The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “Should we leave?” It felt awkward in the middle of the restaurant.

  “Yeah, let's.”

  I left cash. Jen didn't slow down typing as she went outside. Cal answered.

  “Have you seen the Skyborne thing?” I asked.

  “No, I'm working.”

  “He's been kidnapped, and he's being tortured by Black Reign. She's streaming it online now. Jen is tracking the IP address.”

  “Got it,” Jen said. She rattled off an address in East Santa Maria.

  “I'm on it,” Cal said.

  “I just shut off the stream,” Jen said. “She had it hidden pretty well. Either she has IT skills or she hired someone who does.”

  “What are you doing now?”

  “I put a program in that will download all of her hard drive to a server I have so I can go through it later.”

  “Seriously? That seems impossible from a phone. I mean, I know it's 2021, we've all got electric cars and we're going to have jetpacks any day now, but how do you even do that?”

  “I pre-build programs and store them on the phone,” she said. “That's why I never take pictures or have music on it. No room.”

  “You're a genius,” I said.

  “How long do you think it'll take Cal to get there?”

  “I don't know. One second or a bunch if he can't go all the way there.”

  My phone rang.

  “Extract,” Cal said.

  “I forgot what I'm supposed to do,” I said.

  “Put the coin out, OAF up, then tell me the coin is out.”

  I put down the OAF coin down. “Coin out,” I said.

  Cal appeared on the coin. I picked it up. Jen and I grabbed hold. We appeared in the armory. Skyborne was on the couch.

  “Matt!” Jen ran over and knelt by his side.

  “I need room,” Cal said. He went to work patching Skyborne's wounds. I grabbed a blanket and covered his lower body. Skyborne, Matt, had been cut superficially across the chest and arms. He had been knocked around a bit, his face was swollen and bleeding, but he had no obvious mortal wounds.

  “He's been drugged,” Cal said. “I can't give him anything for the pain without knowing what he already has been given.” He took Matt's pulse and blood pressure, checked his eyes. The cuts weren't difficult to bandage, and the minor burns from candle wax had already faded. He was stable, if not altogether out of it.

  “Did you take out Black Reign?” I asked.

  Cal shook his head. “Rescue mission. Besides I didn't know what I was getting into. For all I know her power was used to knock him out. I was just as vulnerable.”

  “How do you think her power works?”

  “No idea,” Cal said. “But it is unlikely it was in his food. Probably aerosol, something inhaled. With supras being faster and stronger, we tend to respire faster, use more oxygen. It's a point of vulnerability, but it may not have been a factor. Anyone hit by the right amount of the right stuff will go down.”

  “Are you going to go after her?” Jen asked.

  “It was an empty room, nothing there but gear to broadcast her torture session. She's probably well on her way to a safe house, or clocking in to her day job. We might go have a look around later. Right now I'm going to stay with my patient.”

  Jen said, “Tom and I can go look around.”

  “I can't get you all the way there. It's a bunch of line of sight jumps. Havoc on your brain and stressful for me when I have other people to move.”

  “We'll take a cab. We need to get our car anyway,” Jen said. “Then we'll come back and look after Matt or a while.”

  “Should we take Fiver with us?” I asked.

  “He's busy tonight,” Cal said. “Simon can probably go.”

  “Do you guys have supra-hero names?” Jen asked. Cal gave her a look. “What? It's perfectly normal. I'll bet Simon has a name picked out. You don't want to get left with Sloppy Toaster when all the good names are taken.”

  “I'll take you to the bar and you can grab Simon,” Cal said. We teleported into the alley by the Murphy's. Cal left as quick as we got there.

  Jen convinced Simon to come along with us. We took a cab to Black Reign's rented room. It was a converted garage in a run down condo complex. Simon gave us the okay after he scanned the room. He led us inside.

  We'd pretty much seen the entirety of the room in the broadcast. The camera was on a tripod, aimed at a chair. A small kitchenette was behind it with a mini fridge and microwave. The appliances were empty and old. So was the camera. Jen wrote down the serial numbers.

  “They look like she got them at a pawnshop, but I might be able to track them if they're in an electronic inventory,” Jen said. “The key piece is missing, probably a laptop with Wi-Fi sending the video to the web for streaming.”

  “Cupboards are empty, no trash can,” I reported.

  “How did she move him here?” Simon asked. “Got to be car, right? We can try the local stores and see if we get lucky.”

  “You think they'll give us their tapes?” Jen asked.

  “No, I think that they'll sell them to us.”

  “It might be worth checking the places between here and the freeway, but it could cost a bunch by the time we add it up.”

  “Money's not really an issue,” Simon said. “I see it as a nice bit of charity for some minimum wage workers.”

  “Why isn't money an issue?”

  “Fiver's at a poker game. He'll come back with a bankroll and throw money around all night. We'll tell him to pay us back.”

  “And if he loses?” Jen asked.

  “He'll still throw money around so no one knows he lost.”

  “I'm not sure we're going to get very far with this,” I said. “Maybe we find someone matching her description, then what? Convenience store cameras aren't looking at cars.”

  “Gas station cameras are,” Jen said.

  “So we start there.”

  “No, we start where Skyborne was captured. She wouldn't have fueled up after she had him.”

  “She may have fueled before she left the area. Or anywhere, really. Or she stole a car with a full tank. All we know is she's a blonde.”

  “Fuck,” Jen said. “We can ask the neighbors if they saw her or her car.”

  “Maybe we get lucky and someone snapped a picture,” Simon said. “Pretty late to be knocking on doors, though.”

  “Cops will be here by morning,” Jen said.

  “I say we let them put in the man hours looking for her.”

  “Yeah, I guess I'm done,” Jen said.

  Simon tagged along to get our car and we dropped him off at Murphy's.

  “You may as well come in,” Simon said.

  We sat at our usual table in the back. No one felt like a beer, so I had a Diet Coke, Jen drank water, and Simon had a cup of tea.

  “You're the only person in any bar in America drinking tea,” Jen pointed out.

  “Got to lay off the soda when you're my age,” Simon said.

  “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-five.”

  “That's too old for soda?”

  “My friends are already getting kidney stones from drinking too much. That stuff adds up when you drink it for thirty years. Not just the calories, the whole thing just adds up.”

  Fiver joined us a short time later.

  “How was the game?” Simon asked.

  “Interesting,” Fiver said. He, of course, ordered a drink. “Glenlivet 20.”

  “Must have been a really good night,” Simon remarked.

  “The Emir brought a friend to the game. Saudi Prince over here for flight training with the Air Force. Guy must have just watched Rounders for the first time. He was over his head, but I'm guessing it's a drop in the bucket for him.”

  “That's the Emir's game?” Simon asked, for the benefit of Jen and I.

  “Yeah, five thousand buy in. The Emir hosts a couple of wealthy friends. Johnny USA and Jimmy Aces are regulars.”

  �
�Strange combination,” I remarked. Johnny USA is a US Marshall. He executes warrants on supras in California. He's one of the better-known Muslim supras. Jimmy Aces is the former Sky Bandit.

  “Yeah, I get the impression that Allah doesn't watch the top floor of the Emir's penthouse,” Fiver said. “But it's the infidel that had the most interesting news of the evening. Not me, the other infidel. Jimmy Aces.”

  Fiver finished his drink. The waitress brought another while we waited. Fiver didn't like to talk without a drink in his hand.

  “So Jimmy Aces, good card player, bad person, occasionally has an acute pain in his conscience. He was with the Sky Bandits when Tommy Dust torched Santa Barbara to escape from the Guardian Angels. He's stayed out of trouble for the most part since then, but we met playing cards, and we talk about this and that. He asked for information on whoever has Catchpenny's armor, specifically that a location was highly desirable. At first, I figured he was interested in recovering the armor, but he gave me to low down on the incident after the Sky Bandits left the Sky Garden.”

  Fiver took a long, slow sip of his Scotch. “Seems that someone used the Catchpenny armor to attack Skyfall, tore her guts out with the drill. Jimmy didn't have any details, just an inkling to get revenge for the attempted murder and incarceration of his friend.”

  “Interesting, but it was pretty obvious that someone was powering the supra-tech when Catchpenny fought Suicide Prime,” I said. “It's a pretty amazing power now that they have their hands on it.”

  “Makes me wonder if they had a buyer lined up, or if they were contracted to recover the armor for someone,” Cal said. “Seems like they were double crossed by a vigilante.”

  “Jimmy didn't say, but you'll note that he doesn't have any leads. You'd think Windshear and Tommy Dust would be able to point him somewhere,” Fiver said. “Most people aren't going to be in the business of selling weapons without having an assurance that they're not going to be killed with the weapons they just sold. There's also the issue of money. If you've got enough to pay the Sky Bandits to steal the armor, why not just buy it? Why pick a fight with people that can fly?”

  “Maybe they saw an opportunity to get the jump on bad guys,” I said. “They buy the armor, put it on, and then try to steal back the money they just paid. Bandits don't like it, obviously, a fight ensues.”

  “Could have been an argument about price. Working armor is worth more than a collector's item,” Cal said. “Also, a villain could fight Suicide Prime, just to gain good will in case they were captured later, like Jimmy Aces. Especially if this person underestimated his opponents or overestimated the armor.”

  “Might be worth asking around for someone who can power supra-tech, instead of being obvious and asking around for Catchpenny,” I suggested.

  “Maybe,” Fiver said. “But it's a lot easier to hide powers than it is to hide a half-ton armored suit. Can't exactly hide it under a trenchcoat. With a bounty out there, people are going to start looking for it.” He finished his drink. “I'm going to call it a night.” He stood and took a step towards the door.

  “I've got another theory, by the way,” Fiver said. “Someone stepped into the armor in the Sky Garden to steal it for themselves. When Skyfall made it weightless and walked off with it, the thief had no choice but to lie low until they reached their destination, the Sky Bandits' hideout. Discovered, the thief made his way out, goring Skyfall in the process. The thief not only has the armor, he has the Bandits' location. I'm sure revenge for Skyfall is a motivator, but the urgency is to keep the Sky Bandits' base secret. Just a theory.”

  He left and we carried on the conversation. Jen kept looking at her phone, so I said good night as well and took her home.

  June 19, 2021

  Saturday. Cal texted to invite us around. Skyborne was conscious and okay. We drove over. Murphy's was closed, but Simon fried up bacon and eggs, and Fiver poured spicy Bloody Marys.

  “Brunch with supras,” I mumbled as we walked in. I was secretly terrified. I had no business keeping this kind of company.

  Even in an empty bar, Fiver and Cal were sat with Skyborne at our usual table. Skyborne got up as we came in. He looked a hell of a lot better than the night before. He shook Jen's hand and then mine.

  “I owe you. Big time,” he said.

  “No problem,” Jen said. “I'm just happy you're okay.”

  “Yeah, now. I mean, bondage porn is ruined for me, but that still leaves the rest of the Internet. I'm in your debt.”

  “It was mostly Cal,” Jen said. “We just found you.”

  “She just found you,” I said. “I'm just the driver.”

  “Right on. I'm Matt.”

  “Tom.”

  “You guys can sit down,” Cal said.

  “Sorry I didn't text you back,” Matt said to Jen. “I couldn't risk it. I mean, this happened.”

  “How'd you get kidnapped?” Jen asked.

  “Answered my hotel room door when the maid knocked. Next thing I know I'm dizzy, falling down. I tried to fly, bounced off the ceiling and that's all I remember until I woke up tied to a chair. Everything is fuzzy. I barely remember it. Then I woke up to Cal looking after me.” He shrugged.

  Matthew Weall, aka Skyborne, is a good-looking, charming, young man. I wanted to hate him. I could not. We sat down to brunch. He had us laughing the whole time. We were all drinking Bloody Marys with bacon infused vodka, and scarfing down the bacon, eggs and toast Simon had cooked up. Matt asked the first serious question of the morning.

  “So are you guys a hero team or what?”

  Cal said, “We're still figuring that out.”

  “What's to figure out?”

  “We've got some useful abilities but we don't have the make up of a hero team. No bricks, no flyers, no one who can blast away at our enemies. We're all finesse, no strength,” Cal explained. “Plus neither of us want to be leader or follow Simon.”

  “Two of us don't even have powers,” Jen pointed out.

  “I would be a great leader,” Simon said. “Except for no one being willing to follow me.”

  “What's so hard about being the leader?” Matt asked. “You just go out and get at it.”

  Fiver shook his head. “You've got to be driven to do this. You've got to be able to get up every day and motivate people to risk their lives for each other against incredible odds and sheer terror. I've seen it break people. If the team leader breaks, the team is done.”

  “I don't know, man,” Matt said. “I'm not driven. I'm a driver. I'm my own motivation.”

  “Want to be our leader?” Cal asked.

  “I mean, I've already got a partner and I could barely talk him into that. He's not into the team thing. But anyway, you guys are all older than me. I can't boss you around. I say one wrong thing and you'd tell me to go fuck myself and we'd fall apart. I figure you've got to have an old guy doing this.”

  “That's Cal,” Fiver said.

  Cal said, “You need experience. That's Fiver.”

  “I'm already washed up,” Fiver said. He checked his phone. I swear he went a shade paler. “Fuck.” Cal raised an eyebrow. “Freezing Kate wants to see me.” He finished his food.

  “Need a lift?” Cal asked.

  “I can run it. I need the exercise.” Fiver finished his drink and left.

  Jen beat me to the leading question. “Who is Freezing Kate?” she asked.

  “She's a power broker. A middleman like Fiver, only she deals with the much darker side of human needs.”

  “Why did he answer her summons so fast?”

  “You remember when Bobbi Cannon came in and needed that girl found? Fiver called Kate. She told him where to look. He owes her a big favor for that.”

  “What constitutes a big favor?” I asked. “Fiver said he owes me one, a favor, not a big favor. Like will he kill someone for her?”

  “He wouldn't kill an innocent person, but if she wanted a drug dealer killed, I'm pretty sure he'd do it. A serious drug dealer, I me
an. Your neighborhood pot dealer he wouldn't. I don't think. A big favor constitutes a finite resource. A regular favor is time or a resource you have an abundance of.”

  “So I guess I owe you guys a big one,” Matt said.

  Cal shrugged. “I don't handle the accounting.”

  “Are you still going to be a hero?” Jen asked.

  Matt shrugged. “Yeah, of course. I need to lie low and find a way to get my life sorted out when everyone knows my face. I could be arrested any minute. I don't know if I can trust Free Force or even the Guardian Angels now. It's terrifying.”

  “Free Force are kind of dicks,” Cal said. “Just saying.”

  Matt laughed. “They're alright,” he said. “So is Fiver going to report back what's up with Freezing Kate? Is it weird that I'm curious? Also, is this like his day job, or his actual job? I mean, you sort of sound like you're heroes, or will be eventually, so I don't get why he does the middleman thing. It's like he has two secret identities.”

  Cal shot Fiver a text.

  We distracted ourselves with college football games while waiting for him to answer. He answered in person, walking in a bit later.

  “Didn't even break a sweat,” Cal noted.

  “It wasn't that far,” Fiver said. He took a seat. “She wanted to me to find Catchpenny. Bonus if I recover the armor. Bonus if I can find the thief while he's not in the armor.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said I'd keep an eye out.”

  Something happened between Cal and Fiver in a look. I can't describe it. I don't know what it meant. I mention it because they had their secrets and their rapport. Probably in that moment I should have realized that they were already actually a hero team, or consciously completely committed to being heroes. There was more in the look I missed that seems obvious now. And the next day's events would prove them.

  We went our separate ways. Matt stayed at a safe house. Jen and I tried again for a romantic, uninterrupted dinner. Cal, Simon and Fiver went to watch cemeteries for the second week in a row.

  June 20 - June 24, 2021

  I would have forgotten we'd volunteered at Kids Remembered, if Jen hadn't reminded me. I wasn't really that interested in charity, but I also didn't have anything else to do. We had enough pride to honor our commitment at least until football season, so we dressed, had a cup of coffee, and went to the shelter. That burned through most of our daylight hours, but we still reached Murphy's by the late afternoon.