by Lucas Flint
“I gotta admit, boss, she’s got a point,” I said. “The Superhero Killer’s MO doesn’t seem like—”
An armored hand fell on my shoulder, causing me to look up at Iron Angel, who stood beside me like a silent guardian. He looked down at the Necromantress, his helmet looking almost demonic in the glow of the purple mud from the cauldron.
“The woman is clearly a liar,” said Iron Angel. “She is hoping that we will be gullible enough to believe that this woman who hates superheroes would not resort to killing them herself as a psychological tactic against her ex-husband. Even though I’ve only known her for a few minutes, it is as plain as day to me that this woman’s grip on reality is looser than the floorboards of this mansion.”
“The Necromantress grips reality perfectly well, thank you very much,” said the Necromantress with another huff. “Nor does she lie. She tells the truth with every word she speaks. She is not the Superhero Killer, though she would like to be a superhero killer.”
She said that last sentence while glaring at Rubberman, like she was attempting to fire eye beams of her own at him. But Rubberman, of course, didn’t pay any attention to her.
Instead, he said, “Well, once the police get here and do an investigation of the Mansion, I’m sure they’ll find the proof necessary to expose your identity as the Superhero Killer. All we need to do is keep you still until they arrive to haul you off to jail, where you deserve to rot for the rest of your sorry life.”
The Necromantress immediately began grumbling under her breath indistinctly, although I caught “stupid superheroes” and “underestimating the Necromantress” and “she will get her revenge” among her grumbling. Not that I really cared, however, because it was pretty obvious to me that the Necromantress was totally powerless and would probably stay behind bars for the rest of her life, like Rubberman said.
Speaking of Rubberman, although he sounded confident when said that to her, he also looked a little uncertain. I wasn’t sure why. After all, we’d caught the Superhero Killer, hadn’t we? I didn’t see any reason to be uncertain or worried about anything right now. Sure, we’d need to make sure that the Mansion was completely clear of zombies, but that would be pretty easy to do. Maybe Rubberman was worried about what the government would do with the Necromantress’ reanimation potion.
In any case, I was glad that this was all over with. I was just about ready to clock out and head home. I just hoped that the police would get here quickly, because I didn’t want to stay inside this creepy mansion any longer than I had to.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When the police came and took the Necromantress to jail, Rubberman and I hopped back into the Rubbermobile and headed back to the Elastic Cave. We invited Iron Angel to come with us, but he declined. He said he wanted to stay at the Mansion and help the police scout it out fully just to make sure that the Necromantress had not left some kind of trap in wait for any unwary visitors. He said he would come by and visit early tomorrow morning, however, which seemed to make Rubberman really excited, perhaps because it meant he’d get to spend a whole day with the man who inspired him to become a superhero.
The police weren’t the only people who came in response to our calls, however. Agents from the Department of Superheroes also came with the police; apparently, they had an office in Golden City, which was how they were able to send a few agents so quickly. I didn’t get to talk with them, however, because Rubberman and I were already leaving the area by the time a van from the Bureau showed up. I did, however, get a glimpse of several tall, mysterious-looking men wearing dark suits and sunglasses pour out of the van and enter the Mansion’s basement, probably to confiscate the Necromantress’ cauldron. How they would fit such a huge cauldron into such a tiny van, I didn’t know, but maybe they would call in a larger truck to haul it off.
In any case, I sat relaxed in the passenger’s seat of the Rubbermobile as we drove back to base. The nice thing about the Rubbermobile’s seats was that they had automatic heating and cooling. It was pretty cold out right now, so the Rubbermobile’s seats were set to a nice, warm room temperature. It was very relaxing, which, combined with the Rubbermobile’s smooth handling, was almost enough to make me fall asleep.
But I didn’t, because I noticed how Rubberman was frowning. He hadn’t said much since we left the Mansion. He seemed distracted by something, wearing that same look I’d seen him wear after we defeated the Necromantress.
With a small yawn, I said, “What’s the matter, boss? You look worried. Just tired or something?”
Rubberman shook his head without looking at me. “No, I’m not particularly tired. Truth be told, this mission was not as hard or exhausting as some. Shawna is a threat when she has access to her black magic. Take it away from her, however, and she’s just an ordinary woman with no fighting skills to speak of. There are actually a lot of supervillains like that. They rely on their powers or their equipment or their minions to be a threat, but when they come face to face with someone like me or even someone like you, they usually go down with one good punch.”
“Then why do you look so worried?” I said. I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “The Necromantress is defeated. She’s going to jail. She won’t be able to hurt you or any other superheroes ever again. I bet all of the news sites and newspapers will be singing your praises once everyone knows that you defeated the Superhero Killer. Maybe it’ll even generate some more business for us.”
Rubberman bit his lower lip. He was silent for a moment, but just as we turned down another street, he said, “I don’t think the Necromantress is the Superhero Killer.”
I sat a little bit more upright and looked at Rubberman in confusion. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t you think she’s the Superhero Killer? Weren’t you the first one to accuse her of being that?”
“Because …” Rubberman trailed off like he was trying to organize his thoughts. “Because what she said made sense. The Superhero Killer’s MO doesn’t match hers at all. She’s never gone out of her way to attack anyone but me, unless they attack her first, like you and Iron Angel did. Not to mention how she looks nothing at all like what the Superhero Killer has been reported to look like.”
“Maybe the winged Superhero Killer that everyone has reported seeing was one of her zombies,” I said. “Maybe she made a winged zombie that could rip the heads off of people.”
“Unlikely,” said Rubberman. “Shawna’s powers are dangerous, but as far as I can tell, she can only reanimate corpses, not alter them to suit her own purposes.”
“But Iron Angel seemed so convinced that she was the Superhero Killer,” I said. “He wouldn’t lie, would he?”
“Of course not,” said Rubberman quickly. “Iron Angel is a true blue superhero, even better than Prime Man himself, if you ask me. But it is … possible, I guess, for Iron Angel to be wrong or mistaken.”
I looked at Rubberman with amusement. “So you’re finally admitting that Iron Angel isn’t God, then.”
Rubberman rolled his eyes. “Just because he is my biggest inspiration as a superhero doesn’t mean I worship him or whatever. I know he’s got his flaws.”
“Yeah, I know, I was just teasing you,” I said. “But still, how likely is it that Iron Angel is wrong? He’s been a superhero even longer than you. That gives him a pretty sharp edge over you, in my opinion.”
“It is … unlikely that Iron Angel would be wrong,” said Rubberman. “There is a far higher chance that I’m in the wrong here than he is. Still, ‘unlikely’ doesn’t mean impossible.”
“Maybe the Necromantress is working with the real Superhero Killer,” I said. “Maybe she denied being the Superhero Killer so he could get away. Don’t you think that’s possible?”
Rubberman laughed. “Shawna is the most selfish woman in the world. There’s no way she’d ever take the fall for another person. She was selfish in our marriage and she is still selfish now. If she was working with the Superhero Killer, she would have spilled the beans about his ide
ntity to us so we could catch him. She’d do that because she’d think she’d get something out of it, maybe a shorter prison sentence or something.”
I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. “Whatever, boss. I think you’re just worrying too much. You should just get excited about tomorrow, when you’ll get to spend a full day with Iron Angel. Isn’t that what you’ve always dreamed of?”
“You’re right,” said Rubberman, nodding as we turned into the secret entrance to the Elastic Cave. “I’m probably worrying too much. I should just be grateful that we stopped Shawna before she killed any more innocent people or unleashed her army of the dead onto Golden City. And in any case, if the Superhero Killer is still out there, Iron Angel and I will find him.”
I nodded as well, though I couldn’t help but notice how worried Rubberman continued to look. It was obvious to me that Rubberman was not able to just forget about his doubts like that, but maybe he would forget about them tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. I know I was ready to go to sleep and I was already looking forward to going back home and sleeping in my bed.
After all, even if the Necromantress isn’t the Superhero Killer, we still stopped a dangerous supervillain today, right? The city was safe and the day was saved. In my opinion, things could only get better from here.
Despite those positive thoughts, I could not help but feel a little doubtful and worried myself. This whole thing did seem a bit too easy, now that I thought about it, but just because something is easy doesn’t mean it’s bad. Sometimes, things are just easy and there’s no point in worrying about it anymore than you have to. At least, that’s what I told myself, anyway.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The next day, I made it to school early. That was unusual; usually, I was one of the last students to get there, owing to the fact that I preferred to bike to school instead of taking the bus or driving a car like some of the other kids. It was probably because my legs were so strong. All of those workout sessions in the Rubber Room were really starting to pay off. My legs were stronger than ever, as was the rest of my body. Not only did that mean I was more energetic than usual, but it also helped me look like I really did go to the gym, which was the standard excuse I gave to most people who asked me where I went after school.
As I hooked my bike up to the school’s bike rack, I heard someone shout, “Alex!”
I looked over my shoulder. Frank was walking up to me, huffing and puffing. He wore a large red, puffy coat, probably due to the cold January morning air. He also wore his thick black mittens and had a warm red cap which clung to his head snugly. He had an excited and expectant look on his face, which was strange because Frank didn’t usually look so excited so early in the morning like this.
“Frank?” I said as Frank approached. “What are you doing here so early? School doesn’t open for another ten minutes.”
“Oh, I’ve already been here for over an hour,” said Frank, stopping in front of me and panting slightly. “My dad usually goes to work at seven, so I asked him to drop me off at the school on his way to work so I could be here on time.”
“Weird,” I said. I glanced at the still-closed school, although based on the lights in the windows, it was clear that the faculty was getting the school building ready for the day ahead. “I thought you hated school. Why would you want to be one of the first inside?”
“I didn’t come here because I like school or anything,” said Frank. He shuddered. “I absolutely despise school. No, I came here because I wanted to talk with you first thing. I didn’t know when you’d show up, so I decided I would come early and catch you before school started.”
I scratched the back of my head. “What did you want to talk about? Couldn’t it have waited until later?”
Frank punched my arm. “Come on, bro. You know what I’m talking about. The interview.”
I stared at Frank uncomprehendingly. “The interview? With me?”
“No, idiot,” said Frank, shaking his head. “The interview with Beams. Remember? The one you promised to get me?”
All of a sudden, memories of promising Frank I’d schedule an interview with Beams for him came flooding back into my mind. “Oh, right. Yeah, I remember now. The interview. Yeah.”
“And?” said Frank expectantly. “How did it go? Did you talk to him about it?”
In truth, it had totally slipped my mind since yesterday. Between Iron Angel’s sudden appearance and our battle with the Necromantress in the Old Albertson Mansion, I had completely forgotten about scheduling the interview with Frank. It seemed like such a minor thing in comparison to the events of the last 24 hours that it must have just slipped my mind. I probably would have forgotten about it entirely if Frank hadn’t asked me about it right now.
But aloud, I said, “Oh, uh, I didn’t see Beams at the gym yesterday, so I didn’t get to ask him about it.”
Frank frowned. “You didn’t see him at the gym? Couldn’t you have called him and told him about it?”
“Hey, just because I know who he is doesn’t mean we’re best friends,” I said. “He’s never given me his phone number for privacy reasons and I don’t have any other way to contact him, either. You know how hard it is to get a hold of sidekicks.”
Frank sighed. “Yeah, I guess I should have expected that. But will you please ask him the next time you see him, whenever that is? My schedule is totally open and I can interview him whenever he wants. I’m even willing to skip school if I have to.”
“Uh, sure, Frank,” I said, even though privately I wasn’t sure I would be able to remember this again. “I bet he’ll be at the gym today, so I’ll ask him then.”
“Thanks!” said Frank, a large smile replacing his earlier frown. “You’re the best friend a guy could ask for, you know that?”
“No problem, bro,” I said with a shrug. “That’s what friends are for, right?”
“Right,” said Frank. “Anyway, speaking of Beams, did you hear about what happened at the Old Albertson Mansion yesterday?”
“Um, I think so,” I said, not meeting Frank’s eyes. “Did Rubberman and Beams stop a supervillain or something?”
“It wasn’t just any supervillain, Alex, but some crazy lady named the Necromantress,” said Frank. “According to what I read online, Rubberman, Beams, and some other superhero named Iron Angel stormed the Old Albertson Mansion and defeated a supervillain called the Necromantress. Apparently, not only is she the famous Superhero Killer everyone’s been talking about, but she was also raising an army of the dead in the Mansion’s basement in order to take over Golden City. Isn’t that just insane?”
“Totally,” I said, glancing down the street and seeing one of the school buses coming toward us, which meant that school was going to start soon. “I’m glad they managed to beat her before she could succeed. Wouldn’t it be scary if an army of zombies was running around Golden City, biting people and destroying businesses and stuff?”
Frank shuddered. “Ugh, don’t even mention it. I hate zombie shows and anything having to do with zombies. My sister keeps trying to make me watch that zombie show she’s a huge fan of—The Running Undead or whatever it’s called—but I keep telling her no, because I don’t want to have nightmares of zombies eating my brains every day for the next five weeks.”
“That seems oddly specific.”
“Happened to me once when I saw an old zombie movie when I was five.” Frank shuddered again. “Never again. Never again.”
Then Frank leaned in closer to me and said, “But that Necromantress villain is pretty hot, isn’t she? Some people on the Internet say she’s Rubberman’s ex-wife, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
I glanced at the school bus again, which had come to a stop. Students were pouring out of its doors and climbing the steps to the front doors, which meant school was just about to start.
I began walking toward the front doors, while Frank followed by my side, keeping up as best as he could despite the fact that his legs were shorter than mine
. I wasn’t sure if I should confirm the rumor about the Necromantress to Frank or not, but I decided not to, because I didn’t want him to suspect that I was Beams.
“That’s pretty crazy,” I said as we started climbing the steps, though we had to go slowly due to all of the students climbing the steps at the same time as us. “I can’t imagine Rubberman would ever actually date, much less marry, a supervillain like her.”
“Like I said, it’s just a rumor,” said Frank. “And an Internet rumor, at that, so it’s probably not very reliable. Still, it’s a lot more believable than some of the rumors I heard about that Iron Angel guy.”
I looked over my shoulder at him as we walked up the steps. “What rumors about Iron Angel? I haven’t heard any.”
“I haven’t, either, until I saw the article this morning about the event at the Mansion yesterday,” said Frank. “I’d never heard of Iron Angel before, so, of course, I did what I always do whenever I see a new superhero: I went online and searched for him. Apparently, the guy was a pretty active superhero from the late eighties to the early two thousands, but retired about ten years ago after his sidekick died.”
I nodded. I knew all that already, because Iron Angel had told me about it yesterday. “But what do the rumors say about him? Anything interesting?”
“Just the usual conspiracies,” said Frank as we entered the school and walked over to our lockers to get our books before our classes started. “You know, like how Iron Angel is really a government spy or how he’s actually an alien from outer space or something like that. The funny stuff you look up whenever you’re bored.”
I opened my locker and took out my science textbooks. “So nothing interesting, in other words.”