The Hero Without A Cool Name

by Stan Hendriks

  “Before we can even consider making you a part of this team, we need to know everything about you. And this time, do not try to lie.”

  Lexi takes a deep breath and says, “Alright, well, as I said, I’m Lexi Wheeler. I was born in Seattle and lived there for about fifteen years before my father died. My father was a pilot and worked long hours to provide for my mother and I since my mother didn’t have a job. She wanted to work but somehow no one wanted to employ her. But anyway, when my father died, my mother and I went from being fairly rich to poor within six months. We had to sell the house and everything and we were about to be homeless, but luckily for us, my uncle, who used to live here in Detroit as well before he passed away, offered us a place to stay in his house. And well, long story short, everything went great for a while again but when my uncle passed away as well, things quickly went downhill again. So, when I turned twenty-two, I finally saved enough money from my lousy job to be able to afford my own place and kind of support my mother at the same time as well. I’m twenty-eight now, by the way. But things went great again until one day, my mother just disappeared out of the blue. I didn’t know why and nor did the police or anyone else. And well, she disappeared for about two years until one night, she showed up at my house and acted as nothing happened. I asked her where she had been for all those years and she responded vaguely. And her all of a sudden having a lot of money and wearing expensive jewelry was even more vague. But back then, I was simply happy that my mother was finally back and most importantly, that she was doing well, so, I didn’t ask many questions. But I didn’t forget about it either. In fact, after a month or two, I started to do some investigation by myself since my mother barely answered my calls and since she was rarely at her house. So, once again, long story short, I came to find out that she had become a mercenary. Yes, I know, it’s crazy, but that was the reason she all of a sudden had so much money and acted so vaguely. Anyway, I confronted her about it, and she explained to me how one night a man came to her and told her that he could make her life so much better. And well, since my mother was struggling, she blindly accepted the man’s offer. So, the man trained her into a killing machine, and she started working for him and apparently because the man trained her so well, she made millions. And to make things even crazier, my mother also started to train me just in case I ever needed to defend myself. But yeah, eventually she died while doing her job and whoever the man was took away all the money that she made and all I was left with was a whole arsenal of guns. It was hard, but I kept on training and told myself that one day I was going to stop those people that persuaded my mother into murdering people. But the years went by and it never came to that, I just went back to my lousy job and that was it until I, of course, saw you on the news. I can’t really explain it, but it felt like the fire inside me was ignited again and I just had to become a part of your team, I just had to. But yes, that’s basically my story in short.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about your parents, must have been hard.”

  “I’m sure it was tough indeed, but I do have to admit that your story is not only all over the place but also very vague. But then again, you did not lie.”

  “So, can I be part of the team?”

  “Sure, I think we could use you, at least, I know I could.”

  “Not so fast, Roy, stop making impulsive decisions, okay? We have to carefully think about this and soon we will come with an answer as to whether or not you can take part in this team. And if I may be honest,” Julian says, as he gets up. “We currently have a much more important thing to focus on. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see where Melodramatic Soul is. I should have known not to leave a child like him alone.” Julian then walks out of the apartment while shaking his head and Lexi asks, “Is he always this serious? He honestly scares me when he stares at me with those angry eyes of his.”

  Roy chuckles and as he takes a seat at the dinner table, he replies, “Well, yes, he always is like this. Rarely does he smile but when he does, you better embrace that moment because there aren’t going to be many. And, by the way, he scares me too, trust me. But he’s my mentor and he only wants the best for me and he wants to make sure that nothing happens to me.”

  “Well, not only in the warehouse did you get hurt, but if it wasn’t for me you would have got hurt pretty badly at the museum as well. I think you guys should really come up with better plans with which I could help.”

  “Really? How?”

  “Well, my mother often explained me everything before she killed her next victim and well, I learned a thing or two from it since she planned out everything to the fullest detail and left no stone unturned.”

  “You talked with your mother about plans to kill people? That’s a weird conversation to have with your mother.”

  “I know, I honestly don’t even know what I was thinking back then. It was like I wasn’t even thinking straight anymore. God, when I think about it now it’s actually so embarrassing and stupid. I… I really don’t know what the hell I was thinking, I really don’t.”

  “I can’t say that I understand, but what I do know is that, that was in the past and although I don’t even really know you yet, you seem like a good person. And to be honest, I would love to have you on the team.”

  “Thank you, I really appreciate that.”

  “I think that you and I, and of course Mr. Herrick and Melodramatic Soul could really change this world for the better.”

  “I believe so too, but do you really call your mentor Mr. Herrick? That’s so silly. And Melodramatic Soul? Really?” Lexi replies with a smile.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  They both laugh about it but then Julian return with Henry, who is sweating and completely out of breath. “Look who I found.”

  “First of all, leaving me behind like that wasn’t cool! Not cool at all! But I have something to share that will blow you away, trust me!” But then Henry looks at Lexi and continues, “Wow, who are you? I… I mean, wow, you look so beautiful.”

  Lexi smiles and as she gets up and sticks out her hand, she replies, “Lexi, nice to meet you. I saved Roy at the museum.”

  “Oh hey, Henry. And that’s nice, if I wasn’t left behind, I would have known all about it. And also, that we now all of a sudden have a new team member while I didn’t even get to vote. I would have voted you in, by the way, although it is weird that you apparently saved Roy and are now here in this room with Roy who doesn’t have his mask on anymore, but then again, everything is weird these days. I honestly think that I might be losing it right now. Can someone please tell me what is going on?”

  “Lexi is not a member of our team yet, Melodramatic Soul. She first has to prove to us that she is worthy of our trust and after that, we will see if she will be a good addition to this team. Anyway, you will get to know her later, now please explain to us why you’re so out of breath. And while you’re at it, tell us the mind-blowing story as well,” Julian replies, as he takes a seat at the dinner table as well.

  “Alright this is going to sound crazy but when I was standing in the museum, talking with some beautiful ladies, my God they were so beautiful, but anyway, the alarm went off and I tried to get in contact with you guys, but none of you responded. So, at first, I thought something went wrong but at the same time, I wasn’t sure. So, worried out of my mind, I ran towards your apartment but halfway I saw three police cars with sirens on racing by and something in me told that I had to follow those police cars you know. It’s like I got a sixth sense almost you know that alerts me when danger is close. But anyway, I decided to run after the police cars and they lead me to a hotel, the Einar hotel. And outside of it were at least fifty police cars parked and everyone was in panic. So, I walked up as close as I could and right at the moment I looked up, two police officers were thrown out of the window! And well, they… they dropped on the asphalt, very hard. But after that, a special force team rushed in but apparently, they couldn’t find the one who did it. Anyway, we should check it
out. Someone killed those officers in cold blood, it’s crazy, isn’t it?”

  Roy immediately gets up and turns on the television and the news channels are already talking about it. Lexi, Julian, and Henry gather up in front of the television as well and a news reporter says, “It has been confirmed that thirty police officers have been brutally murdered by the same individual that entered the hospital about two days ago with swords in his hands. The police were notified that the man was staying in the suite all the way on the top floor of the Einar hotel so, the police immediately rushed over to the hotel and tried to arrest the man but sadly, that ended up in a bloody massacre. Not only did the man kill all those officers, but he also managed to somehow get away.” The news reporter keeps on talking about and Roy and the rest are in absolute shock. “What… what… I thought you said that he didn’t kill innocent people,” Roy says.

  “That is because he never used to but apparently, things have now changed, for the worse. He must have killed those officers because they were interfering with his destiny. It’s… I’m utterly lost for words here.”

  “Wow, Toogaan really is a true maniac. How can he even do this? I don’t get it. Doesn’t he care about a human life?” Henry asks.

  “It looks like he definitely doesn’t. What a sick and twisted individual,” Lexi replies.

  “He definitely is, Lexi, and now he has become even more dangerous than he already was. Nothing is going to stop him now, filled with rage and his thirst for blood, he is going to do everything that he feels is necessary to ensure our deaths, even if that means murdering innocent people in the process,” Julian says.

  “My God… we have to stop him as soon as possible!” Roy says.

  “But how? I mean, the last time we faced him we got more than lucky. All three of us nearly ended up dead. That sick bastard is way too strong, even for you two,” Henry replies.

  “That is not entirely true, Melodramatic Soul. Yes, he is extraordinarily strong, but the last time we faced him he had the element of surprise. We weren’t prepared and it nearly costs us our lives. This time, though, we are going to make sure that, that, never happens again. From now on, we will no longer put our focus and attention towards other criminals, all that we should care about is Toogaan and how we are going to defeat him. Because do not get it twisted, this is a life or death situation.”

  “But how are we going to find him?” Roy asks.

  “We’re not going to be able to find him, but he will find us or lure us to him. But when he does, we just have to make sure that we are prepared and ready to do whatever it takes to bring him down. Every single one of us has to work together and be on the same page, otherwise, we will fail and this time, we’re not going to be lucky. This time, he will make sure that our hearts will no longer beat. You better believe that.”

  “So, I say we go train and prepare ourselves while we wait on when Toogaan is either going to show up or lure us to wherever he wants to face us.”

  “I could not agree more, Roy.”

  “But so, does this mean that I’m part of the team? Because I would love nothing more than to help bring this idiot down,” Lexi says.

  “Although I am not sure if you can be trusted yet, we do need all the help we can get. So, yes, consider yourself a temporary team member for now.”

  “Thanks, I really appreciate it. And if you want, Roy, I could learn you how to fight or at least, show you some basic moves since I don’t know how much time we got left.”

  “That would be great. Alright then, I think we should go to the factory,” Roy says.

  Julian nods but then looks at Henry and asks, “What about you, Melodramatic Soul, are you going to join us or?”

  “I… I don’t know. I think it’s better if I stay here. I mean, there is not much I can do to help with the training anyway. And I think it would be better if I stayed here to keep up with the news just in case Toogaan shows up anywhere else you know.”

  “That is fine, and quite a clever idea actually. But just know that when all this is set and done, you are going to need some training as well if you really want to be the best sidekick,” Julian says.

  “He already is, he doesn’t need training for that,” Roy replies.

  A smile appears on Henry’s face and as he gives Roy a fist bump, he says, “Thanks, alright, I will stay here, and I will be fine. Go kick some ass in training.”

  “Will do!”

  “Only he is the one that will get his ass kicked,” Lexi replies with a smirk.

  “Alright, kids, let move and get serious,” Julian says, as he walks out of the apartment.

  Roy and Lexi quickly follow him and right before Roy closes the door behind him, he points at Henry and Henry points back at him.

  In the meanwhile, Mary, who just got done talking to a detective, walks through the hallway on the fourth floor of the hotel and as she gets in the elevator, her phone goes off. She immediately picks up and answers, “Mr. Einar, I told the police the story you wanted me to tell, and your name is clear. Also, no one got caught.”

  “I already know that our person of interest wasn’t caught, Mary, and thank you for doing such an excellent job with the police. I know you were one to be trusted. But, Mary, I call you because our friend needs a favor.”

  “Sure, what can I do?”

  “I want you to call Mr. Golden Poison.”

  Then there is a brief moment of silence and with a shocked and at the same time, surprised expression on her face, Mary asks, “Are… are you sure about that, Mr. Einar?”

  “Positive, Mary. Do not worry, he will not hurt any of us, in fact, he will be assigned with an extremely easy and simple job and after that, he will be gone again.”

  “Okay… uhm, so, what do I have to tell him?”

  Mr. Einar then tells her everything she needs to tell him and as he does that, Mary’s mouth falls wide open!

  The next day, while the sun has barely even risen yet, Roy, Julian, and Lexi return. Roy is heavily sweating, and it looks like he just got a beating. He immediately grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge and says, “Damn, that was intense and painful. A lot more painful than I thought it would be.”

  Lexi chuckles and as she pads him on his shoulder and grabs the bottle of water out of his hand to take a sip as well, Julian replies, “I do have to admit, I like the way you train, Lexi. Especially the way you teach. It was just what Roy needed.”

  “Yeah, now when Toogaan shows up he no longer has to do anything since I’m already beaten.”

  “Oh, stop being such a wuss, you actually did great,” Lexi replies.

  “She is right, we have made a lot of progress and I’m more than surprised by how fast you learn. Some of the things we did are already advanced, but it seemed you had quite an easy time, well, except when Lexi stepped in of course. You still have to improve yourself quite a lot before you can actually win a fist fight with a more advanced fighter.”

  “I know, I know, but what about my powers? I mean, everything went great. I changed a lot of small things, even small moving things, but am I able to, for example, change a skyscraper?”

  “The true potential of our power is not known yet, but I believe that if you put your mind to it, that eventually, you will be able to pull that off. But I do warn you that when changing a skyscraper, be sure that there are no longer people inside.”

  “I understand, but are you saying that you can’t change something of that size?”

  “I’m not quite sure, I’ve never felt the need to try.”

  “And here I am, unable to change anything, great talk, guys,” Lexi says with a smile.

  Roy laughs but then he looks into the living room and asks, “Hey, where is Henry?”

  Right at that moment, Henry, who looks as pale as a dead body, limps into the kitchen from the bathroom and mumbles, “I… I can’t feel… can’t feel my… legs.” Henry then drops face down to the floor and Roy, Julian, and Lexi immediately run up to him. Roy carefully turns Henr
y around and as he holds his head slightly up, he says, “Henry?! Henry?!” But Henry’s eyes won’t open, and Roy continues, “What’s wrong with him?! What happened?!”

  Lexi lies her hand on his chest and replies, “Don’t know, but his heart is still beating. Although it’s beating slow, it’s still working.”

  Julian takes a really good look at Henry and says, “Oh my… he’s been poisoned!”

  About an hour later, Henry, who is still unconscious, is lying on a hospital bed with Roy and Lexi seated on the bedside. Roy, who has a concerned expression on his face, is constantly tapping with his foot on the floor. “Roy, he is going to be alright, okay? The doctor said it himself, he got lucky, incredibly lucky, but he will make it out alive.”

  “I… I know that but… someone poisoned him, Lexi and even worse, we weren’t around to help him. I… I just feel so guilty you know. If we just would have forced him to come with us then he wouldn’t be lying here right now.”

  “That may be true, but he made the decision to stay at home and let’s be honest, no one expected that this would happen. Hell, we don’t even know who did it yet.”

  “Toogaan, I’m sure it was him.”

  “Wrong,” Julian says, as he comes walking into the room. Roy and Lexi immediately get up and Julian continues, “I have already figured out who poisoned Henry. He goes by the name of Mr. Golden Poison, which is inspired by the golden poison frog. He calls himself that because he is well known for poisoning people with the poison of the golden poison frog. The poison is called batrachotoxin, the same poison that was found in Henry’s bloodstream. But when entered into the bloodstream, it causes paralysis and, in most cases, a cruel and painful death.”

  “Oh my God, so, if we would have arrived later then Henry might have died?” Roy asks.

  “That is correct, but as the doctors, I am also incredibly surprised that Henry still lives. Normally the poison kills someone at a rapid pace. Just like the doctor said, Henry got extremely lucky.”