by James Maxey
“Tempo!” Echo shouted, her eyes growing wide with shock.
“No,” I said, “that’s—”
Echo didn’t let me finish. I taught Valentine everything she knows about fighting, so I felt a flash of pride as she sprang into action, leaping toward the guy she thought was Tempo with fists clenched. Before anyone could react, she’d punched him in the jaw with a nasty right hook, followed through with an elbow to the throat, and brought him to his knees with a good, hard kick to the nuts.
I grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back while she was pulling her cuffs from her Legion issued utility belt.
“—not Tempo,” I finished. “Doppelganger, meet Anyman. Anyman, Doppelganger.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Anyman wheezed as he rolled into a ball. He pressed a button on his bulky calculator wristwatch. The outline of his body shivered and was replaced by an Asian dude in his late thirties, kind of potbellied, dressed in a lab coat. He stood, smiling feebly, and said, “I’ve never been so glad to change back to my old body before.” He offered his outstretched hand to Echo. “Impressive work, Doppelganger. Even with Tempo’s tachyon enhanced senses I had no time to react. Just, please, look for the A next time.”
“The A?” she asked.
“Anyman’s costumes always have an A in the center of the chest no matter whose body he’s wearing,” I said. “It’s how we keep track of who he is.”
“I’ve been using Tempo’s body quite a bit lately,” said Anyman. “While he’s in prison for the role he played in the pulse trade, his powers are greatly missed. Anyway, since Sterngeist appeared on television to announce his demands, I’ve been time skipping. I know that mere moments have passed for you, but I’ve spent months in accelerated time poring over observatory data captured in the last few hours. I knew Sterngeist would keep his armada cloaked, but I’ve spotted gravitational anomalies that tell me there’s an incredibly large mass tugging on the dark side of the moon. That has to be where Sterngeist is hiding.”
Golden Victory flew back into the room. “Good work on tracking him down, Anyman. I listened in on your discussion while I was readying our ship. Let’s go!”
“Ship?” asked Echo.
“Our spaceship, duh,” I said. “Didn’t they give you a tour of the place? Our ship is kind of a retro flying saucer thing. It’s cool as hell.”
“Oh. I do kind of remember it from the tour. There was a lot to take in.”
“Hope you’re ready for action, Doppelganger!” said Golden Victory, his voice deep and booming. He could have had a great career as a radio announcer if he hadn’t taken up superheroing. He was standing with his fists on his hips, his shoulders thrown back, looking like he was posing for the cover of a comic book. “We’ll need all the help we can get to stop Sterngeist before he can carry out his threat!”
“What threat?” I asked. “Guys, I just got back. I really feel like you’re talking over my head here.”
“We’ll fill you in on the way to the moon,” said Golden Victory.
“No,” said Retaliator, moving toward a computer terminal. “Unfortunately, the moon’s absence for even a short time has disrupted many communications satellites. Only about half the team has acknowledged the alarm, and they should be coming through the tachyon tubes any second. Big Ape’s with me. I’ll need him to stop the Fourth Horseman. Golden Victory, take Doppelganger, Anyman, Arc, and Prodigy. Atomahawk, She-Devil, Nimble, and Blue Bee will come with me to San Diego.”
“I’ll need Lt. Laser,” said Golden Victory.
“Lt. Laser is dead,” said Retaliator. “He was trapped inside the moon when it rematerialized.”
“No,” said Golden Victory. “He was… he was a good man. And his daughter just passed away… certainly fate can’t be so cruel.”
“Reality is under no obligation to be kind,” said Retaliator.
“How can you be certain he’s dead?” asked Golden Victory.
“I know things,” said Retaliator.
“Not everything,” said Golden Victory, looking at the signal confirmations on the computer. “You apparently didn’t notice that Nimble hasn’t responded to the alert. Nor has She-Devil. Big surprise.”
“She-Devil will be there if she needs to be there,” said Retaliator. “The fact she hasn’t turned up actually makes me hopeful. As for Nimble, even if the Legion signaling system is disrupted, my personal communication systems should get through to her any minute. Not that it matters. If she doesn’t respond, I’ll adjust my strategy for stopping the Fourth Horseman based on the resources available once we actually arrive. There’s a legion member already in San Diego. She’s on bereavement leave, but I’ll message her to rendezvous with us. Her grief will have to wait.”
“If it’s okay, I’d rather be on Harry’s team,” said Echo.
“It’s not okay,” said Retaliator. “You’re untested. I don’t need an amateur in the field against the Fourth Horseman.”
“Is he really so tough?” asked Echo.
“He’s a primordial demon possessing a self-replicating nanite android from the 46th century,” said Anyman.
“He can kill you by saying your name in your presence,” said Golden Victory.
“If he touches you with his scythe, you die instantly,” said Retaliator.
“Also, his horse can jump backward through time,” I said, wrinkling my brow as I said it. I’ve been doing this superhero gig for a while, but I sometimes have a difficult time distinguishing perfectly factual statements from utter gibberish.
Echo looked overwhelmed by the rush of information, but I could see something change in her eyes when the real danger of the Fourth Horseman settled into her brain. She gave Golden Victory a thumbs up. “Outer space it is!”
Chapter Four
Fairy Tales
Jenny’s Story
Why are you pointing a gun at me?” the woman asked.
“Because you’ve broken into my home,” I answered.
“I mean, why the gun?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. Her hair didn’t quite move in unison with her neck. She was obviously wearing a wig. “You can kill people by cursing at them. Why do you need that thing?”
“Nimble?” I asked, as the voice finally registered with me. It wasn’t her voice precisely, but it was close.
“Sorry,” Nimble said, reaching up and tugging off her wig to reveal her bald head. Her body squeaked like a balloon being rubbed as her figure reconfigured, with her large breasts and shapely legs shrinking and straightening into their normally thin shape. Her false nails popped off as her hands shrank. “I disguised myself in case you were being watched. When I cased the area, I didn’t spot anyone.”
“I’ve not seen anyone either,” I said, lowering the gun. “I expected I’d be under constant surveillance. Except for having to check in with my therapist twice a week, the Legion doesn’t seem to be keeping tabs on me. My theory is that they are staying clear to give my enemies a better chance at killing me.”
“That’s the most paranoid thing I’ve ever heard,” said Nimble. “And I know paranoid, since living with Retaliator is kind of a master class in conspiracies.”
“You were paranoid enough to dress up like a hooker,” I said.
“Every now in then it’s fun to go out in public and have men stare at me because I’m hot and not because I’m a freak,” she said, shrugging. Her eyes fell to my suicide note again. “Everyone says you’ve gone crazy.”
“Everyone’s right,” I said.
Nimble reached into her purse. “It’s Niko, by the way.”
“What’s Niko?”
She pulled a book out of the purse. “Niko’s my real name. Niko North. At least, it might be my real name.” She showed me the cover of the book.
“Ah,” I said. The book she held was The Butterfly Cage by Valentine Summers.
“Interesting stuff,” said Niko.
“I told the Legion I’m denouncing it all,” I said, frowning. “You don’t need to
test me.”
“Eric says you cut a deal so they’d go easy on Harry.”
“Who the hell is Eric?”
“Retaliator.”
“Right. Man, I forget there’s an actual person under that mask.”
“I don’t,” said Niko. “I see his real face all the time. See his whole body, in fact.”
“I know,” I said. “You two have been a couple for as long as I’ve been on the team.”
“He’s, like, fifty,” said Niko. “Almost thirty years older than me. Any opinions on that?” It was a question that seemed designed to provoke a fight. Her voice was calm, but there was an underlying tone of anger seeping through.
“My boyfriend is a giant ape,” I said. “People love who they love.” I crossed my arms. “Even if they aren’t loved back.”
“Harry’s back, by the way. Eric texted me a few minutes before you got here. Golden Victory found him in the jungle and flew him back to Sea Base Seven.”
I didn’t say a word as I walked to the kitchen. My phone was plugged into the charger. I picked it up. No texts. No voicemails. There was, however, a news alert in my Google notifications about the moon being stolen.
“Why are you here, Niko?” I asked. “You’re a legit hero. Looks like Sterngeist is back. Shouldn’t you be out saving the day?”
Niko shrugged. “I got the alarm. I’m ignoring it. Stolen moons are really more of a Golden Victory problem. I’m great at squeezing into tiny holes to gum up the works in killer robots and tripping up bank robbers with my elongated fingers. What the hell am I supposed to do about a missing moon?”
“Crowd control? There’s probably rioting breaking out all over the place. Besides, if you don’t go, won’t Retaliator be angry?”
“I’ll tell Eric I had my phone on silent and was taking a shower when they sent out the alert. He won’t believe me, but he won’t press the issue. I sometimes feel like the whole foundation of our relationship is our unspoken agreement not to confront each other on our lies.”
“That doesn’t sound like a great relationship,” I said, looking at my phone again. “Though it’s better than mine I guess. Harry hasn’t called. Not even a text.”
“He literally just got back.”
“Cut Up Girl was waiting for him.” I swallowed hard. “I saw on TV she joined the team. I didn’t like her much before. Now, if she really did have one of her clones killed just to generate publicity for her book, I hate her even more."
“She goes by Doppelganger now,” said Niko.
“Whatever. I guarantee you she was waiting the second Harry walked through the door.”
“This really isn’t what I came here to talk about, but has happened between you and Harry? I thought you guys were solid?”
“We’ve never been solid,” I said. “Because I’ve never been solid. You know, a month ago, I was a born again Christian?”
“Really?”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“I mean, your superpowers are based around profanity. You’ve never struck me as the churchy type.”
“Your instincts are right. My flirtation with being born again lasted, I dunno, almost a week. During that week, I told Harry I didn’t feel right about sleeping with him.”
“Okay.”
“And, like, within maybe forty-eight hours he was sleeping with a gorilla named Sasha.”
“Seriously? He slept with a gorilla?”
“Half gorilla, half human, all slut.”
“And he told you?”
“He didn’t have to tell me,” I said.
“Then how can you—”
I held up my hands. “You’ll know. When it happens to you, you’ll know.”
She didn’t say anything.
“You’ll also know if the man you’ve given your heart to is really, truly in love with someone else. Harry loves Valentine. He’s always loved her. If he gets to pick between me and her, it’s going to be her.”
“And that’s why you decided to kill yourself?” asked Niko.
I sighed. “I was sexually abused by my father. I grew up with my mother telling me I was crazy. Then my superpowers kicked in and I killed him. I still have nightmares about it. I hate myself for finding a kind of primal, cathartic joy when I remember his screams. You try living with memories like that. I’m a monster, born of monsters. The only reason I haven’t killed myself before now is that I’m scared of fairy tales.”
“Fairy tales?”
“God. Heaven and hell. The idea that you’re damned if you take your own life. I’m intimately familiar with the smell of burning flesh. The idea of an eternity breathing that stench terrifies me. The idea that I actually believe that nonsense terrifies me even more.” I clenched my fists as I spoke, my anger building. “It’s evidence of how thoroughly I’ve been programmed. I don’t believe in heaven and hell and God and eternal judgement because I’ve done, you know, research, and studied the topic, and come to my own conclusions. I believe in this crazy, impossible thing because my father used to read the Bible to me every single night before I went to sleep, and he used to kneel beside me and pray, and listened as I prayed, and every night I’d go to sleep in a room with a picture of Jesus on the wall, and that same Jesus watched as my father put his hands inside my panties and jerked himself off while he thought I was asleep.”
“Shit,” said Niko.
“Yeah,” I said. “And that’s a memory I can talk about. That’s a memory I know is real. Only, what if it isn’t? There’s so much crazy stuff in my head, I don’t know how I can believe anything at all anymore. I’m damaged beyond all hope of repair. I can’t keep living like this. The only question left open is when and how I’ll finally finish myself.”
“This conversation isn’t going at all the way I thought it would,” said Niko leaning back on the couch.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “You probably didn’t break into my house to listen to my problems. The stuff I need to say, no one wants to hear.”
“No,” said Niko. “I want to hear more.”
“Really? I know you and Retaliator have your whole bondage vibe going on. Are you really such a masochist you’d want to listen to my sob stories?”
“You think I put on a disguise and came out to the middle of nowhere to find you because I wanted to talk about the weather? I want to know your real story. I need to know.” She held up the book again. “Is it true? Were you brainwashed at a facility called the Butterfly House.”
I stared at her. Was this some mind game? If I said yes, would she report me to Retaliator?
“I’m an orphan,” she said, before I figured out how to answer her.
“So am I,” I said. “Except, you know, I guess not technically. My mother’s still alive.”
“John’s an orphan. Atomahawk.”
I didn’t say anything.
“So’s Prodigy. And Owl Girl. So was the Red Shark. Every member of the Lawful Legion younger than twenty five is an orphan, except for Smash Lass, Elsa Where, and Harry.”
“Go on,” I said.
“If the government were brainwashing superhuman teenagers into thinking they were completely different people, it would be tough to provide them with significant or meaningful family connections.” She stood up, and walked toward the kitchen, still talking. “I mean, what would you do? Hire actors who’d never break character? How much easier would it be just to give them backstories that simultaneously severed family ties and at the same time provided heroic motivation? My parents were scientists working on an experimental polymer funded by the military. The polymer could expand and contract, and respond to nerve signals, to be used for building artificial muscles. Then, terrorists funded by the Prime Mover kidnapped them.”
Niko opened the refrigerator door. “Wow,” she said, looking at the empty shelves. “I take it you eat out a lot?”
“Honestly, I’m never hungry anymore,” I said. “I go to the diner up on the highway, like, three times a week. Slow starvatio
n is my backup suicide plan.”
She nodded, looking me over. “You’re like the only person on the team skinnier than me. That can’t be healthy.”
“Healthy isn’t a word often used in describing me,” I confessed.
She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got some water from the sink. “Anyway. Where was I?”
“Kidnapped parents.”
“Right. The terrorists tortured my parents to learn the secrets of the polymer, and when they wouldn’t break, they kidnapped me and hung me over a vat of the acidic compound that was part of the polymer’s base. My parents told them everything they wanted to know. Then, the terrorists shot my parents before my eyes and cut the rope that held me above the acid. I fell in as a frightened, screaming girl. I rose out of that vat with a new body, one that would stretch to any shape I imagined, one that gave me the power to find my parent’s killers and avenge them. Then, while tracking down the Prime Mover, I met the Retaliator, also on the Prime Mover’s trail. Together, we captured him. I intended to kill him, but the Retaliator talked me off of that ledge, telling me I could be more than a killer, I could be a hero, I could be part of the Lawful Legion. I was intimidated by Retaliator when I first met him, but finally saw past his rough exterior to find a man I could respect and admire.”
I nodded. “It’s true.”
“That Retaliator is a man worthy of respect and admiration?” She sat back down on the couch, drinking her water.
“No,” I answered. “That you were at the Butterfly House. That the whole story you just told me is probably the product of brainwashing. Prodigy, Owl Girl, and Atomahawk were also there. I met all of you at least once while I was imprisoned. I didn’t know any of you well. I saw you maybe twice. You disappeared about a month after I arrived. People disappeared all the time. No one on the staff would talk about them. But when I met you in the Legion, yeah, I remembered the Gumby looking girl I’d met years ago.”
