We Could Be Heroes

by Harmon Cooper

  With a single whiff, Sam saw more about her than he would have liked.

  He also saw that this immigration advisor with the white hair and orange eyes, who just so happened to be the same man who begrudgingly attended the same Heroes Anonymous meetings as Sam, would play a part in her future.

  But the details of that interaction were still blurry, too far off.

  So Sam went with his gut, telling Catherine more about her past in the North, keeping things simple, treating his power as a parlor trick.

  “I see,” she said as she lowered her hand. “You really are like a telepath then.”

  “Sure, if it makes you happy,” Sam said, forcing a smile.

  “I guess I should bring you two back down to the street. Unless you would like me to transport you back to your friends,” she started to say.

  “No!” Ozella said, terror coming across her face. “We can use the stairs. I never want to look at the sky again.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: Doctor’s Visit

  (It’s time to throw a wrench in their plans, a genetically modified cucumber-sized wrench!)

  Zoe Goa Ramone didn’t want to admit she was having fun, but it was nice to chill with heiress extraordinaire Helena Knight, nice to have a shopping buddy.

  Because of her personality, Zoe didn’t keep female friends for long, but even if they had sparred earlier, she felt no rivalry between them now, at least when Sam wasn’t around. Helena was good company, easy to talk to, and supportive. A little too handsy for Zoe’s taste, but she could overlook that.

  Zoe was surprised at how down-to-earth Helena was too, considering the woman was probably richer than anyone Zoe had ever met.

  Helena didn’t seem the least bit concerned to be shopping at a thrift store, when she could have been shopping at some of the department stores on the top floors of the highest buildings in Centralia, the exclusive ones that required membership and dues.

  Helena even bought a few things, a cute hat, which went with her tomboy style, and a pair of maroon suspenders.

  It was around the time that they were finishing up their transactions that Sam and Ozella returned via teleporter, both of them looking a little worse for wear.

  Sam’s hair was ruffled, and Ozella needed to use a brush, the shy woman’s face paler than usual, her eyes a little bloodshot.

  “What the hell happened to you two?” Zoe asked, trying to hide a smile she was saving for Sam by using a frown, which probably didn’t look all that flattering in the end.

  He launched into his story about what had happened, one that involved a near death experience with a wind user from the North named Catherine. Zoe couldn’t help but laugh, until she saw the serious looks on Sam and Ozella’s faces.

  “And what about the pink jacket?” Helena asked as she took her money from the older female cashier.

  “She kept it,” Sam said.

  “Really? Too bad. I have a friend who would have liked that,” said Helena. “Shall we go?”

  Zoe nodded. “So, to the scene of the crime, and then to the doctor’s place, right?”

  “Yep,” said Sam. “I also have a Heroes Anonymous meeting I plan to attend tonight, if anyone’s interested. You know how it goes, try to get in as many as you can.”

  “Good point. Maybe I’ll attend that one with you,” Zoe told him.

  “Hopefully it’ll be a short one.”

  They stepped outside, a subtle breeze moving past.

  A teleporter awaited them, one of the premium teleporters, the private one Helena always used.

  “I’m glad the four of you could join me,” the male teleporter said, offering them a slight bow. “Will there be anything else on today’s trip? Would you like to visit a spa before you move to the next location? What about hors d’oeuvres on a rooftop terrace? Perhaps you would like to pay a quick visit to a local chocolatier, famed for their aphrodisiac chocolates. Or perhaps…”

  “No, just our location,” Zoe said, following up by telling him the cross streets of where she’d been last night.

  “As you wish.” The teleporter brought his hands to a prayer position at the front of his chest. He bowed to all of them. By the time he righted himself, they were standing at the entrance to the alley, some police tape up, but no Centralian police officers evident.

  “Until we meet again,” the teleporter said as he disappeared in a sparkly golden flash.

  “Thanks, Lance,” Helena called after him.

  “You’re on a first name basis with him?” Ozella asked, her eyes darting left and right.

  Helena nodded. “Yes, and he was friendlier today than he normally is. He did have a good suggestion though: we really should visit a sauna during one of our little outings.”

  Little outings? Zoe started to roll her eyes but stopped, realizing that if she played her cards right, she too would get to visit the sauna. And she was most definitely down with going to a sauna, they were nice, a wonderful place to detoxify and relax.

  Taking a quick look around, Zoe pulled her hood over her head, her perky tiger ears jutting up as she called the group forward.

  She liked being in charge, and she knew that; it was her take-charge attitude that had led to her relationship with Sam, who could be a little unpredictable at times.

  After walking for a moment, Sam’s nostrils occasionally flaring up, they came to the place where the crate had been just last night. Everything was cleaned up now, or so it seemed.

  “Well?” Zoe asked Sam, after giving him a moment to look around.

  “Well, what?”

  “We brought you here so you could find some type of clue for us to follow. So find it.”

  “My power doesn’t really work that way,” Sam started to tell her. He stopped arguing, realizing that, well, yes, it did kind of work that way.

  So rather than protest any, or deal with the three beautiful women who were waiting on him—one in a schoolgirl uniform, the other dressed as a sexy tomboy, and the final one with her hands on her hips, wearing a tiger sweater with the hood up—Sam started searching around.

  Zoe wanted to giggle when he dropped to his knees, a disturbed look on his face as he bent his neck forward and sniffed the pavement.

  She looked to Helena to see that the heiress was also trying not to laugh, and she would have let loose a little laughter herself had it not been for Ozella, who had a stone-cold look on her face as she watched Sam, completely curious as to what he would find.

  Zoe had figured Helena out, or at least she thought she had, but she hadn’t quite figured Ozella out yet.

  Yes, the girl was nerdy, and she also didn’t seem to understand just how voluptuous her body was, but that was about it. Zoe hadn’t really pulled anything else out of their interactions, aside from the fact that she kept a lot of notes about something or other.

  Sam stood, a grimace on his face as he kept searching around, licking his lips every now and then, stopping, taking a big whiff in, ignoring the couple of chuckles his actions elicited.

  He moved to the right side now, and Zoe recalled fighting one of the guys over in this area, the one she’d finished off last.

  Zoe’s ex looked around and took another sniff, moving again toward the wall. An eyebrow rose as he reached a finger out, touching something on the wall and bringing it back to his nose, smelling it again.

  “Got it,” he told them. “I think we have our guy. There’s a little blood on this wall, it’s dried now, but maybe if we can get some scrapings of it…”

  “We can use some paper from one of my notebooks,” Ozella said as she moved over to Sam. She tore a little corner piece from her Book of Templates and dabbed the location Sam was pointing at.

  “Does this work?” she asked, showing the piece of paper.

  Sam brought it to his nose and nodded. “Yes, we should be able to find him with this.”

  “Good,” Zoe said, startling them both. “Now who’s ready to pay the doctor a visit?”

  ***

 
Ozella proved herself useful once again when she found the location of Dr. Hamza Grumio’s lab in her notebook. Sure, Sam could have sniffed the vial again, but her constant note-keeping prevented him from having to do this.

  Helena once again called on the man who wore all gold to teleport them, the man going through the rigmarole of asking them if there were any additional services they wanted. They declined, and not long after, they appeared in front of the courtyard that led to Dr. Hamza’s home.

  “So you think we should just knock?” Zoe asked. “Maybe he’s not so interested in revealing his secrets to us. Ever thought about that?”

  Sam shook his head. “Whatever he’s up to, it isn’t government sanctioned, trust me there. So I figure we’ll be able to work something out.”

  “It does seem a bit risky,” said Helena, who stood off to Sam’s left, perched on the balls of her feet, as if she were ready to spring into action.

  “Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to ask.” Sam approached the gate, and noticed it was open. He motioned the four of them into the courtyard, and took the lead, walking right up to the front door and knocking on it.

  He waited, he waited some more, and Sam was just about to knock again when a woman with blue hair opened the door.

  “May I help you?” she asked, something strange about the look in her eyes. Ever so slightly, Sam taking a small breath in through his nostrils.

  It took everything he had not to reveal what he knew about that woman in that instant.

  “Mia,” a male voice called out from inside. “Who is it?”

  “We’re friends,” Helena said, stepping forward, a relaxed look on her face. “We’re here to meet with… ”

  “Hamza,” said Sam.

  “Yes, Dr. Hamza. I’m Helena Knight of the Knight Corporation, and we are here to discuss one of his inventions,” she said, smiling at the woman with blue hair.

  Mia had a nearly indecipherable look on her face, as if she were staring off into the distance, not quite able to focus on it.

  “What the hell’s wrong with this chick?” Zoe whispered, her hood still on her head.

  Rather than answer, Ozella simply shrugged.

  “Who is it?” Dr. Hamza said as he came closer, peering out at the four.

  Dr. Hamza was in his forties, wearing a lab coat, a spattering of blonde and gray hair, handsome, but clearly hiding something.

  “Do you mind if we come in?” Helena asked.

  “I don’t even know who you are,” Dr. Hamza started to say.

  “I’m Helena Knight—”

  “Does this ring a bell?” Sam asked, cutting to the chase. He took the empty vial out of his pocket.

  “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Dr. Hamza took a step back, his hand coming into the pocket of his lab coat.

  “We want to know if there’s more,” Sam said. “We want to know how you’re doing it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dr. Hamza finally said. “But this is private property…”

  “My family has become interested in moving into the pharmaceutical business,” Helena said. “If you didn’t catch it, I’m Helena Knight, of the Knight Corporation.”

  “The Knight Corporation?” Dr. Hamza raised an eyebrow at her, a crooked grin spreading across his face.

  Sam resisted the urge to breathe through his nose after what he’d picked up from the woman named Mia; he knew it only got worse from there. He thought about firing off mental messages to the others, but refrained, hoping to see how this would play out, if Helena could pull it off.

  What he had sensed earlier about Dr. Hamza had been right—they would need to be incredibly careful with this man.

  “Yes, that Knight Corporation,” said Helena, “and it has come to our attention, through my colleague here, that you may have a medicine that interests us.”

  “It has come to your attention, huh?” Dr. Hamza asked.

  Sam could feel Zoe stepping up behind them, but he held his arm back, telling her to leave off, to allow Helena to do the heavy lifting for once.

  She snorted, but eventually let up.

  “We don’t have to beat around the bush, Dr. Hamza,” said Helena. “We would like to know more about your experiments, and what you have created. We don’t work for Centralian law enforcement or anything like that, nor are we working for the CDA, so we’re not here for that reason either. As I said, my family is looking to get into the pharmaceutical business.”

  “In that case…” Dr. Hamza ran his hand along his chin, licking the tops of his teeth. “I suppose you should come in then. Mia, will you get our guests some water? Or would you prefer tea?”

  “We’re not thirsty,” Zoe said, stepping forward.

  “Very well,” Dr. Hamza said as he opened the door wide. “Please, come on in.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: Fatal Demonstration

  (Here is the fan, and here is shit. Nice to meet you both. I’ll let myself out now.)

  Dr. Hamza Grumio’s living room was rather simple, minimal, just a few couches around a wooden coffee table. It looked like it had been recently cleaned, but other than that, there was nothing distinguishing about it, nothing that really set it apart from other living rooms Sam Meeko had seen aside from its sparseness.

  “And how did you find the vial?” Dr. Hamza asked again, sitting on the chair opposite them. Mia sat on the armrest, her hand falling onto his shoulder.

  “I’ve recently been…” Sam bit his lip, exchanging glances with Helena and Zoe.

  “Yes?” Dr. Hamza asked.

  It was a mistake; Sam knew that once the words left his mouth they wouldn’t be able to go back in, yet he was a truthful man, and damn if his moral compass didn’t have the tendency to occasionally steer him into some amoral situations.

  “It’s my nose,” he finally said. “I’ve recently become an exemplar.”

  “Have you now?” A smile crept across Dr. Hamza’s face as he looked up at Mia. “How very interesting.”

  “It was my power that led us here.”

  “And what type of power is this?” Dr Hamza asked, the creepy dude lightly grazing his fingers against Mia’s back.

  “My nose, my…”

  “His exemplar power lies in his olfactory epithelium, and the way his brain interprets what he smells,” Ozella said meekly.

  “Brilliant,” Dr. Hamza said, “and a great way to classify it too. It must be a good power; it did lead you back to me.”

  “And we would like to know more about this medicine that you possess,” Helena said, attempting to take charge. She sat on the edge of the cushion, prim and proper, but also with the balls of her feet on the ground, ready to spring into action if need be.

  “You want to know about my serum?” Dr. Hamza asked coolly.

  “Precisely.”

  “I believe I have perfected it,” he told Helena. “That’s one thing I can tell you. But it’s going to take the right price for me to tell you anything else.”

  “Look, we don’t even know if this serum of yours even works,” Zoe said. “So I hate to say it like this, but put up or shut up.”

  “Well as you know, we are all exemplars,” Dr. Hamza reminded her, “only our powers are dormant. But if it’s evidence you’d like, I suppose I could give you a demonstration. Mia here is an exemplar, and before she was a non-exemplar. Isn’t that right, Mia?”

  “Yes, and if it weren’t for you, I would still be a non-exemplar,” she said, tilting her head slightly, her blue hair catching Sam’s attention again, her voice slightly stilted.

  “What’s her power again?” Zoe asked.

  “I think it would be best for her to show you, rather than sit here and talk about it,” Dr. Hamza said. “Would you care for a demonstration?”

  “Sure,” Sam said with some hesitation.

  “I guess,” said Ozella.

  “Of course,” Helena said. Zoe offered him a brisk nod that clearly meant she wanted him to wrap it up.

 
; Sam had sensed a lot of things from Dr. Hamza and Mia. For one, he knew that Mia was under Dr. Hamza’s control at the moment through some concoction that he had given her. He could smell that, her skin secreting something that seemed off.

  He also knew that Dr. Hamza had been a lot of things up until this point, that the man had reached a point in his life where he didn’t let societal norms stop him from doing what he wanted.

  Dr. Hamza had a vision, and a tendency to crush anyone that got between him and realizing his goal.

  Sam was glad that the conversation around his nasal power hadn’t gone much deeper, that none of the ladies mentioned that he could sense the future, or that he could pick up such elaborate details of the past.

  As it stood, it appeared as if Dr. Hamza thought Sam was like a hound dog, able to smell something and trace it back to its origin.

  And he was fine with that.

  It was much better that way, especially now, as they left the living room, following Dr. Hamza and Mia down the hallway, which led to a wide-open space, the ceiling twenty feet high, adjacent to what Sam recognized as a lab of sorts.

  Dr. Hamza’s hands came behind his back as he walked in front of them, pacing as he spoke. “If the four of you had met Mia just a few days ago, you would have met a wretched being, a woman addicted to my most up-to-date serum at the time. I’ve been experimenting with these particular chemicals for some time now, and the issue I was having was with the side effects. Manic behavior, hysteria, a heightened heart rate, that sort of thing, and addiction. That too.”

  “And now it doesn’t have those properties?” Helena asked, the tone of her voice not indicating anything really. The heiress was good at concealing her feelings and was very calculated around people, something Sam was only coming to understand more and more as they grew closer.

  “I believe that I have brought the serum up to the point that it not only has none of those side effects, but is also permanent. No further doses required. Mia?” Dr. Hamza said, stepping to the side.

  The tall, blue-haired woman moved to the center of the room and smiled at the group, her skin starting to turn to metal scales, her form growing, her jaw splitting open as teeth sprouted from her jaw.