The Rise of Dark Flame

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  Quinn raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She smiled, but it was strained. “You like comics, right? I’m surprised your mentor hasn’t discussed this with you. All superheroes make some sort of sacrifice. I doubt you will be exempt from this truth.”

  Quinn took a deep breath and nodded, recalling the manifesto Ron wrote for him. “We talked about this. It’s actually the second point of the Superhero Responsibilities Manifesto he created for me.”

  Ana Maria smirked with amusement. “Curious. I’d love to see that someday.” She shifted her stance and leaned closer. “Tell me, have you learned how to channel your energy yet?”

  He stared at her blankly and shook his head.

  “You might have a different name for it, but it’s when you summon orgone and create a directed energy blast.”

  “Uh, like a laser beam?” Quinn asked.

  She nodded. “That is…a fair analogy.”

  “Will you teach me?” he asked as the door to the shop jingled. Several people entered the bookstore, laughing about something they said on the sidewalk.

  She smiled. “Absolutely, Quinn. I’ll also teach you how to absorb energy attacks and mask your presence from Blake and me.”

  ❖

  Quinn sat on the couch he found himself waking up on the night he was attacked in Goodwin Park. Ron and Stephanie walked back into the living room, each carrying a clothing box that resembled a department store holiday gift box. Each was wrapped with a blue ribbon.

  “This is for you, Blue Spekter,” Ron said. Stephanie grinned from ear to ear as her husband handed Quinn the first box. She sat down in one of the chairs next to the couch.

  “This isn’t a joke, right? This is what I think it is?” Quinn asked, looking up at his mentor.

  Ron and Stephanie looked at each other and smiled mischievously. “Well, it’s not a new car if you were expecting one,” Ron quipped.

  Quinn laughed and shook his head. “Nope.”

  “You should know my brother Jeremy begged and pleaded to meet you, but I said no for now. I feel like such a jerk, but I know you can’t risk giving up your secret identity. Anyway, this, Quinn McAlester, is your first official superhero suit.” He extended his hand toward the box as he spoke.

  Quinn lifted and shook the box. “This seems much lighter than the leather BMX jacket you showed me before.”

  Ron grinned and sat next to him on the couch. “Yeah, so about that. Based on our second conversation and the technology at Jeremy’s disposal, we opted for a classic, easily recognizable super suit, but don’t worry, it’s not quite the Olympic-style, glitter-laden spandex ice skating bodysuit you hoped for.”

  “Oh geez,” Quinn said, chuckling and rolling his eyes. Then, he slid the ribbon off the box and pulled the cover off. Setting it aside, he gently unfolded the blue and white tissue paper.

  “Oh wow,” he said, his face lighting up with surprise and excitement. “So, this is what we talked about, then?”

  Ron smiled, and his face lit up with geekish excitement. “A little bit of both. Jeremy and I discussed several designs but ultimately settled on practicality and what we knew would work best.”

  “How so?” Quinn said, admiring the richly blended, cobalt and azure blue hues of the fabric in the box.

  “Remember when I said I didn’t have access to advanced superhero fabrics?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn answered.

  “Well, I wasn’t entirely honest about that because I didn’t know what Jeremy could do these days. Your suit is made from a proprietary blend of materials my brother invented that the world has never seen before—mostly. You know how people talk about making the president’s business suits bulletproof?

  Quinn nodded. “Uh-huh.”

  “Of course, nobody knows if they’re bulletproof or not, but if they are, this suit is ten times better.”

  Ron paused for dramatic effect. “The fabric of your super-suit is a Kevlar-reinforced, synthetic spider silk blend which makes it super strong, durable, lightweight, breathable, and it disperses kinetic energy away from you—not that it will matter since you seem pretty indestructible. It’s also a flight-friendly fabric, meaning it’s low-friction. That means it has almost zero drag, unlike like normal clothes.”

  “Why on earth did your brother invent this?” Quinn asked.

  “His company lost the contract for the high-end bulletproof business suit fabrics to a shady, low-bidder. It really sucks when you’re undercut by an inferior product.”

  “So, he’s sitting on all this technology that no one wants?”

  Ron shrugged. “Someone wants it now, and he’s giving it to you.”

  Quinn pulled the top garment out of the box and grinned as he studied the blue material. Small hexagons woven into the fabric brought elasticity and strength to the material in his fingers. There was some extra material on the backside of the neck, but he was too engrossed in the colors to examine it. Near the neck, the color was lightest. The hues of blue changed to medium blues as the color gradient darkened from the neck to the waist.

  “After I explained how your body glowing mechanics worked and told him what you wanted from our discussion, my brother knew what to make. So, what you’re looking at resembles the Flash’s two-piece suit from the CW television show with the lightweight thinness of Spider-Man’s one-piece suit. We agreed we didn’t like the mechanics of a one-piece bodysuit because we both used to surf. Trust me when I tell you what a pain in the ass pulling on and off a wetsuit in a hurry can be. When Blue Spekter is needed, you won’t have time to waste. With this configuration, slip into the bottoms, pull on the top, and you’re ready to go.”

  “There’s a pair of special boots and a belt in this box, too,” Stephanie said, handing him the box.

  Quinn handed the top piece to Ron and set the first box aside. He pulled the ribbon and cover off the second box. Wrapped in blue and white tissue paper were a pair of rubber-soled dark-blue, nearly black boots and a matching belt.

  “Oh wow!”

  “Wait, let’s put this all together.” Ron stood and handed the pants to his wife. Then, he suspended the costume top over his outstretched arm. Stephanie unfolded the pants and held them up near the waist of the shirt. Quinn set the boots on the floor and held the color-matched belt in place at the waist.

  “Do you know how hard it is to find a super suit costume pattern that’s not already taken or copyrighted by the comic houses?” Ron asked.

  “No, not really,” Quinn answered truthfully.

  “Not that I think they’d sue you given you’re real and their creations are, well, creations, but still, we were up for the challenge.”

  “This is incredible,” Quinn answered, giddy at the awesomeness of his outfit. Like the costume’s top piece, the cobalt and azure blue hues darkened as the colors moved down from the waist to the ankles to a dark blue, almost black color. The boots matched, and they looked futuristic and cool, not clunky or awkward.

  “The design is awesome. I’m speechless. This is way more than I expected. I honestly thought I was going to be wearing a leather jacket.”

  “So, the only thing we took from the jacket, and Superman’s newer movie costumes, are the muscle tone accents you’ll notice when you’re wearing the costume.”

  Quinn studied the costume and saw subtle shifts in the hexagonal patterns that would emphasize the underlying muscles of his abs, pectorals, biceps, and probably his legs and back as well. He knew it would make him appear visually striking and stronger.

  “By the way, this is the best part,” Ron said. Holding both shoulders of the shirt, he flipped the extra fabric from the back to the front. “This is your cowl. It’s made to fit over your head and face like the Flash’s cowl does.”

  Quinn smiled. “This is so cool.”

  “Would you like to try it on?” Stephanie asked.

  “Absolutely,” Quinn said.

  They handed him the costume pieces and pointed toward t
he back bedroom. Quinn dashed away and stripped, forgetting to close the door. Ron spoke to him from the other room as he changed.

  “My brother suggested you wear some kind of sports or dry wick underwear under the pants. If you want to, you could also wear a dry wick shirt, but otherwise the material should not be irritating to your body. Obviously, do what works best for you.”

  “Okay,” Quinn answered, tossing his clothes on the guest bed. Then, he pulled on the tights, the top, slipped into the futuristic-looking boots that mimicked the skin-tight appearance of his tights, and clicked the belt into place. A special piece of modesty fabric kept his genitals hidden from public view, an attention to detail he appreciated. Then, he stepped into the living room and faced Ron and Stephanie. Their eyes and awe-struck faces told him all he needed to know as he slid the cowl into place over his head and illuminated his eyes.

  “That is so freaking awesome!” Ron shouted, mouth agape. Quinn chuckled as he watched his mentor embrace his nerdiest self in Blue Spekter’s presence. Then, he made his body glow—and it was startlingly bright.

  “Oh wow, I had no idea how much jeans and sweatpants were dimming my super-light.”

  “You look great!” Stephanie exclaimed.

  “What’s this for?” Quinn asked, pulling at the waistband and pointing at extra fabric on the inside of his right hip.”

  “I’m not looking down your trousers, Quinn,” Ron quipped.

  Quinn rolled his eyes and chuckled.

  “It’s a pocket for your phone,” Ron answered.

  “Oh wow, that’s awesome.”

  “My brother is making a few more suits for you; I’ll have them in a day or two. We can evolve the costume as you use it, but we’ll need your feedback to improve its design.”

  “There’s already one problem,” Quinn said.

  “What’s that?” Ron asked, an eyebrow raised in concern.

  “I love it!”

  They laughed and smiled as Quinn took a few minutes to flex and pose in the large mirror mounted over the bureau in the guest bedroom. Ron was right; the hexagonal patterns and anatomical accents emphasized the strength of his developed muscles and he loved it.

  ❖

  The next day, Quinn feigned sickness so he could stay home from school—something he never did—and his trusting dads allowed him to stay home. He used the morning to get ahead on a project for school and when he felt distracted, he researched orgone energy on the Internet again. While the former proved productive, the latter offered no more success than his previous attempts. His cellphone alarm rang at eleven fifteen and he texted his dads to let them know he was feeling better and had done some homework.

  That ought to keep them from checking in for the next hour or so.

  He pulled out his new super suit and slipped into it. He set the cowl into place and flexed in the mirror a few times, admiring the way the suit emphasized his muscle tone. Then, he closed his bedroom door, turned invisible, and slipped out one of the windows.

  Blue Spekter flew toward Pease Trade Port and spotted the damaged Stratotanker on the tarmac, still parked in between several other tankers. As expected, he saw Captain Prett pacing back-and-forth in front of the broken aircraft. Blue Spekter slowed his approach and called out, “Arms up!”

  David spun around and looked up at him, confused.

  “Arms up and turn around!” Blue Spekter called out again. David did as he was told. Without landing, Blue Spekter swooped in behind him, wrapped his arms around David’s torso, and took off.

  “Oh wow!” David yelled, wrapping his arms tightly around Blue Spekter’s arms.

  “I bet you’ve never flown like this before!” Blue Spekter exclaimed.

  “No, I haven’t! This is…this is…so darn cool” he replied with his thick, Southern accent.

  Blue Spekter flew low over the land and then headed out over the open ocean to avoid public eyes. Then, he accelerated and flew up the harbor until he reached some small rocks in the water collectively known as Fishing Island. Blue Spekter landed slowly and set the laughing captain down.

  David turned around, his face flush with excitement and joy. “That was so awesome!”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Blue Spekter smiled, happy he had given the man his first out-of-plane flight experience. “You said there was always someone watching Pease, so I figured it was safer to meet somewhere else.”

  David nodded and became serious. “Okay, you called; what is it you need?”

  Blue Spekter powered down and stopped glowing.

  “Wow, you finally got a suit!” David said, looking him up and down.

  “Cool, huh?”

  David nodded, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Very.”

  “Remember when we talked at Pease and I told you a storm was coming?”

  David frowned. “Yeah, you mentioned this super-secret organization that doesn’t want to be found.”

  Blue Spekter sensed the disbelief in David’s voice.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what to believe any more. You can fly, push an airplane, and, hell, do things I read about in comics as a kid. I’m at a lost when it comes to figuring out what’s real or normal anymore.”

  Blue Spekter smiled. “That organization has a name; they’re called The Order. It’s an acronym that stands for Orgone Regenerative and Directed Energy Response.” Blue Spekter explained everything he knew to David about the clandestine group and the work they were doing to create new, super-powered humans.

  David sat on a rock and rubbed his temples with his fingers. “So um, what do you need from me?”

  “I sense you don’t believe me, but I’m not worried about that because I’m offering you the chance to prove it to yourself by helping me. What I need is information about The Order.”

  David looked up at him. “With all the secrets my team knows about and the information we hold, I’ve never, ever heard of the organization you described. I did a little checking and it turned up nothing.”

  “I’m not surprised. They’ve done a fantastic job of keeping themselves off the Internet, but I know their systems are networked and that means there has to be a datacenter somewhere that holds all their secrets. I need your team to discover a way to infiltrate The Order’s networked systems and look at everything, including where the other reactors are.”

  David nodded. “I would need access to one of the facilities. You said there was a reactor here in Portsmouth. Where is it?”

  Blue Spekter turned and pointed upriver toward Seavey Island. “Right there.”

  David shielded his eyes from the glaring sun and looked out over the water, following Blue Spekter’s extended arm.

  “You’re kidding me, the naval shipyard?” he asked incredulously.

  “Just before that, actually.”

  David squinted and looked again. “Are you trying to tell me the old castle-looking building is an evil lair?”

  “Yup. The reactor is built into the central tower. Parts of the old naval prison have been renovated into offices and workstations with all kinds of advanced, futuristic looking equipment.”

  “How do you know this?” David asked, regarding him with dubious concern.

  “Um, well, when I discovered where it was, I checked it out. One of my abilities is turning invisible.”

  “So, you’re not above breaking and entering?” David quipped.

  “Is it breaking and entering when it belongs to evil people who threaten the world?” he retorted, slightly exasperated.

  “Uh…that’s a complicated answer.”

  “Yeah, so anyway. Orgonon in Rangeley and the old naval prison in Portsmouth are the only two facilities I know about. Don’t forget about all the theoretical mega-fusion reaction stuff and their desire to make more super humans.”

  “Okay, I understand the urgency of your request. I’ll get my team on this as quickly as possible.” The Captain paused, thought for a moment, then continued. “In fact
, I’ll have them fly in and we’ll discreetly set up shop somewhere in town.”

  “How do you do all this and still have time for flying?” Blue Spekter asked.

  David smiled. “I don’t fly as often as I let on. The pilot thing is more about keeping up appearances to keep enemy threats and other spy agencies off my tail. It’s a far stretch for them to believe an active Air Force pilot could secretly run a top-secret military cyber-reconnaissance and infiltration team.”

  Blue Spekter chuckled “You’ve got a point there. There’s just…one more thing.”

  “The Order is everywhere. The police chief of this town is a member who’s finally seen the error of her ways which means you could have double agents on your team. You might even be one…”

  “I am not a member of The Order, Blue Spekter,” David said.

  “Good. But check out your team. If Victor Kraze gets wind of this investigation…I don’t know what he’ll have Dark Flame do to stop you—and you won’t survive a battle with him.”

  “All right. Trust me when I say I understand the need to vet my people. How about we head back, but could I ask a favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Fly me around the Isle of Shoals once or twice?”

  Blue Spekter laughed and clapped his hands. “Sure thing. Arms up!” A moment later, Blue Spekter rocketed out to sea and flew David out to the Isle of Shoals.

  ❖

  With Chief Applegate and the police now on his side, Blue Spekter freely flew high above Portsmouth, testing the flight dynamics of his new suit. Though he never felt drag from his sweatpants, sweatshirts, hoodies, or jeans, he felt faster and more agile in the air. This has got to be a mind game; can it really be that different in this outfit?

  One of the local tourist helicopters flew up the coast from Rye, so he flew by it—maintaining a non-threatening distance—and waved at the people in the cockpit. They waved back, and he banked right, flying over Peirce Island toward Leary Field. From several miles up, he looked down and a bright orange light caught his eye. His super vision revealed Dark Flame igniting into a living fire of purple and orange in the police headquarters parking lot. He also saw Dark Flame advancing toward Chief Applegate.