Ivan
Ivan was not a normal boy. He did not attend school as all kids his age did nor did he, in fact, have a home. It was commonly known that Ivan March lived in a small hovel on 17th avenue in Kalling, Goldenberg City. What was less commonly known was how he got his food and where he went during his numerous absences. Ivan was 14 years old and had lived in the same place for the last five years. When he had first started building his shack others on the streets, noticing his disappearances, had stolen some food. The thieves were never seen in Goldenberg City again.
Ivan sat outside his shack quietly chewing a piece of gum. He was pondering why he, a young boy, had at such a young age been given a man’s job and not even that! It was a hero’s job. Yet there he was. Duties are duties he thought to himself and if no one fulfills their duties then who will? It was a tough life. Ivan checked his grubby wristwatch. His target should arrive soon. He got up from his seat and went into his home-made-home. Inside it didn’t look quite as dirty, crowded and crudely constructed as it had from the outside. In his house he had a small bed made from a thrown out mattress, a bucket and, behind the door, was a rather strange device built by Ivan himself. It was shaped rather like a metal hammer such as Thor’s hammer, Mjolner, in Norse mythology but it was clearly electrical, and the most advanced tech in the building. It had a trigger button set in its grip and had a section in the centre of the hammer’s head which gave off a pulsating green glow. Ivan picked up the heavy weapon as though it weighed nothing and flopped backwards onto his bed. Any minute now his target would arrive. Sweat dripped from his brow. Before every skirmish he would always get like this and he couldn’t help but to wonder if his next fight would be his last. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Almost time. Ivan wiped his greasy forehead. The tension was killing him. It was time! Ivan leapt to his feet, a grin on his face. Before he fought he’d need the rest of his equipment. He went to the middle of the room and raised his hammer above his head before smashing it into the earth. Ivan then proceeded to turn the hammer as though it were a key. When lifted it again a hatch opened. Ivan jumped down through it.
Inside the secret chamber were many more glows, most of them similar to the one from Ivan’s hammer. He ran quickly around grabbing what he needed and pulling on what appeared to be armour. He put the armour underneath his clothes. In barely a minute he was ready. Quickly, Ivan left, locked the door and sprinted out. He worried he had mistimed his preparation and was too late. He’d just have to go with hope.
Arriving at his destination Ivan scanned the area. There he was! A short man wearing a monocle and a tuxedo was talking to a taxi driver. Ivan took out a small piece from his pocket and put it into his ear. There was no sign that Ivan had any weapons on him. With the device on in his ear Ivan could hear their conversation.
“No, I don’t need to pay you. I’ve already paid remember?” The man in the suit said.
“No mister. You said money but nothing. Pay up.” The taxi driver pleaded.
“Okay, here!” The suited man said and appeared to hand something invisible to the driver who proceeded to ‘count’ whatever imaginary thing had been handed to him. It was just as Ivan had suspected. The man had rather powerful hypnosis ability. Powerful enough to convince someone into believing that they needed to kill themselves. Ivan had been trying to catch him using his powers but he was especially crafty. Seventy people had died at his hands. Ivan only needed one sighting of him using his powers and he could engage and terminate. Now that he had caught the man using his powers at someone else’s expense, even though was petty; he had full right to engage him. Ivan clicked a button on his wristwatch and felt the familiar feeling overcome him as the ‘armour’ he was wearing made him invisible. All that the public would see was a bunch of clothes with no one inside them running around. Perfectly normal. Then he pulled his hammer from one of his pockets. How it fit in there Ivan alone knew. He then ran across and leapt, hammer raised high, towards the man. Of course it was never that easy. The hypnotist had obviously known that Ivan was coming and as the hammer crackled with electricity and began its arc towards the earth, an unseen force blasted Ivan over backwards. As he got up Ivan happened to look straight into his opponent’s eyes. The man’s monocle glowed and had the symbol for D-TCH advanced computing system, with which he could calculate and work out complex codes and mathematics. It's other eye was vastly different and as Ivan looked into it he saw that it was not inherently human at all. It was bright orange with bulging veins and a crack running across his pupil as though it was made of glass.
“That’s right… You can’t move away…” The Eye said. “Wonderful isn’t it what a pair of Canadian scientists can do to a fellow human being. What they didn’t count on was a successful experiment!” Ivan stood stock still where he had stood up, captivated by the Eye. The man started walking slowly forward never blinking. Abruptly a sharp pain erupted in Ivan’s head and he saw a brick crash onto the pavement some metres away from him. He heard a shout of anger and realised his head was emptied of the invading mind of the Eye. He could think clearly again! Ivan stood up and raised his hammer high. He held down the button and there was an enormous crackle of electricity as the weapon switched from stun to death mode. Unfortunately for Ivan, the Eye was already ahead of him. It had, wisely, chosen to flee. But Ivan wasn’t done with him yet! The boy sprinted, leaping from the roof of car to car following in the Eye’s exact placements. He had to stop it! To Ivan’s surprise he noticed a motorbike weaving through the cars keeping pace with him.
“Need a lift?” a smooth voice asked. Ivan replied by landing neatly on the back of the bike. There was no time to question offered help. Pedestrians screamed as they sped past. It became clear that the man was more than just an Eye from his aerobic talents he displayed when climbing up the side of an office building. Ivan knew that if the Eye got inside it would be impossible to find him among the thousands of suited up businessmen. He was about to give instructions to the motorist when the bike braked hard. Ivan, not wearing a seat-belt, was flung, off and up, towards the office building. As he was fired he would have sworn he could see nail polished fingers and a strand of long hair escaping the helmet. Split seconds later he hit the building with a thud and was glad for the ‘Geecko’ gloves he was wearing and also for his rubber boots. Ivan could see the Eye was about halfway up the building and not entering it. That meant he wanted a fight at the top of the building. Probably just to find out whom his attacker really was. A few seconds and Ivan heaved himself up over the edge of the skyscraper. It was a heady height and Ivan felt more than a little nauseous. As he had expected the Eye stood waiting for him. It had obviously called on more of its mutant abilities and now stood a metre higher than it had previously. Its eye bulging worse than ever the beast took a step forward with its muscles bulging in anticipation. Ivan knew that the Eye could only see his clothes and as he looked at his target he remembered its powers and slipped on shades to keep him from direct eye contact.
“Who are you!?” the Eye rasped its voice clearly hindered by its total transformation.
“I am Ivan Ironclad!” Ivan shouted and spat at the Eye’s feet as he made a sky-high jump and, once more, brought his hammer down for a full power smash. The eye swung out a fist and made contact with the boy’s chest as the hammer hit its shoulder. Ivan was thrown back, his hammer knocked from his grasp. The Eye had not fared too well either from the shock and his electronic monocle had clearly disintegrated his one good eye as it had exploded. The monster roared in rage and started taking definitive steps towards where Ivan lay stunned. But the boy wasn’t finished yet! He drew and threw an electro-knife in one solid movement at the advancing Eye. The knife was not quite as impressive as he had hoped but it was still satisfying seeing it sink deep into rippling muscle before releasing high voltage electrical charge into its victim. The Eye screamed and pulled the knife from its body. It was furious now and had no resemblance to the person Ivan had first seen cheating a taxi driver. Before Ivan even had a chance to try and get up, let alone throw a second knife the the Eye kicked him so hard he flew out over the edge of the building and started to fall. The Eye stood victorious over the edge and turned starting to walk away when there was a loud clank. A metal grappling hook caught on the edge. The eye whirled around in dismay as Ivan flew through the air. The boy’s iron tipped shoe connected with the Eye’s head and the monster was slammed backwards. Ivan landed neatly and dusted himself off reeling his grappling hook in as he did so. He was glad he kept so many gadgets on him. He walked over to the Eye where it had landed. Its neck was bent at an awkward angle. It spat blood and stared hatefully at Ivan its single convulsing eye. An arm twitched and Ivan knew he needed to complete his mission. He picked up his fallen hammer and prepared to end the monstrous mutant's life.
Ivan sat in his shack twisting his hammer. He certainly didn’t feel like a normal boy. Who was that girl who had helped him? He was sure he’d find out soon enough. He always did. Maybe he’d finally have someone to help him hunt down the supers in the world, the super naturals that is. And maybe, just maybe, he’d finally have a friend.
