Help! I'm Housing a Hero

I closed my window and pulled my curtains closed. I didn’t realize it but I was shaking, not because I was cold, but because I was in shock. I wasn’t going to be able to trust anyone, not that I already trusted a great deal of people.

I sat down on my bed and folded my hands together to try and calm my nerves. I had just been sitting on a bomb and rescued by a super hero. Whatever happened to my normal invisible life? After a few minutes of reviewing my new life I decided I wasn’t comfortable just sitting in my room. Maybe I could go and see if Andrew was still in the café. I needed something to get my mind off of this until I could think about it with a clear head. I grabbed my purse, which I rarely carried because it didn’t ever have any money in it, or anything else valuable for carrying, and took a handful of bills form the bar’s shift two nights ago and stuffed them in. I walked out of my room and made sure my door was locked behind me and I dropped the key in my pocket.

I walked down the stairs expecting Ms. Hodgens to come out of her room and question me, or at least ask why I didn’t come in last night but she didn’t make any noise in her room as I passed. I carried on down the other flights of stairs and walked out the front door. I stopped dead and wished I had stayed in my room. Two flashing police cars, a news team, and Ms. Hodgens in her Nightgown and curlers were standing outside. The police and Ms. Hodgens looked worried but the news crew looked like they were about to receive a whole truck of free ice cream. Just as I was about to duck back into the door one of the camera men spotted me and it didn’t take long for the rest of the team to notice.

“Ms. Glace, were you pretending to hide? Where have you been for the last twelve hours?”

“Riel! Where have you been?!” Ms. Hodgens scolded and hobbled up the apartment stairs.
She surprised me with her agility to bulldoze through the news team.

“I-uh- I’m.”

“Get off my door step. She’s had enough trouble from you.” Ms. Hodgens grumbled at the news team and I’m sure she would have pushed some of them down the stairs had the police not been around. She looked like a crazed mother just finding her lost child. For an instant I felt a little touched as well as confused. Three officers soon joined us on the stairs and it was getting uncomfortably crowded. Instinctively I threw my good arm across my side to defend my injury. It was like they were all fighting to see who could get closest. I reached out with my hand and turned the knob behind me. The door swung open and a police officer, Ms. Hodgens and I fell inside. Immediately the police officer slammed the door shut behind us and placed his weight against it so no one else could come in. He flipped the lock just as they started banging outside to get in. I bit my tongue and winced away the pain as the officer first went to help Ms. Hodgens up and then he came over to me.
He lifted me with a single heave. It wasn’t as gentle as Hero had lifted me up and not quite as painless either.

“Where have you been?” They both seemed to yell at me in unison as though I was being punished. Well, Ms. Hodgens did the yelling, the police officer asked rather calmly.

“I was-“

“First that little friend of yours comes asking where you were and then I go and search your room to find that you weren’t there.” Ms. Hodgens sounded furious, “Then I call the police and I’ve been here for hours trying to figure all of this out, and then you decided to just show up. You walk out the front door as though nothing has happened.”

“Ms. Hodgens, I’m sorry. That man you left me with last night kidnapped me.”

“I don’t understand how he had kidnapped you when you’ve been here this whole time.”

“But I haven’t been here the whole time.” I defended.

“Well how do you explain getting to the fifth floor of your apartment without us noticing and then walking down the stairs like any other day you’ve lived here?”

“Hero brought me back.” I said.

“Hero? Who is this hero I keep hearing about? Does he have the ability to jump up to your
window in a single bound?”

“Actually-”I started.

“Ma’am, he has been on the news for a while now.” The police officer explained. It seemed he wanted to have her understand about Hero so that he could start questioning me. It was obvious he wasn’t going to get a word in edgewise until she had all the information she wanted. “He is a super hero that arrived two years ago. It seems he has taken a liking to young Miss Glace here. He flies around at night, and during the day and has really been helping keep the crime down.”

“Wait-stop.” I said, “He doesn’t have a ‘thing’ for me. He just happened to save me twice.”

“But I thought-“ he stuttered.

“Don’t believe everything you hear on the news.” I grumbled.

“Wait- so what you ware telling me is there is some freak out there who is on the news that saves people? Is this a recent thing, Riel?” Ms. Hodgens asked and started shaking her finger accusingly.

“He saved me from school two days ago.” I said. “And he also brought me home from that freak’s house just now.”

“You mean to tell me a boy has been visiting your room in private? I want to remind you that sort of behavior is not allowed under this establishment.” She looked like a very protective mother scolding her daughter.

“Nothing like that has happened. He just brought me here and took off.”

“So he isn’t here now?”

“No- he went to go somewhere. I think he went to see if the entire building exploded.”

“And now you are trying to tell me buildings explode? Would you please let me know how much more unbelievable your story is going to get or are you quite finished?”

“Ms. Hodgens, it seems she is tired from the night. I am not so sure about the building exploding, but I am sure if she was out last night she may have been with Hero. We’re trying to get information on him so if you don’t mind I would like to question her.” The police man interrupted.

Ms. Hodgens crossed her arms and dragged out a chair form a nearby room. She planted herself in it and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.

“Miss Glace,” The officer started, “Is it true you were with Ms. Hodgens at the Children’s Center grand opening last night?”

“Yes.” I said, crossing my arms.

“Did you also agree to go home with someone else and assure Ms. Hodgens that you were going to come later?”

“No.” I almost shouted the same time Ms. Hodgens said, “Yes.”

“Yes you did. That nice young man came up to me and told me that he was going to bring you home.”

“That wasn’t me telling you.”

“Well, he said you were fine with it. He acted like he knew you and I don’t get very much into your personal life. Besides, he came to the house when he delivered those letters and seemed like he was taken with you. I figured he was a friend of yours.”

“He was nearly thirty years older than me. And just because someone comes up to you and says taking me home is all right doesn’t mean that it is!”

“Well he was kind enough. In my day when you met a man like that you snatched them up because there weren’t many good men.” She seemed like she was about to go off on a tangent but the police officer stopped her and continued to ask me questions.

“So you did not agree to go home with this man?” He wrote down some notes on his notepad.

“No. In fact I was trying to find Ms. Hodgens and tell her that I was going to walk home so that she could leave whenever she wanted.”

“Walk home?” He asked skeptically.

“I walk everywhere. Up until two days ago I was never bothered by anyone. And I usually carry a can of pepper spray with me.”

“So did you tell her you were going to walk home?”

“No. I went in the building to find her when that guy in a suit came to me. He told me that he had sent her home and that he would take me home later. He then said good bye to the crowd and took me to his car.”

“Did you not cry for help?”

“In case you haven’t noticed I’m not exactly the cry-for-help type. I don’t ask for help unless I need it.”

“And you didn’t think you needed it while you were being kidnapped?”

“I’ve broken up a few bar fights. I am used to getting out of tough situations.”

“But, excuse me if I’m wrong but don’t you have a broken rib? Don’t you think you were getting in a little over your head?”

“I can take care of myself.” I said, avoiding the question. The officer sighed and wrote a few more notes on his note pad.

“Ok, well- do you know who the man was?”

“No. He kept a mask on his face.”

“Do you know where he took you?”

“No. It was just a mansion by the ocean, or rather more of a laboratory.”

“There are hundreds of mansions along the coast. Can you be more specific?”

“It was on a cliff with barbed wire fences all around.”

“That sounds like the Pharmacology lab for students. But I’m sure if there were explosions we would have heard of them by now. Are you sure it was explosions you heard?”

“I was strapped to the bomb that caused the explosions. I probably wouldn’t be here had Hero not helped me.”

“You were strapped to a bomb?” The officer gave me a look that one usually gives a child when you are fed up with stories and you’re ready for them to tell the truth. “Forgive me if I find this hard to believe, but I wonder if you might have dreamt the whole thing? Did you maybe sleep in someone else’s room last night? A neighbor or friend?”

I groaned. I knew the only people Ms. Hodgens allowed to live in the building were women, so I knew the police officer wasn’t suggesting anything, but it was really beginning to get on my nerves that he wasn’t willing to believe the building, or at least part of it exploded. “I know what I saw.”

“But if a building exploded, we would have heard about it by now.” He said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and the shadow of one of the other officers was seen pressed against the other side of the frosted glass.

“Henry, we’ve got trouble. Apparently Professor Madbe’s lab had a malfunction and two of the west wings exploded. They need officers and a bomb squad on the double.”

The officer gave me a look that was quite surprised. He opened and closed his mouth as though he was going to say something but nothing came out.

“Officer, sir, we need to get going.” The man on the other side sounded frantic.

“I’ll, uh- leave you two ladies then. An explosion, huh? I guess this job never fails to surprise.” He unlocked the door with a flick of his finger and opened it. I was surprised to see just the officer there and no more news crew. When I got closer I could see why. The other officers had apparently detained them for getting in the way of an investigation. No matter, they were already packing up their van and getting ready to set out and get the story on the bombed building.

Ms. Hodgens looked at me dumb founded. “I’ll admit it is a hard story to swallow, but you can’t make up an exploding building. I still don’t like the thought of a mysterious boy flying you into your room.”

“I hope you won’t have to meet him.” I said, knowing that if she did it would mean he was probably getting me out of some other danger.

“I expect to.” She said and turned to march up the stairs. I was just going to forget about going to the café and go upstairs. I turned to close the door when a person appeared.

“Hi.” Andrew said and looked a little worried, “I saw a commotion outside and I wondered if you had come back.”

“Were you waiting in the café all this time?” I asked.

“I came over earlier. I realized we didn’t set a time to study, so I went to ask your landlady if I could ask you when a good time to study would be. She went up stairs to find you but said that you weren’t there. I asked if she knew where you were, and she started talking about some man in a blue suit. She said it was odd that she didn’t hear you come in last night because she usually recognized your creaking up the stairs. She said she must have gone to bed before you got home. I called the police and went to go wait in the café in case this was all a misunderstanding.”

“It was far from a misunderstanding, that’s for sure.” I said. “That man was a creep. And I didn’t agree to go with him.” I huffed but I didn’t really want to talk about it. I noticed he had his notebooks in his hands.

“Shall we go study?” I asked and walked past him and down the steps.

“Do you want to study after what you’ve been through?”

“I really would like to do anything but think about what I’ve been through.” I confessed. I crossed the street and marched towards the café. After a moment he followed me in. I sat down at a table that wasn’t near the window. I didn’t want anyone to happen to pass by and see me. I didn’t want to think about anything having to do with the man that I blew up.

He slid into a chair across from me and deposited his notebook on the table. I pulled my bent cornered notebook from my purse and slammed it down. I hastily flipped a few pages to the section of notes that showed the most recent things we had learned in class. On the last page where my notes ended I saw the mask of hero that I doodled in the top corner of my margin. I noticed that I had completely gotten it wrong. The original was more rounded and shaped for his face. I hastily grabbed a pen form my purse and scribbled over the drawing.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked carefully, as he watched me take my frustration out on my notebook.

“You know,” I grumbled and scribbled harder with my pen, “the nerve of some people just makes me want to-“ I paused as my scribblings pierced through the next few pages underneath the drawing, “ you know I hope that guy died in the explosion.” I bared down a little hard on the page and my pen broke and started drooling ink onto my paper. Andrew grabbed a handful of napkins and handed them to me. I angrily wrapped up my pen and he blotted the edge of my page.

“We can do this another time if you’d want.” He gently suggested. It was odd how calm he seemed compared to my actions. Maybe he expected me to act this way. Either that or he was just this patient with everyone.

I sighed and looked dejectedly at my pen. Maybe I did need to talk about it. History was the last thing on my mind and I wasn’t exactly in the mood to be patient while teaching someone who knew less about history than I did, or at least was pretending just to be nice.
For all I knew he could be really smart and had just been trying to cheer me up in class. At least he didn’t close his notebook and act like he wanted to leave because he found out I was a crazed girl. Maybe I was over reacting just a bit, or it was beginning to sink in. Whatever was wrong with me Andrew seemed more patient than any other person I had encountered. Maybe I did need to talk about it. He didn’t press me for answers and he didn’t seem impatient to my anger. He just sat there.

I didn’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed. Whatever I was feeling I figured I could tell him. It might be good to get it out. For some reason I trusted him not to run to the press immediately. After all, I killed a wealthy scientist, or at least I think I did and if that got out in the news I would go sit in jail where the crooks would easily find me. I quickly thought through my decisions and decided to take a chance on him.

“Andrew, I-“ I didn’t exactly know how to start, “I’ve got a little problem.”

I closed my ink soaked book to give me some time to think. Andrew sat silently, not prodding me for answers and allowed me time to think. It was an unnatural kind of patience. I had gotten used to the news crews and their impatient microphones under my nose as well as drunk customers with more questions than should be humanly possible to think up while in that state of mind. He, on the other hand just sat there doing what he did best: being quiet and attentive.

“It all started because of those impetuous news reporters. They printed those stories about Hero and I somehow going out. Now because of that I have all these people that are after me to get to Hero. If they did their research properly they would discover I go to school every day for eight hours and work more than forty hours a week. The only time I have alone to myself is from two o’clock in the morning until eight o’clock when I need to be at school. I don’t exactly have time for a boyfriend.”

“I see,” Andrew said. I could see the slightest hint of surprise on his face. He probably realized and understood why I was so worn out in class the other day, or rather, every day. I didn’t want him to start scolding me like a parent or trying to be sympathetic so I continued before he could make any comments on my life style.

“Anyway, apparently some big science geek who is bent on destroying Hero figured he could be the first to get to him through me. He set my landlady and me up to go to that Children’s Center grand opening. When I was about to walk home he tricked my landlady into thinking I thought it was all right to leave with him. He pushed me in his car and drove me to his lab.”

“Didn’t you call for help?” He asked.

“Do you want to hear this or not?” I snipped but I immediately regretted it. I didn’t mean to be taking my frustration out on him, I was just angry at the next series of events. I had to remember I wasn’t grumbling to a news team, but I was trying to talk to a gentle listener.

“Sorry.” I mumbled and continued.

“We got to his mansion, house, lab thing and he took me to the top floor where I was promptly blind folded and tied to a chair. He went to go change out of his ridiculous blue spandex outfit and when he came back he started wheeling me around the room talking about his great ideas. I was able to get the ropes off as well as the blindfold. He then told me that because I had seen his lab he wasn’t going to let me go. He then took me around his mansion for a few hours for a tour. I wasn’t interested in anything until he showed me the room with these huge five or six story tall robots. He said he was going to kill Hero one way or another.”

“How many were there?” He asked. He must have had a thing for robots because he seemed really interested in them too.

“Probably five, I think. He said they were almost ready. I guess if the plan to get him through me didn’t work he had a backup plan. I just hope they all got destroyed in the explosion.”

“I doubt something made to destroy Hero would fall victim to explosions.” He mumbled. He looked like he was thinking. After a moment he returned his full attention to me and once more I continued.

“He left me alone again until I called Hero for help or jumped to my death. To tell you the truth I did actually consider jumping. I figured I might just be able to make it, but I saw the barbed wire and rethought my plans. I went over to the door and punched in a few codes until it opened. I had memorized the melody he had punched in when he left me in the room. I should have known it was too easy. His maid and butler appeared and caught me. Before I knew it I was tied to a chair once more but instead of being tied with ropes I was tied with the wires that would detonate the bomb I was sitting on. If that wasn’t bad enough he injected me with something awful. It was supposed to completely paralyze me, I assume so I wouldn’t try to blow up all his precious plans. He said it would take an hour before it was permanent, but I was secretly still able to move. If worse came to worse I could still detonate the bomb.”

“I am really sorry for asking,” Andrew interrupted, “but how exactly can it get worse than sitting half paralyzed on a bomb?”

I tried to think of a really good answer to that question. I wanted it to sound better than what the actual response was. Unfortunately I couldn’t. “Look, Andrew. I am naturally stubborn. I didn’t want to call Hero in for help for my own problem.”

“Weren’t you in the situation because of you being Hero’s girl? It wasn’t just your problem.”

“Yeah, well- he made it personal so it no longer felt like Hero’s problem.”

“Personal?”

“He was starting to come on to me, personally I don’t see why. Al I had done was tried my best to insult him. He finally understood that I wasn’t Hero’s girlfriend but he decided he liked me. That and the reason I had seen his lab and other secret projects gave him a reason to not let me go. He was planning on holding me there forever.”

“But you’re safe now.” Andrew said, probably to get me back on track. I was avoiding telling him about what happened next. It just made me feel weak and vulnerable.

“Yes I’m safe- he made me call Hero. Well, I didn’t exactly call Hero-“

“But Hero still came?” He sounded like he wanted to know why. I sighed.

“He crushed my rib in, ok?” I grumbled, “It caused me to yell, which was involuntary I might add, but it still happened and then with a shattering of glass Hero was there. The fight I had been trying to prevent broke out and things started to break and spill. Hero looked like he was doing fine until the scientist pulled out some odd gun thing. When he shot Hero I really thought he might kill him. He got knocked out and while they were examining him he woke up and went over to the mad man. He was about to get shot again but I guess in a moment of desperation I broke the wires and threw my bomb chair at them. I figured Hero would be ok, but with all those spilled chemicals I didn’t think I would be. Then Hero saved me, brought me back to my room, and here I am again trying to fight off the press and the police just to try and live a normal life.”

Andrew was silent. I sort of rushed through the rest of the story at the end. I didn’t like telling it because it made me remember, but then again it sort of felt good to get it off my chest. I glanced at him to see if he would think I was crazy or not. It would be a miracle if he did believe me. Even if I heard a story like that I would want the person telling it either locked up or given a writing contract.

I was surprised to see Andrew looking normal, save for the surprised expression on his face. We sat in silence so long that I had time to glance at the drinks menu that the café offered. Right when I was on double chocolate chip flavoured coffee with extra chocolate syrup Andrew spoke.

“He- injured you?” He asked in surprise. Of all the things he could have asked I hoped it wasn’t this. Here came the sympathy that I didn’t want.

“I blew him up- we’re not exactly even, but –“

“He actually hurt you? He sunk so low?”

“Why are you so surprised? He is an evil scientist or whatever.”

“But- hurting you- and you were innocent.” He seemed like he was taking the information worse than I was. To tell the truth I was actually pretty angry myself. I would have loved to find out that the mad scientist had most of his limbs blown off and was still alive in agony. I wasn’t going to tell anyone, though. I didn’t want the press somehow twisting the truth that I had thrown a bomb at him as an aggravated assault instead of self defense.

“I’ve got to do a little shopping.” I said and stood from the table. He looked a little hurt. I was trying to avoid a tense situation, I hadn’t meant to make him think I was angry at him for worrying about me. He stood as well and collected his neat and organized notebook under his arm.

“Would you like me to come too?” he asked.

“No. I’ll be fine. I’ve gone shopping by myself before.”

“I know, but what if someone else is out there?”

“Thanks, Andrew, but I will just get what I need and go. Don’t worry about me.” I slung my satchel over my shoulder and began to head towards the door.

“Wait.” Andrew said. I glanced over at him out of the corner of my eye. He ripped a page out of his notebook and was scribbling quickly on it. He walked over to me and handed it to me.

“If you get in any trouble or need any rescuing from crowded news casters please call me.”
I looked down at the paper in my hand and saw his number written hastily down. I was going to tell him I didn’t need two boys willing to put their lives on hold for my petty problems but the look of earnesty on his face made me accept.

“Thanks.” I said without smiling and stuffed the paper in my pocket. I walked out the door and didn’t look back. All I needed were a few supplies that I could quickly get at the petrol station and I could be home in twenty minutes. It was only two blocks away. I didn’t want to act paranoid, but I held my never-been-used can of pepper spray close to my side. I could tell from the light that it was early evening, and I could get home in time to actually have a small meal and sleep.

I made it to the petrol station and walked in. The clerk at the desk didn’t look up from her magazine and she popped a loud bubble from her chewing gum as I walked around the store. I picked up a few cans of soup, a box of cereal and another case of ramen noodles. I also grabbed a package of toilet tissue before taking everything to the counter. The girl closed her magazine that she was annoyed that I was there. As she rang up my items she glanced at me and instantly her mood changed.

“You’re that girl form the news-Hero’s girl, right?”

“Nope.” I said and started counting out my money.

“Yeah you are. Oh man- how did you snag a guy like that?”

“He isn’t my boyfriend. I wouldn’t want anyone less for a boyfriend than him.” I slammed my
money down on the counter.

“You guys are fighting? You think you will end it soon? Could you introduce me?” She started leaning over the counter in excitement.

“Is this the right change?” I asked avoiding the questions.

“Oh come on- you probably even know what his secret identity is don’t you?”

To tell the truth I hadn’t given it much thought. He didn’t affect me enough to want to be bothered with his personal life. She continued to glance at me expecting me to answer her questions. It was getting darker outside and I wanted to get home.

“If you count my money I might consider introducing you.” I said. She snatched my money from the counter so quickly that the coins went flying. She bent down to pick them up. I tapped my foot impatiently and crossed my arms. After about a minute she had collected them all and put them in the cash register. She handed me my change just as the door swung open and another customer walked in.

“Riel!” he exclaimed and I turned in horror and surprise to see Hero standing in the doorway.

“Wow you work fast. I didn’t even hear you call him.” The clerk said and started looking girly-eyed at him. I could care less, what business would he possibly have coming into a petrol station? I sure as heck hoped it wasn’t for me.

“We’ve got trouble.” Hero said and came over to me.

“We?” I asked and looped the bags over my arms.

“Hi, I’m Genine.” The clerk said throwing her hand violently over the counter to shake his. She looked as though she’d give him her arm as a souvenir just for meeting. “I wanted to let you know that you’re gorgeous.”

He ignored her and continued to come to me. Why was he coming to me? Why not just get his groceries or whatever business he wanted and leave me out of this?

“Professor Madbe is missing.” He said.

“So- send a detective after him.” I grumbled and pushed past him to go out the door. There was no way in heck I was going to be seen with him. He should know being seen with me was only going to cause more problems for the both of us, but mostly me. He at least had the ability to escape anything with super speed.

“You don’t understand. He should have died in that explosion.”

“He was probably dissolved by the explosion.” I continued to walk out of the store. He zoomed in front of me so fast that it was almost like he just appeared there. I took a step back to keep from running into him.

“I know there was a body left behind. He or someone else might be coming after you.”

“I’ve got pepper spray.”

“They could use you as leverage to get to me again. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What else could they possibly want with me? They are the few that actually know I am not your girlfriend. Their boss, who should be dead, was only slightly taken with me. I hope the bomb to his head knocked some sense into him.” I walked past him once more, squeezing the can of pepper spray in my hand. I knew he probably wouldn’t be affected, but for some reason I felt tempted to find out.

“You’ve seen his lab- you know what is in there.”

I stopped. It was true. I did know what was in there.

“Robots!” I exclaimed. “They have these huge robots in that lab.”

“I know.” He said.

“Well, can’t you deactivate them?”

“It isn’t that simple.” He said, but he looked relieved that I was finally showing some emotion other than ignorance to the situation.

“Isn’t that simple? What does that mean? Don’t they all have an on or off switch?”

“I don’t think flipping the switch will be so easy. An explosion might be the only thing strong enough to deactivate them.”

“Don’t look at me.” I said, “I’ve only had experience with chair bombs and I’m here to tell you I will not be looking into studying pyrotechnics in my near future.”

He gave me a look that meant this wasn’t time for joking, but I was being serious. I didn’t want to have to deal with bombs before.

“Besides,” I continued, “I think you may just be a bit stronger than a bomb.” I pointed to his arm indicating the bulging muscles under his suit.

“They might all trigger bombs in each other. If one is destroyed then the others might detonate as well.”

“Then you should get them together and blow them up all at once.”

“Doing that might just be greater than what nuclear weapons could do.”

“Well I am trying to throw out some suggestions here. I don’t know what you want me to do. I don’t know how to deactivate, much less control or destroy a robot. We don’t even know if the robots are able to be used.”

“I didn’t come to you to ask you about robots.” He said. “I came to make sure you were safe. I can tell something is going to happen.”

Just then sirens started blaring. I had never been outside a building before when I heard the emergency alarms going off. There were hundreds of sirens in buildings loudly blaring thorough the windows and across streets. I covered my ears from the surprisingly loud wailing.

“You guys should come in here for protection. Hurry come in the secure room.” Genine the store clerk yelled over the sirens and opened the door. I rolled my eyes and started walking in the direction of my house. I hadn’t taken five steps when I was suddenly airborne. Hero had picked me up and was flying towards my house. Before I could yell at him he deposited me in my window’s balcony.

“Stay safe here. Whatever you do, do not leave.” He commanded just before he took off. An announcement that was louder than the sirens started ringing out over the city.

“Citizens of Metrolis, there are five robots placed around the city. Do not try to tamper with them, they will only cause harm. To get rid of them is simple, deliver Hero and Riel Glace to my mansion within twenty four hours, and your precious little city will be saved. For every day after the twenty four hours they are not received one robot will blow up, destroying everything in seconds.

I rushed inside and slammed my door shut to block out all the noise. He didn’t come back after the message so I assumed he figured I was safest here. I wondered if I should go somewhere. It seemed everyone knew where I lived. They might come to me in panic. I wasn’t about to go hide in someone’s house and cause then problems. I should be fine here.

I was planning on whether I should stay in my room or go somewhere and hide when there was a loud knock on my door. I tensed up and decided not to answer it.

“Riel, open this door.”I heard Ms. Hodgens yell from the other side. I heard her key jiggle in the lock and I only had a few seconds to dive behind my wardrobe before the door swung open.

“Riel, are you in here?” She marched into my room and began looking under things. She noticed my shopping bags by the window and walked over. She peered outside and looked around but she didn’t see me. “That girl is in trouble- if I find who is doing this to her-“ She mumbled to herself. I watched as she went to the door to leave. Just then two police officers stormed into my room and nearly knocked Ms. Hodgens over.

“Excuse us ma’am, we’re looking for Riel Glace.” One of the officers said.

“Well she’s not here.” Ms. Hodgens said, sounding rather perturbed for being nearly knocked over.

“We need to take her into protective custody until we know what is going on.”
I didn’t want them to take me. That might be the first place the bad guys looked. I probably wasn’t going to be safe here forever, but for now I would have to trust my instincts.

“Like I said,” Ms. Hodgens grumbled, “She’s not here. She left her groceries by the window- that boy you said flies around must have come to get her already.” She started to push the men out of the room, “Now why don’t you go and do something useful like getting those annoying sirens to go off.” She continued to get them out of the room.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that just yet, ma’am. Let us know if Miss Glace shows up. We need to find her as quickly as possible. Maybe she can get Hero to come as well.” They both tipped their hats and walked out. Ms. Hodgens was about to shut the door when she walked back in.

“Riel, if you’re in here, I don’t know what you did but it isn’t any of my business or theirs. You just stay here until they figure out what the problem is.” She shut my door and I heard her lock it once more from the other side. I waited a few more seconds before coming out of my hiding place. I didn’t exactly feel hungry or tired I just felt kind of numb. This problem had to be because of Professor Madbe but I wasn’t sure how he had survived the explosion. Maybe he didn’t and this was another of his cohorts picking up where he left off. I wanted to look out the window and see what was going on, but I knew I might be seen. I was beginning to feel like a prisoner. I wanted to do something about it. I felt the ache in my side that wasn’t going to allow me to do much about anything in this condition. Actually, it was more of a throbbing pierce.

I grabbed a handful of ice from the freezer and went to lie down on my bed. I threw back two Advil and pulled my shirt up. I hadn’t done anything to help heal myself since the accident. When I pulled my shirt up I could see the bruising had worsened and I had a large swelling knot where my rib was. I couldn’t do anything anyway, why not tend to my rib? I placed the pack of ice on my injury and winced from the pain and the cold. I was good at handling pain, but I had never experienced pain like this. I rolled over to my side so the bag of ice wouldn’t roll off. I reached over and turned my little radio on to get my mind off of things and to see if anyone knew anything about what was happening.

“There seems to be no explanation on how to take down the Robots. Hero has been seen flying around them and it seems he is trying to figure them out. We all ask ourselves, where can his girlfriend be at a time like this. You’d think he would be with her. Anyone with information as to why they are needed together please give us a call at-“

I quickly turned the radio dial until I came across another radio station.

“Metrolis news here with updates on the recent attack of the city. Five six-story robots from the Madbe labs have been stationed around the city. They are calling it the worst terror attack since- well ever. We received word that a bomb squad has gone out to check on the giant machines. It is yet unclear what the Madbe labs want with the Mysterious and popular super hero, Hero and his girlfriend Riel Glace. Will they be able to negotiate terms or are they part of the plan? Anyone with news of the whereabouts of either person should contact your local police department.”

I turned the radio down to just white noise and focused on breathing. Now that I was actually giving attention to my injury I was beginning to find out just how much it hurt. I wanted to groan into my pillow or something but I didn’t see the use in that so I just lied there bracing the pain. The radio continued to buzz quietly in the background with more news on the situation. I didn’t know how big this problem was but Hero had come to a petrol station just to find me and tell me about it. It probably meant that it was imperative that I wasn’t found.

I didn’t want to be found. I was having body issues. I pressed my face into my pillow and attempted to sleep. I had been up for nearly two days straight anyway. Despite the situation I was surprisingly able to drift off within a few seconds.

My dreams were filled with explosions and fire. Professor Madbe continued to walk through my dreams laughing and pointing the gun at different objects making them explode. The robots marched behind him and bulldozed buildings like they were mechanical forms of Godzilla. I wanted to run away but I somehow felt a connection like I should be there to help stop it because I was somehow the reason for it.

I awoke with a start and light was shining through my window. The bag of ice was completely melted and slightly leaking. I gingerly lifted it from my rib and sat up. The sirens in the building had stopped wailing, but I could still hear the main sirens off in the distance. I forced myself out of bed for more Advil and ice. I couldn’t exactly do anything else for the time being. As I opened the freezer my stomach growled impatiently. I didn’t feel like eating but I couldn’t remember when I had food last so I figured I might as well make something quick. I walked over to my untouched bags by the window and extracted the first thing my hand came in contact with. A can of chicken soup. I glopped it into the pot that seemed clean enough though I couldn’t remember the last time I washed it. I turned the stove on and went to go refill my ice bag and reinforce it with a towel. While I waited for my soup to finish cooking I went to the window and dared to peer out.

Helicopters and airplanes dotted the skies while I could see police cars stationed at nearly every three buildings. I could see more clearly than last night and I noticed one of the five robots was quite near. It looked menacing towering over the majority of the surrounding buildings and trees. A group of people looked like it had gathered in front of my apartment and I could only assume that they had somehow gathered to capture me whether I was going to come to the house or try and leave.

I ducked behind my curtains and went over to stir my soup. I took it off the heat and slowly ate it directly from the pot. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to eat with a bowl just because I didn’t feel like cleaning extra dishes. When I finished the soup I placed the pot in the sink and rinsed it out. I then made my way over to my bed of boredom with a fresh bag of ice and lied down ready for round two of attempting to heal myself. At least I was able to catch up on some sleep. My body probably wouldn’t know what to do with so many hours of rest. Maybe it would help heal. I just knew that if I was going to have to stay hidden in my room for another day or so I might go crazy and just have to turn myself in for something to do. But for now I would what and see what happened. Who knew? This might be just another of those ploys that Hero was going to foil. I turned the radio on for white noise again. I placed the bag on my rib and gritted my teeth to bare the pain. Falling asleep wasn’t as easy this time but I somehow managed to do it once more.

I awoke to a sudden shrieking wail from my radio. I don’t know how many hours had passed but the lack of light in my window indicated that it was well into the night. I reached over to shut my noisy radio off when the speaker came back on.

“We have confirmation that one of the robots has started it’s countdown to blow up. Everyone must evacuate the area immediately. For your own safety and the safety get out quickly. Everyone in the upper Metrolis area needs to evacuate immediately. We have word that Hero is on the scene straight from southern Metrolis. He seems to be attempting to shut the robot down but does not appear to be having any luck.”

I was in east Metrolis, the dullest part of the Metrolis area. I was safe for now. I turned the radio up a little more, interested in what was going on. Suddenly the airwaves seemed to be interrupted and another announcer came on.

“This is your last warning. The robot goes boom if both Hero and his girl are not delivered to me in one minute.” He went off the air laughing as the normal news caster seemed to gain control of his airwaves.

“We apologize for that interruption. It seems the Madbe corp. has found a way to override our signals. But you heard it folks, you have one minute to evacuate the area. Please get anyone you see out of there. And if Riel or hero is listening, for the love of humanity please help us out.”

I sighed and paced around my room. My side and shirt were uncomfortably wet from the melted ice once more. Twenty four hours had already passed since the announcement yesterday. I heard loud chanting over the sirens coming from outside. I dared to peek my head out again and I heard them chanting and protesting my name. What could I do? Suddenly they started a count down from thirty until the bomb detonated.

“What is this?”My radio sounded stunned as it sewed the news cast, “It seems there is one person in North Metrolis near the robot. He was said to be flagging down Hero. He won’t have time to get to safety. But what’s this? Hero has spotted him. How will this situation turn out?”

The countdown turned more foreboding and I was beginning to feel a little worried. I hoped one bomb wasn’t going to be able to hurt Hero, but you could never be too sure with bombs.

“What’s this? It seems Hero has started to try and lift the robot. With only fifteen seconds to go can he get it far enough away? I don’t believe my eyes. I can see the Robot lifting slowly out of my window. He is actually doing it!”

I held my breath. What exactly was Hero trying to do? Could he get it far enough away that the explosion wouldn’t harm the city? But what about him? Surly it wasn’t good to be that close to a six-story bomb.

The news caster’s surprised excitement made me feel more tense. Even he began the countdown on the radio. “Ten… Nine… Eight…”

I turned the radio off but it didn’t drown out the people counting outside. I couldn’t help but count along with them. It was too late to go and turn myself in. The bomb was going to explode. I stormed around the room trying to decide on what to do.

“THREE…” I closed my curtains and sat on my bed.

“TWO…” I clenched the blankets in my fists.

“ONE…” Outside became silent. It seemed we were all holding our breath. And then we heard it. A great explosion. Northern Metrolis was miles away, but I still heard it as though it were close by. I didn’t have to open my curtains to see the fire cloud in the sky hanging high in the air. I couldn’t help myself. I turned the radio on.

“Just exploded. If anyone is still there in Northern Metrolis please give us a call and let us know what is going on. There is still so much fire and smoke in the sky that we can’t tell what is going on. We are all worried for Hero’s survival. Was he able to lift the bomb high enough not to cause damage. Is there no limit to his strength? Oh wait, we have someone calling in. Yes, you’re on the line it is said you have some information from Northern Metrolis?”

“It is terrible.” The young female voice on the other end rang out, “The explosion was so bad that the whole machine must have dissolved in the force. No chunks or anything have fallen from the sky.” She sounded like she was so frightened that she was beginning to cry. “I don’t think Hero could have survived. I haven’t seen him fall. I’m not even sure if here is any of him left after that.”

“Is any part of the city damaged?” The radio host pressed her.

“It doesn’t seem like it. A few of the taller buildings may have been singed from the heat, but otherwise Hero saved the day.”

“Is there anything else you can tell us that is happening there?”

“I don’t know about you, but whoever that Riel girl is had better turn herself in. Whatever she is hiding or doing can save the city. I don’t see why we have to be punished for-“

Once more I switched the channel on the radio.

“-and I saw him just pick it up and soar it into the sky.” A man was finishing his story.
“Is there any sign of Hero at this time?” The newscaster asked.

“There is still too much smoke. It is getting hard to breathe I’m going to have to get out of here.”

“Alright, thanks for calling in. Anyone else that might have information on Hero or a view of the explosion please call us. Ah yes another caller. Yes you’re on the air, what can you tell us.”

“This is professor Madbe’s assistant. We seem to have underestimated this Hero if, in fact, he is still alive. If he is, we have decided to change out tactics. We wonder if he will be able to fight off four robots at once? Miss Glace might not be able to save her boyfriend of hers, but she is still the only one that can save the city. Even if fly boy did survive he would be in no condition to fight.”

“Why are you doing this, why do you need this Riel Glace? Can the government give you money or some other ransom? Thousands of lives are at stake.”

“She knows dangerous information. The professor is also taken with her. We cannot allow
someone out there unsupervised with information like that. We do not wish for money. The professor has more than he knows what to do with. That girl is priceless.”

“You want a girl so you are going to blow up a city to get her?”

“Romantic isn’t it?” the voice said and then disconnected.

“Whatever information Miss Glace has is dangerous. Anyone that meets her don’t ask her about it. You may be in danger if you find out what it is she is hiding. Everyone keep a look out for her. Oh yes we have another caller. Yes you’re on the air.”

“It’s amazing! Hero Just fell from the explosion. He is moving and he seems hurt but alive.”

“Can you give us any more information?”

“The smoke started clearing and I saw this black thing fall from the center of it all. At first I thought it was just part of the robot, but I figured that was odd since there weren’t any other signs of the robot. I then realized that it looked human shaped. I’m going to go check on him.” He dropped the phone but it didn’t disconnect. We could hear through the phone his footsteps as he ran over. “Hey are you ok.”

I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed for an answer from either the man or Hero.

“Hey, should you really be moving? You look injured.”

“Has anyone been hurt?” I recognized Hero’s voice and let out a sigh of relief. I was then a little angered at him. He nearly died from a bomb explosion and he was asking about people? Couldn’t he at least say something about being ok or that he was all right?

“I don’t think anyone was hurt.” The man answered, “Wait a minute- don’t stand- you look like you’re injured.” There was a whooshing sound that I could only determine was made from hero flying away at his top speed. The man picked up the phone again, which I assumed was a payphone and resumed his conversation.

“Hero looked pretty banged up but he just flew off. I hope that young boy is ok. It is unnatural to be able to survive something like that, but I guess if anyone can do it he can.”

“Thank you for calling in. Our lines are still open for anyone to give information on anything else.”

What was Hero thinking, fighting in his condition? Did he have a way to recharge or was he just going to fight until he destroyed himself? I could tell it was a trap if I turned myself in now, and Hero was fighting to keep me out of this. I didn’t care how people thought of me after this whole ordeal. Maybe I might get ignored and cold-shouldered. It would be like my life went back to normal. The one thing I didn’t want hanging over my head was a dead hero. He wasn’t just a Hero that saved Metrolis but other parts of the world. He was known everywhere. What could I do? If I turned myself in they might make him choose between choosing me or the city. I was thinking of worst case scenario here, but still. If that happened I didn’t want them to get that opportunity. I would just have to hide to keep him safe. I went to the freezer and retrieved more ice. The knot in my side had gone down a little.
I took two more Advil and resumed the painful position in my bed.

I continued to listen to the radio for a few more hours. I was getting fidgety in my room. Ms. Hodgens didn’t make any more appearances and I only assumed she was working very hard to keep everyone out. I felt like I was causing problems for everyone. A few more hours went by and the announcer let us know that it was noon. A few of the announcers on all the radio stations I was listening to had changed shifts, but it seemed the news was too exciting to leave the radio station. Multiple people were in the rooms debating Hero’s actions. Some of them were quite against me giving myself up while others were angrily demanding I show myself. I wasn’t scared of what the Madbe corp. would to, I was just anxious about who or what would be hurt if I did reveal myself. I turned my radio down again because I needed time to think.

If I did turn myself in, maybe I could find a way to shut down the robots. I would allow myself to be captured by them and then work out a plan to somehow fight my way through and get to the control room or whatever it was that they used. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get past all the people outside. If I was going to do this I would at least need a little protection. I went over to my wardrobe and opened one of the drawers. I pulled out my stretchy, gauzy ace bandage. I pulled my shirt up carefully and started tightly wrapping it around my rib. When I was finished I attached it with the metal clasp it came with. It was a little more uncomfortable than I had imagined and it probably wouldn’t be too good to have something putting pressure on my rib for too long, but at least for now it was better than nothing at all. I was just about to leave when I heard a great creaking sound outside and everyone below screamed.

I ran to my window and saw that the giant robot that was beginning to move. It started walking towards the center of the city. Hero’s words echoed in my head. If they all blew up together they might be like a nuclear attack and after seeing the explosion in Northern Metrolis from where I was I didn’t have any doubts about that. I didn’t even know if Hero could fight off all four at once since just one at a time gave him so much trouble. Everyone’s attention was focused on the robot. Now was my chance to escape. I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I didn’t think I had a choice.

I ran down the stairs gritting my teeth as the bandage constricted my rib as I moved. I got all the way to the first floor and saw that people were yelling outside the front. Ms. Hodgens was standing in the foyer with an officer, both of them were putting all their weight against the door to keep the people out.

“Ms. Hodgens.” I said, “I’ve got to go.”

The police officer and Ms. Hodgens both turned and looked at me in surprise.

“Riel, what on Earth are you doing? You need to go and protect yourself.”

“Come with me to the station.” The police officer commanded.

“No.” I said, “I’ve got to get to Madbe Lab. I know the code to get in, and I want to be able to stop the robots.” I hoped the code was the same one I had memorized to make my escape.
It was kind of ironic now that I was going to use it to break myself in.

“That is too dangerous Miss Glace.” The officer said.

“I will not allow that, Riel.” Ms. Hodgens stated.

“I’ve got to go. The robots started moving and I think they are gathering together. Hero told me earlier that if they all got together and blew up it would be worse than a nuclear attack.”

“Well at least come to the station with me.” The officer said, “maybe we can use you as leverage to get them to take the robots away.”

“I’m not something to be bargained.” I angrily said, “besides, don’t you think they could easily storm through your police station with one of the robots? We’d have unnecessary destruction, not that it would matter since all of the robots seem focused on suicide if I’m not at the Madbe labs soon. I don’t know about you guys but I don’t think Hero would survive even a nuclear attack.”

Ms. Hodgens still looked angrily at me as though she didn’t want me to go.

“I can’t make it there on foot.” I confessed, “you’ll have to drive me.” I walked over to the police officer. There was more creaking outside and people screamed. The robot must have been picking up speed or something.

“Alright.” The officer reluctantly agreed.

“I don’t want to allow this,” Ms. Hodgens said.

“I’m sorry but you don’t have a choice.” I stepped towards the door. The officer took the handle and opened it. A few of the patrons outside fell in the doorway. I stayed close to the officer as he made a path through the swarms of people. They started realizing who I was and they shouted at me. I didn’t want to hear what they were saying so I ignored them and thought, instead, of the idiocy of the plan I was making up. The officer opened the passenger door for me in his car and quickly shut it when I was inside and ran to the other side. People didn’t get in our way as we sped towards the Madbe labs.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked as he pushed his police car’s speed to its limit. I glanced out the window at the massive Robot tromping down the center of the street.

“Hero doesn’t have a choice either.” I said, hoping that would make me feel better but it hardly had any effect.

“What information could you possibly have that would be cause for all this destruction?”

“I don’t know.” I said, and that was what scared me. Maybe it was just the fact that I knew what was in the building. I sure hoped that wasn’t their excuse for them just to get me back for their precious mad scientist professor.

The police car passed the robot and we made it to the center of the city. To our horror the other three remaining robots were also moving towards the city. I noticed that one robot looked overly banged up and I figured that must have been Hero’s doing. It was missing a limb and didn’t walk as smoothly as the others. The glass helmet that it had seemed to be cracked beyond repair. Then it was confirmed. I saw the small black shape of Hero flying around the robot’s head. He continued to shoot some of his odd alien beams of power at it and I was surprised to see that there really was a great deal of destruction going on in his blasts. I hoped he would be able to fight them off while I had time to at least try and disable them. I hid my hand behind my face. I remembered that hero could pinpoint my house even when I couldn’t see the general area of it. If he had such amazing vision I was sure he would be able to see me in the car. Not that he would have time to be enjoying the scenery, but just in case he caught a glimpse of me I didn’t want to be noticed.

Ten minutes passed and we made it to the mansion in less than the forty five minutes it had taken us the other night in Madbe’s limo. The surrounding area was littered with helicopters and tanks. The closer we got the more destructive the area looked. How was I going to be able to get past an army and a bomb squad? The cop came to a sudden stop and looked at me as though he was about to offer me one more chance to save myself. Before he even had the opportunity I jumped out of the car. I would have run but my rib was causing pain that incapacitated me.

“Halt. Identify yourself.” One of the generals popped out of one of the massive tanks.

“I’m Riel Glace, the one they’re asking for.” I said but I didn’t stop. Every second those
robots were getting closer to each other.

“Don’t you know how dangerous this is? They hold the city in their hands. We can’t just go walking in there.”

“I don’t expect you guys to. It is me they want. I’ve got to stop this madness.”

“Take something to defend you.” He said and unhooked a machine gun from around his shoulders and into my arms. I staggered under the weight.

“Thanks but I don’t use guns.” I said and deposited it on the ground. “Aren’t you guys supposed to not give up your weapons? I mean, I could be the enemy after all?”

“Desperate times.” He stated and picked up his gun once more. “I have this area sealed off. If one more of those robots explodes we open fire on this building.”

“Then I guess I had better try and stop them from exploding.” I said and continued to march past the bomb squad and army brigade. Camouflaged army men and other people dressed in interesting suits for protection stared at me but they allowed me to pass.
The way I saw it I had two options. I could loudly declare that I was here and for Madbe to call off his insane attack, or I could try and sneak in. If he captured me he could lock me away without an escape until the duty was done, but if I was able to sneak in I might have a chance to somehow get in the main room. I was sure it would be overrun by people controlling the robots especially since the robots were moving now. I decided to stay silent. I didn’t know what they were going to do with me if I was found out. They might already know I was here. I crept around the side of the house. The area we had entered that night was completely on the opposite end that had been blown up. I walked up the stairs. My hands shook as I reached for the handle. I was surprised that it swung open. He hallway was bare and desolate. I wanted to take the elevator because I was sure I knew my way from there but I didn’t want to take any chances on being trapped. I carefully sneaked around the corridor until I found a set of stairs. They looked highly unused.

I checked my surroundings once more and fearlessly started up the coiling steps. The more I climbed the harder I breathed and the more my rib hurt. If I just didn’t have this injury I would be so much better at this. When I was on the fourth floor of the stairs I stopped and leaned over to brace myself for the final flight of stairs. Once I caught my breath and was ready for the pain I took to the stairs once more. I counted each of the steps as I made it to the top. Finally I was at the lab door and I peered out. There wasn’t anyone around. I assumed everyone must have been spending all their time in the control room or had escaped after learning of the danger. I was sure the majority of the workers here didn’t know of the secrets the Professor was hiding. This was his apothecary end of the building, after all. I opened the door slowly so as not to set off any alarms and I looked around. I didn’t hear anything. I crawled out and started to head towards the nearest hallway that would take me to the other end of the building near where I saw the robots the first time.

“Not so fast.” I heard a voice behind me and I violently turned around. “That professor knew you wouldn’t stay away. I’m afraid we can’t have you wandering around. You might cause some trouble.”

The maid that I had met earlier was no longer dressed as a maid. She was wearing what looked like the lower half of a hazmat suit and she was holding another long painful looking syringe.

“Say away from me.” I said and took a step away from her. I didn’t want to turn my back and be attacked from behind with that needle. I took another step back and ran into something. Before I could see what I had run into, two muscular arms wrapped around my neck and across my stomach. He slightly missed my rib.

“Let me guess, you’re not the butler either?” I looked up and recognized the man from the night before.

“No, Miss. I am actually a butler.” He crookedly smiled at me and then looked up and nodded at the girl. She slowly came over with the needle. No way was I going to be stuck with another needle again. She closed the distance and I struggled to get free. I stomped on the butler’s foot while simultaneously biting fiercely down on his hand. He let me go but the maid ran at me. I ducked below her and tripped her up. She landed with a groan. I turned to see that she had fallen on the needle. It slowly drained into her chest. Her eyes glazed over and drool started leaking out of her perfectly painted lips. The butler groaned but bent down and scooped her up.

“He’s got something worse in store for you.” He laughed and disappeared down one of the numerous corridors. I chose another hallway that seemed to lead away from them, even though that might lead me straight to the professor or his cronies. I headed for the room and recognized the hallway of weapons. The glass had been shattered but it seemed only a few of the dangerous weapons had been removed. I saw the little ball that once ingested would explode in a huge radius. I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket. I might not use guns, and even though I wasn’t looking in to a pyrotechnics career I figured I could find a use for this or at least save humanity from its destruction.

I grabbed some other small weapons that I wasn’t sure what they were. They appeared to be ninja stars and other sword like weapons. I didn’t understand why I felt more comfortable with these instead of a gun. I wasn’t even planning on using them. But at least they would be protection if I needed them. I shuffled down the hallway uninterrupted and I came to the door. I punched in the code a couple times until I got it right. I was amazed when the door swung open. All of the spaces where the robots were was empty but I saw a mass of people across the way staring right at me. The door swung shut leaving me stranded out on the little balcony. I was joined by Professor Madbe himself. He was in a wheelchair and one of his arms was nothing but a stump. He was bandaged in other places but looked otherwise all in order.

“It is so nice of you to join us, my dear. I’m afraid we won’t have you escaping again.” He smiled revealing that three of his teeth were also missing. I backed up against the skimpy railing. I should have known I was walking into a trap. “When you know the code to this room I know you’re too dangerous to be left alone. But the fireworks are about to begin. How about we take a walk?” Suddenly the door swung open behind us and we were surrounded by an army of people in lab coats. They grabbed me under my arms and I felt a prick in my shoulder. I tried to struggle free but it didn’t work.

“I saw that my antidote to my serum was gone after you left my lab. I am trying a little experiment on you now.” He chuckled. Eventually the needle was removed from my arm with a painful jerk and we continued down the hall. I noticed that it was filled with what looked like the same serum and dosage of the ‘pain killer’ that he had used on me before. I wanted to groan out something heroic like, “You’ll never get away with this.” Or “You’re going to pay.” But I figured I really was trapped and it really did seem like he had a great chance of getting away with everything. I didn’t understand why he found it necessary to just inject me with random filth. I knew he was a drug maker of sorts, but I didn’t understand unless he was trying things out on me as though I were a lab rat. What experiment was he talking about anyway? Did this have something to do with receiving the antidote?
We made it down corridor after corridor and down quite a few flights of stairs before coming to a large white room. It reminded me of something I would see in a science fiction movie. There was a gigantic white screen spanning the length of the room and it showed a view of the city. It looked like Hero had taken down one robot but the other three were still standing strong ad moving ever closer to one another. There still was a possibility that the robot he took down could explode. There were people in lab coats all in the room at different controls manning different buttons and things. They didn’t look up when we entered it gave the impression that they were working very hard on concentrating on what they were doing because keeping the robots moving was difficult. If I could break their concentration I could maybe get the robots to stop, but how would I break their thought process when I was being restrained?

One of the professor’s infamous chairs appeared along with someone holding rope. I kicked out with my legs and knocked both of them over.

“Very impressive.” Professor Madbe said, “That serum should have rendered you motionless again.” I realized that my muscles only slightly tingled. I wasn’t being affected by the serum at all. “You’re not supposed to become immune to it, I suppose that is my fault in making the formula. It is too bad, you would have made quite the interesting and beautiful test subject.”

“Let me go.” I demanded and tried to stomp on is foot. I accidentally hit another guy who reeled back in pain knocking a few others with him. Unfortunately it didn’t affect the two brutes holding me.

“Quite feisty aren’t you? I could kill you, you know, right now quick and simple. But I believe that you too have contributed to my misery and you have destroyed quite a bit of my precious things with that little explosion of yours. You are in almost as much debt as Hero, and for that you must die in pain. It is a shame, though. I really was beginning to love your presence.” He placed a kiss on my cheek and I tried very hard to punch him away or cause some kind of damage. Instead I was forced down onto a chair and roped in. Once I was confined many of the people walked out. All that was left was the professor, one guard, and the eight or nine people running the robots.

“I see you are admiring my life’s work. I’ve been working on machines that would help me rule the world one day. I never had a chance to try them out on anything until that Hero came alone. I think they’re working wonderfully well. We’re almost about to head into the third day against them and he’s only destroyed two. Well, I destroyed one of them, but it seemed to have taken him down a few notches.”

‘If you’re going to kill me just get it over with.” I groaned, “I’m not interested in your stories.”

“Patience my dear, I have an interesting death in store for you. Your city gave you up so easily to me, I don’t see why you’d want to return to them. Think of this painful death as a kindness.”

“They didn’t give me up.” I said, “I came of my own accord.”

“Did you, now? I didn’t expect you to be the hero type- you know opposites attract and all that.”

“I’m not dating Hero!” I yelled.

“Whatever you say, Dear. You’re still going to end up watching him die, and then you won’t be far behind.”

“You’re insane” I grumbled but I started fumbling in my pocket for one of the ninja stars. Maybe I could cut myself out. I cut my finger along the blade as I slipped my hand in my pocket. I didn’t care. I was able to get it out! Luckily it was on the side that wasn’t facing him so he couldn’t see what I was doing. He continued to explain his plan to me.

“I am planning on having all the robots explode. I assume that people will think that you have joined my side. As we speak there is an announcement on the radio saying that we have you. Anyway, they will see that the attacks aren’t going to stop and they will think that you’ve joined my side.”

I didn’t understand why he was telling me this. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with his plan of killing me, unless he was either biding his time or really wanted me to be hated before I died. I didn’t care what people thought of me. Right now I had to concentrate on destroying his plan. If he would keep talking I might be able to cut myself out in enough time to stop him and the people running the machines. I managed to get one of the blades from my pocket and I set to work on the ropes.

“In a few minutes I am going to leave the building leaving only you behind. You will watch as Hero tries to save the city but even if he can save them, he won’t be able to save himself. I know that they are going to blow this building up as soon as the next robot blows. That is why I must leave. I hope you enjoy the show and whatever time you have left.”
I cut through one rope and it fell to my side. HE couldn’t leave yet. I had to get him to stay.

“Can I at least ask one question before I die?” I asked.

“I suppose I could give my love one last request.”

I refrained from gagging and scrunching my face in disgust. I pretended to think of a question but I already had the one I wanted to ask in mind.

“We don’t have all time dear. Time really is wasting.” He took another step from the door.

“Wait!” I commanded, “When I was here last you said that the roots weren’t going to be finished for a while. It seems they can move fine and cause plenty of damage. What wasn’t finished?”

“Oh.” He said, “I didn’t attach the program to make them stop yet.”

“They won’t stop?” I nearly yelled and jumped out of my seat, the broken ropes coiled at my feet. This time a couple people looked away from their post and surprise crossed Madbe’s face.

“You never were good at being tied up were you?” he asked. I threw the weapon in my hand that I had at him. The guard jumped in front and blocked him. The star hit him directly in the chest. Even I was surprised that it was sharp enough to go through his layers of clothes. No wonder it had cut through the ropes pretty much like butter.

After a few seconds the guard collapsed dead on the ground.

“I see you have chosen the poison stars as your weapon of choice. I knew if I left the windows open you might grab something more interesting. The instant that poison from the darts touches your blood and reaches your heart you die. It’s a shame, really, this man really was a good body guard.”

Instinctively I looked down at my finger. A large cut ran deep and blood was trickling out. Now that I thought about it my hand felt funny. I was poisoned too!

“So your freedom came with a price I see.” Professor Madbe stated and gestured towards my finger, “I was wondering how you did come about getting out of the chair again. I was beginning to think you might be a super hero as well.”

“You made the machines unable to stop?” I furiously groaned and pulled the rest of the stars out of my pockets. “Then why do you have people controlling them?” I asked and threw a handful of the blades at the equipment and computers they were using. Their sharpness allowed them to slice right into the center of the machines and sparks started flying.

“I was having them maneuver them around the buildings, but I see how you want this to end.” Professor Madbe didn’t seem angry that I had destroyed the controls. In my shock I glanced at the sparking wires. What had I done? Before I knew it the people running the controls as well as professor Madbe were running out the door. It was just about to close. I dove after it and wedged my shoe in the corner. It propped slightly open. I wanted to run but I couldn’t yet. I had to figure out a way to shut the robots down. I noticed a countdown counter was on the left had side of the screen. There was just less than an hour left. I had an hour to figure out how to turn these off, or somehow get Hero to destroy them before then.

I rushed over to the machine and started messing with the controls. It didn’t’ seem to have an effect on the robots. They weren’t around anything too dangerous looking except that one had just crushed the Children’s Center. I could see Hero still putting up a violent fight. I could only imagine how tired he must be. Not only was he nearly blown up but he had also been fighting for two, almost three days without a break. I knew he had more stamina than anyone, but no one can fight forever.

Thirty minutes went by and I had only managed to break another set of controls. I wasn’t a computer wiz but I had to do something. I went over to the last set of working controls. They hadn’t been occupied and I figured that was because this was the robot that Hero had taken down. I touched the controls and watched the screen. I saw the broken robot twitch. Finally! I had a reaction. I started hitting buttons to see what they would do. Nothing seemed to work. There was one large red button off to the left and out of the way of the rest of the controls. I wondered what it did. There wasn’t really anything else I could try. I slammed it down with my hand and watched the screen. To my horror the robot started flashing. It must have been making an incredibly loud noise because Hero stopped what he was doing and glanced over at the Robot. IN an instant he flew down towards it and disappeared beneath it. The torso started rising towards the sky. Higher and higher it flew. I then realized what I had done. I had activated the self destruct. Hero had to leave what he was doing and take care of my mistake. Who knew if he could survive a second attack?

A five second count down started beeping from the machine. I stared mesmerized as the robot exploded high in the air. I hoped the information wasn’t going to reach the bomb squad outside yet. Hopefully they wouldn’t shoot knowing I was still inside, but they did say they were going to bomb the place if another robot blew. I groaned. I had made things worse. I had fifteen minutes left and Hero was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t help but stare at the screen, begging to see Hero’s body appear from the flames.

I went back to banging on the equipment to make it work or cause something to happen. Nothing was working. I hadn’t blown up yet so I figured they had either not received information on the explosion or they were waiting to fire until they saw me. I began to stumble around the room as the poison began to take effect. It seemed to work more slowly on me but that was probably because I didn’t have an exact dosage to the heart. I collapsed over in the chair, my head felt woozy. I had to keep going but I couldn’t see.

My eyes landed on a jar of white liquid on a cart in the corner of the room. It was labeled ‘cure.’ There were other liquids with syringes in them with labels such as ‘poison’ ‘relaxant’ ‘painkiller’ ‘antidote’ and others. I figured as going to die anyway, they might all be poisons, but why not give it a try. I walked over and picked up the cure jar. It didn’t have a syringe in it so I placed it to my lips and swallowed it down. It tasted like spoiled milk and rotten banana peels. I wanted to spit it back out but for some reason I couldn’t. Nothing that tasted that bad could be good. None the less, I made a last attempt to help Hero. I slammed my fists on the controls and avoided all the red buttons at all costs. I glanced up at the screen and I saw that with one minute to go the robots had begun flashing. Hey really were going to explode. I saw in amazement that Hero was there flying around them in circles. It looked like he had broken into one of them and he was wrapping the cords around them tying them together. He had thirty seconds to go. Suddenly I saw him disappear below them and they started to slowly rise into the air. He was going to attempt to lift them away from the city too? Did he have the strength? I didn’t think he was going to survive. Fifteen seconds were left to go. I didn’t want this lab to survive. I still had one weapon left to destroy. I pulled the tiny ball out of my pocket and walked over to the dead guard. I opened his mouth and threw the ball down his throat. I slammed my good side against the door and ran for my life. I had to get out. My vision was blurry. Suddenly there was a huge explosion behind me. The tiny ball must have hit the stomach acid. I flew forward as did the furniture in the hallway. I landed on a cushion and covered my head to keep things from falling.
I suddenly felt a tough grip under my arm and I was hauled to my feet. I looked up to see the police officer who had brought me here.

“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” He said and pulled me down the hall. “They said I had five minutes to get you out before they release fire. I was beginning to get worried.

“How DID you find me?” I asked, wheezing.

“I followed the explosion. I figured you wouldn’t be far behind.”

We ran down the stairs, or rather, he ran while I stumbled helplessly. We were going so fast that we nearly crashed onto the first floor.

“How long ago did you come to search for me?” I asked, holding on to the wall as he pressed against the door to open it to our freedom.

“Six minutes ago.” He said.

“Six minutes?!” I nearly yelled, “They could be firing now.”

“I can’t get this door open.” He grumbled and threw his weight against it. I could see a keypad by the door. I ran my fingers across it in blinding speed with the correct code. The door unlocked and we both shoved out way out. We ran across the lawn just as the general was giving commands to fire. The police officer dragged me to his car and shut me in the front seat before flying to his side and turning on the car. He floored the pedal down and we sped away. I could see the explosions over the trees from where I was sitting. I placed my head back against the head rest and concentrated on breathing slowly. My side hurt as did my stomach. Whatever I drank was not agreeing with me, plus I was sure the poison wasn’t doing a very good job of helping me survive either.

I tried to think of reasons why he would have those chemicals in the room in the first place. Maybe he threatened his workers with doses of his made up medication if they didn’t do as he said. I guess he had cures in there, or at least fake cures in there that would give them hope of recovery in case they were injected. Could that fear have been the thing that kept them so focused?

“What happened in there?” The police officer asked as the buildings and streets sped past us.

“They had this big screen, and they were controlling the robots, but the professor didn’t put any program to stop them. He was never planning on getting them to stop.”

“No I meant what happened to you?”

“Me? What is so important about me? A city just got blown up.” I said.

“You look awful, I’m taking you to the hospital.” He avoided my question.

“I was poisoned. I’m not going to make it. I’d be better off in the center of the explosion with Hero.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I accidentally knocked out all the controls of the robots. They weren’t going to stop, but I ruined any chance of getting them under control.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Professor Madbe and his corporation have been under inspection for a few years now. We knew he was planning something but we didn’t know it was this. We didn’t catch it in time. A young boy had to suffer because of it.”

I leaned my head against the window. “Please just take me home.” I groaned out.

“But- you’re sick.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital.” I stubbornly said.

He sighed and didn’t answer but I guess he couldn’t do anything against my will. It wasn’t long before we pulled up in front of my dilapidated apartment. The crowd of people around the apartment had grown.