The Negative Man_Twilight Days

by Jeremy Croston

  When there was nothing more to marvel at, I exited the car. “Can’t say I’ve seen anything like this.”

  “Doesn’t it remind you have Wonder-Tech Tower?” she asked. Maybe because it was a tower, but Wonder-Tech had a very different feel. “It only took us three years to build. A beacon for the west coast, right here in the city you helped to shape.”

  That’s when it hit me—this tower had the feel of one of my old suits. “This can’t be a tribute to me?”

  Destiny didn’t answer, just beckoned me forward and towards the glass doors that led into the building. The lobby, if you would call it that, offered even more mystery and allure. “Is this a place of business or a fort?” I asked. The walls were lined with compartments and what appeared to be barracks off to each side of the entrance. “Are you preparing for war?” I joked.

  Her answer wasn’t in a light tone. “That’s not for me to tell you. I’ll let Volkkenkrüger fill you in, as he sees fit.”

  She reached a glass elevator in the middle of the lobby area. Destiny hit the up arrow and the steel doors parted. There were seventy-two levels, but only a handful of the buttons were lit up. Destiny hit number sixty-eight and the doors quickly closed behind us. The elevator seamlessly floated upwards, the ride as smooth as could be.

  When we reached our destination, I got even more of that old school castle-or-fort feeling. The doors opened to reveal a moderately long hallway which only had one terminus; a set of heavy looking oak doors. Destiny walked forward, with me following. The only sounds were the click-clack of her heels on the polished concrete floor. Once we arrived at our stop, she knocked once before pushing the left door inward. It swung in, quicker than a door of that size should have.

  The room was dark except for a single light shining down at a table with four ornate chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied for a moment, before their occupants stood up. The one man was Parker Lattimore, the blonde-haired detective that had been close to Kyle.

  The other was the man in the devil’s mask. “Volkkenkrüger,” I stated.

  “Welcome Jericho! It is an honor to have you as my first guest in my latest achievement. Skyline Tower, the perfect place to watch over everything and prepare.”

  Destiny joined them at the table, leaving me the odd man out a few feet away. “You apparently wanted to see me, so here I am.”

  Volkkenkrüger stepped away from the others and rounded on the table. When he stopped, he was directly in front of me. “I think the best way to do this is to just pull the band-aid off.”

  I didn’t know what he meant until he pulled his mask off. The world stopped. “No… no, I’m seeing things,” I tried to convince myself.

  “I assure you, you are not.”

  “You’re dead!” I screamed, my finger pointing at the face of the man I knew and loved a long time ago. “I walked in on your dead body!”

  “You saw what I wanted you to see, Jericho.”

  My body was shaking. “This isn’t possible. If you’re him, you wouldn’t have let me assume you were gone for all these years.”

  He took a step closer, but I edged back. “It was a necessary evil, Jericho. For you to become who you were meant to be, Ellison Staley needed to die.”

  The man who cared for me as a child, the man I looked to as my father, Ellison Staley, had been murdered. “This isn’t real,” I said again. I felt waves of energy welling up inside. My anger, my shock, was great enough that I could’ve brought this whole place down. “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “I’ve gone by many names over the years. My birth name is Kurt Volkan, but the one name that always carried with me was Ellison Staley.” He reached out with a hand. “Your mother, Miranda, she knew what I was and knew I was the man to raise you, shape you into the super we needed.”

  A blast discharged from my hand and put a nice sized crater in the wall adjacent to me. “Don’t you dare mention my mother’s name.” A second charge was forming, even bigger than the one I just let loose.

  Parker and Constance—for I no longer gave her the professional courtesy of thinking of her as Destiny—jumped up and regrouped beside Volkkenkrüger.

  “Jericho,” the woman who found me pleaded. “Listen to him. He’s really the same Doctor Ellison Staley from all those years back.”

  He words made it into my ears, but I didn’t fully comprehend them. “I turned into a monster to seek revenge for Ellison’s death.”

  “Not a monster,” Volkkenkrüger implored. “You became the super we needed you to be. The one who will finally put an end to the persecution and the anger that’s always been directed towards us.”

  No, he was wrong. I was a monster. “Ellison, if that’s truly who you are, you made a grave mistake in allowing me to come here. You all are dead.”

  A blast was directed from my hands and into all three of them. I made them suffer, to pay for my unpleasant feelings. He would die knowing I was indeed a monster.

  ****

  But they weren’t dead. Minutes prior, I’d been electrocuting each one of the three people standing in front of me, but they were still there. “What the hell?” I yelled.

  Volkkenkrüger or Ellison, whatever he called himself, just clapped. “Bravo for not showing any remorse when it comes to your rage.”

  All of that angst and anger had faded away, I felt as if I’d spent most of my reserves, yet there was no proof I’d even static shocked them. “This isn’t real.”

  “I showed you what you needed to see, just as I did the die I died,” he explained. “You needed an outlet for your rage and I gave you one.”

  My mind was swimming. “You manipulated my reality, didn’t you?” I guessed.

  Seeing me as no longer a threat, Ellison walked over and led me to one of the seats. The moment he placed his hand on my arm, I knew it was really him. “I’ve been given a wondrous gift, one that allows me to place the chess pieces on the board where I need them. I never wanted to hurt you, Jericho,” he offered sincerely. “I needed you to be my knight and you were too sweet of a child to do so without a push.”

  I still didn’t understand fully. “How do your powers work?”

  “The chemicals those bastards pumped into me eons ago changed a lot in me. I don’t really age for starters, and it gave me access to portions of my brain most people can’t even fathom. I can literally push real memories into the person I make eye contact with and allow them to see what’s necessary.”

  Part of me was in awe. Another part was sick to my stomach. “It was necessary to have a kid believe his father was murdered? To walk in on that scene?” One I still very much believed to be true. The memories were real, vivid.

  “I understand you’re upset.”

  “You don’t get to say that to me,” I growled.

  “Believe me when I say it hurt me as much as it hurt you to do that.” How could I even believe him? He could’ve been manipulating how I saw things, perceived my own feelings or the ones he was trying to project.

  I was done. I tried to stand up, but Ellison’s hand guided me back down. “Those people you call friends will eventually turn on you, this I already told you. The two of us, we’re family.”

  The way he said that word, family, it hit closer to my heart than I had hoped. I’d never knew my real father, as he had died before I was born. Ellison was my father. “What you did was unthinkable.”

  “A lifetime of apologies won’t change that,” he reasoned. “Let me make up for it through my actions.”

  This time, I did find the footing I needed to push upwards and back into a standing position. “I need time.” Three simple words, but none spoke more of the truth in that moment. “You were my father and for that, that’s the reason I’ll be leaving here today and the three of you will still be breathing.”

  His hand was still firmly attached to my shoulder. “When you’re ready, seek me out again. You know where to find me.”

  Yeah, a place like this was pretty hard to forget. Then, my feeli
ngs betrayed me. “It’s good to see you again, Dad.”

  Ellison knew better than to push. He let go and smiled. “And you too, son.”

  Chapter 6 –

  Thursday Morning; gl-O-bal/Staley Industries

  I couldn’t even fathom it, the gl-O-bal building had been rebuilt. The name on it was no longer just gl-O-bal, however. It was gl-O-bal/Staley Industries.

  “Like the name?”

  I didn’t even need to turn around to see who it was. “I can’t believe anyone would name a place after me in this city. Not after everything I’d done, Kyle.”

  He let out a short chuckle. “People are willing to forgive, especially when you give them a reason to.” He handed me a newspaper for almost a decade earlier. The Negative Man Sacrifices Himself to take Down Victory the headline read. “Believe it or not, you are well thought of, post mortem.”

  “Aren’t all the best people revered in death?”

  “Why are you here? Not Pacific Station, but the gl-O-bal building?”

  After finding out my long dead father was in fact alive and had been manipulating my perception of events… yeah, I came here because I’d taken refuge in the subbasement and it was comfortable. “I guess I was hoping it was still abandoned.”

  “The subbasement has been locked since the day you left the last time. I think someone put a lock on it.”

  Kyle led me into the building, which was sparsely staffed. “I keep this place for tax reasons.”

  When we reached the elevator, I pressed the button for the subbasement. “Won’t the doors just open?”

  “You’ll see.”

  We took the trip down and when the elevator stopped, the doors didn’t open as they should’ve. Instead of just standing there, I placed my mind against them and felt the electromagnet-based lock I placed on this building still active. With the twitch of my hand, it broke, and the doors revealed my old workshop still there, not having been used since I last stepped foot.

  “Do you know who Ellison Staley is, Kyle?”

  He looked over at me. “I remember that name, from Doctor Leonard Cooper’s Stormfall Theory. He was connected to you, wasn’t he?”

  That was an understatement. “He was the father I never had. He helped me escape the facility they had me locked up in and he died when Cooper murdered him. I remember walking into our apartment and seeing his cold body.”

  Kyle said nothing, just stood beside me and silent, appreciating the story I was reliving.

  “For years I mourned his death. That event snapped the last piece of humanity I had. Revenge ate away at me.”

  “A feeling I understand quite well,” he replied.

  How I forgot, he was standing beside the man who killed his father. “You’re a better man than I’ll ever be. You became a hero and I became something much worse than Cooper could’ve ever been.”

  He didn’t agree or disagree. “Something happened when you left the other night, didn’t it?”

  It was time to come clean. “Ellison didn’t die when I thought he did. No, he manipulated my memory, making it feel very real that he’s dead, but I know he’s not.”

  Kyle rubbed his temples. “Jericho, you’re not making any sense.”

  “Volkkenkrüger is Ellison Staley. He’s a super with the power to warp a person’s reality, Kyle. He might be the most dangerous person on the planet.”

  He didn’t scoff at my declaration. “You are positive this wasn’t an elaborate ruse?”

  This was a reasonable question, one I didn’t take offense to. “It was him, Kyle. Ellison Staley is very much alive and operating in the shadows, planning to start some sort of super uprising. He wanted me to join his team, becoming the new Fate.”

  “I killed the last one,” he said offhandedly. “Was Parker Lattimore there?”

  “The blonde cop? Yeah. He goes by Providence.”

  His feelings finally betrayed him. “That was a punch to the gut I never saw coming.”

  It appeared we’d all been played in some way, shape, or form. “With President Whisnant trying to recreate something Ronald Victory was working on and Volkkenkrüger hoping to start a war between humans and supers; just another day in Pacific Station, huh?”

  “I read over some old missions that you and my father completed,” he started. I knew where this was going. “You once infiltrated The Aces; do you think you could do it again?”

  It was an idea I’d been thinking of the greater part of the morning since I woke up around four. I saw two problems—one was my attachment to Ellison. No matter what happened, the man saved my life and gave me the chances I had. Without him, I would’ve been the government’s lab rat. The second problem was Ellison’s powers. How did you combat someone who could completely warp one’s reality in such a way that even when confronted with the truth, it still didn’t make sense?

  I was staring off in the distance, at the old workbench I used to make my last Negative Man suit. “It’s a very risky proposition, Kyle.”

  He agreed. “If we had any other options, I’d be going over them with you right now. I can handle President Whisnant with the help of Old Rich and the guys. Volkkenkrüger, well he scares me even more than a delusional politician.”

  This was a stark contrast to what he’d been saying earlier. “Why the change of mind?”

  “Becky knows this, but let’s keep the next part of the conversation between us, okay?”

  My interest really began to pique. “You’ve dealt with Volkkenkrüger before, haven’t you?”

  “No, Lattimore. He killed Kim during your exile and nearly killed me. If Volkkenkrüger’s lieutenant could get the jump on me, what does that mean for the man himself?”

  It was always interesting when the truth came out. Kyle, much like John before him, was always stoic in nature as if nothing bothered him. “You don’t think you’re strong enough to take on Volkkenkrüger, do you?”

  “No.” The word was bitter as he said it. “I think you are, however.”

  It was my turn to rely my concerns. “For whatever he is, Kyle, he’s family. Me killing him would be the ultimate act of betrayal.”

  “You go right for the kill, don’t you, Jericho?”

  What was our other choice? Incarceration? If prison couldn’t hold me, what chance did it have to hold Ellison Staley? None. “Unless you have a secure place to lock up someone like Volkkenkrüger,” I said.

  “As a matter of fact, I do.” A small, satisfied smile crossed his face. “Not me, actually, but Erin. He told me there’s a powerful super already trapped in Dungeon Bay, Adam Morales. You might remember him as former Vice President Angela Morales’ husband.”

  I very much remember that. “The guy Victory had abducted in front of millions of people watching her address on television with one of his super freaks.”

  “Apparently, he’s alive and well. Except for the fact when he loses control, he turns into a creature of mass destruction.”

  This little chat had turned into something a lot more than I expected. “Let me guess, you want to go save him, freeing up Dungeon Bay to imprison Ellison and his followers?”

  He snapped his fingers. “I know, it’s a long shot for everything to go smoothly, but it’s our best chance to handle Volkkenkrüger.”

  Kyle still referred to him as Volkkenkrüger even though he knew his name of Ellison Staley. It must’ve been nice to have no attachment to the antagonist. “That just leaves Whisnant.”

  “Victory was trying to create a suit that replicated the powers of the strongest super he knew of; you.” Wade had already told me this. “With Wade’s help, Phil this morning was able to uncover some documents that I’m pretty sure Victory thought were destroyed.”

  “I have to say, Kyle. I very much enjoy this total honesty between the two of us.”

  This was a far cry from what had been our working relationship last time. “You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

  Haha! I couldn’t help myself. “I’m
pretty sure most would consider you insane for working with me at all, given what happened.”

  “That you killed my father?”

  “Yes.”

  The topic hadn’t been put on the table in years. The last time was aboard the C.W. Poseidon when Kyle tried to use the Stormfall effect to kill me. “John Wonderton never even knew who I was. Sure, the man was technically my father and I respected him as The Dark Lion, but an actual dad he wasn’t.”

  I never knew my real father, either. “I said it before, we’re two sides of the same coin. You very well could’ve ended up like me but you made better choices. John would’ve been proud that you took up the mantle.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kyle walked away, over to my old workbench. “If we’re going to survive this time, the city and the world need the Negative Man one more time.”

  I held up my stump. “The Negative Man had two hands. Sure, I still have my powers, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m not nearly the man I once was.”

  His phone buzzed. He held up a finger and answered. “Yeah, it’s time,” he said into the device. “I hope you don’t mind I invited one more person to our party.”

  I’m sure my confusion showed. “Who?” Was this a trap?

  The elevator opened again, this time a young man exited. The years had changed him some, but Wilson Fetts was a spitting image of his dad. “Jericho, long time my friend.”

  When I first met Wilson as a high school student, I knew something about him was special. Our next encounter was him using the hacker alias of StbbtyBnny to help me with getting my memories back and figuring out Victory’s eventual plans. Seeing him here, I could only wonder.

  “Jericho,” Kyle addressed me. “I reached out to Wilson for one particular reason. I’ll let him tell you.”

  With a smile that stretched across his face, you could tell something exciting was coming. “If you give me a chance, Jericho, I can build you a fully-functioning hand.”