A True Hero

by M. R. Anglin

  Jumping in front of the guard, Nicole stretched out her hand and released an electromagnetic pulse.

  Now, Nicole didn’t think an EM pulse would do much. In a world where several Heroes had the ability to blast different types of energy, most Villains, governments, and private organizations, had their electronic devices shielded. At the very least, Nicole was hoping it would momentarily disrupt the robots’ communication signal and cause them to stutter in their attack giving the guard a chance to escape.

  She never dreamed the robots would jutter and spark as they did before falling to the ground as useless heaps of metal.

  “What? No! My stuff!” Finch halted with her hand in a display of raw diamonds.

  “Get out now!” Nicole shouted at the security guard. “Secure the room and contact ASH. I’ll take care of this.”

  After the guard scrambled out, she turned to Finch. “Now it’s your turn.” She darted for the Villain.

  Nicole’s powers—the ability to see, feel, and control waveforms—didn’t have much of an offensive ability as far as she and Starlight could see. So she trained in hand-to-hand combat. All Nicole had to do was land a punch on Finch and she could get the upper hand. The problem? Finch seemed to have trained as a gymnast. She jumped and cartwheeled away from Nicole, bobbing and weaving and bouncing off of displays and the walls in the general direction of the hole in the skylight.

  “I can’t let her escape.” Nicole watched Finch perform handsprings across the exhibit floors. As Finch was about to spring off the ground and wall jump up to get to the skylight, Nicole flung a condensed sound wave at her.

  “Argh!” Finch dropped to her knees and covered her ears.

  “It’s not lethal or more dangerous than listening to loud music through headphones.” Nicole lobbed a small, metal ball at Finch. When it hit the ground, it exploded into a sticky substance pinning Finch’s hands to her sides.

  “Let me go!” Finch kicked against the goo but couldn’t get free.

  Nicole slowed to a halt, pausing to take a few breaths and watching Finch struggle. “I did it.” She jumped up, pumping her arms in triumph. “I can’t believe I did it! Wait till Starlight hears. Bee, call her. Emergency frequency.”

  “Think again.” Finch struggled in her bounds. “No one ever captures Finch.”

  Nicole looked down on her. “How are you going to escape? You’re trapped.”

  “That’s what you—” Finch broke off, her eyes focusing on something behind Nicole. Her eyes widened. “Wow!”

  At the same moment, a shiver rolled up Nicole’s spine—a surge of some sort of power washed over her. Nicole peeked over her shoulder. A pale, thin figure had appeared in the middle of the room. He wore no fancy Hero or Villain suit—only a white shirt, khaki pants, and a long, brown trench coat billowing behind him. His most defining feature was the short, brown, top hat he wore. It had a band of metal studs and a gears stuck into it. His face was obscured by a pair of round, thick leather and metal goggles.

  “W-who is he?” Nicole backed away from him. “Where did he come from?”

  “He teleported in.” Finch scrambled back as much as she was able to while tied up and on the floor.

  If the figure heard them speak, he didn’t show it. He surveyed the area, goggled eyes glossing over Nicole and Finch as if he didn’t see them. When he caught sight of the Tifuld Sapphire, he halted. A small smile came to his lips. He walked toward it.

  After dragging Finch behind a display where she wouldn’t get hurt in the crossfire, Nicole darted toward the stranger. “No, you don’t!”

  Without slowing his stride, he held out a hand. One moment Nicole was running toward him and the next, she fell from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor.

  “Ow!” Nicole pulled herself to her hands and knees and rubbed her nose.

  Finch burst into laughter from behind her display. “I like this guy!”

  Nicole snarled. She darted toward him again and threw a punch at his face. Again he waved his hands. Nicole appeared next to a wall and slammed her fist into it. She screeched in pain, waving her hand and dropping to her knees.

  Finch cackled, nearly falling on her back in her glee.

  “Please stop,” the man said in an even tone. “I don’t have time for this.” The figure examined the Sapphire through the glass, then reached out his hand. Energy erupted from his hand—a ton of energy. Before Nicole could get to her feet to stop whatever he was doing, the Sapphire disappeared from the display. And reappeared in his hands. All at once, Nicole felt the energy in the room plummet—like the Sapphire was a whirlpool sucking it up. The power vacuum slammed into her as a wave of dizziness.

  The mysterious figure, too, pressed his hand against his head and stumbled backward. Groping into his pocket, he pulled out a small box.

  Nicole grunted. Pushing past the effects of the Sapphire, she got to her feet to attack again.

  “Refraction, please desist,” Bee said in her ear. “This Villain’s innate power far outweighs your own. An encounter with one such as him will end in your defeat and severe injury.”

  “I can’t stand by and watch him take the Sapphire! I’ll have to be smart about this.” Nicole held out her hands toward the Sapphire.

  “Ugh!” The trench coated man shielded his eyes as blinding rays erupted from the Tifuld’s Sapphire’s prism.

  “No fair!” Finch pouted as the stranger dropped to his knees. “Heroes get all the good powers!”

  “Quiet, you!” Nicole turned her eyes away from the Trench-Coat Villain for a split second . . . and found herself plummeting toward a display of minerals. She crashed into it, the glass shattering. Air jolted from her lungs.

  “Ooo!” Finch winced. “I take it back. I like his power better.”

  Nicole rolled herself onto her knees again to see the Trench-Coat Villain stalking toward her, the small box in his hands. She felt the power of the Sapphire emanating from it, though its effects were reduced.

  “I would have left you alone if you stayed out of my way, but since you didn’t . . .” His fist erupted in a yellow light.

  Another figure dropped in from the ceiling, brandishing a staff which he swung at the Trench-Coat Villain. When it connected, a bluish blast hurled the Villain across the room. The impact made him lose hold of the box, but the Villain teleported himself into the air to give himself time to land on his feet.

  Nicole gazed in awe at the newcomer. Silver and blue suit, silver mask? It had to be . . .

  “Junior Justice!”

  “Captain.” Junior Justice spoke into a communicator embedded in the cuff on his wrist. “I found the TelePorter. He’s at the Museum, but . . . I don’t know what he’s after.”

  “He’s after the Tifuld Sapphire!” Nicole rushed over to scoop up the box with the Sapphire in it. From his place on the floor, the TelePorter raised his hand, and Nicole saw the energy building up in them. Right as the TelePorter released the energy to teleport her, Junior Justice jumped in front of her, twirling his staff to ward off the blow.

  “Refraction?” Junior Justice jerked his eyes to her. “What are you doing here?”

  “Defending the Museum from her.” Nicole motioned to Finch tied up on the ground where Nicole had left her. “I had just nabbed her when this wacko jumped in.”

  “Right. On your marks.” Junior Justice brandished his staff as he turned his attention to the TelePorter. “You can’t let your guard down with the TelePorter.”

  “Junior Justice.” The TelePorter pulled himself to his feet. “I’d hoped to be far away from here before I had to be bothered with you. Let’s get this over with before a real threat shows up.”

  Junior Justice didn’t respond but narrowed his eyes.

  Now that he was standing still while facing off against Junior Justice, Nicole could properly take a look at the TelePorter. She saw an energy wave she had never seen before emitting from him—probably the energy signature allowing him allowed him to teleport. But she also saw
something else.

  “He’s using gadgets,” Nicole said.

  “What?”

  “He’s using gadgets. Probably . . . a teleporting device.”

  “They don’t make portable teleporters.” Junior Justice kept his eyes on the TelePorter. “They haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “Somebody did cause he’s got one,” Nicole said.

  “A portable teleporter?” Finch gasped, eyes widening. “No way.”

  “A gadget, huh? I thought his powers were natural. If it’s a gadget, I know how to handle it.” Junior Justice darted forward, drawing his staff back to smack the TelePorter with it.

  The TelePorter teleported Junior Justice into the wall as he had done to Nicole before. As Junior Justice was about to smack himself into the wall, he pivoted, kicked off of the wall and struck the TelePorter in the back of the head.

  The TelePorter stumbled a bit, but Junior Justice didn’t give him a moment to collect himself. He launched himself at the TelePorter, hitting him over and over. The TelePorter could barely ward off his blows.

  “Wait! I know.” Nicole stretched out her hands. If she could find the frequency the TelePorter’s gadgets operated on, she could rob the TelePorter of his ability to teleport. Taking him out would be easy then.

  “Refraction, warning . . .”

  “Not now, Bee!” Nicole concentrated on her task, shifting through the various frequencies she felt swirling in the room. This wasn’t the right frequency . . . nor that . . . there, she had it. The TelePorter’s wrists sparked and popped. With a gasp, he waved his hands as if they were on fire. “Now we got you!” Without his gadgets, Nicole expected the strange energy would go away.

  Instead it grew. It spread from him in spider web-like effusions, wild and pulsing.

  “Oh, no!” Nicole backed away. “What did I do?”

  “Refraction, the instruments the TelePorter is using are a dampening system,” Bee said. “His powers are now unstable. Keep away from him.”

  Junior Justice launched himself for another attack. The TelePorter waved his hand.

  “JJ, don’t let him teleport you!” Nicole shouted.

  Without missing a beat, Junior Justice side-stepped the energy with such proficiency, Nicole wondered if he could see it. Unfortunately, the TelePorter was waiting for him. He kicked Junior Justice to the side.

  “What happened?” Junior Justice got to his feet as the TelePorter tried to teleport him again. He dodged to the side.

  “I disabled a part of his gadget,” Nicole kept her eyes on the TelePorter. “His teleports aren’t stable anymore.”

  “What happens if he teleports us?” Junior Justice leaped out of the way of another attack.

  “Even I don’t know!” The TelePorter fired more attacks as he spoke. “Anything from detached limbs to ending up in the vacuum of space or in the middle of the desert, but it’s all speculation. I can teleport myself fine for the most part, but if I teleported someone else . . . I’ve always wanted to find out what happens. Would you like to try it out for me?”

  “No thanks.” Nicole danced away from another energy blast.

  “We can’t take him like this, and Captain Justice is too far away to assist.” Junior Justice hopped away from another blast.

  “Does this mean we’re done?” Nicole said.

  “Not on my watch!” Starlight appeared out of nowhere, fists alight with her power. She slammed her fist into the TelePorter. He sailed across the room straight toward a display of blue sapphires.

  “No!” On reflex Nicole stretched her hands to the display. She couldn’t stand the thought of those beautiful rocks shattered. To her surprise, the display disappeared.

  The TelePorter struck the wall with enough force to rattle the displays. Before he could recover, Starlight grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. She stretched out her hand to him. Nicole felt gravity shift as the TelePorter was pinned to the floor. It wasn’t an ability Starlight used often as it could trigger seismic activity, but she deemed it necessary to use now.

  “We’ve been looking for you for a while now, TelePorter. BT-X, scan and analyze.” Starlight raised her cuff to him. A red scanning light emerged from it.

  “Scanning . . .” Even Bee responded to Starlight’s command, and a scan light emerged from the crystal at Nicole’s chest. BT-X was the general name for the Artificial Intelligence ASH used to support Heroes on the field. Using that name rather than the unique one each Hero chose for themselves caused all units in the area to follow the directive of a Hero-in-Command. Nicole imagined even Junior Justice’s BT-X unit had responded. Starlight must have wanted as much data as possible in as little time as possible.

  The TelePorter wiggled his hand until his palm was flat on the ground. Nicole saw energy envelope him. Before she could warn Starlight, he disappeared in a twinkle of yellow light.

  “Darn it!” Starlight snarled at the place he had been lying. After a few calming breathes, she turned to the two Junior Heroes. “You two okay?”

  “All good.” Junior Justice gave a two fingered salute.

  “I’m alright.” Nicole held up the box. “I got the Sapphire.”

  “I can’t believe you two took on the TelePorter all by yourselves. Nice work, Starling.” Starlight winked at Nicole.

  Nicole beamed with absolute pleasure.

  CHAPTER 6

  “THE TELEPORTER ESCAPED, but at least I caught Finch.” Nicole picked up the bag of gems Finch had been trying to steal.

  “About that . . .” Finch tossed her hair. “There’s something you need to know about me.”

  Nicole arched an eyebrow. “What?”

  “No one ever captures me.”

  Nicole dangled Finch’s bag in front of her. “I did.”

  “Did you?” Finch made a motion with her pinned hands.

  A blinding flash pierced the Museum, and smoke puffed into the air. Nicole, Junior Justice, and Starlight flinched in the sudden light, coughing and waving their hands in the air to clear the smoke. When the haze cleared, Finch was gone.

  “What?” Nicole turned in a circle to find her.

  “See ya!” Finch’s voice sailed through the air.

  When Nicole turned to the voice, she caught sight of Finch wall jumping to the skylight, flipping through the hole she had created before, and darting out of sight across the rooftop.

  “Oh, no!” Nicole rushed to the space underneath the opening. “She’s getting away.”

  “You two stay here and hold down the fort. I’ll go after her.” Starlight launched herself into the air and flew out of the hole in the ceiling.

  “I can’t believe I let her get away!” Nicole gazed up at the skylight after Starlight.

  “At least you stopped her from taking anything. What was she after, anyway?” Junior Justice took the bag from her and peered inside.

  Nicole stiffened. Junior Justice was standing right beside her. Right beside her.

  “Gems?” Junior Justice pulled out a ruby. “Was she after the Tifuld Sapphire too?”

  “I don’t think so.” Nicole walked toward the Sapphire’s display. “According to Bee, she’s a common thief who’s been robbing tons of areas lately.”

  “Bee?”

  “It’s what I call my BT-X unit.”

  “Cute. I call mine BX-J, but maybe I should give it a proper name.” Junior Justice placed the rubies back in the bag. “Making the unit more personalized is a good choice. Makes things so much easier.”

  Nicole beamed. “I’m working also on a project to make her sound more human. Hopefully I can get her a hologram so we can talk to her face to face without having to look at a screen all the time.”

  “Let me know if you succeed.” Junior Justice winked at her. “You’ll have to give me some tips on how you did it.”

  “Definitely.” Nicole grinned wide as she made to open the box the TelePorter had put the Sapphire in. “Oh, wait . . . he teleported the Sapphire out. I’ll have to get Museum staff to ope
n the case for me so I can return it.”

  “Not a problem.” Junior Justice tapped some buttons on his gauntlet. A section of glass in the display case slipped open.

  “How did you do that?”

  “I’ve got a program installed in BX-J which allows me to open or close any electronic lock. It comes in handy, but I can’t ever let it get into the hands of Villains, you know.” Junior Justice paused for a moment, studying Nicole. “Come to think of it, you could probably do the same thing too with your power set—match the frequency of the lock until it responds to you.”

  “I guess I could.” Nicole turned her eyes to the ceiling, considering the possibilities. “Huh. Never thought of it before.”

  “Glad you’re a Hero, then.” Junior Justice clapped her on her back.

  Nicole tried her hardest not to grin like an idiot and instead focused on the Sapphire. As soon as she opened the box, she felt the absorbing energy again. Dizziness struck her, though not as severe as before.

  “Ugh!” Junior Justice stepped away from the Sapphire.

  “I know, right?” Nicole set the Sapphire into the case. “It makes me feel gross.”

  “Makes me feel weak.” Junior Justice squinted as if he was outside on a bright, summer morning. “Hurry and close it.”

  Nicole slid the glass down. It clicked into place, cutting off the Sapphire’s power.

  “What does the Sapphire do?” Junior Justice shook his head.

  “It absorbs energy.” Nicole watched the gem sparkle in the case.

  “Really? Including Super Hero power?”

  “It’s possible.”

  Junior Justice stretched out his hand. A blue energy pulse erupted from his palm and crashed into the wall. “My power seems to be working fine.”

  “The Sapphire is locked away now.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way.” Junior Justice handed Finch’s bag back to Nicole. “Now, tell me. What did you do to those robots over there?” He walked over to the pile of metal heaped by the door where the security guard had been.

  “EM pulse.”