Carcass 1.3.2

“Strange, isn’t it? How different things are from your imagination.” A sharp voice penetrated through the shadows of the rundown street.

Jay lept and backed away from the sudden noise. He fumbled with a loose brick that had been on the ground and raised it high above his head. His eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t heard anything. No footsteps or breathing or any signs of life. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had been focused on his robbery, or if the owner of the voice was abnormal.

The teenager peered into the thick shadows deeper in the alley where the voice had come from but couldn’t discern the depths. It was as if the entire section had been cut from reality and replaced by a pure abyss.

“No response?” The question had an undertone of boredom as if talking to Jay was the last thing it wanted to do.

“Who are you?” Jay questioned. The voice sounded human and didn’t give off any hostility toward Jay. His rudimentary danger sense wasn’t signaling imminent peril either. He stopped his retreat and lowered the lump of hardened clay in his hand.

“Meh, don’t really want to introduce myself. I’m more curious about you. You’ve piqued the interest of my boss. Isn’t every day that we have a new cowl introduce themselves to the city by hitting close to Central HQ. You’ve earned a bit of my respect.” The mysterious voice commented.

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Jay whispered to himself unconsciously. His awakening had been unexpected and the resulting massacre of his bullies had been pure animalistic instinct taking over. He didn’t feel sorry for what he did, but it also wasn’t like he had the time to process his emotions after being chased by numerous superheroes.

“Oh? Just another evening stroll?” Quipped the nameless person.

Jay frowned.

“No, I just Cracked.” The new power answered with a bit of force. The voice seemed to pause for a moment. Jay looked closer into the shadows and saw a pair of piercing blue eyes staring back at him. He flinched slightly in shock.

“I see,” a slight pause, “Well, we know about you, Jay. As I said, my boss is interested in you and wants to meet. We can do it now or at a later time. I recommend now but everyone has their personal timetables.” He yawned.

“Who’s your boss?” Jay questioned. He had a sinking feeling that he knew who he was talking to. He wasn’t ignorant enough not to be knowledgeable about the different supers that operated within West Seattle.

“Madok, you’ve heard of him. He owns the apartment building you stay at.”

“What is it with people and knowing where I live?” Jay scowled and thought. His public identity had been blown out of the water. His mother wasn’t safe there anymore. He needed to warn her. He didn’t like his mother, but the biological pull was stronger than his willingness to resist.

The man brushed past the subtle threat and continued on.

“That also means we have a record of you staying there for the past ten years. Let me be the first to congratulate you on a successful awakening. Unless you’ve been amazing at hiding it all this time?” Jay could tell the man was being sarcastic.

“No, just unlucky with where it happened,” Jay replied. The man irritated the teenager.

“Me and my sexual awakening.” The man disclosed and Jay dawned a look of bafflement. Was the man trying to throw him off?

“In any case, are you coming or not?” The darkness writhed in what could only be described as anticipation.

Jay mulled over it before deciding it was best to get started. His poor civilian life was practically over and he couldn’t go home. There was probably a life lesson about talking to shadows, but Jay hadn't heard of it.

He shrugged and nodded. The voice in the shadows hummed affirmatively and a small tendril of darkness emerged. It floated towards Jay, wriggling in the air.

“Take my hand,” he demanded.

Jay took a step back. Trusting a power, cape or cowl, without knowing their abilities was a fool's errand.

“What are you going to do?” Jay questioned. He was unwilling to throw himself into the hands of someone who might be able to restrict his powers like Baggins had.

“Just take it. I don’t have all night.”

The new power reached out a trepid hand. The tendril shot forward and wrapped around his scrawny fingers. Jay felt his heart sink to his gut.

“Yeeeeessssss, are ya’ ready, kid?” The voice laughed maniacally and Jay swore he could hear a strange thumping in the background. He struggled to remove his appendage from the cold and moist grasp but was unsuccessful.

“Wait, hold on…” Jay attempted to back away but he was rooted in place.

The next thing he knew, Jay was falling downwards, the light of the moon slowly fading as darkness closed over the top. The crazy laughter of the voice echoed above.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jay felt trapped. He appeared in dimensions with no sound, light, heat, or air. He struggled to breathe and his eye bulged out of his skull in panic. He clawed around but could not touch or feel anything. That second felt like an eternity.

Jay reappeared sprawled out on the cold ground of a warehouse. Jay sucked in a rank breath of air, he coughed and a gob of phlegm dropped out of his mouth. He wiped the fleck of saliva off his lips and took stock of his surroundings.

The dirty floor was covered with waste and debris. A stack of rotten wood planks was piled in the corner. It lay haphazardly as if it was waiting for an errant gust of wind to send it toppling over at any moment. Cobwebs and incense infested the remains.

Dozens of rusted metal barrels that appeared to have once contained oil covered the majority of the space inside the building. Many of them were empty, with a few leaking a sticky, black substance that seeped into the concrete floor.

The soft glow of a lantern dimly flickered, casting eerier shadows on the surroundings. The pungent smell of iron and decay permeated the air, mixing with the musty scent of mold and water. Grime and grease coated every object, evidence of years of neglect.

Jay could hear the breath of one living being. Each exhale sounded like the bellows of a forge, strong and powerful. The teenager followed the sound and made eye contact with a man dressed in worker's attire. He wore a tattered navy blue shirt, its sleeves rolled up to reveal a network of tattoos on his muscular forearms. The shirt was tucked into his dirt-streaked jeans that were frayed at the cuffs and help up by a worn leather belt. His leather boots were caked with mud. A woolen cap covered the top of his head, where even more drawings covered could be seen. He had a weathered face, lined and creased. A heavy tan darkened his skin, caused by years of exposure to the elements. He had a thick black beard flecked with gray. Numerous beads had been braided in.

Jay immediately recognized him as Madok, the leader of The Drowned and the man responsible for hundreds of deaths. He felt his breath catch in his throat and he restrained the urge to cough again. Deep blue eyes studied Jay from behind a small wooden table where a metal lantern rested atop.

The new power couldn’t see the man masked by shadows, but he didn’t trust his senses to reveal the mysterious cowl.

“Hello, Jay. You’ll have to forgive Shadow Man, he’s adopted a strange humor over the years.” Madok cracked a calm grin. His teeth were slightly yellowed.

Jay unsteadily got to his feet and wiped away the dust that coated his ill-gotten clothes. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I can tell,” Jay said. He attempted to control his racing heart, but being in such close proximity to a man with a reputation for causing insanity set the teenager on edge. His mind flowed with stories of Madok inflicting insanity upon those that dissatisfied him.

A short chuckle made Jay flinch.

“I can tell you’re stressed. Relax. Please. You have nothing to fear. I only want you to talk with me,” Madok said.

“Talk about what?” Jay asked.

“You’re from here. Could claim to say you grew up on this side of West Seattle,” he paused, “I also knew your father.”

“My dad?” Jay frowned. The statement wasn’t too far out of reach. The two men might have crossed paths at one point or another. The captain of a fishing vessel would have spoken with the union leader.

“Indeed. Before he went to sea, he came to me first. Asked for my help. Those were harsh times, and your father was very persuasive,” Madok chuckled, “I was saddened to hear he never came back. Many of us hoped he would. He was a good man.”

Jay stayed quiet. Unsure how to respond to the man’s story. It was likely his father had asked Madok at some point for help, either with getting out of the docks with a ship or finding a crew that was desperate enough to sail with him.

Madok looked away for a moment, his eyes glazed over. He seemed content to let the silence stretch. Jay wasn’t.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to know you have ties here.” Madok’s tone broached no argument and Jay lifted an eyebrow in response.

“If I have ties then why is this the first time I’ve ever seen you?” Jay couldn’t help the acidity that crept into his voice. In the corner of his eye, he saw the shadows begin to creep forward. Madok held up a hand and they stopped. The older man trained his stare upon the younger boy.

“While I thought of your father as a good man, many others did not. Do you know how many men he convinced to crew with him?”

Jay shook his head in the negative.

“He persuaded twenty-four people to ride with him. Do you know how many came back?” Madok asked.

Jay shook his head again, assuming where this was going.

“None of them came back. Their bodies have been reclaimed by the depths, may they rest in peace,” Madok closed his eyes and uttered a short prayer to the deceased.

“Twenty-four men and women were never heard from again. Many blamed your father for this. The families of the dead wanted revenge. I stopped them, Jay. I stopped them from hurting you and your family.” Madok leaned forward over the desk. It suddenly seemed much smaller than it had before. Jay hadn’t noticed, but Madok was massive. If the man stood, he would have been brushing against seven feet in height.

“Am I supposed to be grateful?” Jay understood he was being arrogant. Madok was dangerous and here he was mouthing off to him, but Jay didn’t like being reminded of what his father had done.

Madok seemed to realize that too. He dipped his head.

“My apologies. I seem to have struck a spot I didn’t mean to. My goal was to help you understand that you have an ally in me. I do not blame nor hold you accountable for your father’s accident. The loss of him is more than you should have to deal with. It isn’t easy growing up without a dad. My own was killed when I was around your age. I loved him, just as I believe you loved your own.” Madok's tone was low and tinged with sorrow. Jay felt himself easing his tense posture. His arms, which had been crossed in front of him, returned to his sides.

“It’s fine. I just don’t like hearing about it,” Jay admitted. Madok gave a curt nod.

“I am sorry once more.”

Jay didn’t know when it had happened, but he had slowly begun to treat Madok not as a supervillain, but as another regular human. The kind words about Jay’s father had garnered some goodwill for the gang leader.

The teenager had to remind himself that he was trying to be recruited. The promise of Stardust’s healing of his brother rested on it. He looked at Madok and recalled that he had been tasked to kill the man. He shook his head. There were times to think about such things later.

“So what do you want? I don’t believe you just wanted to tell me all that for no reason.” Jay pointed out.

“Indeed. I asked Shadow Man to bring you here because I have a proposition. One that I think is in your best interest,” Madok offered. Jay nodded for him to continue.

“You’ve heard of The Drowned. I am their leader, but I’m sure you already know this,” Madok gave a rumbling chuckle, “I want you to join us, Jay. Become part of our crew.”

Jay felt his heart seize. It had been that simple? Simply show up and Madok will recruit him? Stardust hadn’t been lying when she said The Drowned would snatch him up like a hot commodity. He wasn’t sure how to react to the offer. What he wanted had fallen into his lap without any effort. It felt too easy. Were all gang recruitments like this?

“Why should I?” Jay asked. He didn’t want to seem too eager. If Madok knew Jay as well as he claimed, then he would expect the teenager to resist at first.

“I find it unfortunate that I am the one that has to inform this to you, but you will have no life as a superhero. Central Pantheon has already filed you away as a cowl and declared you a threat. The families of the boy’s you killed were influential. You’re a wanted man, Jay.” Madok tapped the wooden table, the dull thuds rang around the warehouse.

“I don’t know what the story is there, and I respect your privacy, so I won’t ask. Reality has already been set in stone. You are a villain in the eye of New Seattle.”

Jay frowned. Madok’s statement made Jay wonder if there was truly any hope of him turning to a life of heroism. Did he even want to? The few ‘heroes’ he had encountered had hardly been models of society. Jay wasn’t doing this to be a hero though, he was doing it because Stardust said she could save his brother. Damned what New Seattle thought of him.

“That’s fine. Being a hero was always a pipe dream, even before I cracked. Why does this mean I should join you though?” Jay questioned.

“You may have some ideas of going at it alone. Vigilantes and solos last less than a year ninety percent of the time. They either die in the city or when a beast wave hits and no one is there to watch their backs. Hardly any of them have what it takes to make it without a team, and those that do are relics and leftovers of groups and organizations that have disbanded.”

Madok made a fair point. Viligantes had been popular before the beast waves. When the city called on all available powers to defend the walls, being a vigilante with dozens of enemies and no backup was a bad place to be. Lone ranger-type supers were pushed out of style for a better team dynamic.

“With Central Pantheon out of the question and a career as a rogue power too risky, that leaves you with someone who doesn’t care for Central and has the power to protect their own. I’m a reasonable man, Jay, and I am dedicated to making sure The Docks and West Seattle remain as undisturbed as possible.

“You’d be safe here, Jay. You’d have others that would watch your back, and hopefully, in time you’d be willing to watch theirs.” Madok gestured to his surroundings. A bit of spark entered his eyes and his voice elevated in passion.

“I have a dream, Jay. I dream that one day West Seattle won’t be full of squabbling supers clawing at each other for each scrap. I want the streets to be lit up. I want the alleys clean. I want this place to be what it was supposed to be!” His words were fire and Jay couldn’t help but kindle. The teenager grinned, caught up in the excitement. Madok returned the grin with one of his own.

"All I ask of you is to follow my commands and help out when I ask.

“In addition, we’ll pay you five thousand each month, along with whatever your portion of the loot is after successful heists.

“I’ll also help you find a healer for your brother.”