Oh hell.
The waiter, bless him, stepped forward, his shoulders clearly tense. ‘There’s nobody here by that name, sir. Now, please vacate the premises, before...’
He couldn’t finish his sentence. The huge black figure kicked out in a blur and knocked the waiter down in one blow. As he fell, I saw his neck bulging at an odd angle.
‘Jesus,’ I whispered to myself. ‘He snapped his neck in one kick.’
‘Where is Jason Anson?’ The brute shouted. ‘I have a job to finish...’ He turned and looked at me.
‘Anson.’
I stepped forward, trying not to tremble. ‘Nemesis?’
He nodded, his breath heavy, sounding more like snarling. ‘You should never have come to Capehill, Anson.’
‘You’re telling me.’ I winced as he took a loud, clanking step closer. As he loomed overhead, I winced away, dreading the killing blow.
‘Hey, there he is!’ A voice rang out.
‘Freeze, Cape!’ Another joined in, as did several others, shouting the same thing. I dared to look up as Nemesis turned to look at members of the Capehill Police Department, all of them pointing guns which looked definitely weak and not capable of stopping him. He laughed and charged the men, who screamed ‘Open fire!’ before shooting at the massive brute.
I ducked behind a table, pulling my hoodie off. I was under prepared - I didn’t know how properly fly, and my baton was untested. I’ll probably die in the next few minutes... and Emily would never know how brave I am now.
‘Screw it.’ I slammed my hand against the red disc, and jumped up as high as I could, hoping it would be enough to -
I flew.
Twisting and turning, I angled myself towards Nemesis, and holding my hands out before me, slammed into his body as fast as I was able. He stumbled forwards, towards the police officers, who scattered before him.
‘Hi.’ I tried to affect an American accent. ‘How’s it goin’?’
Nemesis snarled and lunged for me. I jetted back quickly, staying out of his reach, managing an awkward backflip which definitely needed work. I had to concentrate...
Flexing my fingers in the start-up sequence, I was never so happy to see anything as when my baton erupted into life in my hand.
‘What?’ Nemesis seemed shaken up.
‘It’s a sword. Made of fire.’ I shrugged, pointing it at him. ‘Your suit may be bullet proof, but can it handle some heat?’
I stepped forward. Nemesis, seemingly uncertain, wavered, and glanced around. ‘Noo!’ He howled. ‘Anson has escaped me again!’
I shrugged, a little annoyed that he was more worried about losing his target than seeing me as a threat. Nemesis pointed at me. ‘This isn’t over.’ He stepped back, looked up, and parkoured up through the hole he had made in the ceiling. I de-ignited the baton, whilst simultaneously deciding to find a new name that had a much better ring to it than “extendable heat baton”... and looked at the police officers. ‘Are you guys okay?’
‘Yeah.’ One of them nodded, cradling his arm, which sat at a lower angle than the other one. ‘We’re good. Thanks for the assist.’
‘Well, I was in the neighbourhood.’
‘Why?’ The officer looked confused. I shook it off, and began to walk out, when Sammy charged his way back into the main bar. He stopped and stared at me.
‘Are you okay, sir?’ I tried my accent on him.
‘Oh. Oh, no.’ He shook his head, approaching me. ‘You have got to be kidding me.’
‘Sir?’
‘Don’t you “sir” me,’ he hissed under his breath, so he couldn’t be heard by anyone else, ‘and take that costume off before you get yourself killed!’
‘Uhhh...’
‘Yeah, “uhhh”.’ Sammy shook his head. ‘I heard gunshots! Was it Nemesis?’
‘I guess.’
‘You guess?’ He stared in disbelief. ‘You see the bad guy coming to kill you, you run. You don’t...’ He gestured. ‘What even is that thing, anyway?’ He pointed at my face. ‘You’re dressed like some extreme sports gear head with armour!’
‘Dude, I-’
‘Do not “dude” me. No.’ He shook his head. ‘I’ll be outside.’ I and the officers watched him leave, and I shook my head.
Well. This was clearly the best disguise ever.
I stood silently behind Sammy and the other tourists, looking around to see if I could spot any sign of Nemesis. The streets were clear of anyone in a costume, other than me, but people crowded the streets anyway. There were no signs of augmentation on them, and they had the nervous, vaguely panicked look I had begun to recognise on the faces of people with no powers. They kept flickering their eyes to me in a way that suggested they weren’t totally happy with me being there but couldn’t do anything about it.
‘...With the police?’
‘What’s his deal?’
‘...Don’t want any Capes down here.’
‘...Piece of my...’
I thought about trying to calm them down, but realistically, didn’t think it would do any good. My presence was so... disturbing to them. I tried to forget about it, and focused on Sammy, who was lying through his teeth to protect me.
‘...And then Nemesis came crashing through the ceiling, killed the waiter, and came after me and Jay.’
The police officer writing down Sammy’s statement paused. ‘And “Jay” would be Jason Anson?’
‘Yes Officer.’
‘The same Jason Anson of the Anson Foundation?’
‘Yes Officer.’
The police officer made a scratching sound with his pen on the paper, underlining something. ‘Tell me something, Sport.’ He looked at Sammy. ‘Where is he?’ He opened his arms wide. ‘Where’s the world’s richest man, after an alleged attempt on his life?’ The policeman made a show of looking around. ‘I don’t see him anywhere.’
‘That’s because I got him into a cab, and it took him away.’
‘What was the medallion number?’
‘The what?’
The officer’s hand drifted down to his belt. And his holster. ‘Are you getting fresh with me, boy?’
Despite the alcohol he had imbibed, Sammy restrained himself. ‘Boy?’
I stepped in. ‘Officer.’ I put my fake accent on stronger. ‘I can attest that Mr Anson was here. I didn’t see him get into a cab, but I can confirm he was in the building, leaving as I arrived.’
The policeman turned his gaze to me and sneered. ‘Oh, well. Thank you so much for your assistance.’
I ignored his tone. ‘You’re welcome.’ I squared off against him, and although he was slightly taller than me and in uniform, was very much aware that he was getting distinctly nervous. His eyes roamed my face, and...
He can’t see my eyes!
‘Now.’ I continued slowly. ‘Is there anything else these people can help you with, or should you let them go?’
The policeman continued to eyeball me, and something within him deflated. ‘Go on.’ He said to the crowd. ‘Get out of here. But if I ever...’ he turned to Sammy, ‘see you in this part of the city again...’
‘Don’t worry, sir. You won’t.’ Sammy scowled, and when he turned away, I noticed his eyes glistening.
I waited until Sammy got into a cab, and then took off, flying overhead and keeping pace with the taxi. I told myself this was because I didn’t want to get lost and so I could keep an eye on Sammy, but realistically, I didn’t know how quickly I could fly, or if I could get hurt in this hologram whilst doing it.
When the taxi started pulling up at the hotel, I dropped down to ground level where nobody would see me, pressing the red disc as I landed. Then I jogged around the corner, to where Sammy was just exiting, and waved.
‘Hi Sammy. Nice night?’ I grinned.
‘You!’ He shouted, face wet with tears. ‘Inside. Now!’
I followed him to the elevator in silence, and we rode up to our floor without saying a word. When we got to outside his room, he took
out his key card with a trembling hand, and unlocked the door.
‘Get in.’ He hissed.
‘Sammy.’
‘In!’
I went in, and he followed, slamming the door behind him.
‘What was that?’ He screamed in my face.
‘What?’
‘You can’t... just because you can fly...’
‘Hey!’ I tried to shush him. ‘Keep it down?’ He relented, glaring.
‘Just because you can fly, and you can... what was that thing?’
‘What thing?’
‘The...’ He gestured outwards with one hand away from the other. ‘Thing. The flaming spear thing you had.’
‘Oh!’ I ignited the baton. ‘This?’
He took a step back. ‘What the hell is that?’
I shrugged, pleased that it had used its hologram even when I wasn’t in mine. ‘it’s an extendable super-heated baton that gets stored in my hand. I wanted it to look a little cooler, though, so...’
He nodded, and wiped his face, smiling a little. ‘Okay, that’s pretty cool. Sort of like a fire sword, or a...’ He snapped his fingers. ‘Flame Foil.’
‘No.’
‘Flame Foil sounds amazing! And, it sort of looks like a Lightsa-’
‘Sammy...’ I knew he was trying to distract me. I de-ignited the sword, letting it retract back into my arm. ‘What was the deal with you and that police officer?’
‘Oh, that.’ He sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. I sat opposite him, on a chair near a dresser. ‘That was something I’d been expecting, but not experienced yet.’
‘Sammy, he looked like he was going to shoot you!’
‘And he probably would have done, if you hadn’t stepped in.’ He gave me a watery smile. ‘My hero.’
‘Why would he do that? You did nothing wrong.’
He shrugged. ‘Probably because I didn’t give him answers he liked. The Danti attacked us, we banded together. We won, they left, and people said it was a brave new world for people everywhere, and we could finally all truly be equals. I suppose we can all be equals; you just have to be a white heteronormative male.’ He shook his head. ‘You put a black man in front of a cop in southern America, and the cop is probably going to see a criminal.’
I stayed silent. Honestly, what could I add to this? I’d never had to go through anything like what Sammy lived through daily, although I was beginning to get an idea, based on how people had treated me when I was in costume. I noticed Sammy was looking at me, as if he were expecting a response.
‘Well, all I have to say, Sammy, is that it’s a good thing that policeman didn’t know you’re gay too.’
He stared at me for a split second before bursting out into laughter, and I joined right in. My phone rang, but I ignored it. This was more important.
‘You gonna get that?’ He gestured to my pocket.
‘Nah. It’s probably Michael with more houses for us to look at.’
He feigned snoring, and I laughed. ‘So, you’re seriously a Hero now? Like, a real Cape?’
‘Well, I mean...’ I shrugged, lost for words. ‘Probably not? I just want to be able to defend myself. And my friends.’
Sammy nodded. ‘You looked pretty cool. But, can I give you some advice?’
‘Always.’
‘Make the costume bigger. Broader. Can you make yourself look taller?’
I thought about it, then pulled my phone out.
‘Emily called.’
‘You should call her back.’
I considered it. ‘Nah, this is more important.’ I opened the costume app and saw a scaling section. ‘Hang on.’ I tapped the red disc and saw the costume coalesce around me rapidly. ‘How’s this?’
‘Standard height. Shorty.’ Sammy smiled, eager to forget his earlier encounter.
‘5’10 is average, you monster.’ I handed the phone to him, and Sammy started to scale my costume up.
‘I can’t see what you’re doing, you know.’
‘There’s a mirror behind you.’ He shrugged. I turned and saw... not much difference. I turned back to Sammy and realised that, despite my eyes not moving position, Sammy was now making eye contact just above my face. He stood next to me, and I looked back in the mirror.
I was now fractionally taller than Sammy.
‘There. 6’5, and proportionately broad.’ He nodded. ‘How’s that feel?’
‘About the same, although people looking over my head to make eye contact with me will get annoying.’
He shrugged. ‘You can fly. Can’t you... you know. Hover within your costume?’
I thought about it, and then lifted myself off the ground slowly, until Sammy was making eye contact with me again. ‘Yeah, this works.’ I turned my head and raised my arms. My costume did as I did, at the same time... at least, as far as I could tell.
‘Try your fire thingy again!’
I flexed my fingers, and the sword erupted out... from the wrist of my costume.
‘Hmm. Not perfect yet.’
‘You think?’ I put the sword away, and my phone started ringing again in Sammy’s hand. He looked at the screen. ‘It’s Emily again.’
I deactivated the costume and took the phone, answering the call. ‘Hi Em.’
‘Jay, are you alright?!’
‘Uhh...’
‘There’s a news report that you were attacked! What happened? Where are you?’ She was firing words at me rapidly, and the panic in her voice was terrifying. ‘Are you hurt? Where are you?’
‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ I tried to soothe her.
‘Yeah, me too.’ Sammy called out. ‘Other than dealing with a racist policeman who tried to shoot me!’
‘What was that?’ Emily sounded confused.
‘It’s been a long afternoon.’ I sighed. ‘We’re staying at the Grand Manor hotel.’
‘Yeah, okay, I know it, that’s only a few blocks from SabrexTech.’
‘Are you there now?’
‘No, I’m at Lemniscate, remember? You’re not too far from me. I’ll be right over, Jay. Don’t leave the hotel!’
She hung up, and I turned to Sammy. ‘Em’s coming over.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘And you haven’t got a thing to wear.’
I tossed my phone back to him, and hit the disc. ‘Fix this?’
‘Get your sword out, then.’ He smirked. ‘So to speak.’
I ignited it, and Sammy fiddled around until the sword appeared to be back in my grip, but I retained some height. He looked at the measurements and nodded. ‘Congratulations. You’re now six foot one.’ He passed the phone back to me for my inspection. I saved the file and turned off the costume. ‘Right, I...’ I stared at the image on the phone. ‘You’ve named my costume?’
‘Yeah. You need a good code-name.’
I read the name printed underneath the image. ‘“Fire Guardian?”’
‘Have you seen yourself? Giant fireball on your chest, flames up your arms, and a giant sword made of literal fire.’
‘It’s a comet. Or a shooting star.’
‘No, it’s a fireball. Fire Guardian.’
‘No.’
‘Flame Boy?’
‘Ugh, no.’
‘Comet Lad!’
‘God, what’s wrong with you? All these names are terrible.’
‘Well, you come up with something, then.’ Sammy say on his bed, waiting patiently.
‘Uh...well...’ I shrugged. ‘Fire is a bit simplistic.’
‘We’ll come back to it. Guardian is good! I like Guardian.’ He held his hands out wide in front of him, as if displaying the name in the air. ‘He guards all mankind against the menace.’
‘It sounds like I guard fires. Like a grate in front of a chimney.’
Sammy grinned. ‘Okay, then, what about the reverse of it?’ He pulled his phone out and started tapping. ‘According to this,’ he said after a few seconds, ‘some useful synonyms are... ooh.’ He smirked. ‘Denier. I like that. It sou
nds good.’
I considered it slowly. ‘Denier of what, though?’
‘Evil?’
‘Evil Denier?’ I snorted. ‘No. What other synonyms are there for fire? Or comets?’
‘Well, there’s-'
There was an urgent thumping at the door, cutting Sammy off. I stared at him.
‘Could that be Em?’
‘That was bloody quick.’
‘Shut up, idiot boys.’ A familiar voice came through the door. ‘I got a cab. Now let me in!’
I slipped off my belt and slid it neatly under Sammy’s bed as I walked to the door and turned the handle. As soon as I did, the door slammed itself open and a small auburn-haired blur flung itself at me and into my arms, holding me tight.
‘What happened?’ Emily was crying. ‘God, I was so worried. And you didn’t pick up your phone... I couldn’t lose you. Not again.’
‘Shhh.’ I stroked her hair gently, her face buried into my chest. ‘It’s okay. Nothing happened to me. I’m fine. I got out safely with Sammy whilst the police tried to stop him.’
‘Him?’ She pulled away slightly, looking up at me.
‘Nemesis.’
‘Oh, God. The one who tried to kill you at your speech?’
‘Apparently.’ I kissed the top of her head. ‘But I’m okay now.’
‘And that PI that came to help you?’
‘I didn’t see him. I was out of the building and in a cab by the time he showed up. Sammy forced me into a taxi.’ I felt a bitter taste in my mouth lying to Emily, but I knew I had to keep her safe from the truth. Safe from me.
‘Well.’ She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. ‘As long as you’re okay.’
I nodded. ‘I’ll be fine. Nothing that a hot meal wouldn’t hurt.’ I smiled reassuringly at her. ‘Where can a guy go for non-Room Service food around here?’
She paused, thinking. ‘There’s a little Italian place down the street. Alfredo’s. They do good pizza.’
‘I love a good pizza.’
She beamed. ‘I know you do.’ She paused. ‘So... I’ll pick you up at 8?’
‘For?’
‘Pizza.’ She smirked. ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight, mister.’ She jabbed me in the chest with a finger.
‘Okay. 8 it is.’
As she left, Sammy leaned forwards and called after her. ‘I’m fine, too! Don’t worry about me!’
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