The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “Man, they match up pretty well,” Fiver said. “Both have a brick, a speedster, and at least one flyer. LEGION has the mentalist, and whatever the Lady in Black does.”

  “That mentalist seems to throw the balance,” I said.

  “Yeah, the telekinetic is pretty brutal, too. You can't see where you're being attacked from, and she doesn't do direct attacks. A guy like Concord can send his sonic boom, but it's going to hit everyone in the background, so he has to aim it just right, and it also comes from him. For a telekinetic, you just get grabbed.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “I also would venture to say that Harbinger is a good deal stronger and tougher than Paragon. Paragon is faster, better at hitting and dodging.”

  “Who do you think got away? Concord and Providence can fly.”

  “Yeah, but that puts them in the line-of-sight for the mentalist longer. More opportunities to get your brain beat on. I venture Paragon is down, if only because he has the bravado to avoid a retreat, and he's not as elusive as the others.”

  “Do you think this is the end of Free Force?”

  “If Paragon is down, yeah.”

  We watched more of the broadcast. The rest of the reporting offered very few facts and a lot of speculation. Anti-Hero Magazine announced that they'd be revealing the names of LEGION's as of yet unnamed members on their webpage tomorrow.

  “I'm going to grab my bag from the car and come back and change, if that's okay,” I told Fiver. I'd taken to having a bug-out bag in the car after Cal recommended it.

  “Yeah, there are clean towels under the sink if you want to shower,” he said. I did. After I showered and dressed, I headed out to Kids Remembered. I wasn't really feeling like moving, but I felt pretty good about honoring my commitment. I took more pride in showing up for something that I didn't have to than actually helping kids. I'd been lazy and directionless for a long time. I was assigned to do laundry, throwing soiled linens into the massive washing machines, then the dryer, and then folding them up. Pretty mundane stuff, but it gave me a chance to zone out and think about Isabelle for a couple of hours.

  I took a break in the afternoon and grabbed some fresh air, and a burrito from the food truck out front. I was about to take a bite when Isabelle walked over to me.

  “Hi,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I volunteer on Sundays. Why are you here?”

  “I used to come here before I landed on my feet. Sometimes I drop by to see how the others are doing. Check up on friends. Offer advice to someone if they need something. I don't know.”

  “Cool,” I said. I spent half a second considering that it might be rude if I were to eat my burrito in front of her, but carne asada waits for no man. “You want a burrito?” I asked and dove in to the wonderful fresh flour tortilla, hot steak, and cool guacamole. Heaven.

  “Yeah, that'd be great,” she said.

  “Order and I'll pay for it.”

  She talked and I ate while we waited for her burrito. Once she had hers there was a moment of silence as we both ate. I finished and carried the conversation. Lacking new things to talk about, I brought up the LEGION - Free Force fight, which she hadn't heard about. I checked my phone for any updates, and told her the little that had ben revealed on the morning news.

  “You coming around tomorrow?” I asked.

  “If you'll have me.”

  “Highlight of my day,” I said. “I've got to go pull some sheets out of the dryer.”

  She kissed me. “See you tomorrow.”

  July 18, 2021

  Anti-Hero.com

  Introducing LEGION

  [pictures of LEGION]

  The Lady in Black, Harbinger, Dead Perriot, Threnody, Jezebel

  Fiver attached the names and pictures to the powers. “Threnody is the telekinetic. Jezebel is the mentalist,” he told me at the morning meeting. “Dead Perriot is the mime.”

  Monday meant serious business for the team. The Sunshine Bunch operated during banking hours, though rarely before noon. Even so, we were in position at 9am. We were spread along a 3-mile stretch of boutiques, bars, restaurant and parking lots that ran along the beach. The Sunshine Bunch had avoided it for their last three robberies, but it had netted their 5 biggest scores of last summer. Jen had the idea to add that element to our guess. She's smarter than me.

  Jen's Catchpenny armor was hidden in a rented truck in an alley smack in the middle of our targeted area. We sat on the bumper and monitored police radio traffic. My job was to shut the truck door for the few seconds it took her to climb inside the armor, and then again when she exited. We had designated a half dozen meet up points in the area and four out of the area. I had an encrypted walkie-talkie to tell me where to meet her. Hers was built into the armor in the last week by a contact of Fiver's who had an expertise in powered armor. She'd managed a load of 40mm smoke grenades for the grenade launcher, an upgraded net gun, and a removal of the drill. The chainsaw she kept, and the system was upgraded to allow wireless access to the net, so she could hack and scour the 'net from the safety of the armor.

  As a group, we had debated the armor that she would use. Cal was working on being able to move the heavy armor. He said he could do it, but not as far. He wanted to go with the King Scarab light armor. Fiver wanted the non-lethality of the net gun, and the reassurance of the heavier armor. I didn't understand why he wanted to avoid killing the Sunshine Bunch.

  “Morally, you're totally okay with killing bank robbers, but you want to avoid it?” I asked.

  “Look, average bank robber uses a gun, means that he's willing to kill you to get what he wants,” Fiver said. “Sunshine Bunch never threatened anyone, never really tried to kill anyone when they escape. They just go on, take the money and run. They've done dozens of robberies and never killed anyone on purpose. As long as they haven't tried to kill anyone, we ought not try to kill them.”

  “How is Slowburn going to capture someone?”

  “Oh, he'll kill them. He's got no patience.”

  I didn't get how that would make sense for a supra-hero team, and said so. Fiver just shrugged.

  Slowburn and Skyborne were a phone call away, ready to fly in when required.

  Simon anchored the far south side of the area. He was disguised as a telephone repairman for the city. Obviously no one would be surprised to find him killing time doing nothing. He'd been pretty quiet about it, but Simon knows a few guys. His network wasn't as strong as Fiver's but he's got a friend here and there. In this case, a buddy hooked him up with the uniform and truck.

  Fiver had the north most position, day-drinking on a patio. I expressed concern about this part of the plan in the morning meeting. He assured everyone he'd be alternating virgin cocktails with regular ones. Despite his tolerance, he's not immune to the effects of alcohol. I was nervous about that aspect of the plan. He had on a tank top and shorts. I was surprised at the number of scars crisscrossing his body.

  Cal was jogging the length of the street, slowly, on the look out for anything suspicious. He wore long pants to cover his prosthetic leg.

  “I know you're totally mobile, but may Fiver should be doing the jogging,” Jen said at the morning meeting.

  “I don't do cardio,” Fiver said.

  “You have supra-metabolism or something?”

  “No, I just lift a shit ton of weights.”

  “You don't do any cardio?”

  “My cardio is 40 pull ups.”

  “I call bullshit,” Jen said.

  “Back on track, people,” Cal said. He continued with laying out the plan. Skyborne and Slowburn agreed to come along around noon. The plan was to use Catchpenny to drive the Sunshine Bunch north or south, while Cal repositioned Fiver or Simon to cut them off. The assumption was they wouldn't head into the residential area to the east or the ocean to the west until they had lost any pursuit in the busier part of the neighborhood.

  It was a decent plan, but the Sunshine Bunch didn't show. As the day d
ragged on. Fiver and Cal alternated between walking and sitting at bars.

  After 5pm, when the banks closed, everyone else met up for dinner so they wouldn't have to drive home in traffic. Afterwards, Jen drove the truck to a secure parking lot for the night.

  I took the light rail back to meet up with Isabelle.

  July 19 - July 20, 2021

  Pretty much identical days as Monday. The news was carrying the story of a young University of California Santa Maria student by the name of Rebecca Layne. She had driven home from a poetry reading by Jessica DeLang, also known as the poet 'Wilting Violet'. At home, she killed herself by asphyxiation. DeLang's father, FBI supra James 'The Eye' DeLang was seen at the Santa Maria offices of the FBI. Father and daughter have had a long-standing feud after Moira DeLang, mother of Jessica and ex-wife of The Eye killed herself. The Eye claims his daughter has supra powers, and has publicly stated that for safety's sake no one should attend Jessica's poetry readings. Rebecca Layne is apparently the second person to commit suicide after a Wilting Violet poetry reading.

  I did remember to ask Jen who was buried in the Arroyo Grande Cemetery. She had looked it up last month when we were trying to predict LEGION's bodysnatching. She checked her notes.

  “Benito Jimenez. Called Outsider, or the Outsider. Executed in 2016, he'd been on Death Row since the 70s. The Mayor was Catholic, family and church got him to release the body to them.”

  “What could he do?”

  “Invisibility. Whatever he did to become invisible could be channeled outward to give him an effective way to kill people. Went on trial for a dozen murders, they could only prove one, and they convicted him on two more using supra testimony. Hard to find an eyewitness of an invisible killer. During his trial California shifted their death penalty laws. His appeals lasted for a while, then he admitted to the rest of the murders to get placed on death row. His family and anti-death penalty crusaders held up the process for decades.”

  “So LEGION may have raised an assassin from the grave.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Cemetery records show he's still there, but I can't imagine a better target. I'll go by tonight and see if the grave is intact.”

  July 21 - July 23, 2021

  Our stakeout was a few miles off. The Sunshine Bunch hit a bank in Arroyo Grande. Since they had never struck on back-to-back days, Fiver told us to take Friday off, and that we'd need to mix things up for next week or people would think that we were staking out the area.

  Isabelle went to hang out with friends on Friday night. I took advantage of the time alone to play video games. My mail contained a notice from the accountant renting an office on the second floor saying he wasn't going to renew after this six-month lease was up. I'd gotten the extension from the dentist almost immediately and locked her in for three years. I wrote out the space available ad and sent it to all the usual publications.

  July 24, 2021

  Last night, a drug dealer killed Santa Maria Police Officer Steven Books with what witnesses called a 'raygun'. There seem to have been a rash of 'raygun' involved crimes. Police are investigating. I looked at the news archives, but couldn't find any references to a raygun being used in a crime previously.

  My video game quests were going pretty well and I couldn't be bothered to head to Murphy's, so I stayed home. Pretty dull night until I heard a crash downstairs around midnight. I rushed downstairs to see what it was. As soon as I was in the hallway, someone was tossed through the door of Calliope's office, shattering it on his way through. The person stayed crumbled on the floor. The sound of a fight carried on inside. I ran to the doorway, took a quick look and pulled my head back.

  Calliope was tangled in a monstrous thick rosebush. Tentacles of thorny branches grabbed a hold of her. As she tore free from one entanglement, another reached up to grab her. Branches were wrapped around her arms, legs, torso and throat. Standing not far from her, a woman dressed in tight black supra-hero spandex with a small mask over her eyes.

  I ducked away and pulled out my phone.

  “Call Cal.” It autodialed while I laid out the coin.

  “Cal.”

  “Coin out. Come armed. Immediately.”

  Cal appeared facing the wall. I pointed him towards Calliope's office. “Calliope needs help.” He drew a pistol from his small of back holster. At the door, he peaked in. He managed a double-tap, and was immediately, knocked back, disarmed, and wrapped in a grasping rose bush. He disappeared, teleporting away. The violent rose bush fell to the ground. I left the coin and went for the gun. As I picked it up, I glanced in the room. The plant had overcome Calliope. More of it had grown about her body.

  “Where is she?” the villainess asked.

  Calliope's eyes flashed to me when she saw me in the hall. The villainess turned. I pointed the gun at the head of her fallen comrade.

  “Let her go, or he gets one in the brain,” I said.

  The villainess smirked, she tossed a handful of seeds at me. The rose bush exploded from the seeds in midair, hitting me in the chest and wrapping me up. I don't remember pulling the trigger. The gun fell from my hands. Thorns tore at my clothes, and into my skin. The thin branches continued to wrap around me. I fell over. A branch tightened around my neck.

  Cal came back with a bigger gun, and a gas mask. He threw a tear gas canister into the office. I clutched my eyes shut. I couldn't determine the background noise beyond the gunfire. I tried not to move and push the thorns any deeper into me. I couldn't breathe well. The branch wasn't choking me after a while, but the tear gas burned my throat as well as my eyes. I felt myself being teleported. I felt nauseous, but didn't throw up. I was clear of the bush, but still laying on the floor.

  “I've got you,” Cal said. “I'm going to pour water on your eyes. Tilt your head back. Keep them closed.” I felt the cold water pour over my face and get wiped away. A cloth was pushed into my hands. I blew my nose. “Okay, just sit here a bit. I'm going to look after Calliope. Don't leave the apartment.”

  He popped out and back in. He did the same treatment with Calliope.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “Tom's apartment. Relax. He's here sitting on the floor,” Cal said. “I'm going to air out the building.”

  “No, wait, I've got a friend. Where's my phone? It was in my pocket.”

  “I'll get it.” Cal popped out and in. “Here.” He placed it in her hand.

  She voice dialed, “Sierra Five.” Pause. “Hey, it's Calliope. I need a hand. I got jumped, no, I'm okay, but my saviors used a riot control agent in the building. Only one, he's one of the guys that helped me. Offices. No dress code. Thanks. Look for the balcony on the third floor.”

  She hung up.

  “I'm guessing about five minutes.”

  “Who's coming?” Cal asked.

  “Okay, I can see, oh fuck, that hurts.”

  I tried opening my eyes and shut them again. It took another five minutes before I tried to open them. There was a tapping on my balcony door. Calliope let Sunday in.

  Sunday was the reason we never had bad weather in Santa Maria. She was so well known and powerful that she hadn't worn a mask since the Guardian Angels moved to their island. Her control of winds let her fly, and she used her power with veteran creativity. She had a devastating presence, strutting into my apartment like she ruled the world.

  Calliope briefed her on the building layout. Sunday left the sliding door to the balcony open. At the door to the hallway, she grabbed the door handle.

  “Don't anyone step between this door and that door. I'm going to send this up to 20,000 feet, and you don't want to go with it.” With that warning, she opened the door. A swirling of air, still tinted with the tear gas, snaked out of the hallway and rushed out the balcony door, bending straight up into the sky. Sunday went into the hallway. A minute later she was back. “Done,” she said.

  “Thanks,” Calliope said. “We should do this again.”

  “You have a plan for the dead guy and the bloo
d in the hall?” Sunday asked.

  “That we've got.”

  “I guess I'll see you around,” Sunday said. She went out to the balcony. A rush of wind carried her away.

  “How do you know her?” Cal asked.

  “A long time ago, we used to be friends,” Calliope said.

  July 25, 2021

  Cal disposed of the body of the guy I had shot in the head in the hallway. I hadn't realized I had done it. I was bluffing when I made the threat. Calliope taught me how to clean up blood, while I reflected on semi-accidentally killing someone. I didn't really feel much either way. When I fell asleep, I slept well, and didn't give it another thought. Perhaps I should have. I was morally at peace with the death of violent criminals.

  I woke up late for Kids Remembered, but still went in for a couple of hours on my way to see the team at Murphy's. No one was around when I got to the bar. Jen had mostly been hanging out with Skyborne, obviously since they were dating. Slowburn had been coming around when they were at Murphy's but I hadn't seen him on his own. It was mildly dangerous for anyone to be seen with Skyborne since he was publicly known, but chances were slim that he'd be picked out in a dark bar hanging out with friends.

  With no one around, I drove home. Yeah, I could have texted or called around, but I didn't want to seem needy. I didn't have anything to do at home, either. While the database would never truly be complete, I had put a lot into it and I was burned out on it. I flipped through the Glory Knight / Benjamin Hanes file. The stuff I hadn't been through was background noise, spending habits, showing no purchase of poison, firearms, or drugs. I went through. The bills were all paid on time and there were no last minute purchases. Nothing that would indicate intent to kill himself.

  I fell asleep on the couch reading. Something in my subconscious went to work while I slept. I woke up and knew I'd been looking for the wrong stuff with Benjamin Hanes.