Chapter 1
I am probably the slowest man alive...In both ways. The only way I was smart, was the fact that I was in college to become, an engineer of all things. But not only did I know that I was slow to things, so did everyone else. Which launches fails in things such as girlfriends, best friends, popularity and the inability to be robbed...which has happened about 5 times in the last year or so. Not only are those fails, but going to get coffee is a failure and walking home from my classes is an epic failure, followed by running for my life and dignity (truthfully I already lost this a long time ago).
To top all of this off, (I know, right...it sounds impossible) my best friend doesn’t even know that I have fallen head over heels and lost my wallet for her and her desperate need for smoothies.
Another thing you should know about me, I never seem to get it. I never give up but I always lose. And as a great example of this, tonight we are going as “friends” (ugh, the timeless black hole of the friend-zone), to the launch of the Withs Enterprise Nuclear Project (the secret is killing me), since I am a nerd on a worse level. But the sad thing is that she even has got this thing for Jareds and what my name is spelled wrong and I’ve been crossed off the list?! I can’t even go for being unique anymore, just wrong and deformed in ways that obviously go beyond my looks cause this face...yeah, this face is gorgeous.
But besides this, I am pretty great. Nope, that’s an over-exaggeration, I’m like “okay.” I’m a “cutie,” (like, why mom, why?) and I watch Netflix, keep up with all things superhero and criminal. I design suits and am a future engineer. Now I’m starting to understand why I’m alone.
My alarm is pretty annoying today, though I am pretty psyched about the day. I have a morning of classes with my professor, Dr. Morgan. We were close-ish. She always likes my shirts, usually something dorky like, “I’m a Batman” or something like that. But the main reason we are even relatively close is that we are both insanely into engineering and are nerds beyond this earth (that’s right, we think there’s more than one). My best friend is in that class too. Not, you know, my friend, but my other friend, Lance. He is more of a brother to me and we are ridiculously alike.
But since it’s now 7:00 a.m and I need to get up or I’ll be late to get to coffee with Cassidy (that’s her). So I fling my legs out from under the covers and sit up. I squint my eyes and yawn loudly, stretching until my muscles feel like they are going to rip apart. There’s a shirt at the end of my bed and I grab it quickly. Luckily still in my jeans from last night, I try running to my bathroom to brush my teeth and quickly swipe my hair the side so it doesn’t look too terrible. Picking up my brush I go to squeeze the toothpaste onto it and as I do, the toothpaste shoots up onto the mirror.
“Great,” I sigh and put my toothbrush under it before shakily pulling up and gathering it onto the toothbrush. I look at it quickly before brushing the fronts to the backs of my teeth.
I finish and brush my hair. A piece keeps popping up like a unicorn horn and I take my weapon in my hands… hairspray. I press the button down and nothing happens.
“Not today.”
I press it harder, inspecting it and as I press it again, it sprays fully into my eyes and I scream like a girl.
“Jarr?” A voice (my mom...yeah I just got lamer. 19 and in college...still at my mom’s) echoed up the stairs. “Are you okay?”
I stumble out of the bathroom to lean against my bedroom door frame. “Yeah, Ma, I’m fine,” I say with a voice that was far more high pitched than usual.
My eyes are still clasped shut by the pain and I stumble back as her footsteps go back downstairs. I quietly scream again, feeling the walls to the bathroom sink again. Finding it, I turn the faucet on and get a bunch of water in my hands. Then I scrubbed my eyes quickly.
“Owwww,” I whine, drying myself off with a towel. “Aw, I love my life right now.”
Then I snatch my sweatshirt and backpack and clamber down the steps.
“Jarr, don’t forget to-”
“Love you mom, gotta go!” I call, stopping her before she finished. I swing out the door, it slams loudly behind me. I cringe, knowing I was in for it when I got home.
We lived in an old firehouse (am I really that hot?); the retired one and so it was in the middle of the city. Pretty convenient for getting to the coffee joint for shifts and running to get coffee.
Now I am sprinting down the street, slipping past the waves of people who are going the opposite way. Then as I reached the last block, I’m snagged and a man grabs my wrist and backpack, taking me into the alley. He has on a camo jacket and he was balding in the back. I look up and murmur, “God not today.”
He pulls out a gun and before he can even say the lines I pull out my wallet, grumbling, “yeah, yeah, I know.” I try and mimic his voice, putting a naggy and irritated tone into it, “get out your wallet, your being robbed, meh, meh, meh, meh.”
He looks at me confused and I grow even more annoyed and angry, “I mean, seriously, why can’t you just get a job...and why is it always me!?”
I pull out a twenty and toss it on the ground at his feet, “God, I hate you people…” Then I walked out of the alley and yelled over the loud crowd, “yeah I just got ROBBED! Thanks for noticing!”
I give up on running and I realize that I give up on nothing but seriously?! Of all the days! So I walk jauntily, with an angry stride. Flinging open the door, I almost run into Cassidy, who already had a coffee in hand and a frown on her face. I stop quickly, putting my hands up before I run into her.
“Whoa,” I say as she continues to run into me.
“Oh ****!” She yells angrily. “Jarett! What the hell?”
“I am so sorry Cass,” I say with a passion. I lower my voice to a whisper and add like I am telling her a secret, “I mean, I just got robbed for like the…,” I count quickly, “...the fifth time this month!”
“Really, so that’s why you’re late all the time?” Cass looks down at her shirt, which is tan....it was white.
“Oh God, it looks like Shrek took a crap on your shoulders,” I exclaim ignorantly.
“Jarett! The ****?!” She asks, becoming furious with me.
“Look, I’m sorry, it’s been rough today so,” I try, rubbing the back of my neck.
“But does that explain why of all shirts on all days that you would stain my shirt?”
I become excited (not excited but I sure looked it… desperateness reveals itself in many forms.), “technically I didn’t stain your shirt...the coffee did.”
“Right and your late because your feet were slow and yet that brings me back to the question...do I look like an idiot or what? Cause there is ****ing coffee on my shirt and I am not happy.” She shoves the coffee in my face and I grab it before she spills it on my shirt as well.
“Ahhhh- I’m sorry. I’ll buy you another one,” I say.
“Oh no,” she holds her hand up in refusal, “that’s okay. I don’t want you to trip on ****ty reality and spill it again.” She pushes past me and murmurs quietly, “see you at Withs Enterprise, Jarett.”
I spin around on my heels, my head tilted up at the ceiling. I sigh and spin back around and grab a coffee.
As I go to leave Roxanne Wilson walks in and I smile and wave at her. (She was so cool, yet I was the opposite and was shut down at prom...I will get vengeance on Jason .)
She lifts an eyebrow and waves nervously back.
I hit my forehead as she goes and sits with her friends. (Stupid) When I step out, my phone starts to ring off the hook and I struggle to get it out of my back pocket.
“Uh-Uh, yeah, hello?” I say quickly putting it up to my ear.
“Hello. Is this Max Carrey?”
“Uh-yeah why?”
“This is Jason Rollins -”
I groan inside, of all the motherhubbards.
“-from the CPD and I have your fingerprints here from a crime scene and I’d like to see you for a few questions.”
I spin around on my heels again and whine with my mouth shut, making a humming noise. “Yeah,” I say, my voice straining.
“Thank you, Mr. Carrey. Can you make it down here at 10:00 this morning?”
“I- actually can’t, I have a college class to go to. I think 1:00 should work.”
“I’ll see you then and you may have to stay a while. Or come back a few times, whatever it’s just a long, um, ongoing process.”
“Yep, this day is a long and ongoing process, but yeah I’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you then Mr. Carrey.”
“Yeah,” I sigh and hang up, shoving my phone back down my pocket. I yell out of anger and frustration. I swear if I have to miss that launch (there may be an even worse crime).
I did not commit a crime, I tried to stop it (it didn’t go very well...I got my ass kicked). My main hope in life is that I will become a hero and yet that has not happened. It makes me pretty sad actually because that’s all I want to do is help. My dad was killed in a hit and run in the street. He was looking for me when I was running (I was sad and I was going to come back!) away from my problems. There was a robbery and he was just there and calling my name, then BLAM, he was killed… just… like… that.
Now I pretty much just keep a radio on in the dead of night and listen for any sort of robbery and I go and fight them. I come home with black eyes and bruised skin and my mom just watches because she knows she had no control over this.
So I walk down the street a few blocks, avoiding everyone and anyone. The buildings keep getting taller and taller as I pass big industries. Then I come to the college; a tall building made of brick. A few columns stand tall and strong like they are from Greece on the outside by the entrance. Plants hanging from the little planters hung on this long line. It’s a waste of line and plants if you ask me because it’s all just drooping and it looks like my life (depressing). My worst enemy is lined up across the front of it...stairs. I sprint up them, skipping a few steps and pushing through the double doors.
The halls are tall and long and endless and terrifying (especially when the jock-asses are all marching down the hall like they are going to kill me). So I sprint down them, swerving and almost missing the door into Dr. Morgan’s classroom. I am the first, like most days but Lance is always second. We are the Nerds (it’s capitalized because that is our title here. They don’t use names.)
Dr. Morgan stands at the center of the board, Madly scribbling and talking to herself. I set my stuff down in the front with a thud and she turns.
“Good morning!” she says cheerily.
“Last time I check this morning was like every other morning...terrible.,” I remark walking up to her side. I analyze her work and easily say, “closer to solving the time and space continuums that hold time travel?”
“Only every day, Max, only every day.” She smiles and hands me a piece of chalk. “Go ahead and do your thing.”
I scribble a few notes, getting lost in equations that branch from numerous other equations. I press too hard with the chalk at one point and a puff of dust is emitted towards me and part of the chalk falls to the floor, shattering.
“Like I said, today sucks,”
“Why’s that?” she says, setting down her chalk and turning to me, concern shining from her face.
I sigh and do the same. Crossing my arms, I list, “I woke up late, squirted toothpaste on my mirror, murdered my eyes with hairspray, was robbed, spilled coffee on Cassidy, and to top it all, CPD called and think I committed a crime so my going to the launch has been endangered.”
“Wow,” she says taken aback. Her eyes got tiny as she squinted behind her big round glasses and peers into my eyes (it seemed more like my soul). “Your eyes really are red. Did you wash it out correctly?”
“Yeah but like come on they were MURDERED with that! Haven’t you ever sprayed your eyes with that poison?” I exclaim.
“Well yeah-”
“Of course you have, I mean look at your hair, it’s like the baby of Jesus’ beard,” I rudely comment.
She looks down at the ground before glancing up at me.
“I’m sorry,” I rub my face, sliding my hand down from my forehead to my chin. “Today has just been, like,” I make an explosion gesture with my hands and she nods.
“I understand but just remember, I am not only your friend but your colleague and teacher.” She shakes her finger at me, teasingly.
“Yeah, well thank you, Lacey,” I say quietly, “and between you and me, I should be paying you to figure out that time travel stuff because these eyes…” I point in circles at them, “...they need help.”
We both laugh and she picks up her chalk again.
“JARRETT!” Lance’s voice booms from behind me.
“AYE MAN!” I hug him quickly before grabbing his hand, pulling apart, fist bumping and making a tiny explosion with my fingers.
“So Cass called me and said that you jacked up her shirt pretty bad and I had a vision that you were robbed so,” he holds my shoulders and stares into my eyes, “who do I need to kill.”
“Um, no one,” I say slowly, “last time I check we were trying to be heroes not like nuclear asylums in body form.”
“That’s right,” he agrees with sudden realization, pushing my shoulders back gently and bopping my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I remind him. “So when are you coming over so we can work on the s-u-i-t?” I try to disguise it.
“I do know how to spell Max,” Lacey Morgan comments over her shoulder with a chuckle but stern voice.
Ignoring her, Lance went on, “whenever the hell you have time cause like yeah.”
“I can’t today,” I say with disappointment. “I have to go to the CPD and th-”
THE CPD!” He yells before quieting as Lacey turns to us to glare at him with a death stare. “We’re doomed,” he said, stretching out the word.
“Yeah, it’s that Rollins guy too so like, he won’t stop after he gets a hunch.” I break to him.
He puts his hands on either side of his face and pulls down, his eyes turning white from the movement. “Oh God,” he groans, “not ROLLINS!”
I sigh and agree, “yeah.”
“So like, do you want me to come with you?”
“No, no, no, that’d make it super obvious.”
Lacey turns around and gazes at us, suspicion in her eyes.
I spin my finger around at her for her to turn around. She giggles weirdy and goes back to finding the solution to my life (I know, I really should be paying her for it...But I’m BROKE, DAMN IT!”
“So what do I do?”
“Just hang tight and I’ll fill you in. I think there will be a break but I will most likely have to go back again because come on it’s ROLLINS.”
“Alrighty then, you can go die in an awkward pain without me.”
“Good,” I say, concluding the conversation as more students come in and take their seats in the middle sections.
Everyone takes a seat and Ms. Morgan turns around with a smile. “Hello class, let’s get started shall we?”
Then my world enveloped me into a science-y and technical world.
A four hours later, 12:00 p.m. comes and we are all released. I wave goodbye to Lacey and turn to leave with Lance. By the time we walk out, every one of my class colleagues has left and we walk out alone.
“So I have an hour before I have to be there,” I say. “You wanna hit a food truck or something on the way down there cuz it’ll take a while to get there, I mean it’s all the way past my house.”
“Yeah,” Lance says, bringing his backpack around to the front of him. He unzips it and shoves his stuff messily in there. It’s a mess, probably a doorway to another dimension.
I wave in front of my nose and gasp regretfully, “Jesus boy, what do you have in there.”
“A man has to work out,” he uses.
“Sure, that’s why you have no muscles,” I bash.
“Rude,” he says with a sassy voice.
“Right, so telling the truth is a sin now?”
“It never was!”
“Oh yeah,” I challenge. “The only reason you ever go to the gym,” I push through one of the double doors, “is to watch the chicks in the swimming pool.”
He puts his hand on his chest in surprise. Taken aback, he fakes, “I would never waste $12 a month to go and watch chicks you could probably see at a strip club.”
“Wow, just more evidence that you did that.” I stop and lean against a column, putting my stuff into my backpack. I swing in back behind me and I just smirk.
Lance breaks out laughing and I join in lazily.
Both of us walk down the street towards El Taco (Yeah, just what I need...beans). So when we get there I tap on the little glass windows.
“Hola, welcome to El Taco. How can I help you,” I short little Mexican man asked, a short mustache the only true masculinity he will ever have.
“Uh, yeah, I’ll take the Locos No-nos Tacos,” I say (like No-nos? Hell yeah, tell that to my ass), laughing.
“Taco Supreme and a bean burrito,” my friend orders.
I nudge him in the ribs and he looks at me, “like I’m coming over tonight.”
“Yeah I know,” he laughs. (He understands cause after this place and anything {I mean anything} Mexican, it’s like CLEAR THE ROOM)
We walk away with our orders with he yells back at the truck, “Gracias!”
“Any time,” the man yells back at us with a genuine Mexican accent, leaning out of the truck, “come back soon!”
Walking, we unwrap it on the go style, took bites and immaturely spoke with food in our mouths.
“So like, I realize this superheroing thing isn’t really going so well, but like, I have an idea,” Lance truthfully states.
“Yeah, how are you going to keep my ass from being handed to me?” I say, food spraying forward and I quickly wipe it away (I tend to do this; another that explains my loneliness.)
“Well,” he says like he is going to be a full success. "We make you a mechanical suit.”
“Right,” I disagree subtly. “It’s a waste of dough and, hello, Imma just fail again.”
“No,” he says.
“Yeah,” I stand my ground.
“Come on,” he says, wolfing another bite of his burrito, spitting food as he talks, “you just say that because you had a bad day.”
“And got robbed and didn’t even try to think about stopping it and beating his ass.”
“Right,” he says defeated for only seconds. “Hey what if we form an alliance?”
“With who? Angel,” I grunt, almost choking on food. I cough and finish, “no, Lance, give it up.”
“Of course. And this is coming from the guy who never gives up,” he points out.
I throw away the wrapper to my taco in the next trash can on the busy street.
“Dude, like I am so freakin’ slow, there is no way that I could ever kick ass without getting my ass kicked.”
I check my phone and a message from Rollins shines up at me.
Rollins: Hey are you coming?
Me: What’s the rush?
Rollins: I have plans and I’m sure you do to so, you need to get here.
Me: So professional
I pocket it and look at Lance, “Yeah, that was the dutch bag, I have to go.”
“Alright,” he says and then points at me sternly, “we will be discussing this tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” I raise my hand and he grabs it. He lets go and we go our separate ways.
About twenty minutes later I stop in front of the CPD. It was a tall concrete building and his office (lab if you want to get technical) was at the very top. So I started my ascent through the doors and into the elevator. I pressed the top button (screwy if you ask me because his floor doesn’t have a button, so like it’s not my destiny.) There was classical elevator music playing and I just stare blankly up at the ceiling. The doors then opened and I groan loudly, some of the officers turn their heads and I just nod. Heading towards the stairs (like I said, worst enemy), one of the officers was leading a cuffed man away from the offices.
“YOU’LL REGRET STOPPING ME!” the man yells ( he looks like a pirate with that eye-patch and ratty hair. Like what; does his parrot nest in that mess?). “THE WORLD NEEDS FEAR!”
“I don’t think so, pal,” I mumble, going up the stairs. Making a left, I follow the hallway down a ways and look into the rooms as I pass. Then there he is in a room that was large and messy. I stand in the doorway (like a bad-ass) and say (like a bad-ass), “what do you want Rollins?”
“You were at a crime scene a few days ago...The Jewelers at Fifth and Main. Why?” He turns to me, a serious and angry (ass-hole-Jason kind of look. Yeah I know it well.) look on his face.
“I may have been there but I was just in the crossfire, I had nothing to do with it,” I try and cover up.
“The diamond, that they were trying to steal,” he puts his hands in his pockets and slowly walks towards me, confronting me like an ass, “it’s got your fingerprints on it.”
“That’s impossible.”
He tilts his head and suspiciously asks, “is it?”
“Yeah, it is Rollins.”
He hands me a piece of paper and explains, “that’s the print test and your DNA was on it. Why were you there Carrey?”
“Look, Rollins, I was their captive,” I lie. “They threatened my life if I told anyone but I guess we all die sometime.”
“Right,” he says, obviously not buying it.
“Right.”
“Not quite,” he contradicts. “Some of the guys there,” he lifts his eyebrows at me, “they have black eyes and tears in their skin. Your DNA was on a weapon there and your prints were on those injuries. Every one of them.” He walks right up to my face and raises his eyebrows, angry, wrinkles forming by his forehead and lips as his expression changes rapidly. “Your hiding something. What is it?”
“I am not hiding anything.”
“Right.” He says backing off (he’s so pissed, it’s so funny). “I’m going to check the surveillance cameras and if you lied to me, an officer, your punishment is about to become far worse.”
“Is this just a roasting session?”
He glares back at me.
“I have places to be, things to get ready for. I don’t need to waste my time here.”
“Fine, but if you leave now, you have to come back at 9:00 tonight.”
“Alright.” I spin around with and walk away, leaving him to snoop like the bitch he is.
On the ground floor, I jog out and down to the firehouse (you know the place I live...so queer).
My mom wasn’t home from her waitressing jobs, the only job she was able to get without a degree. So I just raid the fridge (yes, I ate like an hour ago but like, what the hell.) I pull out a box of frozen mac-n-cheese and toss it in the microwave. I stand, waiting for two minutes before stirring it and replacing it, heating it the rest of the way. When I pull it out next, I touch the side towards the bottom and I drop it onto the counter (What a SAVE!). I inhale sharply and shake my hand, urgently trying to cool them off.
After a few minutes, I try again and the sides have cooled off and I rip off the top wrapper. Steam rose easily and I salt and pepper it before moving into the living room. I flop down on the couch (almost spilling my mac- I swear to god I am jinxed) and struggle (what today is) to reach the remote. Pressing a few buttons, the TV comes on and I watch a bunch of commercials because apparently, all channels have teamed up to screw the viewers. So I just scope mac and cheese into my mouth and curse the TV with food in my mouth.
A few hours later I switch it off and go change into something nicer; a flannel and jeans (good enough). Cassidy texts me as I brush my hair for the second time today.
Cassidy: Hey are you coming?
Me: Uh, yeah.
Cassidy: You better not be late... or trippy >:(.
Me: I’ll try ~(>~<)~.
To try and stand by my word, I run out the door and down the street, pushing past people barely uttering an excuse me (they don’t give a crap so why even bother, right?).
Withs Enterprise was crowded by protesters and science freaks (like me, I’m just a cooler version). So I push past them too, all of them chanting against Jasmine Ross (the mastermind). I go through the glass double doors and text Cassidy again.
Me: Hey, where are you?
Cassidy: Up front, by that big Withs Enterprise sign.
Me: You realize those signs are literally everywhere right?
Cassidy: Is there one on your face because if not, they aren’t everywhere.
Me: (^_^) *whatever*
I walk towards the front, a small opening between the crowds I used as a walkway. She was up front, right behind (UGH you guessed it, Jason Rollins ). I sigh but shake off the feeling of wanting to murder that dutch-bag (bolsa holandesa, in spanish) and went over to stand next to her.
“Hey,” I say.
“Man, this is about the most boring thing I have ever been to, you are lucky we are friends.”
(Right, friends.) I roll my eyes and reply, “yeah, well get ready. With the crowds out there and the science geeks in here, it’ll get awesome.”
“You lost me at science geeks, I mean how the hell could a bunch of science geeks make things awesome?” She asks doing jazz hands to the word ‘awesome.’
“Just trust me,” I say, looking her over for the first time tonight.
She wore a black dress and dark red lipstick like she was going to a fancy club (honestly I looked bad). Her hair was down, which was a surprising first since we were out of school, and honestly, it looked really nice. The only thing that didn’t really work with her look were (wait for it) the crocs (not the ordinary clunky pieces of junk, but the tennis shoe ones).
“You look really nice.”
“Thank you. It’s so much better than a coffee stained shirt.”
“I’m never going to live that down am I?”
“Not a chance.” She says, a smile creeping across her face. “That was my favorite ****ing work shirt, too!”
“I said I was sorry,” I say innocently.
“Tell that to the shirt I had to donate hell’s clothing.”
“That’s a thing?”
“No, but it should be so that my shirt can go there,” she says cleverly. “Also-”
“Hello everyone.” Doctor Ross' voice called over the people.
I put my finger to her lips and wavering, I whisper, “shhhhhhhhh...it’s her”
She slaps my hand and whispers, “don’t you shush me.”
I snap back in a trance, “I shushed you.”
Doctor Ross stood proudly and confidently in front of the podium wearing a long green dress and shawl. I giggle girlishly, not bothering to clear my voice afterward. “The future is coming and faster than all of you think. Tonight it changes….tonight we make history.”
Cassidy pats my back and I realize that I am looking at Ross like a child looks at Build-A-Bear-Workshop.
I straighten up and tuck my hands into my pockets.
She continues, “Are you ready for the future, for medical advancements that have only ever been just a thought for years?”
A man starts quickly walking towards us from the very front and he snags the woman (Jason ’s step-sister [like Imma believe that]) next to Jason . He snatched her messenger bag and makes a break for it, Jason’s hand just grazing his jacket. I look at Cass and tap her, “I’ll be back.”
“What the **** Jarett?”
“I’m sorry, I gotta go,” I excuse, walking backward quickly before turning and sprinting after them. I fling off my shirt, revealing my epic hero suit under it tapped the button on the wrist. The bottom half of the suit covers my pants and I kick off my shoes, spandex boots forming over my feet and I keep running. A hood and mask extend from the neck of the suit, forming over my face and the earpieces turn on.
Lance quickly responds, “What do we got?”
“We got a runner, stolen bag, and Jason Rollins and I are on it.”
Alright, I’m into the cams, they took a left up there by the exit.”
I swing a left, pushing past awestruck people and slammed through the doors.
“Activate the wings,” I voice command the suit.
Mechanical wings spread off from my back and they start to spark.
“Come on baby, WORK!” I yell and as soon as I say it, they fire up, flying me high into the air. “WOO-HOOO!” I spread my arms out, swerving through the alleys, Lance constantly telling me what direction to turn. It gets a bit darker in the back alleys and I click the button that was beside my forehead and a glass (eye shield) came down in front of my eyes and lite up the alley for me with night vision.
“Left...Right….Right….Left...Left again...Right! Make a right damn it!”
I swerve again and hear Jason and the man yelling. I fly above them before dropping and kicking the kid in the chest as I came down.
“Bitch don’t mess with me!”
The kid struggles to get up and I shoot him with a bold look. He holds out his fists and tries to hit me in my face. He hits the night vision eye shields and I smirk, (man am I glad I made these with that unbreakable glass) “you have no idea what you’re getting into kid.”
Jason stands back, letting me duel with the dweeb.
I swing and hit his lower lip, leaving him in a light-shocked daze and I swing him around, kicking him in the middle of his back. To this he falls and groans, his arms flailing out. I kneel down next to him and snatch up the bag, and I slug him in his jawline, knocking him out.
Bright red and blue lights light up the darkening alley and a blonde, blocky cop jumps out. “Jason, what’s happening?”
“I don’t know, but we got the criminal.”
The blonde cop comes over, looking down at the victim and then at me. “Thanks, man,” he stretches out his hand. I take it, but as soon as I do my arm is twisted to the middle of my back. He takes the other one and cuffs it to my hand that remains in excruciating pain. “But we don’t do vigilantes in this town.”
“DUDE WE GOT COPS!”
“Who are you talking to.”
“Uh, no one, just myself....” I look back at him, grimacing before sighing in defeat, “that doesn’t help does it?”
He shakes his head saying shortly and concisely, “no.”
Jason looks at me and as the blonde ass-hole bends me over, he jerkishly says (like I’m five!), “just leave the fighting to the real cops.”
I roll my eyes and smirk, “yeah, you weren’t doing to hot yourself you wimp.”
He straightens up and frowns angrily.
They lead me over to the cop car and lower my head, shoving me into the car.
The ride there sucked, getting out sucked and yeah just about everything sucked.
They took me out and up into the damn building and I went up there yelling and straining for my phone call.
“What the hell do you want?”
“I thought you guys were smart and yet you still don’t get that all I want is my phone call,” I say loudly at first before quieting down.
“You want your phone call? Why don’t you talk into your earpiece, huh?”
“I don’t have one.”
He comes over and bends down, squinting down at the side of my head.
“You look really funny squinting like that.”
He ignores me but rips out the earpiece, tossing it in the trash.
Jason comes over and presses the button on my suit. I groan and say, “the whole point of having a suit, with a mask, is so no one knows who I am.”
It undoes itself anyways, the mask folding back into the neck of the suit.
He looks at me with disappointment and I lean my head back with a drunk (I have that effect) smile, “yeah, I know. I am so great at the secret identity part of it.”
“Yeah, I never would have expected it to be you under that mask. I mean the shy and mysterious way that you act...that explains it, but the masculinity with it that...that is harder to explain.”
I shift in my cuffs and smile at him, “yeah I never realized how slow you were until I went to save your ass.”
“Just- just shut up.”
The woman, Jessie Kay (there’s a picture of her on Joe’s desk so I just know.), walks out of the elevators and sits down on the edge of the desk by Jason. “Max? What the hell? You look like you jumped out of the comic books.”
“Yeah, well, at least I know how to kick ass compared to Mr. Weak-Legs over here.”
“Jason ...would you like to explain.”
“He’s a vigilante, Jessie, we had to bring him in.”
“Jason you of all people know that this is wrong. He could be Chicago’s beacon of hope, he’s something you, of all people, should believe in,” she roasts him.
With an over exaggerated expression of misunderstanding and rage he continues, “he isn’t capable, Jessie. He could get himself killed.”
“He is very capable.” She looks at me and says, “I don’t want to sound like a stalker, but I have watched from the moment that you became this,” she motions towards me. “...this city has changed. Crime has dropped. Cops, such as detective pretty boy, should be thanking you for what you’re doing.”
I nod and mention, “actually he did, and he arrested me at the same time so.”
“You get what I mean,” she says waving it off.
“Well, if that’s the case, I think Jason has gotten his answers to that case and I should be done here.”
Jason walks over and lifts my hands from behind the chair by the chain between cuffs. He leads me, with Jessie following like an angry bull behind him, up to his lab area.
It was still messy and when he brings me up there he unlocks my cuffs and tosses them onto the table. I stretch and rub my wrists.
“We still need to talk,” Jason says turning on the T.V to the news channel.
“What’s there to talk about Rollins, I’m a hero and I’ll retire if that’s what is needed,” I lie.
“You don’t need to retire,” he says. He turns and walks over to me with a forgiving, regretful face. “All my life, I’ve believed in the impossible...in heros...like you.”
Jessie nods and rests her back on one of the pillars.
“I think I can help you.”
“You want to help me? All my life I thought we were rivals,” I jerkishly comeback.
“Do you want my help or not?” he asks irritably, crossing his arms and glaring at me.
“I have help.”
“Really, who do you have?”
“A friend,” I say blankly.
“Even, with him, I can keep you out of here and on the CPD’s side…” he says, extending his hand. “If you’ll let me.”
Jessie looks at me with eyes like diamonds and I look back to Jason.
“Fine, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“Okay.”
The news becomes brighter on the screen and a rushed and urgent voice comes on. An Asian female stands in the rain, an umbrella sheltering her. A-CORP was in the background and she starts to warn, “Dr. Ross seems to have put too much faith into her infamous nuclear invention. Now she claims that they are having technical difficulties with the project soon to be revealed and people are beginning to leave. With the impending storm and the difficulties, we are in for something beyond our comprehension.”
I run to the nearest phone and dial Cassidy’s number. When she picks up, I load her in on information. “Cass you need to get out of there NOW! I can’t really explain it but there could be an explosion. Dark matter could be spread throughout that facility and you could die.”
“Dude, J, I left after ten minutes when I realized you ditched me.”
“Oh thank god.”
“Yeah, well, that was a ****ing waste of very valuable time. I could have been eating pizza….AND I LOVE PIZZA.”
“Alright, I get it and I’m sorry I left like that but I’ll try to explain later. I’m at the CPD right now. I gotta go.” I hang up and look out the window.
Jason began to open up the skylight, cranking the long chains that dangle from the ceiling. There was a crash of thunder and then something like it only worse. A bright orange cloud of unknown substances and matter blew into the sky from the labs. I held my breath, my heart stopping as a thunderous roar waved through to us.
Jason turns sharply to look out the window from afar. Then he yells “JESSIE GET DOWN.”
She ducks under the table and I turn to him.
A lightning bolt came through the sky light and struck Jason in the chest, flinging him across the room into the large shelving unit. Everything falls with a crash and before I know it, a sharp pain stings my chest and I feel stunned and in another world.
Jessie is screaming and reaching towards an unconscious, and probably dead, Jason .
I stumble backwards into the window, shattering the window behind me and fall, several stories to the concrete sidewalk below, shattering my spine in what felt like a million pieces. Then everything went blank.
