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Chapter 15
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Mai was in the process of gingerly tearing a corner of her ketchup packet when Tatiana sat down with a tray of food across the table from her. They were in the food court in the mall having lunch, and Tatiana had unsurprisingly grabbed enough food for two people. Mai remembered the feeling from two decades ago.

“Still no word back from her?” Mai asked.

“Nope,” said Tatiana. “Maybe she fell asleep again.”

“Possibly. If that turns out to be the case, then I guess we can skip the last place we had planned for today.”

“I suppose. Wait, the last one planned.”

“What?”

“Let’s spend the rest of our day at the spa. It’ll be great.”

“You’re kidding, right? Although, I suppose it’s been a while, and I could use a good foot massage.”

“Eh?” Tatiana was incorrigible, like everyone else was in that supergroup. Maybe that was part of why Judy spent so much time with them.

Someone turned up the speakers on the nearby television screens. Mai could see why. A truck with a giant gorilla attached to the back passed in the distance behind a reporter, whose attention was pointed in its direction a second later. Meanwhile, there was something else moving in the distance. It was large and white, but it was no cloud.

“Paragon City is at it again,” Mai said.

Finally, a text message came.

Ohm Wire and Bucht tag-teamed against the two villains they now fought on the back of the truck. She couldn’t remember which villain this was who wanted her dead, but she fought anyways.

Meanwhile, Judy sent a message to Mai and was now looking for a way to take a good look at the bomb beneath them.

The villain who had come after her was a terrible fighter, even as her limbs turned into mud that flowed around Ohm Wire. This was made worse for the villain when the mud dried instantly, because streams of water came out of it and entered the vicinity of Bucht’s control.

“Yeah,” Ohm Wire said, “smart. I don’t think fighting dirty will get you anywhere.”

Watching the villain scramble to reattach parts of herself should have been too grotesque, but Ohm Wire found herself wanting to laugh at the villain before she and Bucht switched off their opponents again.

There was a ringing sound while they fought. Ohm Wire ignored it. She hoped it wasn’t the bomb. She saw the wet spot on the other villain’s chest, and she prepared an electric punch that she aimed straight for that spot.

“Everyone shut up a second!” a girl shouted.

Ohm Wire’s fist stopped inches from that wet spot. Everyone stopped moving to look at Judy, who was answering her phone.

“Yes, Mom? Yeah, I’m taking a walk outside. No, I’m fine. Ugh, Mom . . . Yes, Mom. Yes, Mom.”

The heroes and villains eyed one another while she repeated herself a few more times.

“Shit. I’ll be right back. Call you later.” Judy hung up. “Duck!” She dropped.

A sound akin to a jet engine on drugs—at least that was the best Ohm Wire could come up with—boomed above the truck again. She could see its source this time, and Ohm Wire did as Judy suggested.

The truck moved quickly to the left.

He couldn’t hold on much longer, and Mortar could see that the beacon was on its way to colliding with something mildly ridiculous from behind. He swung his arms from side to side, hoping to get the attention of whomever was driving that truck.

“Get out of the way! Get out of the way!”

The truck was moving, but he wasn’t sure it was because of anything he did.

Mortar Mage got on his feet and tried to steady himself. This was going to be a tricky landing with or without the use of magic, and he didn’t bring any gadgets to help with this matter. The object passed some costumed figures before the front tip broke through the back of the truck’s cabin.

His attempt to grab the top edge of the truck wasn’t as successful as he had hoped. He would have called it a failure if it didn’t at least slow him down. Mortar Mage slid back onto the front end of the pearly white beacon, and then toppled over to his right and caught the bottom of the windshield with his hands, his legs struggling to stay on the object.

“Dock?” he said, recognizing the driver.

Vanni smacked the table and got up.

“I show you more kindness than you have any right to have, and this is how you repay me?” he said. “I should have you both removed for this out . . . rage . . .”

There was a sound at first, and then the unbelievable sight of something large coming straight for the pizzeria. No one sitting out here had any escape unless they were fast enough to jump into the sea behind him.

Once the object had passed overhead and crashed into the passenger side of the truck, Ohm Wire got up and rushed the villain who had come for her. She spun around with her dance training, and kicked with all the spite she’d learned as a teenager.

She sent the villain flying into a cart selling produce on the sidewalk. It might have been leafy greens, and the owner might have been screaming something. Ohm Wire couldn’t tell at this point. She had more important things on her mind at the moment.

However, another villain—one wearing a mechanical power suit—landed feet-first on the roof of the truck’s cabin.

“Ah, Mortar Mage,” said the new villain in a triumphant tone. The metallic filter in his voice was apparent from where Ohm Wire was crouching. “Remember me?”

Mortar, who was exerting himself at this point to stay on the roof of the truck, said, "No, not really." His reply resulted in a growl from the armored villain.

The first villain was fighting Bucht again, and the hero wasn’t doing too well without his element. Ohm Wire looked both ways trying to decide which villain to deal with.

Behind them all, sirens blared as police vehicles strove to keep up with the gorilla and truck both. How was that thing even staying where it was?

Suddenly, the villain in the power suit flew backward and skidded against the surface that seemingly everyone was standing on. War Lagoon touched down. He remained focused on the villain, who was getting back up.

“Some party,” War Lagoon said.

“Uh, guys?” called Mortar.

Dock shouted, “We’re going to crash!”

It was then Ohm Wire realized that they were going downhill toward a gated patio area belonging to a restaurant. She braced herself.

Mary heard the truck before she saw it. She heard someone say, “War, brake right. Now!” There was a sudden appearance of a dark tentacle on one side, and the truck swung around the corner at the last possible second to continue along the next street. It took several costumed people and a balloon with it.

“That looks fun,” Mary remarked.

A cop car crashed into the far corner up the street, and more were piling up, leaving the truck and everyone on it for the time being.

Vanni’s eye was twitching nervously at this point, no doubt caught somewhere between his ongoing anger with Walter and the brush he just had with death.

Now that he had more control over his momentum, Mortar Mage flew over the roof of the truck and landed on the other side where the fighting was going on. He helped Judy up to her feet.

“Mortar, I . . .” she began

“Never mind, never mind,” Mortar Mage said, trying to console her for whatever ordeal she was going through rather than berate her for going against a doctor's orders. “We can talk about it later.”

“There’s a bomb under here. It’s timed to go off in two minutes.”

Dock honked the truck’s horn and yelled for people to get out of the street.

“Ah,” Mortar said. Then the pearly beacon glowed. If he was right about what this thing was then that was a bad sign, made even worse if the bomb went off with it full of energy. He crouched to try taking care of the bomb.

An explosion went off then. It took Mortar Mage a second to realize that it wasn’t the truck, and another to see an additional explosion in the street. They were going off like plumes more than anything. He looked ahead.

There was a man ahead on the road. His hand rested on the pavement, his teeth were bare, and there was a sickly, yellow light drawing lines up the man’s arms.

The truck was going to run him over if the man didn’t knock it over first, or set off the bomb trying.

Ohm Wire said, “I’d ask if the whole city’s gone completely mental, but I think that’s kind of obvious.”

A third explosion came, and then a fourth.

While they didn’t have long, Mortar scanned the surroundings and saw a fire hydrant further up the road from the fool who was trying to kill them all.

“Bucht!” Mortar called. “Get ready.”

“Get ready for what?” the exhausted hero asked. The next second, one of the villains got a good hit in on him using a left hook engulfed in flames.

“Judy and Ohm Wire, take care of the villain he’s fighting.”

War Lagoon was already fighting the one in the power suit, and they were close to even when it came to combat. War was using his powers to contain the laser blasts from the suit.

Mortar Mage turned again used a concentrated fire spell to cleave the side of the fire hydrant. He hoped that Bucht could catch on quick. When the fifth and sixth explosions went off, water shot out from the hydrant.

Bucht reached over the top of the truck then, and his arms directed the flow of the water. It knocked the man off of the street with ease, and the water then arched over the truck in time for the vehicle to pass under it, safe from the massive pressure. The jet of water swung inward at precisely the right time to strike the suited villain and yank him off of the truck. Mortar’s last vision of the villain was the water pinning him down against the sidewalk before the hydrant fell out of Bucht’s range.

It was then that Mortar dropped down and used his magic to temporarily dissect the truck while the girls finished apprehending the last villain aboard the truck. He needed a better view and access to the device underneath, and the short-range portal he made was perfect for what he was trying to do.

He found the bomb. Twenty seconds remained.

At least it looked like a simple disarm. Mortar Mage reached in and worked to undo the bomb. He was two whole wires from being done with it when he heard Dock shout:

“Whoa, shit! Hold on, everyone!”

The truck swerved and turned in several directions, and the ride was only getting bumpier as the clock wound down ever closer to zero. It was do or die.

“Look,” Maryann said, “if the two of you could both sit down and stop acting like little boys who are comparing dick sizes, we all came here for good reason.”

“I have a business to run,” said Vanni, turning his gaze to Mary, but still standing.

“So I’ve noticed. Here.” She dug through her tote bag and grabbed the folder that Mary had brought with her for this occasion. Then she slapped it down against the table surface.

“What is this? Some sort of blackmail?”

“This is your son, Mr. Rivano.”

“My son? What have you done with my son?”

He flipped open the folder and examined the photographs and papers. His expression, wedged between angry and indignant, shifted with every page.

Mary asked, “Did you never even notice he was gone?”

Vanni said, “He was a big boy. He could take care of himself. My son often went on excursions and got out of trouble in the end. What is this about him being some sort of costumed hero? Where is he now?”

“Four months ago, many young men and women dropped from the sky. Until four months ago, he fought against crime wherever he went. There was such a mass influx of patients being teleported from danger into hospital care for heroes, but he didn’t make it from the outer range of the field. He was among the first to be identified, and I have been trying since I heard about his case to contact you.”

“If this is the least bit true, then this should have come to me sooner.” His voice cracked and still boiled with anger, but it was calmer now.

“Yes, it should have.” She stared at the mob boss in the eye. There were no more lies to be told here today, and no amount of intimidation that could make her step down from finally getting this truth out to the right person.

The mob boss fell in his chair. “How could it have come to this? How could anything you tell me be true?”

“Inside that folder, you will find the original copy of the letter he was working on, that was meant for you.” Every line and scribble was there. Every sign of a rough draft mixed with emotion poured from it. “It was found inside his costume when he was examined. You will also find details of his deeds. The media was never told for fear of how they would treat it. Your people were contacted time and again, but to no avail because you did not wish to be disturbed.”

“Mary,” said Walter.

“You have a business to run, I get it. But—“

“My own children should have come first,” Vanni said. “Now I have only my business, and someone wants to take that away.”

Walter said, “Mr. Rivano, no one wants to take away the services you provide. It’s not the 1920s, nor the time when your family took over. You can let a man follow his dream to be a protector of those he cares about. You don’t need to draw lines in the sand to make others show their respect.”

“No. No, I don’t suppose it works that way.” Vanni closed the folder. He stood up again and took the folder. “Thank you for bringing this to me. You don’t mind if I take this, do you?”

“It’s your copy,” said Mary.

Vanni nodded. He turned to the main building with a smile and back away from it. “This is a good place. Order whatever you like. It’s on me. I think I have a fundraiser to attend tonight. Come on, boys.” He departed from their luncheon, trembling and clearly resisting a good cry.

“Thank you, Walter. I don’t know how you arranged this, but thank you.”

Walter repositioned himself as one of the servers approached, so now he was opposite to Mary. “I listen. I saw an opportunity, and remembered that I listen.”