His grandfather mumbled and opened his eyes. "Huh? Sorry, dozed off for a second. You say something?"
Ryan cringed a little, but his grandfather looked around and through Electronica. It seemed like she had turned off her hologram, after all.
"Yeah, Grandpa. I was just talking about what I remember about my parents. Can you tell me more about them?"
The old man settled back against his pillow. "Sure, whadda you wanna know?"
Ryan didn't think he could just blurt out if his grandfather knew why an armored trio of soldiers from a supervillain would want to kill his parents, so he asked, "What kind of people were my parents? I mean, were they pretty, uh, interesting?"
His grandfather chuckled. "Interesting? What kinda question is that?"
"Well, I mean, they just seemed kinda boring to me. Were they?"
"I wouldn't say your mother was boring, but she was my daughter, so I'm biased. As for your father, he was a good guy. Can't say much more than that. I mean, they lived a very comfortable, quiet life. That's what they wanted, and they got it. Nice house, white picket fence, the whole deal."
Ryan thought over what he told him before picking a new line of questioning. "Did you buy what the police said about their killer? That it was some crackhead trying to steal a TV?"
His grandfather took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. "Honestly? No, not really. I mean, I was a cop for twenty years. I can smell bologna, and what the detective investigating your case said was bologna. Crackheads ain't exactly expert cat burglars. I mean, some guy high on drugs breaks in, kills a family, sets fire to the place, and steals a TV, he's gonna leave some evidence. Fingerprints, shoeprints, bullet casings. No evidence means the perp's either incredibly lucky or you're dealing with a professional, not some guy strung out on meth. You say you can't figure out who killed the parents, fine, but don't just chalk it up to some imaginary crackhead and close the case. Leave it open. I wanted to take a look at the evidence to do my own investigation, but they wouldn't let me. To be honest, it always kinda bothered me. I don't wanna open old wounds, but they could've done more."
Ryan's breath came quicker. "So you think there might have been more to it. The cops could have got it wrong."
His grandfather shrugged. "Yeah, they could have. But at the same time, the whole thing made no sense otherwise. Your parents didn't have any enemies that I knew of. No reason to kill them. Now come on, what's with all the questions?"
Ryan forced a smile. "I dunno. I guess with you in the hospital, I'm just thinking about all the other people I've lost."
His grandfather patted his hand. "Hey, I wish I had more answers. My wife, your grandmother, she passed away from cancer and now here I am a year later with cancer. Was it something we were both exposed to? Or is it just a crazy coincidence? Who knows? But I'm glad I got to say I helped raise you, and you've shown me you were raised right."
"Thanks. Love you, Grandpa."
"Love you, too, Ryan."
They hugged.
His grandfather gave him a poke in the chin. "Just do me a favor, Ryan. Don't tell anybody I got all soft with ya. I got a reputation to uphold."
Chapter 16
FOR A while, it looked like Serra Chen's tip about Chuck Nieminen would end up at a dead end. From the moment she tracked him down by running a reverse image search on Facebook, she knew he couldn't be Paragon. He spent more time posting memes about video games and women than anything superhero-related. He also had an XBox account connected to Facebook that posted his achievements and high scores, showing he played games at all hours of the night. She cross-checked them against times that Paragon had appeared, and a bunch of achievements showed up when Paragon was in public fighting supervillains. Unless he was smart enough to fake the achievements to throw someone off (and she didn't think Chuck was that smart), that meant he wasn't Paragon.
There was also the possibility that Paragon could duplicate himself, but she didn't think so. Still, she decided to stake this Chuck guy out and make sure.
His Facebook profile showed a lot of pictures tagged from inside Jimmy's World Famous Pizzeria where he posed with a broom, cash register, and tables. It looked like he worked there. She started there.
By going to Jimmy's and waiting outside in her car the next morning, she was there when Chuck came walking up to the front door. An older man had gone in first, the owner Lloyd Hoffman. Serra hunched down to watch through the front window as Chuck turned the sign to "Open" and went out to sweep the sidewalk.
From across the street, Serra could see through the large plate-glass window, and she watched Chuck for a half-hour. He just did boring stuff like sweep the floor and refill the containers of Parmesan cheese. While watching him, Serra scrolled through Chuck's Facebook on her phone some more.
A lot of the pictures had Chuck with a guy that Facebook tagged "Ryan Walker." She followed Ryan Walker's profile, but it didn't seem any more interesting than Chuck's, so she went back to staking out the pizza place.
A young man came running down the sidewalk, one she recognized as Ryan Walker. He pulled on a Jimmy's Pizzeria hat, so it looked like he worked with Chuck. These two made quite a pair.
After a while of watching the two talking, Ryan ran out with a stack of pizza boxes, loaded them into a silly-looking pizza van, and drove off. She took note of it but focused on Chuck.
One by one, customers came and went into the store. Chuck didn't do anything more interesting than hand them pizza slices and play on his phone.
The whole time, Serra kept one eye on the news. She had an alert set up for when anyone reported seeing Paragon.
A few hours later, she got a ping on her phone. Somebody on Twitter wrote "OMG!!! I just saw Paragon!" She had even posted a blurry picture of Paragon flying overhead.
She clenched her fists in frustration. If Paragon was out there, then Chuck obviously couldn't be him. Maybe Chuck was just a random person Paragon asked to give him an Uber ride.
She went back to Facebook, getting ready to close her phone when she stopped to look at one of the photos.
She was still in Ryan Walker's profile, and he smiled as he stood next to a beautiful woman. The woman had a polite smile on her face, but she didn't look like she wanted to be there. She wore a black bikini over an impressive body. That's not what caught her attention.
She recognized the woman. Serra had seen her before.
She quickly went to Google and typed in "Paragon woman interview." A news clip came up on YouTube, and the thumbnail had the exact same woman.
Serra had seen the clip before. The first time Paragon appeared to fight Poundcake, he had rescued the strippers inside the Show 'N Tail strip club, and the woman who gave the first interview to name him had been the same woman in Ryan's photo.
The clip showed the name "Tiffany" under it. A stripper, of course.
Serra leaned back as she flipped back to Facebook on her phone. She stared at Tiffany standing next to Ryan. The first time Paragon had appeared had been to help this Tiffany, and she turned up in an old photo with Walker, which meant they knew each other before the fight with Poundcake. Walker also worked with and seemed to be good friends with Chuck, who had given a Uber ride to Paragon.
Quite a coincidence, except Serra didn't believe in coincidences. Two connections to Paragon from one guy was too much. Ryan Walker had to be involved with the hero somehow.
She turned on the engine of her car, and headed for the Crookline area and the Show 'N Tail.
***
When she walked into the strip club, it didn't take long for Serra to spot the one named Tiffany. She danced on the stage to hip hop music, expertly moving her nude body in the flashing lights. She looked more beautiful than she did on the video clip or Ryan's photo, and had all the men drooling over her.
Serra found a table near the stage, ordered a beer from the waitress, and waited.
When Tiffany finished dancing, she climbed down from the stage to wild applause and whistling. S
erra applauded with the rest of them as she got up and approached Tiffany.
The stripper gave her a cautious smile. "Hi, sweetie. You wanna dance?"
Serra held up a hundred dollar bill. "Actually, I'll pay you more for some information."
Tiffany plucked the hundred out of her hand. "What kind of information? And why?"
"I'm a reporter. Serra Chen. And it's about superheroes."
Tiffany's eyes lit up. "Will this be in the news?"
"Maybe, but our interview will be confidential. Let's sit and we'll talk." Serra sat down at the table. "I know you gave an interview a few months ago about Paragon. I wondered if you could tell me a little more about how you know him."
Tiffany sat down after pulling on her bikini bottom, leaving her bare breasts swaying. "Well, I mean, I told everything I know about him to the cops and that reporter. Paragon came outta nowhere, beat up Poundcake and threw her in the river, and saved the club."
"I wonder if you might remember anything else. Something related to Ryan Walker?"
Tiffany's nose wrinkled. "Ryan Walker? What's he got to do with anything?"
"Can you tell me about him?"
Tiffany shrugged. "Uh, not really. He's just a guy who delivers pizzas here from Jimmy's. He's kind of a loser. Creepy, too. Kept asking me out."
She frowned. "Funny, haven't seen him around lately, though."
Serra took a deep breath as she wrote down some notes. "So there's nothing else you can tell me about Paragon or Ryan or anything in between?"
"Not really." She paused and frowned. Well, maybe."
Serra leaned closer. "What is it?"
Tiffany shook her head. "I mean, it's stupid, I think I was just imagining it but now that you mention it--"
Tiffany leaned over the table and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Okay, off the record? I fucked Paragon. And he was amazing. I kinda wanted another go-around, you know? But after he stopped the Five, he was flying by the club and I waved him down, and he said he's not going out with me. 'I just don't see you that way' is exactly what he said."
Serra made sure to keep her expression neutral. "Pretty rough."
"Tell me about it." Tiffany wrinkled her nose. "But the funny thing is that I said the exact same thing to Ryan a few weeks earlier. Weird coincidence, huh?"
Serra couldn't help smiling. "Very weird."
As she left, Serra's smile wouldn't go away. She had the whole scenario in her head. Ryan had been a loser, rejected by a stripper he visited regularly. Then he got the chance to score with that woman later on, and even turn the tables on her. It made perfect sense. The Uber ride from Ryan's best friend to the fight with Poundcake also made sense. Serra was convinced.
Ryan Walker was Paragon.
Now she just had to prove it.
Chapter 17
MORNING CAME, and the sun woke up Ryan with its brilliant piercing light. He found his head on his grandfather's shoulder. He wiped the drool from his mouth and looked up. His grandfather was asleep in his hospital bed.
The communicator in Ryan's ear chirped before he heard Nora's voice. "Paragon, I've found out where Aphrodisia will strike next."
Ryan whispered, "Great. Where?"
"It does look like the chemicals she stole will boost her power. It has the potential to disperse her sexual energy over the entire city, but there's a crystal she'll need called aphroditium, and the only piece in the entire world is on display at the Eros City Museum. We have to hurry. The museum opens in a half-hour."
"Okay, I'm on my way." Ryan tapped the communicator to turn it off.
He looked down at his grandfather, once again wrestling with what to do. Ryan didn't want to leave him alone, but he was in good hands here at the hospital. Besides, if Aphrodisia got the crystal, millions could die. After what he'd seen, he could easily imagine Aphrodisia driving the city and even the world mad with desire. That included his grandfather.
The mental image of his grandfather having sex until he died of a heart attack made Ryan shudder, horrified at the thought of his grandfather dying, but also the thought of his grandfather having sex.
He tried to think of what his parents would have said if they were still alive. His father always told him to do the right thing, even if it meant hurting someone or even himself. As much as he loved his grandfather, the fate of the city and the world was at stake.
He gave his grandfather a kiss on the forehead before racing out of the hospital room. He dashed to the elevator alongside Electronica who followed mutely, passing through walls. They rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and he ran out of the hospital. He kept running to the building nearby where he stashed his clothes, dressed and changed into Paragon, and flew off for Lane Park.
Electronica flew along with him, never even breathing heavier. That made sense since she wasn't real. He had started to get used to having Electronica around, although it kind of weirded him out how just followed him like a balloon on a string.
As he and Electronica came to the backyard, Nora stood outside in the grass along with Heavenly Hawk and Alley Cat. She held two vials and held them up as he landed.
Paragon flexed his arms. "The vaccine worked great on me. How're the other doses coming?"
"I'm sorry." Nora shook her head at him. "I've got the formula ready, but it needs to go through reduction-oxidation in order to cure it. That's a very precise process, and it can take days."
Paragon clenched his hands. "There has to be a way to speed it up."
"There is, but it's dangerous." Nora pointed up at the air. "Can you bring back Electronica?"
Paragon looked at Electronica, then remembered he had told her to turn off her hologram. "Oh, Electronica, become visible again. What do you need?"
As Electronica flickered into view, the others turned to her, and Nora pointed at her. "I saw her shoot a lightning bolt in the mansion. Can she do that whenever she wants?"
Paragon shrugged. "Yeah, as long as I have enough power."
Nora set the vials down on the grass and took a step back. "Electronica, I want you to apply electricity to these chemicals until I say to stop."
Electronica looked at Paragon. "Shall I comply?"
Paragon shrugged. "Sure."
She nodded. "Affirmative."
Electronica held out her hand and an arc of lightning popped from the palm to the vials. Smoke rose up from the grass around them, but she kept going, and the twisting lines of electricity danced over them.
Nora shaded her eyes with her hands. "Keep going!"
Heavenly Hawk and Alley Cat screamed and jumped back as the vials popped with sparks. The smoke turned into flames as the grass scorched around it. Electronica kept going, using her power to crackle the air.
Nora held out her hands. "Okay, stop!"
Electronica's lightning faded away as she lowered her hand.
Hawk fanned her wings to blow out the fire as Nora used a pair of tongs to lift the vials and hurried back to the mansion. They all followed her to the laboratory, where she took a sample of one vial with a pipette and looked at it through a microscope slide.
Nora nodded. "It worked. It's stable."
She went to her counter where she unwrapped another syringe. "All right, I have the two doses. Who wants to go first?"
Alley Cat whimpered. "Uh, Hawk, you go."
Heavenly Hawk smiled. "All right, all right."
She held out her arm while Nora filled the syringe, then injected her. After tossing the syringe into a sharps box, Nora filled a second one and approached Alley Cat.
Alley Cat hissed as she jumped back. "You're not stickin' me with that shit. I fucking hate needles."
Nora raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"
Paragon put his hand on her arm. "Cat, we need you."
Alley Cat's ears flattened on the top of her head. "Ah, shit. Ju-just do it quick."
She looked away and winced as Nora pressed the syringe into her arm. Alley Cat hissed again, but didn't move away.
Nora threw the needle into a sharps box. "All right, it's done. It will take about fifteen minutes to take effect."
Alley Cat whimpered and licked at her arm where the needle injected her.
"That'll be enough time." Paragon looked at Heavenly Hawk and Alley Cat. "That means we have a chance. But I gotta tell you all something. I found out who killed my parents. It was the Monolith."
Nora shook her head. "That can't be. All my research shows the Monolith just started operations in Eros City a little over a year ago."
"It is. Even saw the video. Electronica?"
Electronica held up her hands to project the holographic screen again. As the image floated in the air, they all watched the three men in armor teleport into the street in front of the house and walked inside.
"Those were the Monolith's men." Nora pressed her hands to her face. "But how can that be possible? That would mean the Monolith has been operating for at least a decade. Where has he been? What's he been doing?"
Heavenly Hawk touched her hand to her cheek. "There is another possibility, that the Monolith took over an existing organization, one that used the same armor and technology."
"I suppose so. But still, I would think I would have heard of it."
Paragon folded his arms. "More important than that, the Monolith or whoever sent these guys had a reason for killing my parents. I wanna find out what it is. So I need to find the Monolith. Either he killed my parents or he knows who did. And when I find that person, I'm gonna pay them back for what they did to me. But first, we're gonna stop Aphrodisia. And you need to come with us, Nora."
She shook her head. "Absolutely not. I told you, I'm done."
Heavenly Hawk walked towards her. "Nora, you have to come with us. I forgive you. And I'm sure Captain Alpha will forgive you. It doesn't matter what you've done. You can redeem yourself. I fought alongside you for years, even though I didn't know who you were. You're still the Night Watchman I knew and trusted, and nothing's changed between us."
Nora glared up at her. "You still don't get it, Heavenly Hawk. This isn't about redeeming myself. Everything has changed between us."
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