by Adam Oster
The screen once again went blank and raised into the ceiling.
“Wait, so you're saying this whole destruction of the world thing started because I accidentally killed his wife?”
“I'm sorry Buddy, you have to understand, this caused him to--.”
“You're sorry? I'm sorry. That's horrible. Back when I met Agent Parker, he showed me images, frightening images, of people dying, and in intense pain. Did I do all of that?”
“Not directly, I mean, it wasn't like--”
“Don't beat around the bush D.A.W.N., was I responsible for all those people?”
“It was a different time, Buddy, you were a younger, more reckless man. You had more than made up for it before--“
“I can't believe it. All those people. . . “ Buddy sat on the bed and put his face in his hands.
“Buddy, you don't understand--”
“I understand perfectly, D.A.W.N. I know it wasn't me. I'm not that guy he's talking about. But still, there's nothing that can excuse it.”
“I'm sorry, Buddy.”
“Don't be. I'm sorry enough already.”
“I hate to do this, Buddy, but Arthur said he would like to see you as soon as you are awake. Can I tell him you're ready?”
Buddy sighed and regained his composure. “Yeah, sure,” he said. He got off the bed to open the door.
“Perfect.” The room glowed with a faint blue light, melted away, and morphed into Arthur's office. The image of the room sharpened and he saw Arthur, Alexa, Carl, and Ryan. They all turned to look at him. He rubbed his eyes, assuming they were playing a trick on him.
“Mr. Jackson, I'm glad to see you are finally back with the living,” Arthur said.
“What the hell just happened?”
“Well,” Carl began, sounding rather excited, “apparently D.A.W.N. figured out how to utilize the teleporter for transportation between two places other than the entrance and exit point of the compound. We thought we'd go ahead and test it on you.”
“Yeah, man, she told us just in the nick of time too. You were on the verge of becoming a nice crispy piece of bacon before we teleported Damon away.” Ryan seemed equally as excited. “That's one amazing piece of technology my dad put together. And you'll never guess where she sent him.”
“The ocean? Somewhere dark and cold?” Buddy offered.
“Yeah, the bottom of the Mariana Trench. That's a pretty good guess.”
“Well, it wasn't exactly a guess. I kinda dreamed it.”
“You dreamed it?” Ryan asked.
“Are you saying you actually saw Damon in your dream?” Carl asked.
“Well, no, I didn't see him. It was more like I was him. I'm pretty sure I was seeing things through his eyes. I'm also pretty sure I could hear his thoughts.”
“What?” Carl asked. “Really? Have you ever had such an out of body experience before?”
“Umm. . . well, yeah. I've been having them off and on since the night of the earthquake.” The room looked at Buddy in shock. There was a moment of silence, broken, finally, by Arthur.
“How often have you been seeing such visions?”
“I dunno, I guess it's been happening every time I've been knocked unconscious lately. Which, oddly enough, has been pretty often.”
“Have you seen only through Damon's eyes, or has this been occurring with different people?” Carl asked.
“All the same guy, the same crazy guy.”
“Well now that's quite the bit of information.”
“What does it mean, Carl?” Alexa asked.
“Well, are any of you familiar with the idea of the special bond between identical twins?”
“Sure, but I'm pretty sure that me and Damon aren't twins.” Buddy stated. “We aren't twins, are we?”
“Although it is definitely possible, Mr. Jackson,” Arthur responded, ”that such information was lost during the Mind Wipe, we have no record of Damon and yourself sharing parents. Which leads me to question where my son is going with this.”
“Well, I was just asking if you're familiar with the concept. You see, I remember at one point there was some research being done on those with telepathic abilities to determine where they came from. One focus of the research was with a pair of twins who both exhibited telepathic powers. Now, if I remember correctly, their abilities when reading the thoughts of others was incredibly limited, but when the researchers studied them with regards to each other, the results were amazing. It was almost as if the two twins shared the same mind.”
“Yeah, but what does this have to do with me?” Buddy asked.
“Your dreams reminded me of this because I remember one part of that study was that they would separate the children for weeks at a time. During the time one was sleeping, they would keep the other awake. They would then give the child who was awake a series of toys to play with. After the child who was sleeping woke up, they would ask her questions about her dreams. She would then explain in great detail the toys the other child had played with, including colors, textures, and even smells. If what you are saying is true, Buddy, then it would appear you share a similar bond with Damon.”
“Mr. Jackson, it seems incredibly inappropriate you did not tell us this before.” Arthur looked angry.
“Look, pal. I didn't even know it was Memphis until just now. It all seemed so weird at first, the guy was scared, stuck in the bottom of some cave or something. Then there was a dream where light suddenly filled the cave and he was being lifted out of a hole in the ground.”
“Oh, yeah, those miners,” Alexa added. “Didn't Agent Parker say that's where they found him before he was in the hospital?”
“Yeah and that was one of the other dreams I had. He was in the hospital and being bothered by Parker and Kent. He ran from them, jumped out the window, and burst into flames.”
“Just like on the news report!” Ryan added.
“Yeah, I probably should have said something back then. Anyways, if I'm really seeing into Damon's brain, we've got more trouble ahead.”
“What would that be, Mr. Jackson?”
“Well, he had some sort of, I don't know what you'd call them, minions? These little shadowy looking creatures. They were pushing him up to the surface.”
“What?” Alexa asked.
“I pray you are somehow mistaken, Mr. Jackson, as that would be quite the unfortunate news. We have long feared the possibility of Damon's connection to the creatures of the dark. And if he has indeed found a way to call them to his aid, matters have just gotten a whole lot worse.”
“Wait, so, you're saying Damon's got some sort of little demons working for him?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“In a matter of speaking, yes,” Carl explained. “You see, quite some time ago, back before the Mind Wipe, your father Oscar, while working on his device for teleportation, discovered another dimension. This dimension operates within the same space as ours, but on a completely different plane of existence. Although his research was limited, Oscar believed there was good reason to believe these creatures had been interacting with our dimension for quite some time. He even believed the legendary gremlins World War II pilots blamed for sabotaging planes may have, in fact, been these creatures. Unfortunately, once your father realized what he had found, he immediately ended his research, fearing the danger that could come from such a discovery.”
“Alright, so what you folks are saying now is there's some sort of little green creatures that will obey Damon's every command?” Alexa debated. “How come I've never heard about these guys before?”
“The possibility of how much danger could be caused by interacting with the other side caused Oscar to remove all notes about his discovery from everything except his personal computer.”
“And, of course,” Ryan laughed, “you are in possession of his computer now that you've taken over the old Bunker.”
“Right.”
“Perfect, so now I've got not only some crazy all-powerful being wanting to deep fry me,
but he's got an army of extra-dimensional monsters to send along ahead of him? Sounds wonderful,” Buddy said sarcastically. “So, since I'm on the verge of heading off to my final resting place, where's my sister?”
“She and Zero are in the Buddy Hero lounge,” Alexa said.
“It would probably be best for you to go and visit your sister, Mr. Jackson and let her know you are alright. Meanwhile, the rest of us will need to discuss what to do with this new information and determine how we can best utilize it in the upcoming battle. Ms. Rose, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Jackson to the lounge?”
“But, Artie, I want--”
“Ms. Rose, please do as you are told.”
Alexa grabbed Buddy's arm and stormed out of the room.
CHAPTER 21
“Hey, what's with the rough stuff, Alexa?” Buddy asked as he wrestled his arm back from her surprisingly strong grip. Alexa slammed the door shut behind them. “What's going on?”
“Nothing,” she scowled. “Let's get you down to the lounge.”
“Hey, wait a minute, kid. I'm no psychologist, but you're obviously pissed off about something. Can we talk about it?”
“There's no need. I'm not here to talk, I'm just here to do whatever Arthur asks me to do, so let's do it already.”
“Whoa, easy on the tone, Alexa. I'm just trying to help.”
Alexa took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, Buddy. I just get so frustrated with how Artie treats me sometimes. It's always, 'Ms. Rose, escort Mr. blah blah there', or 'Ms. Rose, please pick up my blah blah blah from the blah blah'. I mean, it's like he thinks I'm his personal assistant or something.”
“I thought you were.”
“Exactly my point.”
“I'm not sure I understand. Don't you like Arthur?”
“Ugh,” Alexa said as she started walking away.
“No, seriously. You two seem to be pretty cool with each other. Why the sudden change?”
“Don't get me wrong, Artie's done a lot for me. If it weren't for him, I don't know where I'd be. But I just don't think he takes me seriously. I feel like I'm more of an errand girl than anything else around here.”
“This is probably exactly the wrong thing to ask right now, but what are you to Arthur? I figured you were his go-to guy, well, you know, but a girl. You know, the one he trusts enough to get things done.”
“Well, sure, I take care of everything, but it's all his pointless stuff. I mean, most of what he asks me to do could be done by a town car driver. Sure, they wouldn't be nearly as quick as me, but it just feels like, ugh, I don't know.” Alexa dropped her head in exasperation.
“I'll be the first to admit I'm not too good on the whole understanding women thing, but I've got a hunch there's something else going on here. You wanna talk about it?”
“No,” Alexa said, as she walked to the elevator door. She pressed the button. Buddy walked up beside her to wait for the elevator to arrive. “It's just, look, we've got some big stuff going on right now. Damon Memphis is back from exile and all of a sudden I'm expected to be on the front lines with you and Zero. Yesterday I was just the one who went out for the paper in the morning. It's cool that I'm getting into this stuff, scary as hell, but this is where I want to be.”
“So, then what's the problem?”
“The problem is, even though Artie's ready to toss all this stuff on my plate, without even asking, he still doesn't trust me to be around when he works on his plans. Instead, I just get sent to guide you around the building. Why can't I be in there? It's my freaking life on the line too, you know?”
“I don't think Arthur really seems like the kind of guy to want much for input from other people on his 'plans'.”
“That's exactly the problem.” Alexa brushed the carpet with her foot. “All of a sudden he's looking for suggestions and I get kicked out. Fine, no big deal, but he lets Ryan stay around? What the hell is that all about? He just got here, he doesn't even know how we operate. I should be the one in there.”
“So, I'm guessing you and Ryan aren't on the best of terms, then?”
“It's not that, not exactly,” she began pacing. “I love my brother. It's been really hard on me being separated from him. But he's always been given special treatment. He was my dad's favorite and now. . .”
“Now you're thinking he's going to be Arthur's favorite too.” The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.
“Yeah, I know it's stupid. But for the first time in my life I thought I had the chance to actually do something worthwhile, by myself, without it being all about my dad or my brother. I know I'm not as smart as either of them, but I've got ideas, I can--”
“Can I offer a bit of advice?”
“I guess so, sure.” Alexa pressed the green button and the elevator doors shut.
“Forget about it.”
“You're right. You really don't understand women.” She rolled her eyes as she scowled in frustration.
“Okay, yeah, I understand that might not be the most sensitive answer. But look, ever since I learned about all of this crap with the whole mind wipe redaction whatever, I've felt like I have had absolutely no clue what was going on. But throughout all of this, the only person down here I've felt could actually talk to me like a real person is you.”
“I'm not fishing for compliments, Buddy.”
“No, really. If it weren't for you taking care of me I doubt I'd still be around. I'd be willing to bet that's the reason Arthur's had you escorting me as well. He realized you were the only one who could make this whole thing seem grounded somehow.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course I mean it. Between Arthur and the whole mafioso thing he's got going on, Carl and his weird experiments, and Jeff's stupid power struggle thing, you're the only person I've met down here that acts like, well, a person.”
Alexa sighed. “Thanks. But still, I mean, it's such a boy's club down here. Artie, Jeff and Carl are always having these secret meetings without me. I know they're family and all, but I just feel left out. And now, without any warning, suddenly my brother's allowed to be involved as well?”
“Yeah, I get it. But you know, they didn't really want me around either.”
“It's not like you've been all that willing to cooperate.”
“Sure, okay. But look, how many people are down here? I must have seen at least a hundred folks when I was down in the barracks, right?”
“There's around 1500 people living in the complex right now.”
“Wow, really? Okay, well, out of those fifteen hundred people, how many interact with Arthur on a daily basis?”
“I don't know, there's probably hundreds of them. Artie gets around the complex pretty frequently. He likes to have his hands in everything that goes on around here.”
“Alright, but how many of them actually get real, honest, one on one time with him?”
“I don't know. I guess it would probably just be Jeff, Carl and me. Oh, and Smith and Frederick are around him a lot, but I'm not sure they actually talk.”
“Body guards don't count. And Jeff and Carl are his sons, so, that means the only person he's actually choosing to have around him is you. That's gotta mean something, right?”
“I guess. . .” Alexa began drawing a line with her foot on the floor.
“And I can't imagine Arthur's all that fond of his kids anyways. They both seem to have fallen far from the tree.”
“Well, sure, but they're his kids. He loves them.”
“Right, they are his kids. And they're both busy doing their own things. So, he just lets them do whatever they want. He has you around to get stuff done, stuff that he actually cares about.”
“Well, he does have over 1500 people working for him, I'm not the only person who does stuff.”
“Okay, fine, but you're still in his inner circle. I mean, I can't imagine he told too many people Damon's back, or that he was going to bring back the legendary Buddy Hero, right?”
“Well-”
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br /> “The way I see it, you're Arthur's right hand man.”
“But then why did he kick me out of his office?”
“Probably because he realized the same thing I did.”
“Yeah? What's that?”
“You're scared out of your wits.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“He's protecting you, Alexa.”
“From what?”
“From the fact that he has absolutely no clue how to deal with Damon.”
“Okay, fine, I'll believe you. But. . . it still would have been nice to have been asked.” The elevator doors opened. The two paused in silence. Alexa looked in Buddy's eyes. “You know, I'm starting to believe there really is some piece of Buddy Hero left in there.”
Buddy and Alexa entered the lounge and Zero and Maggie both looked up. Maggie was red-faced and teary-eyed. Zero looked uncomfortable, as though he had something he had been about to say but wasn't sure how. Maggie, seeing Buddy had entered the room, jumped up and ran to him, thrusting her arms around his torso.
“Buddy! You're alive!”
“Whoa, chill sis, of course I'm alive. It'd take a whole lot more than some flame-throwing destroyer of worlds to take down good ol' Buddy Hero.”
“Don't call yourself that!”
“Sorry, yeah, I knew it was wrong when I heard it too.” Zero slowly got off his seat and walked to the group, looking happy to see Buddy, but there was something else in his eyes Buddy couldn't quite pick out.
“Chum, it's good to see you back with the living.”
“Thanks, Zero.”
“How do you feel?” Maggie asked. “Sounds like you were in some real trouble there.”
“I feel great. Honestly. I mean, you'd think after all that happened, I'd be a hurting unit, but I seriously feel fine..”
“Well, of course you feel fine, chum. You're Buddy Hero, feeling fine is the Buddy Hero way.”
“Stop calling him that stupid name.”