Super Zero

by Rhonda Stapleton

  I wiped the blood dribbling from the cuts on my side and shoulder and tried to suck it up. Whining wouldn’t help anything right now. I peeked through the cover of darkness, my eyes trying fruitlessly to scan the sporadic wooded areas around me. Nothing so far. Nor had I seen Rowena move from the treehouse.

  If only I had Mechanoman’s powers of night vision. Some of that would come in handy right now.

  A shuffling came from somewhere behind me, beyond the trees. I spun around and darted to the edge of the clearing behind me, crouching low behind a bush. Mechanoman reached toward his utility belt and flung some kind of dagger toward Carrie. It lobbed hard into her upper arm, lodging in there.

  She screamed, the painful cry violently renting the silence. An icy chill danced up my spine at the horrifying, almost inhuman wail.

  She ripped the dagger out then ran toward Mechanoman, her hands up and ready to attack him.

  “Be careful!” I whispered to him. “She packs a hard—”

  The rest of the words died on my throat as Carrie pulled out some kind of Chinese star and whipped it at Mechanoman. It whistled as it flew through the air. He tried to move out of the way, but he wasn’t as fast as Vigilante.

  It struck him dead in the chest.

  He froze, reaching a hand up to touch the points of the star, then collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from the spot where the weapon punctured him.

  I bit my lip to keep from crying out, fighting the urge to run to him. Bide your time. Rushing headfirst would get me killed as well, and we’d agreed beforehand not to put ourselves in unnecessary danger. When Carrie left, I would grab him and drag him back into this wooded area, where we were both under cover.

  Carrie stood over him and spat on his face. In the moonlight, I saw a cold smile on her face. “Enjoy dying,” she said to him, then fled deeper into the gardens.

  I dashed over to Mechanoman. Blood continued to seep from his wound. His breathing was shallow, uneven.

  “Hey,” I said, wiping the spit off his face and studying his expression closely. “I’m going to bring you back over to the wooded strip behind us. I think Amy can help with that…weapon that hit you.”

  “I’m not gonna make it,” he whispered. The pale night washed his face in a sallow coloring, his lips and skin an eerie blue. A dribble of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth, sliding down his cheek.

  Oh, God. That couldn’t be good. My heart lobbed hard in my chest. Please, don’t die, I silently prayed. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. “Stay with me, okay?” I begged him. “Come on, you can do it.” I grabbed his arms, ready to drag him out of the clearing.

  Mechanoman shook his head slowly, his eyes closed. “No. Just go. Take the belt.”

  “I’m not leaving you here,” I cried out. Even though I’d just met this man, he was part of the team. I could see now why superheroes banded together in groups. You really grew attached to someone when you trusted him with your life.

  Perhaps that’s why I was so attached to Vigilante, even though it wasn’t smart.

  “Go,” Mechanoman whispered with more force. Then, his body sagged, and he stopped breathing.

  A veil of tears quickly covered my eyes. I wasn’t going to let Mechanoman die in vain. The deep, piercing sorrow was quickly replaced by a flash of hot anger. Those bitches were going down, so help me. They weren’t going to get away with this.

  This was a fight to the death. Wild justice, like Vigilante. I finally understood him, finally saw why he was willing to get the job done, no matter what.

  I closed his eyes and strapped his utility belt around my abdomen. Not that I knew how to use 95 percent of the stuff, but he wanted me to try. That was a true hero, one who wanted to make sure good still conquered evil.

  “Give me the crystal, Jenna…or whoever you are now,” Rowena’s sultry voice said from behind me. “Nice job disguising yourself, by the way. I wouldn’t have known it was you unless Vera Verde hadn’t tipped me off.”

  I wiped the tears from my eyes, standing to face her. “You’ll have to get it over my dead body.”

  “Like I have a problem with that,” she said, walking toward me.

  I backed away, keeping my eyes to her.

  Rowena shook her head slowly, a small, vain smile across her perfect face. “You can’t outrun me. I’ll stab you right through the heart before you have a chance to cry out to your pathetic friends.”

  She suddenly went flying, landing across the lower half of Mechanoman’s body.

  “Go, Jenna!” I heard Dwight’s voice say to me. He must have gone invisible and knocked her over.

  I grabbed two batteries and held them in my palm then took off into the dark, heading back toward the Japanese garden, our planned rendezvous where part two of the plan was to take place. Short, squat bushes in a variety of greens ran alongside a winding dry rock stream, trimmed with smooth grey boulders and filled with sand and pebbles.

  I darted across, careful with my footing, and found the main path through the gardens. My chest ached with thoughts of Mechanoman, lying dead in the clearing. Did he have family? I made a mental note for us to go back and get his body so he could have a proper burial.

  A horrible flash of Vigilante, his body floating face-down in the small cement pond beside the main building, was forced into my mind against my will. Dementrix. A small sob escaped my mouth. It couldn’t be true…could it?

  “That’s right,” she said, strolling up the path toward me. “He’s dead.”

  Chapter 22

  I stared in horror at Dementrix, whose face was shrouded from the shade trees above us. She stood there oh so casually, like there wasn’t a care in the world. Like the man I loved hadn’t died, if she was telling the truth. But that image looked so convincing.

  How could this have happened? Vigilante was too strong, too smart to be tricked by her into killing himself. I fought back the urge to throw up right there on the path. My legs wobbled uncontrollably, and I locked my knees to keep from toppling over in shock. How could he be gone? I didn’t even tell him how I felt.

  “You know, I wondered why Vigilante was not as well-prepared to fight me as he used to be. Maybe working with you did him in,” she spat out. “You were the noose around his neck.”

  God, maybe she was right. He was mad at me and probably distracted when he walked off…right into her awaiting grasp. Guilt ripped through my stomach.

  Dementrix forced another image of Vigilante into my head. His face was turned up from the water this time, the skin waxy and blue from lack of oxygen.

  No! I had to fight this. I couldn’t let her drive me insane from his death, forcing me to seek my own final reprieve from the horror of what she was showing me. I would deal with his death soon enough, but he wouldn’t want me to die too.

  I allowed a moment of grief for Vigilante’s drowning to fill me and fell over face-forward onto the path, my nerves on end. Then I sobbed, hard, my body clenched with sorrow and anger.

  Dementrix stepped toward me, kicking me in the side with her pointy black knee-high boots, her toes connecting with the painful cut Rowena had made. The air flew right out of my lungs, and I gasped to breathe.

  “Pathetic,” she said again, sneering down at me and shaking her head.

  I stared up at her then reached out with my free hand and grabbed her calf. I channeled all the hate, the anger and despair I had within me into the electrical surge from the batteries in my other hand and screamed, a guttural cry that wrenched from deep within my gut.

  The power slid easily from my hands. Dementrix, a look of stunned surprise in her eyes, gasped as the energy jolt wracked through her body. She shook hard and fell to the ground, her body convulsing. Then she went still.

  I leaned down to make sure she was still alive. Her breath puffed lightly on my cheek in rapid, uneven bursts.

  Grabbing some industrial-strength rope Mechanoman had on his belt, I wrapped it tightly around her wrists and ankles and gagged her mouth. Dementrix
was going to pay for her crimes, all right, but I’d let the law deal with her. Murdering her wouldn’t bring Vigilante back.

  I sat beside her unconscious figure for a long moment, trying to stop the horrible thoughts circling through my mind. What now? Mechanoman was dead. Vigilante was floating on a pond somewhere.

  My chest hurt, and a bone-aching sorrow ripped me in two. This wasn't fair. I didn't get to say goodbye. I needed to find him. I’d take his body and hide it until Amy, Dwight, and I finished with Carrie and Rowena, but I wasn’t going to leave him in the water.

  I grabbed Dementrix by the feet and tugged her unconscious body along with me, sneaking my way to the pond I’d seen from the vision. It was near the right side of the building, near the patio. Once I reached the clearing, I scoped the area to make sure no one was around then ran over.

  The only thing in the pond was water.

  Did they get him already? I scoured the area frantically, but to no avail.

  A small bead of hope filled me, one I’d wrestled with believing in when I saw the horrific image in my head. Dementrix must have lied. Maybe she’d only shown me that so I would go crazy and perhaps try to take my own life.

  I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face. Was he alive? Would I see him again?

  “Hey,” Amy’s quiet voice said from behind me, “are you okay?”

  I spun around and hugged her tightly. “Oh God, this has been awful,” I said, sobbing. “Mechanoman is dead, and Dementrix told me she killed Vigilante—”

  “No she didn’t. He’s hiding with Dwight in the rose garden. Rowena hacked Dwight up pretty badly, but luckily they got away.”

  I sucked in a breath so deeply, I got dizzy. “Oh, thank God,” I whispered.

  “You really love him, don’t you.”

  I nodded slowly. I did, with all my heart, even though we’d gone through all this together. And thinking he was dead reinforced that fact for me. I couldn’t deal with the thought of him dying without knowing how I felt, even if nothing became of it.

  Vigilante was a superhero who had to keep his secrets, and maybe caring about me wasn’t a good enough reason for him to divulge them. As awful as that thought was, that was the situation I had to deal with. But maybe I could have something with him. I could see him casually, even though it would hurt my heart, because at least it was something.

  Love sure did make a girl change.

  “Then let’s get through this,” Amy said, “and you can tell him how you feel.”

  “You’re right.” I filled her in on what happened with Mechanoman and Dementrix as we headed to the rose garden, both of us dragging Dementrix behind. Her head probably hit a few rocks along the way, but I didn’t care too much about her comfort.

  Amy gave me a big smile. “Wow, good for you,” she said, her voice awed. “I’ve never heard of anyone other than Vigilante to survive Dementrix’s mind tricks.”

  Whoa. I stopped dead in my tracks as I took in Dwight’s injured figure, right in front of us. He leaned against a fragrant arch, cupping the right side of his stomach with a bloodied hand. Dwight waved when he saw us, his eyes taking in my shocked expression. “See, it’s a good thing I have insurance,” he stated plainly.

  I laughed, hard. I couldn’t help it. It was so damn good to see him alive, after the way he’d jumped on Rowena so I could escape.

  “You know,” I replied, “I think I will be taking you up on your offer once we get out of this mess.”

  “Me too,” Vigilante said from behind me.

  I spun around and hugged him tightly, clinging to his body. My side screamed in pain, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t be close enough to him.

  He froze in shock for a second at my emotional reaction. Then he tightly wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive,” I mumbled against his chest, trying for the four hundredth time today to fight back the tears. A huge sob of relief stuck in my chest, and I tried to keep it from erupting.

  “Me too,” he said in a joking tone. “Was I not supposed to be?”

  “Okay, you two,” Amy said. “We have two more villains to take down.”

  “One more,” Vigilante said, nodding to the left of us.

  I stared off into the distance, trying to see through the dark patches of flowers around us. And there was Carrie, glaring at us, her back against a tree and arms tied behind her. She had a gag across her mouth as well. Finally got her to shut up.

  My jaw dropped. “How did you get her?” I asked.

  Vigilante had a crooked smile on his face. “While you yahoos were wasting time here talking, I was doing real superhero work.”

  Dwight sputtered. “W-what? I’ll have you know—”

  Vigilante chuckled, holding up a hand. “Chill. I was kidding. Everyone’s worked really hard. We’re almost done.”

  “Okay,” Amy said in an excited tone. “Awesome. You, Jenna and I can work on taking Rowena down. Dwight,” she said, squatting down to talk to him, “can you keep an eye on Vera Verde, please? She’s dangerous, but I trust you.”

  Dwight nodded solemnly. “Yes, I will.”

  Amy, Vigilante and I quickly analyzed the situation and came up with an impromptu plan. We split up, Amy heading in one direction, and Vigilante and I going the other, circling the outer border of the lush gardens until we finally spotted Rowena.

  She rested casually on a bench, filing her nails. The moonlight danced off her dark hair, casting a blue glow to her features. “Finally, you’re here,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Took you guys long enough.”

  I glared at her, stepping forward. Vigilante caught my arm and tugged me back, his eyes telling me to cool it. I took in two deep breaths and tried to calm down. This was it. I couldn’t let her get the better of me. I was a superhero now, and we didn’t let villains raise our hackles.

  Instead, I offered Rowena an innocent smile in return. “Gee, if we’d known you were waiting, we would have busted your cohorts sooner. Sorry about that. We should work on our communication, don’t you think?”

  Rowena sneered at me, tossing the nail file on the ground with a disdainful flick of her wrist. She dropped her hands to her sides, the nails growing about a foot long. “I’m done wasting time with you. I hope you said your goodbyes,” she said to us.

  “I sure did,” I retorted. “And before I came here, I also sent a nice care package to the main department of the Midwest League of Heroes, detailed with evidence of all the scummy things you’ve done.”

  Her eyes raged. “How dare you!”

  She lunged toward me, but Vigilante jumped in front of me in a split second and smacked her hand away, his own hand a blur as it moved. Her nails grazed his forearm, ripping several long shreds in the overcoat.

  “You’re gonna pay for the repairs for that,” he muttered. “Do you know how hard it is to find a coat I like in this season?”

  I grabbed a dagger from Mechanoman’s belt and tossed it at Rowena as best as I could. Of course it was horribly executed, as I have the worst aim in the world. But it served its purpose by distracting her, which was my portion of the plan.

  She drew her attention away from us to easily bat the blade away. “Is that all you got?” she asked, acidity dripping from her voice.

  A small blaze started on the tips of her hair. Amy had come through for us.

  Rowena yelped, smacking her palms at the flames licking their way up her perfectly coiffed hair. She concentrated on getting the fire out, the tresses unevenly burning to right below her chin.

  Vigilante grabbed the other piece of rope from Mechanoman’s utility belt and spun around Rowena fast, wrapping her tightly in place, her fingers pinned against her face so she couldn’t slice her way free.

  “How dare you!” she cried out. “Release me at once!”

  Before Rowena could run off, I touched her elbow with one shaky hand and grabbed my last battery in the other, willing all the power to transfer to
her body. The jolt ran up my arm to slam hard into her. Rowena fell to the ground, shaking, then went still.

  Good, because I couldn’t stand to listen to her yammering anymore.

  I whipped out my phone and dialed 911, requesting police to pick up the three villains. They promised to arrive within a few minutes, so Amy kept a close eye on Rowena as Vigilante went back to make sure Carrie and Dementrix were still wrapped in place.

  I went over to Mechanoman’s body, slipping the utility belt back under his abdomen and buckling it into place. “We did it,” I whispered to him. “Thank you for your help.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer every minute as the police drove at break-neck speed toward the gardens. I sat beside his body until the two ambulances tucked him and Dwight safely away in their cars.

  Surveying the broken brush and flowers across the gardens, I could finally see why heroes like Mason would take off before they got pinned with the repair damages. It was a mess everywhere, and I felt a small twinge of guilt for my hand in it. But that’s how it goes with the work of superheroes—the bad guys are put behind bars, and the city can sleep peacefully again.

  Our work here was done.

  Chapter 23

  I’d never been so happy to take a shower in all my life. I rubbed a towel vigorously across my damp hair, wincing as my shoulder nagged me about its injury with every lift of my arm. As if I could have forgotten.

  “Wow,” Britney said from her seat on the couch, taking in my various cuts and bruises. “You sure took a whoopin’. What happened tonight?”

  I shrugged lightly, using my free hand to hold a second towel in place across my body. “I just did what any good citizen would do. I helped stop the bad guy.”

  She shot me a big smile. “Well, that’s, like, great.” After glancing at her watch, she stood and said, “It’s time for me to head to bed. My plane leaves at eight tomorrow morning, so I need to rest up.”