The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “Agree to disagree,” I said.

  “Fair enough,” Fiver said. “I'm going to crash. I've got to sort out some money so we can get you into this thing next week.”

  “Yeah, I've got to drive.” Jen and I took off.

  Wiki Entry: Liberty Squad

  Liberty Squad was one of the last Communist fighting government supra-teams when Gravicide attacked them at a bridge ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2008. Despite Gravicide's power level he was considered something of a joke of a villain. His early activities included levitating an entire department store and offering it to the woman that would become his bride. He also lifted the entire town of Guthrie, Oklahoma into the air proclaiming that he would rule it as the 'sky-emperor'. Gravicide was without imagination, and a narrow thinker, which allowed government super teams to rather easily disable him, though he wasn't so easy to capture. In an interview with People Magazine, King Scarab expressed his low opinion of the villain, and probably sparked the Liberty Squad massacre.

  Gravicide killed nearly 50 people, and decimated the Liberty Squad. King Scarab's armor (and he inside it) was crushed down into a little cube. Rockface was broken down into pebbles and scattered across the waters. The forces keeping Electrophase's bio-electric body together were removed and her body was dispersed. Arc-Fire was launched off into the air and burned up returning to earth. The air the Scavenger breathed was made so heavy that he collapsed, and his chest burst open as he lay face down on the ground.

  Prior to his death, King Scarab had provided 20 sets of armor for military special forces. The ties between supra-tech and the inventor would explain why none of it worked after his death, but the tie wasn't fully understood then, and the military didn't admit that their expensive and powerful armor no longer worked. For years, much study had been invested in 'supra-tech' that was believed would revolutionize the world, solve global warming and end pollution. The problem was that most supra-tech could only be replicated by the supra's themselves, was buggy, or worked off of 'voodoo' principles.

  Wiki Entry: Winston 'Pipes' Brown

  In 2009, Philadelphia's transit system was paralyzed. The city had switched over to a public transportation system designed by supra-inventor Winston 'Pipes' Brown. Winston's tube system was fast, non-polluting, and affordable to everyone. It was Brown's brainchild and utilized a power system he had developed. Philadelphia was being heralded as a blueprint for the city of the future and Boston had just won a bid to be the next of Brown's 'pipe cities', when Brown died of heart failure at age 85. Philadelphia's transit system came to an immediate halt at the moment of Brown's death. No one was ever able to restart the tubes. The transit disaster led to Philadelphia's bankruptcy the next year. The death of Brown was the death of 'supratech' as a business model. Supra-technology could not be expected to survive the death of the supra involved.

  June 12, 2021

  We had a quiet week leading up to the auction. Jen had signed on to do some contracting work with for an IT security company, and she buried herself in her project, emerging to shop for a dress, and to remind me to get a tux. Fiver disappeared out of town for a while. The invitations to the event arrived Friday. Fiver called that night and said he'd meet us there.

  The event was held in the famous Sky Gardens on the 35th floor of the Silvers Building; a beautiful modern building in the center of downtown Santa Maria. The bar opened at 7, with bidding to begin at 9. We arrived promptly at 7, which made us awkwardly among the first guests there, but convenient since they had added an extra level of security on the ground floor and at the elevators as well.

  I suspected the rest of the early arrivals were the serious bidders. They were mostly older gentlemen in their sixties and their wives or, in at least two cases, escorts. We crammed into the express elevator to the 35th Floor with them and a ridiculously good-looking guy. Jen couldn't take her eyes off of him. For the ride up, I told myself she was staring because he was a celebrity, but when we got to the Sky Garden she said,

  “Did you see how amazing that guy looked? I wonder who he is.”

  The walls of the Sky Garden are windows that reach six stories high. The views were gorgeous in every direction, the ocean to the west and the mountains to the east. The sun had just begun to change the color of the sky as it approached the sea when we arrived. The various items to be auctioned were set up around the outside perimeter of the garden in front of the amazing glass walls. The really good-looking guy wandered over to read the description of an item while we got in line at the bar behind the older people. The men all ordered Scotch, so I did the same. Jen had champagne as the other ladies did. There was of course, no charge, because that's how the superrich do things.

  The First Families Foundation was actually a pretty solid charity, in a world of shady charities. I did my research before the event. Their CEO did not accept a paycheck, and they didn't spend a lot of money on raising money. It seemed as if they simply used peer pressure in a very exclusive peer group, and when people found out about it, they gave to get into the group, and to support a good cause. When similar charities sprouted up in other cities, First Families didn't sue them, and they worked together instead of trying to compete. They did have a good deal with the city, state and federal governments, which meant that they could get things like the Iron Maiden's mask and the journals of The Merchant of Menace and raise a ton of money.

  Once we had drinks in hand, we took a look at the items set to be auctioned off. In addition to the aforementioned items, they were auctioning off a pair of Sentinel's gloves, Calliope's oldest surviving uniform, and autographs from Glory Knight and Boy Scout. The items' description said that the authenticity of the items had been verified by the Foundation.

  “I wonder how they do that?” Jen said.

  “I suspect they were donated directly, like Sentinel flew in through a window and handed off his gloves.”

  “I don't know if I trust it. They've got every reason to lie.”

  “Until they're proved to have lied and then their entire business model disintegrates.”

  We were working our way around clockwise, catching up to the handsome gentleman, who was lingering at the Catchpenny armor. It was a hulking beast of gray metal standing on the floor. The left arm drill extension was still in place, but the flamethrower had been removed from the right arm. The hydraulics that let Catchpenny leap over buildings and run at about 40 mph were still unlike anything that industry could duplicate. The optics were supposedly very rudimentary, but the movement and strength that the exo-skeleton provided were light years ahead of anything industry produced.

  Compared to King Scarab's armor, this was like sumo-wrestler, and King Scarab was an NFL linebacker. King Scarab's armor was smooth externally with the systems inside; it didn't take away his agility and speed. Catchpenny's armor had external mounts for weapons and provided him with massive strength and armor, but at the cost of any nimbleness or stealth. It was a massive, clunky machine.

  “Wonder how they got it up here,” I said. “And if they opened it up and drained the fluids or if it's all intact.”

  “Helicopter,” said the handsome man. “The news ran a story on it last night. The balcony there is actually a helicopter pad, it's too small for a helicopter big enough to get this, so they used a Navy helo and a couple of cargo experts to bring it in on a sling.”

  “Hi, I'm Jen,” said Jen.

  “Rob Harris,” said Rob. He shook our hands.

  “Tom,” I introduced myself. “Will you be bidding on this?”

  “No, not sure it would fit with the current décor in my condo. You?”

  “It'd look great in my living room, but it's probably out of my price range.”

  “Hell of a conversation starter, though.”

  “Indeed.”

  “So what have you got your eye on?” Rob asked.

  “There's a signed Kinks album from Union Jacked's collection that looked cool,” Jen said.

  “The Citadel tour looks interes
ting,” I added.

  “I'd be too afraid to be that close to that many supra-criminals,” Rob said.

  “It's not like they can break out. Most of them are asleep, anyway.” Part of the Citadel was sleep-farms, for the more dangerous supras that couldn't be contained if they were allowed to be awake. It satisfies the anti-Capital Punishment crowd, by keeping a lot of supras off death row, but there is also the death row, to satisfy the pro-death penalty types. The law was that you couldn't be executed if you weren't awake for it. Since the most powerful supra-criminals couldn't be allowed to be conscious and have the use of their powers, the sleep farms were the legal and moral compromise.

  “Still, it only has to be that one time that something goes incredibly wrong. I guess I'm just the nervous type.”

  “I get that,” I said. “Seems like every time I go to the bank, it's getting robbed by a supra.”

  “I feel like that here. You get this much supra-stuff together, it's bound to attract the attention of some insane supra. Sorry, that was weird of me. Been watching too much of the news lately. Gets the imagination flowing. Anyway, it was good to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  Rob continued on to the manikin wearing Calliope's costume. We stood back a little bit.

  “Think she washed it before she donated it?” Jen asked.

  “Looks like it has burns and bloodstains,” I said.

  “Fairly gross.”

  “Yeah, but you notice the Catchpenny armor doesn't have any sort of combat scars? It doesn't look very used at all.”

  “It was probably a prototype they recovered after he was captured,” she said.

  A group swarmed over the area and crowded us out. We retreated to the open bar.

  “I'm surprised Fiver isn't here,” Jen said. I started to look around. “I mean, literally here at the bar. An open bar, that's got to be a dream come true for him.”

  “I'm not sure that he pays for drinks at Cal's.”

  “You mean Murphy's?”

  “Yeah, Murphy's bar that Cal owns. Is he Cal Murphy, or did he buy a bar and keep the name?”

  “I can't be bothered to check right now, but that reminds me I wanted to show you something when we get back to your place.”

  “So you're back to staying over?”

  “Yeah, I just had a bad week, needed the space.”

  “Cool.” I saw Cal and waved him over.

  “What's up?” he said.

  “I didn't know you'd be here,” Jen said. “You look great in your tux.”

  “Thanks, you both clean up well. I scarcely recognized you.”

  “Did you come with Fiver?”

  Cal glanced around to confirm we were out of earshot of anyone. Quietly, he said, “Probably don't want to use that name here. His name is Edison Quinn.” Then he answered, “No, he wanted me here, just in case. But we came separately.”

  “In case of what?” Jen asked.

  “Something happens.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don't know. He gets drunk and starts hitting on the Foundation hosts.”

  We stayed near the bar at one of the dozen tables you could place a few glasses on and not much more. We saw Fiver splashed out in his tux talking with a guy who looked like a Saudi Prince.

  “They look like best friends,” Jen said. He looked to Cal for an explanation.

  “Beats me, I just met the guy,” Cal said.

  From that group, Fiver went to the bar, grabbed a whiskey and walked over. He introduced himself as Edison Quinn, like he had no idea who we were and asked to join us.

  “So, who was the gentleman in the Middle Eastern garb, there,” Jen asked.

  “That's the Emir of California,” Fiver said. “Great guy, very enlightened.”

  “How's that?”

  Fiver held up his left hand. “Islam.” And his right, “California laidback surfer attitude.” He put his hands together. “The Emir of California. Do not talk religion with him; he'll convert you in an hour. Great guy. If you ever get invited to his house for dinner, you go. It will last for four hours, best food you've ever had, just amazing.”

  “How much longer until this thing kicks off?” Jen asked.

  “Like twenty minutes,” I said.

  “I'll be right back.” She headed for the ladies room.

  “I need to introduce you to the Foundation CEO later,” Fiver said.

  “Cal said you think there's going to be some trouble here tonight,” I said.

  “I don't think there is going to be trouble here tonight. I think that if there was going to be trouble tonight, it would likely be here, and if there was trouble, we'd probably want to be around for it.”

  “So are you guys a team or something?”

  “We're just two guys who really like supra-memorabilia,” said Fiver

  “And trouble,” Cal added.

  “So you don't think anything is actually going to happen?”

  “Of course not,” Fiver said.

  An explosion shattered a window across the garden patio. I flinched instinctively. Screams and running people came from that direction. A handful of guards tried to push around and past them. I could see directly to the window. Two women and a man known as the Sky Bandits flew through in tight black uniforms, capes and masks. The responding guards began to shoot immediately. Windshear knocked them all aside with a blast of wind. One guard retained his weapon and continued to shoot. Skyfall crushed him with her gravity power. He screamed as his body succumbed to the increased weight. Tommy Dust stepped over him, leading the way forward.

  I'd like to say that I was smart enough to run, or brave enough to stay, but neither is true. I was too scared to run, or too interested in what would happen next. I lost track of Cal. Fiver calmly finished his drink. The crowd from the reception area and bar fled to the area near the elevators, some opting for the stairs to get out of the crowd. The people in the rest of the Sky Gardens retreated from the display are to the backside of the gardens, perhaps to hide in the foliage or maybe just to get out of the way.

  Windshear and Tommy Dust walked towards the displays. Skyfall floated behind them. They headed towards the displayed items. Fiver put down his glass. He had a death stare aimed at Tommy Dust.

  Fiver left his glass on the table and took a step towards the Sky Bandits. He stopped after one as Free Force flew in the window, four masked figures in dazzling white. Paragon led the team. His barrel chested bravado reminded me of a young Sentinel, only Paragon couldn't fly. He and Liberty were dropped off by Concord who landed and stood to their left. A strange humming noise followed him. Providence flew in, and stood to Paragon's right. Free Force struck a heroic pose. The Sky Bandits, a hundred feet ahead of them, didn't notice. Paragon charged with big lumbering steps that alerted his targets all at once. The Sky Bandits turned to face Free Force.

  Paragon slowed rapidly, his running becoming a difficult walk. He plodded on, barely being able to stand upright as Skyfall manipulated the gravity around him. Concord and Providence flew forward. The air shimmered around Concord as Tommy Dust superheated it. He arrived near the Bandits in a weakened state, but still managed to aim a strong enough sonic boom to knock Tommy Dust back a step.

  Windshear threw a blast of wind that carried Liberty back out the window, to begin a 35-story free fall. Providence whooshed after her, through the window and straight down.

  Skyfall turned her power on Concord, bringing him to the ground in a heap, and letting Paragon spring forward. She kicked Concord in the head, sending a spray of blood across Paragon's white uniform. Tommy Dust started to heat up Paragon, as he closed in for a punch, and Skyfall switched back to targeting Paragon with her power, weighing him down. Paragon's fist missed as Skyfall intensified the gravitational forces around him. Skyfall stepped back to let the heat take effect. Paragon collapsed.

  For a moment, the chaos evaporated, everyone was still until Providence appeared at the window with Liberty in her arms. Skyfall effortlessly pic
ked up Paragon and hurled him towards the window. He floated like a wobbly Frisbee. Providence threw Liberty inside and reached for a near weightless Paragon as he exited the building. She grabbed a hold just as Skyfall reversed the weightlessness. Paragon dropped and Providence fell with him, fighting the enhanced gravity.

  Liberty was a blur as she sprinted towards the Sky Bandits. Fiver moved at the same time, approaching behind the cover of rose bushes. Liberty ran into the middle of the Bandits and managed to land a punch on Tommy Dust before the Sky Bandits simply flew above her. Liberty grabbed Concord and ran. Skyfall didn't seem to be able to weigh down the elusive hero, instead targeting Concord. Liberty did her best to drag him away, but was stopped. She dodged Tommy Dust's heat wave, and blasts of wind from Windshear, but remained unable to attack, and unwilling to escape without her teammate.

  Fiver hurled a circular serving tray at Tommy Dust. It caught him in the throat, and he dropped, though not to the ground. Fiver was on the run, juking back and forth around heat waves and blasts of wind. Cal suddenly appeared at Concord's side; two seconds later he and Concord were gone. Fiver found another tray, and sent this spinning towards Tommy Dust. This caught him in the face and the Sky Bandit dropped. Windshear summoned a massive gust that threw back half of the tables and chair, destroyed the bar, and tore up the rosebushes in the planter that Fiver dove behind.

  Fiver was slow to get up. Liberty didn't waste time. She zigzagged back at the Sky Bandits, making a running leap at Skyfall. Liberty grabbed hold mid-air and started to grapple and punch Skyfall, attacking with a flurry of fists. The women crashed to the floor. Skyfall flew back up. Liberty stayed down. Windshear swooped in to grab Tommy Dust.

  “Get the armor,” she said. Skyfall flew over to the Catchpenny armor, and grabbed it. The normally heavy machine floated along with her like a balloon on a string. The Sky Bandits headed for the window, prize in hand.