Super Mega 3 (Heroes & Harems)

by Nolan Fury

  “Midnight blue.”

  He rolled his eyes like the distinction wasn’t worth noting. “Well, it’s night, and with these lights,” he said, motioning to the orange tinted vapor lights overhead, “sometimes it’s hard to discern accurate color.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was midnight blue,” I insisted.

  “Make and model?”

  “Late model Toyoma,” I replied.

  “Did you get a license plate?”

  Surge chimed in. “They were temporary plates. 165 – 211 – B3G.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” Surge’s face tensed. She gave me a quick glance. What the hell was with this guy?

  “You’ve got a pretty good memory,” the officer said in a condescending tone.

  “Yes, I do.”

  ”Were there any other witnesses?” the officer asked.

  “No,” I said.

  He asked for our names and contact information. Once he was finished scribbling in his notebook, he thanked us for our time. “If I need any more information, I’ll be in contact.”

  He turned back for his patrol car. He didn’t seem concerned in the least.

  I stared at him, incredulous. “What happens now?”

  He craned his neck over his shoulder, looking exasperated. “I’ll pass this on to the detectives at the local PD. If they feel like they need assistance, they’ll call in the FBI. But it’s out of my hands.”

  He climbed into his patrol car, pulled the door shut, and drove away. He flicked off the flashing lights, and the car rounded the next corner, disappearing behind the engineering building.

  13

  “Well, it’s comforting knowing someone like Officer Frank is on the case,” I said, my voice thick with sarcasm. “I feel better already.”

  “If we find that van, we might find Madison,” Surge said. “I think it’s safe to say these two incidents are related.”

  “It would appear that way.”

  We stopped in the library on the way back to Kingston Hall. I used a public computer terminal to hack into the DMV database. I can’t say that I was totally surprised at what I found.

  There were a row of terminals toward the back of the library that were obscured from the security camera. I knew if I used the last terminal on the row, and entered from the far side, I wouldn’t be captured on video, and there would be no way to trace it back to me.

  The trouble was, someone was using the computer. We had to wait for over an hour for it to free up. I was tired and had nodded off while waiting. Surge tapped me on the shoulder, waking me up.

  I crept into the booth and plied my craft. It didn’t take long. Only a few minutes. The DMV’s security was rather easy to circumvent. ”Looks like the temporary plates were registered to a dealership. Lone Star Toyoma.”

  “That’s good news, isn’t it?” Surge said.

  “The plates were reported stolen from the dealer.”

  Surge frowned.

  We snuck out of the library and went back to Kingston Hall. Curtis was crashed out, so I filled him in on the details the next morning.

  Kayla was still our best lead, and we headed back to Thornton Hall. She was still passed out by the time we got there.

  The morning sun beamed in through the windows, painting bright squares on the wall. The room smelled like vodka, seeping from Kayla’s pores. She looked like a train wreck. Her hair was a rat’s nest, and her makeup was smeared across her face.

  “Rise and shine, sweet thing,” Chrome said in a perturbed voice. She was clearly tired of babysitting.

  “Fuck off!” Kayla muttered, trying to shield her eyes from the sun. She pulled a pillow over her head.

  Chrome jiggled her.

  “Fuck off, bitch!”

  Chrome didn’t like that one bit. She lifted her brow. “Oh no, she didn’t!”

  “Take it easy,” Surge said.

  Chrome pulled the pillow away from Kayla.

  Her bleary eyes squinted, and her face crinkled with irritation. “What do you want? And why are you people in my room?”

  “We need to talk to you about Madison,” I said.

  “I told you, I already told the cops everything I know.” She made a face and clearly had a bad taste in her mouth. She was dehydrated from all the alcohol the night before. “Can you get me a bottle of water from the mini fridge?”

  “Are you going to answer some questions?” I asked.

  “Are you going to stop being a dick about it?”

  I grabbed her a bottle of water from the mini fridge that sat on the floor between the beds. On the nightstand, I noticed the picture of Madison and a guy that I assumed was her boyfriend. He was tall, with brown hair and blue eyes, and a square jaw. He was a handsome guy.

  I handed the water to Kayla. It was a peace offering.

  Kayla twisted off the top and guzzled the bottle down in seconds with giant gulps. “I gotta pee.”

  She climbed out of bed. Something just outside the window caught her eye. She stormed to the sill and flipped off the small drone that hovered just outside the window. “Fuck off, pervert!”

  The drone zipped away.

  “They’re always trying to see my tits,” Kayla said, jiggling them for show. “I don’t blame them. They’re perfect.”

  I got the impression she liked guys watching her. She didn’t bother to draw the blinds.

  She staggered to the restroom. A few moments later, she emerged looking a little more coherent, but still frazzled. She wiped the sleep from her eyes. “I’m hungry. Do you want breakfast?”

  I glanced to the others who were growing frustrated with Kayla’s behavior. “Yeah, sure.”

  “I’ll answer whatever questions you have if you buy me breakfast.”

  “Deal,” I said.

  We took her to a nearby diner. A cheery host sat us in a booth. The bench was upholstered in blue leather, and the floor was made of black-and-white checkered tiles. It had a 50s vibe, and rockabilly music played over the speakers.

  Kayla ordered a fat stack of blueberry pancakes. She smothered them in butter and syrup and demolished the stack in no time, crunching on bacon in between massive bites.

  I figured it was time to get down to business. “So when was the last time you saw Madison?”

  “Like I told the cops, she left to go for a jog. It was early evening.”

  “Where does she usually jog?” I asked.

  “Mostly around campus. Sometimes she’ll go to the park.”

  “You know where she was the evening she disappeared?”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t make it a habit of telling me where she was jogging.”

  “Did you two get along?”

  “Sure. I mean, we’re roommates. That means we fight. Over stupid shit.” Her face twisted. “You don’t think I have anything to do with this, do you?”

  “Where were you when she disappeared?”

  “I don’t know when she disappeared. I know the last time I saw her. But if you want to know what I was doing that evening, I was studying in my dorm room. Then I went and pre-gamed at a friends apartment.”

  “Pre-gamed?” Surge asked.

  “You know, drinking alcohol before you go out to drink more alcohol. There was a massive Kappa Chi party that night.”

  “There’s a massive Kappa party every weekend,” I said, mostly for the benefit of Chrome and Surge.

  “Last night is kind of a blur. Did I do anything stupid?” Kayla asked. Then she realized. “Oh, my God. I was totally going to fuck that guy. He wasn’t that cute. I guess I should be thanking you.”

  “The friend that you pre-gamed with. What’s her name?” I asked.

  “Amanda.”

  “Where do we find her?”

  “She lives at 21st and Pearl. #606 if you want to check my story,” Kayla said in a snotty tone.

  “What about Madison’s boyfriend?” I asked.

  “Owen?”

  I nodded.
<
br />   “What about him?”

  “How is their relationship? Were they getting along? Were there any problems?”

  Kayla shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t make her relationships my business.”

  “I’m sure you could tell us something?” I said.

  “I think they were fighting.”

  “Why?”

  “She caught him cheating.”

  “With whom?”

  She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  “Where can we find Owen?”

  “Look, if you think Owen had something to do with her disappearance, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because. Owen’s a great guy. He wouldn’t do something like that.”

  “I’m sure. But I’d like to talk to him just the same.”

  “What’s today?” I asked.

  “Saturday.”

  “Right. He’s probably at the Kappa House. I see him at the track a lot in the late mornings. He keeps himself in good shape. He usually hits the weight rooms after that.”

  “You seem to know a lot about his schedule.”

  “Madison talked about him incessantly. She was obsessed. It was a bit nauseating if you ask me.”

  14

  Red and blue lights flashed as we stepped outside the diner. Two cop cars had skidded up to the bank, leaving black tire tracks in the street. Cops had their pistols drawn, taking cover behind their vehicles—the barrels of their weapons aimed at the revolving door of the bank across the street.

  “Get back inside and get down,” I said to Kayla.

  Panic washed over her face and she scurried back into the diner.

  “What should we do?” Chrome asked.

  “Probably stop the robbery,” I said in a sardonic voice.

  A thug emerged from the bank with his pistol at a terrified woman’s head. Her face contorted, and her eyes were filled with fear.

  He had a slick bald head, and wore black sunglasses. The pistol he was holding wasn’t an ordinary weapon. It was a plasma pistol from the Ultraverse.

  I recognized him. He was Plasmatron from the Ultraverse. His need to use a plasma pistol told me that he didn’t have his full power here.

  Another man emerged behind him, holding what looked like a detonator in his hand. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and an angular face. He had a sly grin on his lips. He shouted to the anxious cops, “Back off!”

  His name was Nitro-X.

  The cops kept their weapons aimed at him.

  The patter of rotor blades thumped overhead as a police helicopter arrived.

  “What part of back off do you not understand?” Nitro-X growled. “If anyone follows, I’ll blow up the entire bank and all the hostages. Is that clear?”

  The officer in charge motioned for the other officers to lower their weapons.

  “Get on the radio and tell that chopper not to follow me!”

  A car screeched round the corner and pulled up to the bank. The two thugs jumped in, and the silver sedan sped away. It raced down the avenue and took a left on 24th Street.

  The helicopter above held its position. The officers on the ground looked at each other, not sure what to do next. The OIC motioned them toward the bank.

  As they started to climb the steps, the first floor exploded. Shards of razor sharp glass sprayed in all directions. Flames rolled out of the building, followed by a plume of gray smoke. The blast shattered several windows on the upper stories, the fragments fell to the sidewalk. The force of the blast rumbled through the entire block, setting off car alarms and rattling windows of nearby buildings.

  The blast over-pressure knocked everyone to the ground, except for me and the girls. I shielded my face and eyes with my arm. The spikes of glass stabbed into my skin and bounced away. They didn’t tear my flesh. My super strength protected me. It was good to know that despite my reduction in power, I was still pretty resilient.

  A man staggered out of the bank, covered in flames. He made a few steps, then tumbled down the stairs and crashed to the sidewalk. The flame seared his flesh until he was nothing more than a lump of coal and bones, smoldering on the sidewalk.

  With no incentive to stay behind, the chopper banked around, searching for the getaway car, but by that time the bank robbers were long gone. Nitro-X and Plasmatron were professionals. They had knocked off hundreds of banks and pulled countless scams in the Ultraverse. They had probably already ditched the car, perhaps in a parking garage somewhere. There was no use looking for them, they were long gone.

  I raced across the street and dashed into the smoldering building, looking for survivors. I hacked and coughed as my lungs filled with smoke. Despite my superpowers, inhaling black smoke was still an irritant.

  Surge and Chrome were right beside me. We scoured the rubble, but all that remained were charred corpses. Papers burned. Desks were engulfed in flames. Sparks and embers floated through the air. There were no survivors. At least not on the first floor.

  The occupants of the upper floors began to filter down through the stairwells. They huddled low, trying to avoid the smoke, holding their shirts over their faces in an attempt to filter out some of the noxious particles.

  We helped guide them toward the exit.

  The sound of fire engines echoed off the buildings. Sirens wailed. A giant red truck rounded the corner with two EMS units trailing behind.

  Firefighters poured in, hosing down the burning areas and rescuing the survivors. EMTs triaged them outside the building.

  By the time we left the bank, we were covered in ash and soot.

  Camera crews lined the sidewalk, broadcasting live.

  I made it a few steps when a microphone was shoved in my face.

  “Were you in the building at the time of the explosion?” a reporter asked. She wore a navy blazer and a white blouse. Her hair and makeup were styled to perfection.

  “No. I witnessed the explosion from across the street. Then I tried to help as many people as possible.”

  “Sounds like you’re a real hero.”

  I let out an awkward chuckle. “No. Not really.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’d rather not say.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be shy.”

  “Ben,” I relented. “Ben Johnson.”

  The reporter turned back to the camera. “There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Proof that heroes still exist.”

  We moved away from the chaos and left the horde of reporters behind.

  “They were from the Ultraverse,” I said.

  “Back in the Ultraverse, Nitro-X can make ordinary objects explode,” Chrome said. “Plasmatron can manipulate energy. It doesn’t seem like their powers have transferred to Earth.”

  “How did they get here?” I asked.

  “Just like we did,” Surge said.

  “The last thing we need are supers running around causing trouble,” I said.

  We watched with sullen faces as first responders attended to the survivors. I had a sinking feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

  We headed across campus to the athletic center. The massive concrete stadium could have accommodated an NFL team. It was only a few years old. An Olympic style track surrounded the field.

  Owen had a track and field scholarship, and he was working on his hundred-meter dashes. I watched him sprint down the track. He was fast. But I could certainly take him. There was a part of me that wanted to embarrass him in front of his friends, but that wasn’t why we were here.

  I waited for him at the end of his sprint. “Owen, I’m Ben. I’m a friend of Madison’s brother.”

  He looked reticent to talk. “What do you want?”

  “What we all want. To find Madison.”

  His eyes flicked from me to Chrome, then Surge, trying to figure out what the hell they were doing with me.

  “I’d like to ask you a few questions,” I said.

  “I’m kinda busy right
now,” he said in a gruff manner. Owen didn’t seem interested in helping.

  15

  “It will just take a minute,” Surge said, with smoldering eyes. She batted her lashes at him. She was hard to resist.

  A thin smile tugged at Owen’s lips. “I guess I got time for a few questions.”

  “When was the last time you saw Madison?” Surge asked.

  “In astronomy class.”

  “When was that?”

  “It’s an 8am class. It runs till 9:30.”

  “Did you have plans that evening?”

  “I was supposed to meet her at the Kappa party. But she never showed.”

  Surge had pitched enough softballs. Now it was time for the real questions. “How is your relationship?”

  “It was great.”

  “Was?”

  “Is.”

  “You aren’t having any problems?”

  Owen’s face scrunched up. “No.”

  “Hmm, that’s not what I heard,” Surge said snidely.

  Owen’s face tensed. “What did you hear?”

  “I heard that you may have been involved in some extracurricular activities.”

  That hung in the air like smoke.

  Owen’s eyes narrowed at Surge. “What did Kayla tell you?”

  People often show their cards before they have to.

  “Everything.”

  “She’s lying.”

  Surge arched a knowing eyebrow at him. “Lying just makes you look guilty.”

  Owen frowned. Then he hissed. “We hooked up one time. It’s no big deal. Kayla was way too clingy for me. She wanted to be a couple. She wanted me to ditch Madison. If you ask me, I think she planned it. She wanted Madison to walk in on us.”

  That was a little piece of information that Kayla had left out.

  “We may have screwed around a few times, but I love Madison.”

  “Did Madison have any enemies?” Surge asked.

  Owen scoffed. “Madison got along with everybody. Her only frenemy was Kayla.”

  Kayla was definitely climbing on my list of potential suspects.

  “Listen, I need to get back to training. If you’ve got any more questions, you can find me at the Kappa House tonight.”