The next day, before class, Clark sped by feet to a store and purchased another pair of flimsy thick horn-rimmed glasses. One bully was not going to keep him from playing around with a persona to conceal his work as a crime fighter.
Clark drudged through several boring hours of class. The only thing that kept him going was the occasional chat with Sarah or another friend. When school was over, he realized there still remained several more hours until night fell. So when the hallways emptied he grabbed a bag of popcorn from the vending machine, went to the gym, and sat on the bleachers as Sarah instructed the other cheerleaders in practice. He watched as they practiced several synchronized moves over and over as music played from the stereo speakers. An hour and a half later, the cheerleading coach, Miss Paige, showed up and told them they had done enough for the day.
“You really deserve that captain position,” Clark told Sarah as he jogged down the bleachers to greet her. “You were terrific.”
“You think so?” Sarah asked.
“Hell yes. It must have taken you forever to put all of that together.”
“Thanks,” she said. “It’s my passion. Now I’m going to head to the girl’s locker-room to change. Wait for me.”
“Of course,” Clark said as if he wouldn’t have thought to do anything else.
“Okay, I’ll be back for you in a few minutes.”
Sarah walked into the locker-room and the other girls were taking off their cheerleading outfits. As Sarah went to her locker, she overheard Jessica on the other side of lockers talking about her.
“It’s just not fair,” Jessica said as she placed a shirt on. “She steals my captain position away and now everyone is saying that boyfriend of hers is the best new player on the football team. Why did they become so special all of a sudden?”
“What are you saying?” another girl asked as she got dressed.
“I’m just saying,” Jessica snapped, “there’s a conspiracy going on. I think I should keep an eye on those two.”
“I work hard for everything I’ve earned!” Sarah yelled so the other girls could hear. “Take your shit talking elsewhere and if you don’t like it, get off my team! I’m captain here!”
Minutes later Clark watched as Sarah stormed out of the girl’s locker-room.
“What’s wrong?” Clark asked when he saw Sarah frowning.
“They’re just jealous,” Sarah folded her arms.
“Remember what I told you happened yesterday after practice?” Clark asked. “Now you see the sort of things we have to deal with.”
“Ugh,” Sarah grunted. “Maybe Andrew and Dan were right when they left this terrible place.”
“Oh come on,” Clark said as they exited the school with their backpacks. “It’s not that bad. We just have to put up with the jealous people that talk crap. You just have to remember that we can’t fight back. Save that for the streets.”
“You’re right,” Sarah said as she grabbed him by the hand and they entered the woods. “Sometimes I just want to sling some of these girls through the air with my mind. But I know the consequences.”
“Yeah,” Clark said. “So you can take your frustration out at night when your costume is on. That’s what I intend.”
While standing behind a mammoth set of trees, they shot off into the air at the speed of a bullet. Minutes later they arrived at the rear of the warehouse. They knocked on the backdoor and Charles answered wearing his normal clothes.
“Hey,” Charles said. “Welcome back to Mecha. Come on in, I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Me too,” Sarah told Clark as they entered the warehouse. John was sitting on one of the sofas and waved at them.
“Nice to see you, John,” Clark said.
Sarah went over to one of the six boxes that lied on the floor and opened it up. She pulled out Clark’s costume and he noticed that a wolf was embroidered on the chest piece.
“You did that for me?” Clark asked, delighted.
“Yep,” Sarah said. “I modified it for you yesterday after school. Mine too.”
Sarah pulled out her own costume and a silver design of the planet Saturn was embroidered on the front of her costume.
“Thanks,” Clark said. “I love it!”
“And Chloe did hers and Donny’s.”
Donny and Chloe arrived minutes later. When they pulled out their costumes, Donny saw that his had the letter “T” for Tracks on the chest of his costume while Chloe’s costume had a flame symbol on it.
“Why don’t we have girlfriends to make us symbols?” John jokingly asked Charles.
“Oh, I got something way cooler than a symbol,” John said. “Everybody get dressed.”
They placed on their bodysuits, gloves, boots, masks, and capes and were ready to go in no time.
“Everyone good to go?” Charles asked.
“Yeah,” they said as they looked around and admired one another.
“Okay then,” Charles said. “Follow me.”
He directed them through a door that led to the side of the warehouse. In the middle of the large room was a large black military-style vehicle.
“Is that a Humvee?” Donny asked.
“Yep. This thing came directly from the military. Well it’s actually an old model that’s no longer in use but you get the point. The engine is silent. You’re more likely to hear a pen drop. And I outfitted it with a police radio so we know exactly where to take it.”
“But we could still get there faster by flying,” John said.
“That’s true, John,” Charles told him. “But this baby is just too sleek to pass up. Feel free to fly if you like but you gotta admit it gets pretty cold up there too. I’m just saying─ lets test it out.”
“Alright,” Clark said. “It sounds good.”
“But one more thing, Clark,” Charles said. “I’m afraid we’re gonna nee a better name than ‘The Colony of Crime Fighters.’”
“Why?” Clark asked.
When Charles told him it was just too long, Clark objected. Charles suggested something cool, something short, something like “Ascension.”
“Alright, alright,” Clark said. “But I still like my Colony name.”
The six of them got into the spacious vehicle and Charles served as the driver. He pressed a button and two garage sized doors of the warehouse opened. The car turned on and shot out of the warehouse as the garage doors closed behind it.
“Where to?” Charles asked them.
“Turn on the cop radio,” Clark said. Charles did so as they overheard the need for an officer down an alley where two people had just been robbed. Charles sped down the road and took a left.
“We’d still get there faster by flight,” John said from the passenger seat.
“Yeah, well when we get there we won’t even need to get out the car,” Charles joked. “We can just run the guys over.”
They turned another corner and saw two masked men with purses in their hands running down the street.
“That’s gotta be them!” Donny said.
Charles pressed on the gas pedal and the Humvee raced toward the men. Suddenly the men turned into an alley and Charles stopped the car in order to block them. Clark and Charles jumped out of the car. The alley was dark so Charles grabbed a small flashlight from his utility belt.
“When did you get a utility belt?” Clark asked him.
“Just got it today,” Charles said.
“Cool, I could use one.”
They looked around the alley and saw the two masked men cowering in the corner. Each had a gun in their hands.
“Don’t get any closer or we’ll shoot,” one of the men said.
“Come on, boys,” Clark laughed. “Your friends didn’t send out the message on Monday night? You’ve had two full days to prepare and all you bring are a few pistols?”
One of the men shot. Charles placed his hand out and the bullet stopped midair and fell to the ground. Clark looked at the two men and their guns lifted out of their han
ds and into the sky.
“Rule number one,” Clark said. “Always disarm a thug.”
Donny ran up to them as the men continued cowering in the corner.
“Oh come on,” Donny said. “Stop playing with these guys.” Donny darted toward the men at the speed of a bullet and punched both of them in the face, knocking them against the wall.
“We have a job to do, guys,” Donny said.
“You’re right,” Clark said. “This is no time for play.”
“Wait, one more thing,” Charles said. He pulled a can of white spray paint from his utility belt. He walked over to the unconscious men and spray painted the word “Ascension” onto their black shirts.
“Now they’ll know who to fear,” Charles said. “That’s how you get the word out.”
“Good idea,” Donny told him.
When they returned to the Humvee, they discovered Sarah and Chloe standing outside of the vehicle. They told the boys they were tired of waiting and were off to fight crime together. They agreed to meet back up with them in one hour at the warehouse. Charles got back into the driver seat of the Humvee while Clark and Donny hopped into the back seat.
“What took so long? Where did the girls go?” John asked from the passenger seat.
“They wanted to go off on their own,” Charles said.
They turned the police radio back on and listened to a more enticing frequency. Instead of the usual mugging, they heard an Amber Alert for a missing young girl. The girl was believed to have been recently kidnapped by a man named Thomas Augusto. They agreed to check it out and headed to Augusto’s place before the cops could. Charles drove down the street and took several more turns. Minutes later they arrived at an old house that looked as if were abandoned. Clark, John, and Charles got out of the vehicle while Donny stayed behind and served as the lookout.
They flew to the top of the house and listened for noises. When Clark heard a young girl weeping, he quickly descended through the roof and landed in the upstairs bedroom. Standing in front of him was the disheveled Thomas Augusto. He was brandishing a gun and holding it to the head of a young girl.
“Thomas Augusto. Let her go,” Clark said.
“You’re not a cop,” Augusto said nervously.
“Final warning. Let her go,” Clark said.
“One step closer and I’ll shoot the both of you!”
Augusto pointed his gun at Clark. He attempted to shoot Clark but the trigger wouldn’t move. His gun wouldn’t click. Suddenly, Clark removed his goggles and squinted his eyes. Augusto began to slowly lower his gun to his foot. Augusto couldn’t control his own arm as Clark winked. While still in Augusto’s hand, the gun went off and shot Augusto in the foot. He screamed from pain as the young girl yelled and ran behind Clark.
Charles lowered through the hole in the roof that Clark had made and held the young girl.
Clark was fuming. He was furious. As Augusto fell over, wreathing in pain, Clark jumped on top of him and punched him in the face over and over. With rage in his eyes, Clark pummeled the bloodied man.
“This is what I do to trash!” Clark yelled with rage as he continued to beat the man.
“Jesus!” said John as he flew into the house through the same hole in the roof and watched as Clark continued to beat the man with his fists. John and Charles had to both grab Clark by the arm and pry him off the criminal.
“Come on! Take it easy,” Charles said as he and John attempted to hold Clark back.
Clark was breathing heavily as he attempted to catch his breath. Charles and John continued to hold Clark back as his face grew red with anger. They had never seen him so furiously violent. Clark had lost it.
CHAPTER 10
That night, Channel Five news featured a report about a new group of vigilantes who were cleaning up the city streets.
“The word ‘Ascension’ spray painted on the chest of a mugger,” said the newscaster. “No one quite knows what it means. Whether these masked vigilantes will do the city any good has yet to be seen.”
The sightings of superheroes in Cincinnati began to grow as the weeks went on. At first, they were believed to be only a ragtag group of misfits with too much time on their hands. Then there surfaced reports of human beings who were flying through the air and levitating guns out of burglars’ hands. Some simply considered this the beginning of an urban legend throughout the city while others took it seriously.
After a few weeks, the police department had no choice but to issue a statement. They condemned the act of vigilantism and called for the so-called masked superheroes to turn themselves in. When that didn’t happen, police authorities issued an arrest warrant for anyone fighting crime with no affiliation with law enforcement.
Then their names began to make the rounds. There were rumors that the vigilantes were calling themselves ‘Ascension’ while other reports listed them as ‘The Colony of Crime Fighters.’ Their individual names hit the internet and search engines were bombarded with names such as Night Wolf, Summer Saturn, Kyote, and Shadow Fly, among others.
The media attention reached an all-time high when the superheroes of Cincinnati, Ohio gained national media coverage. Sightings of flying super-powered vigilantes made national headlines for all of two days until coverage shifted to other stories.
In Cincinnati there had still yet to be verifiable proof of individuals who were more than human. Muggers who complained of superheroes punching them were the last people to be taken seriously. Due to the lack of actual proof, polls showed the majority of Cincinnati citizens didn’t take the superhero stories seriously. They considered it the stuff of legend and comic books.
The six teenagers of Franklin Pierce High continued to fight crime three nights a week. They stopped muggers, burglars, bank robbers, kidnappers, and drug dealers. Although the population at large did not take the superhero sightings seriously, the criminal world did.
From January to February, local reports showed a decrease in violent crimes. Fear of super powered beings were reported as the reason for this drop in criminal behavior while local authorities refused to comment.
In February, Clark official became MVP of the football team at Franklin Pierce High when games were underway. His pregnant mother and hardworking father showed up to his every game. Each time he led his team to victory. During half-time, Sarah would lead the other cheerleaders to a stunning show of synchronized moves. Despite the clunky glasses─ which Clark continued to wear─ they became the most popular couple at Franklin Pierce.
The morning after each game, they walked down the hallway of the school to cheers and rounds of applause. Clark was certain that Coach Smith was the proudest high school coach on the planet. Clark’s performance on the field was so terrific that he was featured on the local news. Perhaps for the worse, Clark considered it the perfect time to try out his persona. He purposefully stumbled in front of the camera and even goofed up his own name. It didn’t matter; he was still one of the most beloved students at his school.
On the downside, Clark became more and more engrossed in crime fighting. Although he did his best to maintain his composure when it came to pummeling evil-doers, in his own life he studied less and less for classes and desired to go out in costume for more than three days a week. He convinced his friends to do their crime fighting routine each night for one week and they were unsurprisingly exhausted when the week was up. He even spent Valentine’s Day engrossed with crime fighting and did little with Sarah.
In the week that followed, they were fighting crime on a Monday night when they came across a more unique problem to solve. There wasn’t someone to save from an armed burglar or a bank robbery to foil. Instead they rushed to an apartment complex that was engulfed in flames. The six of them swooped in through different windows of the building and rescued the patrons of the apartment complex by flying them out of the building through the windows. Surely this was enough to made believers of the people.
“I can’t─ I can’t believe it,” one o
lder woman said as Charles flew her out of a window as the building burned. “You can fly!”
“Believe it, ma’am,” Charles smiled. “We’re the real deal. Don’t tell too many people though, they’ll swear you’re nuts.”
They continued to go in and out of the apartment until they had saved all of the people inside. During the last time Clark went in, he watched as the floor beneath Sarah collapsed. He rushed to save her when the floor beneath Donny collapsed as well. Chloe flew down several floors in order to save Donny. Charles was coughing and ready to go when they realized everyone was safe. The sirens of fire trucks blared through the streets when they decided to take off.
They all landed on top of a nearby building in order to catch their breath.
“What the hell was that?” Clark yelled at them.
“What?” Donny said as he coughed.
“Two of you fell and almost risked your lives!” Clark yelled.
“Dammit, Clark,” John said. “We all risked our lives just by doing that. And that’s on top of the fact that we’re wanted by police! We’re trying to save a city that doesn’t want us!”
“It’s not about what they want,” Clark bellowed. “It’s about what they need!”
“Clark, you’re going mad with power,” Donny told him.
“No!” Clark said, “I just demand better work from a couple of super powered immortals. Is that too much to ask!?”
“We’re not immortal,” Sarah said. “We’re still normal human beings who can hurt and bleed and feel pain. Especially when my boyfriend treats me the way you’re doing.” Sarah angrily flew off.
“Sarah, please!” Clark yelled. They all watched as Sarah disappeared into the sky.
“We’re outta here too,” Donny said. He grabbed Chloe by the hand and they too flew off.
Clark looked to Charles and John.
“Just sleep on it, man,” Charles shrugged. “It’s been a tough night. Let’s all get some rest.”
Charles and John flew off and Clark was left alone on top of a building. Just him and the moonlight that created his lonesome silhouette. Clark flew home without going back to the warehouse to change clothes. When he arrived in his neighborhood from the sky, he looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then he commanded a window in the back of his house to rise up before he entered through it. He crept into his room and tiredly took his outfit off.
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