by Logan Jacobs
“Then you better go ahead and find a new one!” I shouted back. “Because I quit!”
I turned and raced down the fire escape, and for the first time in a while, I felt all of my anxiety disappear. I felt freed from the Shadow Knight’s ridiculous code of honor and conduct, and I also no longer felt the gnawing feeling in my stomach that came from his disappointment. And even though I knew what I had just done had made him furious, I realized that I didn’t care.
I wouldn’t have to be afraid of him getting angry anymore.
The air felt cool as I stepped off of the fire escape and into the clean air, away from the acrid scent of smoke. The further I walked away from the building, the easier it became to breathe. I gulped down the fresh air and let the frantic beat of my heart calm down.
I turned back around to watch the building, but there was no sign of the Shadow Knight, so I knew he must already be inside with Volcan. A spiral of flames tore up from the rooftop in a shimmering inferno of white-hot fire, but I felt nothing when I saw it. I felt no need to save Volcan from his own self-destruction, and I didn’t feel a shred of pity that he might die because I hadn’t gone in to help the Shadow Knight save him.
And that was perfectly fine with me.
Miles was right. Fuck villains. They deserved to die.
Chapter 14
After we’d captured what had felt like an endless deluge of supervillains, it was almost hard to believe it was over. What wasn’t hard to believe, however, was that my plan had been successful in more ways than one.
The Shadow Knight was still out after his final target, but the rest of us had all gathered back in my mansion to double-check that every escaped criminal had been rounded up, minus the two “very regrettable” casualties.
Emphasis on the air quotes.
Our meeting had quickly turned into a riot of laughter and swapped stories about what we had all done, and it was nice to see that even Beacon and Penumbra were pretty open without the oppressive shadow of the crow-masked asshole to bring down the mood.
“Going solo after a supervillain was pretty challenging,” Beacon said from where he’d placed himself at the bar.
“Yeah?” I asked as I poured him a small glass of one of my finest bottles of whiskey. “You seemed to handle it pretty well.”
“Only thanks to you.” The Shadow Knight’s ex-sidekick held up the glass of whiskey, saluted me, and then downed it in one shot. “Whiplash was so fast that he could almost teleport, but thanks to your upgrades to my suit, I always knew where he was. It made it easy.”
“I’m surprised he tried to fight you instead of just running away,” I replied with a shrug.
“He was kind of an asshole,” Beacon laughed. “Tried to move behind me to clobber me over the head, but I jabbed him in the neck with my elbow and knocked the wind out of him before he could.”
“So you…” Norma approached the bar with a light giggle and slid into the seat next to me. “So you gave him whiplash?”
“Norma,” I groaned.
“Sorry, Miles, it was too easy,” she apologized with a cute smile.
“Way too easy!” Penumbra called over to us from where she sat on the couch next to Elizabeth. “Even I wouldn’t go for that one.”
I was a little bit surprised at how close my superpowered girlfriend had allowed Penumbra to get to her, but the two girls chatted on the couch like old friends. I noticed that Penumbra had kept her flirtatious advances to subtle winks and implications rather than grabbing my arm and rubbing her breasts against me, so I assumed Elizabeth must have given her a lesson in how to be subtle. Though I had to say, I was glad to see them getting along, since it meant that my girlfriend was probably close to convincing Penumbra to join our side.
I’d been pretty successful with Beacon, and I needed to thank Aileen for her brilliant idea in faking the Shadow Knight’s voice to draw him away. It had created the perfect environment for Beacon to see what a douchebag his mentor really was and allowed me to murder someone who deserved it.
“So, are you going to keep it up?” I asked the ex-apprentice.
“Maybe,” he said as he stared into his empty glass. “I’m not sure I want to step on the Shadow Knight’s toes. I don’t think he’d appreciate it if I tried to totally break out on my own, and I don’t really want to get into another confrontation with him, you know?”
“Why not go somewhere else?” Norma suggested. “A lot of towns are in need of a hero.”
“Grayville is my home,” Beacon said. “I can’t leave it.”
“Well, we’ll probably stick around for a while,” I said. “If you’re interested in giving us a hand.”
“We’ll see,” he sighed. “I don’t think the Shadow Knight would like that very much, either.”
“Like I give a shit,” I scoffed as I poured myself another two fingers of whiskey. “I need to at least stick around long enough to see if-- well, to see if that prison’s security actually holds.”
“You know, Miles, I really think the Shadow Knight was wrong about you,” Beacon admitted. “You’re really not that bad.”
“How touching,” I smirked. “I’m not that bad, eh?”
“You know what I mean,” he laughed. “You’re cool, and you really want to help people.”
“Yup,” I said. “Glad you can see that, but it’s too bad the Shadow Knight’s got too much of a stick shoved up his ass to understand that I’m here to help.”
“You helped us out a lot with these supervillains,” Beacon said as he gestured to the various TV screens. . “Just look at the news-- even they are calling us all true heroes, so the Shadow Knight has to recognize that.”
I followed the ex-apprentice’s glance toward the screens that my girlfriend and Penumbra were watching. Several news outlets were pulled up on different screens, and even though each one broadcasted a different one of our exploits as we recaptured the supervillains all around the city, they all seemed to agree that we were quite the heroes.
“We’ll see,” I said with a shrug, because I was entirely sure that the Shadow Knight would not recognize my efforts for very long-- not after I completed my plan, anyway. “Aileen, is the Shadow Knight on his way back yet?”
“He’ll be arriving within the next several minutes,” my AI replied.
“Looks like he was successful,” I said. “That means we’ve successfully put every escaped prisoner back into jail. Good work, guys.”
“I can’t wait to take a nap,” Norma sighed. “I’m exhausted.”
“I feel wired,” Penumbra announced from the couch. “Hey, Dynamo, want to go clubbing later tonight?”
“You’re insane-- how can you have that much energy?” my girlfriend laughed. “I’m going to sleep early.”
“We’ll see about that,” I said with a sly smile.
I headed toward the two women on the couch and leaned over the back of it to wink at my girlfriend, since I certainly didn’t plan to let her go to sleep early tonight. Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at me with a little smile of her own, while Penumbra laughed and covered her mouth.
“The Shadow Knight has arrived,” Aileen announced through the speakers.
After the front door slammed shut, I was surprised to see the crow-masked hero enter the living room without his usual sidekick. I figured Slade would have alerted us if the Silver Squire had been hurt badly enough to get sent to the hospital, but I suddenly wondered if he had become just another dead sidekick to add to the pile of apprentice corpses that Slade seemed to accumulate.
“Where’s the kid?” I asked.
“I dismissed him,” the Shadow Knight growled.
There was an awkward beat of silence as I glanced toward Beacon to gauge his reaction. The ex-sidekick narrowed his eyes at his old mentor, but it didn’t seem like he had any desire to interact with him about this. I wasn’t really sure how to reply to that either, but it was clear the Shadow Knight was not going to give us the entire story behind what had happened to t
he Silver Squire.
“Is he okay?” Penumbra asked as she got up from the couch. “I don’t think he would just--”
“He’s fine,” the crow-masked crusader snapped. “Don’t concern yourself with him, as he is no longer any apprentice of mine.”
Penumbra glanced across the room toward Beacon, and I noticed that they both had the same conflicted expression. Even though they hadn’t known the new Silver Squire personally, it was still clear they were suspicious of the Shadow Knight’s story.
“Well, anyway,” I said and cleared my throat to break through the tension in the room. “Take a look. The news is all about how successful we were in chasing down all of the escaped supervillains.”
“With minimal casualties, too,” Norma added. “I mean, not as many as they were expecting, anyway.”
“The city of Grayville is safer than ever before,” I said as I grinned at the brooding crow-themed hero. “So, do you have anything you want to say to me?”
The Shadow Knight folded his arms over his chest and stared at the news broadcasts that illuminated the screens. I still couldn’t get a very good read on the guy, but even through his hassled expression, I could tell he was making an attempt to come to terms with my helpfulness.
I almost wanted to set off the bombs right now just to watch him lose his mind, but as much as I wanted to see the look on his face, I wasn’t going to risk making him so furious in my mansion. I didn’t know how Beacon and Penumbra would react, and even though I thought they would be on my side, I didn’t want to take the risk that they might provide him with some backup.
“We couldn’t have managed this without your help,” Slade finally said, and although it sounded like every word was forcibly dragged out of him, he at least sounded like he sincerely meant it.
“Likewise,” I smirked. “Ready to admit you misjudged me?”
“No,” the Shadow Knight grunted. “I can’t deny your usefulness, Miles, but this partnership ends here.”
“What a shame,” I sighed with dramatic sarcasm. “And here I thought we might finally be able to understand each other.”
“Perhaps you are not as bad as I originally believed you to be,” Slade ground out as he continued to stare at the news broadcasts. “But you are not suitable to be a hero of Grayville. Vacate the premises and discontinue any operations here.”
“Slade, Miles just wants to help clean up Grayville,” Beacon said from the bar. “Can’t you see that?”
“A hero without a code is too dangerous,” the Shadow Knight replied with a glare at his old apprentice. “You should be well aware of that.”
I had no patience for the Shadow Knight’s moral superiority complex, so I just shrugged and shook my head.
“Believe what you want,” I said, “but I’m not going anywhere.”
Slade bristled and clenched his fists at his sides, and for a moment, it seemed like the Shadow Knight might try to take me out even before I had the chance to blow up his prison. When the room fell completely silent, he suddenly seemed to remember that we weren’t alone in the room, so he relaxed his hands and just growled instead.
“Then I have nothing left to say to you,” Slade finally said. “Consider yourself warned, Miles Nelson.”
With that final threat, the Shadow Knight turned with a sweep of his cape, disappeared out the front entrance, and slammed the door so hard that the walls shook.
I thought about going after him to make him regret threatening me, but I knew it would be smarter to wait for a bit. I didn’t want to upset Beacon and Penumbra now that they were so close to joining my side fully, so I wanted to seem like I was the better person.
Of course, I already knew I was.
“Sorry about him,” Beacon sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Not your fault,” I said. “We both know he’s got a major problem with me, probably because he feels threatened or something.”
“Could be,” Beacon said. “I guess that’s why he never wanted me or Penumbra to become true heroes after we stopped being his sidekicks.”
“Yeah,” Penumbra sighed, “but he’s always been a jerk like that.”
“Guess so,” Beacon said. “Sorry to cut this celebration short, but I guess I’d better head out, too.”
“Yeah, my buzz is officially killed,” Penumbra agreed. “Why is he like that?”
“Don’t ask me,” I said with a shrug. “He really needs to relax.”
“Yeah...” Beacon trailed off and then just shook his head. “I’ll try to talk to him once he cools down, so maybe there can still be a chance for us to be allies in the future.”
“I hope so,” I said, but I doubted he would be very successful.
Even if I hadn’t planned to blow up the prison, I thought that the chances of a continued alliance with the Shadow Knight were next to nothing after what I knew was coming next.
But it was sweet that Beacon wanted to try.
“I’m definitely not going to talk to him,” Penumbra laughed, “but good luck with that, Beacon.”
“Thanks,” the ex-apprentice sighed.
“Dynamo?” The blonde heroine turned to Elizabeth and took both of her hands to squeeze them. “You’ll keep in touch, right?”
“Of course,” my dark-haired girlfriend replied with a genuine smile. “Let me know if you ever need anything.”
“I will,” Penumbra said. “You were really helpful, Dynamo. I don’t think I’d have ever understood my powers without you… or without you, Miles.”
“No problem,” I said with a shrug. “Feel free to keep the upgrades. You, too, Beacon.”
“Thanks, man,” Beacon said. “I’ll uh, let you know how my talk with Mr. Grump goes, but I better-- I guess I better get going.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Me, too,” Penumbra sighed.
Beacon nodded at Norma and Elizabeth, clapped me on the shoulder, and headed toward the front door, where he waited for Penumbra to say her goodbyes. After the blonde pulled Elizabeth into a tight hug, she giggled a goodbye to me and Norma, and then she joined Beacon as they headed out of the mansion.
“Am I allowed to come out now?” Aileen demanded as soon as it was just Norma, Elizabeth, and me.
“Yes, you can come out now,” I said.
The door to the basement opened, and my robotic creation sauntered out to stand behind us as Norma and I joined Elizabeth on the couch.
“You’ve been very patient, Aileen,” I said with a grin. “I appreciate it.”
“Still, it’s nice that it’s just us again,” Norma said.
“I never knew the Shadow Knight could be so tiresome,” Elizabeth sighed.
“He really brought the mood down, didn’t he?” I laughed.
I picked up the remote to the screens in front of us, and I flipped through a few more news channels. There was nothing but positive attention to the recapture of the escaped supervillains, but I wondered what they’d think of my next move. I already knew what the Shadow Knight would think of it, but the people of Grayville could swing either way.
I glanced over at Elizabeth as she sighed again as she watched some footage of the crow-masked crusader at a downtown building on fire, and I did feel a little bad for her. She’d idolized the Shadow Knight, but he’d turned out to be much less than what she’d expected him to be.
It turned out that real heroes were hard to find.
“Is everything ready, Aileen?” I asked after I got bored of watching my own exploits on the news.
“Yes, Creator,” she said with a bow. “I have successfully linked with the program you installed, as well as with the bombs that Norma planted, so I can confirm that every system is online and ready to be activated.”
“Great,” I replied as I took a sip of delicious whiskey. “Then let’s get this started.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for the Shadow Knight to get back to his own hideout?” Elizabeth asked. “He might just turn around and come back.”
“Oh, I fully expect him to,” I said. “But Beacon and Penumbra have left, and I doubt they’d help him at this point, anyway. He can’t take on all of us even if he does run back here in a roid-rage.”
“Too bad we won’t be able to see it explode in person,” Norma sighed. “It was some of my finer work, so I would have really liked to see it explode.”
“Maybe we can catch some of the fireworks from the window,” I said with a nod toward our large window that overlooked most of Grayville.
Elizabeth shook her head, but she didn’t say anything against us. She wasn’t as into blood and violence as Norma and I were, but she still was on board with the idea of killing off supervillains for the greater good. So, even though she might not enjoy the fireworks like my mousy assistant and me, she still saw the justice in executing these assholes who had terrorized the city.
“Aileen, activate the warning system at the prison so all the staff can evacuate,” I ordered.
“It is done, Creator,” my AI system responded.
“Good, now pull up footage of the prison,” I said. “We can make sure everybody gets out, and then we can at least watch it remotely when we set off the bombs.”
The security cameras all around the prison popped up on our screens now, and a flood of security personnel streamed out of the exits toward our designated evacuation zones. I couldn’t remember what I’d asked Aileen to use as the cause for evacuation, but all that really mattered was that when the speakers told the guards to leave the prison, and it had been effective.
“They have all made it to the evacuation zones,” Aileen said when the personnel disappeared from view of the prison cameras.
“I’m glad they all made it out,” Elizabeth sighed.
“Of course,” I said.
“Communications with the outside world have also been disabled,” Aileen announced. “They cannot contact the Shadow Knight or even the authorities to alert them that anything unusual is happening.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Then in that case, Norma?”
“Hm?” my mousy assistant asked.
“Would you like to do the honors?” I grinned and passed her the remote bomb trigger.
