1: The Long Game
and
2: Hide and Seek
1: The Long Game
“OK, Jake. You gotta tell me, how did you know that that guy was the one we could trust?” Ned said, setting his half-finished can of cola on the table with a loud thump.
Jake’s face split into a wide grin. “Simple. When the lycanthropic change happens, it’s very high energy. That’s why most were-critters are super aggressive on the full moon they’re going through a super painful process. The pain of having the change is mitigated when the body can use body fat as fuel. So, the fat guy was the one we could bet on keeping his head.”
Tina slapped her forehead and groaned, “I thought he was fat from eating lotsa people!”
“One more pie, guys,” Susan deftly snagged the empty pizza box from the table and replaced it with a fresh one.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Ned patted her affectionately on the thigh as she took her place among the other gamers.
“You’re sometimes too predictable,” Jake said around a piece of pepperoni pizza. “Not that that’s a bad thing. It means that we can use your world rules effectively.”
Ned nodded, pursing his lips as he ruminated on Jake’s retort. “Well, I can’t even be mad. That’s the point of the world rules, I just never thought you were paying attention.”
“So, Ned and I thought of a great prank,” Susan said, pulling a slice from the box.
Ned grinned and blew her a kiss, “Yeah we did, but all the credit goes to miss Suzy-q.”
“But we’re playing the long game here guys. And all of us are going to participate, no arguing.”
“Get to the deets, Q,” Tina said, gathering her polyhedral dice back into the tattered felt crown royal bag that she had been using as a coaster.
“OK, so you know that the Ned and I are trying to have a baby, and since you guys are a few months into the oven, we thought that since we --a group of nerd-positive and higher-than-the-mean intelligence group-- would play a trick on our future nerdlettes.”
Tina sat up straight, her errant dice forgotten, “You has my attention. Tell me more.”
“Well,” Susan began, setting her pizza down, and licking the tips of her fingers, “Remember that year we went to SuperCon in full costume?”
“Hell yes, I do. That’s where I met Jake!” Tina winked at her husband with a leer.
“Great, so here’s the dealio. We all remake our costumes. Really pour the effort and time into it. Spare no expense.”
Jake furrowed his brow, “I don’t know if I like where this is going…”
“Shut it, Jake. Let the woman talk.” Tina elbowed him roughly, “Please continue.”
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Susan grinned, “Well I have a friend in the office who was an art major, and he posted a bunch of cool looking newspaper articles in his cube. But the thing is, they’re all fake. So, I thought, ‘what if we make scrapbooks of news clippings that make it look like we’re all superheroes and hide them with the costumes in our closets where our kids will find them?’ How cool would that be?”
Tina bounced in her seat, “Yes. So much yes!”
Jake sighed and mumbled into the rum and coke that he had been nursing for the last hour.
“Why are you being such a negative Nancy? You don’t even have to work on your costume, yours is still in perfect shape.” Tina scowled at her husband, who refused to meet her eyes.
“Yeah,” Jake said, tossing back his drink, “perfect shape…”
2: Hide and Seek
Maddie’s heart thumped loudly in her ears. She had only seconds, and she knew it. The bed was too obvious. Only a noob would hide there. The louvered doors of the closet caught her eye. Without a second thought, she slid them open silently and pressed herself behind her parent’s clothes, closing the doors behind her as she went.
The bedroom door opened with a near-silent click, and Eddie snuck in. He paused, ears straining to catch a clue to her location.
'Ah! My feet!'
Maddie looked around, grateful for the light that streamed in through the slats, casting a golden glow over her parent’s clothes. She thought about grabbing the bar and hoisting herself up but discarded that idea because her hands would then be visible. Having spent the last few years taking Taekwondo, she was pretty agile for a ten-year-old. Silently pulling herself up on the bar, she spread her legs and just managed to touch the sides of the closet. Shifting herself she let go of the bar and leaned back against the wall, confident that she was completely obscured from sight.
***
Eddie had narrowed down the possible hiding spots to two rooms. His gut told him to check the bedroom first, and he had learned in his ten years, was that you always went with your gut. Pushing his glasses up with the tip of his index finger, he opened the door and crept inside, wincing as it clicked.
First, a token glance under the bed that dominated the center of the room. He knew Maddie wouldn’t have chosen such an obvious hiding place, but better safe than sorry. Pausing, he cocked an ear, then walked around the bed, taking note of places that might contain his friend.
Feeling that he was being watched, he turned to the closet door and smiled.
“Gotcha, Mad.” He pulled open the doors in a flash but didn’t find her.
Scrunching up his face, he hemmed.
A sudden squeak of surprise and a thump made him spread the clothing apart. On the floor behind the clothes lay Maddie, half-inside a void in the closet wall that had suddenly opened.
“Owowowow, my butt!” Maddie rolled to her knees with a sulk, “You got me.”
“What’s with the wall, Mad?” Eddie leaned in for a better view.
“It’s too dark, hit the switch.”
Eddie flipped the switch, and to his surprise, not only did the closet light come on, but a second light, inside the mystery area.
“Ahmegershness. Ed. Get in here!” Came her voice from within.
Pressing inwards, The hidden panel revealed a further three feet of closet that was hidden away. An illuminated stand lit two costumes displayed on the back wall.
One was reinforced glistening black carbon fiber with utility belts with interesting gadgets, chunky armored boots and a tactical mask that looked like a skull.
The other was clearly feminine, resembling a cross between a Sci-Fi ninja and a tiger, complete with a cat ear headband. A display of weapons, both thrown and hand-to-hand, were displayed on the wall behind it.
Eddie stood there, slack-jawed in amazement. He noticed another display, somewhat less prominent, off to the side which held an open photo album. Within, were photographs of four people in costume and news clippings, two of them, in the costumes displayed to his right, and another pair, the first looking much like a golden-age superhero, floating a good foot off the floor beside the others, and the last, another woman who was strapped with a pair of pistols, numerous magazines of ammo on harnesses, and had an unusual looking helmet.
“Mad? Am I crazy or is this my dad?” He placed his finger on the floating man.
Muscling her way in to get a closer look, she gasped. The resemblance was uncanny, despite the half-mask that obscured his face.
The two of them flipped through the book and saw the four costumed people doing more and more unlikely things. Stopping an alien invasion, A giant badger, crushing a drug cartel, a handful of supervillains.
Maddie grabbed the book, “C’mon back to my room, I think we just might have the best Show-and-Tell ever.”