Planet Hero
Civilian
M.A. Carlson
Planet Hero: Civilian Copyright © 2020 by M.A. Carlson. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by B Rose Designz
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
M.A. Carlson
Visit my website at https://macarlsonauthor.wordpress.com/
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: Apr 2020
ISBN- 978-1-7348021-0-8
CONTENTS
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Epilogue
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Prologue
“You won’t escape us, Dr. Portal,” Private Eye Light shouted, beams of light firing from the tip of his index fingers toward the purple clad villain. Private Eye Light was a hero, only a 38th Milestone hero but still a hero. His superpower wasn’t the most powerful by far. Finger guns of light were effective and there weren’t many powers that could negate it, except, Dr. Portal’s ability to create portals was able to do just that. Each shot fired was completely negated by transporting the light bullets away.
“I’ve already won, Dick Light,” Dr. Portal snapped back. “With the power source I now possess, I can go wherever I want, and you can’t follow. No one will ever be able to follow.” Dr. Portal was not a hero. Dr. Portal was a villain, a 31st Milestone villain, a footnote in the annals of villainy. He seemed to be able to spawn dozens of short-range portals, it meant every shot Light took was transported behind the villain. A few more Milestones and Dr. Portal might learn to transport those shots so that they came out shooting back at him. It meant it was extremely important that the villain was caught before he could increase his Milestone even further.
“And where do you think you can go that can escape the long arm of the law,” Light countered, his hands twitching in pain, a sign that his energy was starting to run low. If he didn’t capture Dr. Portal soon, then Light knew he’d be forced to bow out of the fight. At least, until he was able to recover some of his energy. He just hoped that Dr. Portal ran out of energy before then.
“By going to another world,” Dr. Portal boasted. “With this new power source, I will tear a hole between dimensions. To a world untouched by you heroes. A world ripe and just waiting to be conquered,” Dr. Portal answered, cackling madly as dozens of little portals opened around him, creating a shield preventing anyone or anything from getting to him.
Light’s eyes widened at the implication of all the damage Dr. Portal could do if he were to succeed. Not only would the villain do untold damage to a world without heroes, but the madman would be able to return to this world to commit crimes and escape back to the other world. He looked around for his temporary partner, the man known as Wind Mage, another hero, though of the 36th Milestone and one that Light had worked with in the past. He caught sight of the green clad hero flying in from his left and shouted, “Wind, we can’t allow him to escape!”
“I know, Light, but his portals, there are just too many of them,” Wind said, sounding tired, as if his own energy levels were getting low as well. “How can he keep creating so many portals?”
“It must be that power source he stole,” Light answered, targeting the long metallic tube Dr. Portal was now fiddling with.
“You’re too late,” Dr. Portal cackled, as blue arcs of electricity sparked off the tube and a green portal opened behind him. “But don’t worry, I will return.” And just like that, Dr. Portal stepped backward into the green portal.
“We must stop him,” Light said, running as fast as his feet would carry him. Trying to reach the portal before it closed, the effort making him wish that he had upgraded his body with his last Milestone increase.
Light was almost there when the portal wobbled as if it had suddenly become unstable. Too late he realized that was exactly what was happening. The portal shrank then enlarged and shrank again before bursting in a wash of energy that sent Light sprawling across the pavement and Wind tumbling from the air.
Light groaned in pain as the light of day returned to his vision. He was slow to climb back to his feet and even slower to move in the direction the portal had previously occupied. The street was completely wrecked, and a crater replaced the intersection that was at the epicenter of the explosion. Thankfully, the civilians had been evacuated as soon as the fighting began or there would be a lot of casualties as well. As for the damage, Hero Repair Company, or HRC, would have that righted within a few days.
For now, Light would need to call in a specialist to try to trace Dr. Portal. He pitied whatever world was forced to deal with that madman now.
When Light reached the edge of the crater, it was about what he expected to see. Exposed sewer lines, sparking electrical lines, and busted water mains quickly filling the hole with water. It wouldn’t be long until those services were blocked off or shutdown. Sighing, Light was about to turn away when he spotted white fabric bobbing up to the surface followed by a flash of pink skin and dark hair, a person.
Light quickly slid down the side of the crater and into the water. Somehow, someone had been caught in the explosion. He grabbed the body and pulled it over to the edge of the pit. Light didn’t have time to worry about the how or why, a life was in danger and as a hero, it was his job to save lives. “Wind, help me get him out,” Light called up, hoping his sometimes partner was conscious.
The swirling of air was all Light needed to know he had the requested help, lightening the load as Light lifted the man onto his shoulders, hopefully he didn’t make any injuries worse but he needed to get him out and on to the road above so he could be treated.
“Wind, can you pull the water from his lungs?” Light asked as soon as he laid the young man down.
“Yeah, give me a sec,” Wind replied, his voice reedy and light. It took a moment, but a small vortex of water began flowing from the unconscious man’s mouth until suddenly the man coughed, expelling the rest of the water and splashing Light’s battle worn costume.
The man opened his eyes, blinking several times before letting unconsciousness reclaim him.
“At least he’s breathing,” Wind commented.
“At least,” Light replied, sitting back, breathing tiredly. It was finally his turn to look at who he just rescued. With one look, Light was rolling the man over and pulling his arms behind him putting restraints on him. “And you thought you’d get away Dr. Portal.”
“Was Dr. Portal that young?” Wind asked.
Light rolled the man back over and looked again. “His son maybe? Or . . . a brother?” Light questioned.
“We better cal
l this in,” Wind said, tapping on his wrist communicator, connecting him to Dispatch.
1
I looked at my watch through bleary eyes. The digital display of my smartwatch read ‘1:07 PM’, in bright blue letters that faded after a moment. It was still early afternoon and I groaned with exhaustion. “How did Becky convince me to work an extra shift?” I just completed a 30-hour shift as part of my residency at Oak Memorial Hospital. Becky was the cute nurse that knew exactly how to push my buttons, which left me pretty much wrapped around her little finger. I could probably be with her right now, but after 30-hours on shift with barely 3-hours of sleep squeezed in, I was ready to go home and really sleep before I was back on shift in 10-hours.
As tired as I was, I chose to walk my bike rather than ride it. Better to not risk the ride through traffic. That would be a lame way to die and probably deserved. Thankfully, it was only a mile between the hospital and home. Home was just a shoddy apartment that I could barely afford on my salary. It was unlikely that the hospital that owned me for the next year would ever give me any kind of a raise that would allow me to even consider upgrading, but that was the way things were. My best hope was for the hospital to eventually offer me a residency.
“Four years of college, four years of medical school, and so many years of residency to go. Focus Davis, Lucy is counting on you,” I grumbled to myself. My mother fought cancer for most of my life . . . until she lost. First it was breast cancer, which she beat. Then breast cancer again four years later, thanks dad for leaving her when that happened. Still, she beat it again. When it hit her liver a year after that, it was just too much. I’ve been looking after my sister Lucy ever since. My sister who was only a few months from graduating college. My sister who was depending on me to keep her afloat. My sister, who would probably still need me to help her keep afloat until she could find a job once she did graduate. Something that would likely take a while due to the current economy.
I yawned again as I stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the signal to turn. When the little sign flipped over, I stepped into the crosswalk only to jerk back when a car horn made itself known. I made a rude gesture as the vehicle cruised past and through the clearly red light. When the brakes slammed and the tires screech, I realized what I had just done. I didn’t live in the best neighborhood. The hospital I worked at had more than its fair share of gunshot victims and other gang related violence.
When I heard the click of the car’s door opening, I didn’t wait to see what would happen. I jumped on my bike and peddled for all I was worth. The sound of an engine revving behind me encouraged me to ride faster. I knew my neighborhood decently well. I knew where to turn and when to turn. I just hoped that whichever gang I just pissed off wouldn’t open fire on me or any of the innocent bystanders nearby.
I crashed through from one alley to the next as my feet worked furiously to keep me ahead of the relentless gang member or members, whatever the case may be. Didn’t these guys know I would be the one patching them up if they got shot later?
And then my lack of sleep finally caught up with me. I made a wrong turn down a dead-end alleyway. I cursed then cursed louder when the white car that had been chasing me pulled into the end of the alley, blocking any avenue of escape.
“You gave me one hell of a chase,” the large and imposing man that stepped out of the vehicle stated, a red bandana on his forehead to match the black hoodie with red highlights. Those gang colors were a bad sign.
“Look, I’m a doctor,” I said, desperately trying to reason with him.
“You think I care about that,” he replied, pulling a gun and stalking forward. “You disrespected me. I can’t let that go unpunished.”
Still, unwilling to just give up, I tried again, “And if you ever get shot by one of your rivals, you will need someone just like me to keep you alive. I can’t do that if I’m dead.”
He snapped back angrily, stating, “And you think that makes up for you disrespecting me?”
“You almost hit me with your car. I reacted poorly to almost getting run over,” I said. I realized I wasn’t doing anything to defuse the situation, but my sleep deprived brain decided this was the best course of action.
“You got a lot of balls, doc,” the man replied, lowering his gun slightly, giving me some hope that I might live to see my sister graduate.
Before I could reply, the alley was illuminated in green light. I could see the eyes of the gangster that had been pointing a gun go wide as the hand holding the gun started shaking. Without another word or any kind of warning the man turned and ran. He ran right past the car and kept running.
I, however, was confused, until I turned around to face the green light that made the gangster run. It was like a hole in the world filled with green energy. It was more disturbing when a man stepped backward, out of the miasma.
As soon as he was clear of the swirling energy vortex, he howled triumphantly, “Yes! I did it! I knew it would work!” The man coughed once. “Now, to start conquering this wor-” he was interrupted by another cough. He turned away from the portal and saw me. He looked like he wanted to say something but was stopped by another coughing fit. A coughing fit that included the misty red of hemoptysis, flecks of blood coming up with each cough. “No . . . what . . . what is-” he didn’t finish his sentence as he fell backward, his coughing growing stronger, his body suddenly beginning to convulse.
I wanted to pretend I hadn’t just seen a man step out of an energy vortex because such things were impossible. I wanted to pretend he wasn’t coughing up blood, that he wasn’t experiencing respiratory failure. I wanted very much to just walk away. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t in me to leave someone to die like that. “Damned the Hippocratic Oath,” I complained, rushing forward, dropping my medical bag next to the man. Pulling out a mask from my medical supplies and covering my face. The last thing I needed was to breathe in whatever was causing this man’s distress.
His pupils were completely blown when I flash my pen light in them, it was about then his eyes began to bleed, I could see the veins in the eyes turn black. He was dying in a hurry to a very virulent pathogen, at least that was my theory with the limited information I had available to me.
I pulled my small medical kit from my bag and pulled the emergency EpiPen and jabbed it into the man’s leg, hoping the shot of epinephrine would help him survive just a little longer. I didn’t have an actual shot of adrenaline to give him in my pack, or I would have tried that instead. Hopefully it would keep his heart beating just a little longer. I checked his pulse again, but it was getting fainter, not stronger. “Come on,” I said, starting chest compressions, trying to save the purple spandex wearing weirdo. But it was no use, he was already gone.
I sighed, closing the now dead man’s vacant blue eyes, noting the time as 1:48 PM if my smart watch was to be believed. I sat back, picked up my phone, and dialed 9-1-1. The phone only rang once before I finally took a good look at the dead man. He was probably in his forties or else he had lived a very rough life, one that was not conducive to a healthy appearance. He was pale but that could have been due to the blood loss. He had a five o’clock shadow, a salt and pepper of black and silver hair to match the hair on his head. His nose appeared to have been broken several times and never quite healed correctly, and a myriad of scars that dotted his face and neck. The most disturbing thing I saw . . . his face . . . it was my own, older, but still mine. I knew my father’s face well, this was not it, I looked more like my mother and as far as I knew my mother didn’t have any siblings.
I vaguely heard the operator on the other end of the phone when I saw a strange blue spark from something on the dead man’s belt followed by a beep. Another spark and another beep. Another spark and another beep, though faster this time. The beeps and sparks started coming regularly, picking up speed. This was something I had seen too many times in action movies. This man was about to go boom, and I had a feeling I didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he did.
/> I couldn’t be sure I could run far enough with the time I had available, so I unclipped the man’s belt and threw it and the beeping device back into the portal they came from. When the portal wobbled, I feared I may have just made a mistake. I turned to run, trying to get as far away as I could. I heard something behind me and looked over my shoulder. The portal was ballooning outward, rapidly closing in on me, finally swallowing me whole. It was about then everything went white and I felt my body suddenly get lighter before darkness took me.
2
I didn’t remember drinking so much after my hospital shift, but it must have been one killer of a bender. A bender and . . . shrooms? Maybe? Whatever happened, it gave me very strange dreams.
I moved a hand to my face to try to rub the sleep away only to find my arm firmly secured. Did Becky and I get up to something kinky last night? I wish I could have remembered that.
It was then a distinctly male baritone said, “Ah, good, you’re awake.”
My eyes peeled wide only to recoil shut at the bright light that was being shined in my eyes. “Ow,” I complained, trying to blink away the spots of light. “What the hell, man! Is that really necessary?”
“I’ll be asking the questions here son,” the same male voice stated.
I blinked a few more times as I tried to figure out where I was and what was going on. My arms and feet were secured to the chair I was sitting in, and very tightly secured at that. I think even my fingers were secured as I couldn’t even wiggle them. I couldn’t see much of the room as there was a bright yellow light shining directly in my face. It reminded me of an old cop show where they try to sweat a suspect.
I tried to see past the light but between my throbbing head and the direct shine of the light in my eyes, that was unlikely to succeed. When my vision flashed and blurred, I figured I should stop.
“What? What happened? Was I arrested?” I asked. “I swear, I tried to save the guy. He just . . . died.”
Planet Hero- Civilian Page 1
