Let It Burn (Superhero Short) (Patreon)

Apologies for no Son for Hire or A Love So Deep these past couple of days.  As a few of you know I lost a story that I had three quarters finished a short time ago.  I was going to let it go but in the end I couldn't let that story and those characters just disappear forever.  So, I rewrote it.  It's different than the original, written far more hastily, and not as long, but I think I was able to recapture most of the important stuff.

Hope you enjoy...Let It Burn.

***

The city burns.

The city I had spent my entire adult life fighting to protect burns before my eyes.  As far as the eye could see flames dotted the dark cityscape sending up great columns of inky black smoke that blotted out the clear night sky above.  Sirens, distant and near, could be heard here and there and the flicker lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark buildings around them.  Before tonight those sirens would have summoned me, spurred me into action, but not tonight.  Tonight the razing of my beloved town only made me question what purpose my life had really served in the end.  What had it all been for?

A great earth shaking boom echoes across the city and a moment later I watch as one of the towering skyscrapers of downtown topples in a roar of rending steel and crashing concrete.  Brilliant rays of lime green energy shoot up from the building even as it falls and more deafening explosions ring out as sonic blasts rain down on it.  Slicing through the smoke and ash comes a comet of streaking blue followed close behind by a pulsing purple globe as another hero and another villain join that particular fray.  Other such scenes of chaos and destruction play out above and within the once gleaming metropolis turned war zone.

The smoke stung my eyes and left a terrible acrid taste in my mouth but thankfully the breeze carried the worst of it away from me.  Out here near the fringe, atop a nondescript five story office building, things were much quieter.  Almost peaceful.  Below me there was the occasional hustle and bustle of rioter, looters, and the overwhelmed cops doing the hopeless work of containing things, but it was nothing compared to the devastation being wrought on the rest of the community.  Seated at the edge of the roof, my feet over the lip, I sit and watch my city burn.

I hear the quiet crunch of approaching footsteps behind me.  I knew who it was.  I could place the light footfalls of those heeled boots anywhere, they belonged to my greatest nemesis.  I also knew I was safe…well, probably.    The top of this building had been a meeting spot of ours for almost thirty years now.  The one place in the world we agreed would be neutral ground.  Once in a while even enemies had to get together to talk about things.  She, of course, tried to ambush me here once early on, but only once and that was a very long time ago.  I glance once down at my mask that I had removed and, after a moment’s consideration, I leave it right there.  What did it matter now?

“I didn’t expect to find you here.”  A sultry and familiar voice purrs.

“Same to you.”  I say without even turning to look at her.  “I was hoping to be alone.”

She ignores my not so subtle hint to leave.  “I figured this would be the best place to watch the fireworks.”

“Aren’t you working for Doctor Zong?  Shouldn’t you be out there wreaking havoc with the rest?”

“Nah.”  She says as she comes up beside me.  “My days of being someone else’s goon are behind me.  I’m strictly independent now.”  On the ledge she sets down a bottle of scotch whisky with a label that was faded and curling up at the edges.  “Hello Angel.”

“Hello Sin.”

I turn to look at her, my face revealed.  “You.”  She says.

I give her a shrug.  “Yeah.”

“I never would have guessed.”  Hopping up onto the ledge with a nimbleness that belied her age, her skin tight super suit creaking as she moves, she plants her big plump peach of a bottom down about an arm’s length from me.  She looks out over the apocalyptic scene.  “Quite a show, huh?”

“Pfff.  You call this a show?”  I scoff.  “Spoken like a true villain.”

“Thank you.”  She quips.  “Fuck.  I never thought it would come to this.”

“Hubris.”  I sigh.  “On both sides.”

“Yeah.”  She say as she scans the burning horizon.  “It is kind of pretty though.  Hell on Earth.”

“Pretty?  Jesus.  People are dying out there Sin.  Our people too!  This is all out war.”

“Yeah.”  She says, her flat voice neither celebratory nor compassionate.  “Then why are you here?  I thought Justice never rests, or whatever.”

I sigh, my head slumps forward.  I stare down at the quiet street below without really seeing it.  “You wouldn’t understand.”

She chuckles softly and pats my shoulder.  “You don’t think I’d understand a loss of faith?  I think you forget who you’re talking to big guy.”

“Huh.  Yeah, I never thought of that.”

For the first decade or more of her villainous career she’d been known as Sister Sin, a fanatical and maniacal nun with a very twisted sense of damnation and redemption.  I had entered the life just a year prior to her as the Angel of Justice.  The Angel and Nun thing just sort of clicked and it wasn’t long before we were each other’s archenemy.  Oh, those were the days!  We had a good run in the late 80’s and through the 90’s.  Her coming up with grand evil schemes and me foiling them.  We were never as popular as the superstars, our power level was head and shoulders above the street level wannabes but well short of the real icons, but we had our taste of fame locally.  Merchandise, action figures, comic books, kids meals, the whole deal.

And then something happened near the turn of the century, just after a stint in the pen that I had put her away for.  Sister Sin became Sister Cinder, the name chosen due to her penchant for starting fires with her superheated retractable claws.  Her zealous passion to rid the world of “sinners” became a jaded run of the mill type of villainy.  She kept the sexy dominatrix nun look she had going though her color scheme went from black to red and she got rid of the all of Catholic iconography.  Things were never the same after that.  Coinciding with this was the emergence of a new breed of super.  With powers artificially jacked up in utero and a keen eye toward marketing this fresh wave of hero and villain left our generation in the dust.  We still did our thing but in this new era we were relegated to sidekicks, henchmen, or looking after jobs too small for the big leaguers.

I hear a crackle then hum of one of her razor thin claws extending.  I glance over to watch as she slices the top of the glass bottle clean off then flicks the cap out into the open space before us.  She pushes the bottle my way.  “Good shit.”  She says.  “Distilled in the 20’s, bottled in the 80’s.  Worth a small fortune.”

“Stolen no doubt.”

“No doubt.”

I grab the bottle of filched liquor and take a hit without hesitation, it would take more than sharp glass to cut these lips.  The smoky amber booze was silk on the tongue but fire on the throat.  I set it down with a raspy cough.  “Strong.”

“Cask strength.”  She says as she takes a pull of her own.  “Mmm.”  She swallows and lets out a long breath.  “Fuck that’s good.”

I shake my head.  “I will never get used to hearing you swear Sin.”

“I’ve been Cinder a long time now.”

“Yeah, I know.”

We fall quiet for a time, just taking swigs of whisky and watching the war rage.  Both of us shield our eyes a moment as an enormous dome of fire rises up to engulf ten or more city blocks.  A wave of heat hits us a few seconds later despite the vast distance between us and the source.  Sobered by the scale of death and destruction we’d just witnessed we stare in silence.

I soon take another long pull of the mind numbing liquor.  “Hahhhh.  It’s not a crisis of faith.”  I mutter.

“Mmm?”

“Faith.  It’s not a lack of faith that keeps me here.”  I shake my head as the fearsome dome of flames dissipates.  “It’s cowardice.”

“You?  Afraid?  I doubt that.”

I nod toward the city.  “If I was out there right now…”

“You’d be dead.”  She states flat out.

I give her a glare, but it quickly softens.  She hit the nail right on the head.  I was no push over but I knew I couldn’t hang with the real heavy hitters.  “Yeah.”

“We can’t go toe to toe with these young hot shots.”  Holding the bottle she swirls it about.  “No shame in being practical.  If you were there you would be dead and nothing would be different now.  Someone’s gotta be left to pick up the pieces when the smoke clears, right?”  She pauses, about to say something else, then just takes another swig.

“This never would have happened in the old days.  There were battles but…not like this.  There were lines we didn’t cross.”

“Ha!  Listen to you old man, pining for yesteryear.  You sound ready to collect your pension.  Ha ha!”

“You’re no spring chicken.”  I shoot right back.

“Younger than you.”

“Barely.”  I say.

“You’ve gained weight.”  She says, reaching across to poke my belly.  “That gut never used to be there, and love handles?  Come on old man, you’re letting yourself go.”

“Weight?  Look whose talking!”  I motion down to her full hips.  “That fat ass used to actually stay inside the suit.”

“You looking at my ass?”

“No.”

“Ha!  Liar.”

“I notice you had some work done.  Trying to keep up with the younger girls?  Hmm?  What happened to those crow’s feet?”

Her eyes narrow.  “Fuck you.”  After another sip she says.  “As if you can talk.  Don’t think you’re fooling anyone with those stuffed tights of yours.”

“Stuffed!?  Pah!”  I sputter at the preposterous suggestion.  She was right of course.  Most of us heroes had a bit of extra padding built in down there to fit with our larger than life image.  I snatch the bottle from her hand.  “Bitch.”

“Asshole.”  She leans back, propping herself up with her arms, as her feet start to flutter out into the air.  “Shame to see it end like this.  We had a good time in this city, didn’t we?”

“Good time?”  I scoff.  “You were a nightmare!  Just sitting here I’m trying not to think about all of the innocent people you…”

“You know what I mean.”  She cuts me off before her dark deeds could be listed.  “You and me Angel.  We had our fun.  Didn’t we?”

With reluctance I nod.  “Yeah, we did.”  I sip.  “It’s been a wild ride.”

“Damn right.”  She sidles closer.  “You brought the best out of me Angel.”

“We were perfect for each other.”  I admit.

“Hey!”  She leans in and elbows me.  “Remember that time I kidnapped the archbishop?”

“Remember?  Ugh!  I wish I couldn’t.”  I cringe.  “It’s not everyday you see a naked hairy old man masturbating while reciting Hail Marys, live on every screen in the city no less.”

“Ha ha!”  She starts to laugh, leaning over to rest her head on my shoulder.  “And you took so long to find him!”

“And you told him that he couldn’t stop no matter what.”

“Ha ha ha!”  Her chuckles escalate.  “Probably felt good for the first few nuts, but after that…eeesh!  Talk about running on empty!  Ha ha ha ha!  Rubbed his little pecker raw.  Ahh ha ha ha!”  She gasps.  “And…and…and then when you did find him, all covered in his own filth, you didn’t know if you should touch him or what.  Ha ha ha ha!”

“I had to get him out of there.”

“HA HA HA HA HA!  The look on your face!  Your precious suit…got all…ewwww.  HA HA HA HA HA!”

“You are such a bitch.”  I take another drink and offer her the half empty bottle.  “You were so perverted back then.”

As her laughter eases she sits back straight and takes the bottle, her eyes teared up from the laughs.  “Vow of celibacy.  I was so fucking repressed.  It fucks with your head.”  

“You’d never see a stunt like that now.”

“Oh hell no.   Even the villains don’t want to piss off the big advertisers nowadays.  Fucking PG-rated pussies.”  She slaps my knee.  “Oh Angel, those were the days.  You were all dashing and virtuous and stupid as a rock, I still had the fire of my faith and god damn I was a hot piece of ass in that sexy habit.  Two true believers with opposing views.  The sparks would fly!  We had some epic fights.  Gah!  To have those days back again, huh?  Those were such good times.”

“Yeah.”  I say, my voice wistful with nostalgia.  “Things were simpler.  Things made sense.  Things weren’t…this.”

“Did you ever read the comics they made about us?”

“Of course.”  I confess.  “I own the whole run.”

“Me too.”  She says.  “It really wasn’t that far off, was it?”

“I dunno.”  I shoot her a lingering glance, taking the opportunity to pan up and down her curvaceous body.  “I don’t think they got your suit quite right.”

“Ha!  Well kids were going to read it.”  She says.  “I wished I had decided to wear a mask though, like you.  I had to get all disguised just to run for groceries.”

“I bet.  You had quite the celebrity for a while there, you were public enemy number one.”

“And you were the shining hero that swooped in to saved the day.”  She sighs.  “You know what though…it’s even worse when they stop recognizing you.  People forget so fast.”  Holding up the bottle she toasts the burning city.  “To old times.”  She drinks then hands it over to me.

“Old times.”  I say and take another slug.  Then, holding it out, I pour a bit to let it fall to the earth five stories below.  “And old friends.”

We watch the spirit fall to the sidewalk below.  “You never got over her, did you?”

“Steel Belle?”

“Yeah.”

“Mmm.”  I pause, unsure if I wanted to share something so personal with my most hated foe.  Maybe it was the booze or maybe my defeated spirit, but in the end I open up.  “I do miss her.  I really loved her.  But…I wouldn’t say I never got over her.  She’ll always hold a special place in my heart but I’ve moved on.”

“You got a woman Angel?”

“Nah.  You got a guy?”

“I wish.”  She turns her head and looks off to the right as a missile explodes in midair followed by another blast as the fighter jet that fired it is destroyed.  It doesn’t even phase her or the conversation.  “Slim pickings for supers our age, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the issues being with a normie.”

“I hear ya.  Keeping your identity secret, trying to keep their identity secret from your type, trying to explain why…”

She laughs and shakes here head.  “No, idiot, I mean how fucking weak and fragile they are.”

“Oh…that.”  It was true.  Being passionate with a regular person was like trying to make love to a balloon constructed of tissue paper.  I had solved that issue by always letting them be the ones to take lead…which honestly sucked.  “Yeah.”

“Do you know how many lovers I’ve accidentally killed over the years?”

“Sin!  I’d REALLY rather not know.”

“A lot.”  She tells me anyway.

“Do you even know how many people you have killed?”

“I’ve got a ballpark figure, but why ruin a perfectly nice conversation?”  She pats my knee.  “You don’t want to know big guy.  Trust me.  At least some of these ones died with a smile on their face.”

“Fucking hell.”

She chuckles.  “These powers are as much a curse as a blessing.  It separates us from others.  It can be a damn lonely life.”

“It’s the life that chose us.”

“Yeah.”  

Again we fall quiet, each lost in our own rose tinted memories as we share the whisky and just appreciate that we had someone to share this moment with.  Even if they were an enemy.

“Want to hear something really fucked up?”  She breaks the silence just after draining the dregs of the bottle.  “I think you’re my best friend.”  With that she throws the bottle and it quickly disappears into the darkness.  “Well.”  She slaps her hands down on the lip, readying herself for a drop.  “While those morons are busy killing each other I think I’ll hit a bank.”

“A bank!?”

“Maybe a bit of old fashioned murder and mayhem along the way.”

“Now?  With all this going on?”

“What better time?”

Picking up my mask I say.  “You know I can’t let you do that.”

She cocks a brow.  “I thought you were throwing in the towel.”  She nods out.  “What about the city?”

“Let it burn.”

“That’s dark.  Totally not like you.”  Her eyes brighten.  “I like it!”

“Shut up.”  I chortle.  “I might not be able to save the city.”  I say boldly.  “But stopping the likes of the evil Sister Cinder?  It’s kinda what I do.”

“There’s that old Angel of Justice I know and hate.”

“I’ll stop you.”  I say, buckling up the chinstrap of my mask.  “I always do.”

With a teasing wink she slips from the building’s edge.  “I’d like to see you try.”

Part 2