by Lucas Flint
“Stupid, stupid, dumb robot!” Lord Mechanika screamed, almost screeched. “I built you! You should not be disobeying me! You useless piece of scrap! I should never have built you in the first—”
The Death Mecha immediately smashed its fist through the cockpit, grabbed Lord Mechanika, and, with the sound of snapping wires, pulled him out of the cockpit. Lord Mechanika was still screaming, but a quick squeeze from the Death Mecha’s hand caused him to shut up pretty quickly.
Still, Lord Mechanika apparently couldn’t keep his mouth shut, because he said, “Stupid machine. I don’t know why you’re rebelling against me all of a sudden, but I demand that you put me down this instant.”
The Death Mecha apparently took Lord Mechanika’s commands quite seriously, because it abruptly dropped him like a rock. Because the Death Mecha was at least five stories tall, Lord Mechanika was probably going to go splat when he hit the ground. That would have worried me, but given how annoying Lord Mechanika was, I didn’t make any move to attempt to intercept his fall.
But then a shadow flew past me, causing me to look up, but I didn’t see anything. I was about to dismiss it as my imagination or maybe some kind of bird when the girl suddenly gasped. “Dad!”
I looked back over at the Death Mecha. Lord Mechanika had not, unfortunately, splattered against the ground like paste. Instead, he had been caught in midair by a superhero I’d never seen before. He wore a green and yellow costume, very similar to Rubberman’s, except less stretchy. A cape flowed down his back, while a black domino mask covered his eyes, leaving the rest of his face exposed.
Lord Mechanika—who had been screaming when he had been dropped—looked at the new hero with bewilderment. “Who the hell are you? You’re not Rubberman.”
The new superhero chuckled. “Very observant one we have here. Yes, I’m not Rubberman, though that doesn’t mean I can’t put you in jail like him.”
Moving faster than my eyes could follow, the new superhero quickly clasped a thick set of handcuffs around Lord Mechanika’s wrists. Not that Mechanika seemed likely to try to resist arrest, though; he was so scrawny in comparison to the new muscular hero that he probably would have hurt himself if he tried to attack him. It helped that Mechanika didn’t actually have any powers of his own. Without his mech, he was just a useless, bitter former fan boy and nothing more.
“Charlotte!” came a voice nearby, one I didn’t recognize.
The girl—who was apparently named Charlotte—and I both looked over to the right to see someone running toward us. He was a teenager who couldn’t have been older than me, wearing an orange and black jumpsuit, in addition to a strange helmet which left the bottom of his mouth exposed, but had a strange laser-pointer type device attached to the right eye. The boy looked a lot stronger than me, too, like he worked out more or something.
“Charlotte, are you okay?” said the boy. He stopped a few feet from us, his attention entirely on the girl in my arms. “Did that freak hurt you? Do you think you’ll need to go to the hospital?”
“No, I think I will be fine,” said Charlotte, who sounded far less afraid now that Lord Mechanika was defeated. “Thanks to Dad and this guy, I didn’t get hurt as badly as I could have been, though I’ll need to rest for a while.”
The boy’s attention abruptly turned to me. He glanced at the way I held Charlotte and tensed, though I didn’t understand why he seemed that way.
“Hi,” I said, somewhat awkwardly. “I’m, uh—”
“Beams,” the boy said. He said my name neutrally, yet at the same time it sounded kind of like an insult. “Rubberman’s new sidekick, right?”
“Uh, right,” I said. “How did you know who I am?”
“Because I told him about you, of course,” said Charlotte. She hugged me more tightly all of a sudden. “I can’t believe I was rescued by Beams himself! This is like a dream come true.”
“Uh,” I said, glad that my visor hid my face, because I was blushing furiously all of a sudden. “That’s nice, but um—”
Thankfully, I didn’t have to finish my sentence, because the new superhero landed near us. He unceremoniously dumped Lord Mechanika—whose ankles were also shackled now—onto the ground and ran over to Charlotte with a concerned look on his face.
“Charlotte, are you—” said the new superhero, before the boy piped up and said, “Yeah, she’s fine. She just told us.”
The superhero sighed in relief. “Whew. That is good to hear. Still, I am going to take you to the doctor after this and get you x-rayed just to make sure that that monster didn’t break any bones.”
“Okay, Dad,” said Charlotte. She hugged me again. “By the way, Dad, this is Beams. You remember him, right? The greatest sidekick ever?”
The superhero’s attention turned to me. Unlike the masked boy, this guy didn’t look at me with disgust, but rather with interest. “So you’re Rubberman’s new sidekick everyone is talking about. Glad to meet you.”
“Uh, same to you, um—”
“Myster!” Rubberman suddenly shouted behind me. “Long time, no see, old friend!”
Startled, I looked over my shoulder to see Rubberman walking toward us. He had a huge grin on his face, which was matched by the grin on the new superhero’s face. The new superhero walked past me and shook hands with Rubberman firmly.
“Rubberman,” said the new superhero, whose name was apparently Myster. “Great to see you again. It’s been a while since Tokyo, hasn’t it?”
“Indeed it has,” said Rubberman. “Thanks for saving my sidekick, by the way. Elliot isn’t much of a threat, but I have to admit that he did have me in a bind there.”
“Oh, don’t thank me,” said Myster. He gestured at the masked kid. “Thank my own sidekick, Cyberkid, for stopping the mech in the first place.”
Cyberkid raised his nose into the air, like he was proud of himself. “Wasn’t too hard. I’ve controlled bigger machines than that before.”
“Well, I’ll just split the difference and thank both of you for your help,” said Rubberman. “But what brings you to Golden City? I thought you were protecting North Wood nowadays.”
Myster’s smile suddenly turned into a serious frown, like Rubberman had just wandered into a serious subject. “I was going to get to that. It involves you.”
“Oh?” said Rubberman, his own smile turning into a puzzled frown. “What is it? Do you want a figure based off yourself in my upcoming toy line?”
Myster shook his head. “No, it has nothing to do with licensing deals. There is an assassin in Golden City … and he’s coming for you.”
CHAPTER TWO
Myster would not elaborate on what he meant by that ominous statement. He insisted it was too private to discuss in public, which seemed like a huge cop out to me, given how he just dropped it on us out of nowhere. Still, Rubberman respected his wishes and, after handing Lord Mechanika over to the police, all five of us went to the Elastic Cave on the other side of town. Rubberman and I took the Rubbermobile, while Myster, Cyberkid, and Charlotte took Myster’s own vehicle, a three-person motorcycle which looked really awesome. I didn’t understand why a superhero with flight powers needed a motorcycle, but I supposed it was more for Charlotte and Cyberkid’s convenience than his own. I asked Rubberman why we were allowing them to come to the Elastic Cave with us and he told me it was because he knew and trusted Myster, which was the only word of explanation I got on our trip back to base.
At any rate, soon all five of us were sitting in Rubberman’s office. Adams, Rubberman’s butler, brought finger sandwiches and cookies for everyone, though neither Myster nor Rubberman touched them. Cyberkid and Charlotte, on the other hand, helped themselves to the snacks, while I didn’t eat because that would mean removing my helmet, which would mean revealing my secret identity to strangers, which would result in the revoking of my sidekick license. Because I didn’t want to lose my job, I just sat in my seat without touching the plates, though my stomach growled because I remembered just how g
ood Adams’ chocolate chip cookies were.
“All right,” said Rubberman. He sat behind the desk and I stood next to him, both of us still in costume, while Myster, Cyberkid, and Charlotte sat on the opposite side of the desk. “My office is very secure and private, so you don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing anything you want to keep private.”
“Thank you, Dennis,” said Myster, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know this isn’t very convenient, but the matter I wish to discuss with you is too important to be discussed in public. If the wrong people were to overhear, it would make the problem that much harder to solve.”
“I understand, Mark,” said Rubberman. “I know you well enough to trust that you wouldn’t insist on privacy if this subject wasn’t of utmost importance. Can my sidekick, Beams, also listen, by the way? You can trust him as much as me. He’s good at keeping secrets.”
Myster looked at me uncertainly for a moment, as if he doubted Rubberman’s opinion of me, which I thought was unfair, because he didn’t even know me. Surely the fact that I’d saved his daughter meant I was trustworthy, didn’t it?
“I suppose your sidekick needs to know this as well,” said Myster. “If the assassin comes after you, there’s a good chance Beams might get involved as well. Best for all of us to be on the same page.”
“Yes, this assassin you mentioned,” said Rubberman. “Who is it? And why are they trying to kill me?”
“Do they want to kill me, too?” I said with a gulp. “Because I’m Rubberman’s sidekick and all?”
“You’re not that important,” Cyberkid said, rolling his one exposed eye. “Geez.”
I decided there and then that I didn’t like Cyberkid. I don’t know what I did to make him hate me, but it was pretty clear that he didn’t like me and I decided to return the feeling.
“Cyberkid,” Myster said in a warning voice. “Let me do the talking, okay?”
Cyberkid nodded, but he clearly didn’t look happy at being asked to be quiet. “Okay, boss. Whatever you say.”
Despite saying that, Cyberkid tossed me a rather ugly glare, one which I returned in full measure. Granted, my visor hide my face, so he probably didn’t see it, but he no doubt knew I was doing it anyway.
“All right, then,” said Myster, looking at Rubberman again. “I should probably start by telling you that I’ve moved to Golden City temporarily in order to find and apprehend this assassin before he kills you.”
“But Golden City is my temporary,” said Rubberman. “The contract I signed with the city government specifically states that I am the exclusive local superhero who helps the police deal with criminals and other threats to the citizens of Golden City.”
“I know,” said Myster. “Trust me, I don’t take any joy in infringing on your territory, but I had to do it in order to warn you and capture this assassin before it is too late. I already explained the issue to the government, who have allowed me to temporarily work here until the assassin has been caught.”
Rubberman leaned back in his chair. “I have not heard any news of assassins in Golden City. Are you sure there is someone here who wants to kill me?”
“Absolutely,” said Myster. “Granted, I don’t have all the facts, but what I do have is enough to convince me that your life is in danger. And because we’re old friends, I thought you should know for your own safety.”
“Tell me who this assassin is,” said Rubberman, resting his hands on the desk.
“All right,” said Myster. “Tell me, have you heard of a supervillain known as ZZZ?”
What little was exposed of Rubberman’s face paled as soon as he heard that name. “Not him.”
“Triple Z?” I repeated. “What, are those his initials or something?”
Myster shook his head. “No. That’s his supervillain name. It’s a reference to his powers, although he also tends to leave those three letters engraved in his victims whenever he strikes.”
I looked at Rubberman. He looked even more worried than he did when Fro-Zen came after him. That made me wonder just how powerful this ZZZ guy was.
“What are his powers, exactly?” I said, looking at Myster again, because Rubberman seemed too shocked to speak. “Something to do with electricity?”
“I wish,” said Myster. “ZZZ can make people fall asleep just by thinking it. He can also enter their dreams, though he usually doesn’t do that, because he usually kills his targets when they’re asleep.”
“He’s dangerous,” said Rubberman. He rubbed his forehead. “I’ve heard of him, but I’ve never actually faced him myself, though other heroes I know have.”
“What has he done that makes him so dangerous?” I said. “Granted, being able to put people to sleep does seem like a pretty strong power, but—”
“He’s wanted all over the country for various crimes,” said Myster. “For example, he’s robbed numerous banks, usually by walking into a bank and putting everyone inside it to sleep, which allows him to take as much money as he wants without worrying about being stopped. He also does assassin work on the side; as you can imagine, his powers make him very good at that, if only because it’s easier to kill a sleeping man than an awake man.”
“He killed Tall Man five years ago,” said Rubberman. “It was all over the news. I remember following the story myself, mostly because Tall Man was a rising star in the superhero community and everyone had great hopes for him before he was killed by ZZZ.”
I gulped. I glanced at Cyberkid and Charlotte. Cyberkid looked serious, while Charlotte happily ate away at her cookie. She winked at me when I looked at her, which earned me another not-so-subtle glare from Cyberkid. I still had no idea what was going on there, but I decided I would worry about it later.
“Okay, but how do you know ZZZ is after Rubberman?” I said, looking at Myster again. “How do you know he’s even here? Like Rubberman said, we haven’t heard anything about him.”
“I have a few contacts in the criminal underworld who keep tabs on the activities of various supervillains, criminals, assassins, and other such scum,” said Myster. “One of my contacts—who is very reliable and truthful—messaged me a couple of weeks ago to inform me that ZZZ had been hired to kill Rubberman. He said he didn’t know when Rubberman would be killed, but believed it would happen soon, so I had to pack up my things and get here quickly before ZZZ struck.”
“Who hired him?” said Rubberman. “Does your contact know?”
Myster shook his head again. “No. My contact has no idea who hired ZZZ to take you out. I asked him to let me know if he finds out anything else, but I’m not very confident about his success there. ZZZ is well-known for never revealing the identities of his employers. It’s one of the reasons he is contacted so regularly for hits like this.”
Rubberman tapped his chin. I could tell that Rubberman already had his theories about who might want to kill him, but I didn’t ask him to share, because I knew from experience that Rubberman usually had a reason to keep his thoughts to himself. Most likely, he didn’t want to make any hasty pronouncements without some hard evidence to back up his theory. I wished he would at least let me know who he suspected, but I guess it wasn’t important for me to know now or something.
“Thanks for this information, Myster,” said Rubberman. “It is troubling to know, for sure, but I’d rather know it than not know it. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for ZZZ, as well as inform the police of his presence in the city. The police probably won’t be able to do much to him, but having the eyes of the various officers patrolling the city open should make it easier to find ZZZ or at least clues to his current location.”
“Smart idea,” said Myster. “I myself intend to stay in Golden City for a month or however long it takes to find him. ZZZ has caused me a lot of trouble in North Wood and I have no intention of letting him get away, not when there’s a chance of putting an end to his reign of terror once and for all.”
Rubberman nodded. “Indeed. Now, is that all you wanted to talk to me ab
out? Or is there anything else?”
Myster’s expression suddenly changed. He looked slightly sheepish now, which was in sharp contrast to his earlier serious demeanor. He scratched the back of his neck and said, “Well, I was going to say that it doesn’t need to be just you and me dealing with ZZZ. We can get help from Heroes United, but first you—”
“No,” said Rubberman flatly. “I’ve told you before, but I’m not interested.”
“Yes, but Heroes United could provide you with backup,” said Myster. “After all, we have only the best superheroes on our team. We’d be perfectly willing to help you, because you have a lot of fans in HU.”
“Myster, I appreciate you coming to give me this warning about ZZZ, but I didn’t let you come into my base to try to sell Heroes United to me,” said Rubberman. “I’m fine as an independent. You can work with Heroes United if you want, but you know how much I value my independence.”
I frowned. I had no idea what ‘Heroes United’ was or what Rubberman and Myster were even talking about. While Rubberman spoke rather politely, he also sounded quite firm, as if he and Myster had had this exact same exchange several times in the past and he already knew what Myster was going to say. I would ask Rubberman about it later, though, because right now he didn’t seem likely to elaborate on it to me.
I guess Myster must have had the same thought, because he nodded, albeit in a glum way, and said, “I guess I shouldn’t have expected your thinking to change on this subject very much. Still, if you are ever interested, just let me know and I can get you hooked up right away. I can even have the application process sped up just for you. You know how much Nathan wants you to join.”
“Yes, I am quite aware of what Nathan wants,” said Rubberman, his tone flatter than usual. “Now, is that all you wished to tell me about? Or is there more?”
“That’s about it,” said Myster. “Like I said, I’ve set up base here in Golden City. I intend to stay for about a month, though if we can find ZZZ quicker than that, I might go back to North Wood earlier.”
