Superhero Adventures, UK Style

It was a couple of days after the rescue and The Police and AEGIS were still in full investigation mode. SOCO (scenes of Crime Officers) were still scurrying in and around the historical Battersea tube station looking for any evidence of how the final two victims had been killed and by whom. The why was unfortunately already known! They were also unsure how many others had died and if so, where their bodies were.

Five known deaths (including the three from the warehouse) had elevated The Professor and his team to the status of serial killers, even if no-one was willing to say who had carried out the actual deeds; they were all guilty of murder by association.

Sam was idling around the police cordon near the Incident Cabin, speaking to important looking detectives with large coats, shiny badges (or at least their warrant cards that he had to imagine as to his disappointment they weren’t on display) and small notebooks.

He’d been asked to come back that morning to go over his statement and walk the officers through the scene now that SOCO had carried out their initial sweep for evidence.

As he was dismissed momentarily, Sam took the opportunity to go and grab a steaming coffee from the back of a support vehicle and chat with some of the other hangers-on. As he did, his tablet flashed and vibrated in his pocket. After the Battersea incident had been broadcast across the media (in large part due to Adam and Tony selling on selected stills and video clips from the surveillance Drone), Sam knew that The Balance could expect to be contacted by almost anyone on their public number; reporters, trolls, traceless revenge oaths from petty criminals trying to make a name for themselves, but he was surprised to quickly read it was another lead from Mary.

She tipped them off that the informant Reni Moriarty should be coming into the Challenger-Wildeman base for further tests quite soon. “It would be good Sam, if you could be there and possibly use your powers of persuasion to try to discover just how he got so close to the Professor’s operations, and maybe who he was trying to ring when we started releasing the prisoners from the tanks in the abandoned station. Was he trying to report-back to someone?”

Good advice and curiosity aside, he wasn’t one to turn down good ideas… He made his typical excuses and tried to make his exit. While doing so he contacted the ‘Family’ to find out when Reni was due back in for further testing and discovered he was there now for further gene-testing before they risked exposing him to the Professor’s ‘cure’. Great, he asked them to hold him there and he’d be there as soon as possible.

He then typed out a quick message to The Balance. “Heading to the Challengers’, following our stormer test subjects and the new antidote. Don’t wait up. Sam”

As he departed, he leapt up and beat his wings so as to try and cause as little of a fuss or disturbance as he could. He thought about who could have tipped Reni off. The Professor? Would seem to be in his profile. Would Annie be able to help?  She’s always got her finger on the world’s pulse.

He landed at the front door of the famous building and stepped in to the, now quite familiar, reception and took the elevator up. Hopefully, his presence and skills would be welcome. The text message did ask some good questions, if Reni was an innocent tipster, then why had he continued to stick around the scene? It is different from his previous behaviour. Or had it? They hadn’t seen him at the warehouse but of course they were in the process of moving the prisoners to another location when they arrived. Could Reni have somehow been tracking them?

What did Sam even know about Reni? He doesn’t know anything really about his character or motivations. It’s safe to assume that he tipped off the police anonymously about the locations and activities of the Foundry and the missing persons for a reason. Unless it had been a trap for the members of the The Balance and the boys in blue, which happens every now and again. But if that was the case, why hadn’t Dreadnought and the others been waiting for them? Or had the Professor been sacrificing them for some reason?

Hopefully, time will tell. Time will tell… Chrono? Nope, don’t try and muddy this more than it already was…

To his surprise he was met not by Max or even Jack Wolfe but by Tesla holding a gift box and humming the tune to ‘love is in the air’.

“Hi Sam, I’m told you wanted this for someone..?” She tossed him the box which thankfully he caught.

“I’m made some adjustments to the programme by including an algorithm to balance out the negative imagery by incorporating cameras as well as projectors into the matrix…” She saw his confusion and told him to open the box. Inside was what looked to be a bejewelled belt-like device. Tess reached over strapped it round her own waist and with an “Allons-y” switched it on. There was a second’s blur and suddenly a tall, very tall, Redhead stood in front of him. It was however Tess’s voice that came out of her mouth.

“You see, the incorporated cameras make sure that the holographic image fills in the areas that should be blank with whatever is behind it so it retains a outline even if the person wearing the belt has a different body-shape… It also has sufficient memory to hold up to three full body images.” She reached down and suddenly the redhead was wearing a very sexy green off the shoulder dress. “Of course she could change more than just her clothes if she wants.”

The image vanished and the tall willowy redhead was replaced by the petite Tess who removed the belt and replaced it in the gift box.  “I based the image on Annie’s face mixed with a model’s body –  I needed the height since  Annie’s existing body is over 2 metres tall. Hope she’ll like it?”

“Thanks, really! This is great… How difficult is it to reprogram?” Tess looked up at him “For Annie? No problems at all, I’ve left in a number of templates for her to adapt. I’m really glad someone’s trying to help her.”

Embarrassed and not sure what to say, Sam again thanked her and asked if there was any chance he could have a chat with the young Reni? She took him to the lab section where some staff were running several various tests simultaneously on a very nervous Reni.

“Hi I’m Sam; I need to know how you found the missing people. It was you that phoned in the warehouse wasn’t it?” Sam considered using the voice on him but lets’ see what he is willing to tell them freely first.

Reni looked as though he wanted to do a runner but strapped into an examination chair wired to an ECG monitor he had no choice but to stay. “I, I was almost kidnapped but got away. I should have phoned it in then but… well, really don’t have a great relationship with the… the Filth…” The latter was obviously bravado and not his usual terminology going by his embarrassment at having using the term.

“Anyway a week or so later, I saw the big fella who’d been with the group who’d tried to kidnap me, you know, Giant Joe? Anyway I followed him and found them in that warehouse but they seemed to be preparing to move. When you, Spooky and Samurai Jack arrived I thought that was that. Then a few days ago I saw them again going down a disused railway tunnel and this time I followed them in but couldn’t get out. I was trapped then, tried to phone the Police again to see if they were on their way but couldn’t get a signal, then this…” motioning towards all the cables attached to his semi-naked body “happened. Just don’t know what this is yet. Found out I couldn’t fly but I heal quick. I’m strong though… Not sure what else I can do.”

He was lying Sam was sure that Reni wasn’t telling him the truth about the incidents so he decided to try using the voice on him “Don’t you want to tell me the truth?“

To Sam and the staff’s surprise the ECG machine exploded in a cascade of sparks and smoke, suddenly overloaded! Reni’s eyes glowed slightly and Sam suddenly found himself covered in strong, sticky webbing shooting from Reni’s wrists in an uncontrolled manner. As Reni pulled himself free from the straps and cables he jumped, leaving him clinging upside down from the ceiling! Looks like the girl and Tangleweb weren’t the only ones to get the spider enhanced package! Had the Professor somehow modified the Nanites?

While the staff tried to put out the fire and coax Reni down off the roof, Sam was quickly bundled out of the room. The webbing covering his face and upper torso was tough but he managed to get it off him eventually.

Reni was lying about something but he wasn’t a bad kid, Sam was sure about that. Unfortunately it seemed his persuasion powers were useless against him; all it did was act as a catalyst. So what was he really hiding?

Reni’s phone lay on the table by the door with his clothes. Sam picked it up and checked last dialed. Yip, there were several 999 calls that day to the Police, only one had connected. The next was timed after the rescue and was a call to a number marked ‘home’.

He heard a noise as someone rushed down the corridor towards him and quickly replaced the phone on the table.

A moment later Tess appeared, looking to see what the crisis was. Going by her calm demeanour, this was far from unusual. “So what will happen to him now? Will someone be able to help train him how to use his powers properly?”  Tess looked at him for a moment and said “we’ll recommend to his parents that he be sent to board at Claremont Academy in Wessex. If money’s a problem we can help with a bursary. It’s one of our little secrets that we support a special training facility for metas there.  Completely off the books so you’ll need to keep this secret ok?  I’ll arrange to take the rest of The Balance into the fold. Who knows, maybe you could all do some talks or training sessions there for the special curriculum students?”

“What if he doesn’t want to be a hero?” She laughed, “We train people to be in control of their powers there so if they use them they do so knowingly. We want them to be good people but that we can’t guarantee that. Everyone who signs up for the Special Curriculum has to agree to undergo a selective mind wipe  if they leave or graduate to protect each other’s real identity and we do include a hell of a lot of ethics in their schooling but we can’t stop someone going over to the dark side…”

She closed the door as the staff began to rewire Reni up to a replacement battery of test equipment.

“By the way, did you know that the girl, Charlotte Randell has gone missing again? Oh she’s not been re-kidnapped, she just upped and went. Didn’t want to stick around for the tests and cure… She’s untrained, uncontrolled and likely driven sociopathic by the Nanite conversion. So who should I worry about more? A future Reni who becomes a criminal in control of his powers and understands himself and his goals; or a meta-human like Charlotte who has no idea what she is capable of and may be out of control?”

After wrestling embarrassingly with the last traces of the webbing, Sam decided it was time to go, leaving Reni to cope with the test equipment and trained scientists. Tess looked as if she was also trying to make her escape as well. Sam brushed himself off as he looked within, studying him from behind the safety plexi-glass.

With that he walked back towards the Reception Area behind Tess, lost within his thoughts, but with the gift box in hand.

His mind was in somewhat of a whirl, a look of concern strewn across his scaled face. Reni and Charlotte should no doubt be his priorities, their innocence depended on it. But why could he not stop thinking about that damned green dress? He shook himself. Cold shower, Sam. Coffee time, let’s go.

As he walked down the corridors that belonged to the Challenger-Wildemans he tried to clear his thoughts; Reni was in good hands for now. Between this place and the next, he’ll be cared for. Sam would make sure he could get involved as a force for good where he could in this boys fate.

In the meantime, should he be chasing down leads on Charlotte as very next thing he should be doing? His HCP training had drilled the MisPer Standard procedure into his skull: contact the family, contact close social circles, trace electronics, eliminate false leads; try and catch up with the missing person one hour at a time.

However Charlotte hadn’t committed any crimes and he (they?) hadn’t been asked by the family to get involved. Even if he caught up with her what then? She was 17, legally an adult. Other than setting META on her as an unregistered meta-human there was nothing else he could do without her express permission, no matter how much she might need it. There were only two routes of enforcement – arrest or Sectioning – detaining her in hospital for assessment of her mental health (not physical) to ensure she gets the treatment she needed.

Neither route was really appropriate here, was it? At least not yet.

He sighed as he walked out of the building and held his head in his hands. Sam didn’t feel cut out for police or detective work. He balled a fist and resisted the temptation to strike the wall.

Why did Chrono do what he did? Only comprehension of time manipulation was beholden to him, but his day job would have come in real handy right about now. Sam was supposed to be the muscle, the battering ram, the street-sweeper. Maybe Akira could possibly fill the gap..?

Concentrate! Why was he so distracted? Did Reni somehow remind him of himself? He had undergone an animalistic transformation but into what? A potential super-soldier? A meta-human weapon of mass destruction, potentially?

The professor’s taunt rang in his head. “Like you!”

Where or how did Tiamente fit into all this?

He could understand why The Professor had elected to use spiders as his meta-catalyst. It made sense; if you can turn humans into a type of hybrid, enable them to spin stronger-than-steel-webbing and able to climb on every surface, then humanity would be saved from most intergalactic threats. They might no longer be human though. Am I just part of that process? What happened to me? He slumped against the wall and rubbed his hand (claws?) against his temples and forehead. “Selective mind-wipe… Had to be. Whatever had really happened to him in that cave in Wales and how did Tiamente fit into it?”

He didn’t need to see that his eyes were sagging and darker, and not only from a lack of sleep; the near constant nightmares were taking their toll. He considered asking Mary for a soothing tune or two when he got back. Mary and Akira were just as tied into all of this as he was.

He righted himself before he caused a scene or a basis for public attention. First things first, should he trace Remi’s “Home” call and see if he could contact his parents, they deserve to know. Don’t your own parents deserve to know, Sam?

He used his tablet to contact the Wessex best, the local sirens. His call was finally passed through to Detective Sgt Maggie Buckner who pointed out rather brutally that Police don’t trace calls for ‘amateurs’ with or without the necessary magistrate-issued  search warrant and anyway Reni wasn’t just in touch with his parents, he’d already been released into their care after the Battersea Incident. As for Charlotte, her parents had been updated. Her tone momentarily softened “Good job with protecting the victims at Battersea by the way. You all did a good job there…” She then put the phone down on him.

Why are you delaying things, Sam? His inner voice was back. Your own folks will no doubt have an ongoing enquiry about your own whereabouts after all these years. Maybe he could try and find out from Adam how they had reacted to his disappearance, though he hoped that it would be a quick conversation.

While he was at it, why was he ignoring or delaying tracking down his ‘twin’, that black draconic fellow? It was yet another person to chase. It’s always one thing after another isn’t it? Why can’t crooks and meta’s just have a break? Why do we even have a 24 hour society. AREN’T PEOPLE JUST TIRED?!

He raised his foot to stomp the ground, but sighed and gently lowered it. He didn’t want to dent, damage or otherwise cave-in pavement outside the Challenger-Wildeman residence. He suddenly felt green with envy at the normies and people like SOCO. At-least they get to clock out when they sleep and are unconscious.

He started to send out a call to the other two: as a team they needed to find Charlotte sooner rather than later and they needed to… He hesitated; for once he needed to put himself first. He looked at the gift-box in his hand and instead sent a message to Annie. To what he hoped was her direct line.

“Annie? I hope this is your number: It’s Young Sam. The Dragon-man..? I visited the ARC the other day, and you’ve helped us out on a couple of things since. Anyway I wonder could we meet? I’ve got a present for you! And an offer, if you’re interested? Say the place and the time to suit you, I’ll be there. You’re important. -Sam”

While he waited, he sat on an empty bench and pinched his eyes, waiting for the first thing to respond. Melodramatic as always. What are you thinking?

He leaned back, slumped and forced himself to relax.

He tapped his chin while pondering. Tess, Max, the whole Challenger-Wildeman cavalcade, and Bethany have at all times been very gracious and welcoming; the whole team have been blessed by their friendship and guidance. None of them, even Bethany seemed to want anything in return, but Sam felt like organising a nice gesture. It would sure help him feel better and less guilty about calling in on them time and time again; no doubt it must be irritating at least some of the time.

He knew what he wanted to do but not how he could; if he was to walk into a posh department store in the middle of London, he was pretty sure someone would be upset… Then he remembered, they had a resource in their midst who surely knew how to organise these things…

He called Jeeves on the phone Mary had given him only a few weeks before. The signal was transferred through to the BASEment where Sam could hear Jeeves cultivated tones over the clamour of the building being loudly ‘upgraded’.

“Edward Jeeves here, how may I be of assistance?”

“Good afternoon Jeeves, I hope you’re doing well today and in good health? Yes, I am also fine, no seriously I am…  Idle chit-chat aside, I was wondering if you could do me a favour? I’d like for you and your expertise and best judgement to deliver a gift hamper for each of the Challenger-Wildeman extended family, and to Bethany, “Flossie” and Nanni included. Don’t scrimp on the expense: I was thinking a personalised bouquet of flowers and a selection of fine wines for the adults. Well for Max, Tess and Jack anyway. Oh, and rare, critically acclaimed sweets and sodas for the younger generations. If my suggestions are in poor taste, I defer to you. It doesn’t need to be done right this second, just whenever you have the time. Dip into the team funds, and buy yourself and the team members something nice too.

Okay Jeeves, see you at home! Thanks! Oh, and could you leave Mary’s soothing melody mix-tape on repeat quietly in my room? I’d appreciate it for my return.”

When the receiver went quiet, he typed out a quick reply to Mary and Akira:

“I’m at the Wildeman’s. Things with Reni are ongoing, but he is in good hands. Draconic persuasion triggered an involuntary meta-response, everyone is safe but it looks like that line is closed for now. Only new lead is the last number he dialled was for home: Charlotte Randell, Tangle-web’s little stormer counterpart has gone AWOL, I’m currently inquiring also.

Pop me a quick update on your day and situation, let me know if you need me and I’ll see if I can possibly delegate on our missing person. – Young Sam.”

Tablet cradled in hand, ready to alert Sam on any reply. He shut his eyes, and fleetingly grasped at the chance for a moment of respite.

“It was only a moment though as his tablet announced several missed calls from an unknown number. Who? Before he could  do anything it rang again… He accepted the call and. An excited, slightly breathless (how could she be breathless?) Annie spoke immediately before he could say a word.

Sam was glad, terrified and relieved when the withheld number turned out to be Annie; she had the fastest electronics response time of anyone he had ever known. All of his tiredness, fatigue and world-wornness washed away from him upon hearing her voice, his emotions replaced by a strange mix of excitement and anxiety. If he didn’t go now, he probably wouldn’t get another chance any time soon.

“Hi Sam? Annie here. Yeah I’d lo… like to see you again. When? I’m around now if you wanted but it would have to be at the ARC? Sorry! I, I don’t get out much. Last time I went for a walk in the grounds someone phoned the Mercy Squad…” Sam interrupted her, “What’s the Mercy Squad?” “She giggled; “The M.R.C. or more correctly the Malfunctioning Robotic and Cybernetic Response Section AKA the FCC or the “Frankenstein Clean-up Crew. The Met’s answer to things like me… Anyway, since then I generally stay inside… So ..?”

He chuckled when she mentioned the MERCY squad, “To be fair, that was what exactly had happened to me the first time I returned to open society. Lots of white vans, concerned faces and long pole devices designed for snatching necks. I suppose people would have thought that I was a lost lizard pet that fell into a nuclear dunk-tank or something. Yeah, no problem, the Arc it is, I’ll be there soon.”

They agreed to meet in about half an hour. In some ways Sam would have preferred later but he knew his courage would fail him if he left it too long.

Half an hour? Shit. He was a mess, hadn’t slept or looked after himself properly for weeks. He dashed back out and flew just above street level, scanning building signs of all sorts.

Flowers? No, that would be too much. Should I buy some aftershave? Does she even smell? He opted for three things: dipping into a local sports-centre to borrow a shower, much to the shock of some of the local gym-goers. He brought a tie. Well, two ties. One that he destroyed with his claws and one thin matte-black tie that the kind cashier helped put on him. He also brought and finished a bottle of mouthwash. All being done, it was just about time to show up at the ARC, hopefully he wouldn’t be fashionably late – that isn’t his style.

When he saw Annie waiting for him in the reception, he lost his words. He was glad that of all the colours, that he was destined to be a red(dish) dragon or his blush would have been really quite embarrassing.

She seemed nervous. Sam knew the feeling. He approached and handed her the gift without saying anything. He tried to pass the gift as casually he could, without being aloof. Annie looked at the parcel and then at him then opened it and..? “Ah thanks, I could do with another belt, actually this would be the only one I own…” Heh, don’t change Annie.  “Put in on and press this…”

She did as he asked and suddenly… The tall, slender redhead in the green dress emerged over Annie’s form as she squealed the shapely dress was back. “Woooow!” She spun on the spot then ran from the room. What had he done wrong? He followed her only to see her pirouetting in front of a mirror and had her hand in her mouth while she patted various, personal, parts of her anatomy.  He only glanced occasionally, observing but only politely, it would have been rude (or lude?) to stare.

Sam smiled; it is moments like this that make his new vocation worthwhile, the moments of tear-jerking, unbridled, pure joy and relief.

“How..?” Then she noted that the face wasn’t lip-syncing with her words. “Oh that needs fixing” and suddenly the image vanished to be replaced by her original cybernetic form.

His pride was only very slightly marred by the small technical glitch of her lip-syncing, but he had absolutely no doubt that it would be solved by her instantaneously or very soon. He wouldn’t have been able to help her on that one. “How is it programmed?”

“With lots and lots of 1’s and 0’s; I think?” He stuck out his tongue slightly, in cheek.

Sam wished he’d asked Tess for an operating manual or a user guide at the very least. “Ah you may need to check with Tess…” And before he could say another word she was off and running for a nearby room screaming c’mon.  He followed her inside, into a room filled with computers, screen and of all things multiple mixer boards and analytical systems with a sense of awe and extreme caution. It filled the room except for a single, large gamers chair in the middle. There was a first aid kit on the room with words “First Aid” replaced by a neon-pink crudely painted “A warning to others”.
The constant buzz of the cooling fans and the warm glow of the combined monitors was quite remarkable, not that it would affect Sam, but others probably wouldn’t have wanted to spend a lot of time in here. Annie was already deep in a conversation with Tess by videophone. Both were squealing and talking away too fast for Sam to ever hope to follow. He didn’t want to interrupt Tess and Annie’s discussion, so he elected to carefully wander and watch some of the monitors. He mostly didn’t understand, but they were interesting.

As this was going on she had the belt plugged into one of the computer inputs and was watching and altering the displayed program.

It made sense that Annie and Tess were good friends; Sam was looking forward to their reunion in person, that would be a nice day. They clearly have a lot of affection for one another. He felt like he’d  have to get down with the tech lingo, but felt satisfied just being able to be a witness for now.

For about ten minutes Sam sat there ignored whilst the two girls chatted away ending each other’s sentences about ‘matrix overlays’ and ‘holographic integrations’. As she said her momentary goodbyes to Tess, She then turned back towards Sam. “Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!” as she replaced the belt and switched it back on. This time the lips synced with her last “You!”

The lip-syncing was solved. 10 minutes for something that could take a talented graduate possibly months to debug, go figure. He nodded: “No problem, my pleasure. Sorry about the delay. This has been in the works for a little while for you now.”

Grabbing his hand, she started to run for the grounds. Annie’s’ stride and pace was very fast indeed.  Outside, she ran towards a bed of flowers near the main gate. A mum and a little girl were walking by on the street as she arrived, with Sam rushing several yards behind her. The little girl squealed out loud to her mum “Look mummy, at that pretty woman – she’s so tall, bigger than daddy… Why she so tall?”

As he caught up with Annie inspecting some nearby flowers delicately, Sam noticed the mother and child. He overheard the child’s excited and shouted conversation with her parent. Then seeing Sam she again pointed and said “Oh look mummy just like Booty an’ the Beast… Will she start singing now..? Eh, mum, will she?”

He smiled outwardly, but some of her words stung. He wanted to rush over to explain, and that they weren’t exactly a “thing” but he resigned it as unnecessary. “Beauty and the beast” he muttered very quietly, he waved kindly towards them both along with Annie. Beast. It’s never going to work, is it?

Her mum seeing Sam picked her daughter up and said something to her quietly. The only word he could hear was “hero”. Anne turned back and looked at him whilst whispering Thank you.

In the meantime, Annie had seen the girl and started waving at her and she waved ever so enthusiastically back as she and her mum walked away smiling.

“Sam” Annie interrupted his mind-fog. “Hey ‘Hero’ It is wonderful isn’t it? Thank you again it’s alovely miracle. I almost feel human again. Thank you, thank you.” She stopped and tilted her head slightly “I need to buy a mirror. I haven’t had one since… I need lots and lots of mirrors. Oh thank you, have I said thank you yet? Thank you…” and smiled. Her face lit up completely.

“Mirrors? Well then, let’s go for a walk! Let’s go shopping, I want to be the first person to buy you a mirror for your room. I know a good shopping street not too far from here.”

He thought about holding out his hand to lead her, but smoothly wiped his palm on his Asbestos trousers and opted to gesture instead.

“You also said you had an offer for me, what did you mean by that? What type of offer?” Annie said.

He missed a step. He hadn’t thought about what he was going to say, no plan. The way she said it, now is as good of a time as any. He walked on; he looked between her, the path and the skyline.

“Annie, I’ve been… we’ve been – The Balance that is – we’ve been thinking that we’d like to offer you a job, or rather, a new home, if you want it; a resident placement of sorts. I don’t know truly what your life is like at the ARC, but I do know that you’ve already been invaluable to us. We’d like you to be our researcher and tech support. We’ve already planned out and prepared for your arrival. The whole team think a great deal of you, Annie. You don’t need to reply right now, but the offer is always on the table. I have no doubt that now of all times you have so many options open to you. Feel free to negotiate. Oh and we might want you do some client liaison, if you’d like?”