The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “And then you met me.”

  “Obviously, a lot happened between my birth and this summer. I mean, who hasn't seen a couple of supra bank robbers, or been a hostage of a supra-villian?”

  “Me,” Calliope said. “And everybody else.”

  “Sure, but you were on a supra-team and you dated supras. That just happens,” I said.

  “I was a supra-hero. That's why I was on a supra-team. And I've gone out of my way to avoid dating supras my whole life.”

  “After Fiver, maybe,” I said.

  “Fiver's not a supra, and we didn't date. He was a client,” she said. “Wait that makes me sound like a hooker. We were spending a lot of time together and it just sort of happened. But he's not a supra. I would know.”

  “How?”

  “He's just a guy with good luck. Why do you think he is?”

  Uhm… my brain looked for a good answer. “Because he's your ex-? I guess I just made an assumption.”

  “You make terrible assumptions,” she said. “I don't date supras, unlike you.”

  “I briefly dated one supra,” I said.

  “You sure Isabelle isn't?”

  “I mean, I originally thought she was Moccasin because occasionally she'd come to work with bruises and it happened at least on one occasion to match up with a night when Moccasin had been in the news capturing thieves or something. But there has been no indication since we started going out.”

  “I think Moccasin is black,” Calliope said.

  “Really? I thought she'd be Native American.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of the name.”

  “A moccasin is a type of poisonous snake. Like a Cottonmouth.”

  “Huh.” I hadn't thought of that.

  “So if I can take you back to how we got started on this whole thing, are you going to keep staking out Salute? Things may not turn out well when he catches you following him.”

  “Uhm, I mean, I already stopped. I think I solved this.”

  “Were you going to mention it to me?”

  “Ah… yeah.” But how much to tell her?

  “Do go on.”

  “I mean, I've got a couple of confidential sources, so I need to be careful about how I tell you,” I said.

  “It's pretty obvious you need time to formulate your lies,” Calliope said.

  “I'm new at this and I need to protect my sources.”

  “You mean the teleporting guy and your ex-girlfriend?”

  “Maybe. I'm new at this and need time to formulate my lies.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  I probably also owed a conclusion to Bobbi Cannon as well, but I couldn't be bothered. I needed to talk with the team. I dropped off Calliope, and dropped in on Isabelle. I asked her to dinner, told her to dress fancy, and said I'd pick her up at 8. That bought me time to get to Murphy's. I put on a suit before I went, so I would be able to go right to meet Isabelle from there.

  Fiver stared at his beer. The place was mostly empty.

  “Cheer up,” I said. “It's ladies' night.”

  He barely looked at me.

  “So, I met another one of the Guardian Angels today,” I said. I filled him in on Glory Knight's list that was now Calliope's list, and the mistake that Ravelin made sending him to my building, and how that earned me a ride out to meet Ravelin.

  “Interesting,” Fiver said. “You had to figure they had some capability to locate bad guys.”

  “Yeah, let's get back to how they identified my building. Ravelin said it wasn't me that she located there, that it was someone else. But that my power interfered with it, which is when I learned I had a power.”

  “What's you're power?” Fiver asked.

  “She says that Meyer's pheromone theory is real, and they I project a super powerful pheromone that draws in supras,” I said.

  Fiver just nodded. “Yeah, I figured it was something like that.”

  “You figured?”

  “Cal figured, to be honest. He convinced me.”

  “Cal figured.”

  “Yeah, when he successfully used you as bait to get the Red Barber we had a pretty good idea. Plus the stuff that happened when you were around: Break in at the Sky Garden, Sunshine Bunch showing up when we were waiting for them.”

  “Why didn't you say anything?”

  “You're not ready to believe it.”

  “Of course I don't believe it.”

  “Look, you're a nice guy, but you don't think it's odd that Jen and Isabelle jumped in to bed with you right away?”

  “I'm well kept,” I said. “And Isabelle isn't a supra. She's incredibly normal.”

  “Have you ever been to her apartment?”

  “No. She's poor and embarrassed by it.”

  “You thought she was Moccasin.”

  “Yeah, but not because I had any evidence. Also, I thought Native American, but Moccasin is a type of snake.”

  “Yeah, a venomous pit viper,” Fiver said. “Like the cottonmouth. You thought she was named after footwear? What the hell is wrong with you, man?”

  “I don't know. I'm pretty sure that I got that idea from you. Maybe if she was on a team of people with snake names I would have got it,” I said. “Also, Calliope was onboard with the theory that I have powers, I mentioned that I thought you had powers, and she was like, no, he doesn't, and I said, I guess I was just making an assumption, so…”

  “What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Fiver shook his head.

  “I just figured that everyone knew you had powers.”

  “I don't have powers,” he said. He looked around, and then looked at me with one of those looks that's like a wink, only you want to make the other person see something obvious so you just stare at them.

  “Ah, okay,” I said. “So anyway. She doesn't think you do. But I feel like she would suspect that you did?”

  “Why?”

  “I figured you had some supra-sex thing going on, like you were really good at banging chicks.”

  “I am really good at banging chicks. It's not a supra-power.”

  “Well, so anyway, I might have supra-power. It's a bit overwhelming. I don't know.”

  “You're overwhelmed because you're trying to rationalize why it's not true. Turn that around. Think about your life in terms of always pulling supras to you,” Fiver said. “Birth. Frequent encounters while banking. Being held hostage while on vacation. Unfortunate death of parents.” I had told him all my good stories regarding supras. Maybe I did have more than a lot of people.

  “You met Calliope, you met me, you met Jen, and you slept with Jen. You were there for the Sunshine Bunch and the Sky Bandits. Now, who else have you drawn to you? Is it because of the power?”

  He paused. “Let me say that, it's not like you're mind controlling anyone. Technically everyone has pheromones. You just have more. But who else?”

  “You're asking if Isabelle is a supra.”

  “I'm saying if she's attracted to you, and I'm not saying there aren't other reasons to be attracted to you, but if she is, maybe this is the reason,” Fiver said. “I mean, it's also possible that you effect normals the same way, I guess.”

  “Okay, whatever,” I said. “It's not like I walked into a bar and picked her up with a suave line. We slowly built a rapport. So, it's not like that at all.”

  “Alright, don't get touchy. It doesn't matter one way or the other whether you have an unconscious power. What matters is that you've pulled the string on Glory Knight's death, and now you've got a lot unraveling.”

  “Right,” I said. “And we've got a potential assault on the Citadel in a week. We need to tell someone.”

  “Who?”

  “The cops, the Guardian Angels, us. We get the New Powers ready to counter the threat.”

  “I'm under the impression that the place will already be guarded,” Fiver said. “Announcing a threat might tip the police back at us. I'm not trying to get investigated. You can pass the word to Calliope
to tell the Guardian Angels if you want, but honestly, I think there is a better plan and Glory already made it, albeit for different reasons.”

  “You want to break out Leonidas?”

  “Why not? It sounds like his assault should exploit the weakness that the Lady in Black wanted to use, which it seems is tied to Full Tilt and his ability to manipulate the electronics of the Citadel. We get Glory Knight's team to go ahead with the plan, Leonidas is freed Wednesday and the Citadel fixes the weakness before the executions on Friday.”

  “How do we convince Full Tilt to work for us instead of his girlfriend?” I asked. “If we can find him, I'm pretty sure that he's already been turned by her. Hell, she is probably going to use the same plan on Friday instead of Wednesday using the same people.”

  “Damn, you're right,” Fiver said. “Glory Knight may have basically done her work for her.” He paused to think. “We can try to send Cal in.”

  “The walls are supposed to be treated to prevent that, remember?”

  “Yeah. Maybe. There's a courtroom that isn't as secure as the rest of the Citadel. If that doesn't work, we're going to need to show up in force to defend it.”

  “How do we get out there? It's a fortress on an island.”

  “Cal can get out that far, and he can bring all of us.”

  “How do we know when the attack happens?”

  “Radios. Cops use them, we'll be listening. Alternatively, we get a boat and get close. We've got a couple of days to sort a plan.”

  “Where is Cal at?” I asked.

  “Looking around for Full Tilt. He's got Nillionaire spotted. Salute is going about business as usual. The Original Man is staying out of sight.”

  “So what do we need to do to prepare?”

  “Rent a boat,” Fiver said. “Let's take a look at the Citadel and Angel Island on Saturday.”

  “That'll be suspicious.”

  “Nah, it's a very touristy thing to do. Bring Isabelle. I'll bring a girl, and Cal and Jen. We'll look like couples out for a sail, curious about the famous islands.”

  “I don't know anything about sailing.”

  “Cal knows how to sail,” Fiver said.

  “I have no idea how to sail,” Cal said an hour later when he showed up at Murphy's and Fiver started to sketch out a plan for the weekend.

  “Can you teleport us all out to the Citadel?”

  “I need to memorize a location there first. Or I need someone to go there with a coin that I can pop out to.”

  “Slowburn flies it out,” I said.

  “Eliminating our element of surprise if he doesn't get shot down.”

  “We hand a coin to Leonidas's lawyer.”

  “Pretty sure that would get him disbarred,” Cal said. “Doubt anyone would risk it. Besides, are we trying to get Leonidas, or stop LEGION?”

  “Stop LEGION, I guess,” I said. “Right?”

  “We can't go in blind and try to bust Leonidas out ourselves,” Fiver said. “It'd be great if Glory Knight's gang does it on their own. I'm guessing that next Wednesday, we're going to sit here and nothing will have happened.”

  “What if LEGION goes in on Wednesday instead of Friday?” Cal asked. “Either using Leonidas's arraignment or his escape as a distraction to get Madame Black released.”

  “We'll have to be ready in both cases,” Fiver said.

  “Who else can we bring in on this?” Cal asked. “I mean, if we bring in Calliope, that's probably going to out you. Without her, I don't see getting help from the Guardian Angels.”

  “We've got Tom, he's the face of this investigation. He can tell Calliope, she can alert the Guardian Angels. We come in to back them up,” Fiver said. He looked at me.

  “Yeah, I'm down.”

  “Cool. Get a boat for Saturday.”

  “So who are you bringing?” I asked.

  “Eh?”

  “You said you're bringing a girl.”

  “I don't know, I'll find one,” Fiver said.

  “Find one who knows how to sail,” Cal said.

  “I know how to sail,” Jen said an hour later when she joined us at Murphy's and Fiver continued to sketch out a plan for the weekend. “And whatever happened to you and Slowburn's sister?”

  “That wasn't really a thing,” Fiver said.

  “You want me to bring a friend?”

  “Blind date?”

  “Blind casual day out on a boat with nothing implied,” Jen said.

  “Sure,” Fiver said.

  “Just so we're clear, I'm introducing you to everyone as Fiver? Or Edison?”

  “Edison for normal people.”

  “Okay, cool. I'm probably going to fuck that up and call you Fiver, just so you're prepared in advance,” Jen said. “Saturday morning, then? I want to do some day drinking.”

  “Yeah, you guys set it up.”

  I rolled out about 730 to get Isabelle. She texted to say she would meet me there. I got to the restaurant at 8, and she showed up a few minutes later.

  “So we're going to get a boat and go sailing on Saturday, you want to come out with us?”

  “Who is us?”

  “Me, Fiver, Cal, Jen.”

  “Fiver? Like the rabbit?”

  “Yeah, Fiver, like the rabbit.”

  “Why's he named after a rabbit?”

  “I don't know,” I said. “He's kind of weird.”

  Later when she was in the ladies room, I texted everyone to tell them I had accidentally said that we were going sailing with Fiver.

  Ha ha! Jen texted.

  Jackass, Fiver replied.

  August 6, 2021

  Jen made the arrangements for the boat.

  I went to Calliope's office to explain the Glory Knight mystery. She pointed me to her couch.

  “So it's like this,” I said. “Glory Knight was going to break Leonidas out of prison. He recruited Full Tilt. Full Tilt's girlfriend is Thirteen. Thirteen was already planning to be part of a jailbreak with LEGION, or otherwise knew they were planning a break out. The Lady in Black is probably an unPerson. Her mom is likely Madame Black, who is set to be executed a week today. Thirteen can shutdown other people's powers without people realizing it. She used her power on Glory Knight, limiting his superhuman constitution, causing the poison from Bride of Scorpions to overcome him. Following so far?”

  “I have questions, but do go on.”

  “So, Leonidas is being arraigned on Wednesday. He has to be conscious and not drugged to enter a plea. This was the ideal time to jail break him. Likewise, you can't execute someone in the state of California if they are drugged up. This makes the ideal time to rescue them.”

  “They don't want to risk a change of policy or security, so they kill Glory Knight,” Calliope said.

  “And possibly through Thirteen, they redirect Glory Knight's team to their purpose: rescuing Madame Black.”

  “How do you know that Lady in Black is Madame Black's daughter?” Calliope asked. “Please don't tell me it's an assumption based on her name.”

  I showed her a picture of Madame Black next to a picture of Lady in Black. “You can see it.”

  “Fuck,” Calliope said. “How did no one see this before?”

  “Forty million people in California,” I said. “Everyone looks like someone, and who is looking for old pictures of Madame Black? We discovered it on accident. Given that no one knows who Lady in Black is, no name, no social, no hometown, she fits what we would expect from an unPerson. Also, we know the dates of the unPerson's release from the Citadel. It matches about 8 months after Madame Black went in.”

  “So my problem is that Thirteen isn't part of LEGION. She's a supra-hero. You're saying this is the actual Thirteen and not a fake, or a clone?”

  “Yeah. It's her. And there's been some historical doubt about her. You'll remember that Valor attacked her after Apparition died. She can shutdown powers. Think about the way the Guard died. Condor fell from the sky. Sounds like someone shut his power off. And before th
at, Screamingo crashed and died when he and Thirteen were part of the New Powers.”

  “I stopped paying attention to supras and their drama way before that,” she said. “But let's say you're right about that. The rest of this is speculation, right? You don't have anything like communications intercepts, or a pictures of these people together.”

  “Nothing like that,” I admitted. “But we're expecting LEGION to free Madame Black in a week. I'm not sure how much of a big deal that is, since she's got to be old as hell, but I'm fairly certain that we don't want it to happen. I'm hoping you can let the Guardian Angels know so they can intercept. Also, that the New Powers are going to help.”

  “Next Friday? And nothing is going to happen when Leonidas is arraigned?”

  “Seems unlikely, but the New Powers will be standing by just in case.”

  “Okay,” Calliope said. “I'll take this to the Guardian Angels.”

  “Whew,” I said. “Cool.”

  “I'm going to head out now, I'll let you know how it goes.”

  I went back to my apartment.

  Isabelle came by and stayed over. She already had a bag packed for the boat. We spent the night playing video games and stuff.

  August 7, 2021

  Isabelle and I went down to the marina to meet Jen. She yelled and waved from the sailboat. I carried a cooler of essentials, and Isabelle carried the sunscreen, swimsuits and girl stuff. Jen's friend Melanie was onboard already. Fiver and Cal arrived just after we did. Jen got us underway while Melanie and Isabelle made drinks and Cal and Fiver found an excuse to take off their shirts and show their muscles.

  It was a pretty decent day. Cal didn't drink, instead choosing to drive, or steer, or whatever you do for boats. He spent a lot of time staring at the horizon. I suspect he was thinking about his brother. The rest of us got good and hammered on Bloody Marys and Mimosas. Jen took pictures of everyone, and both the Citadel and Angel Island in the background. Fiver insisted that everyone wear sunscreen. There were plenty of other boats out. On a Saturday in the summer, we were just another group of drunks on a boat.

  It was a pretty good time. Cal got us back into the marina safe and sound. He drove Isabelle and I home in my car, saying that he'd just uber the rest of the way to his place. I knew he'd teleport back. Isabelle and I were as drunk as we'd been together. She was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing once we got home. I helped her undress and got her into bed.