“Just forty minutes ago, Jasmine Saxton, also known as the superhero Golden Goose, was found dead in her Yorkston penthouse suite. She was twenty-nine years old. Police and local superheroes suspect murder.
“Preliminary statements from both the Yorkston police and the League of Order, Yorkston’s superhero organization, say that both organizations are working on a few leads but that there are currently no suspects. According to the joint statement from the chief of police and Cannonball, Golden Goose’s death was reported by a concerned member of the Ilneat Network, who’d tried several times to contact her about a possible supervillain to fight. When they found her body, they attempted to resuscitate her but were unable to. At that point, they called the police and League of Order.
“Tokyexico, North America, and the world will all be mourning the death of Earth’s greatest heroine, and looking toward new sources of hope amid the Third Power—”
I stole the remote from the unmoving Bianca, who continued to stare at the screen after I pressed mute. I couldn’t help but shiver, and she reached down mechanically to put an arm around my shoulder. I shivered again, then laughed, even though nothing about this was funny. “Feathers, Bee.”
“Right. Sorry.”
As she changed, I let a third shiver build until I couldn’t stop it. I hadn’t liked Golden Goose. Very few superhero fans on Earth had, as far as I knew. But she’d been a force for order—as long as you didn’t get in her way. I remembered her careless destruction of the Broadway Mall when we were in it and how she’d demolished 3V1L almost without lifting a finger.
For better or worse—and it was worse a lot of the time—the world had been better with her in it. Or at least, it had been more understandable. A great power was on top, as she should be, and below her were the rest of the heroes and villains. She kept the villains in line; her presence in Tokyexico had probably shifted the balance of power enough for us to get control.
And now? The only reason I didn’t shiver a fourth time was that Bee finally struggled free from the Eagle-sona suit and got her arms around me. “What does this mean?”
I took a deep breath, then another. My head wouldn’t stop spinning, but I stood up and found my laptop before flopping back down. “I’m not sure. We need more information. As much information as we can find.”
I typed in ‘Golden Goose Death,’ ‘Yorkston Superhero Deaths,’ and even ‘Was Golden Goose Assassinated?’ But no matter what I searched, I couldn’t find more information than the ticker tape at the TV screen’s bottom had. Sometimes, back in Riverside, the police would say they had no leads even though they knew everything—and even when I’d already solved the crime—so that it’d look like they could say they’d cracked it when it suited them best.
It didn’t look like that here.
The TV kept saying that no one knew what had happened, but they also kept giving more and more information. She’d been stabbed—and not once, but a half-dozen times. That ruled out a revenge attack by any of the Tokyexico City villains. None of them carried knives—or at least, none of the major leaguers did. It also ruled out a bunch of villains around the world. According to the police spokesman and the internet, the most powerful knife-using villains were being brought in for questioning—with their lawyers present, of course.
“They’ll find him,” Fursona said. Whoever killed her, they’ll find him. There are only so many supervillains who could do it—sneak into a building, bypass security, and do enough to punch through her superhero damage, even as an ambush. They’ll have this whole thing resolved soon.”
“I’m not so sure. I think…” I paused. What did I think? I wasn’t sure yet, but I knew that losing the most powerful hero in an area resulted in chaos. I knew it from experience. When I’d left Riverside last year, Professor Panic had pushed Collidus hard—and why shouldn’t he? I’d been a cap on the amount of shenanigans he could pull. If he wanted to rob a bank, he’d have to go through me. When I was gone, he could do anything.
Golden Goose represented a similar cap, but on the dastardly deeds any villain in the world could pull off. And now she was gone.
“I think the whodunit is more interesting for Extras—unpowered people—but there’s something the media isn’t saying. I think the Power War is about to get worse without Golden Goose as a threat.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah.” I set the laptop on the coffee table. “I do. Who can replace her? Stella-Lunar? In her Eclipse Form, she can fight anyone, but a smart villain can wait until she rotates back to Moon and beat her. Liege Lord? He’s old and washed up—almost forty. He’s starting to lose steps.”
“Jackson and Mays?” Bianca asked, grinning a totally fake smile at me.
“Sure. Sure, Jackson and Mays. They beat everyone, but look, the reality is that they’re not Golden Goose. They don’t win fights. They end them, and there’s a big difference between being the biggest on the playground and having the whistle to end recess.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Bianca grabbed the computer. As I watched, she clicked on my email and shoved the machine at me. “Password.”
I typed it in as she squeezed her eyes closed. “You know, you could just ask for it. I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Sure, whatever you say, babe,” Bianca pecked my cheek and stole the laptop back, and we both delved into my new emails.
----------------------------------------
And oh boy, did I have a lot of new emails.
Bianca and I read through them, ignoring almost every message sent to Anika DuPont. The only one we read was from Helen Barber, and only because it wasn’t for me specifically. Instead, it was an e-blast for every student on campus, and it had information we could use to figure out what the school was thinking.
Subject: Power War Change and Finals Week Updates
To All Students
Due to an unexpected change in the Third Power War’s trajectory, all students are strongly advised to stay on campus until security in Tokyexico City can be updated. The death of a major superhero will have far-reaching consequences, and until we understand those consequences, the Tokyexico University administration has student safety as its highest priority. Therefore, similar protocols to Man vs. Nature Seven are in place as of midnight tonight.
We understand that this is incredibly inconvenient, but we want to clarify that our number one concern is the safety of students on campus. Therefore, we’re asking all students in the minor and major leagues to volunteer for campus protection duty, regardless of hero or villain status. As with Man vs. Nature, Little Leaguers and unpowered students are to avoid Power Wars Episodes at all costs, but may defend themselves as necessary.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Helen Barber
Vice-President of Student Services
Tokyexico University
A second email popped into my inbox not even a minute after that one arrived. This one was from Sara-N-Dipity, and it did not inspire confidence that she knew what she was doing.
Subject: TUSSA BATTLE PLAN 11/21
Understudy,
95% chance we’ll have to launch our offensive against the SSS early. Be ready, stand by, and do your part!
Sara-N-Dipity
“She’s going to get us in over our heads,” I complained. It was true. I still wanted to finish the fight against 3V1L. We could have ended them tonight. It could have been over—the biggest threat in our rogues’ gallery defeated. Instead, we were checking our emails.
“Nah. I trust her. She hasn’t messed up yet,” Bee said. “I’m more worried about the next email. Power War Changes from Crossbow? That’s not good news.”
Subject: Power War Changes
Magical Girl Understudy,
I am Crossbow, current Speaker for the Tokyexico Council of Heroes. The city needs your help, and you’ve been called to assist.
As you know, Power Wars threaten the balance between heroes and villains. The Council of Heroes is concerned about recent events in Yorkston and how they’ll spill over into our territory. Therefore, we’ve developed a comprehensive plan that should allow us to counter most of the incoming villainous threats over the next several weeks.
For your part in our plans, we need an immediate (within twenty-four hours) victory against the villain Theseus. By removing him as a threat temporarily, we’ll be able to secure the Mid-Town district with minimal major league heroes and focus our efforts on other districts as hot spots arise.
Following that victory against Theseus, you and Fursona are most valuable keeping 3V1L in check. Focus your efforts on the South Poudre district, and do not get involved in Power Wars struggles between 3V1L and Sister Sly unless you can deliver a blow to 3V1L.
We cannot demand your help, but it would be greatly appreciated.
Please let us know if this arrangement works for you and your sidekick,
Crossbow
Speaker, Tokyexico Council of Heroes
I shut my eyes. “Bee, they all want something from us. All these emails are pulling us in different directions, and Rocko too.”
Bianca set the laptop aside and wrapped an arm around me again. “Hey, babe, they’re all panicking just like us. They all think they need a plan to get on top of things, and none of them are talking yet because it’s nighttime on a Saturday. It’s going to be okay; we need to wait for the chain of command to solidify, and then we can decide whether to follow it.”
“Yeah? How do we plug Rocko into that chain?” I said bitterly.
“Don’t snap at me, Annie,” Bianca said, frowning. “I’m doing my best here.”
I reached out to touch her shoulder and realized she was shaking, too. I patted her for a moment, then grabbed the laptop with my free hand. “Sorry. It’s all just a mess. A real bad mess.”
“Yep. Let’s read everything, see if we can come up with a plan, then get some sleep. We can’t change anything right now anyway.”
“That’s not true.” There was one thing we had to do if we wanted to fit into both the Council of Heroes’ and TU’s plans. We had to fight Theseus, and we had to do it soon. But I gave in when Bee raised an eyebrow at me and clicked on Tele-Portal’s email next.
Subject: Power War Triad Stuff
Understudy,
Crossbow’s going to get in touch with you. Do what he says. I’ll have Braningham look at his orders for legality later.
Good luck out there.
Tele-Portal
We looked at each other, but that didn’t give me much information to go on. It certainly didn’t change any of our nonexistent plans; I still wanted to get out there and fight Theseus, and Bee still wanted to go to bed. That left one last email—it actually came in while we read the one from Tele-Portal.
Subject: We didn’t do it
Magical Girl Understudy,
This wasn’t us—the national wing, I mean. We aren’t responsible for this. Email me back so we can make a statement together.
Su-Bin Pak
President, TU APPEAL Chapter
Bianca rolled her eyes. “Now she wants to talk? Unbelievable.”
“Bee, she’s a friend. We should respond, pick a date—something.”
“She’s not a friend, not when you’re Understudy and she’s President Pak, remember?” Bee sighed and leaned into me, snuggling her head against my shoulder. “Annie, you want her to be happy, and maybe we can have Su-Bin over next week, and her boyfriend too, but right now? Right now, you need to be in Understudy space. Your best play is to go to bed, ignore all these emails, and deal with the consequences tomorrow morning when you’re thinking better.”
“No, our best play is to head to Alkirk Tower and hunt down Theseus before he—“
“Annie! No!” Bianca glared at me. “We’re not hunting Theseus!”