Chapter 15

Jake receives a worrying phone call from Meteor, and takes drastic measures.

I stared in disbelief at my phone. I had forgotten to take it off of vibrate mode last night, which I usually put it on when I step out to fight crime, and so had missed a call. I heard it vibrate a little later when it registered that I had a voice message. ‘Replay voicemail?’ it said in a little textbox. I clicked yes for the third time, just to confirm that I wasn’t dreaming.

“Hey there, champ.” It was Meteor, but he sounded different somehow. Kind of like all his energy had been drained. I wondered if he had gotten any sleep. “This will probably be the last phone call I ever have, and I’m glad it’s with you.”  Here he took a breath. I began to feel a little scared. “For the past four years, you’ve been my stalwart companion, and a great friend as well. You’ve been the yin to my yang. The knife to my fork. The mashed potatoes to my fried chicken. And we were a force to be reckoned with! Together we fought our way through more villains than I could keep track of, and we did grander things than I could have ever done on my own. I know in my heart that someday we would have made the big leagues.

I’m about to do something crazy dangerous, chum, and I’ve got to do it alone. There’s more afoot here than I thought, and it means that everything is at stake. Knowing the man whose name DeLuge said last night...I do mean everything. I can’t let you risk it all. I’ve never come up against a single other villain who is as ambitious, motivated, and downright despicable as Ranvier. Every time we’ve clashed in the past, his schemes had escalated; become more twistedly brilliant. Well, okay, there was this one time with ebola mosquitoes, and that wasn’t such a great plan...but that’s beside the point. I don’t know how he got out of prison, but I do know one thing: he’ll be coming for me, and he’s had years to plan his attack. I won’t lie to you...I probably won’t make it out alive. But I won’t have a chance if I don’t take the fight to him. If you don’t hear from me, you’ll know what happened. And in that event...well, I’ll be looking down on you from the mighty halls of Valhalla, saying ‘that’s my partner! That’s my hero’.” There was a pause. “I’m proud of you, Jake. Go be the hero that I know you are.”

My legs suddenly felt very weak and I stumbled backward. The backs of my knees hit a chair and I sat down heavily, too stunned to speak. I lost track of how long I sat staring at the floor, unsure of what to do. I felt like my head was stuffed with cotton, blocking all of my thoughts.

This must have something to do with what DeLuge said last night. There was something that Meteor wasn’t telling me, and whatever it was, it was enough to make him think the situation was dire. And if Meteor thought the situation was dire, then it was seriously bad news. I had to do something. I couldn’t just let my best friend go to his doom without giving everything that I’ve got to help him. But what could I do? I had no idea where he was going or what he planned to do once he got there. I knew nothing about Ranvier, or Meteor’s past, or even how to be a superhero on my own. Planning the escapades had always been Meteor’s job. How was I supposed to do this without him?

How was I supposed to do this at all?

I needed to stop panicking and think. There must be something that I could do; some lead that I could follow to figure out Meteor’s plan and show him that I wasn’t afraid to take some lumps in the name of justice.

Think, think…

Meteor talked about how he and Ranvier had fought in the past. The way he said it made it sound like they were archenemies. Anyone who had been active long enough to make a constant enemy out of Meteor would have to have some headlines, so the best place to start would be the internet.

I booted up my laptop. It was a new model; one that I couldn’t really afford, but my hand was forced as my old laptop hadn’t survived what I now thought of as ‘the frisbee incident’. Pulling up a search engine, I typed in ‘Ranvier supervillain’.

I was right, this guy had a criminal record as long as my arm. I clicked through article after article, reading about his exploits. Gun running, robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping, littering, loitering, lettering (unlawfully), perjury, forgery, tax evasion, literally taking candy from a baby...you name it, he had done it. His final exploit had been holding for ransom the daughter of the then president of Mexico back in 2064, when Meteor finally nabbed him. He had a secret lair set up just a few blocks from the U.S. embassy and had hired a local cartel to do the kidnapping for him. Meteor was called out specifically for the job, as no one else new Ranvier like he did. He managed to locate Ranvier and infiltrate the lair, but Ranvier set off a self destruct sequence and brought the whole place down, killing the cartel and the president’s daughter in the process. Only he and Meteor made it out alive.

As I continued to research, and to my growing horror, one thing became abundantly clear: I was in over my head. Compared to this guy I was green as grass; he had been a supervillain since before I hit middle school. I needed a teammate, and since I was down by one already, and between you and me most of the other heroes I could get would be as useful against a real professional villain as a pool cue made out of string, that left me with just one choice.

I just hoped that she’d be willing to help me.

I reached for my phone and dialled Valerie’s number. It rang once, twice, three times, and kept on ringing until I got her voicemail. She was probably not going to answer my call, not to say that I blamed her. There was some pretty complicated stuff going on between us.

There was no time for that now. Meteor was in danger. It was Friday morning, just before eleven a.m., and she would be scheduled to work until eleven thirty. Again, it’s creepy that I know that, but this was not the time to worry about it.

Pausing briefly to take some medicine for my once again runny nose, I rushed as fast as I could to the supermarket. I wasn’t wearing my costume, but I didn’t have time for that. I hoped like hell that what Valerie had said at the museum was true and that she had decided to keep her honest job, rather than realizing that she could turn a much better, albeit illicit, profit by staying a villain.

I came to a screeching halt outside or the sliding doors of the supermarket, waiting for them to slowly creak open. As soon as they did, I stepped inside and scanned the registers for Valerie. No sign of her. I marched past the registers and began to pace the aisles searching for her.

To my great relief, I found her stocking cabbages in the produce section. She had her back turned to me and didn’t notice me come up behind her.

I tapped her gently on the shoulder. She turned around, cabbage in hand, her dull, default retail expression replaced by mild shock at seeing me.

“What the f**k are you doing here?” she whispered sharply.

“I need to talk to you,” I said.

“You’re supposed to give it some time before coming after me,” she replied. “We could have had a whole ‘hero versus villain romantic tension’ thing going on.”

“Be that as it may, this is an emergency,” I said. “Besides, do you really consider yourself a villain? I thought DeLuge was just using you.”

She didn’t respond immediately, which was not a good sign.

“Oh come on,” I said. “You aren’t seriously thinking about staying bad, are you?”

“Well you have to admit, it has a certain appeal,” she shot back. “Are you telling me you’ve never thought about using your powers to make yourself rich?”

“Not since I learned the difference between right and wrong, I haven’t!” This was not good. I needed her help desperately. I lowered my voice. “And if you’re going to be a supervillain, why are you still working in a supermarket?”

“I...I…” she looked flustered. “It’s none of your business! Why do you care anyway? Are you still hung up on ‘helping me’?

“Alright, back up,” I said. This was getting me nowhere. “I’m here because I need your help. I think Meteor is in danger.”

“I can’t help you, Jake,” she said. “Technically I’m still supposed to be trying to kill you, remember? If your friend is dead too, that just makes it easier.”

I stared at her for a moment, wondering if she really meant that. I reminded myself that I didn’t really know her very well. She may be closer to walking the line between hero and villain than I thought.

“Meteor is a good person,” I said. “He’s the best person I’ve ever met, and I don’t say that lightly. He would take a bullet for anyone. You, me, a stranger he had never met...it doesn’t matter. He’s dedicated his life to saving people and doing good wherever and whenever he can. He spends so much time being a superhero that I’m not actually sure he has a life outside of it. I know you think we’re all self-absorbed, stuck up jackasses who only wear the tights to get fame and fortune, and maybe that’s true for some of us, but we’re all just people, okay? I certainly don’t do it for the glory, and if I’m doing it for the money then I’m an idiot because I make next to nothing for it. Meteor and I have one sponsor, which is a freaking family owned shaving cream company, and you know how much they gives us per month?”

Valerie opened her mouth to say something, but I was on a roll.

“Two hundred bucks,” I said. “A hundred per person per month. That isn’t even enough to make a dent in my rent payment. I work a stay-at-home job as a freelance writer just so I have the flexibility to risk getting killed saving the day, because I have superpowers and the poor person being used as a hostage by some idiot in a halloween costume doesn’t. I get a small stipend for being a registered superhero, and that’s about two hundred per month. So all in all, the money that being Quickdraw gets me is almost enough to buy food for the month, and all so I can run the risk of losing a limb or even my life just to try to use my superpower to help people. You still think the money means jack s**t to me?”

“I never knew…” Valerie said.

“We’re all just people,” I said again. “We’re not in it for the fame, or the glory, or the money; not those of us who really give a damn. All I want to do is to be a good person, and that’s what Meteor wants, too. And I’ll admit, I like you a lot, Valerie. Maybe we could be something together. But if you can even seriously think about using your power to steal, or intimidate, or hurt people, then it’s over between us. You’ll never see me again.”

Valerie studied my face, her eyes slowly going over my features as she thought about what I said. Maybe I was too harsh on her, but I didn’t have time for mind games. Meteor could be dead soon and I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try to help him. With or without Teravolt, I was doing this.

Valerie dropped the cabbage she was holding into the cardboard box she had been unloading, then turned back to me.

“Tell me what you need,” she said.

There was a fist squeezing my heart that I hadn’t even realized was there, and it relaxed its grip as soon as she said that. I stepped forward and hugged her tightly, which she returned after a surprised moment.

“DeLuge said that someone named Ranvier had hired him to kill me and Meteor,” I said when we stepped apart. “He sounded really scared. This morning, I got a phone call from Meteor, who told me that he was leaving to face Ranvier alone. He said he thought he...wouldn’t come back from it.”

The color drained from Valerie’s face. “I met Ranvier.”

“You met him?” I asked. “Do you know where he is?”

Valerie seemed reluctant to answer. I took her by the shoulders.

“Valerie,” I said. “I need to know.”

She looked me in the eyes. “Jake, Meteor was right. I’ve never met a person who I believe is more capable of murder than Ranvier. There’s something about him that scares the s**t out of me, and DeLuge just about had a panic attack.”

For the second time that day, my heart stopped in my chest.

“I have to save him,” I said.

Valerie looked down at the floor, swallowed heavily, then looked back up at me.

“I’ll take you to his hideout,” she said.

“Huh,” I said.

“What?” Valerie, now Teravolt, asked.

“I’ve just never really gotten a good look at your costume before,” I said. I had run home to change into my suit and then met her outside her apartment, which she gave me the address for.

“What’s wrong with my costume?” she asked, clad in black and bright neon yellow.

“Uh, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with it…” I lied. “But I don’t think it’s going to protect you from much. Don’t you have, like...leather, or something?”

“Leather what?” she said.

“Leather anything, I guess.” I said. “Or denim. Something tough.”

“Leather and denim? The 1990’s were eighty years ago, Jake.”

I was beginning to feel a little exasperated. “Take it from me, when you fight other metahumans, you want to wear some kind of armor. There’s nothing like taking a  kidney punch at a hundred miles an hour to make you wish you had come prepared.”

“I work in a supermarket, Jake. I can’t afford a leather jacket.” She crossed her arms.

“Didn’t DeLuge give you any of the money you guys stole?” I asked.

She replied with a look that told me the answer.

“Well, look,” I said, and it was my turn to cross my arms. “You can’t go into a real fight dressed like that. Street clothes get shredded in a second against someone who’s actually trying to hurt you.”

“What do you suggest, then?”

I looked her up and down, my chin in my hand.

“I think we’re about the same size,” I said finally. “I have something that I think will work back at my apartment.”

“Do we have time for that?” she asked.

I bit the middle knuckle of my index finger, trying to cope with a sudden wave of anxiety.

“No,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. You need it. Come on.”

We went back to my apartment and I let us in. We were using up a lot of time doing this, but I had no choice. It wouldn’t do any good to rush off to rescue Meteor without being fully prepared. I had no idea what we were walking into.

In my closet I had a box with an extra suit in it. I had saved up for a long time to buy it in order to have back up suit in case anything happened to the one I was wearing, which was getting a little old anyway. My current suit was actually the first one that I ever bought. I retrieved the box from underneath a pile of jackets and shoes in my bedroom closet and set it on my kitchen table, where Teravolt waited. I pulled the suit out to show her. I hadn’t had time to add any of the blue accents so it was entirely black and gray, and it lacked the extra armor padding that my current suit had, but it still afforded a lot more protection than average clothes. It was kind of like wearing a bulletproof vest over your entire body...except it wasn’t bulletproof. That option had been a lot more pricey.

“Where do you get these, anyway?” Teravolt asked me as she took the suit.

“The internet,” I said. “There are a few companies that sell kits, or even full custom suits if you’re willing to pay for it. It’s arachnofiber woven with kevlar mesh, reinforced with a matrix of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. I obviously didn’t have the cash to spring for the graphene underlay or ceramic plating, so it won’t stop a bullet, but it’s damn hard to stab through and will cushion any blows that you take. And it’s hand wash only.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Arachnofiber,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said back.

“This is made from spider silk?” she asked.

“...Yeeeahhh,” I replied. “Is that a problem?”

“The stuff that gets on your face when you walk, and is all gross and weird? Comes from spider butts?”

“I mean, technically it comes from their abdomen. And it doesn’t have any of the stuff that makes it sticky.”

“Is that what yours is made of?”

“Yeah.”

She made a face at the suit in her hands and sighed. “You’re lucky that I already agreed to do this.”

I nodded my head at my bedroom. “You can change in there.”

I waited with nervous energy as she walked into my bedroom and closed the door, the lock engaging with an audible click. I started to pace. Anything could be happening to Meteor while we did this.

Finally, Teravolt stepped out into the kitchen, her old outfit bundled up in her hands. She had put her big black goth boots on over the legs of the super suit, which kind of ruined the aesthetic, but she still looked worlds better than she had before. She had gone from ‘disgruntled emo mall employee’ to ‘don’t mess with me if you want your heart to stay beating’. I liked it.

“How does it feel?” I asked.

“It’s really tight in the a*s,” she said. “And it’s squishing my b***s.”

“But will it work?”

She rotated her torso a few times, raised her arms up and down, and tried a couple of squats.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Then we’re in business,” I said. “Let’s go rescue a superhero.”

Author's Note

Point of no return (PNR or PONR): The point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is physically impossible, prohibitively expensive, or dangerous.