, Nov 28th, 2007
I was sitting on top of a building, staring out across the campus. Since it was time for lunch, students were out in force, and watching them scamper around was a nice distraction from my thoughts. And at the moment, I had a lot to think about.
Melissa was currently undergoing one of the greatest trials of growing-up, something that many adults had never learned…how to solve her own problems. Sure, her problems were only school bullies, but these were Whateley school bullies, which were on a whole different level than what normal people ever had to deal with.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help Melissa. All I could do was hope that I’d taught her enough and have faith that she could manage on her own. And while I was proud of my apprentice, and was confident in her abilities, I couldn’t help but feeling worried anyway.
While I was thinking of Melissa, I saw a group of campus security officers wandering around on patrol. That reminded me of the other topic that I’d been trying not to think of, the intrusion from last night.
From what I’d heard, when Porcelain had been called into security, she’d denied knowing anything at all about the dome, or about the possibility of her brother arriving on campus. Of course, neither Delarose or Carson believed her, but they couldn’t prove she was lying.
So, in the end, in spite of all that excitement from last night, all we could really do was improve the wards and increase security patrols for awhile. Without any evidence of wrongdoing, or proof that Killzone had even been involved, there wasn’t anything else to do.
“Lucky for him,” I mused.
Breaking through the campus wards and creating that dome had been pushing things a little too close to a violation of Whateley neutrality. If there actually had been proof of his presence, or of any hostile action, then he would have been in serious trouble. But without that proof, there was no way the Syndicate would sanction going after one of their own.
“Damn lucky for him,” I repeated.
And finally, there was also that business with Doc. I still didn’t know what he wanted from me, but I intended to find out tonight. I’d already arranged my flight just so we could have that face to face meeting he wanted.
I was still considering what Doc might ask of me, when I noticed Aegis walking across the open courtyard below. He was staring at his hand and not paying attention to where he was going, though what was so interesting about his hand, I had no idea.
A few seconds later, I noticed Dino and his sidekick, Jericho, heading in Aegis’ direction. From what I could tell, Dino appeared to be playing keepaway with Jericho’s hat, some kind of orange thing that I could easily see from on top of the building. Dino quickly ran away from Jericho, looking back and snickering as he did so, and as with Aegis, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. A second later, Dino smashed into Aegis, sending the other boy tumbling along the ground.
“Ouch,” I said sympathetically. “That has GOT to hurt.”
Aegis quickly scrambled to his feet and looked ready to fight. However, Dino seemed to be saying something to him, which I mentally translated as ‘meep meep’, in proper Roadrunner fashion, before he and Jericho walked away.
“Okay,” I said with a shake of my head. “I have GOT to teach those boys about situational awareness.”
However, I was pleased to note that Aegis was showing a bit more restraint than he used to. Not that long ago, he would have assumed that Dino was attacking him, and would have charged the other boy with his fists flying. But this time, Aegis held back long enough to realize that it wasn’t an attack, and that Dino wasn’t his enemy.
“A definite improvement,” I said, feeling rather proud.
After this, I decided that it was probably time to come down from the roof and head to my classroom. After all, it wouldn’t do for the teacher to arrive late.
--------------------
Upstate NY, Wednesday evening, Nov 28th, 2007
I slowly drove my rental car down the long driveway, towards the large house at the end. It was an old house, and while not quite a mansion, it was still twice the size of the house where I’d grown up, not to mention, three times the age.
Once I reached the end of the driveway, I parked in front of the house and slowly climbed out of the car. I pulled my long coat around me and adjusted my wide-brimmed hat. My eyes carefully scanned the yard, which looked like it had once been very nice, but which was now overgrown and untended. The yard was a perfect match for the house, which also looked like it had once been very nice, but had seen better times.
“Their house is a museum, where people come to see ‘em…” I quietly sang as I walked up and rang the doorbell.
When the door opened a few seconds later, a stocky man stood there. “Hey, Lurch,” I greeted him. “Is the doc home?”
‘Lurch’ wasn’t much taller than me, and definitely not tall enough to properly lurch. However, the nickname fit with the outside décor, and the fact that he merely grunted in response meant that he was now stuck with it. Not that I really cared what he thought about the nickname anyway.
“I was told to expect you,” Lurch said with a scowl, gesturing for me to enter. “Walk this way…”
Now that was a classic line if I’d ever heart one, but unfortunately, he had a completely normal gait. Now, if he’d had a limp, a hobble, or anything else I could use… But since he didn’t, I simply followed him in relative and BORING silence.
We didn’t go very far before Lurch led me to what was either a den or sitting room or some kind. There was a fireplace with a large fire roaring off to the side. Against one wall, there was a bookshelf full of very professional looking books, though I couldn’t make out any of the titles. And of course, the whole room was decorated with antiques, which gave the place a certain gravitas.
I was trying not to stare at the old man who watched me with a grim expression. He was old and frail, with a gaunt build and wisps of white hair on his head. If someone had told me that he was older than each and every antique that surrounded us, I probably would have believed them. And though he sat in a comfortable looking chair, there was a motorized wheelchair placed beside him.
WOW. The years had NOT been kind to the doc.
After taking a few seconds to look around, I reached into my pocket for the carrot I’d brought, took a nice bite, and asked, “Eh, what’s up Doc?”
“Imp,” he said, his voice weak and raspy. But while his body was old and weak, I could still see the iron determination behind his eyes. “Sit.”
I removed my hat and then carefully sat down in the chair across from Doc, so that the two of us were now facing each other. I was a little nervous and half expected iron clamps to emerge from the chair and lock my limbs in place, but knew this was foolish. That had never been the docs style, and even though he was just a shadow of his old self, I didn’t see that changing now.
“You once promised me a favor,” Doc said, his eyes firmly locked on me. “I am calling it in.”
“That’s why I’m here,” I agreed with a faint flick of my tail. “What do you need?”
Doc scowled for a moment more before answering, “I need your skills.” That wasn’t an actual answer, but I didn’t say anything in response. Instead, I waited for him to do this at his own pace. “I need you to steal something for me…”
“That is what I do,” I agreed.
Actually, it was what I DID, before I retired. Somehow, I didn’t think that Doc really cared about my retirement, not that it mattered. Not with this kind of favor.
“I need you to recover something,” Doc continued, “from a superhero.”
That caught my attention. “You want me to rob a superhero?” I chuckled at that. “That sounds right up my alley…” And potentially very risky. “Who?”
I crossed my fingers and held my breath. Please don’t say Chickenhawk. Please don’t say Chickenhawk.
When Doc answered, “Venture,” I let out a sigh of relief.
“Venture,” I repeated thoughtfully.
Though I’d never met Venture, I had definitely heard of him. In fact, I’d done a little research on him in case our paths ever crossed. He was reputed to be a competent hero who’d caught a lot of villains over the years.
“And what am I after?” I asked Doc.
“An artifact of great power,” Doc answered. There was a flash of that fire behind his eyes. “MY artifact of power…”
“Oh,” I responded, now knowing exactly what he wanted me to steal for him.
“For years, I have searched for this artifact,” Doc exclaimed. “For years, I have sought to reclaim its power…”
Doc looked like he was about to launch into a full-blown rant, when he abruptly began coughing. Lurch quickly came in with a glass of water and sat it down beside the doc, who picked it up with trembling hands and took several drinks. Finally, the coughing fit had ended, though he spent nearly a minute just regaining his composure.
“Venture has it in his possession,” Doc told me grimly. “It is locked away in his vault…in his…trophy room.” His eyes fixed on me as he added, “I need you to break in and steal it for me.”
“Easy peasy,” I said with a grin.
Of course, I had no illusion about this being simple or easy. After all, Venture was a powerful hero, and he wasn’t a complete buffoon like Barney. Going after him and trying to steal something from right out of his own lair was going to be challenging and risky. And even worse, coming out of retirement to go after a hero like this could very well end up costing me everything.
I took a deep breath, then smiled to hide my concerns. I’d pulled big jobs before, many that were even larger and more dangerous than this one. However, there were very few where I risked as much personally, as I did with this one. Fortunately, with enough time, research, and planning, anything was possible.
“There is one more thing,” Doc said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I met his eyes, and with a grim expression, he added, “Time is of the essence. I must have the artifact back in my possession…within the week.”
“Of course,” I said, rubbing my temples and letting out a sigh. There goes all my time to research and plan. “Start from the beginning and tell me everything you know.”
Fortunately, this job did have one thing going for it. Doc had been wise enough to contact the beautiful, talented, and fabulous Imp for this caper. And if there was anyone who could pull it off, it was yours truly.
--------------------
Whateley Academy, Thursday morning, Nov 29th, 2007
I let out a yawn as I walked towards the staff dining room and the breakfast that awaited me there. The big downside of not being a good cook was that I actually had to get off my tail and leave my apartment if I wanted to eat something more substantial than Fruity Pebbles…not that there was anything wrong with Fruity Pebbles.
Yesterday, I’d left campus almost as soon as my last class was over, and once I was finished meeting with Doc, I’d immediately come back. I’d spent a lot more time on the plane…or sitting in the car…than sitting across from him, which was pretty annoying. That was a lot of time, travel, and discomfort just to have a brief discussion which could have been handled over the phone. But of course, I hadn’t complained to Doc.
“At least I got back early enough to get a few hours of sleep,” I quietly mused to myself. But in the future, I was going to have to avoid that kind of thing on a school night. Then again, knowing myself, I probably wouldn’t.
I glanced over at my companions, Maria and Donna, who were heading to breakfast with me. They lived in the apartment next to mine, so we made this walk together on a regular basis. Since Maria and I were both oddballs among the teaching staff, and were the two newest teachers, we’d begun eating together before Donna had ever entered the picture.
Once we reached Kirby Hall and the faculty cafeteria, I raised my arms and loudly exclaimed, “All hail the conquering Imp…”
Several faculty members turned to look at me, some with looks of amusement though there were an equal amount who just looked annoyed. I soaked it all up, appreciating both reactions. This was the balance of social interaction, the Yin Yang of attention. And honestly, both reactions were WAY better than being glared at with hatred or disgust, though even that was better than the angry mobs with pitchforks.
“And just what did you conquer that’s worth hailing?” Maria asked me.
“My bed,” I promptly answered. Then with a cheerful grin and a swish of my tail, I explained, “It tried taking me prisoner this morning. I mean, it wrapped me up with its sheets and didn’t want to let me go. I fought had and long, and in the end, I managed to claim victory and escape it’s clutches.”
“You should give theater a try,” Maria told me with a look of amusement. “You make getting up in the morning sound like a dramatic scene…”
“Or maybe,” Donna suggested, “you should just go to bed earlier.”
“Perish the thought,” I gasped in mock horror. “And surrender to the evil bed without so much as a fight? I think not…”
Donna shook her head, though she was smiling faintly. “You are a very strange person.”
“So I’ve been told,” I responded cheerfully.
A few minutes later, we were sitting down at our table with food in front of us. There was French toast with amaretto mixed into the custard, which was really good. In fact, it was even better than Fruity Pebbles…not that I’d ever admit that to Fred and Barney.
I had only taken a few bites of my breakfast when a familiar figure slipped into an empty seat at our table. Tabby didn’t say a word at first. She just gave a nod of greeting, then took several bites of her own.
While Tabby did this, I just watched her in faint amusement. I was well aware of the irony, in the fact that the faculty member I got along with the best, and which I related to the most, happened to be a hero. And not even a properly retired one either.
Finally, Tabby looked up from her food and asked, “Did you hear that yesterday, a couple students actually attacked a security patrol?”
“No,” I responded, not too surprised. “Ultraviolents or ragers?”
“Neither,” Tabby responded wryly. “A would-be social queen and her thug.”
I raised an eyebrow at that and flicked my tail. “Not too bright.”
“No, they probably aren’t,” Tabby agreed with an amused look.
“They’ll probably be cleaning toilets in Hawthorn for a month,” Maria pointed out with a shake of her head. “Even at their worse, the Alphas knew better than to go after security.”
Tabby smirked. “Oh, I don’t think it was intentional.”
“You think they attacked security by accident?” Maria asked, sounding a bit skeptical.
“Oh, I think they were trying to attack someone,” Tabby said, watching me with a look of amusement. “I just think that they missed and hit security by accident instead.”
Tabby’s behavior definitely had my Imp senses tingling. “Any particular someone?”
“This is just speculation,” Tabby said.
“Of course,” I agreed, even more interested than before.
“Well,” Tabby continued, “If they happened to be attacking someone who could say…disappear…”
I grinned at that as I realized what she was saying. After Melissa had been attacked and put into Doyle, she’d wanted to get revenge on her own, so I’d backed off to let her. If Tabby was right, then this could very well be Melissa doing just that.
“That sounds like something you might do,” Tabby mused.
“That sounds like something I HAVE done,” I responded with a grin and a swish of my tail. “Now then, is there any evidence to support this…speculation?”
“None that I’ve seen,” Tabby told me.
I nodded at that, pleased that Melissa had taken care not to get caught. I also made a mental note to talk to Melissa about this. If nothing else, I wanted the full story with all the juicy details. In fact, since I had a little training planned for her this afternoon, that would be the perfect time to ask.
“So, you think that Mischief tricked those students into attacking security?” Maria asked a little surprised.
Tabby quickly responded, “I said no such thing.”
“Not in the least,” I added.
“And in other news,” Tabby said, looking amused again. “Did you hear that yesterday, Lillian used footage from your match with Roland as a training demonstration?”
“Really?” I asked, a little surprised.
Lillian Dennon taught martial arts, among other things, so I could see why she’d be interested in the fight. However, I’d never had any formal martial arts training, so I wasn’t a very good example.
“She used Roland as an example of what NOT to do in a fight,” Tabby explained. “Which is a good idea, because he did so much wrong…”
Maria nodded at that. “I can definitely see that. He’d be a prime example of what happens when you rely on your size and strength, while neglecting skill. A lot of bricks could learn that lesson.”
“I saw the fight,” Donna said with a shake of her head. She gave me an odd look, one that was just a little wary before the expression faded. “It was…brutal.”
Tabby leaned forward, and in a conspiratorial tone, said, “Ito said that he wanted to put Roland through BMA for a semester.”
I snickered at that. “But I prefer him being incompetent. Trust me, it’s saved my tail on more than one occasion.”
The truth was, when Barney was calm, he was actually pretty decent in a fight. There was a reason that I always pushed his buttons and got him to lose his temper. Once he was angry, all his thought and skill went out the window, making him much easier to deal with.
We talked about my match with Barney for the rest of breakfast and gossiped about how he’d freaked out on one of his classes and had been forced to leave campus for awhile. Actually, supervillains, even retired ones, didn’t gossip. We exchanged information about a potential threat…and laughed at him behind his back.
When I was finished eating, I got up to leave so that I could get to class in time. However, I’d only taken a couple steps away from the table when Maria stopped me.
“You’ve got something stuck on your shoe,” Maria said, pointing down.
I looked down and saw that she was right. There was something stuck to my shoe, and to my relief, it wasn’t a long piece of toilet paper. Instead, it looked like a necklace.
“What’s this?” I mused, surprised to find the necklace stuck to my heel, though it didn’t seem to be caught on anything.
Once I picked up the necklace, it released from my shoe without any problem. I held it up for a better look, noticing that the pendant on the chain seemed to be some sort of small glass vial with metal caps on both ends, and with the chain going through one of those.
“Now, where did this come from?” I thought aloud.
I set the necklace down on the table I’d just vacated, only to see it suddenly move on its own, sliding across the table back to me. I held my hand out at the edge of the table and the necklace went straight into my palm. I gently tossed it to the other side of the table, and once again, it slid right back to me.
“You know,” Maria said, “I think someone may be pranking YOU.”
“You might be right,” I responded, grinning evilly with my tail swishing back and forth behind me. “But if they think they can pull one over on me, they’re going to find that imp-ossible.”
--------------------
Arena 99, Thursday afternoon, Nov 29th, 2007
“Wait,” I told Melissa, putting a hand on her shoulder to keep her from rushing forward.
We were both crouched down behind a dumpster, staying low and trying to avoid being spotted by anyone passing by. My chameleon field was currently turned off, leaving me out in the open and visible. It was rather uncomfortable being exposed like this, but that was part of the point. At the moment, I was intentionally avoiding all of my powers, as was my apprentice.
I pointed to the building across from us, and specifically, at the corner. A couple seconds later, a security guard appeared from around the corner and continued his patrol, walking around the building. He paused a couple times to glance around, though he never looked straight at us.
“Always be aware of security,” I reminded Melissa.
Melissa looked a little impatient. “But I can turn invisible and he wouldn’t see me…”
“Maybe,” I responded. “But how do you know he doesn’t have cybernetic eyes that could see you? Or that he isn’t a mutant with extra senses?” Then, before she could respond, I added, “And remember, right now, we’re doing this without powers. You need a good grasp of the basics, which means, not having to always rely on only your powers.”
“Okay,” Melissa reluctantly agreed. “Now what?”
I just smiled at that and looked over my apprentice, who was currently dressed up in a black ‘burglar’ outfit, and even wearing a black domino mask that didn’t really do much for protecting her identity. However, the stealth effect of her costume was already ruined by the fact that she was wearing a red jacket. That wouldn’t be a problem when she was invisible, but it was when trying to sneak around without her powers.
“Good thing your jacket doubles as body armor,” I muttered, reminding myself that it was made with kevra and lined with impact absorbing gel. And that wasn’t even taking into account the fact that it had a few pockets full of goodies. And that reminded me that she was also wearing the utility belt I’d recently given her, which contained a few more useful tools. “You know, we’re going to have to do this sometime without any tools or holdouts…” At her look of surprise, I grinned and added, “But not today.”
“I can’t believe I finally get to do my first real heist,” Melissa said with a giggle before slapping her hands over her mouth to keep from making too much noise.
I just smiled at that. Yes, this was Melissa’s first heist, other than when she robbed an art gallery that is, but it was hardly real. Sure, I wanted to take Melissa on a job for training, but somehow, I suspected that neither her dad nor Carson would approve, so I was making do with the SIMs. Since this building and its security were based off real world versions, I figured that this was close enough for now.
“Watch for the next security guard,” I quietly told Melissa. “We want to make sure we have the opening.”
Melissa nodded at that, and though she fidgeted a bit, she kept her attention on our target. I knew exactly how often the security guards came around, though she didn’t. Melissa hadn’t been involved in planning this heist, and was along mostly to watch, listen, and learn. As I brought her on more jobs, I’d include her more and more in the planning, until she eventually performed that on her own. Then again, since I had the SIMs available as a training tool, I might go ahead and let her practice a few heists entirely on her own, a bit sooner than I would otherwise. After all, this was a safe place to learn, and would help her learn a little more quickly than I had.
Once the second guard had come and gone, I said, “Now. Move quickly and quietly.”
We rushed towards the building, scrambled up the solid gutter spout, and then broke in through the second floor. I made sure to point out that the second floor windows, unlike the ones on the first floor, were not wired with security alarms.
“Our goal is on the fourth floor,” I quietly told Melissa. “Normally, I’d go up the outside of the building and let myself in a little closer to where we’re going, but without powers, we’ll have to go slower and be a little more careful.”
“What are we stealing?” Melissa asked me excitedly. “A painting? A big jeweled necklace…?”
That just reminded me of the necklace I’d found this morning, and the fact that I still hadn’t found out who was messing with me. However, I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my mind and focused on the job at hand. Letting yourself get distracted was one of the best ways to screw up.
“You’ll see,” I told her.
Melissa and I spent the next half hour slipping down the hall, going from room to room, or closet to stairway, and making our way to the fourth floor without being seen. She was frustrated by the slow pace, but that was no surprise. However, as the wise tortoise demonstrated, sometimes slow and steady wins the race.
Eventually, we reached our destination, a corner office with a nice safe hidden behind a painting. Sure, it was cliché, but this SIM was actually based off a real job from early in my career, and I’d made it as realistic as possible.
“People don’t always hide their valuables in an obvious safe,” I told Melissa as she worked on opening it. After all, it was a pretty simple safe, and she was the one who needed experience. “Sometimes their safe is hidden pretty well, or they hide things in hidden panels in their desks. Sometimes, you’ll really have to look to find anything, and you may not have time for that. This is why you want to do your research first, so you don’t waste valuable time once you get there.”
It took Melissa a couple minutes to pop the safe, and once she did, she immediately began to bounce around excitedly, squealing in joy. Then, she finally remembered that we were in the middle of a job and clamped her hands over her mouth. I rolled my eyes at that and gestured for her to continue.
“Oh yeah,” Melissa said apologetically before looking inside.
The safe was empty, except for one item which had not been in the real-world version. It was a small trophy with a plaque that read ‘WORLD’S BEST APPRENTICE’.
Melissa held up the trophy and stared at it for several seconds before abruptly throwing herself at me and grabbing me in a hug. I hugged her back, smiling as I did so. This was nice.
Then I noticed her tears and joked, “Hey, there’s no crying in baseb…burglary.”
“Thank you,” Melissa exclaimed.
I just hugged her again, feeling bad that I had to end this nice moment. A moment later, a loud alarm suddenly began sounding, alerting every security guard in the building. Melissa jumped back and looked around in surprise.
“That wasn’t in the plan,” she blurted out.
Actually, it had been in my plan. “As a famous poet once said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
“What?” Melissa asked, giving me a blank look.
I rolled my eyes at that. “Remember the escape plan.”
Her eyes went wide and she grinned. “Oh yeah…”
“Touche away,” I called out, though it was actually time so shift from tortoise mode to hare. “It’s WABBIT season…”
Melissa giggled at that, at least getting the second reference. With that, we started to make our escape, though security guards were rushing into the hallway. My apprentice threw a smoke bomb down between us and the security guards, then ran into a side room in order to give them the slip.
“Not bad,” I mused.
This was the perfect opportunity for me to enact the next step in my plan. I slipped away from the guards and ‘accidentally’ got separated from Melissa in the process. Once I’d done that, I climbed out of the building and positioned myself on the outside wall where I could watch Melissa’s escape without being seen. Since I was using my powers for this, there was little chance of my being caught.
A minute later, Melissa emerged from a fourth floor window and scrambled down to the third floor where she let herself back inside. I was pleased to note that she was sticking to the rules of this SIM, even if I no longer was, and wasn’t using her powers. After this, I had to reposition myself so I could watch her through one of the windows.
Security guards rushed into the hallway. Melissa threw down a smoke bomb to hide where she was moving. Out came a stink bomb to distract her pursuers and slow them down. She even threw one of the throwing spikes I’d given her…and missed.
“Maybe a different weapon,” I mused. Just because the spikes worked for me, that didn’t mean they’d work for her.
It didn’t take long for Melissa to escape the building, though the match wouldn’t actually end until she slipped her pursuers entirely. Half a dozen security guards rushed out of the building to come after her, while Melissa continued to run. One of the guards caught up and grabbed hold of Melissa, and for a moment, I thought it was over.
“Tag, you’re it,” Melissa exclaimed, touching the guard’s hand.
There was a flash of sparks and the guard staggered back and fell to his knees. My apprentice then held up her hands…and the electrified gloves that her aunt had given her. She paused just long enough to blow a raspberry at the remaining guards, then threw down several smoke bombs at once, using them as cover to escape.
“Tricky,” I said with a grin of approval.
Since Melissa had managed to escape with her prize, the trophy from the safe, the exercise was now over. The SIM ended and I found myself back in my creche, which I quickly climbed out of and then went to find Melissa, who was just getting out of hers.
“That was awesome,” Melissa exclaimed with a broad grin. Then she looked around before asking, “My trophy…?”
“It’s right here,” I said, holding up an identical trophy to the one from the SIM. In fact, I’d scanned this one in order to create the digital version.
Melissa quickly grabbed the trophy and said, “Thank you,” before giving me another hug.
“You earned it,” I told Melissa as I hugged her back. “You did a great job in there.”
Between how she’d handled the school bullies and her performance in the SIM, I was bursting with pride. Melissa was a natural, and I couldn’t wait to tell Ryan… On second thought, I should probably keep that to myself for now. He’d been pretty supportive so far, but for once, I didn’t want to push it.
--------------------
Whateley Academy, Thursday late afternoon, Nov 29th, 2007
I was humming cheerfully as I slowly made my way towards the cafeteria. Sure, all the exercise I’d just gotten had been in the SIM, but it still counted towards working up an appetite.
While I walked, my thoughts reluctantly turned to Doc and the job I was doing for him. Intellectually, I knew that all the time I’d just spent with Melissa, was time that I could have spent planning the job. The job was going to be tough, and I was short enough on time that I couldn’t afford to waste any that I did have. However, I refused to consider that SIM match a waste of time. None of the time I spent with Melissa was wasted.
“I’ll just work on it tonight,” I thought aloud. “Maybe call in a favor from Bob…”
Bob would like that, of course. I’d earned those favors from him by NOT cutting off all his fingers over a little…misunderstanding. And in spite of that misunderstanding, and the favors that I’d collected from him as a result, our relationship was still relatively good. But there was no doubt that Bob would be happy to get out from under my debt. Fortunately for him, he only had one favor left to go.
“And this could be a good use for it,” I mused. After all, Bob only owed me a moderate level favor, while the one I owed Doc was much larger.
A few seconds later, I spotted Magica De Spell…AKA…Elyzia Grimes, and she appeared to be heading in the same direction that I was, towards dinner. The sight of her reminded me of the fact that I’d been meaning to talk to her. With that in mind, I changed course slightly and started straight for her.
“Magica,” I started, then corrected myself, “Elyzia…”
“Christine,” Grimes responded, giving me a suspicious look. “What are you up to?”
I gave her my best innocent look. “Who, me?”
“Your horns are showing,” she answered wryly.
That made me laugh. “You got me there.”
I was tempted to ask her if she needed help stealing a number one dime…but she hadn’t liked that joke the first time I made it, and I doubt that had changed. Besides, I needed her help so it was best not to antagonize her at the moment.
Then I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace that I’d found that morning. It was pretty obvious that it was magical in nature, and I’d verified that with a little test. Of course, all that test did was tell me that it was magical, not how it worked or who’d made it, and that was why I wanted to talk to an expert.
“I was hoping you could take a look at something for me.” I held out the necklace, then made a show of dropping it on the ground, where it promptly slid right back to my foot. As I bent over to pick it back up, I explained, “I think one of the students is trying to prank me, and I’d like to know who.”
“Of course, we can’t have that,” Grimes commented with a raised eyebrow.
“Exactly,” I agreed cheerfully. “I mean, what kind of precedent would it set if I just let this go…”
Grimes took the necklace and stared at it with a thoughtful expression before announcing, “I don’t think this is a prank…”
“Not a prank?” I asked. “Then why in the world does it keep coming at me like I’m a magnet…”
“Because, this contains a tracking spell,” Grimes answered, now staring at me with a curious expression. “It’s a very simple spell, almost primal really. That means, it is also rather powerful in its own way. You cast this spell on someone’s hair, nail clippings, or in this case…their blood…and it can track the owner. With enough essence, you can track them to the ends of the Earth.”
My eyes widened at that and I stared at the necklace, and at the glass vial which was filled with red liquid. Blood. With a gulp, I said, “And someone used my blood…”
“No,” Grimes said, surprising me.
“But you said,” I started, though she cut me off.
“Normally, that is how the spell is used,” Grimes explained, carefully studying the necklace again. “But this version has been modified… This is a little more complicated, a little more elegant… For one, the blood has been bonded to the spell so that no one else can use this blood as a spell focus. This protects the donor from other spellcasters…”
“Okay,” I said slowly, not getting her point.
“And more importantly,” Grimes continued, “at least as far as you are concerned, this spell has a…deflection built into it.” At my blank look, she explained, “Instead of tracking the blood donor…that result is blocked and is instead diverted to the closest possible results.”
I flicked my tail in annoyance. I hated talking to finger wigglers like this, because it was almost like they talked in another language, then they tended to act all smug and superior because other people didn’t know it or their secret handshakes.
“Instead of tracking the person whose blood this is,” Grimes explained, “this spell has been modified to track their blood relatives.”
“Blood relatives?” I asked in surprise, my tail freezing in place.
“Yes,” Grimes responded, giving me a curious look. “Whomever this blood came from, they are related to you.”
“Imp-ossible,” I exclaimed emphatically.
Howevever, Grimes no longer seemed to be staring at me. Instead, she was still examining the necklace, nodding as though pleased.
“Good spellcraft,” Grimes mused. “Quality work.” Then she looked at me again and admitted, “I recognize the workmanship, and if Voodude had submitted this as a project, he would have received top marks for it.”
“Voodude?” I asked, staring intently at Grimes. “Why would he make something like this, not to mention, where the hell did he get this blood?”
“I have no idea,” Grimes told me, her expression clearly saying that she didn’t consider it very important. “You could always ask him, or, you could find out for yourself…”
Grimes muttered at the necklace while making a few gestures with her free hand. A few seconds later, she nodded in satisfaction and handed the necklace back to me. As soon as I had it in hand, I felt a faint tugging from the jewelry, and this time, it was no longer pulling towards me.
“I’ve removed the deflection,” she said, gesturing to the necklace. “Now, it should lead you directly to the source of that blood. Considering how strongly its reacting, we can assume the source is very close, probably within a mile or two at most.”
While I stood there staring at the necklace and trying to absorb what Grimes had just told me, she took advantage of the opportunity to leave. I barely noticed, not that I cared anyway. She’d already answered my questions and then some.
“She’s gone bonkers,” I announced. “Coocoo for Cocoa Puffs. Magica has lost her flipping mind…”
There was no way this blood had come from one of my relatives, or at least, no way they were on campus. My parents were long dead, and I only had one sibling. Somehow, I couldn’t picture Danny Boy coming to Whateley for any reason whatsoever.
“But there’s only one way to find out,” I said, holding out the necklace and feeling the direction it was gently pulling towards. “Go get em boy…”
At first, the necklace seemed to be leading me towards Crystal Hall, but as I got closer, I saw that this wasn’t quite correct. It was leading me towards the Quad instead. The fact that the necklace actually seemed to know where it was going, filled me with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
“This probably is a prank,” I said, though I continued following the necklace.
Once I reached the Quad, I held my hand out with the necklace tightly clenched in my palm. It was still pulling…still leading me. Then, I reached a point where I could look straight ahead and see exactly where it had been leading.
“Definitely a prank,” I muttered with a growl.
The necklace was pointing directly at a table where two students were talking. One of them was Voodude, a slender black boy with his dark hair in corn rows. He was the one who’d cast this spell, but to my surprise, it wasn’t directing me towards him. Instead, the necklace was pulling me towards the other boy…Aegis.
I froze where I was and just stared at Aegis, a knot forming in my guts. I could feel my heart climbing up my throat, or at least, that was what it felt like. Without consciously willing it, I found myself walking towards him again. I clenched my fists tight, ensuring the necklace didn’t slip away or escape. It was still pulling me towards Aegis.
“Miss Imp?” Voodude asked, noticing me before Aegis did.
Aegis turned to look at me. “Um, were we supposed to have a training session today?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t say a word. Instead, I reached out and gently grabbed hold of Aegis’ face, holding it in place as I stared at it, taking in every detail, including ones I’d never noticed before.
“Hey,” Aegis exclaimed, pulling away.
“It’s nothing,” I said, my voice shaking as I turned and walked away.
“What was that about?” Aegis asked Voodude from behind me.
My whole body was shaking and I could feel my heart pounding louder and louder with every step. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I was too shocked to even utter a single word, much less some snarky comment.
Impossible. This was impossible. It couldn’t be… Aegis couldn’t be… But in spite of that, it was. He was… Tears welled up in my eyes.
In a shaky voice, I finally whispered, “He has his father’s eyes…”
Boston MA, Friday evening, Nov 30th, 2007
I’d spent the entire day in a bit of a daze, still reeling over what I’d learned yesterday. However, I couldn’t afford to remain like that. It was time to put on my game face. Or more accurately, it was time to put on my Candice face.
At the moment, I was at the Goresky Gallery in Boston, in my Candice Kade identity. Thanks to a little magic bauble, I was covered in illusion which made me look ‘normal’. It was because of this very illusion and the boringly normal look it gave me, that let me build my career as a respectable artist.
Tonight, the gallery was holding a show and I was the guest of honor, or at least, one of three. Three artists were being showcased this weekend, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. This could be a big boost for my career.
I stood there in my little black dress, flicking my tail back and forth while being careful not to hit anyone with it. Just because it was hidden by illusion, that didn’t mean others wouldn’t feel it. After taking a sip from my glass of champagne, I smiled in satisfaction, enjoying the way people were reacting to my paintings.
“This one is interesting,” a woman said as she admired one of my recent works.
Her companion, a man in a nice suit, explained, “I’ve seen this artist before, back in New York. Kade’s work is always interesting…and whimsical.”
A man who was standing nearby and who heard this, chuckled, “Whimsical is right.” He pointed to the painting beside him and added, “If you look in the corner of this one, you’ll see the silhouette of two dogs playing cards.”
By this point, I was smirking and soaking up the admiration. I absolutely loved honest enjoyment of my work. After having spent most of my career either stealing or making copies of other people’s works, there was almost nothing better than having people appreciate mine.
However, my mood dampened a bit as I remembered that Ryan was supposed to have been here tonight but was notably absent. Apparently, something had come up and he hadn’t been able to make it.
“Something,” I muttered in annoyance. Then I snorted, “Damn superheroes and their sense of responsibility.”
Well, a lot of heroes seemed to be missing that sense of responsibility, so I shouldn’t be too hard on Chickenhawk for having one. But still, I was frustrated that he was busy chasing down a bank robber rather than being there with me.
With a shake of my head and a sigh, I mused, “Metal Maniac is going to owe me a drink or ten for making my boyfriend miss this.”
“Ms. Kade,” a man said from the side, drawing my attention out of my thoughts. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m a fan of your work.”
“Thank you,” I said, accepting the hand that he held out and shaking it gently.
As soon as I touched him, I sensed it…a faint hum along his skin. It was a PK shell. From his expression, I didn’t think he’d sensed anything, but that was no surprise. My own PK abilities weren’t especially powerful, but when it came to fine control and sensitivity, there weren’t many better.
I stared at the man with greater attention, taking in every detail. He was just under six feet tall, lean and athletic, with naturally tanned skin and short dark hair. Overall, he was moderately attractive, though definitely no exemplar.
“Can you tell me the story behind this piece?” he asked, indicating a painting, which depicted a cat cornering a terrified looking mouse, though the mouse’s shadow looked a bit predatory and held a knife behind its back. At the same time, the cat’s shadow looked terrified, and as though it was about to turn and run. “It’s quite interesting…”
“Thank you,” I told him with a smile. “And you are?”
“Kyle Vasquez,” he answered with a polite smile.
“Kyle,” I repeated before turning my attention back to the painting. “I find that things are rarely as simple and obvious as they appear at first glance. Sometimes, you have to take a second look at a situation to see what’s really going on.”
“I see,” he responded with a nod of understanding.
I just grinned at that and added, “And I probably watched a little too much Tom and Jerry growing up.”
Kyle chuckled faintly at that. “Yes, I can see the inspiration…”
We chatted politely for a couple minutes, then Kyle wandered off to go talk to another artist. I watched him leave, thinking about his height, build, and PK shell. Unless I missed my guess, I’d just met El Puno, a midlevel villain who’d been running around Boston for the last two years.
The rest of the party was almost anticlimactic compared to that brief encounter. I’d already met the other artists, and I was able to politely hob-nob with many of the guests, though I felt a little annoyed to do so. That kind of thing reminded me too much of my mother and what she’d wanted me to be.
“Behave yourself,” I quietly told myself. “No wedgies or wet Willies… At least not now…” I could behave myself for the sake of my art career.
Eventually, I found an excuse to step out of the party for a bit, thankful for the chance to catch my breath and get away from all that fake politeness. I wasn’t sure how much more of that I could handle. Fortunately, the party had given me a little time to think, and now I was ready to be a little naughty.
With my tail swishing back and forth, I pulled out my phone and made a call. “Yo, Rebar,” I said, greeting the other villain. “This is the fabulous Imp…” After a few seconds, I had to convince him, “Yes, I really am the one and only, genuine, originally fabulous Imp…” I paused again and rolled my eyes. “Okay then, remember that job we did in Seattle, where you tried hitting on Crucibelle and she threatened to tear off your nards…?”
I chuckled evilly as I imagined the expression on Rebar’s face, and even more at the memory of how badly he’d pouted after Crucibelle’s threat. The poor guy had developed a crush on a hero, and that kind of thing rarely worked out for those in our profession.
It was a good thing I was retired, or at least, it had been. Somehow, I didn’t think Ryan would approve of the job I had planned, and I really hoped he never found out.
“How’d you like to make an easy ten grand?” I asked, knowing that I now had Rebar’s full attention. “Venture is in your back yard, and he’s one of your old playmates, so what I need is for you to distract him for an hour or two…” A few seconds later, I grinned. “I thought you’d agree. Nice doing business with you, Rebar.”
After hanging up, I turned my attention back to the party, which was still going on. With a sigh, I braced myself for more of the forced politeness, though at least, there were people kissing my tail and a few honest compliments of my work.
--------------------
Boston MA, Saturday early afternoon, Dec 1st, 2007
I glanced around the Goresky Gallery, feeling a mixture of delight and impatience. The party from last night was long since over, but the gallery showing was continuing all weekend.
Last night, the gallery had been full of art snobs and the socially connected, many of whom were more interested in appearances and making connections than they were in the art. Today, the gallery was open for anyone who wanted to walk in off the street and take a look. As a result, many who were present today, couldn’t afford to buy anything, but they were quite willing to appreciate the paintings.
My eyes went to a ‘sold’ tag above one of my paintings, and I smiled at the sight, knowing that it would soon decorate someone’s wall. Over half my paintings had sold last night and I expected a few more to sell between today and tomorrow. Overall, I thought that this was turning out to be quite a decent showing.
And then, my thoughts turned to El Puno, if that actually had been him last night. I had no fear that he was casing the gallery for a robbery, because that simply wasn’t his style. El Puno was not a thief, and certainly not an art thief. Professionally, he worked as a leg breaker, a bodyguard, or generally, as hired muscle, though there was nothing to say that personally, he couldn’t appreciate the finer things in life, such as beautifully crafted art.
While I looked around the gallery, at the small handful of people who were currently present and admiring the paintings, I couldn’t help but thinking that I should be working on that job for Doc. I had such a limited amount of time to pull it off, but I did have other obligations that needed to be taken care of first.
Of course, last night, there had been the party. Then this morning, I’d spent a couple hours holding my Saturday morning open classroom, where I let any student, whether they were in any of my classes or not, come in and work on their art projects. This was actually one of my favorite parts of working at Whateley, since there were no lectures or lesson plans, just kids and art.
“They just need a little of my brilliant and wise guidance,” I mused.
And now, there was my obligation to the gallery, which had been kind enough to show my paintings. All I had to do was hang around a little and talk with some of the visitors, mostly about my work. This was a lot more casual than the party, which was proven by the fact that I was wearing slacks and a jacket rather than a dress.
I slowly strolled through the gallery, my eyes sweeping from one piece to another. One of the other artists being showcased was quite nice, and I was seriously thinking about buying one of the pieces. However, the one I had my eye on had already been claimed by someone else, as proven by the ‘sold’ tag above it.
While I was doing this, I couldn’t help but take in some other details as well, such as the location of every security camera and the holes in their coverage. I absently noted how all the alarms were hooked up, where best place was to shut down the system, not to mention the location of every potential entrance or exit in the building. I might be retired, but old habits die hard.
Then I heard a girl say, “Ah like this one. It’s really nice…”
That immediately caught my attention because I knew that voice along with the girl it belonged to. In fact, I’d just seen her a couple hours ago in my open classroom. With that, I turned and saw Alicia Thacker standing next to one of my paintings. There was another girl beside her, her friend and roommate, Adalie Vitesse.
“Oui,” Adalie agreed. “It is not in the same league as a Monet, but it is still quite beautiful.”
“Candice Kade,” Alicia said, reading my name off the tag next to the painting. Then she abruptly turned to a woman who worked for the gallery and asked, “Does Ms. Kade come here very much?”
The gallery employee gave her a polite smile. “Well, you’re in luck. Ms. Kade is here today…” And with that, she gestured towards me.
The girls turned to look at me, and a second later, Alicia’s eyes went wide while her mouth dropped open. It wasn’t until that moment that I remembered that she’d seen me this way before, the very first time we met last spring.
“Well, this is awkward,” I muttered.
“You’re Candice Kade?” Alicia gasped in surprise.
“I sure hope so,” I responded wryly. “I’m wearing her underwear…”
Alicia blinked at that. “Ah mean…”
The look on Alicia’s face was amusing, but it was also a little worrying. Ever since I’d gone semi-legit, all my tricks and secrets had been coming to light. Too many people knew how my powers worked, just as too many people knew that Candice Kade and the Imp were the same person. That worried me…a lot.
“No putting the genie back in the bottle,” I muttered, thankful that at least some of my secrets were still safe, though I didn’t know for how much longer. “So,” I said, putting on a cheerful smile. “Did I overhear you saying that you liked my work?”
“The paintin?” Alicia asked, blinking as she shook herself out of it. “It’s really nice… Ah didn’t know you could paint like that…”
“Do you two know each other?” Adalie asked curiously.
“We met briefly at a museum some months back,” I told the French girl, swishing my tail back and forth as I did. “I don’t think I ever told her my name though…or that I was an artist.”
“No,” Alicia said, giving me an odd look. “Ah don’t think ya did…”
“Well, I am,” I continued in a cheerful tone, hoping that Alicia didn’t spill the beans. “Being an artist is just one of several careers I’ve had in my life, but one that’s very important to me.” I gave the Cajun girl a pointed look, hoping that she understood the message.
Alicia nodded at that, glanced at Adalie, and when her roommate wasn’t watching she made a gesture as though zipping her mouth shut. I nodded at that, letting out a sigh of relief. I wasn’t too surprised though since Alicia was one of the very few people who’d ever visited me at the Imp Lair, and it was her recommendations that had led to me getting my job at Whateley in the first place.
“Now then,” I said, looking back and forth between the girls. “Would you two like a personal tour of my works here?”
“Yes, please,” Alicia responded brightly.
Adalie’s eyes seemed to light up a little as well. “If it would not be too much trouble…”
“Not at all,” I assured them, gesturing back to the painting that they’d previously been looking at. “This one is called Nighttime Wanderings…”
I showed the girls a couple of my paintings and answering their questions. It was great to see how interested they both were, as well as how much they appreciated the art. Now, if only all my students were this open to artwork.
“So,” I finally asked. “What brings you to the gallery?”
“We came to Boston for a little shoppin,” Alicia answered. “And when ah saw this place, ah had to come poke mah head in…”
“She was most insistent,” Adalie added with an amused look. “Alicia really wanted to see the paintings…”
“I can definitely appreciate that,” I said with a grin, swishing my tail back and forth. “I’ve spent countless hours visiting places like this…”
“And art museums,” Alicia added, giving me a knowing look.
“And art museums,” I agreed. “There are very few things better than being able to admire a true masterpiece. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to achieve the skill and artistry to create one myself…” I let out a sigh at that, since being able to create a true masterpiece was on my bucket list, right above stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.
“Well, ah think your stuff is really nice,” Alicia assured me.
“Yes,” Adalie agreed. “Your paintings are tres amusing…”
“Thank you,” I said, appreciating the sincere compliments.
It didn’t take long to finish the brief tour of the gallery, and I not only showed them all of my paintings, but also the ones from the other artists. Adalie seemed to like one of those artists a little more than me, but I didn’t take it personally. In fact, I was just pleased that she’d come to enjoy the paintings at all.
Eventually, while Adalie was admiring one of those other paintings, Alicia pulled me aside and quietly asked, “Does Mrs. Carson know about this?” She gestured around us.
“What?” I asked with a look of mock innocence. “That I’m moonlighting?” At Alicia’s nod, I grinned. “Of course. In fact, she showed up at one of these gallery showings to ask if I wanted a job…” Then in a more serious tone, I asked, “Please keep this to yourself though. I’d prefer it if your classmates and everyone else remained a little ignorant about my side job…”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Alicia assured me.
“Thank you,” I responded with a smile.
A few minutes after this, Alicia and Adalie left the gallery, which had suddenly become just a little more boring. I imagined what would happen if any other students happened to wander in here…especially Dino. In fact, I could picture it clearly… The goofy dinosaur comes in, disguised as Bob Ross or pretending to be an art critic, while half the people in the gallery immediately ran out in fear, and the other half just stand there as their minds break. The very idea was enough to make me burst out laughing.
“Okay,” I finally said, taking one more look around the gallery. As fun as it was to hang around a bunch of paintings, it was time to get to work. “Time to pay my debt.”
--------------------
Cleveland OH, Saturday early evening, Dec 1st, 2007
I was crouched down on top of a statue which resided on the outer edge of a park. The statue was of a large horse and its rider, though I had absolutely no idea who the rider was supposed to represent. For all I knew, the statue was honoring the horse, and the rider was just decoration. Still, the statue provided me with a great spot to perch and watch my surroundings, as well as an out of the way place to wait.
Then, what I was waiting for finally happened. A motorcycle shot out of an alleyway and zoomed off down the street like a bullet, moving so fast that I could barely make out any details about the rider, save that he was wearing a green and white costume with gold metal trim. And that was mostly due to the fact that I knew what to expect.
“Venture has left the building,” I announced.
At the same time, I considered how much fun it would be to race him on my Impcycle. Car chases were old fashion and out of style, but motorcycle chases… I grinned at that, swishing my tail back and forth excitedly.
Once Venture was gone, I climbed down off my high horse and quickly made my way towards the alley that Venture had just departed from. There were a couple hidden security cameras watching the alley to make sure nobody was present whenever Venture came or left, but they were easy to avoid. What was more difficult, was finding the hidden garage door and figuring out how to get through that.
The door was hidden behind a dumpster that was rigged to roll out of the way. I had to admit, I was impressed. That was a really fun way for Venture to hide the entrance to his lair. However, the door was still locked and I had to get past the security system without setting off any alarms. The challenging part was, I suspected that he’d have precautions against my usual alarm busting devise, so I had to do this the hard way.
While I worked, I quietly sang, “Na na na na na na BAT IMP!” What can I say, I loved the classics. “Bap. Boom. Pow…”
In spite of breaking in the slow way, it didn’t take me too long to unlock the door and let myself inside. As soon as I did so, I found that I was inside a garage with several vehicles parked around me. There was a nondescript white van, a nice-looking Mustang, a plain looking sedan, and two spare motorcycles, not to mention some armored contraption that looked like it had come out of Mad Max…or the Wacky Races.
“Just like Doc said,” I mused in relief.
Normally, I’d spend weeks planning a job like this. I’d do all the research, make sure I knew the security system and building layout, as well as exactly where to find my target. However, this time, I hadn’t been able to do my own research, much to my annoyance. I hated going in unprepared. I was just lucky that Doc had been able to provide me most of what I needed, while Bob had been able to provide the rest. All it had cost me was the last favor that Bob owed me, the last piece of leverage I had on him.
“It’s worth it,” I reminded myself.
On the outside, this building looked pretty bad. It was three stories tall and made of brick, much of which looked old and crumbling. In fact, from the outside, the building looked like it was empty and on the verge of being condemned. However, on the inside, things had clearly been renovated.
According to Doc, who’d known exactly where Venture’s secret lair was, the hero owned this entire building. The top floor was his living area and personal space, which was supposedly set up a bit like a nice penthouse apartment, just really well camouflaged from the outside. The second floor was the gym and training area, while the bottom level was the garage.
I looked around, quickly spotting the freight elevator as well as the smaller personal elevator. Those two elevators, along with the garage door I’d come through, were the only ways to enter the garage. All the windows had been sealed from the inside and blocked with metal plating, which covered all the walls. There was an entrance in the front of the building, but it only went up to the penthouse and had no direct access to the other floors.
“A good way to sneak in his girlfriends,” I mused, though I had absolutely no idea if Venture had anybody or not. “Or boyfriends. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
My eyes lingered on the elevators for several seconds. It probably would have been much easier to break in if I’d simply used my usual method to go in through the top floor, where security was a little lighter, and accessed the elevator from there. However, I wanted to avoid Venture’s personal living space since that could have been seen as crossing a line and making this personal.
“Keep it professional,” I reminded myself.
My old mentor and father figure, Frank Cowan, had told me that a long time ago, and I’d taken it to heart. That advice…that motto…had served me well during my career.
I had to admit, I was a little curious about Venture and how he lived. However, I wasn’t going to go there without a good reason. And while I would have felt perfectly justified in looking at the second floor, that wasn’t why I was here. What I was interested in was in the basement…in what Doc had referred to as the Vault…with a capital V.
“Keep focused,” I quietly told myself, though I silently added, “Keep yourself distracted.”
This whole job was a conveniently timed distraction, which I really needed. Focus on the job, not on… Then with a shake of my head, I took my own advice and went to the freight elevator. There was a security lock on that thing too, a keypad that required a code to access. Easy peasy, lemon squeazy. A few seconds later, I was going down.
“Elevator go down…,” I intoned, channeling my baby Plucky.
As soon as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, I looked around the Vault and my eyes widened a little. The Vault consisted of not only the entire basement, but also the basement of the neighboring building too, which made it the size of a small warehouse.
The first thing I noticed were a pair of dice…each one about six feet across on each side. They were placed in a prominent position, almost straight across from the elevator.
“Now that would be one hell of a big board game,” I mused.
Of course, the dice weren’t the only thing I noticed, just the first. Off to one side, there seemed to be a wooly mammoth…or maybe just a statue of one. And on the other side, I noticed a giant dollar bill that was hanging from the wall like a tapestry. In fact, as I glanced around, it looked like the entire Vault was actually one big trophy room or private museum.
“Makes sense,” I said, considering what I knew about Venture.
I stepped out of the elevator and nearly into a motion sensor, though I caught myself in time. A sneaky little security trap like that would have been easy to miss and would have been rather embarrassing on my part. Fortunately, I caught it in time to avoid it.
After this, there didn’t seem to be any more security measures or traps, though I wasn’t going to take that for granted. I had to get my target and get out as quickly as I could, but I couldn’t be careless about it.
“Now, to find the precious,” I said, realizing that I had no idea where my target was located.
A large part of the Vault was broken up into aisles, though I didn’t know which one, if any, held Doc’s prize. That meant I would have to go searching, which would be time consuming and annoying. However, I’d known this would be an issue, which was why I’d hired Rebar to get me the time I needed to search.
I started off on one side, just a short distance from the wooly mammoth. After a closer look, I decided that this wasn’t just a statue, it was some kind of taxidermy work. How Venture got a stuffed mammoth, I had no idea, but there were plenty of mad scientists with ways to make one.
Near the mammoth, there were six glass cases leaned up against the wall, each of which contained a mannequin that wore a different version of Venture’s costume. Venture was a legacy hero and most of these costumes belonged to his predecessors. From what I’d heard, the current Venture was the third or fourth one.
Beyond these costumes was an area full of glass cases, each containing a variety of weapons. This didn’t look like an arsenal but more of a collection of souvenirs. Considering the age of these weapons and a few labels, it looked like these were trophies from the previous Ventures.
I quickly scanned through these cases but didn’t see what I was looking for, so I continued on my way. This was a large area to search and I didn’t have time for a leisurely stroll.
“Vroom a zoom zoom,” I exclaimed as I raced down to the next aisle.
In the next aisle, I saw more display cases which presented various artifacts and trophies from life in the business. However, what was more interesting, not to mention creepier, were the mannequins. Well, they seemed to be a cross between mannequins and statues, because they resembled real people and were dressed in colorful costumes. All these figures were done up in full costume regalia, even if only one or two pieces on each seemed to be authentic, and they were all placed on low platforms. These were display pieces as well, showing the trophies in a somewhat more personal context.
There were replicas of numerous villains, with labels on the platforms that identified the trophies as DIAMOND DUDE’S MASK, THE LEPER QUEEN’S STAFF, MACH-5’S BOOTS and THE HIGHWAYMAN’S GUN. I absently wondered if the Highwayman would want that back since he’s upgraded his weapons since then.
This whole place was starting to remind me of a wax museum, and that was a bit creepy. There were even a few replicas of heroes, such as one that looked like the Comet Queen, and which noted that this was one of her actual costumes. I wondered if it included the underwear, then chuckled at that thought. A moment later, I wondered what Carson would say about this…not that I’d ever tell her. After all, I’d prefer it if she never found out about this job.
“Damn,” I said as I glanced around the size of the Vault and considered how many items were stored here. “This guy is almost as bad as Doctor Avarice…”
I knew a lot of heroes kept some trophies of their victories, as did many villains. I myself had a few pieces, such as a painting with a magic spell on the back, a mind controlling power gem, and some great artwork that I really wanted to keep. However, what I saw here seemed more than a little excessive.
Bob and Doc had both told me that Venture was a collector, but I hadn’t realized just how extensive his collection was until now. I probably should have though, considering what I’d heard.
Venture, at least the current one, had a reputation for ‘confiscating’ weapons and power items from the villains he caught, and occasionally, even from rookie heroes. He claimed he was keeping them out of dangerous or irresponsible hands, but that didn’t explain the fact that he often kept their costumes, or parts of it. And from what I’d heard, his habit of taking trophies had only gotten worse over the years.
According to Doc, Venture was no longer satisfied with only taking trophies of his victories, but he had begun buying up memorabilia off E-bay and the black market, just to add to his collection. In fact, that was how he’d acquired the item I was after.
Fortunately, all the costumed figures made my job a lot easier. With just a brief glance, I could tell that a display was not what I was looking for, which saved a lot of time. And because of this, when I did come across what I was looking for, I knew it immediately.
“And there it is,” I announced, seeing a figure that looked just like Doc in his heyday. It even had an accurate replica of Doc’s old costume, though that wasn’t what I was looking at.
The figure was holding a golden metal rod, about sixteen inches in length. An intricately carved sphere decorated one end, and from openings in the carving, I could barely make out a glowing gemstone. This was it, Doc’s old scepter, the source of all his power, and the thing that he’d been looking for, for over a decade.
“Talk about pretentious,” I mused.
Doc had never met the current Venture, yet here Venture was, with a trophy that suggested otherwise. This whole display seemed to say that Venture and Doc had fought, and Venture had won, taking the scepter as a prize. As far as I was concerned, this was in bad taste. It was no different than buying a fake trophy, then claiming you won some sporting event you’d never even competed in.
I moved closer and carefully examined the figure, trying to determine if it had been wired for alarms. I saw no sign of security on either the figure or the scepter, which didn’t really surprise me. So far, all the security on this place had been at the entrances. It was as though Venture was so sure of his external security, that he didn’t think it was necessary to add extra security to the inside of his headquarters. Of course, I wasn’t about to take that for granted.
Once I was relatively confident in the lack of sensors or alarms, I reached into my backpack and pulled out the replacement I’d brought for the scepter. I held it up while reaching for the scepter, trying to determine how quickly I could make the switch. While I did this, I hummed the theme from Indiana Jones, just to get into the spirit. Then on the count of three, I made the switch. I was almost disappointed when no boulder started rolling towards me.
“Got the goodie,” I mused as I slipped the scepter into my backpack. “Now it’s time to go…”
However, before moving, I glanced around, thinking about just how many displays there were in the Vault…just how many trophies. How many villains had Venture stolen weapons and power items from? And more importantly, how much would they pay for their return? This was quite the opportunity, and a greedy voice in the back of my head urged me to seize it.
After half a minute of debating with myself, I let out a disappointed sigh. “No, not a good idea…”
As fun as it would be to rob Venture blind, I was here for one item and one item only. If I got too greedy, or too distracted by all the toys around me, it increased my chances of getting caught, and I certainly couldn’t have that.
With that, I took one more look at Doc’s figurine, smirking at the sight of the giant dildo it was now holding. Doc probably wouldn’t approve, but that was what made this so fun. I kind of wished I could see Venture’s face once he noticed the switch, but I had absolutely no idea how long that would be, and even less interest in sticking around.
I hurried back towards the elevator, moving as quickly as I could while still keeping an eye out for any traps or alarms. I was pretty confident though, because I had my prize, and now, all I had to do was go back the way I’d come. And then, just as I was well on my way to a clean getaway, I suddenly found myself face to face with…myself.
“What the…?” I blurted out, coming to an abrupt stop.
There, right next to me was another figure, no different than any of the other ones in the Vault, except for one major difference. This one represented ME.
I just stood there and gaped. “You’ve got to be kidding… It’s an Imp-oster…”
This figure was clearly meant to look like me, and was even wearing my costume, albeit, an older version that I hadn’t work in a couple decades. The colors and style were similar, though there were a number of differences.
One of the main differences was the fact that my older costume actually had a pair of capelets that hung halfway down the back, resembling little demon wings. They’d looked kind of cool and fit my theme, but I’d gotten rid of those things a LONG time ago. They tended to catch on things when I was sneaking through tight places, and they were easy for my enemies to grab hold of.
“No capelets,” I stated firmly. This was a rule I’d made well over twenty years ago, and I’d stuck by it since. “What in the world was I even thinking?”
What can I say, it was the eighties, a time when parachute pants and neon clothes were popular. At least it wasn’t the nineties, when for some reason, big shoulder pads and lots of needless pouches were in fashion. Big shoulder pads do NOT work with my line of work, though admittedly, some of the pouches were useful.
As interesting as it was to see my old costume design again, I was even more interested in what the figure was holding. It was holding a pitchfork. Not the kind of pitchfork that farmers use, but the kind that devils were often depicted as having. It was basically a black metal trident with a more infernal than aquatic style.
“Pitchy,” I exclaimed in surprise, realizing that unlike the replica costume, this was actually the real thing.
Early in my costumed career, I’d actually carried this weapon around, though more for theatrics and style than for practical purposes. Sure, it made a decent weapon, but it got in the way more often than not, especially when I was sneaking or trying to maneuver through tight places. So when I’d lost it during a particularly close escape, I’d never bothered getting a replacement.
“How did Venture get you?” I asked, snatching the weapon from the figure’s hands. I’d never met Venture, but then again, neither had Doc.
I swung Pitchy around, then slammed it into the center of the figure, knocking it back and off the platform. That was particularly satisfying, not because I wanted to hurt myself, but because I was offended to see that thing in the first place. Venture had set it up almost like a trophy, as though bragging that he’d somehow beaten me.
“As if,” I snorted disdainfully.
For a moment, I seriously considered going up to the top floor so I could short sheet his bed, plastic wrap his toilet bowl, and generally relieve my annoyance with a little harmless mischief. But then I thought better of it and decided to just leave. Getting Pitchy back…and taking Doc’s scepter, would have to do for now.
With that, I slammed the base of Pitchy into the floor and hit the concealed button that should have released a stream of smoke, great for distracting opponents and making theatrical escapes. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Either the smoke cartridge had been used up a long time ago, or it had just gone bad after sitting for all those years.
“Too bad,” I mused, a little disappointed since I wanted to use Pitchy again just out of nostalgia.
I was just about to check the cartridge when I heard the elevator doors opening. A moment later, I turned to see Venture stepping out of the elevator. His full helmet obscured his face so I couldn’t see his expression, but he seemed to be looking around.
For a brief moment, I silently cursed Rebar, who hadn’t kept Venture distracted nearly long enough. Then, I realized that Venture must know something was wrong. Maybe it was because I’d left the elevator on the ground level, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, he seemed alert and suspicious.
Normally, I’d immediately crouch down and turn invisible, but this time I had another idea. I simply stepped onto the platform that had previously been occupied by my figure, and froze in place, holding the exact same position the figure had.
Venture came further into the Vault, looking for the intruder. I remained motionless, though there was an itch on my nose that I REALLY wanted to scratch. Still, I couldn’t give in, especially since Venture was so close.
After a minute, Venture began walking down this Aisle. Why he’d chosen this aisle rather than any of the others, I had no idea. But when he walked right past me, I had to fight back the nearly overwhelming urge to jump out and go ‘BOO!’
Just as I thought I was in the clear, Venture abruptly stopped, then turned around to give me another look. He probably realized that I was wearing the wrong costume, because he raised his arm and launched an attack. There was a flash of light, then a net made of energy shot out at me.
I dove to the side, avoiding the net, though only barely. “Hey,” I exclaimed. “I’ll have you know that I’m a priceless collector’s item.”
“The Imp,” Venture said in surprise.
“I am the IMPostor,” I announced, turning and running for the elevator.
Venture yelled, “Lockdown.” Suddenly, the elevator doors shut and locked with a loud click. “Whomever you are, you won’t escape.”
“We’ll just see about that,” I responded.
The hero held out his arms and both of his weaponized wrist bracers activated. The first fired a blast of energy at me, and when I dove to the side to dodge it, I found myself right in the path of the energy net he’d fired with the second.
I swung Pitchy, catching the net and knocking it aside. “Well, fork you,” I called out, knowing that I’d have to find another way out.
While I ran away from Venture, I tried to think of how I could get back to the elevator and the locked door before he caught up with me. Unfortunately, that elevator was the only point of entrance for the Vault. I mean, this place didn’t even have a ventilation system big enough for me to crawl through. How much more inconsiderate can you be than that?
“I knew this job was a bad idea,” I muttered in annoyance.
There was a reason that I’d hired Rebar to lure Venture away, because I needed the extra time to get through this place. Now, in spite of my precaution, Venture was here, blocking my escape. I HATED going into a place with only one possible exit. This kind of bottleneck was always a risk, the kind I preferred to avoid. Unfortunately, this time it couldn’t be helped.
I needed to distract Venture, and I needed to do it fast. “Wow,” I exclaimed, “this place is a dump. What have you been doing, raiding villains’ garbage?”
Venture responded by throwing some kind of grenade at me. It hit the ground and exploded, sending strands of sticky goo shooting out in all directions. Several of them hit my thigh and leg, then immediately hardened so that they were like ropes, tying me to the ground where the grenade had gone off.
“Oooh, nasty,” I gasped.
I lashed out with my tail, forming a PK blade on the tip, and slicing right through these strands. Then, for good measure, I shifted my PK shell to knock the remaining pieces of strand away from where they connected to me.
“No need to feel too bad about it,” I called back. “I hear lots of guys come early…”
“Surrender now,” Venture called back, “and I’ll go easy on you.”
“You know, this is a hoarder’s paradise,” I responded, still running down an aisle and using the figures and display cases as cover. “You must have hit every flea market in three states.” Then for good measure, I added, “Hey, is that Cinder Ella’s underwear? Oooh, you nasty pervert…”
Unfortunately, Venture seemed to ignore my taunts, which was annoying since I was trying to push his buttons. If I could get him angry and off balance, then he wouldn’t be thinking as clearly and would be easier to deal with.
The hero continued coming at me, firing energy blasts, nets, and more of those sticky nets. I sliced a net with my tail, used Pitchy to knock a display case over to take the brunt of a grenade, and then leapt out of the way. I dodged one attack after another, but they kept coming.
“Fast as fast can be,” I called out mockingly, “you’ll never catch me…”
Another energy net came at me, so I reached out with my tail and yanked one of the mannequins into its path. “Sorry about your underoos, Lord Basilisk.”
It was at this point that I realized Venture was no longer just attacking me, he was actively trying to herd me… But where? I quickly glanced around, not sure exactly where he was trying to direct me, only that it would be a bad idea for me to go there. He probably had some kind of trap or cage set up, or maybe just some kind of bottleneck that would keep me in place long enough to get netted. No thank you.
I decided that it was time to cut this chase short and make my escape. With that in mind, I threw myself around a large display case, into the next aisle, and as soon as I was out of sight, I activated my chameleon field. I crouched down low, keeping Pitchy next to the floor where it would be too low to be seen. Unfortunately, Pitchy was too big for me to cover with my aura, which was one of the reasons I’d never bothered replacing it.
Venture came around the corner and immediately fired another net, directly at me, as though he didn’t even realize I was supposed to be invisible. I silently cursed and leapt out of the way. How…? His helmet… But how? Was he using thermal scanning? Sonic detection? Something else? I had no idea, and that was a problem. Obviously, he could see me while I was camouflaged, and if I knew how he was doing it, I’d be able to adjust my aura to hide. But if I didn’t know…
“Shazbot,” I exclaimed in frustration.
This hero was REALLY starting to annoy me. My vanishing trick didn’t work on him and he seemed to be ignoring my clever and witty banter. Why wasn’t he getting distracted? And more importantly, how the hell was I supposed to beat a guy who seemed immune to most of my tricks.
“Fortunately,” I reminded myself with an evil grin, “I’m surrounded by other people’s tricks…”
I snatched three grenades off a display for Trick and Treat, grinning as I did so. Those two had always been a lot of fun, and what happened to them had been a real shame. Still, I had a couple of their toys, and they were bound to be useful. A couple seconds later, all three grenades went flying at Venture.
One grenade exploded into a shower of brightly colored confetti. I knew that there was probably some effect besides that, though I certainly couldn’t tell from looking. The second grenade exploded in a thick green fog, which smelled absolutely horrible. There were students at Whateley who made nastier stink bombs than that, but this one was still pretty effective. Or at least, it would have been for someone who wasn’t wearing a helmet with a built-in filter. Venture walked straight through the confetti and the fog as though he barely even noticed them.
The third grenade actually exploded for real, sending Venture flying into one of his display cases, which shattered from the impact. However, I had no doubt that his lightweight armor had protected him from any real injury, though he was bound to be pissed. A couple seconds later, he was back on his feet and coming at me again.
I growled to myself, “Who is this guy, the Terminator?” I’d much rather be dealing with Elmer Fudd.
As much as I hated to admit it, Venture, in spite of his creepy hobby, was actually pretty good. He was staying calm and focused, coming at me methodically, and he seemed to have a plan. A plan that I was doing my best to avoid, of course.
There was a figure beside me, which was dressed in some kind of black knight armor and holding a large metal shield. The label for this figure said, “THE BLACK SHIELD’S SHIELD’. A shield was just what I needed, so I snatched it off the figure, just in time to block an energy blast.
With the shield on one arm and Pitchy in my other hand, I was starting to feel a little more confident. However, I knew better than to really believe it. After all, I was better at running and hiding than at straight-out combat, and that happened to be what Venture specialized in.
Venture suddenly shot up into the air, using a pair of rocket boots, where he went up and over me. He came down right on my other side, and I snapped around just in time to block one of his punches with the shield. But a second later, he lashed out and tore the shield right out of my hand, then casually tossed it aside.
He threw a punch at me but I dropped down, exclaiming, “DUCK season!”
Unfortunately, Venture must have lost his script because he failed to respond with ‘wabbit season’. Instead, he quickly reached out with his other hand and managed to grab hold of my shoulder. I shifted my aura so that it became frictionless, then I slipped right out of his grip and retaliated by kneeing him in the crotch. He was wearing protection, and not the thin rubber kind.
Since nothing else was working, it looked like I’d have to play dirty. I didn’t like doing this, but Venture wasn’t giving me much choice. So with that, I focused my aura and formed my PK claws. These would go through his armor without much problem.
Before I could do anything, Venture used his jet boots again to launch him up and back away from me. At the same time, he threw out his arms and fired a burst of darts from his wrist bracers, at least a dozen of them. I leapt back as well, shifting power in my aura from my blades to my front side, trying to protect myself from the darts. It worked as about half the darts hit me, but not one got through.
If Venture was surprised that I’d shrugged off his darts, he didn’t show it. Then again, with that helmet on, I couldn’t see any of his expressions. For all I knew, he was sticking his tongue out at me and making funny faces. That’s what I would have done if I had a full helmet like that.
“So, you want to throw things,” I said, deciding to return the favor. A moment later, I threw one of my spikes at him, one augmented with a little ‘oomph’ from my aura.
Venture leapt to the side, but my spike still grazed his arm, tearing a nice little gouge through his armored costume, though not doing any serious damage. I followed that up with a second spike, which hit one of his bracer weapons. I didn’t know if I’d damaged the thing, but I certainly hoped so.
I turned and ran, desperately looking at all the trophies and displays in the hope of finding something I could use. Tech Head’s drones. Destroya’s power bands. Deathmonger’s staff. Steelskin’s arm… I did a double take at that. Steelskin might be a cyborg, but to take his arm as a trophy was just wrong.
Then I saw it, a high-tech devisor weapon that would take two hands to properly wield. Beneath it was the label ‘KID CHAOS’ DISRUPTOR CANNON’.
I’d run into Kid Chaos once, and it hadn’t been a very pleasant for either of us. He’d been an avowed anarchist, with absolutely zero respect for the rules of professionalism. In fact, he’d been a total heel, the kind that professional villains refused to work with. And when I’d heard that some hero had killed him, I’d actually gone out to celebrate.
However, even though I couldn’t stand Kid Chaos on either a personal or professional level, I had seen how his gear worked, and I had a good idea of how to use it. So, with an evil chuckle, I snatched up the disruptor cannon and hoped that it still worked better than Pitchy did.
“Gee, I wonder what this does,” I said in an innocent tone as I took aim.
“DON’T FIRE THAT,” Venture yelled, leaping to the side and avoiding the beam of energy.
Fortunately for Venture, I hadn’t actually been aiming at him. Instead, I’d been aiming at the elevator. The disruptor cannon’s blast hit the elevator, and in the next couple seconds, the armored door crumbled and disintegrated, as did the elevator itself.
“Bada bing, bada BOOM,” I exclaimed, dropping the weapon and running straight for what was left of the elevator, as fast as I could. Right before diving into the wreckage, I called out, “See ya later, Wally Gator.”
The elevator was gone, but the shaft was still present, and I climbed up it as quickly as I could move. I saw the door to the garage level, sealed and locked shut, the same way the other door had been. Ignoring that door, I scrambled up another floor, then paused at the next set of doors. Then, I formed my PK claws and began to cut. It didn’t take long for me to get through.
I heard noise from the elevator shaft below me and realized that Venture was following. Fortunately, he couldn’t climb nearly as well as I could, which was going to slow him down. Hopefully, it would slow him down enough for me to finish my escape.
“Now, where to go?” I mused, taking a quick look around the second floor.
As I’d been told, the second floor had been set up as a training facility, with a gym, an empty area for sparring, and even a small shooting range. However, I wasn’t interested in any of that. The only thing I was interested in was the way out.
I ran straight for the wall, which was lined with metal plates. All of the windows had been sealed with these plates, which would definitely help to keep intruders from getting in…or from getting out. For a moment, I really wished that I hadn’t left the disruptor cannon behind, then I went to work with my PK claws, just like I had on the door. I had just finished cutting a hole through the metal plate and the window behind it, when Venture finally emerged from the elevator shaft.
“Too late,” I said with a grin, flicking my tail back and forth. I took one more look back at the hero and announced, “Th…th..that’s all folks,” before diving through the opening and taking my leave.
Once I’d escaped Venture’s hideout, I suddenly had a lot more options. There were numerous directions I could go and countless routes I could take, several of which had been set up and prepared ahead of time. From this point, my escape was nearly a foregone conclusion.
A few minutes later, I was in an empty room in a nearby building, a room that I’d identified earlier just for such a purpose. I let out a sigh of relief, sure that I’d lost Venture. He’d have a hard time finding me here, even if he knew which building I’d gone into.
“That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” I said with a shake of my head. Of course, this job hadn’t gone as badly as I’d feared either.
Still, I’d encountered Venture, which was something that I’d hoped to avoid entirely. He didn’t strike me as the kind of hero who’d just let this go, especially not after I’d recovered a couple of his trophies and had made such a mess of his headquarters. And while I didn’t think that he’d be hooking up with the Imp Revenge Squad, I strongly suspected that this wasn’t over. Sooner or later, I’d have to deal with Venture again.
“At least I have you back,” I said, looking at Pitchy.
It wasn’t like I was going to start carrying this thing around again, especially after going so long without it. However, it was nice to have Pitchy back, just for the memories, if nothing else. In the end, it would probably end up hanging on my wall.
With that, I pushed a hidden button and twisted Pitchy’s shaft in just the right spot, releasing the hidden catch. A moment later, the shaft snapped loose and began to fold in several places. Pitchy was now in four equal length sections, and it folded up until it was now only a quarter of its overall length, making it smaller and more manageable.
Back in the old days, I used to wear a holster for Pitchy on my back, hidden beneath the capelets. That kept the compacted weapon close to my body, where I could easily cover it with my aura. However, since I no longer had such a harness, I simply stuck Pitchy into my backpack instead.
“And now for you,” I said, holding up the scepter that I’d just stolen. Once I gave this to Doc, my debt would finally be repaid.
I carefully placed the scepter back into my backpack, right beside Pitchy. Then I grabbed the oversized coat and wide-brimmed hat that I’d previously stashed in the room, got ready to go out in public. After all, I had another plane to go catch.
--------------------
Upstate NY, Sunday morning, Dec 2nd, 2007
I stood at the doorstep of Doc’s house, calmly waiting for Lurch to open the door. At the same time, I kind of hoped that this time I’d get Cousin It, Fester, or maybe Morticia…
“Naw,” I chuckled to myself. “She’s back at Whateley.” Still, the next time I came, I’d have to bring Grimes, just to help with the ambience.
A few seconds later, the door opened and Lurch stood there, looking tired. Of course, this was pretty early in the morning, and considering how long it took for anyone to answer the doorbell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d had to get out of bed first.
“Can Doc come out and play?” I asked in a childish tone.
Lurch gave me a flat look at first, though something that looked like hope suddenly crossed over his face. “Did you get it?”
I didn’t answer Lurch since Doc was the one I was working for, not his butler. However, Lurch nodded, then gestured for me to come inside, suddenly seeming a little livelier than before.
This time, instead of taking me to the den, like the last time I’d been here, Lurch brought me to what looked like a formal living room. The furniture still looked antique, but it was a lot less cluttered and a lot less personal…or comfortable.
“Please wait here,” Lurch told me. “I’ll go get him.”
As soon as Lurch was gone, I began to slowly walk around the room, looking at the artwork on the walls. There were several paintings, and one of them caught my attention because it was so well done. I didn’t recognize the artist, but there was no doubt that they were talented.
“Do you like it?” a voice asked from behind me.
I turned to see Doc at the doorway, sitting in a motorized wheelchair. As bad as he’d looked the last time I saw him, he seemed even worse now, somehow. Still, he tried sitting up straight as he stared at me, even though it was obviously taking a lot of effort.
“It’s beautiful,” I admitted. “If I wasn’t retired, I’d seriously consider stealing it.”
Doc blinked at that. “Retired?”
“I retired from my old career last summer,” I said with a shrug. “The only reason I took this job was because you called in the favor.”
Doc scowled as he responded, “I find that hard to believe, Imp.”
I shrugged again in response. “Then you’ll find it even harder to believe that I’m now working as a high school art teacher.” From his expression, he did doubt that, so I couldn’t resist pushing things a little more. “And that I’m working for Lady Astarte now.”
For a moment, Doc just stared at me with an unreadable expression, and I expected him to call me on what he probably assumed were a couple of tall tales. However, instead of that, he looked up at the painting, smiling just slightly as he did so.
“My wife painted that,” Doc finally said in a rough voice. “Before her passing…”
“She was very talented,” I told him with a nod of my head. Doc had been single for as long as I’ve known him, so his wife must have died a long time ago.
“She was,” he agreed. His tone was even, but there was no mistaking the grief. A moment later, he abruptly asked, “Did you get it?”
For my answer, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the scepter. Doc’s eyes seemed to light up at the sight of it while a faint smile formed on his lips.
“After all this time,” he whispered hoarsely.
I gently handed the scepter to Doc, who snatched it up, though the item seemed too heavy for him to properly lift. However, that didn’t seem to bother him much. He just stared at the scepter as though it was a long lost loved one.
“What now?” I asked Doc curiously. “Are you going to fix yourself up and come out of retirement?”
Doc tore his eyes from the scepter and fixed them on me. “It’s too late for that,” he answered, his voice noticeably weaker than it had been a few minutes earlier. He was exhausting himself, just talking to me. “I’m dying and have very little time left. Its too late for even this to save me…” His eyes went back to the scepter.
I just stared at Doc, not sure of what to say to that. I shouldn’t have been surprised by that announcement since he looked like he was on the verge of death, but I was anyway. I’d assumed that this was why he’d wanted to the scepter back so badly, that he would have used it to save himself.
“Then,” I started slowly, “what are you going to do with it? Why send me after the thing if it couldn’t help you?”
There was a long paused and I was beginning to fear that Doc hadn’t heard me. Then he finally said, “You’ve met my grandson, James.”
He looked towards the door and I was startled to realize that he meant Lurch. Lurch was his grandson?
“James’ daughter,” Doc continued, choking a little, “My granddaughter Sarah, has a degenerative disease that is slowly killing her… I’m old and have lived a long life. My deterioration is…painful…but Sarah’s is a true tragedy.” The scepter was sitting in his lap and he put a trembling hand on top of it. “If she bonds to my scepter…it will not only halt the progression of her disease…but reverse it.”
“Is there…is there anything I can do to help?” I gently asked Doc.
“You’ve already done it,” he assured me with a weak smile. “You’ve just fulfilled a dying man’s last wish, and have ensured that Sarah has a chance at a long and healthy life…”
Doc looked like he was about to say something more, but then he began coughing in a loud and gasping fit. Lurch…James came running into the room to check on him while I stepped back, feeling depressed at the sight. Doc was dying and it didn’t seem possible.
Once the coughing fit had passed, Doc was left even more drained. I was pretty sure that he was completely out of it, but he looked up at me one final time and gasped, “Thank you, Imp…”
“You’re welcome Doc,” I told him. Then I forced a smile and said, “And thank you, Doctor Miracle,” before I turned and left, knowing that this was the last time I would ever see one of the few superheroes I’d ever truly respected.
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Rochester NY, Sunday afternoon, Dec 2nd, 2007
I stood on the front porch with a knot in my stomach and my finger on the doorbell. My hand actually trembled a little as I pressed it.
‘RUN,’ nearly every instinct screamed. ‘HIDE’.
I shouldn’t be here. I should have come a long time ago. I should run. I needed to stay. This was something that I shouldn’t be doing, yet, it was something that I needed to do.
My eyes closed and my heart raced, threatening to jump up into my throat. It was strange that I’d feel far more nervous about ringing a doorbell than I did about pulling a heist. Compared to this, dealing with Venture had been child’s play.
This morning, talking with Doc had been something of an eye-opening experience. He’d reminded me of my own mortality, and the simple fact that tomorrow was never guaranteed. There was something I needed to do, someone I needed to talk to, and I had to do it while I still had the opportunity.
When the door opened, a woman stood there, staring at me with a look of surprise. She was middle-aged, blonde, and still in good shape for her age.
“Hello?” she asked a little awkwardly.
“Hello,” I responded nervously, removing my hat so that she had a clear look at me without any disguises. “I’m here to talk to you about Aeg…Chris. I’m…”
“I know who you are,” she blurted out in surprise.
I blinked at that. “You do?”
“You’re Ms. Imp,” she responded with a cautious smile. “Chris told me all about you…”
“He did?” I asked with a wry smile. “Then I imagine it wasn’t anything good.”
“Well,” she said carefully, “Chris said that you used to be some kind of cat burglar…”
I gasped in mock offense. “I am not a cat burglar. I’ve never stolen a cat before in my life.”
She chuckled at that and gave me a look of amusement. “Chris also said that you taught him more than any other teacher at that school…and that the things you taught him saved his life.”
That surprised me a bit because I hadn’t imagined that Aegis…that Chris would admit that to anyone, especially while also talking about my previous career. After all, when I first started to tutor him in his powers, he’d been pretty unhappy about being taught by a supervillain.
“I’m Susan Matthews,” she said, giving me an honest smile. “Do you want to come in and talk?”
“I think that would be a little easier than talking out here,” I said in agreement.
Not to mention, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for the neighbors to see me there. A lot of people tended to overreact at the sight of me, and I didn’t want to cause any problems for Susan and her family because of that.
As we went inside, Susan asked, “Would you like some coffee?”
“Sure,” I responded, wondering if it would be too much to ask for something a little stronger, like maybe, some of Shine’s best.
A short time later, we were sitting down in the living room, sipping from cups of coffee. It was a little awkward, but Susan was being very polite. She’d barely even blinked at my imp-ossibly good looks.
“So,” I finally said. “Tell me about Chris.”
Susan seemed just a little startled at that, perhaps wondering why her son’s teacher had come to visit her, only to ask about him. However, if Susan was confused by this, she didn’t really show it.
“Chris is a good boy,” she started, looking rather proud. “A little…stubborn at times…”
“That’s an understatement,” I muttered in agreement, earning a curious look. “But it can be a useful trait,” I added a few seconds later, “as long as you can keep him focused on something positive.”
“Exactly,” Susan said, nodding her own agreement. “You wouldn’t believe how long he spent practicing with his sports… He never let any setback stop him for long. He was so determined to become a professional athlete…” Her expression saddened a little. “When he manifested and realized that he could never compete professionally, he was heartbroken…”
“He seems to have found a new goal,” I pointed out wryly.
Susan chuckled at that. “Yes. Now, he wants to be a superhero…”
“He has…potential,” I assured Susan, chuckling myself. “At first, his stubbornness was getting in his way, but now, he’s making progress.”
Susan gave me a thoughtful look. “From what Chris said, he owes that all to you…”
I shrugged at that. “He’s an interesting student…and determined. All I had to do was point him in the right direction and let his own stubbornness keep him going.”
My host smiled, looking rather proud of her son. I didn’t blame her. When I’d first met Chris, he’d been a bit of an idiot, on the path to become another Barney or Jack Ass. I was happy to get him off that path, and onto one where he might become a real hero one day.
“Chris is a blessing,” Susan said quietly. She gave me a faint smile and continued, “I don’t know if you know this, but we adopted him…”
“I’d heard that,” I responded quietly.
Susan nodded as she continued with a sad tone. “My first husband…Greg… Greg and I tried having children, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, so we adopted…”
She took a long sip from her coffee, and as I watched, I could see the memories clouding her eyes. I wasn’t even sure how much she was really aware of my presence anymore.
“Greg passed away when Chris was just a toddler,” she said, the ache in her voice clear. She still grieved for Greg. “Alan, my current husband, came along a couple years later, and he accepted Chris as his own. Alan is the only father that Chris has ever really known…”
“Where is Alan now?” I asked curiously.
“He’s at work,” Susan replied. “He should be home in a couple hours…”
“It’s a shame I’m missing him,” I lied.
I was actually quite thankful that he wasn’t home since he wasn’t the one I wanted to deal with. In fact, his presence could have made this even harder, if not impossible.
Susan nodded politely, though I didn’t think she actually believed me. Instead, her eyes were still clouded with memories, enough that she easily slipped back into her previous line of thought.
“When Chris came into our lives,” Susan said with a smile, “Greg and I were ecstatic. We were delighted to have a child of our own.” Then she chuckled and shook her head sadly before adding, “I actually named Chris after an old friend of mine…my best friend growing up.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Of course,” Susan said with a chuckle. “I couldn’t just call him Candice. She hated that name anyway… But her middle name was Christine, and she’d always preferred that one. So, I named Chris after her…”
“His first name is Christine?” I weakly joked, which was hard since my heart felt like it was jumping up into my throat and it was hard to speak. Tears were even threatening to form, though I held them back.
“Christopher,” Susan corrected with a look of amusement. “I had to make some adjustment.”
“Of course,” I agreed with a weak smile, still choking up. “That must have been quite some friend to name your son after her…”
“She was,” Susan assured me. “Candice was…unique. She was crazy…but a lot of fun.” Then her expression turned sad again. “Unfortunately, when we were around Chris’ age, she got sick and passed away…”
“That’s…horrible,” I said, my voice shaking. I was no longer sure I could trust myself to speak. Susan didn’t seem to notice.
Susan let out a sigh, then she began to smile, even if it was a sad one. “Candice always found the most interesting ways to get into trouble…and she always took me along for the ride. I remember one time, when we were about twelve, Candice and I skipped school and snuck out to go see Ms. Might, who was doing some kind of publicity event at the mall. Candice actually yelled that there was a superhero fight outside, and when everyone else ran off to go see…she walked right up to Ms. Might and asked for an autograph. The look on that hero’s face was priceless…”
“I imagine,” I responded with a grin and a swish of my tail. It was an expression I’d never forgotten.
“And then there was this one time,” Susan continued with a chuckle, “where Candice greased the hallway in our school, then pulled the fire alarm.” She was laughing and snorting at this point, but managed to continue, “Everyone ran out into the hallway, then started slipping and sliding… Mrs. Holbert slid right down the middle and…”
Susan was now laughing too hard to continue, so I couldn’t resist taking over. “And old Hold Fart slid right into a group of teachers and knocked them all over like they were a bunch of bowling pins.”
I was laughing right along with her as I remembered the incident. I’d been grounded for two whole months, but it had been totally worth it.
“How did you know that?” Susan blurted out, staring at me in surprise. “And Hold Fart…? The only one who called Hobart that was…”
With a nervous smile, I said, “Heya, Suzie Q. It’s been a long time.”
Susan’s eyes shot wide. “What?” She stared at me in confusion and stunned disbelief. “Nobody has called me Suzie Q since Candice… Who are you?”
“I am Candice,” I assured her, giving a nervous smile. “But I don’t really use that name anymore…”
“You can’t be,” Susan exclaimed, looking more than a little shaken. “Candice is dead…”
“Not dead,” I responded, gesturing to my horns and the fine black scales that covered most of the upper part of my face. “I came down with a bad case of GSD, and my parents were too ashamed to let anyone know…so they told everyone I died instead.”
I gestured for Susan to sit back down since she’d jumped to her feet during the excitement. I felt guilty for coming back into her life like this…and for leaving it the way I did in the first place.
“Danny Boy called me a hideous monster,” I said in a quiet voice. “My parents practically locked me in the basement for six months. Eventually, I ran away…”
“Candice?” Susan asked me after a few seconds. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah,” I replied with a sigh. “But I really prefer Christine.”
“Holy shit,” Susan gasped, still staring at me. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were dead…”
I stared down at my hands, unable to meet her eyes. “I…I was ashamed of how I looked,” I quietly admitted. “And after the way my family treated me, I was afraid of how you’d react. I was afraid that you’d turn on me too…”
“I wouldn’t have,” Susan insisted, giving me a look as though silently pleading with me to believe her. “I never would have treated you like that…”
That brought a smile back to my lips. “I know that now,” I said. “Back then…” I shook my head.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
At first, I didn’t answer. I just sat there for half a minute, maybe even longer. I wasn’t used to giving out my life story, even to someone who’d been such a key part of the first third. Then I let out a sigh.
“After running away,” I began to explain, “I ended up on the streets, dodging cops and superheroes who thought I was some kind of monster that had to be stopped.” Susan gave me a look of pity, though I tried to ignore it. “Eventually, I was taken in by a gang of thieves who gave me a new home and a career.”
“You really are a cat burglar,” she said, sounding surprised. As if Chris hadn’t already told her that.
“Art thief,” I corrected. “Forger. And of course, supervillain.” Then, I gave her a wry smile and a shrug. “All former. Now, I’m just a teacher.”
There was an uncomfortable silence after that, so after a couple seconds, I admitted, “I went back.”
“What?” Susan asked, still a bit shaken from these revelations.
“After a couple years,” I quietly told her, “I went back to see you. But when I got there…I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain…so I didn’t. And the longer I waited, the harder it seemed.”
“Candice,” Susan started. “Christine…”
“I kept track of you,” I admitted, no longer looking at Susan. “Of your life. You might not have seen me…but I was watching. “When you married Greg, I was happy for you. I even got you a wedding present.”
“The toaster,” Susan blurted out. “It played pop goes the weasel whenever it popped the toast…and absolutely nobody would admit to giving it to us. But…I’d always imagined that it was Candice’s ghost…your ghost.”
I nodded acknowledgement, then took a deep breath and forced myself to continue. “I saw when you and Greg tried adopting…and when they turned you down. I thought it was a tragedy because I knew you’d make great parents. But at the same time, I thought it must be fate.”
“Fate?” Susan asked.
“Fate,” I repeated, though my voice cracked. “You desperately wanted a child but couldn’t have one, and I…” My heart leapt up into my throat and tears welled up in my eyes. “I had one that I couldn’t take care of.”
“Couldn’t…,” Susan gasped, her eyes going wide in understanding. “You’re his birth mother…”
“Yes,” I whispered, the tears now running free.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at Susan. This was my greatest secret, the one I hadn’t shared with anyone. To finally reveal it now, after all this time, was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, yet once I began, I couldn’t stop.
“It was a very hard time for me,” I explained quietly. “I was a professional thief…a supervillain with lots of enemies. I even had a price on my head…and a series of hitmen coming after me to collect.”
“My God,” Susan gasped, looking a bit nauseous.
“But in spite of that,” I admitted, giving a pained smile, “I planned to retire. I was going to find a nice safe place to raise my baby…for us to be a family. I had a dream for our future…a hope…” Then I paused and shook my head, bitterly adding, “I should have known better…”
Susan visibly gulped. “What…? What happened?”
“A superhero happened,” I answered, spitting out the word ‘superhero’. “I was still pregnant at the time and had started my…maternal leave. I was minding my own business, not causing any trouble when…I was attacked. He beat me nearly to death, then tried to finish the job.” I snarled as the old rage bubbled to the surface. “It was a miracle that I…that we survived.”
Susan gasped, putting a hand over her mouth and staring at me with a look of horror. I could see the concern in her eyes, along with the tears which matched the ones in mine.
“I realized that I’d been fooling myself,” I said, my voice shaking. “I couldn’t just retire and disappear… The world wouldn’t let me. And even worse, I realized that no child of mine had a chance… Even if my enemies didn’t get him, what kind of life could I possibly have offered? What kind of life could I have given him? One where we were always running and hiding? One where we couldn’t go out in public together? Where he couldn’t go to school or have any real friends?”
I paused at that to wipe the tears from my eyes, though they were quickly replaced. Then, I looked up and met Susan’s eyes, willing her to understand.
“So, I did the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” I told her. “I gave him up. I gave him to someone I trusted, who would raise him as her own, who would give him a loving home, and a normal life. I gave him to someone who could give him everything I couldn’t.”
“Candice,” Susan whispered. “Christine…”
I just closed my eyes and muttered, “I hate that bastard…that so-called hero… In the end, he might not have killed my baby, but he still made me lose my child anyway. He took my hopes…my dreams for the future. He broke my heart and then had the arrogance to act like he was the good guy…”
After a few seconds of just seething in the old grudge, I shook my head and let it fade. I had to remind myself that my baby still lived… That I might not have raised my son, but he was alive, healthy, and happy. In the end, Barney had failed.
“I arranged the adoption,” I continued. “I only saw him once…immediately after he was born, before I gave him up…” The tears were coming again. “And after I did this, after I gave him to you… I couldn’t bare the pain of seeing what I’d given up, so I stopped watching over you. I didn’t know about Greg’s passing or about your marriage to Alan…”
Susan stared at me for several long seconds, and I could still see the sympathy and understanding in her eyes. “Thank you for that gift,” she finally told me, her voice shaking a bit as well. “I imagine it must have been hard then, when Chris arrived at Whateley…”
“No,” I responded with a weak chuckle and a shake of my head. “I had absolutely no idea… I mean, if he’d been using Greg’s last name, Peyton, I probably would have caught on. But Matthews? That name didn’t mean anything to me. I only found out the other day…and purely by accident.”
“Does Chris know?” Susan asked, looking perhaps a little worried.
“No,” I answered, reaching into my pocket and pulling out that funky magic necklace. It was dead at the moment, or at least, not moving. Once I got back within range of Chris though, it would probably come back to life and point at him. “I don’t think he does. I suspect that he was close to finding out but…lost the opportunity.”
Susan let out a sigh and then rubbed at her temples. “What is he going to say when we tell him?”
“No,” I responded sharply, making Susan jump a little. “He can’t know…”
“What?” Susan asked in surprise. “But you’re his mother…”
“I can’t be his mother,” I answered quietly, feeling an ache through my heart. “He already has a mother, and it isn’t me…”
“But Candice,” Susan started to protest. “Christine…”
“I…I gave that up,” I told her. “I’ve regretted the need to do it every single day since…but its too late to take back.” Then I took a deep breath and continued, “Besides, there are some things he’d be happier not knowing…”
Chris wanted to become a superhero, so I could only imagine how horrified he’d be to discover that I was his mother. To find out that he qualified for membership in the Bad Seeds. That knowledge could break him, or at least, drive him away from his chosen path.
There was another reason as well, one a little more selfish. The baby I’d given up and had never expected to see again, was in my life, and I could see him…interact with him on a regular basis. It might not be much, but it was more than I’d allowed myself to hope for in many years.
One of the reasons I’d been so successful as a thief was that I knew not to get too greedy. If you tried to take more than you could carry, or more than you could get away with, you’d lose everything. I refused to risk what I had now by getting too greedy.
Susan gave me a serious look. “Chris deserves to know.”
“Maybe,” I reluctantly agreed. “Probably.” I shook my head and let out a sigh. “But not now. He’s already having a hard time and this would only make it a lot worse for him. Trust me, this isn’t the kind of thing he’d be happy knowing.”
Susan scowled but didn’t argue. “Then what are you going to do?”
I considered this for a few seconds before answering, “I’m going to keep being his teacher. I’m going to be the best damn teacher he’s ever had.” With that, I sat up straighter, having decided on my course of action. “I’m going to do the best thing I can for him…and help him become the best hero he can be.”
Even as I said this, my heart ached. To be so close yet so far, and all because of my own choices. Still, it was the best decision I could make, for Chris and myself.
Susan didn’t say a word at this, though I could see the tears in her eyes. She came over and gave me a comforting hug while my own tears flowed freely once again.
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The Village, Sunday evening, Dec 2nd, 2007
It had been a long and emotionally exhausting weekend, so I was glad to be home, or at least, back at my second home at Whateley. I was looking forward to climbing into bed, though I suspected that I wouldn’t be able to get much sleep. As tired as I was, my mind was still racing far too much.
When I reached the door to my apartment, I was surprised to see a familiar figure standing there. “Ryan,” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
My boyfriend smiled at me, though his expression was a little tight and worried. “I felt bad about missing your show the other night,” he answered, “and was originally going to come visit today to try making up for that…”
“I’m glad to see you,” I said, unlocking the door to my apartment. “But isn’t it a little late to show up?” Then I paused, mentally going over what he’d said. “You said originally…”
Ryan nodded. “We need to talk.” Then he paused before adding, “Or in your language, Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do.”
I snickered a little at that since he actually was speaking my language. That also told me exactly what this was about, which made me a little nervous since I’d been hoping he’d never find out.
“What do you mean?” I asked in my best innocent voice. It didn’t work.
“This morning,” Ryan said in a grim tone, “Venture contacted me…asking about you.”
“What did you tell him?” I asked, going into my apartment and gesturing for Ryan to come inside.
I didn’t bother to ask why Venture had contacted him. Chickenhawk was the hero that I’d run into the most often over the last decade, so it made sense that if any other heroes had questions about me, that they’d ask him.
Without saying another word, I activated a small anti-eavesdropping devise that I kept handy for when I wanted to keep my conversations private. This definitely counted.
“I told him that you were supposed to be retired,” Ryan answered. “And that I had absolutely no idea why you’d be stealing from him.”
“Stealing from HIM?” I asked with a snort. “That guy has a whole warehouse full of stolen goods, including something that belonged to me. He’s almost as big a thief as I am.”
“Christine,” Ryan said, but I continued.
“For once,” I stated, grabbing a couple wine glasses and reaching for a bottle of wine, “I was actually recovering stolen property and returning it to the rightful owner…”
Ryan let out a sigh, then asked, “What’s going on?”
I stared at Ryan for a moment, pleased to note that he wasn’t coming at me with accusations like he would have done in the old days. He’d grown past that kind of thing, which made him a much better hero than he used to be. Instead, he was calmly trying to find out what was going on, so he deserved an honest answer.
“Last week,” I began carefully, “an old associate contacted me and called in a favor.” I gave Ryan a serious look and tried to explain. “This was a serious favor…a solid. The kind of favor that you can’t turn down.”
“Okay,” Ryan said cautiously. “I assume that this associate asked you to steal something from Venture…”
“Recover,” I corrected. “Doc wanted me to recover something that had been stolen from him.”
“Doc?” Ryan asked, giving me a look that seemed equal parts curiosity and worry. “Doctor who? Diabolik? Avarice? Macabre?” Then he smiled just faintly and added, “Evil?”
I liked the movie reference, but for once, I didn’t take the opening for a joke of my own. Instead, I quietly answered, “Miracle.”
“Miracle?” Ryan repeated with a look of surprise. “As in Doctor Miracle? The hero?”
“Yeah,” I nodded with a sigh.
Ryan’s eyes widened at that. “Doctor Miracle was MY hero growing up… He was the one who inspired me to become a hero…”
This was the first time Ryan had told me that, but I wasn’t surprised. Doctor Miracle had inspired a lot of people, and there was a good reason that he was one of the few heroes I’d ever respected.
Doctor Miracle had been one of the first costumed heroes, and he’d been active since the late thirties or early forties. But unlike a lot of so-called heroes, he didn’t really chase after criminals. In fact, he’d once told me that he was a doctor, not a cop, and that his job was to save lives…not punish bad guys. Sure, he fought his share of villains, but that had always been secondary to protecting civilians and saving lives.
“Doctor Miracle disappeared eleven years ago,” Ryan continued, still looking a bit surprised. “I thought he was dead…”
“Not dead,” I told him, silently adding the ‘yet’. “Just forcibly retired.” I paused for a moment, scowling as I did so. “One of his enemies took him down…and left him broken and crippled…” Ryan gasped at that while I took a sip from my wine glass. “And they took his scepter…the source of all his power. With it, he could have healed himself without much problem, but without it…”
I paused again, thinking about what Doc looked like now and shuddering. Doc didn’t deserve to go out like this, and I hated to see him like that. The truth was, if he’d simply asked for my help, I probably would have given it without his even calling in my marker.
“Doc’s scepter halted his aging process,” I explained grimly. “Without it…he quickly aged to his true age.”
Ryan gulped at that. “But he’s been active since…”
I nodded at that. “He’s been trying to find his scepter ever since, and only recently learned that Venture had it. Apparently, Venture bought it on the black market for his collection. When Doc contacted him, asking for it back…even offering to pay a LOT…Venture refused.”
“So, he called you,” Ryan said in understanding. He hesitated a moment, then admitted, “In that position, I’d probably call you too. I can’t think of anyone better for that.”
“Thank you,” I responded with a faint smile at the compliment.
Ryan had a thoughtful look for a moment, then he gave me a hopeful look. “Since you succeeded on this job…does that mean Doctor Miracle will be coming out of retirement?”
“No,” I answered with a sad shake of my head. “He… His scepter can halt the aging process…but it can’t reverse it.” Then I let out a sigh before explaining. “He didn’t want the scepter back for himself. He wanted it to save someone else.”
“That seems appropriate,” he grudgingly admitted. Then he stared at me for several seconds again. “There’s one thing I don’t understand?”
“Only one?” I asked with a grin. “Then please, explain string theory to me, because I just don’t get it…”
“Smartass,” Ryan said with a chuckle.
“Always,” I agreed.
“What I don’t understand,” Ryan told me, “is how you ended up owing that kind of favor to Doctor Miracle.”
If there had ever been a good time for misdirection, it was now. However, I didn’t do that…at least not much.
“He once pulled me out of a river,” I answered honestly. “He saved my life…” My hand went to my stomach, almost of its own will. “And something even more important.”
Doc had never asked for payment, nor had he expected any. He’d saved me, a known supervillain, simply because he thought it was the right thing to do. I’d been so grateful and impressed, that I’d actually offered him the favor entirely on my own.
Ryan nodded in understanding, though he clearly didn’t really understand and I wasn’t about to explain it to him at the moment. This was something I needed to tell him about…and Carson too…but not today. I couldn’t bring myself to go through that twice in one day.
I took a sip of wine, though my hands were starting to shake a little. A couple seconds later, I set the wine down and grabbed Ryan in a hug, catching him a little by surprise. He hugged me back, clearly not knowing what brought this on, but sensing that I needed the comfort. Only then did I allow the tears to come again, though only one or two.
My past had come back with a vengeance, and all my greatest secrets had been revealed. This had been painful and difficult to face, but now that it was done, at least for Susan, there was a strange sense of relief. It was as though a bit of weight had been removed from my heart.
Now, I had to face the future that these revelations had opened for me. After thirty years, Suzie Q, my old best friend, was back in my life, and we were able to bond over the child we shared. Even more importantly, Chris had somehow returned to my life as well.
My child wouldn’t know what I was to him, but that wasn’t going to stop me from doing everything I could to help him achieve his dreams. I was going to help him… No, I was going to help THEM…the son of my blood and the daughter of my heart.
THE END