by Ben Mariner
So, of course, I did. I misjudged the distance from where I was to the edge of the roof. Had to do a little stutter step which made me trip over the ledge which, in turn, sent me cartwheeling across the gap. If anyone happened to be looking, it would have been really embarrassing. Luckily it was well after midnight and everyone was either asleep or fighting. By some stroke of ridiculous luck, I ran into the edge of the museum roof while I was facing the right way. I had just enough presence of mind to grab the ledge before I slid down. Since gravity was taking a smoke break, it was easy to haul myself up.
“Graceful,” snickered Grace.
“Shut up,” I replied and set gravity back to normal.
The fight between Gayzer and Twig had moved over to the far side of the museum’s roof which left the few henchmen that were left to do their thing.
One thing no one really prepares you for is what you’re supposed to say as a good guy to bad guys who are breaking the law. You want it to be memorable, but you don’t want to go the cliché route because then you’re being remembered for the wrong thing. It’s a thin line to walk.
“Time to get Wrecked, boys,” I said, arms akimbo.
“Definitely not that,” Grace said immediately.
“I agree,” The Blur chimed in.
“That was definitely bad,” Gayzer agreed.
The henchmen looked at each other dumbly, clearly not sure what the hell I meant. Even with masks on, I could read their confusion.
“Let’s fight,” I explained. “That’s what I was going for.”
“Oh, alright,” the one closest to me said. “Maybe better phrasing next time?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get it. Are we doing this?”
He shrugged and picked up a nearby crowbar. His halfhearted approach left something to be desired, but at least I was getting in on things. The thug swung the crowbar and I put up a forearm to block it. It bounced off harmlessly.
“Oh, great,” he said just before I planted a meaty fist under his jaw and sent him sailing through the air.
“Who else wants some?” I said, adrenaline pumping hard.
Two of the henchmen looked at each other, decided it wasn’t worth it, and ran off in the opposite direction. The final henchman watched them go disappointedly and turned to me.
“Any chance you’ll take it easy on me?” he asked. His voice was almost familiar, tickling something in the back of my mind. “I’ve got a big presentation in the morning and I’d rather not have a black eye.”
That was a little deflating.
“I guess I can just work the body a bit,” I said after some consideration.
He nodded. “I’d appreciate...wait...Lane?”
He pulled off his mask to reveal a wild mop of red hair and a freckled face I’d seen more than a few times.
“Oh, man,” I said, smiling. “Bobby, you old so and so. How are you?”
“Doing good,” he answered, trying to tame his hair a bit. “Doing a bit of henching work to help pay the bills. What about you? You’re a ‘Fig now?”
I laughed and pulled at my suit a bit. “Yeah, crazy right?”
“Are...are you making friends?” Grace asked in my ear, but I ignored her.
“Super crazy,” he agreed with a laugh. “I’m happy for you. I’ve been thinking about switching sides myself. Kinda sucks getting my ass kicked all the time.”
“I hear that,” I said. I mean, it didn’t suck for me because I couldn’t feel it, but I got where he was coming from. “If you decide to make the switch drop an application at Grey Market and put me down as a reference. I’ll put in a good word.”
“Oh, wow, that’s so nice of you, Lane,” he said gratefully. “I really appreciate that, man.”
An awkward silence settled between us.
“So…” he asked tentatively. “What do we do now?”
I laughed nervously. “I’m not sure actually.”
As if in reply, Grace came down and landed next to me.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“This is Bobby Two-Doors,” I told her. “He’s an old friend from...from before. Bobby. This is Female.”
“Female?” he wondered, looking Grace’s armor up and down. “Oh wait, I get it. Fe as in iron. But wouldn’t that technically mean Iron Ma-”
“Don’t,” she cut him off. “Just don’t.”
“Bobby is thinking of joining our side.”
“Good to hear,” she said shortly to Bobby and turned to me. “Twig and Jet Set are neutralized. It’s time to go.”
“Right,” I said seriously. “See ya, Bobby.”
“Later, Lane,” he called as Grace scooped her arms under mind and lifted me off the ground. “And nice to meet you, Iron Ma-”
“Stop it,” Grace said icily before zooming off away from the museum.
“Guess I have to change my name again,” she said once we were well on our way home.
“I told you.”
SEVENTEEN
There was always a high that came after a job. Didn’t even have to be a successful one, and being a Mal, they rarely were. Win or lose, there was always that adrenaline rush that would make you feel like you were invincible and you wanted to go out and take on the entire world. It was a little different for me because I actually was a little invincible, and could take on the world. I wouldn’t win because I didn’t have any kind of complimentary powers that would make being invincible a formidable thing, but still, I could.
The downside to that feeling was that jobs rarely came back to back, so when you were raring to go, ready to punch something, you had to go back to your normal life and wait for something else to come along. It could make even the most patient person on earth and Anxious Annie. Those without talent will never understand the hell of dealing with memos and reports the morning after having it out with the good guys...or bad guys now that I was fighting with the ‘Figs instead of against them.
“Oh snap,” Brad said next to me. I tried my best to ignore him. “Girl’s a freak. Respect. Check this out, Lane.”
His phone was in my face before I could even react. There was a picture of a stranger’s body part I would never have hoped or wanted to see staring right at me. I pushed it away in disgust.
“Dude, that’s not okay,” I scolded him.
He looked at the picture with concern. “What does she have hem-”
“No, god,” I cut him off. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to see some strange girl’s...business. It’s weird.”
He laughed. “I never pegged you as such a prude.”
I gave him a look. “Being a prude has nothing to do with it. We’re at work. It’s wildly inappropriate. If Mel saw either one of us looking at it, we’d both be fired and with good reason. Just keep it to yourself, man.”
Brad stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “Alright, fine, buzzkill. I’ll get back to work.”
He said that last part as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world that he be expected to do actual work while he was in the office.
Almost as if she’d heard us talking about her - and it’s entirely possible she did since her desk wasn’t that far away - Mel appeared at my side.
“Hey, Mel,” I greeted her, trying not to look guilty even though I really hadn’t done anything wrong. The click-clack of keys to my right meant Brad was trying to look like he was hard at work too. “What’s up?”
“Did you see the paper this morning?” she asked, plopping down a folded copy of the Daily Megaphone. It was open to a headline that read End of Days? Bennies and Mals Getting Along with a picture of me, Grace, and Bobby Two-Doors chatting on the roof of the museum to accompany it. “Can you believe this?”
When you live in Maxima City, you’re one of three kinds of people: Talent, someone who is enamored with Talent, or someone who couldn’t care less and just want to get on with their day. Mel fell into that second category. She loved to read the papers and see what the Talent had been up to while she was sleep
ing. Luckily for me, she heavily favored the Bennies like most people did, because, you know, we’re the good guys. What I found odd was that Mel’s favorite was a lesser known Bennie who called herself Lady Abacus who had a superhuman ability to solve any kind of equation instantly. It was such an odd choice that I would have thought maybe Mel and Lady Abacus were one in the same, except they had two completely different body types and the fact that I had actually seen Mel use a formula in a spreadsheet to add two double digit numbers together.
Nothing wrong with that. Math isn’t everyone’s strong suit. I’m just saying, it’s not exactly Lady Abacus level stuff.
“Oh, yeah,” I lied to her. I almost never read the Daily Megaphone because who the hell reads newspapers anymore. I tapped on myself in the picture. “This guy looks pretty cool though.”
Mel gave me an uncertain nod. “Article says two unnamed Benevolents. When’s the last time a Bennie hasn’t announced themselves in some way, let alone two of them? It’s preposterous.”
I shrugged. “Maybe they’re still new and it was just a test run.”
Which was almost exactly the truth.
“I don’t like it. Something is off.” She snatched the paper off my desk and tucked it under her arm forcefully. “Anyway, they asked me to send you upstairs.”
“They?”
Mel gave me a you-know-who look before walking away.
“Damn, son,” Brad said as soon as she was gone. “That was a close one. Why does Grey keep calling you to his office anyway? Wouldn’t think some acquisitions lug would be worth his time.”
I locked my computer to make sure Brad didn’t send out some stupid email in my name like has happened before and stood up.
“Maybe he’s grooming me to take his place,” I said wryly.
It was obviously a joke, but a look crossed Brad’s face that said he clearly thought it was serious.
“Slumdog Millionaire,” he said, offering a high five. “Respect.”
“That’s not what Slumdog Millionaire was about,” I replied, leaving him hanging and heading for the elevators.
After going through the clearance rigmarole, I arrived at the top floor of the building. Grey’s assistant was sitting behind the reception desk and welcomed me with a tight lipped smile.
“Good day, Mr. Raskin,” he greeted me, pulling his attention away from his computer screen.
“Mr. Grey asked me to come up,” I told him. I looked over my shoulder at the door to Grey’s office. It was closed.
“Actually that was me,” he told me and produced a manila envelope with the Liberty Gang logo printed on the front. “Mr. Grey is in meetings all day. He asked me to give you this. I apologize for bringing you all the way up here, but it’s something that needed to be given to you directly.”
He handed the envelope over. I started to open it, but he put his hand over it to stop me.
“It’s best if you open that in private, Mr. Raskin.”
I nodded. “Alright. Thank you.”
He immediately turned his attention back to his computer which I took to mean the conversation was over. I headed back to the elevator and waited until I was heading back down to the ground floor before opening the envelope. The only thing inside was the corner of a notebook page that had been ripped out. There was an address written in an untidy scrawl. And a time. Midnight.
I looked inside the envelope to see if I had missed something, but it was empty. This wasn’t a job. Those came differently. Grace probably would have told me, or I’d have gotten an email. This was something different entirely. I pulled out my phone and did a search for the address. Somewhere on the east side of town. Didn’t look like anything special. I put my phone back in my pocket, slipped the note back into the envelope, and stashed the envelope in my back pocket just as the doors of the elevator opened again.
Something didn’t seem right about the whole thing, and I found myself toying with the beads of my bracelet.
Probably nothing to worry about, right? I mean, they were good guys.
I was overthinking things.
Right?
EIGHTEEN
It was all over the news. Something like that would dominate the headlines for at least a week. Maybe more. It was maybe the biggest thing to happen to Maxima City in years. Magnificent Man arrested, kicked out of the Liberty Gang, and disgraced. I’ve seen citywide takeovers that got less press coverage than this. But when you live in a city that’s constantly being terrorized by Mals, that’s not a big surprise. This was. This was something you didn’t see every day. A good guy gone bad.
Magnificent Man faces up to seventy five years in federal prison if found guilty on all counts, Susanna Squalls, Maxima City’s favorite news anchor and neutral Talent, told me through the TV. Stay tuned to the Neutral News Network for more updates on this story as they unfold. And now we go to Don Wethermin for the weather. How’s it look for this weekend, Dan?
It’s looking a lot sunnier for us than it is for Magnificent Man, Sue, the weatherman laughed.
I turned away from the screen and continued on up the street. I wasn’t as interested in the story as everyone else. I mean, yes, it was beyond satisfying to see the guy who caused the hysteria that put my parents in the hospital behind bars. Don’t get me wrong there. It was the rumors that I was more interested in. One of the most prolific and loved ‘Figs of all time didn’t just wind up in jail out of nowhere, but the reports were very vague about what had really happened. There were plenty of rumors floating around, but I wanted to see if there was any truth behind them.
Luckily I knew exactly who could help me out with that.
Five o’clock was rapidly approaching and that meant quitting time. I had a feeling I could still find her at her desk helping some dolt with their problems though.
I was through the doors of Winfield Enterprises and on the elevator before anyone even realized I was there. Even though I’d quit, my security clearance hadn’t been revoked. Seemed like a major oversight, but one that worked in my favor, so I wasn’t going to question it. The car going down was completely empty since the last place people wanted to go at quitting time was the basement. When I got to Lisa’s department it was almost completely deserted. Just a few poor, unfortunate souls who were still lagging behind and didn’t look terribly happy about it. I made a quick detour to the break room to grab a cup of end-of-the-day office coffee. Might as well get some free stuff while I was on premises. As I approached Lisa’s desk and heard her voice, I was happy to find she was one of those suckers who got stuck after the whistle blew.
“Do you even still work here, grocery boy?” she asked after muting her phone. She looked pretty peeved, as per usual.
“Cute, sis,” I replied, bemused. “I just came down here to find out if the rumors are true.”
She gave me an evasive little smile. “Depends on what rumors those would be.”
“Oh, come on, Lisa.”
I knew she knew what I was talking about. It would be completely and utterly impossible for her to not know. Lisa always just took it as her sworn duty as a sister to be a pain in my ass.
“If you must know,” she said finally. “Then yes, I stepped down.”
Only my sister would think stepping down as a leading member of the Coalition was bigger news than taking down Magnificent man.
Then again, I guess that was pretty big. She had finally achieved her lifelong dream of becoming an A-list Malevolent. That she would quit right after taking down Magnificent Man made me wonder if that was all she was ever truly after. Her nonchalant attitude about it was the true mind blower.
“I also heard you turned down an offer from the Liberty Gang.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “And where exactly did you hear that?”
“The warehouse, Lisa,” I said after a brief moment of panic that I’d let slip my change of allegiance. Sure, she was going to find out eventually and family get togethers were going to be a lot more awkward once it came out that we wer
e on different sides of the law, but I was hoping to keep my secret for a little while longer at least. Besides, I was still a little miffed to find out she got an offer before I did. “Grey’s got just as many folks working for both sides of his operation as Winfield does.”
“Right. Yeah, I guess that one is true too,” she said and turned her attention back to the computer.
“Have you considered going in for a psychiatric evaluation?”
“Punchline?” Lisa asked with an overly dramatic sigh. I shrugged it off.
“Not a joke, sis. You had a place at the big kids’ table and you just gave it away. I gotta wonder if you aren’t legit crazy.”
“You, half the Malevolents, and even a few of the ‘Figs,” she replied dismissively. “Trust me. I’m back where I should be.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Okay, I take back the crazy comment. Clearly, someone brainwashed you because if anyone ever told you this is where you should be, you’d give them a fatal case of brain freeze.”
“Exactly,” she said with a smile. “Lane, this has nothing to do with where on the food chain I am as much as who dictates that I’m there.”
What she was getting at finally dawned on me. “So you’re saying you’re okay with grunt work as long as you chose the grunt work and it’s not dictated by someone else that you do it?”
She looked a bit taken aback. I could be slow on the uptake sometimes, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew things.
“Trust me,” she said assuringly, taking a quick peek at her computer screen which was still working on its own. “When you get your chance, you’ll see that it isn’t all plotting and scheming.”
Hopefully that day was coming sooner rather than later.
“Maybe I will.”
“Have fun working on your evil laugh,” she joked.
“Have fun fixing computers after five,” I countered, patting her on the shoulder and walking away.
“Low blow, bro,” she called after me. “Low blow.”
Ok, maybe that was a bit of a jab, but come on, she kinda deserved it.
