The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “I mean, it's kind of late,” Slowburn said.

  “Where are you heading?” Cal asked.

  “Place is informally called Death's Head. It's somewhere in the rail yard.”

  “Okay, we'll be standing by,” Cal said. Jen was already getting into the armor. She ran the mickey sequence. It linked in all five of us, but Fiver was on his own with the cell phone. Everyone disappeared via Cal's preferred method except for Simon who took the stairs. I downloaded my library into the computer, and set up the computer so any texts to me would come up on it. The next thing I got was a semi-subtle photo in the dark from Fiver.

  All I can see is a skull, I texted back.

  That's the guy, he responded.

  Get the fuck out! that's Totenkopf.

  Totenkopf looked like a skeleton, but that's all anyone in my circles knew about him. He was a mob assassin back in the day. Wiped out what was left of the Local Heroes about 5 years ago. Supposedly one of those guys who could kill with a look. Must be something about that skill that the mob really likes.

  I didn't hear back from Fiver. I was afraid to text again. According to him, what happened next was he ignored my warning, and instead of leaving, ordered a whiskey. Totenkopf was the bartender. He poured the whiskey.

  The bar was in an old warehouse. Retired boxcars made the bigger space tight. There was room for about 50 customers, but only 20 were in the place on this night. Only two were women, and they looked as violent as the men.

  “Heard you were paying for hitters,” Fiver said.

  Totenkopf's eyeless sockets stared at Fiver. His gravely voice came from his throat with the slightest rocking of his jaw.

  “You supposed to be a hitter?”

  “No, not me. I'm a middleman. I might know a couple of guys looking for work if you've got any.”

  “Not interested in a middleman,” Totenkopf said.

  “My cut doesn't come from you,” Fiver said. “But that's fine. If you change your mind and want to hire someone who can deliver, I'll be drinking my whiskey.”

  “Not interested in anyone I don't already know.”

  “That would probably work out for you if you knew some competent people,” Fiver said.

  Totenkopf nodded at his bouncer. A burly four-armed thug grabbed Fiver by the shoulders.

  “Drink up, you're done,” the thug said.

  “This is a sipping whiskey,” Fiver said. “Going to take me a minute.” The extra two hands came around as Fiver sipped; forcing him to pound the whiskey and spin off the bar stool out of the thug’s hands.

  “You only had to ask,” Fiver said. The thug reached for him. Fiver knocked the first two attempts away, then caught the third, and twisted the fingers, wrist and elbow, until the bigger man was on his knees. That's usually when Fiver breaks something, but he pulled the man up as fast as he took him down. “Easy now, buddy.” Fiver released him and backed up for the door. The thug didn't get that he'd been spared. He went back at Fiver, and this time Fiver took him down and broke his fingers, wrist and elbow. “Good thing you've got a couple of spares,” he said, planting a Converse All Star sneaker squarely in the four-armed man's ribs and yanking his shoulder out of the socket.

  No one else came at him. He says he was disappointed. Pale Child and Killswitch were nowhere to be seen. Fiver went out and waited in the parking lot. He passed his status to me, and I repeated it to the others. Jen walked me through routing his call directly to the laptop, and then letting him in on it. The problem was he was broadcasting unencrypted, so his message could get to me, but no one else could pass anything to him and keep it secure.

  Fiver bullshitted with me for about a half hour when a van pulled into the lot. Three women and two men stepped out. The driver pulled an awkward five-point turn and left the lot while the five walked up to Fiver.

  Fiver took in the vibe. “Yeah, this might be too many,” he said. “Five guys just showed up.” From his left: an older guy, in a tattered trenchcoat, beaten up hat, and an old suit. His tattered gray hair fell past his collar and he had an eye-patch on one eye. Next to him, a young lady, short, chubby, also in a trenchcoat, this one dragging on the ground. She sort of rattled as she walked forward. Her massive pockets were full. In the middle, a fairskinned man; tall, skinny and Mohawked, with a leather vest, jeans, and wallet chain, all black, and black Doc Martins. The fourth opponent also had a Mohawk and was just as tall as the man next to her. They shared a sense of style, though she had more of it, with chains wrapped around her fists, and a dozen three-inch metal spikes sewn into her vest. Finally, a woman in jeans and an Anything Saints t-shirt stood on the far right. Her good taste in local bands was her only notable feature.

  I'd already alerted Cal, and the team was on the move. Still, moving takes time, and these people weren't going to give Fiver any. Skyborne and Slowburn were airborne, and Cal popped along a quick path with Catchpenny.

  “All this for me?” Fiver asked when the group was within ten yards. The dude with the Mohawk answered by dropping his jaw into a massive gnashing mandible, and stretching out his arms out to reach for Fiver. The eye patch snapped aside and a ghostly white tentacle reached out from the man's skull. Fiver launched a flurry of “fuck, fuck, fuck” as he dodged. The short girl pulled her hands from her pockets and tossed a half dozen marbles in Fiver's direction. They expanded to the size of boulders, 6 to 8 feet high, smashing into each other, and knocking about in every direction. As he always does, Fiver found a gap as the boulders bounced about and avoided injury. The boulders continued rolling all about, smashing into cars and motorcycles in the parking lot.

  The woman with the chains swung them at Fiver without hitting. The plain girl on the far right did nothing. Fiver dodged the boulders and came around behind the group. He almost hit the girl who did nothing, decided against it, and started looking for weaknesses on the guy with the nasty jaw. Fiver didn't explain how, but he told me that's how he's so effective. He's able to diagnose his opponents' weaknesses, and when he throws a punch, it ends up being pretty effective. He concentrated on that and dodging everything that came at him Another round of scary white tentacle, grasping arms and chains came at him. He avoided them all, then took a shot at the extended jaw of the guy in the middle. It took a few strikes to get him down, but none of the group could hit Fiver. Once the biter was down, the guy we'd come to know as Gnash, the short girl, called Bam Bam, released her boulders again. Fiver had to run for cover. Bam Bam tossed a couple more stones into the air. Fiver dodged them, but they chased him out of range, leaving him vulnerable to the tentacle coming from Mr. Hydra. Fiver still stayed untouched, but the tentacle and the chains started working together, limiting his ability to avoid them. He continued to dodge successfully, but couldn't close within striking range. The chain finally hit him, wrapping around his arm and holding him in place for a brief moment. He couldn't pull free, so he created slack by charging his attacker. She lit up the chain with electricity, just as Fiver managed to shake it off and toss the chain at Mr. Hydra. He lurched backwards to avoid it.

  Bam Bam pulled a marble from her pocket, grew it and dumped it in front of Fiver. Cut off from Chains, he pulled up short, and spun a kick at Bam Bam's head. It was typically a move that Fiver avoided because his jeans never fit just right and the move was tough, but she was short. Her head whipped back, but she seemed unharmed by the kick. She pulled a small hammer from her pocket, lifting it over her head with two hands. It grew to an unwieldy size, well over six feet long, as she swung it down. Fiver dove out of the way. She kept coming, swinging the hammer, which worked in Fiver's favor, as she mostly served to get in the way of Mr. Hydra and Chains as Fiver retreated. After a few more attempts to flatten Fiver, he was still unable to find a weakness, choosing his leg sweep to knock her off her feet, which opened up the line of fire for Mr. Hydra and Chains. Fiver was forced back further.

  Gnash stayed down and the girl who hadn't done anything stepped closer, begging to be hit, but not doing anything
much. She eventually took a swipe at Fiver but wouldn't have hit if he stayed still. Then the rest of the New Powers arrived.

  Slowburn hovered and torched Bam Bam. Skyborne engaged Chains in hand-to-hand combat. Cal shot Bam Bam and the bullets bounced off. Mr. Hydra's tentacle reached out from his skull again, hitting Cal and knocking him backwards into a car. Cal teleported further away and engaged Mr. Hydra with his rifle, reloaded and kept shooting. Bam Bam had been hurt by Slowburn. She targeted him with boulders, hitting him with the first before he flew about to be a tougher target.

  Chains had Skyborne entangled and electrocuted but Skyborne's force field kept him unharmed. He flew up, forcing her to give up her chains, and leaving her defenseless against Catchpenny. The new armor suited her, Fiver told me, not above chuckling at his own puns. She leapt into the fight with a flying kick, and rapid fire strikes with hands and elbows. Chains took the majority of the attacks without much of a defense, trying to dodge, but quickly overcome. She went down about the time Gnash started getting up. Skyborne smashed him back into the asphalt.

  Fiver and Cal teamed up to make life difficult for Mr. Hydra. He was a tougher opponent than the others, and took a serious number of hits from bullets and fists as he withdrew from the parking lot and into an old rail yard. He bled, and fell, but didn't stop. He caught Cal again with that nasty tentacle, reaching out well over 40 yards to slap him off a rooftop. Cal teleported to safety mid-fall, then popped next to Mr. Hydra and emptied a magazine into him at pointblank range. The tentacle reached for Cal's throat. Cal blocked with his rifle, but the milky white tentacle destroyed the gun as it reached out and squeezed. Cal teleported away, drew his pistol and continued to engage. When he reloaded, Fiver attacked with a combination of kicks and punches. Mr. Hydra took the beating, and kept backing away.

  Back in the parking lot, Slowburn turned up the heat on Bam Bam. She hurled boulders, missing several time before scoring a decent hit. Catchpenny and Skyborne beat on her, but she seemed impervious to physical damage. She caught Catchpenny with a boulder. It smashed into her, knocking her down, and then rolled over her ankle before she could move. Skyborne stood between them deflecting the giant stones while Catchpenny got to her feet. Bam Bam drew out her giant hammer again. Catchpenny popped the blades out from the forearms of the armor.

  “If you've got this, I'm checking on Slowburn,” Skyborne said. He didn't wait for an answer, leaving the two women to single combat. They closed and attacked, but the damage was minimal; Catchpenny's new armor took most of the serious damage from the hammer, and the blades couldn't pierce Bam Bam's tough exterior. Then the girl who sat around waiting to get punched swung a piece of broken car door at Catchpenny's back. It did nothing to the armor, but it got Catchpenny's attention. She backhanded the girl in the face. Her hand stuck. The girl's face was squished about Catchpenny's glove. Catchpenny tried to shake free, and was staggered by a hit from Bam Bam's hammer. Urgent to get free, and not thinking clearly due to getting her bell rung, Catchpenny struck the girl again, sinking her blade, fist and arm up to the elbow in the girl. The girl started to swell like a hot marshmallow, swallowing more of Catchpenny. Catchpenny started screaming for help on the radio.

  Cal teleported back to the parking lot and shot up the marshmallow girl. The bullets stuck in her just as Catchpenny's fists had. Bam Bam tried her luck hitting Cal with a washing machine, blender and a kitchen sink. He avoided them all, reloaded and then holstered his handgun. He pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and landed a direct hit in the back of the marshmallow. The grenade started spewing smoke and the girl absorbed it all. Catchpenny kept struggling. Bam Bam tried to smash her again with the hammer, but Catchpenny dodged and twisted, parrying with the girl. The hammer splashed into the girl's torso, sending a ripple of rubbery flesh out distorting the girl's features even more, and it too became stuck in her. Cal threw another grenade, this one a white phosphorus thermite grenade. It stuck to the girl and she absorbed it. That only lasted about three seconds and then she expelled it, Catchpenny, the smoke grenades and the hammer all while giving a terrible yell like John Carpenter's Thing.

  Slowburn and Skyborne returned. Skyborne yelled for Catchpenny to jump clear. She left the screaming girl and Bam Bam alone in the field of fire, and Slowburn sent a blast of fire over the entire area. He may have been a little ambitious. Cars were caught in his blast. One exploded. A handful of patrons had stuck their heads out of the bar, but the explosion brought out Totenkopf. When he showed, the New Powers backed off, having already taken out the villains, and no need to pick a fight with a renown killer.

  Fiver called me back and I gave Catchpenny directions to him. Mr. Hydra had lost him in the darkness of the rail yard. He was gone by the time Catchpenny and her thermal vision arrived. Skyborne and Slowburn looked as well, but couldn't locate him. The team departed the area for the Club House.

  I took the laptop up to the bar, the stairs leading to the manager's office, and went out the back, then in through the front, misdirection complete. I had headphones, and my back to the wall and tracked Catchpenny until she shut down. The team arrived one at a time over the next twenty minutes, and I got the recap in pieces. It's weird thinking about everyone as Skyborne, Slowburn, and Catchpenny, and then thinking about them as Matt, Mike and Jen. Fiver and Cal were still Fiver and Cal, and I was okay with that.

  “So were those mob enforcers?” I asked.

  Fiver had the answer. “Mercs. I've dealt with Bam Bam before. And I'd heard of Cradle.” I figured out the names of the other villains from their appearances elsewhere. Chains and Gnash were members of Injustice Unlimited, and Mr. Hydra was a former mobster.

  “You figure Totenkopf called them?” Matt asked.

  “I reckon he called somebody,” Fiver said. “Not sure whether I should be flattered that they sent all five of those guys, if it was coincidence or what.”

  “Bad news all around,” Mike said. “They send one guy and you win, no big deal. If you run, no big deal. But you stuck around and tried to fight five of them. If they guessed, they guessed right.”

  “I figure they measured you,” Cal said. “One way or another, and then they played it safe by sending everyone. Got to figure that Totenkopf is still fronting for the mob, even if he's not active. Also, worth noting that he didn't just kill you himself. They basically sent five hit men because you were hanging out in the parking lot.”

  “Yeah, you were recognized,” Jen said.

  “I'm not even anyone to recognize,” Fiver said. “None of the gangs around here that I've beat up would have been there.”

  “Maybe they share intel,” Cal said. “You kept picking fights on street corners, maybe they asked around.”

  “Would anyone tell you if you had that sort of rep?” Jen asked.

  Fiver shrugged. “No one has told me. I'm just a connector. Thought that would carry me through that conversation. Didn't expect to have to fight my way out of that.”

  “You should have run,” Mike said. “Would have kept your identity guarded. Now Totenkopf knows you're a player, maybe a supra.”

  “It could have been coincidence that the New Powers showed up,” Fiver said.

  “Whoa, whoa, we're not the New Powers,” Matt said. “We're Skyborne and Slowburn.”

  “Slowburn and Skyborne,” Mike said.

  “We're just working with the “new” New Powers,” Matt finished.

  “Whatever,” Cal said. “Point being, we showed up in force where Fiver was the primary. Mike's right. Fiver's cover could be shot.”

  “Fiver can handle himself,” Matt said. “What about my family? We need to get after Killswitch and Pale Child. Take the fight to them.”

  “Jen and I can take a deep dive into some files and start chasing rumors and origins,” I said. “It's pretty hard to do for assassins, they tend to cover their tracks pretty well, or not have anything worthwhile that they left behind.”

  “They've got to lay their heads somewhere,” Matt said. “W
hen they do, I want to be there.”

  “We'll get on it,” I said.

  Fiver said, “I can try some other angles as well. If they don't pan out, you can always rampage.”

  “Don't joke, man,” Matt said. “My family was threatened.”

  “We're on it,” Mike said. “Look, you know if they can get to your folks, they can get to my folks, too, right? We're all going to be working on this.”

  “Maybe instead of going after these two, we should go after the head of the mob,” Matt said.

  “We don't know who we're going after,” Fiver said. “You start acting erratic, going after everyone, everyone will be going after you. Let's stay focused on the two guys we need to get now, and work our way back from them. Cal, can you stake out Death's Head? See if our two boys show up, or any other notables?”

  “Yeah, I'll hit it during working hours tomorrow,” Cal said.

  “I'll see what else I can drum up,” Fiver said. “It'd be nice to know who Mr. Hydra and the others were working for.”

  We broke up for the night.

  I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I had one of those exhausting dreams that overwhelm reality and when my mind stumbled towards consciousness, it turned and ran back to the dream. I woke remembering only odd, disconnected fragments, and quickly forgot the rest. It left me tired and emotional. Isabelle brought coffee and changed my attitude the way only caffeine and early afternoon sex can.

  She played video games and shouted at the TV while I cooked and listened to her recount the storylines of her current video game saga. I was miles away from thoughts of last night's events. Then Isabelle left and my phone started buzzing with incoming texts. I was being summoned.

  I drove to Murphy's.

  Fiver had a guest at his table. A woman with flowing black hair, wearing all black, from knee high boots, to oversized collar of her oversized trenchcoat. I hung back for a second until he nodded. I came and sat at the table.