by Robert Moons
Super Heroes Now!
By Robert G. Moons
Copyright 2012 Robert G. Moons
*****
"Cody, did you tidy up your room?" his mother called out from the hallway, just outside his room.
"Yeah, mom!" the red-haired boy yelled back through the closed door that had the biggest, coolest poster of Spiderman, EVER, taped to it. Wouldn't it be great to be him, he thought?
"OK then," she replied, walking back down the stairs to the living room.
He had lots of time before bed, so tonight he decided to take a closer look at a website he recently discovered. He clicked on the bookmarked site: superheroesnow.com.
Cody was nine years old; like most boys his age, super heroes, dinosaurs, magic, and stories of adventure fascinated him immensely. They sparked his imagination, and often found their way into his daydreams; sometimes even his sleeping dreams. Tonight he would imagine that he was one of the super heroes on this website. He clicked on the "homepage" icon and read the introductory copy to the site:
"SUPER HEROES NOW!"
"Is there such a thing as a super hero? Do you believe there are men and women that walk among us with abilities to effect positive change, and reduce the crime rates in our communities? If your answer is YES, then you've come to the right place. If the answer is NO, then leave now, oh non-believer."
Right next to the "homepage" icon was a "heroes'" icon. He clicked it and a list of super heroes from all over America were displayed. There must have been at least thirty of them – more than he could have possibly imagined. There was a full colour photo of each super hero, his or her name, and a background story on each that popped up when their picture was clicked on. Wow, how cool was that! He scrolled down to look at all the pictures first. Most looked good in their costumes, five or six looked fantastic; as good as anything he had seen in a movie or comic book, but a couple, he thought, not so much.
Still, real super heroes, and three of them were right here in his very own city! There was Captain Flak – he was this guy all in blue body armour and pads; he had a blue football helmet too. Then there was Mezmo – he looked like a creepy wizard or something; he was all dressed in black, wore a cloak, a very wide brimmed hat, and a scarf that covered his mouth. The coolest costume award would have to go to this guy. And finally, there was RetroBution – he was one of the guys with the worst looking costume, ever. He sort of looked like a jockey; all in bright, canary yellow, and wearing purple goggles. Maybe it was a good thing this guy did his crime fighting at night, he thought.
Cody read every background story for each and every super hero on the entire site, but couldn't find what he was the most interested in knowing. What were their super powers? Talk about a major oversight. How disappointing. Wait, maybe, just maybe, they didn't want to reveal them to just anyone. If a super villain or evil mastermind knew what their powers were, then they could invent or find something to defeat the super heroes with, like a green rock or something. Yes, that must be it.
"Cody, what are you doing in there?" That was the warden, a.k.a. his mother with the light check – it was time for bed.
"Nothing, mom." He turned off the computer, then went over and opened the door. "I'm going to bed."
"OK then. Do you want me to tuck you in?"
"No thanks." He wondered if Spiderman's mother tucked him in when he was nine. No way.
The next day at school, he didn't hear a thing any of his teachers were saying. Well, he heard them, but they might as well have been speaking Klingon or something. He was daydreaming again. He was thinking about all the super heroes on that website, and imagining what their secret, super powers were. Captain Flak? Now, he looked like he could take some damage; bet he was super strong too – probably picked up cars and stuff. Mezmo? He likely had magic powers; maybe he hypnotized bad guys too. Crap! Maybe he could even conjure up demons from the underworld! Not evil demons, you know, but the good ones. That could happen. RetroBution? Well, this guy was a mystery. He looked like he should be riding a horse, but if that were the case, wouldn't it be better to be dressed like a cowboy? AND, if he was a cowboy, then he could be lassoing bad guys. That would work, but he wasn't a cowboy. Cody decided that maybe the jockey look was just an accident. He probably wasn't one, but the costume and name gave him no clue as to his secret powers. Cody decided then and there he just had to meet these local super heroes.
When he got home; at the supper table, he asked his dad the question. "Dad?"
"Yes, Cody."
"Dad, could you take me to meet the super heroes?"
"What super heroes?"
"The ones that are patrolling our streets, and keeping us all safe at night. There are three of them right here!"
Brad looked up at Sarah directly across from him. "Do you know what your son is talking about?"
"No idea, and he's your son too by the way. Cody, what's all this about?"
Cody looked at his parents; he couldn't believe they didn't know. "There, are, super heroes, here, in this city." He made sure to say it real slow.
"That's nice," his father said a second before he stuck a piece of steak in his mouth. The way he chewed reminded Cody of a cartoon cow he once saw on TV.
"Oh, Cody, you have such an imagination." His mother smiled that loving, knowing smile that could almost make you hurl.
"I'm NOT making stuff up! They have a website and everything!"
"OK, I'll check it out after dinner." His father just wanted to savour his favourite meal. "Finish your broccoli."
Cody frowned and stabbed at the horrible vegetable with his fork. "This stuff looks like green brains, and tastes like..."
"Eat," his parents said in unison.
After dinner, Brad sat down with his son at the family computer. "Now, what's the name of this website?"
"Super heroes now dot com – all one word." Cody still couldn't believe they had no idea.
"Here we are.... Hey, Sarah, come and look at this."
Sarah turned the TV off; walked over to stand behind them, and leaned down to get a closer look. "So, there are real super heroes after all," she smiled and winked at her husband.
"Yes, it would seem so," her husband confirmed, smiling back.
"I want to meet them, pleeease!"
"Brad, now you know how he gets when he's like this." His mother was surrendering even before Cody started his incessant whining and begging.
"Yeah," Brad breathed out the word in resignation. He clicked through a few pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here's something.... They have weekly meetings, and there's one this Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. It says all are welcome to come."
"Can we, dad?"
"Yeah, sure." Brad looked at Sarah, and shrugged his shoulders. She gave him back a look that meant: "Just do it".
"Coooool!"
Saturday took forever to arrive; Cody had been ready two days ago. He even printed out the local heroes' photos so he could get their autographs on them, even the guy that looked like a jockey. Come to think of it, he kinda looked like a yellow canary too – if he had been green, maybe a frog, especially with those big goggles.
Brad drove his excited son into the downtown core. For the most part, it was a relatively safe area. It was nowhere near as bad as some of the larger cities. Sure, there was the occasional drunken brawl, even the odd murder, and there were a couple of gangs around; their graffiti was noticeable here and there. But he was never concerned when he came downtown at this time of day by himself. It's just that, he was now here with his son, and he didn't want to put him in harms way, even if there was a remote chance of something happening. His son really wanted this bad, but he still felt a little guilty for bringing him to this seedier part of the city. Well, at least it wasn't da
rk, yet.
He parked the car in a small parking lot just across the street from a row of old storefronts. One of those shabby units was suppose to be the super heroes' hangout. Super heroes? Right. Brad shook his head. As they walked closer, he could make out a second-hand bookstore in one unit; another was being used for a local politician's campaign headquarters. Not so bad, Brad thought, at least there wasn't a porn shop among them.
"Dad, look! Here it is!" Cody shouted, as he pointing to the sign on the door; he read it out loud: "Super heroes are real and we are here now."
Brad noticed that it was like one of those two-sided open/closed signs. He imagined the other side should say: "Super heroes are all out to lunch."
Brad tried the door, but it was locked. He looked inside, but the front half of the run-down store was empty. There was another door toward the back of the store; a bright light glowed from the wide gap at its bottom. He pressed the buzzer; a few seconds later, the door opened and out walked...
"Captain Flak!" shouted Cody gleefully, as
