Enhancer

by Wyatt Kane

  “Looks like it delivers a nasty little shock,” the third man continued. “But guess what? Two can play that game.” With that, he pressed a button on his baton. All at once, it shone blue up and down its length so it looked like a lightsaber.

  The third man gave a nasty grin and stalked forward.

  Ty’s heart sank. He was sweating and breathing hard from his exertions, and it was only going to get worse. He had seen the stun-batons before. In fact, they had been part of the inspiration behind his stun gun. He knew that a single jolt from one, as well as potentially breaking his bones, would be enough to have him joining the first two men in spasms on the floor.

  Ty carefully stepped back away from the man, into the living room.

  “Get out of here!” Brad yelled, whether at Ty or the intruder, it was hard to tell. The gamer had hidden behind the couch and peeking over the top, his expression a mask of outrage and disbelief.

  “Stay where you are!” Ty yelled back in response. He barely glanced at his roommate, but the third man used the moment to lunge.

  It was all Ty could do to keep out of the way. Fortunately, the man had to leap over his companion to get close. If he hadn’t, Ty was pretty sure he would already have been done.

  He thought he was likely done anyway. The man was giving him no options, and Ty was quickly running out of room. But he wasn’t ready to give up yet. He set his teeth and planted his feet. The length of his own stun gun didn’t match that of the intruder’s, but it would give him a fighting chance.

  He couldn’t help but grin. “Come on then, Darth, do your worst.”

  The intruder may have done exactly that. He looked like he wanted to, but just at that moment something sailed past Ty’s head and hit the man in the face. Even though it did no damage at all, he still looked briefly surprised.

  Brad had found some courage and a cushion. He’d flung the cushion at the intruder, and it was just enough at just the right time. The distraction enabled Ty to leap quickly forward and use his stun gun a third time.

  This time, the man let out a grating exhalation of pain and collapsed, flinching, to the floor.

  Ty’s heart was pounding loudly in his ears. He had just faced down three strangers with his makeshift stun gun. And he had won! For a moment he just stood there, unsure what to do. Then he glanced back at Brad, who was still hiding behind the couch looking shocked, his gaze flicking between Ty and the men.

  “You … you look different,” Brad said.

  “Yeah,” said Ty. “Hey, get over here, will you?”

  “Why?” Brad said, sounding as shocked as he looked.

  “I want you to hold this. If they start to wake up before I’m finished, zap them again.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Tie them up.” Ty looked at his roommate. Brad still hadn’t moved. “Brad? You can do this, right?” Ty asked.

  “Yeah,” Brad said, but he spoke without any real conviction. Nevertheless, he stood and went over to Ty, who handed the stun gun over.

  Brad took it gingerly. He swung it back and forth, testing its weight, and grew more confident. His expression turned from hesitation and worry to something approaching glee in a heartbeat.

  “I got this,” he said, and this time, Ty believed him.

  He went to his bedroom and found Gremlin partially buried under the blanket on his bed. The cat looked at him with a concerned expression and gave a pathetic, “Meow,” as if both asking if the excitement was over and telling him off for the noise.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Ty said as he patted the cat on her head. “I know. But it wasn’t my fault.” With that, he started rummaging around in his drawers and closet, looking for anything he could use to tie the men up. His first thought was cable ties, but when he saw the ones he had, he knew they were too small. His next thought was an extension cord that he used to connect his night lamp to the only power outlet in the room. But he needed that.

  In the end, he dumped some of his work shirts on the floor and grabbed the wire coat hangers they had been hanging from. Then he hurried back to the men.

  Brad was standing over them pointing the stun gun at their immobile bodies.

  “Please, wake up,” he muttered, in an angry, determined voice. “I dare you. Give me the chance to use this thing.”

  Ty found himself laughing at Brad’s enthusiasm, but there was little need for it. The men were still out. Ty heaved them over so that they lay face down, and with Brad standing guard, quickly twisted the coat hangers tightly around their wrists so that they served as handcuffs.

  That done, he took a moment to search the men for weapons, coming away with a matching set of blasters, the baton, a couple of ugly-looking knives, and a garrote. Then he stood back to survey his handiwork.

  Brad’s bravado was starting to fail. “What the hell is going on?” he said. Then, as if he only just thought of it, “Shouldn’t we call the police?”

  Ty considered. “Not yet. But we will.”

  Before he did anything else, Ty checked the hall to make sure there was nobody else around, then came back in and shut what was left of the door. The door frame was splintered around the security chain, but the deadbolt was still okay. He threw it, then turned back to his roommate.

  “I guess I should tell you what happened last night,” he said. “But first, I’ve got a call to make.” Brad, not understanding and still in shock, just nodded.

  Instead of bringing out his phone, he pushed his sleeve away from the device on his wrist and thumbed the sensor. As Tempest had instructed, he chose the Communication option, then clicked on a holographic image of the blonde superhero.

  She answered immediately, her face appearing within the image and looking vaguely confused. “Hello?”

  “Hi, it’s me. Ty.”

  He was pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm with which Tempest responded. “Ty? Have you changed your mind? We’ve got to get your profile data sorted.”

  She looked and sounded amazing enough even in holographic form that Ty’s mind went momentarily blank. He just looked at her beautiful features, then scrambled to remember why he had called. “No. Maybe. No, look, this isn’t about that. There are three men in my apartment. It’s okay, they’re unconscious. But they were after my device. I thought you’d like to know.”

  Tempest responded with instant concern. “Don’t move. I’ll be right there.” With that, she ended the call, and Ty found Brad staring hard at him.

  “Who are you and what the hell have you done with my roommate?” a concerned Brad said.

  12: Totally Mental

  “Huh? What do you mean?” Ty responded.

  Brad was serious. He was holding the stun gun in a threatening way. “I’m not even sure you’re Ty at all. You look like him, and you’re wearing his clothes, but you’re too tall. And Ty had all this acne on his face. You don’t have any. And you’re more … more,” he made a random gesture. “More this.”

  Perhaps it was a result of the release of tension now that the fight was over, but Brad’s confusion just made Ty want to laugh. He felt his lips quirk into a grin.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You’re too buff and confident. Ty would have never faced off against those three. Not in a million years. He would have peed himself on the spot and hidden in his room. But you seem to know exactly what to do. You made this stun gun thing in advance, just on the hint that they might show up. Ty wouldn’t have even known how to do that.”

  Brad looked very determined. He raised the stun gun as if he meant to use it. “And the last time Ty spoke to a girl other than his sister must have been weeks ago. So. Who the hell are you? What have you done with Ty, and what is that thing on your wrist? What the fuck is going on?”

  Ty had no choice. He erupted into gales of laughter.

  It was the wrong thing to do. Brad’s confusion turned to anger. He looked to be more than ready to use the stun gun. It was all Ty could do to hold up his hands in surrender.


  “Stop, wait,” he said, and did his best to calm himself down. “Man, have I got a story to tell you.”

  Brad glared at Ty as if everything was his fault. “Tell it, then,” he said.

  So Ty told him. He talked about his awful day at work, and how Angie the Hutt had made him miss his last bus home. Ty had spoken about Angie regularly in the past, so by the time he reached the end of that part, Brad was nodding. It matched his understanding of Ty and Ty’s life.

  Then Ty spoke of the battle he stumbled into as he trudged through the rain. He described Zach fighting against the monstrous villain and even mentioned how he knew that he ought to have run. And he told of how Zach met his death, and what his last words had been.

  Brad listened with interest. Of the two of them, the gamer had generally been more open to the idea that there were superheroes working within the city of New Lincoln. It was Ty who had been more skeptical.

  Then he spoke of the device.

  “That thing on your arm?”

  “Yeah.” Ty held it up so Brad could see and returned to the story. He described what it felt like when the device had clamped itself on his arm. The shock, the feeling of nausea. And he spoke about seeing Tempest enter the fray.

  “Then what happened?” Brad asked.

  Ty decided he didn’t want his friend to know about the almost undeniable attraction between him and Tempest. But he was comfortable saying everything else. “I woke up in a strange bed,” he said.

  He described how Tempest had brought him waffles and that she had told him about the devices and how they worked.

  “So, what are you saying? You have powers?” Brad asked, looking both suspicious and intrigued.

  Ty shrugged. “Not really. You’ve already seen most of it. I’m a bit taller, and a little stronger. Other than that, I’m pretty much the same as I always was. It doesn’t work with everyone in the same way. But one thing it seems to have enhanced is my knack for gadgets.” He gestured at the stun gun Brad still held in his hands.

  “That, for example. As you said, I wouldn’t have even thought to make it before. But it seemed easy. Natural, almost. It’s like I can see the possibilities within technology that I would never have noticed before.”

  Brad was starting to relax. It was as if he was more interested in Ty’s talent than anything else he’d been told.

  “Dude, you could totally do awesome stuff with that. Like, upgrade my setup. Get rid of the lag. Imagine if I could react more quickly than anyone else in the game. What an advantage! I could enter some of the real games and maybe quit mining forever!”

  Ty simply nodded. It was something he felt he could do easily. Then he wondered if maybe he could turn his talent to making some money. Although without a qualification, it would still be difficult to convince people that he could do what he said.

  “Yeah, but it isn’t all cookies and cream,” Ty said. He gestured at the three men on the floor, one of whom was starting to groan. He was still unconscious, but it looked like he was closer to waking up than the other two.

  “These guys, for example. They want the device. And it isn’t just them. There’s someone else who wants it as well.”

  Ty lapsed into silence. The thought that he had inadvertently placed Brad in danger simply by placing the device on his wrist was uncomfortable.

  Then he thought of something else that made him grin.

  “Of course, there is one more thing. Tempest asked if I wanted to be part of the team.”

  Brad looked astonished. “What, like, be an actual superhero? Like her?”

  “Yes. But not really. Just do what I can to help out.”

  Brad’s eyes were nearly bulging out of his skull. “And?”

  Ty couldn’t help himself. He knew exactly what Brad was asking, but was enjoying himself too much. “And what?”

  “When do you start? How does it work? What will you be doing?”

  But Ty shook his head. “I turned her down.”

  “You’re shitting me. Are you nuts?”

  “It’s not that simple. The guy who died, Zach. He was seriously powerful. Like he was the God of Thunder or something. I was there. Maybe I can do something with this tech stuff, but really, I don’t know how much help I would be. And I’ve still got to pay the rent.”

  “Dude, you’re totally mental. Are you seriously telling me you turned down the chance to be a literal superhero because you have to keep scrubbing toilets? You are certifiably insane! This is a chance of a lifetime. Let’s get serious, if some bad guy came along and ripped your head from your shoulders in a month from now, you would still have lived more in that month than most of us get to experience and our entire lives!”

  Brad’s expression was incredulous. “Man, I am half tempted to take a hacksaw to your arm myself and take the device from you. Even if my skill happened to be a keen eye for needlepoint, I’d still jump in boots and all.”

  Ty thought about what his friend was saying and wondered if he had made the right choice after all. Sure, he had made the sensible choice. But that didn’t mean it was the right one.

  He hadn’t even told his roommate the best part: Tempest.

  Brad still hadn’t wound down. “You need to get your head read. If you think this is the smart move, you are legitimately crazy. I should call the psychiatrists right now and get you hauled away. Because this is your life. You’re, what, 26? Where’s your life going outside of this? Seriously, this is the best thing that could ever happen to you. It’s like winning the lottery of all lotteries, and you’re thumbing your nose at it. If this Tempest is still open to it, you have to beg her to give you another chance. If you don’t, you’re bonkers.”

  Ty had had enough. He raised his hands in surrender.

  “Ok already, I get it. You think I’m crazy. You might even be right. Why would I give away something like this just to keep working at the Concubine Club? I need to think about it.”

  “Yeah, you really do.”

  And Ty intended to do just that. He needed to really assess the good and the bad. Especially if he was going to be in danger anyway.

  It was at that point that there was another knock at the door.

  Ty’s heart lurched into his chest. His first thought was that there were more of the mercenaries looking to get in. A backup team for those he had zapped. But then he remembered he’d called Tempest.

  In the back of his mind, he had been thinking of how long it would take him to move around the city. He either had use public transport or walk. Yet with the speed she could fly, Tempest could be anywhere in the city within minutes.

  Even so, he checked to make sure.

  It was indeed the superhero standing in the hallway, looking just as stunning as before.

  Ty opened the shattered door. “Come in.”

  13: An Encouraging Grip

  Tempest didn’t enter Ty’s apartment immediately. Instead, she stood in the doorway and looked him up and down as if drinking him in, and smiled her wonderful smile.

  Ty could scarcely believe it. In the short time since he had seen her last, he had somehow forgotten the full extent of the effect that her presence had on him. It was as if she was a powerful drug. He found her intoxicating, and all he wanted to do was reach out, hold her in his arms and kiss her for all he was worth.

  He found that he was breathing hard and that the blood had started to pound his ears. His mouth was dry, and he had to swallow.

  “It’s good to see you again,” Tempest purred. Then she did as Ty suggested, and entered his crappy apartment.

  Ty felt ashamed that he lived in such a sad, embarrassing place. Ashamed that Tempest had to see it. Yet there was no choice. There were three mercenaries on the floor, one of whom was starting to move.

  Ty cleared his throat. “Tempest, this is Brad, my roommate,” he said.

  She stepped over the three mercenaries as if they were no more than obstacles in her way and held her hand out to Brad.

  Tempest’s
effect on Brad was almost as palpable as her effect on Ty. He stared at her open-mouthed and could only just manage to remember his manners. He juggled the stun gun for a moment to free up a hand, then took hers and blurted, “Uh, hi. Brad is me. Yes. Pleased to meet you.”

  Before he’d learned that Zach was gay, Ty had been jealous at the thought of the telekinetic hero knowing Tempest. He figured he would probably feel just as jealous if another superhero approached within half a mile of her. Because of the device on her wrist, she might feel as strongly attracted to them as he was to her.

  But as far as Brad was concerned, Ty felt no anxiety at all. Tempest was so far out of the gamer’s league that they were barely the same species. Instead of feeling jealous, Ty gave his friend the broadest shit-eating grin he could conjure.

  Tempest turned her attention to the intruders on the floor. “Right, let’s see what we have here,” she said.

  As she turned away, Brad looked at Ty with an expression that conveyed a whole host of emotions at once. Amazement at how stunning Tempest was. A mixture of shock and jealousy that Ty would even know someone like her. And a touch of despair as he knew that she would forever be out of his league.

  Brad mouthed very clearly, “You are completely insane.” Then, louder, “Tell me again why you didn’t want to be part of her team?”

  Ty just grinned.

  But Tempest paused. “You told him?”

  “I wasn’t going to. But when these guys came looking for the device, I didn’t really have any choice.”

  Tempest nodded. Then, as if thinking of it the first time, she frowned. “How did you manage to handle them?” She looked from Ty to Brad then back again.

  Ty was actually proud. “Brad told me we had visitors. It worried me – we don’t get many people here. So I built a stun gun. Brad, show her.”

  Brad held the weapon up and turned it on. Blue sparks once more arced between the nodes at the tip.