Brenden Shouse -
Ex Supervillain
Copyright © 2020 by Brenden Shouse -
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Dedication
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
Acknowledgments
Links
Dedication
To Sarah, I know this book always had a special place in your heart.
1
Chapter 1
I, Markus Flanagan, the terror of the night, the boogeyman of Newopolis, sat talking to the branch manager of Newopolis Community Bank. I focused on the faded plastic flowers that sat in a glass cup. The flowers rested on a faux wood desk. Cheap and fake, just like the man sitting behind it.
My daughter sat next to me. Little Tanya wasn’t so little anymore. The manager usually would’ve thrown us out, but of course, the man didn’t know that he was sitting next to a “retired” super-villain, but the normal human Markus Flanagan still carried a lot of weight. Graying hair at the temples, a firm jawline despite my age, and dark eyes that swallowed one like an abyss, made me an intimidating figure.
No, despite the arrogant sliminess of the bank employee, he knew a powerful man when he saw one. Men who could emulate my relaxed posture were either conmen or gifted. A wise bank manager would be cautious of both.
I blinked. The bank manager’s voice had gotten much deeper… no, slower. My eyes snapped towards my daughter. Her mouth was moving slowly, and her words were slurred. I felt the urge to flee, but resisted.
“Idiot,” I thought, “no one would rob a dump like this. Flanagan, you’re getting old and nervous. What kind of—-”
The door at the far end of the bank exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction. I lurched forward and threw Tanya to the ground and rolled over her to shield her. She’d be furious, but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
A small part in the back of my mind was disgusted as the costumed buffoons waltzed into the bank. The one walking in front wore a maroon unitard with a face mask and an unmarked leather jacket. He swaggered up to the teller. No matter what the criminal’s moniker was, the twisted part of my brain had already named him Hot-Leather.
Hot-Leather leaned against the teller’s desk and lifted his index finger. The room felt perceptibly warmer, and the air around the man’s finger swirled like a disturbed pond, or the exhaust coming out of an old diesel truck from the 21st century.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Hot-Leather said, “please don’t cause any trouble. I’ve already had a bad day.” An elderly man with a walker and a knitted wool shirt raised his hand. I looked away, not sure what to feel; pity for the man or disgust that one day I would be that weak.
“You need to see the Lord, young man. He gave you these powers, how can you use them like this?”
The man’s wife’s arms flailed, trying to shush him and cover his mouth, “I’m sorry, sir, please, he doesn’t know what he’s saying.” She bowed as low as she could while still keeping her hand over her husband’s mouth. Hot-Leather jumped off of the teller’s desk and stood on the ground. He stood up and walked over to the old couple. I felt the heat building inside of my chest. I looked down at Tanya. Her eyes widened as she saw the look in mine. I hated this kind of criminal.
I stood up and brushed myself off. I took a deep breath. I hadn’t beat the ever-loving crap out of someone in a long time. I looked around the room. One of the other thugs was dressed in a green ninja costume, another in a tux with an all-white face mask, and the last thug was invisible, but the thing’s glowing eyes made him easy to find. The older woman screamed, and my eyes snapped back to Hot-Leather. He had grabbed her husband by the cardigan and lifted him into the air.
“Hey, what kind of ghetto thug threatens the elderly?” I blurted out. Hot-Leather turned around. The grinding of his teeth made me smile.
“You wanna go, old man?”
“Old man has a name, Grinder.” The heads of the other three goons snapped towards me. Hot-Leather and the one I decided to name Cultural-Appropriation both took a step back.
“Bull,” Hot-Leather said.
“If you say so,” I shrugged. Hot-Leather spread his hands, and a heat distortion filled each side. Cultural-Appropriation and the others took a couple of steps back and turned back to grab the money. I ignored them. I was focused on something else.
“I heard about you, man. They said that Grinder was a tough SOB. Too bad, it really sucks to see your heroes get old,” he said. I felt my anger get cold. The heat in my chest died down and was replaced with excitement. It had been too long.
“Come and get it, crap-for-brains,” I smirked.
Hot-Leather howled and threw the heat in his hands towards me. I spun out of the way, and they both flew past. The second one nearly touched my cheek. I could feel the heat in my face. If the rest of them were this powerful, it was going to be a long day. I charged towards the leather-clad wanna be and hit him in the chest. The two of us flew back into the bank’s desks. I looked up, Hot-Leather hit his head and was shaking it to try to drive out the fog. I slammed my meaty fist into his hand. The heat in his hands burned him, blisters from the heat curled up his arm as he screamed. I kneed him in the gut. It was overkill, but old habits die hard.
“Oh, now you’re gonna pay, old man!”
I spun around and swung my fist. The green ninja flew back through the air, hit the linoleum, and slid to the drywall. I spun again and met the slender felon. The masked criminal threw a punch, and I threw his arm up and quickly dodged it. Amateur. I returned the favor by launching an elbow into the tuxedo-wearing criminal’s jaw. I let my instincts tell me where the final thug was, and I spun around and locked eyes with the invisible man. Rainbow colored eyes stared back at me and narrowed to slits.
“You’re not the first invisible opponent that I’ve fought,” I said.
“I know.”
“From who? Your father?”
“Mother.”
Oh boy. I scanned the room for something long and heavy. The way to beat a partially hidden attacker was to grab something that gave you a ton of reach and to beat the hell out of them without letting them get close. I was lucky this guy didn’t have a sensory gift as well, or he’d be able to obscure himself completely. That would’ve been a pain in my posterior. Tanya was getting to me with her anti-swearing campaign.
“I’m sorry about your mom. Come here and I’ll give you a hug,” I smirked. I glanced towards Tanya. She’d hidden behind the banker�
��s desk and held a massive splinter from the door in her left hand. I resisted the urge to smile. She would’ve been able to hold her own, even without powers, I’d made sure of that.
I walked over to the invisible man. He would be tough to beat. You couldn’t predict the moves an invisible person was going to make. You had to watch their shoulders for that. If you couldn’t see what your opponent was going to do, then you’d take a beating.
“So,” the final goon said, “The Grinder, is nothing more than a Tweener.” The voice chuckled, “Here I thought that there was going to be a challenge.”
I cracked my neck, “This Tweener still kicked three of your rears, and it’s about to be four.” Sirens howled in the distance. Help would be here soon. I grimaced, that’ll be the day. “Come get me, Twinkle-Toes.”
The glowing eyes zoomed toward me. I flexed my biceps and pulled my right arm back, getting ready to swing. The eyes zoomed closer. Hatred spewed from them. I kicked, missed, and fell forward. I rolled over and felt the air whoosh out of me. The eyes flew back as the goon jumped off of my chest and did a somersault, landing five feet away from my feet. Why couldn’t he be as stupid as the others? I glanced over towards Tanya. She still had the long wooden shard in a white-knuckled grip in her left hand.
“Throw it here,” I whispered. Tanya pulled her arm back and threw it towards me. I caught it and spun back towards Twinkle-Toes. The glowing eyes narrowed to slits. The two eyes tilted side to side as he cracked his neck.
“The only way you’re leaving is in a body bag,” Twinkle-Toes snarled.
“Same here,” I said.
“Go to hell, old man.”
“Take your own advice.”
The eyes flew towards me, and a howl filled the air. I smiled and slid my leg back into a familiar karate stance. I held the stick at my side, waiting. The violet eyes flew through the air towards me. Wait for it. The eyes glided over debris. They were locked on mine. Now! I swung the glorified splinter forward, directly in front of where Twinkle-Toes’ heart should be. The rainbow eyes opened wide.
It was too late, I grunted from the impact and slid back a couple of inches over the dusty marble floor. Twinkle-Toes screamed a blood-curdling cry, and the illusion fell away and revealed a naked, twenty-something year old man. He fell to his knees. I bent down. I’d gotten the kid above the heart. I’d missed an artery, but probably broken the kid’s collarbone. He would make it.
“I-I-I,” the kid stuttered.
“You’re fine. I missed anything important.”
The kid grimaced and spat on the ground. “I’m gonna kill you.”
“Maybe someday, kid,” I said with a shrug. The siren’s shut off from outside. I took two steps away from the kid and got down on my knees. I put his hands behind his head and shot a glance over at Tanya. I shoved down the surge of anger. It wasn’t my fault Tanya was going to go through this, it would’ve happened anyway. “Close your eyes and try to cover your mouth.”
I fought the scowl back and tried to smile reassuringly. The cops were especially brutal when the Enhanced were involved. This was going to be a very, very long day.
2
Chapter 2
I tried to breathe. When I got angry, it wasn’t that cold, calculating anger that so many of my old buddies had been able to master. My anger was hot, messy. The cop sitting across from me looked like he knew that.
“So, you’re trying to tell me you weren’t involved?” He asked.
I smiled, “So, you’re trying to tell me that you don’t have access to the bank’s cameras?” The room was small. A large window faced us. My instincts told me that there were a lot of bodies on the other side of the wall.
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” The man asked. It wasn’t a threat. It was the sound of a scared puppy trying to fight a German Shepard.
“No, do you?” I shot back. The door opened. A dark, lean woman walked in. Her dress was appropriate, but plain. She sat down and steepled her fingers over her knee.
“Perfect timing,” she smiled. I leaned back in my chair. Cops didn’t break hardened criminals with cheap tricks and big scary rooms. “You can go now,” she motioned to the policeman with her hand. The officer jumped out of his chair and walked out of the room. The lanky woman swaggered over to the chair and sat down.
“Mr. Flanagan, my name is Veronica.”
“How much longer will this take?” I asked. Veronica gritted her teeth, but stopped just as quickly.
Her face easily regained its composed look, “We could easily charge you.”
“Which is why I’m currently in a cell, right?”
“Do you honestly think I’m going to let you walk out of here?”
“Yes,” I said. Her face tightened and relaxed. She glanced down and opened her binder. “You’ve robbed a lot of banks in your time.”
“I don’t see my lawyer.”
“You went by… what was it, The Grinder?”
“Still don’t see my lawyer.”
She gritted her teeth again and took a deep breath. I reached for the paper cup sitting in the middle of the table. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll ha-” I laughed. She glared at me and tried to smile.
“If you’re not going to charge me, I think I’ll just go.”
“If you walk out that door—” she started. I scooted my chair back and stood up. I dusted my shirt and nodded.
“Have a wonderful day, Veronica. It was nice to meet you.”
“Sit down now,” she demanded.
“Oh, have I been charged?”
Veronica’s shoulders shook, and she stood up, “You are going to sit in that chair, do you hear me?”
“Do you hear yourself?” I walked over to the door and turned the knob. It was locked. I turned back to look at the fuming tower of rage named Veronica and smiled. “I’m sorry about your door.” I squeezed the doorknob and turned. The door opened, and I stepped out into the hallway. A cop in a dark blue uniform looked at me and mouthed something. “Which way?” I said, ignoring whatever he mouthed. He pointed to my right and stuttered. I nodded and walked down the hallway.
I fought to keep my hands from shaking. I felt my anger spread all over me. Everything suddenly turned red. I turned down the hallways that snaked around the police station and tried to cool down. Behind my anger, I could feel my mind working. This wasn’t going to be the last time I dealt with that woman. She had a stick up her rear, and she was determined to use it on me.
I felt myself smiling, good. I’ll deal with Veronica when I have to. I looked up at a camera and snapped my head back down. I wasn’t going to cause more trouble. Neither Tanya nor I needed that. I burst into the waiting room. I scanned the sketch assortment of people sitting in the rusty gray folding chairs. A lady behind the desk stared at me and picked up the phone. She started dialing. I ignored her and kept looking for Tanya.
“Dad!” A hundred fifty-pound bundle of pure joy slammed into my chest. I felt like all of the stress was pulled out of me.
I smiled, “Let’s go home.” She nodded before we both made our way out the door.
The wipers squeaked back and forth, offering seconds of visibility through the downpour. The pattering of rain has always seemed so calming.
“Did the cops give you problems?” Tanya asked.
“No, they recorded everybody’s statements and let us go.”
“So, uh, Dad, I was wondering… The Grinder?” She asked. A cold knot seemed to build in my stomach.
I took a deep breath., “That was a long time ago.” I turned left onto Dickens St. The black van behind me also turned. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“The Grinder… killed people,” she said quietly.
“Only bad people, Tanya.”
“Did Mom know about this?” She asked. I turned left down an old alley. Kids were huddled against the walls of the buildings. The van turned down the alley behind me. The ball in the pit of my stomach seemed to grow even more.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
We reached the end of the alley. I turned left again. The people in the van had to have a reason to follow Tanya and I. It wasn’t the police. They wouldn’t go that far. My old friends would come themselves to see if I was back in the game. No, this had to be something else. Maybe the gang of wannabe thugs I had beaten up had some friends.
“How would I tell you that? Your father is a retired criminal with a clean record who also happens to have superpowers.”
“Tweener powers.”
“I’ve had them for almost forty years.”
“That’s quite the adolescence.”
“Ha.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked again.
“Where is this coming from, Tanya?”
“It happened when you admitted to being a murderer.”
The van turned towards my jeep. I wish I had one of those amphibious vehicles that were so popular right now. The ocean stretched out in front of me. Tanya and I neared the Cheakore Bridge. Weaving in and out of traffic might give us enough wiggle room to lose them downtown.
“It was self-defense.”
“Really? Dozens of confirmed kills. You don’t think any of them were murders?” She pressed.
“Only a couple were murders.”
“I’m sure they were justified.”
“They were.” I floored it. My old rust bucket lurched forward as I sped down the on-ramp. A semi started honking at us, and I kept my foot on the gas and merged. His bumper was less than a foot away from my back bumper. The car slowed for a second and then lurched into a higher gear.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
“Black van, three cars back, it’s been following us since we left.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” I sighed. I changed lanes again and looked down at the speedometer. We were going eighty-five in a fifty-five. I glanced behind me. The black van was still following us. I swerved in and out of traffic as I kept gaining speed.
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