The Prospects

by Daniel Halayko

  “Honestly, I feel bad for him.”

  Steve choked on his Coke. “But you beat him up a few years ago. I saw it on Youtube. It was epic. Every time he threw you down, you got back up and kept fighting. By the end of it, your exoskeleton was in pieces but you kept fighting until he stopped.”

  “The Bone Terror is a guy with an out-of-control healing factor. He can’t stop generating new muscles and bone tissue, which I’m told puts him in extreme agony. He fights until he’s exhausted enough to pass out, then he ends up in a holding facility in a medically induced coma until someone screws up or breaks him out.”

  “I can’t be sympathetic. He’s a monster.”

  “He’s a man with no control over what he is. If there was a way to save him or take him out of his misery, I’d do it.”

  “Then why did you beat him up?”

  “Because the rest of the New York Guardians wanted me to die.”

  Before Steve could ask what he meant, Jenny and Knockout Rose came to the table. Knockout Rose had no more paint on her. She wore the T-shirt like a minidress and Alex’s hooded sweatshirt wrapped around her waist like a skirt. Her right leg had band-aids and gauze taped over the worst scrapes.

  Pinwheel said, “Agent O’Farrell says if you take off your mask, you have to go by your real name, Kayleigh.”

  Kayleigh sat next to Alex. “Thanks for everything. I’ll pay you back.”

  “How?” said Pinwheel. “After our room, meals, and expenses are deducted, our paychecks don’t even have a dollar sign.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Alex.

  “Did you talk to our manager?” asked Kayleigh.

  “Mister Griffin did. Apparently your friends are insured, so he’s better off if they die.”

  “I wish that was something he wouldn’t say,” said Steve.

  “How could he be so mean?” said Kayleigh.

  “When has he ever been nice?” said Steve. “He makes you paint yourself and pretend it’s a costume.”

  “Why do you do that?” asked Jenny.

  “Well, I’m a MAW.”

  “A what?” said Alex.

  “A model, actress, whatever. I waited tables and walked dogs to pay my share of the rent on an efficiency I shared with two crazy girls before I got this job. Our manager said since I didn’t have superpowers, I had to use what I had. I work hard to keep my body fit for modeling jobs and I’m used to walking around in public mostly naked, so I got a bed at Sentinel Mansion.”

  Alex said, “Sentinel Mansion isn't really a mansion, isn’t it?”

  “It's a small brownstone, and I have to share a room with Jackie, or Stardancer. She’s worse than both of my last two roommates combined.”

  “I know,” Steve said. “She’s a haughty, racist, ignorant gold-digger. But the comic book says we’re BFFs, so every show I play her sassy gay sidekick.”

  “She still doesn’t deserve to be trapped with those villains,” said Kayleigh.

  “You should feel worse for them. Agent O’Farrell, do you know what it’s like to work with someone so vile?”

  “I worked with Sergeant Hammer.”

  Steve nodded. “Point.”

  “I thought you’d complain more about Rock Jock.”

  “Pete?” said Steve. “He’s my best friend. He only acts rude in-character, and he bases it on the people who bullied him before he grew a stone skin.”

  “What about Cantrip the magician?”

  “Ira’s nice,” said Kayleigh, “but way too anxious. He couldn’t do a birthday party without flubbing a trick.”

  “What happened to Sergeant Hammer?” asked Jenny.

  “He went back down the elevator.”

  “Are they going to rescue everyone?” said Kayleigh.

  “I doubt it. That tower is covered in steel. No one can get out, and the Micro-Sapiens are making sure no one gets in.”

  “But you said heroes rescue people,” said Kayleigh.

  “I don’t know anything about heroes anymore.”

  “I don’t understand the villains’ plan,” said Steve. “They broke into a building they can’t leave.”

  “How did the Shade Blades get in?” said Jenny. “They would’ve passed us if they came in through the ground floor, and we didn’t see them until we reached the sub-level stairway.”

  Alex shrugged. “Ninjas are like cockroaches, annoying pest who find a way into everything and scurry from light.”

  “But if they got in, there must be an underground passage.”

  Alex shrugged.

  “If we could get in, we could rescue our teammates and theirs,” said Jenny.

  “If we got in, we’d have to fight all of the New York Guardians' worst enemies at once. It’d be suicide.”

  “What about the MAB agents? There’s an army of them around Griffin Tower.”

  “They’re containing the villains. The superheroes created this mess, they can clean it up.”

  “You’re going to sit here …”

  Alex slammed his fist on the table. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. One week ago I had an exoskeleton, a family, and a team I trusted. All that is gone, and if I don’t tell the MAB how the New York Guardians withheld secret facilities from the government under my watch and resign immediately, I’ll be fired when they find out themselves. All I have left is ten bucks and this Coke.”

  Alex sipped his Coke and continued. “I don’t see why you care, Jenny. You were going to quit in ten – wait, it’s past midnight – nine days anyway. Do it now. Don’t embarrass yourself like Steve and Kayleigh here.”

  Steve looked down at his suit. “This is not how I saw my life turning out.”

  “I’m not embarrassed,” said Kayleigh. “I work hard to look good in only paint.”

  Jenny said, “We’re abandoning Lady Amazing, Trista ...”

  “If anyone can survive in there, Lady Amazing can. And I don’t know what to think of Trista. She manipulated me so much I can’t think straight.”

  “She sacrificed herself for me. Whatever she did in the past, I owe her.”

  “We’re not heroes anymore. End of discussion.”

  Everyone sat in uncomfortable silence. On the TV, the reporters interviewed the nervous reserve heroes who stood with the police outside of Griffin Tower.

  Kayleigh shifted her leg. “There’s something in here.” She reached into Alex’s hoodie’s pocket and pulled out an antique black glass rosary.

  Alex took it. “I’ll give this to Trista’s brother.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, but I still want to know,” said Jenny. “Who’s the father?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Trista’s pregnant. There's no way it could be Vijay, they didn’t get along when things were good. Deon's not quiet about romance, and he didn't say anything about it.”

  “Wait, you saw the pregnancy test stick too?”

  “Yeah, but she didn't like either of those guys. You arrived too recently for the results to show because those tests take at least ten days to work. She couldn’t leave the tower because of her probation, so the only possibility is Sergeant Hammer, but I can’t imagine … but then, Candilyn said he got grabby …”

  “Jenny, did you ever make eye contact with Trista when she wasn’t wearing the nullifer?”

  “No. I was careful about that. The only time I was with her when she didn’t have the nullifier was when we went out for pizza after the riot, and I sat on the other corner on the same side. We couldn’t see each other past you.”

  Alex’s put his last ten dollars on the table. “Get yourselves some slices. I have to make some calls.”

  Alex went outside and called the MAB.

  “Agent O’Farrell,” said the contact, “you said you were going to return to Griffin Tower after you contact with the remaining New York Guardians.”

  “I need you to check some records first. There’s something I need to find out about one of the Guardians.”

&
nbsp; “You’re their supervising agent. You should know more about them than anyone in the bureau.”

  “I’m starting to realize there’s a lot I don’t know.”

  “All I can do is look through records of complaints we received.”

  “Look up the complaints against Sergeant Hammer.”

  After a few quick keyboard clacks, the contact said, “There are lots of them. You filed quite a few.”

  “It’s a formality. Someone makes a complaint, we open a case, and arrested villains are crybabies who swear they did nothing to warrant superhero intervention. Could you check if there are any complaints for sex offenses?”

  “Against Sergeant Hammer? The American hero? Are you serious?”

  “Yes. Check, please.”

  A few more clacks. “I don’t think ... wait. There are five.”

  “Who complained? I never saw a sex-related complaint against him.”

  “Four are from before the teams were required to have an on-staff MAB agent. They were filed by Runaround Sue, Ms. Stress, Wyckedblade, and Lancette.”

  “All deceased villainesses, except Wyckedblade. He was a killer-for-hire. What were the accusations?”

  “Sexual assault and rape. They all died right after the investigations got underway. That’s why their claims were closed but not expunged.”

  “There was one more. Who?”

  “Demonia.”

  “She’s dead. Her gang of Satanists kidnapped some kids. Sarge went in alone. I didn’t see what happened. He said he had to kill her to save a kid, none of the witnesses contradicted that. When did she file the claim?”

  “Four days before her death. She called the bureau and claimed Sergeant Hammer sexually assaulted her.”

  “I didn’t receive that complaint, and everything related to the team’s legal status should’ve come to me.”

  “Well, she died, so I guess someone said there was no point forwarding it along.”

  “You said something about expunged records.”

  “There were other complaints for sexual offenses that were withdrawn, dismissed, or filed but not investigated. I mean, we’d only get you involved if there was an investigation.”

  “Can you find those complaints?”

  A few clicks and a gasp. “Enough to fill my screen. They go back for years. All from villainesses. And one or two men.”

  “Is it possible the victims – or whoever took the calls - were threatened or bribed into silence?”

  “I guess. But that would mean Sergeant Hammer is a … no, that can’t be right. My kid plays with his action figure.”

  “So does mine,”

  “This can’t be right. Villains always complain, so all heroes have charges like this, right?”

  “Let’s find out. Do the same search for Stormhead, Arbalest, and Lady Amazing.”

  A few clicks. “There’s a groping charge for Arbalest two years ago. Against a man.”

  “Horned Viking, right?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I investigated that. Arbalest grabbed Horned Viking’s junk while wrestling him into submission. I filed that abuse complaint and investigated it. I couldn’t find proof Arbalest intentionally did it, so I closed the case. ”

  “Then that’s it. Sergeant Hammer is the only one who … but he’s America’s hero. This has to be wrong.”

  “One more thing. Can you transfer me to the Army?”

  It took half an hour for Alex to get through to Stuttgart. A sleepy South Brooklyn accent said, “Private Vincent Gianni.”

  “This is agent Alexander O’Farrell with the Metahuman Affairs Bureau. I would like to ask you a …”

  Vincent interrupted. “Is this about Trista?”

  “Yes. I’d like to ask a few …”

  “Is she okay? I haven’t heard from her in, like, two weeks.”

  “I would like to ask a few questions.” Alex looked at the rosary in his hand. “First, Trista, I mean Ms. Gianni, seems attached to a particular piece of jewelry.”

  “You mean Nonni’s rosary?”

  “Nonni?”

  “Grandmother. It’s an Italian thing. If you’re taking about the rosary, it’s Trista’s most prized possession. Nonni gave it to her right before going to heaven.”

  “Would you say Ms. Gianni is a religious woman?”

  “She wasn’t until Nonni died. Those two had a weird relationship.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They would look into each other’s eyes and not say anything. For hours. It was kind of scary. Nonni died when Trista was thirteen. Instead of doing the usual rebellious teen stuff, she got real quiet. All she did was study and go to church.”

  “Did she ever use her powers on you or anyone else in the family?”

  “We didn’t even know she had any powers.”

  “Is it possible she changed your memories so you …”

  “No, no it isn’t. We all underwent paraneurological scans after, you know, that night at the Empire State Building. No trace of any psychic manipulation in any of us.”

  “Right. I remember that incident. You’ve known her a long time. Is she honest?”

  “Say what now?”

  “Is she inclined to lie?”

  “Nah, mom didn’t tolerate no fibbing in our house. The worst Trista does is clam up when she doesn’t want to talk. She won’t even tell us how she went from being a sweetheart to a … I guess you guys call that a supervillainess. It’s like she wants to tell people what’s going on, but she just can’t. It’s hard for us, and it has to be killing her.”

  Alex breathed deeply. “Thank you for your time and your service to our country, private.”

  “Wait,” Vincent said. “The last I heard, she was going to meet Sergeant Hammer. I asked her to get an autograph.”

  “You’re a fan?”

  “I learned to read from those comics. I even got a Sergeant Hammer tattoo.”

  Alex covered his eyes. “As soon as information regarding your sister’s condition becomes available, I will be sure it is directed to your attention.”

  “You government spooks talk funny, you know that? If you see Trista, tell her, in plain English, her family loves her. We don’t care what she’s done, she’ll always be our little angel.”

  Alex hung up. He clutched the rosary and made another phone call.

  A Norwegian accent answered. “Mister Griffin is not available to take your call.”

  “Gunnar, is there an underground passage into Griffin Tower?”

  “Alexander?”

  “Answer me or I will note your lack of cooperation in my report, Stormhead. Is there a tunnel or something like that?”

  “Yes. It connects to the bunker. The entrance is below the subway platform on Forty-Second Street. But it should be sealed with steel on both ends as part of the automatic shuttering procedure.”

  “How do I find it?”

  “The entrance is marked by a spraypainted compass on the east wall.”

  Before Stormhead could finish Sergeant Hammer took the phone. “Agent, are you planning on going into our home?”

  “Effective immediately, everything in the vicinity of Griffin Tower is under the jurisdiction of the MAB. Consider the New York Guardians’ charter revoked pending further investigation. If you return to Griffin Tower or engage in any law-enforcement activity, it will be considered an act of vigilantism.”

  “Don’t pull that agent talk on me!”

  Alex hung up. He made another call to the MAB before going back into the pizza shop.

  Jenny, Kayleigh, and Steve were still at the table.

  “Jenny, you were right about everything,” said Alex. “There’s a way in, and it’s wrong to leave our teammates behind. A team of MAB agents is assembled outside Griffin Tower for a rescue mission. I’m leading it. Will you help me?”

  Jenny stood. “Nine days until I turn twenty-one. Until then, I’m a superhero.”

  Steve looked at Kayleigh. “Time to w
alk home.”

  “But I want to help,” said Kayleigh. “Agent O’Farrell, our friends are probably scared out of their minds. I’ll do anything to help them out.”

  Alex almost managed to reply before Jenny said, “We should let them, Agent.”

  “Fine,” said Alex. “Stay to the back and do everything I say.”

  Steve stood too. “If she’s going, I’m going. I’ve played a hero long enough. It’s time to become one.”

  A taxi parked in front of the restaurant.

  “Fine,” said Alex. “We need more heroes in the world. Everyone, into the taxi.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Okay,” said Steve, “this went from heroic to creepy way too fast.”

  “We don’t have time for jokes,” said Alex. “Get in the van and get undressed.”

  “That windowless van?”

  “You and me, eyes to the front. Jenny and Kayleigh, if you want to look I’ll be flattered.”

  They climbed into the back of a MAB van filled with armor, weapons, and other equipment. After Jenny closed the door, they took their clothes off.

  Alex handed everyone a light blue jumpsuit and put on one himself. He pressed a button on the collar. His suit instantly shrunk to a tight fit. He put Trista’s rosary around his neck.

  Kayleigh pulled at the bulging fabric around her waist. “I don’t think mine’s the right size.”

  Jenny’s sleeves went over her hands. “Mine either.”

  “At least it’s not rainbow-colored,” said Steve.

  Alex pressed the buttons on their collars. The suits contracted until they clung to their bodies.

  Jenny covered herself with her hands. “Does it have to be so tight?”

  “These suits are fireproof, biohazard-resistant, insulated, and form-fitting so they don’t snag on anything.” Alex reached behind Jenny’s head and pulled up a hood. “This will give you full face protection, but no air supply.” He poked Steve’s stomach. The suit tightened and hardened. “The smart-polymer threads will retract upon kinetic impact, offering resistance to any kinetic damage.”

  “Are they bulletproof?” asked Steve.

  “No.” Alex grabbed four dark blue thin vests. “Second Chance Hardcorps. These can stop small arms fire and are still flexible and comfortable.” He handed out thick black vests and knocked on the ceramic plate in the middle when Kayleigh put on hers. “This body armor is guaranteed to stop one round from a rifle.”