The warehouse was quiet, cold, and dim as a basement closet. It smelled of bog water although in the week since moving in, nobody could pin down why and hoped it would go away once they got around to a top-to-bottom cleaning. Whenever a gust of breeze hit the place, foundation all over squeaked like a dying car.

Who would have thought that the place was the headquarters for Toronto’s latest up-and-coming criminal empire?

The side door opened with a squeal and shut with a loud thud. In walked Pax, already regretting not bringing his coat. It was cool inside the warehouse, especially compared to the outside, so the guy regretted only wearing his T-shirt to the meeting. The concrete floors and tall metal walls knew how to keep a chill around.

The guy was a tough and he looked part. He might have been on the shorter side for a man in his line of work, but his body wore hardened muscle and he had scars all over his arms and a few on his face. His long blonde hair was slicked back. He walked with the swagger of a python.

At first Pax thought he was alone, that he had arrived early. Cutting through the few shipping containers that came with the warehouse when it was purchased, Pax walked out onto the main floor and saw a few of his allies sitting around a desk in the middle of the floor. In the corner, there was the office, yellow light shining through the pane glass windows onto the gravely floor.

Dead Head called to Pax from across the room. “Ah! There is our man now.”

Dead Head was the leader of the gang. Wearing a dark cloak over his form and hunched over, nothing about the way he looked commanded respect. His hands kept busy, touching surfaces, sliding over objects, or fidgeting with each other.

Thrash was there too, sitting on some nearby crates while Shimmer took to Dead Head’s side as he usually did.

Pax walked up. “What’s up, boss?”

“We try to expand our reaches,” said Dead Head, his voice salty and deep, “but certain store owners are withholding their goods.” Dead Head paced around the desk, the light above shining down on him like heaven but his cloak keeping his face in shadow. “Standing up to us, as it would be. Refusing us.” He let himself ride those syllables and let his tongue hiss as the end of ‘us’.

“So you want me to put the fear in a store owner?” asked Pax. “What am I? A goon?”

Thrash snickered. “The lowly job for a lowly member.”

Pax clenched a fist in her direction. “Cram it, Thrash!”

Thrash was a taller woman with blue skin that signified something was different about her physiology or origins. For all of his knowledge of freaks and outsiders, Pax didn’t know what her deal was. Thrash wore a cat suit and everywhere she went, she took her shining silver staff, the piece leaned up against the crates with her.

“You’ll do what I say,” said Dead Head, circling a finger on his desk. “This little institution is mine.”

Pax saw Shimmer standing behind Dead Head, almost fading away in the darkness. Pax fired a cocky smirk at Shimmer. “And what about Glasses over there? Is he going to be doing any footwork or is he a glorified bookkeeper?”

Shimmer kept quiet, glaring at Pax through thin-rim glasses, a condescension in his gaze that he wasn’t afraid to reveal.

“Shimmer has his jobs around here,” said Dead Head. “You have your job out there.” He pointed away from them. “Go to it!”

Pax scoffed and walked out the way he came. Dead Head went to the office. Pax left with another squeak and slam of the door and Dead Head walked to the office door and went inside. He could be seen through the window, sitting at a desk.

Thrash got up and picked up her staff. She saw Shimmer gazing around the room like he was investigating something.

“You know...” said Thrash, rubbing her chin, “Pax is right about one thing. You’re kind of shifty...”

Shimmer took up his glasses with a pair of gentle fingers. The light of the office dazzled Shimmer’s eyes. “I do not care. Think what you will.”

Shimmer’s dismissiveness grazed her. Thrash clenched her jaw and got up, marching in front of Shimmer’s view and glaring down at the guy like a jock to a nerd.

“How does a guy like you get involved in us underworlders anyway?” asked Thrash, accusing Shimmer of something with her tone. “Where are you from?”

“Why would I reveal that information?” asked Shimmer. “Would you surrender that information?”

Thrash chuckled. The weirdo had a point.

She wasn’t going to get anywhere talking to the little guy, so she let out a condescending grunt and walked off, the clicks of her boots echoing up into the ceiling. The blue lady had things to do elsewhere.

Shimmer scanned the lady as she walked away. Once she was out of sight, Shimmer went to the office to join his boss.

Kay was worried that his mother was getting suspicious of his behaviour so he hung around the house after school, helping out with supper since Urban was going to be late. Though the ploy was obvious to Stevie, when Kay headed out into the night later on his mother didn’t object. Kay had a schedule to keep. Philly and him planned to make his second session of superheroing during the night. Doing it in the day wasn’t going to reap a lot of crime. Crime preferred the night.

That night, Kay patrolled the west side. It had become obvious from their first excursion that Philly, a fox, was going to have trouble keeping up with a kid that could hop across rooftops and city streets. So when Kay met up with the fox, the vulpine still lodged behind that office building downtown, the fox had stashed away a little present: it was a brand new backpack with a waist strap.

Where did Philly get a backpack? “Oh... you know...”

Wearing clothes, ones that weren’t made of his own liquid energy, was weird for Kay but he stuck Philly into the bag and strapped it on his back. There was the worry that the straps would drift right through Kay’s shoulders or his waist but after hopping around for a few minutes with Philly riding behind him, things seemed alright.

With the pack on his back, Kay wouldn’t be able to shift into his puddle form and spring-jump up to rooftops. In order to get up from of the alleyway where Philly lived, he had to hop onto a dumpster and then a catwalk. No big deal. He preferred the raw power of his springy abilities but if he got creative with platforming, he could still navigate up to rooftops.

And he loved thinking about the world in video game terms. Platforming.

He hopped across rooftops with his fox friend tucked away behind him. Philly kept his head out of the backpack so that he could watch and talk with Kay as the water boy flung around town.

To cross large gaps, Kay had to get creative with streetlamps and banners– substituting large catapults with a series of stepping stone jumps.

Philly would have to get used to the amusement park ride.

“Maybe we should–” the fox was thrust forward when Kay landed on a roof “–install a harness in this thing!”

“Or maybe one of those limo windows that block sound!” said Kay, smiling back at his vulpine friend.

Philly glared, unamused.

A black sedan drove down the road, streetlights shining off of the car’s tinted windows like there was nothing inside. The car pulled into a lot beside an Italian restaurant and out came its inhabitants. It was Pax and a trio of friends.

Bruno was a taller man with a muscular body. He wore a tank top to show off those rocky arms. For what he was about to do, he’d need to show them off. The cool night weather was sinking in but Bruno shrugged it off.

Richie was taller, had a medium build, and wore a suit. He looked more like a professional assassin than a hired thug. He wore glasses, kept his hair short, and walked with a distinguished professionalism.

Bruno stepped to the back-end of the car to open the door for Weasel. Weasel was shorter than the rest and didn’t look very strong, but he looked out into the world with a wild gaze, hidden behind scraggly black hair. His clothes were ragged and he stepped around erratically, hunched over.

“Who we hitting up today, Pax?” asked Bruno.

“Come, gentlemen,” said Pax, hitting the lock button on the door. There was few clicks around the car. Pax shut the door. “We got an appointment with Mr Vadsaria.”

They walked out of the lot and onto the sidewalk. Weasel got distracted by a No Parking sign. Pax had to turn around and shout “C’mon, Weasel!” before the little gremlin scurried up to Pax.

The four of them walked in a diamond formation. Pax in front, Bruno and Richie to the sides, and Weasel in the back. It was a few blocks to the convenience store they needed to check out.

Up above the streets, Kay caught eye of the quartet. He watched them walk down the street, their steps almost synchronized like they were marching.

“Hey, Philly,” said Kay. He waited until Philly popped his head out of the backpack then Kay gestured a nod in the direction of the tough-looking guys on the street.

The four of them marched, not breaking formation and not getting out of the way of anyone else. Even if someone bumped into their shoulders, they didn’t respond. “Hey, watch it!” somebody would shout but they wouldn’t respond. They had a job to do.

Philly nodded. “Yeah. They look like trouble. Let’s keep an eye on them.”

Etizaaz looked out the window. Night had fallen on the streets. He took his eyes away and idly walked around his shop. Two shelves went down the middle along the length of the store. At the front, his daughter Yamina sat behind the counter on a chair too tall for the eight year-old. She dangled her legs off the edge, hitting the metal support with the backs of her shoes ringing out light clanks. It was small corner store (the front room was twelve by eight metres) with just a couple fridges by the bathroom door, but it was Etizaaz’s and he made a humble living.

Etizaaz made sure that all the canned beans had their labels facing outward and straightened up all the small boxes of cereal. The radio was turned low. He had it on a news station but didn’t have it loud enough for him to hear anything unless he was standing right under one of the store’s two speakers.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“When are we going to leave, baba?” Yamina called from the front.

“Thirty more minutes,” said Etizaaz.

Etizaaz returned to the front of the store. As he passed Yamina to get at the counter, he went in to shake her legs. The girl giggled and Etizaaz smiled for it.

Things were quiet. Etizaaz read through a newspaper on the front counter and time passed. Then the bell on the door run as a customer came in.

But Etizaaz broke into a cold sweat when he saw it wasn’t a customer but an acquaintance: Pax. And this time, Pax brought three friends.

Pax took the counter while the others wandered the floor. Weasel chuckled like a clown as he walked in, looking at all the products on the shelves. He picked up a bag of flour and stared at it like he had just been introduced to the idea of flour. He put it back, the bag dropping on it side.

Even if she was a young girl, Yamina saw her father frightened and knew the customers were trouble. Her kicking went still.

Etizaaz side-eyed at his daughter. “Yamina: go in the office,” he said with his tone stern.

With the chair being so tall, Yamina had to psych herself up to jump off of it. She hopped down and ran into a nearby door that lead into the store’s small office. The room was narrow and dark. Yamina stayed by the doorway and peeked around the door frame at what was going on.

“You know...” Pax tapped the front of the counter. “The boss isn’t happy to hear you’re unwilling to help him out with his supply issue.”

It was a challenge to speak any word to the thugs as they spread out across his store, Bruno’s massive size taking over the entire middle aisle. Etizaaz cleared his throat and braced himself. “I will not help criminals. Tell your boss, whoever it is, that I’m not going to be part of some gang.”

But Etizaaz saw that Pax was not perturbed by the man’s defiance. Trying another way to discourage the crook, Etizaaz thought up an excuse. “This is just a small convenience store. I can’t get the amount of supplies he needs!”

“Richie,” said Pax, leaning his head towards his cohort but keeping his eyes locked on Etizaaz, “Go into the back and check to see how much stock Mr Vadsaria has.”

“On it,” said Richie, walking to the door in the corner that led to the back room.

When Richie walked by, Yamina squeaked and hid behind the wall, watching the man walk into the back room and flicking on a light.

“We just need a couple chemicals and some electronics,” said Pax, his tone riding a fake-affability. “If my boss ordered that stuff, it would be suspicious, but you’re an owner of a store and everyone would leave you alone.”

Etizaaz could only stare at the intruder and hope he would get bored and leave.

Outside, on top of a roof to a loan agency across the street from the store, Kay and Philly were monitoring the situation, Philly having left the backpack and Kay having taken it off. With the punks hanging around the store and the owner looking intimidated, it was about time for Kay to intervene. It was time for Kay to make his debut as a superhero.

“You better get in there,” said Philly.

Kay stared at the yellow glow of the store with a gaze of worry. “What should I do? Just walk in?”

Philly looked at how the window wrapped around the corner of the block. There was a back entrance, likely. “No. Go around back.”

Kay took a trembled breath in and exhaled. He hopped down off the roof and landed on the ground with a light splash. Nothing that hurt him in his aquatic form. Philly had to find a harder way to get down so Kay waited in front of the building for his friend to arrive. While he waited, he looked across the street and watched Pax bicker at the store owner, the store owner trying his best to keep a steady posture against intimidation. It was only a matter of time before that courage broke, though.

Having found his way down, Philly came walking out from the alleyway. “Come on.”

Kay hesitated, refusing to take a step for a few seconds. He looked out at the corner store again, then followed behind Philly.

His heart was beating fast. No, he didn’t have a heart in that form. But he felt like he did and it was racing. He didn’t need to breathe either, but as he ran, he inhaled and exhaled like a pair of lungs were pumping air through his body. The trembles in his arms were legitimate and his hearing was troubled, too, with everything being bassy and loud.

Kay walked along the outside of the corner store, passing by a few windows plastered with posters. He could peek at the store and the crime-in-progress through the cracks between the pictures. In just a minute, he would have to confront those punks.

Kay keeled over against the bricks.

“I can’t do this,” said Kay, his voice winded.

Philly turned around. “What?”

Kay’s eyes were wide with terror. “L-let’s just call the police or something! I can’t do this!”

Philly pleaded with a piercing gaze. “Kay, the people in there need our help now.”

Kay brought his hands up to his face. “I don’t know how to...” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to do this.”

Philly put a paw on Kay’s side. “Kay... I know things are scary right now. But the guy in there is way more scared and vulnerable than you could be.”

Kay didn’t say anything. He only sunk down further, trembling.

With the water boy lowered enough that Philly could reach his head, Philly walked up and nuzzled Kay on his living pool cheek.

This broke Kay out of his spiralling and his eyes looked up at his fox friend. Philly grinned. “You’re a tough one, Kay. Whatever they can dish out, you can take.”

Their eyes locked for a moment. Out of all the things unbelievable about that situation, it was Philly’s gaze that was shocking to Kay. Philly looked at Kay with a need that nobody had ever given Kay before. It was bewildering but it got the fuel inside Kay churning.

The water lad got back up and Philly continued on, the fox turning around the corner behind the convenience store. Kay turned into the alley quick when he saw a couple pedestrians coming down his way.

In the alley, there was an opaque brown door. Philly walked up to it and sniffed at the crack at the bottom. He raised his head to Kay and nodded. That was the way in.

Kay took a big breath in, walking up to the door. He shook out his arms and rotated his neck. “Okay...” He breathed in and then out. “Okay...”

“You can do this,” said Philly.

Kay stopped preparing and got doing. He melted down into a puddle and slid into the bottom of the door.