The blue light of dusk crept over the valley, bringing cooler temperatures and temperaments with it. The adrenaline shakes had finally wound down for the boys, something that even Logan's Empathizer couldn't help them with. Adrenaline, it seemed, tended to stay adrenaline, battery charging or not.
Their masks now packed away in their bags, the gang rode leisurely towards an open clearing in the woods, one of their more favorite haunts. They parked their bikes against a tree to the south side of the clearing and began to plop down, one-by-one, by the circle of stones that would serve as their firepit while night slowly set.
"Man, I can't believe that all worked so well. I mean, we saved the day and everything!" Skinny pulled his mask from his bag and looked at it, thinking. "I mean, it's almost a shame we had to wear these things… can you imagine all the babes we could get if we came out as superheroes?"
Ronnie shook his head. "I'm sure that would all be lovely, right up until the bad guys begin going after your families and loved ones," he said grimly.
"Hey, maybe they could finally set my dad in line," Logan said with a laugh. Skinny laughed right along with him, but that laugh tapered out into a concerned look directed at Logan. Logan shrugged it off.
"Yeah, I guess secrecy's a good thing sometimes," Skinny agreed, clearly somewhat deflated.
"And in our case, absolutely," Ronnie said. "Although the life of a hero certainly seems…. glamorous, the anonymity we wear as a shield is to protect more than just ourselves. I really don't think this can be stressed quite enough. Keeping this, secret, is and ought to be our utmost concern."
Wade suddenly turned pale, patting at his legs. "Yeah, uh, on the topic of secret identities and utmost concerns, we might just have a bit of an issue here…"
* * *
Six bikes frantically raced through the streets, speeding back up and through the twisting roads towards Johnson's General.
"How could you forget your ID?" Shaun asked over the wind of their desperate ride.
"Wallet with ID, and, oh, I don't know, maybe because I was robbed?!"
"If the police get that," Skinny shouted, "theyll know you were there… oh this is not good."
The gang pulled up to an alleyway and dismounted from their bikes, covering the final distance to the store on foot. As they drew near, they were once again greeted by a police perimeter, this one surrounded with yellow crime scene tape flickering in the breeze. They stopped a good distance away, unwanting to be recognized.
Skinny took command. "Shaun, go survey the scene."
"Can do!" he shouted, ducking behind a tree to transition to invisibility.
Skinny placed a hand on Wade's shoulder, worry clear in his eyes. "Man, if the cops get hold of you, can you imagine what they'd do if they found that?" he asked, gesturing at Wade's device.
"Relax, it won't come to that. And even if they find the ID, so what?"
"Well, it places you at the crime scene, for starters," Ronnie said. "Then, the clerk could certainly confirm that you weren't the guy lying among the soup cans. There weren't any other patrons in the store, meaning you'd be placed among us masked vigilantes."
"And is that such a bad thing?" he asked.
"Not exactly,—" Skinny began.
"Legally standing, yes," Ronnie interjected.
“But you know they’d come after you all the same," Skinny continued, "and maybe even search up your house, too, with a warrant if they can get one.”
"Why would they get a warrant?" Wade asked, incredulous.
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter! Bottom line is, we—"
Shawn suddenly rematerialized off to the side. "Well, the cops seem to have set up a full perimeter, and our robber has already been taken into police custody."
"So we're too late?" Logan asked, distraught.
It was Parker who stepped forwards, face alight with sudden clarity. "We don't have to be."
"Oh, wait, you mean to…?" Skinny asked, trailing off.
"Yuh-huh. I can get it before the cops even show up!"
Ronnie now interjected. "Realize, of course, that the clerk isn't gonna just let you take a wallet from the robber's unconscious body…"
Skinny nodded. "He's right, muddling with the crime scene and all. You've gotta take it somehow."
"Heroes don't steal wallets from unconscious criminals," Shaun said.
"Which is why he won't go in as no hero," Skinny said.
* * *
A few doors down from Johnson's General stood Trade-In Tom's, a dusty clothing consignment shop where the strangest and ugliest garments across town would pool together like water in a well. Most of it was oversized, sagging and stretched beyond public wearability, but it was there for sale all the same, as Tom's famously accepted any clothing piece presented. Now, the strange assortment of rags was an artist's palette, Parker the canvas, and a small-town thief today's chosen subject. The kids shuffled through the store searching out the perfect thief costume, the grimier the better. Shaun found a hoodie with slight brown staining near the neck and a scratchy, horrid fabric that gave the impression of draping a stiff rug across the shoulders. Wade found a pair of pants that was still all in one piece, its dark blue length wrinkled and smelling slightly of salt. They experimented with different hats before deciding to go hatless, concluding that placing any hat on top of a ski mask would look ridiculous.
At the register, the store owner, Tom himself, declined payment for the clothing. "Those things were close to going in the donation bin, truth be told… Say, whatcha need that stained old clothing for anyways?"
"Repainting!" Parker exclaimed reflexively. "Wouldn't want to stain my best sunday dress."
"No, that you wouldn't," Tom agreed, packing the clothing into a small plastic bag. "Glad at least somebody's getting use out of 'em… You boys take care now!"
Back outside, the group split up for their final acquisitions. Parker, Ronnie, and Shaun biked over to Odds and Ends, where they bought a plastic toy gun. Simultaneously, Logan, Skinny, and Wade biked to Skinny's house, raiding the garage for a can of black spray paint. They then all met up at the predetermined forest clearing, immediately spraypainting the gun a solid black. Parker quickly changed off his current clothing for the items bought at Tom's, face wrinkling at the unpleasant smell.
"You set?" Skinny asked, putting a hand on Parker's shoulder.
"As ready as I will be," Parker replied with an earnest smile.
"What if the clerk tries to fight him off," Logan began, "or the first robber wakes and gets to her gun?"
"Here," Wade said, stepping forwards, "I can loan you this. Just promise you'll bring it right back." Wade handed over his device to Parker, who swiftly pocketed it in the new hoodie.
"Alright, you set now? You got the right time and everything?" Skinny asked, hands behind his back like some imperious military commander.
"Yessir," Parker affirmed with a mock salute.
"Alright, and remember, when the deed is done, meet us back right here in ten minutes, 6:55. You got that?"
"Got it. Here goes nothing!"
The group backed away from Parker, giving him plenty of space. Parker gripped a stone in his hand and double-checked that the watch was dialed in for the correct time. He then brought the stone down onto the crystal and squeezed shut his eyes, waiting for the bang. When it came, and the flash settled, he was still in the exact same clearing, but the blue-purple evening light of dusk had swapped out for the grey-blue light of a slightly overcast day. Nobody was there in the clearing with him now. He tucked the fake, painted gun into his waistband, covered the grip with his hoodie, and began to jog towards the general store.
Once he saw the gang run their way out the store, buzzing with the excitement of a job well done, Parker wasted no time and immediately ran through the automatic door. He pulled his fake gun out and waved it around, shouting "nobody move, this is a hold up!" He turned to the clerk, who wavered in place and then sank back against his counter, laughing to himself at some unspoken joke. Then Parker looked to the unconscious, slumping form of the actual robber, her shirt stained with wine. Seeing no threat from either party, he tucked the gun back into his waistband and bent over the woman, rummaging through her bag.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
* * *
Back at the clearing, in the darkening light of dusk, the rest of the gang sat in a nervous sort of stillness. "I hope he's alright," Shaun said. "What if the police got him first?"
“Relax, he’ll be fine," Wade said. "He’s even got the Protectionizer to save the day, if need be!”
"Hah, what'd you call it?" Skinny asked, ears perking up.
"The Protectionizer!" Wade responded, with just a note of pride in his voice.
"I do like the name," Skinny said. "Sure beats saying the thingy or the device. Got any fancy names for mine?"
"Yeah, uh, sure! The Thought…" Wade began, trailing off in thought. "The thought…"
"Annunciator?" Ronnie offered.
"Not bad, not bad," Wade said. "Yours can be the Intelligence Ring!"
"Simple, yet classy," Skinny agreed.
"Parker, he's got the Time Watch," Wade said.
"Why not the Timepiece?" Shaun suggested.
"Naw, the Time Watch! The Timepiece sounds to much like a gun if you ask me," Wade argued.
"I like the Timepiece," Skinny said.
"Well, fine, mine's the Invisibility Plug, then!"
"That doesn't even make sense," Wade argued. "How is 'plug' related in context?"
"I kinda like the sound to it," Skinny replied.
"And Logan, what'd you call yours?" Skinny asked.
"The Empathizer," he answered, looking at his device reverently.
"I don't like it," Wade said, "that's too close to mine!"
"Too bad," Logan said, "I named mine first and I'm not changing it."
A natural silence fell across the group. In the distance, they heard the rising rumble of crickets and the hoot of an owl somewhere near.
"But yeah," Skinny said, "he'll be fine. More than fine. With two of these things, ain't nothin' gonna hurt him."
A few more seconds of silence passed, each boy's mind going to the same place.
"You know," Shaun began, "Parker running off with two devices got me thinking: what could someone do if they had all of them?"
Ronnie piped in. "Seeing as they're all hand-operated and we each only have two of those, not any more than we can accomplish as a team."
"But I'm just saying," Shaun continued, "imagine having all of them within easy reach. You could use whichever the moment called for, and—"
Wade bowled right over Shaun, excitement rising in his voice. "I mean, yeah, can you imagine? Having the ability to go invisible when needed, time traveling powers to fix mistakes, super-intelligence to outsmart your enemies, and invincibility so you don't even have to, and, to top it all off, the ability to read someone's intentions from miles away? Man, you could really change things."
Logan pursed his lips and sighed. He then pressed the Empathizer to his side, which, with a hiss, charged a battery to a bright, glowing green. He stared at it with blank eyes before stashing it away to his pocket. Skinny noticed the maneuver and, ever the politician, immediately stepped forwards.
"That's not to say, Logan, that yours isn't cool, too," he tried. "You know we'd never lone-wolf it, and as long as we're a team, we need you to hold things together! Your thingy right there gives us motivation, and that's—"
"Yeah, hey, I get it," Logan replied. "Really." He slid a yellow battery out from his other pocket and loaded it into the device's rear terminal. He then pressed it to his side and discharged it, the yellow color vanishing as Logan's face pulled back in a deep smile. "It was just a stupid reaction. I know my role and I'm happy to fill it."
Skinny watched him uneasily, still not convinced, but he then wiped his doubt away and tried his best to sound genuine. "Yeah, okay man, whatever you say. You really—"
"Guys!" shouted a voice at the edge of the clearing. The boys wheeled around to see their thief walking back into the clearing, triumphantly waving a wallet in his hand.
"Parker's back!" Ronnie called out.
Skinny held Logan's gaze for a few seconds longer, breaking it only when Logan managed a sincere, reassuring smile. The two then joined the rest of the gang crowding around Parker.
"So, you have something for me?" Wade asked, eager. Parker tossed the wallet to Wade. "Thanks, but not what I meant."
With a sigh, Parker tossed the Protectionizer high above Wade's head. Wade leapt into the air, arms outstretched, and managed to catch the device as he toppled over onto his back. "Didn't hurt," he said from the ground, rising and dusting himself off.
"Man, I cannot believe we pulled that off!" Skinny said, clapping Parker on the back.
"Yeah, saving the day and robbing a convenience store is definitely an impressive feat for today," Logan added.
"Hey, I didn't rob the store, only the robber; besides, she already broke the law so it was okay," Parker said, face still glowing from the excitement of the encounter.
"And it wasn't even her stuff to begin with!" Wade said. "Taking what's mine is certainly no crime."
A momentary, thoughtful silence fell over the group. Shaun proffered his Invisibility Plug and examined it closely.
"Don't you think someone has to be after these, then? Like, from wherever they came from?"
"Whoever it was, they're dead!" Wade suggested, remembering the corpse in the woods.
"But the bullet-riddled suitcase?" Ronnie countered, stepping forwards. "Who shot at the person whose corpse we found? They probably knew, which explains the violence, and when you combine that with the fact—"
Skinny silenced Ronnie with a stern look. Ronnie looked down at his feet, realizing only now that his words had set deep lines of worry on most of the boys' faces.
Skinny stepped to the center of the group. "To be honest, we just don't know. All we can do is hope for the best. By no means should we put our guards down…. when we're not doing hero-work, these things have to stay secret. But if anyone comes for them, as long as we're ready, we're a pretty able team, if you ask me." He smiled the warmest smile he could manage and looked around, watching some of the worry disappear from the others' faces. That is, until Shaun spoke next:
"The body in the woods," he said with distant eyes, eyes revisiting that macabre forest scene, "he was clutching the case. Trying to keep it safe. I can't help but feel like he was keeping it from someone. Or something."
Skinny felt the mood slipping back downwards and tried his best to stave off the gloom. "Come on, now, that line of thinking won't do anyone here any good."
"I know, but I'm scared. I just can't help it."
Logan stepped forwards hesitantly. "I can… may I?" He held up the Empathizer.
Shaun debated internally for a few seconds before finally relenting. "Yeah. Yes please, go ahead."
Logan pressed the device to Shaun's neck and pressed the button on its side. The empty battery in its rear charged to a deep, purple glow. Logan methodically ejected the battery, tossed it into his pocket, and reloaded a new one into the device.
"Better," Shaun said, now visibly calmer.
"It's a scary thought," Skinny said, "sure. But I can promise you, we'll be alright. If anyone is after these, we've got them. That makes us stronger than whoever they might be. Now, I don't know about you guys, but my momma's gonna kill me if I don't get back home, stat."
"My mom wanted me home for dinner tonight," Parker said.
"yeah, my dad's practically gonna beat me already," Wade began, the words triggering an involuntary frown on Logan's face. Logan pressed the Empathizer to his own side as subtly as he could and pressed the button, charging another battery a deep purple. He was pretty sneaky with the thing; beyond Skinny, none of the others seemed to see it. Skinny made a mental note to bring it up again with Logan. Clearly the trouble was worse than he'd thought.
"He told me if I was back any later than 9, he'd totally kill—" Wade continued, but Skinny butted in to change the subject.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all gotta get going," he said, meeting eyes with Logan yet again. He then collected himself and put on his best, charismatic smile. "Why don't we meed up tomorrow at the pavilion, say, around 4?"
"Sounds good! I'm out," Wade said, waving as he walked backwards towards the edge of the clearing.
"Me too!" Parker said, exchanging fist bumps with the others.
"Ditto," Ronnie said, trudging off towards his bike.
Logan started to head towards his own bike, but Skinny tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, man, can we talk?"
Logan's voice was collected, yet aloof. "What about?"
Skinny crossed his arms. "You know what about."
"Oh?" Logan replied, offering Skinny an eyes-raised expression.
"The bruises," Skinny said, before looking around and suddenly quieting his voice.
"The bruises, that reaction… he's getting violent again, isn't he?"
"Come on, Skinny, not now."
"Yes now! I'm your friend here, and I want you to be—"
"Damn it, I don't want to talk about it!" Logan said sharply. Skinny retreated back a step and surveyed his friend. The two were now the only ones in the clearing, and as dusk settled its cloak firmly over the woods, he felt clouds rolling in through both the chill wind rising and the gulf that was rapidly spreading between the two boys.
"Man, what's gotten into you lately?" he asked, eyes searching.
"I'm fine, and I can certainly handle myself!" Logan replied, exasperation rising in his voice. He pressed the Empathizer to his side and closed his eyes expectantly. The device hissed its familiar hiss and the empty battery in its rear began to glow red. His voice was then considerably calmer. "With this thing, I'll manage." He then bent down and began rummaging through his backpack.
"So, what, you think that thing can just pull all your troubles away?"
"It certainly can't pull you away," he retorted, still searching through his bag.
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Skinny replied sarcastically.
Logan scowled at his bag. "Damn it, I'm out of happy."
"See what I mean? You can't just hide behind a forced apathy and expect problems to vanish!"
"Why does it even matter if they vanish when I can choose to not care?"
Skinny exhaled sharply, disbelieving. "Did you really just ask that?" Skinny asked with a shiver. The winds whipped at his hair. Leaves flew through the air, their rustling in the trees almost a dread chant egging on the confrontation. Skinny felt his own temper rising and saw it mirrored in Logan's eyes.
"Yeah, I did," Logan replied, rising from his backpack on the ground. He loaded another empty battery into his device. "Who says emotions are always a good thing?"
"It's kinda what makes us human," Skinny said exasperatedly.
"Well maybe this, right here, makes me something better then!"
Logan once again pressed the Empathizer to his side, charging another battery its deep, fiery red-orange. Skinny stood there, beyond words, and only stared while Logan ejected the new red battery and dumped it into his backpack with all the others. He then spoke up with the total disconnectedness granted by emotional discharge. "I appreciate your concern. Really, I do. But the ability to read people doesn't give you the right to invade their lives. I'm asking nicely: leave me be."
Skinny's eyes cast downwards, clearly hurt. He scratched at his neck, looking for the right words. Finally, he spoke up. "Fine. Consider the topic dropped. Never again will I poke my head where it doesn't belong. Now, you had somewhere to go?"
Logan packed up his belongings without another word and walked away, turning back briefly to Skinny for a parting glance. Once he turned around again and continued his way, an internal war broke out in Skinny. Do I do it? Is it worth the invasion? Do I owe it to him to help him? After some deliberation, and with a guilty look, Skinny fingered the Thought Enunciator in his pocket and began to angle the little dish towards Logan's retreating form. It was hard to aim inconspicuously from his pocket, but he didn't want to risk being spotted if Logan decided to turn around again. As he flicked the dish side to side, he heard the sound go in and out in momentary snippets. Finally, Skinny managed to hear a few consecutive words: watches the problem.
The signal then cut off, and despite Skinny's best attempts, he was unable to re-link with Logan's mind… he'd finally walked out of range. As the rain began to patter its way into the clearing, Skinny stood there, paralyzed.
"Who watches what problem?" he asked out loud to the empty clearing, feeling powerless. "I need more info, dammit!"
The rain picked up from drizzle to steady downpour, and Skinny could do nothing but continue to stand there, unsure of what to do next.