The party had died down by then, daylight was but a few hours away as birds chirped and sang their early morning ballads for wretches like us. Most everyone was sleeping soundly, some outside others in their cabins. Andre laid on his back on the ground, his snout scrunched as his head twitched from side to side, tiny whines escaped his deadly jaws. Henry was upside down, his legs were on the table as his back inclined backwards, the dirty wide-brimmed straw hat he always wore covered his face. Khan was much the same, except he rested his head and muscular arms over the round wooden table. Isaiah was nowhere to be seen in the night's shadow.
The drinking had stopped, and me and Pharrel sat by the edge of the cliff that was right next to our campsite, and we looked over to the horizon peacefully. Our group found this abandoned “summer camp”, full of cabins and buildings used for whatever they used to do here. Good place to lay low, Heroes hated the wilderness.
In the far distance of many miles, past the thick forests of deadwood and plains of garbage was the biggest dump of all time:
New Geweld.
Cities all looked the same, no matter where you went in America. We moved around a lot, but we never made it this far east, not even before my time. Civilization was funny to me. So much wealth, so much power, millions of people all in one place working together to make one giant machine work every single day of the year, until the new one starts and they do it over again. One big wheel that needed to move a specific way otherwise collapse would be imminent. Some people say that's inspiring, but I think it's hilarious.
Pharrel on the other hand was not as opinionated as I was, rather he looked at the shimmering lights coming from the skyscrapers and blimps with fondness.
I asked if he liked cities, and he told me, “New Geweld is just like any other city… opportunity, adventure, money… shiny bright lights. I just want to grab it ya know? I like looking at them.”
“Cities are dangerous.” I said scratching at my neck.
He gave me a sad but knowing look as he patted me on the shoulder.
“No kidding.” he said to me, “We ain’t had much time to talk recently but I gotta ask, what was up with that rabbit chick? What was her name… Jackie-Pow-Pow?”
I laughed, momentarily distracted by the itchiness that suddenly appeared, “Close, it was Power-Jack.” I answered with a sigh. I didn’t drink much, I knew my limits, and I was very much not a heavy weight in any regards. And because of that I wasn’t tired at all. We were deep in enemy territory, far from real open country.
“She was like a pink blur. It was hard to see her in action. Her movements were exactly like a jackrabbit, only even faster, like a cannonball in human form! Her fists were as tough as diamonds, her body as nimble as a high flying flag! I’m not even sure she's part rabbit, maybe she is or maybe not. Maybe she has even more abilities because I don’t recall ever seeing a bunny create blasts equal to a hurricane with the flick of their fingers!!! Well paws… but in her case its fingers… you feel me?” I added frantically.
“Yeah ok, but what happened?”
I looked at him deadpanned, “I bested her. It’s that simple. I won, she lost.” and in that moment some creature out in the distance gave a haunting howl, “I got away.”
A moment of tension passed, yet the forest critters didn’t care. A soundtrack of owls, crickets, and coyotes to set the mood. I preferred nature anyways, human beings proved to be more complicated and a lot more cruel.
“She's not… dead, though.” Pharrel’s voice was not accusatory, since this was a fact, Power-Jack was still alive and doing her work in New Geweld. But he was running his mouth without thinking.
“Are you trying to say something?!” I asked angrily.
He straightened up and crossed his arms, “Yes! What I’m trying to say is why didn’t you kill her?”
Ah yes. Why did I spare that woman? Partly because she was trapped and had no way to harm me. Also partly because I read up on her when we first got here.
Power-Jack: upstart Superhero fresh out of the one and only Godspeed Academy. She spent a year cleaning up the streets of Vino Heights, which appeared to be her hunting ground. She never left it, since she was the only Hero stationed there, it was rather odd. But what was more odd was how safe her neighborhood was in comparison to the rest of the city. There were at least twenty or so Heroes per district not counting police departments, and each one was uniquely terrible and impoverished from the rest. The financial district was an exception, not many law enforcement there in the first place which was unwise for them in hindsight. How were the safest neighborhoods in this city filled with all manner of human filth, the ones with the least amount of surveillance?
At first when I saw those stats and heard stories of her helping people, I assumed she wouldn’t have even showed up to intervene with the bank robbery in the first place. I forced all the employees outside, hostages were not a part of the plan.
I wanted to see her again and ask her what the secret was. How did she keep people safe, in a place like New Geweld?
I told all of this to Pharrel of course, and he didn’t appear to know what to make of it.
“Walt… we are Supervillains. I thought you grew past this.”
The golden journal flashed my mind, a melancholic reminder of old dreams and ambitions that were crudely denied.
“You’re a Supervillain, Andy is a Supervillain; Ina, Khan, Chief, Isaiah, even fat old Henry. I don’t have any powers. Why even bring up the stupid diary in the first place if it's such a goddamn problem?” I countered with resolve.
“You’re one of us, Scrap-rat.” he pleaded.
“I’m not saying otherwise… it just- I don’t know….” Pharrel then placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. Somehow I found the words I wanted to say for a long time.
I looked at him dead in his flame colored eyes and said, “Nobody wants us, and for good reason. If we want to make a move in this town we have to make friends. And to me… it seems like Power-Jack can be that friend!”
Pharrel caressed his goatee in contemplation for a moment, and he asked, “You sure she didn’t scramble your brain?”
I wasn’t going anywhere with him. Pharrel was a good friend and a great fighter, but he struggled with self-awareness, like most of the other Apostates.
The rabbit didn’t work with the police, in fact, I had a sneaking suspicion that she outright disliked them. Within a year of her being active she did not have a headquarters constructed anywhere in the city, no merchandise deals, no promotional movies or shows, she wasn’t even endorsing political candidates, and her being a fed was out of the question. So that only left one possible avenue: she was involved with crime herself. But even that sounded absurd. Based on the way she spoke, she was either:
A full of herself corrupt Superhero that was really good at acting and will disregard the law at the sight of cash and blood.
Or.
A woman that truly believed in doing right by her community and used her powers to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Whichever one it is doesn’t matter because she’d have to be insane regardless. It was risky, but we had to figure something out. We have been hunted by the AVIA for too long now. We’ve taken casualties in the past, our numbers got smaller by the years and months. I had nightmares of me waking up one morning and everyone would be gone without a trace.
“Look man.” began Pharrel, anxiety written on his face, “You did good with the bank… really good. I trust you and if it was just you and me then fuck yeah lets go make friends with the cape.” he then stopped as if he saw a ghost and turned his attention to the ground, “But I think you should shut up every now and then.”
I couldn’t contain my outrage, I started yelling at him, “Huh? Really?! Is that all you can tell me you jackass? Telling me to shut up when all I’m doing is giving suggestions!”
He winced at my outburst, raising his hands in surrender, quietly saying “I warned you.”
From behind me I felt the grumble of something very large and old.
“Lower your voice, little uns’, the forest is trying to sleep.”
Andre was standing right behind me and must have been listening to the conversation for who knows how long and only made himself known to try and get Pharrel to shut me up.
We were about to run back to our cabins and call it a late night but Andre yanked us back from our clothes and sat down with us.
“So, you fellas makin’ plans that the rest of us don’t know?” Andre asked in a mocking tone.
Pharrel was stammering big time now, trying to avoid any of the scolding the big guy had in his arsenal, “Andy! My good friend, my buddy, my pal; we weren’t making plans just… it's the brew! Me and Walt drank a bit too much and you know little ole’ Scrap-rat, since the day we got him he’s always got a crazy plot cooking up in that massive dome of his. He wants to open up a botanical garden… could you believe that? Sure if plants fed on cauca, then I say go for it.”
Ignoring such a blatant lie, I scoffed at the mention of my ‘dome’ and the fact he wanted to pin the blame entirely on me. He asked in the first place!
Andre then raised an eyebrow and said, “Pharrel… I have super-hearing, remember?”
My fiery friend then let out an unceremonious burp and said, “Ok I lied. I drank too much.”
That was enough to get a chuckle out of me and a small grin from Andre. He then told Pharrel to go get some rest and he did so without argument. That just left the two of us: the rat and the wolf. There was a subtle breeze in the sky that did cause me some discomfort. Andre’s fur looked very appealing then but I refused to nuzzle up next to him as I did when I was younger. Instead I opted to pet his arm, slowly as we both shared the bright vista.
“Mind telling me what that was about?” he asked thoughtfully.
I didn’t respond immediately, finding myself too preoccupied with petting him and figuring out exactly how to word my next thoughts without sounding like a complete fool.
I finally broke the silence, “It was just an idea.” I said hoping he’d leave it at that.
“That idea almost killed you.” Andre uttered low.
“We need allies, people we can work with.”
“We have that already. This gang, it's all we need, it's all you need.”
I stop myself from raising my voice, “What do we do besides kill, steal, and lie? We are more than this.”
“We live free, freer than most.” Andre said dismissively as he pointed towards New Geweld.
One truth.
One lie.
“You only say that because the Chief says it, have you ever had an original thought in your life?”
His eyes narrowed, “Watch it, boy.”
I didn’t mean to come off as disrespectful, so I apologized, and then I said, “Chief told me stories about how it was back then. You guys stole from those who had enough and gave to the needy. Why haven’t we been doing that?”
Andres' ears drooped down slowly like wilting flowers. His eyes shined thoughtfully as he let out a long huff, one worthy to be a part of the many air currents that made up the atmosphere. He was so sad to look at sometimes. If he wasn’t on a job with the rest he’d be out doing who knows what. Claudia said he had an adventurous spirit, even before I was born Andre liked to wander off from time to time, although a less dignified explanation from Isaiah reasoned that he was part wild dog, and at the end of the day a wild dog’s true home was the road.
Andy was no dog, he was my friend.
He raised his hand and ruffled my hair, “Things change.” He said quietly, “One minute you’re doing one thing, fighting for something true and good….”
The money we earned during our raids was stored somewhere hidden only Chief and Claudia know. We only took out from it in instances of emergency. The amount of money we actually had must have been in the hundreds of millions.
His head turned to me and I sensed an understanding that was unique to him, “You were right about that little un’, the world is better off without us. No more monsters, no more outlaws, no more ‘Supervillains’ or whatever the hell you humans call it. I feel a cage being wrapped around me, a sky that darkens by the minute, a forever night. What I’ve done won’t be forgiven or forgotten.”
“It's not fair. This life chose us.” I said as my eyes became moist.
He then let out a soft bitter laugh, only to see a very genuine smile stretch across his snout. It was home, being with him, being with the Apostates.
“Why are you so dramatic? It ain't too bad. Say, why don’t you write more in that golden book you got. You faced your first Superhero and lived to tell the tale, go work on your draftsmanship. And who knows, maybe it’ll come in handy in the future.” Andre said as he nudged my side playfully.
The one thing that set Andre aside from Chief. He was more real, less grand.
“You don’t think it's silly?” I asked, not daring to meet his caring gaze.
“Very silly! But it's even more silly they said no to you.” he then got up and stretched his limbs, to then let out a bellowing yawn.
I hummed as I rubbed the nub on my left arm, afraid that once again Andre would refuse to give me a straight answer. But fortunately he did say something,
“Little un’, I never wanted you to ride alongside us in the first place. You weren’t meant for… marauding. You are intelligent, brave, and loyal. You have done more than any of us combined in the last year or so. I will speak to the Chief and Claudia about this connection you wish to make and perhaps you could speak as well.”
After that we decided it was time to go hit the hay, it was a new day with new possibilities, and the inevitable hangover paired up with it. Chief would want everyone to be out and moving after the night's recreation. Usually Chief, Khan, Pharrel, and Isaiah would go to the city or town we camp near to and scope out some leads, sniff out anything rotten or sweet. Claudia, Ina, and I experimented and scavenged for resources that we needed, new gadgets and other advantages we crafted to even the odds. Henry would do things every once in a while, or if you kicked him.
As I walked towards my cabin, morning air entered my lungs and the distant sun peaking bashfully over the watery horizon, Andre had one more thing to say as he called out to me.
I turned to see the morning sun bask around his tall and powerful figure, the yellow glow added a warmth to what he would say to me,
“There ain’t no shame in fighting for a better world.”
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