Difference between revisions of "Not the Hero"

Inspired from the short story At the Seams by D. Heikes

(Edited with permission)

“You’ve been hitting the bottle pretty hard, Brian,” Thauma Guard said, sitting on the bench next to her companion. The heat from the sun in early June filled the air, the park bench on which they two sat nearly hot to the touch. Thauma had mentored Brian from his beginning a little over three years ago, teaching him to use the magic he had learned and inherited. Starting out a quick riser, with a wealth of potential, he had slid from grace on several occasions, losing himself in drinking.

Time had gone by, and Brian Sutter had gained notoriety in his media work, often getting behind the scenes photos of crime scenes and members of Paragon City’s Hero Corps. Sutter was most known for his many pictures of members of the Onami Strike Force, with whom he was secretly a member known as News Flash.

The past years had seen less and less activity organized by the Onami, yet they still acted in groups, mostly made up of tightly knit friends. Brian was known by most of the group to slip past police lines using his Hero Corps identification to gain scoops for the Tattler.

It was after any larger gathering of the Onami that Sutter often fell off the bandwagon, going on a few days worth of drinking binges. During these gatherings, the air always seemed thick with unspoken feelings, as though the members of the super group had things they felt or needed to say, but lacked the words.

If any had paid attention to other details, they would have noticed that early to mid-May often saw Brian in the bottle over his head.

It was just after one o’clock, and Brian looked as though he could still feel the throbbing in his head to which he had awakened. Not having shaved that morning, his scruffy appearance reflected in the wrinkled brown suit and unlit, but well chewed, cigar in his mouth. He turned his red-rimmed eyes skyward, and rubbed his fingers through the day’s worth of beard.

“I…,” he stopped speaking. Looking at his former mentor next to him, his eyes reddened further, barely contained tears threatening to spill out.

“We all miss him,” Thauma said. She closed her eyes and forced a barrier around her feelings, the rush that threatened to pour out of her mirroring his emotions.

“It’s been three years since he died,” Sutter said. “I can’t get it out of my head.”

Thauma, who stood well over six feet tall and towered over most people, leaned over and hugged her friend, teammate, and former pupil. “Aaron would not have wanted you to drink your life away.” Brian sat stiffly, almost as though afraid to move, and nodded slightly.

“It’s hard, every time we get together as a group,” he said. “I see him in every one of us.” Thauma nodded. “I know. So do I. I see him in the apartment we shared, in the symbol we wear. I’ve tried to find strength in everything he gave us, but all I seem to find is how lonely I am. I have so many friends, but I still feel empty.”

Brian leaned forward, resting his forearms on wrinkled pants. A single tear ran down his cheek and dropped to the pavement, evaporating in only a few seconds.

“I should have done something,” he whispered voice cracking.

“What?” Thauma asked him.

“I should have done something. I could have stopped him from being killed.”

Thauma’s brow furrowed.

“What could you have done? You weren’t even there.”

Sutter reached into his jacket pocket and extracted a slightly torn, wrinkled, incredibly worn photograph. It had obviously been taken from a distance with a zoom lens, and looked as though it had weathered many times being crushed in someone’s grip.

The years before had seen a series of times of dark power. The Circle of Thorns had succeeded in their third attempt to bring a demi-god to the earth, but had lost control of the Beast, losing many members to its hands. Only when Tropic had sacrificed himself had the Beast been slain. A year before that the Circle had tried to bring their demon through by sacrificing three individuals whose makeup in the cosmos brought the power into alignment that was needed for the ritual. Statesman and the Freedom Phalanx had thwarted them, but one of the three, Cyrus Thompson, a former hero who had gone by the name Breakneck, had given his life in the process.

The faded colors showed an island slightly off the coast of Paragon City. In the background, a group of heroes gathered on the island, two smallish women helping a larger man wreathed in flame, and another woman with a katana from the ground. Thauma stood among the group along with another woman with red hair and hands adorned in fire. The foreground of the picture showed PhoenixHawk pinned beneath the huge foot of a monstrous demon, talons descending, almost touching the chest armor the hero wore. The green fire in PhoenixHawk’s eyes blazed so brightly the color washed out of the photograph showing the snarl on his face.

Three years had passed since the photograph had been taken.

That had been the Circle’s first attempt of that year to bring the demon through to Earth. They had summoned an Envoy to negotiate its coming, but the negotiations had been interrupted by members of the Onami Strike Force and Archangels of the Apocalypse.

PhoenixHawk had died milliseconds after the photograph had been taken, giving more of his essence that his life could do without to bring the Envoy down. Even had the huge talons that impaled him not taken his life, the blast he unleashed would have.

Thauma Guard’s voice was barely audible. “Where did you get this?”

“I took it,” Sutter said. “I used my Hero Corps credentials to get into the area the police had barricaded, and a hover unit that I borrowed from Lady Emily. I was there, I saw him die, and I didn’t even do anything about it.”

He reached his hands under the fedora he wore, wrapping his fingers tightly in his hair, holding onto handfuls of it as though perhaps he could pull the memories through his head and discard them once and for all.

Thauma’s hand rested on his shoulder.

“You couldn’t have done anything. You were just starting out, nowhere near powerful enough to stand up to the Envoy. He’d have killed you too, had you gotten involved.”

“I should have tried.”

Thauma shook her head. “No. You were right to stay away.”

“I wasn’t right,” he said sitting up and looking into her eyes. “I was just scared.”

“We all were. That thing was incredibly powerful. We have our limitations, and you knew yours, even if you did not realize it. That fear kept you alive.”

“And let Aaron die.”

Thauma blinked through the tears that ran down her cheeks. “None of us let Aaron die. He gave himself for us, on his own.”

Brian’s cell phone rang loudly on his hip. It was so unexpected that both heroes nearly jumped out of their skin. Sutter stood up and sighed.

“Damn it,” he cursed answering the phone.

He spoke for only a few moments before hanging up and wiping his eyes with the back of his ruffled sleeve.

“Looks like we have some work to do. It sounds like we’ll need a bunch of us, too.”

The week ended, and Brian could not remember it except for a haze of alcohol and the smell of, or maybe the bad Chinese food. He was in his Onami uniform only putting it on to take the crease out of the arms and legs. It had not been worn in months. After arriving at the assemblage did he regret the decision to attend. It was only of habit did he even manage to arrive. The week had been full of attacks against from the Carnival of Shadows. The super group met them en masse and successfully reigned in Carnies wave of terror. News Flash never made an appearance helping his friends and Brian Sutter never reported for work. Only work seemed to notice his absence.

The meeting went on; News Flash sitting in a back corner desk paid them no attention. How many more of them would he allow himself to kill before he was stopped? He felt like vomiting again, but he swallowed hard and breathed shallowly. Blah, Blah was all he heard from the discussion.

“… Hold on to that truth”, Shadow Pain finally finished, “And the values that brought us together, because I believe that we are all on our own for a while.”

With that, the team got up and began filing out. The last remaining was News Flash. With Thauma missing there was not a hello or a good bye, nobody noticed him. Just like nobody was there to bear witness to his true crimes. The air in the room remained filled with the resonant traces of his teammates. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples, and then pulled a silver flask from inside of his coat pocket.

His phone rang and he let it go to voice mail. He was not in the mood to talk to any one. He punched the buttons to his voice mail and listened to the message left in anger.

“God damn you Brian!” the irate voice of his boss said. “I have had it with your absence this week. I don’t care if you’re dead. You’re fired! Clean out your desk if you ever find the time. If you don’t you can buy what was left next week on eBay.”

“Amen,” Brian said raising his flask in salute. At the moment, he did not care anymore.

Chapter 1

Brian Sutter left the Yellow Line tram station in Kings Row and headed toward his new hole-in-the-wall apartment a few blocks to the northeast. The few factories remaining from economic downturns gave a glimmer of hope in a depressed part of Paragon City. He had recently moved from ritzy Founder’s Falls when his blood money inheritance from the Rikti War began to run out. His finances had not been squandered away recklessly; they were strategically invested in the ancient cold art of revenge. The reprisal was not aimed against the Rikti, the invading aliens causing the death of his family during his first semester in college; a common story repeated an umpteen number of times in Paragon City during the war. His vengeance was to fall upon the Circle of Thorns, the fanatical cult members professing belief in the god Ermeeth, which had been a catalyst for misery in his life. They always brought the bad out in him making him the shadow of a once kind and gentle person.

Brian stopped and changed direction remembering vital supplies needing to be purchased. He headed east to a liquor store just a stones throw from the tram juggling a box of his personal belongings from arm to arm.

“Ah, Brian I have your essentials right here,” the clerk said when Brian entered his shop. He brought a large neatly folded brown paper bag from behind his faded wooden counter and placed it on top. “Bit early ain'ch ya?” Sully prided himself on offering the best service possible, especially to customers that always paid in cash. If his motives were truly sincere, he would have worried about the amount of alcohol Brian always seemed to purchase at one time. He dismissed the idea shrugging off the morale weight like batting at bees on a warm summer’s day. Surely, a man scrawny like Brian would have been dead long ago trying to drink the amount of alcohol in the short period he purchased it in.

“Got off early today,” Brian responded hiding the fact that he had been just fired from his comfortable job at the Tattler, the box he carried being the remnants of that job. Not undemanding for anyone else, photography to him was like breathing and setting up great award-winning compositions was second nature. He laid five crisp twenty-dollar bills fresh from Paragon City First National Bank on the greasy counter from a white bank envelope he stashed in his wrinkled vest’s left pocket next to a much thicker manila envelope. He scratched his three day old unshaven chin which always seemed to be shadowed in five o’clock lately.

Seeing the cold hard cash now lying splayed out in front of him Sully breathed deeply and scooped the profit up to his nostrils to enjoy the smell of new ink from the recently minted cotton paper currency. He failed to notice Brian's bloodshot hollow eyes and furrowed clothes. His customer’s tan pants and matching vest appeared to have been slept in and his once white shirt seemed almost beige. The russet fedora he wore over his light reddish auburn short kempt hair even appeared battered seeing better day’s years ago. Sully usually failed to see the foils of a paying customer, especially newer customers leaving tips.

“Thanks Sully,” Brian said snatching up the package and placing it gently, in his box. He removed a cellophane wrapped cigar from the display case next to the cash register and clenched the impulse purchase in his teeth nodding a thanks to Sully.

The store clerk smiled and glanced at the wiry young man who should have appeared much younger in years then he actually was if not for the slight drinking problem. Brian was sure Sully only saw dollar signs when he looked at him, but that was fine by him. He did not need a lecture from his prying shopkeeper on the dangers of alcohol and how he should stop. He only used to take the edge of his dreadful life.

Brian left the store and headed across the street to the Chinese take-out place, called Old China. He stopped for a moment thinking he spied someone lurking in the alleyway. Habitually he stared down the alley and half expected to see a gang member from the Skulls, but spotting garbage containers, empty cardboard boxes, and even an abandoned-shopping cart he continued to the outdoor ordering window. Balancing his box on the narrow ledge and his torso, he ordered crab rangoon and vegetable lo mien, his favorite dish of the corporate owned establishment. Brian unwrapped his cigar; using a simple magical cantrip he learned from his mentor Thauma Guard, cupped his hand up to the cigar, produced a small flame, and puffed deeply of the cheap tobacco letting it burn his lungs. It felt better then the emotional pain he was feeling. Once he could have afforded the best smuggled Cubans, but those times were long gone finding better memoirs to reside in.

Within minutes, the speedy meal was prepared and he placed it next to his liquor store purchases, extra rolls of film, manila folders, and nearly empty bottle of bourbon in the box containing his professional life. He managed to force a fake smile rolling the cigar in his mouth to the right side of his face and thanked the ladies before disappearing into the shadowed alley in a puff of thick aromatic grey smoke.

Ensuring nobody noticed him; he whispered the mystic words calling forth the eldritch powers imbuing him with the lightning speed his alter ego used. A dazzling yellow light rose from the ground underneath him wrapping its radiance around his well-used Italian black leather shoes and legs. Another painstakingly learned magical phrase rolled easily from his lips and a pinkish lavender mist coalesced from the ground underneath him enveloping the yellow glow. The mist was Hermes Magic Carpet and it was Brian's preferred method of travel. The super speed the magic spell endowed him with failed to make running any easier, just much faster. He still had to put forth an effort, and Thauma Guard tried to get him to work out with her to improve his stamina, but he disliked the exercise routine. The carpet spell allowed him to just glide along without effort like riding a skateboard. He rather liked the minor convenience because life was tough enough.

Brian arrived at his ramshackle apartment building, the Sage Shades, within thirty seconds as a flashed blurry streak. Managing to time his arrival with someone departing the building, he sped through the front door and into the elevator before it closed. He released the energy of his traveling spells and stabbed the button for his vacant floor while balancing the box with his left hand.

The thirteenth floor on the Sage Shades was all but abandoned save the new tenant. He preferred it that way, no one to stick their nose into his business. The stories of the floor being haunted were false although everyone had been murdered on this floor a number of years ago. A small band of cult members from the Circle of Thorns had recently perpetrated a bogus haunting in order to establish a new secret hideout in Kings Row. His alter ego, the hero known as News Flash, removed the threat, but kept the illusion of the floor being haunted. It was poetic justice he should plan the destruction of Oranbega, the Circle of Thorns most sacred lost city, from a place they themselves had previously occupied. When he moved in, he even was able to convince the landlord to rent the place on the floor for a discount.

“Lost City indeed,” Brian muttered the blasphemy under his breath exiting the elevator. It seems the forgotten metropolis lay somewhere under Paragon City and that fit perfectly into Brian's plan, if he could find it.

Brian made his way down the dark and shadowy hall, a dim light bulb weakly illuminated the old yellowed and browned wallpaper. He unlocked the paint-chipped sand colored entrance, which revealed its many layers of paint it held throughout the years and stumbled into his new apartment. Taped packing boxes with black, hand-written markings still lay scattered throughout the large neglected dwelling. Aged yellowed wallpaper dominated his new décor peppered with holes that angry spouses, drug dealers, and gang bangers added during their tenure.

Brian avoided stacks of boxes to his makeshift kitchen that even a corrupt city health inspector would have condemned. He plopped the box on the scuffed particle board counter, removed the bourbon bottle, and emptied the remaining contents into his gullet with one swallow. The memories causing him pain remained sharper than ever needing more than pathetic amount he consumed to be dulled. It amazed him places like this still existed in the modern era, but it was what he deserved.

He grabbed the Chinese food and package from the liquor store and headed over to a white ritzy leather couch that had no business in the dilapidated apartment. Throwing himself on the cool, supple smooth surface he cracked open a new bottle of liquid courage and took a large swig. He finished dinner surfing the Internet from his laptop he had set up on his Italian crystal coffee table.

An hour later Brian opened another bottle of whiskey and lurching over to his antique dining room table was able to tolerate his transgressions a day longer. Two open boxes and answering machine lay on the table. He fell into the chair and took another deep gulp from his bottle. The Onami Strike Force was falling apart and it was his fault. Tensions were high and members were snapping at each other. Only big crime events like the Carnival seemed to be the only thing keeping everyone together. Memories of his slain family flooded his mind when he went through the first box, filled with his stock photos. Whiskey gave him the fortitude to reminisce once more.

Coming upon his Onami pictures he paused at the group portrait, taken even before he had joined their ranks. Aaron, the hero known as PhoenixHawk, was centered perfectly in the group. Brian had attended the same school Aaron did, but had graduated the year before… before the Rikti War. The Onami leader was going to among the brightest football stars and had been only a freshman at that time. Sutter the “Shutter” they called him then, he had taken photos of Aaron’s pre-high school games for the school paper.

The Onami Strike Force was a well-oiled machine under Aaron’s leadership. Brian had failed his former leader causing his death. With tears welling in his almond, brown eyes he scanned the photo and to the right of the fallen leader he found Aaron’s center, the ebony skinned hero known as Thauma Guard. They were lovers until Brian pretending to be the hero, News Flash, let him die. That was the second time he had killed someone, the first time had been the easiest to do but the hardest to live with. The murder of PhoenixHawk dredged up the original event all over again.

Reality faded around Brian his memories shifting to the fateful day. Lost in his thoughts he absentmindedly moved to a larger blown up picture he had given to Thauma only days earlier. He had snapped the picture just before Aaron was killed by the Envoy of the Circle of Thorns. The huge horn winged demon was seconds from its death strike that ended his friend’s life. He had betrayed Thauma, his mentor, and snatched her lover from her. If he could have acted with a simple distraction… anything, Aaron could have survived. All Brian did was snap the picture instead of helping. Thauma tried to tell him it was not his fault, but things should have been different. He cheated her of a life of joy and could no longer bear to live in his pathetic lying existence anymore.

Brian dropped the picture, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed. Once more, the pain of loss tempered with betrayal flowed from him shrugging off the dampening effects of alcohol. He composed himself long enough to empty half the bottle of whiskey. The brown raucous liquid burned down his throat and chest, but the pain was preferred over the feeling of guilt. He did not suffer this much when the Rikti murdered his family. Of course, he had not been the one who killed them.

Brian stood up quickly and steadied himself from his inebriation. Reflexively, he removed a picture from the back of the box and scurried to a darkened corner of his apartment lugging the bottle of courage with him. Crouching down to hide his secret from the world, he stared at the picture of Aura Mattson. It was her high school photo taken from U-Fab Shots. He had acquired the original after he murdered her. He may not have specifically performed the act that ended her life, but what he did to her was no different. Her bright golden blonde hair was cut to shoulder length and glowed. Blue whimsical eyes starred out taunting her killer. Her smile could have stopped the Rikti War alone beaming out from her fair complexion and perfect skin. The image was obviously digitally touched up meaning it was a sham, much like Brian’s heroic life.

Aura, having just graduated from high school went to Perez Park to meet her boyfriend. They were to have a nice romantic moonlit walk and go to dinner. Brian was working on an exclusive for the Paragon City Times on the Circle of Thorns. He had camouflaged himself well to capture them during one of their ceremonies. How was he to know he was to be a perfect ally? The Circle found her first. She ran and the cult members hit her with a crossbow bolt in an attempt to stop her from escaping. It penetrated her leg laming her, but the shot was accomplished at long range. There was still some distance from them to her. She stumbled and fell into Brian exposing him among a patch of white lilies. He pushed her down and told her to get away. She cried for help, a cry he still heard in the depths of his dreams and echoing into nightmares. With fear breathing down his neck and freezing his heart, he scrambled deeper into cover, ignoring the pleas of Aura when she wept for a hero. He wasn’t one. The Circle did not notice him when they snatched her up. Brian even had the audacity to snap the picture that was to become an exclusive for the article. Drunken self-loathing anger welled up filling his heart with a black viscous guilt reflecting the true image of the hero wannabe.

“I belong in the Zig or dead,” Brian murmured silently in the shattered remnants of his life. Only restless spirits heard him.

Brian flung Aura’s memorial picture and rose to his feet glaring through hazed vision. The world spun so he spun back. Angry with himself being that which he pretended to fight when he was his alter ego he threw the unfinished whiskey bottle across the dilapidated apartment. It created another hole in the crumbling walls that would go unnoticed to future tenants.

“Agmen circumfero,” Brian spoke rolling the magical words from his mouth with perfect inflection. He focused the spell into a cone catching the contents of his apartment in the psychic blustery storm. Boxes over turned, his couch slamming against the far wall by the silent wind. Papers, negatives, saved news articles, and stock photos filled the air stirred up by Brian’s emotions entwined into the telekinetic spell. He destroyed untold lives and now it was his turn to destroy his, time to finish the job. A photo whipped by him wounding him with a paper cut on his cheek. He cursed pressing the stinging cut with his index finger. His conscious mind dimmed and he enacted the spell responsible for his super speed. In one instantly distorted streak he rocketed off to run away from himself and the world, tripped over the upturned leather couch, and fell into his crystal coffee table shattering it into a glass sandy beach. Brian lay on the ground for amount of time and lurched to his feet staggering for the couch. The chaotic storm assaulting his apartment soon passed. Later the next day another tenant would move out of the apartment to get away from the evil spirits on the thirteenth floor.

Tiny cuts covered his face and arms like chicken pox, but he failed to feel the pain anymore. His descent into the bottle he used for protection was complete. He slumped into couch dotting the rich leather with speckles of red. He glanced down seeing his liquor store package and miraculously one bottle of scotch had not been broken. He reached down, snapped the top off, and leaned back to help gravity get the pain killer down his throat. Among his Pulitzer Prize photos, Brian passed out before finishing his bottomless swallow. The bottle fell to the couch mixing its contents with the blood staining what was once an untainted white piece of furniture.

News Flash was no more.

Chapter 2

Norman stood like an ancient stone gargoyle in the littered alley contemplating the nuances of alliances. The early morning brought a brisk cool breeze to Kings Row blowing his cape, gently wrapping it around his legs. Sweat still trickled from underneath his gleaming red visor helm and pooled above his upper lip. He licked the salty liquid before it evaporated and remained motionless. If anyone had noticed the figure in the dark morning, they would have thought him to be a statue left there by city builder’s decades ago. For him, the wait was a matter of discipline. The wait was an exercise in patience. Patience, discipline, and loyalty were qualities worth more than their weight in gold, for undying loyalty to the cause was the apex of faith. Above all else, he relished control. Control over his environment, control over his powers, and control over his destiny. There were few super-powered individuals not able to survive the use of their own powers and it was his complete mastery of those abilities saving his life from one moment to the next. He focused his science imbued gift forcing the creation of a ball of heat between his shoulder blades. The invisible globe shimmered in the morning disrupting the breeze and rolling down his back across his left leg. He maneuvered it back up the appendage with a mere thought and sent it down the right leg before he rolled it diagonally to his abdomen. It then went up his chest and paused at his head. There was no doubt the heat and thermo sensors of those searching for him would find him easily in time, but their mild diversion would irritate him costing them their lives. He would not show his anger, for such a display would not be in control and was very unbecoming for his rank and status. His thoughts drifted to her, if he were to ever lose control it would be for her.

She had ebony black skin like from the color of the rarest of ocean pearls. Her skin glistens when she sweats and the thought alone sent shivers down his spine repelling the ball of heat. He momentarily left his daydream almost accidentally igniting the globe. Again he sent it through its patrol over his body writhing through its waypoints like an ouroboros snake. She was as least as tall as him, a feature he usually found lacking among the other women he used to enjoy. He could not explain how she beseeched his soul or why she captured his heart. Maybe she actually bewitched him with her spells. He recalled seeing her for the fist time in Pocket D’s, the multi-dimensional dance club some rogue disk jockey gifted with extraordinary abilities set up bridging this dimension and the next.

“Thauma Guard,” he whispered afraid if he spoke to loudly the image of her in his bubble of reality would pop and she would cease to exist.

Thauma obviously enjoyed the cat and mouse game because she always played hard to get or tried to ignore his passes, but he could see the passion hidden behind her eyes. Again, he marveled at how chaotic she made him feel whenever he was able to get near her. The mere idea of getting lost in her thrilled him even when it should not. He heard the approach of the three amateurs from behind before they even noticed him.

“What’s this then?” one Skull gangbanger asked dressed in the typical grey and white demanded of their low status.

“It’s a Cape,” the other equal ranked minion said not catching the significance of the emblem on Norman’s cape.

The trio’s leader, a Death Head by title known to the police and heroes of Paragon City, stepped out of the darkness glints of light reflecting off his chain-studded biker jacket from the brightening morning sky to the east. All three wore human skulls over their face like masks standing out eerily against the darkened alley like floating heads. “It’s a dead Cape,” the Death Head spat in disgust before realizing too late the red spider emblem centered on the heroes black cape was that of Arachnos.

The Protector, one of a few chosen to protect the Rogue Isles’ and the future of the Arachnos organization, slowly turned around annoyed at the interruption. Obviously, these miscreants were ignorant, incompetent, and suicidal, thus their lives were forfeit. His lessons in respect were to be final.

The first one came at him from the right swinging a red Rawlings aluminum bat and the second from the left charging with a generic switchblade indicative of the punk’s short life. He calmly raised his right hand catching the blunt arc of the bat at the last moment. It rang hollow against his wrist the black metallic glove with red-streaked isles pattern reverberating the sound. Norman, much stronger than the young punk, gripped the bat where it contacted him and forced it back against the foolish assailant clobbering him in the nose. Blood and cartilage exploded from the hit blinding the Skull and sending waves of pain throughout his nervous system. He shrieked clutching the source of the bloody pulped explosion.

The knife wielder quickly stepped in looking for a cheap shot. Norman caught the blade with his left gauntleted hand and shot out his right catching the Skull by the throat lifting him off the ground. The Protector heard the shotgun blast and watched in slow motion the traveling slug closing the distance heading right for him. He was always amazed by the sight of bullets in their trajectories, how they slowly spun or tumbled through the air. He never noticed such minor details in his life before he joined the program that turned him into one of the zealot Rogue Isle Protectors. His only wish was that he had been given the speed necessary to move out of the way.

The path of the slug took it toward his midsection and he began shifting his angle slamming the helpless Skull in his grip against the building. He let the slug impact his hard-shelled body plate torso. The shotgun blast irked him to no end, but his pulse and blood pressure remained normal, the Heads-Up-Display (HUD) in his red metallic mystic helmet indicated his vitals only barely rising above the sixty beats beat per minute. His average core temperature rose a little from one hundred and twelve degrees to one-twenty. He could not remain hidden in the alley any more. He snapped the neck of Skull with his left hand and sent his ball of heat to envelop his body and gain intensity. The Longbow, a detachment of Freedom Corps, would no doubt be upon him within minutes interrupting what was to be a simple delivery. Norman crossed the distance to the Skull leader igniting the very air. Although fire does not actually burn the air and Arachnos scientist were at a loss to explain his powers, he always referred to it as burning the air. Flames sprang to life over his protective suit licking his skin trying to nibble his flesh. His mind held back the hunger only driving the formless beast into a frenzied ravenous monster. He sent the creature out and around him to feast upon the surroundings and the Death Head. With the gunshot breaking the morning silence, his silent vigil was complete, and he could not think of any reason to hold back any longer.

A column of flame twisted and spun in the alley growing larger and stronger rising up in the early sky and only through mental exercise was the Protector able to prevent the buildings catching afire too. Norman simply focused one of his intense globes of heat on his fists and pummeled the Skull leader. Each strike sent even more flames to feed upon the fool igniting the leader’s fabrics. Within seconds, the charcoal remains of the gangbanger burst apart sending his remains to drift in the cool breeze wafting through Kings Row, the area was now a thriving memorial for the Skull’s ineptitude.

Norman again willed the animal back drawing the flames around him, but not letting it savor his own soft tissue. Like a human candle, he walked over to the broken nosed Skull, grabbed him by the collar, and tossed him against the brick wall. He held the bloodied face punk against the brick and jerked him back and forth.

“You get to live. If any of your kind ever fails to show the proper respect to a representative of Arachnos again, I swear I will personally purge Paragon City of your little bone club myself. Only the ashes of your bones will remain and I will stomp them in the dirt with the heel of my boot.” Flames licked off the Protector angry at the forced starvation and started to feed upon the collar of the minion’s jean jacket, “Starting with you!”

Norman tossed the smoldering bloodied proletarian back down the alley and leapt into the air traveling some two hundred yards before bounding off a roof of another rundown apartment building. He did not care if the bastard burned or not, time to find a new place to wait. He noticed his pulse rose to 65; he would have to work on lowering it for the next battle. Norman found ironies in the fact two potential recruits on his recruitment list were ex-Skulls. The fact they were prior members worked in their favor and showed how they outgrew the weak bone club. If only some of his other associates were as easily influenced, the image of a scorned clawed woman came to his mind. If ever there was chaos it was her, for she tested the limits of his patience. It was then he decided to pay a visit to Crey Industries for some light warm up exercises.

Chapter 3

Sara Starling raced along the bridges of Talos Island at noon easily accelerating the speed limit. After market blue lights mounted on the front her white Honda Interceptor desperately tried to warn those in front of the unmarked police bike to get out of the way, but she left them in the dust before they could react. The only saw her license plate and the letters CYA. Her black leather biker jacket was flapping in the breeze revealing a white leather corset underneath. Chocolate brown hair tinted with a paprika red whipped in the breeze when she accelerated into the Skyway City exit through the war wall.

Yellow sunglasses like the kind sport shooters wore covered her eyes and she had no other head protection. Her eyewear being more functional then fashionable currently projected CNN in front of her left eye. It was silenced because she mostly read the scroll bar at the bottom, but she taught herself to read lips and was doing so at the moment. Music from Godsmack’s latest album played from her left earpiece connected to the glasses. The earpiece running to her right ear was broadcasting chatter from the frequencies of the police scanner. She deftly processed all the information and passed her third white Grand Am for a total of seven counted so far. She had encountered sixty-three vehicles already and knew the make, model, license plate, and how many passengers each contained. She would not retain the flood of information for long but it helped keep her powers escalating out of control.

Once into Skyway City she headed south to the Faultline entrance. Sara pulled into the fenced construction area and parked her bike. During her ride, she had counted three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six stripes in the centerline of the road. Two hundred and three civilians were out walking to their destinations and the President of the United States had dropped fifteen percent in the latest polls from his response to an international incident involving the Navy. Someone had murdered one, maybe two, Skulls in Kings Row and beat the crap out of another. The Paragon Protectors were also seen battling a black and red caped individual and members of the super group Top Ten assisted by the Dogs of War were responding to contain the fight and prevent it from spreading to the civilian populace.

Her job with law enforcement as a threat analyst for Paragon City Police Department kept her mind busy. She was thankful for the diversion, but was sure the blissfully ignorant civilians would not be if they knew she potentially threatened them every second of every day. Her subconscious had assaulted and killed several innocent people in Kings Row when she was a teenager; in her estimation she had a societal debt to perform and would spend the rest of her life to do it. Some debts required constant effort and vigilance.

Sara was finally able to come to grips with her powers and the guilt through the wonderful pragmatic counseling of Occam’s Razar, the half-dragon half-human warrior from Earth’s most ancient history. If she could not maintain a level of discipline over her curses she would once again end up in the Zig medicated to the point where even her subconscious could not act. Allowing the negatives provided by sorrow and regret to cloud her mind would unleash it. There was no real name for her pseudo personality, a fragment of her psyche, but she called it her Other. After years of doctors and specialists, none could fully explain her mutant abilities. Her mind abilities were potentially stronger than any could measure. The worst things about her powers were the fears and terrors besieging mankind, a problem considering they are from the state of being human.

Her psyche effortlessly saw into people’s minds and exposed their nightmares opening them like books to be read or movies to be seen. The darkest emotions overwhelmed her threatening her sanity. Then the subconscious, the Other, would respond to protect her and create those night terrors in reality and attempt to destroy the source. Like a drug addict or the reflex one has to look at an accident on the road, her id continued to read others thoughts seeing people’s darkest desires exposing even more fears and terrors. Occasionally, her cognizant, uninhibited intrusions tinted her world only darkness, but with Occam Razar’s teachings she was able to see the light causing the deep shadows. It was an endless cycle she broke only by keeping her conscious mind busy by multitasking. It was like confusing the id by giving it too many things to focus on. The idea originally sounded implausible to her because her id was able to multitask too. Anyway, it worked and she became constantly amazed her how many things she could keep track of at one time. It seemed her true mutant ability was multitasking.

Sara moved toward the five uniformed officers, three plain-clothes detectives, and one SWAT Assault Armor piloted by a familiar cop. Approaching them she could sense their existence by the whispering of their surface thoughts. To her it was no secret some hated the fact she was free from the Zig; she was a murderer after all. It would be a simple task to enter their minds and see how they really thought, but it did not matter; for redemption was a road few traveled and even fewer ever saw the end. It was a necessary journey nonetheless. The ring of doughnut lovers stood next to four black plastic body bags freshly filled. She counted the buttons on the uniforms shirts and multiplied them by the number of stains on the detective’s pants. She let a sly smile grow along her rose-colored lips and came within reach of the armored SWAT officer.

“Hi David,” she said with a knowing smile.

Officer Sparrow lifted the visor of his helmet and smiled back, “Hi Sara, Occam was right, we have another one.” He knelt done and unzipped the body bag closest to him.

Sara started counting the teeth of the zipper and bent over too examine the green robed Circle of Thorn member. Its face was still sunken, hidden in its hood and the glowing green eyes normally associated with the cult were forever extinguished.

“Notice the front of the robe,” David commented.

She unzipped the bag further revealing a black elongated triangle patch traveling down the front of the robe. A smaller black crescent moon was sewn over the patch. Counting the rough stitching she traced the curved phase of the moon with her finger wondering what the meaning of this fractured cult member truly meant for the citizens of Paragon. “Well, I suppose he isn’t with the Circle anymore.”

“That’s because he is dead,” came a viperous snide comment from one of the detectives. David glared at the detective while Sara just ignored him.

“Did you supply the bodies or did they do each other in before you arrived?” she asked.

“Believe or not,” David replied. “The other three are definitely Circle members. They were chasing this one down sending what seemed like every spell they could think of at him. Some civilians were injured, but no deaths. He led them here near the police drones, probably out of desperation. When I showed up he took his own life and the others in a large green flash.”

“Odd, considering he appears to be one of the Circle’s defenders and not a mage,” Sara commented.

“Yes. Something must be happening inside their ranks.”

“Desperation and disappointment are my guess,” Sara said activating the Bluetooth on her cell phone creating a second channel in her right earpiece overlaying the police scanner. She held the phone up to speak into the microphone. “Dial… Occam’s Bow.”

While she waited for the connecting circuits to cross-link and ring her friend and companion, she connected the dots of strewn gravel on the ground creating patterns of the constellations. When the phone rang the other end, she had moved on to counting windows of the nearby building and singing a random lullaby under her breath. The Dow Jones was down ten points on CNN, the eighth song on the Godsmack album began playing, an officer in Skyway was initiating a traffic stop, and the Other was still unable push itself into her consciousness. For the moment everyone was safe.

“Hello Sara Starling,” Occam’s Bow an elf from the forgotten realm of Faire answered.

“Quien, Occam has indeed uncovered some splinter cult of the Circle of Thorns. Do we know where he is?”

“I have not seen him since this morning; he mentioned something about discovering a lead on the whereabouts of the Dark Lord.”

Sara’s conscious mind worked through the clues and recent discussions of the past three days. Occam’s Razar had come across some faction of the Circle of Thorns when searching for more clues on the Saurian god and his followers. “Quien, I think there is a connection.”

“I believe your conclusion may be the correct one. I also believe Occam may be setting out to face the Saurian deity alone.”

“Then we may need to find him, if the Dark Lord has usurped the Circle of Thorns, then his powers will have increased. Meet me at my apartment.”

Sara hung up the phone remembering her alter-ego’s official uniform was still with Serge at Icon, the tailor specializing in hero costumes and respecting privacy. She thanked David ignoring the other doughnut flatfoots and sped off to Independence Port on her Honda daring to boost her speed by manipulating her kinetics.

Chapter 4

Brian Sutter stuffed the remains of News Flash’s uniform in the large capacity black garbage bag. Tossed aside like so many lives, he swore to never wear it again. If his plans were successful, he would not be alive after tonight anyway. The Circle of Thorns was about to receive their last headline. He cursed himself for the drunken stupor that he rained down on the apartment and his belongings. If he had cast the spell he planned to use in Oranbega, he would have easily destroyed this apartment killing even more innocents. Further proof to Brian that he was not the hero he pretended to be. He ignored the countless saved lives and good he did since he joined Onami Strike Force.

Setting the trash bag in the kitchen near the refuse chute he decided to order Chinese again, something about eating two-day-old leftover macaroni and cheese out of the garbage can held no appeal to him. Even convicts where given a last meal. Brian made his way back into his large living room, or what had remained of it. He upturned the couch and dining room table, and recovered most of his photo storage boxes and tried to organize them back into their proper place. Truth be known only ten percent of his pictures were ever published and he had hundreds of stories he never submitted. He had more contacts and knew more things about the villains and heroes of Paragon City than anyone could ever suspect. He linked photos and documents into the boxes and built his cases. He even had pictures of one of his ex-super group comrades known as Voltech when the hero was still enlisted in the ranks of the Skulls. The ex-Skull had found redemption, leaving Brian with none.

Brian attempted to vacuum the remnants of his crystal coffee table he somehow fell through. He did not remember what he did to fall through it, but being skilled in the ancient art of magic; a simple spell healed his wounds. It worked great on hangovers too. If only he could wave a wand and correct his mistakes in the past. He stopped his attempt at vacuuming realizing no one would notice in this condemned apartment. Grabbing the phone, he ordered his last dinner. He would have paid double to have them deliver a bottle of whiskey, but instead paid triple. He hung up realizing his answering machine was still missing under some scattered newspaper clippings and rogue photos. He fished it out and noticed he had a message.

“Hello,” a familiar accented voiced said after clicking the button. “Mr. Sutter, this is Serge at Icon. The uniform you specially ordered is complete. I am quite proud of it as it came together quite nice. I will be sending it out this later this afternoon.”

There was a knock at the door.

Brian paused a moment wondering whom would be knocking at his door. He did not remember buzzing anyone up, maybe his delivery had arrived. He quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

“Delivery,” Norman said his guilty smile curling up underneath his visor. He held a medium-sized box out in front of him and a garment bag was slung over his left shoulder

Dumbfounded, Brian stood silent for a moment. Still fighting the lingering effects of alcohol, he deduced why Protector Norman was here. He also remembered he hated the metallic mystic helmet the Rogue Isle Protectors wore. Two points jutting from the end of the helmet to the left and right of the wearer’s lips looked like spider fangs and it plain freaked him out. To hide the creepy feeling the helmet made he just rolled his eyes and walked into his condemned kitchen leaving the door open, “You’re late.”

“What, no smart ass remark?” Norman asked entering the apartment. He looked around in suppressing his shock horror. “By Hequat’s wrath this place is a dump. I much prefer your Founders Falls place much better.”

“Sorry, money is starting to get tight.” The fact Norman was carrying his Icon delivery finally registered though his hazed mind. “My God man, where did you get that stuff?”

“The delivery guy ran into my fist on the way up here,” Norman said.

Brian hurried over to him, grabbed the box and garment bag, and slung them over his couch. “Geez, you didn’t hurt him did you.”

"He only had a slight nose bleed," the Protector responded.

"He'll probably call Longbow or the cops at the very least," Brian said glancing at the dirty floor and shaking his head. Being a reporter, he got to know some really unruly types. This particular Rogue Isle Protector was no different. Actually when he was first contacted by him a couple years ago he became a bit worried. He was sure the Protector could easily have killed him if provoked.

"Pfft," Norman said sounding like he sprung a leak. "The Longbow couldn't capture me if I surrendered to them and the police… they can’t find their way out of the doughnut parking lot.”

"Damn it, why must you continue to bother the citizens of this city," Brian said flicking the chest plate with his finger and pausing puzzled at the hardness. "What the hell is that, life getting tough for yah?"

Norman snorted and sauntered over to the couch draping the length of his cape over his left arm and sat. The scent of bleach assaulted his nostrils and the sheen on the furniture indicated they had been recently wiped down. "Nope, it is actually there to protect me from myself. My powers continue to expand."

Brian fought through the fuzziness coating his mind. Staring at the Protector sitting on his couch with his cape neatly arranged in his guest’s arm he internally summoned his magical energy. Norman glanced around the rundown apartment and looked back to Brian.

"Nice try," the Protector said recognizing the concentrated look on Brian’s face and flicked his red chromed mystical helmet. "I hope you’re constipated, because you will still find my thoughts well protected behind this from all forms of mind reading. Arachnos goes to the greatest lengths to protect its secrets.”

Brian released his energies letting their power subside back into the ether. "Please tell me you're here for business and not your unpleasant comments," he demanded.

Norman again looked at his friend's hole ridden multi-colored walls. He was sure the stains, layers of chipped paint, and peeling wallpaper were once a treasure map for some ancient lost cache of wealth. He reached behind his back and grasped a metallic cylinder the size of running baton that had been attached to his belt. He whipped the prize out and opened his palm presenting Brian with the key to his revenge.

The ex-hero stepped forward recognizing the significance of the cylinder and reached for the item.

Norman snapped the offer back, "There is the matter of payment.”

Brian reached into his left vest pocket, removed a thick blank manila envelope, and tossed it to the Rogue Isle Protector.

"It's going to cost you more," Norman said snatching the envelope from the air.

"What? That was our agreed upon price," Brian complained.

"Just information, I am background checking for some… projects of mine."

Brian glared at the Protector debating whether he should just put him to sleep or go along with the request. Knowing the helmet Norman wore would indeed protect his thoughts; he knew it did not fully protect him from mind assaults. Sighing, his shoulders slumped forward in defeat; this Protector had indeed become a vital source of information for the dealings of Paragon City and beyond. He hated to admit there was a sort of pseudo friendship bond between them. He set about the task of setting up his Internet connection and logged into his encrypted personal files.

Norman watched in silence debating whether to say anything about the obvious alcohol abuse. He could not believe Brian had fallen so far into the bottle. It was a sign of weakness and he wrestled with what that meant to him and his alliance.

"All right, what do you want?" Brian asked bringing up the search window for his database.

The Protector moved from the couch and strolled over to the table. "What do you have on a Christopher Wentworth or a Michael Wallis?”

“Michael Wallis…” Brian said pausing opened mouth, “Voltech?”

“Yes,” Norman said flatly.

“I am not telling you anything about any Onami members.”

“Didn’t hurt to ask.”

“Then I will ask, why him?” Brian questioned looking squarely through the Protectors helmet where he thought the eyes were.

“He has some rage issues, yes, but a promising candidate. Arachnos could offer him his own private lab with unlimited funds.”

“He won’t join your gang,” Brian responded banging the other name into his keyboard.

Norman snorted slightly at Brian’s jab at Arachnos. His wit always made him smile.

With the other name entered into his laptop the hard drive whirred in searching, Norman wandered over to Brian’s boxes of dirt he had acquired on many individuals, groups, and organizations in Paragon City over the years. “Oh, yeah, that reminds me, that attack upon the naval destroyer last week. It wasn’t the Council. The military is hiding evidence they found. That tidbit is free.”

Brian looked over to the nosy Rogue Isle Protector. “The USS Clinton? Everyone was killed in that assault. The ship was left to drift the high seas until the Coast Guard arrived.”

“Correct. Word has it that it was revenge on an illegal assault the U.S. Military carried out earlier against a certain chain of isles.”

“I wouldn’t suppose you were there, were you?”

Norman hesitated before speaking, “You could say I am in the know.”

Brian focused on the results of his database search not wanting to go where the conversation was headed. He quickly sent an e-mail to himself reminding him of the new information. When his belongings passed to the Onami Strike Force by order of his last will and testament the information could be then acted upon.

“Ah,” Brian exclaimed when pictures of Perez Park appeared on the screen along with the Paragon Times newspaper headline, ‘A City in Flames.’ “Chris Wentworth,” he began recalling the story from memory, “I was there photographing all the events at the time, the City was gripped in fear because of the Hellions. Your project actually was put into the hospital after the event. After Top Ten, Onami, and the Archangels of Apocalypse stopped the Hellions from summoning Xeqatl, a power vacuum exited in Perez Park and the Skulls took advantage of the Hellions… absence.” Norman stopped his rummaging and took a set at the dining room table finding the information riveting.

“The official story is Chris Wentworth was found after the uprising was put down. He was almost killed considering the whole right of his head was crushed in.”

“Hmm…” Norman thought aloud. “I don’t recall hearing about any uprising like that. Something big like that would have been in the news. Who stopped it?”

“The Skulls did,” Brian responded wondering if an inquisitive look could be made out from underneath the Protectors helmet. “Unofficially, Chris led the uprising even forging a pact with the Circle of Thorns. They get to keep control of inside of Perez Park and the Skulls keep the surrounding streets. Unfortunately for him, Marrow Snap didn’t take the news lightly. When Chris had secured the streets he came across the Skull leaders meeting with members of the Family. Such a young upstart performing so much without his authority or blessing was unforgivable. It damned near cost him his life.” Brian produced the digital images of the meeting he took and revealed them to the Protector.

“Nice composition,” Norman said. It was truly amazing how Brian was able to get the photos he did. “How do you not get spotted?”

Brian just smiled interlocking his hands behind his head.

“Seems like a rogue, free thinking man got mixed up in the Bone Club. He saw beyond his position and took control. That would explain why he is cutting a swath threw Skulls, Hellions, and Family members on the Rogue Isles currently. Brian you’re a credit to the Press.”

Norman thought about his own origin. He had been left for dead after receiving the Protectors initial enhancement process. Supposedly, he died and they dumped his body in Paragon City framing Crey for the botched experiment. He had no recollections when he came to in the Zig, but apparently, he survived the process, and had awakened becoming some sort of raving lunatic. It took an entire super group teamed with the Paragon Protectors to even stop him, some had been killed in his capture, and he tried to suppress his evil twisted smile that grew from pride. He remembered nothing until before the process and after the Zig.

“What?” Brian said seeing the smile and becoming uneasy.

“Nothing, very good my friend,” Norman slammed the cylinder on the table and slid it to Brian.

Brian unscrewed the heat resistant container and removed an old cloth scroll. He held it gently cradling it like a newborn; his immediate future plans lay before him. After millions of dollars he was finally able to end his quest of vengeance. He unfurled the fabric, which was surprisingly very resilient. He could smell the musty age and breathed deeply letting its ancient wisdom penetrate his soul.

“I acquired that last night myself. Took out thee minor Circle demons in my raid.”

Brian had heard nothing absorbed in the maze of pathways drawn by blood on the map showing the way to Oranbega. After a minute, he frowned. “Where the hell is the entrance?”

“I am not sure,” Norman said sneering. His calm cold calculating mind finally worked out his friend’s interest and stood up. “By the gods, if I knew you were foolish enough to go there I wouldn’t even have bothered.”

Brian glared into the Protector’s visor. “It doesn’t matter what I want it for, it’s useless without a starting point.”

Norman stood there crossing his arms debating whether he should even argue. He could see the despair pouring from Brian’s eyes, desperation born from suffering. It all made sense now, the move, his requests for information, something bothered the reporter and he cared not to live anymore. The idea that Brian did this to himself disgusted him.

“Very well,” Norman began, “Perez Park in the woods near the center of the zone. There is probably even a wooden sign saying keep out, or some such curious phrase.”

Brian glanced back at the textured map and smiled insanely. He ran over to the couch and tore into the box. “Hat, boots, belt, and gloves, good it is all here. You need to go now.”

“Just wait a minute…” the Protector said as Brian brought his hand up and sent forth a bright white eldritch flash.