Highhanded :: Seven

Highhanded :: Seven

Susan tucked the sketches into a file. She sat back in the chair, enjoying the silence of the home. The muffled sound of the news from her neighbor's place was heard. Susan didn't have to hear what they said. By their tone it seemed big, but Susan tuned them out. She leaned back in her chair and smiled. This peaceful, accomplished atmosphere was beautiful. The solitude was ruined by a loud pounding on the back door.

Ace's every nerve was itching to get in the house. The explosion of the outside world had come with him, "Susan! Susan, you here?"

She was tempted to ignore him, but she found herself unlocking the door and letting him and his saddlebag collapse on the hallway floor. Lying on his back, he stared up at a very unhappy Susan and a stucco ceiling. Susan locked the door behind him. He spoke before she did, "He's a jackass!"

"Who?" Susan walked away, ensuring that her tone carried as much disinterest and displeasure as possible.

"The Arsonist." Ace mocked. "He's a jackass! Oh he's so cool. He burns people. He burns buildings. He causes havoc and the masses love him! He's out to destroy the homeless population and he's the next Dark Hero!" Ace slammed his fists against the floor in anger.

"If you're going to be here, do the dishes." Susan growled. He put away the groceries before. Maybe she could keep this up. He didn't move off the floor at first, but when she didn't say anything further he pushed himself up and dragged himself to the sink and turned the faucet on.

"I'm only doing this to clean up... The suit's in my saddlebag, I'll need it repaired."

"Huh? What have you done to my work?" Susan's voice was rising, "How bad is it?"

"It's not all bad, the material is a little resistant to flame. I'll need some of the really flame retardant stuff to add to it." The sink was full of water. He began to scrub some of the dishes, "The good doctor should be able to provide."

Susan sighed and put her hand to her head. At least he learned from his mistakes, she
thought. She leaned against the counter, "Tell me about her and her colleagues. What exactly did you do while you were gone?"

"Learned how buildings were built, how to build machinery. I learned a lot of chemistry and biology. Most of it was pretty advanced stuff. They gave me drugs to better take in all the information. I was trained in some martial arts. Soon before I left, they helped train me to survive torture. That's why I was so skinny when I came back. I was being starved and beaten. The bruises, burns and cuts healed before I got back. Most of them, at least."

"Ace! Why would you do that to yourself?"

"I gave you my reason earlier; so that I could fight to survive if I had to."

"I know that, but resistance to torture?"

"Doctor Dyr didn't want me to let anyone know what she was doing. She never stayed in one
location for long, but she uses the same locations so she can keep researching.

"And yet you're telling me?"

"Who's going to connect you and the Vigilante?"

"Who?"

"That's who they're calling me on the news. This other guy is the Arsonist."

"I haven't been watching the news, I've been busy working to catch up on any work I fell behind while working on your suit." Susan helped Ace dry the dishes, "What if they do make the connection?"

"It's not like I told you where I went. I took a series of buses, I covered my trail rather well."

Susan motioned for Ace to take a seat and she finished washing her dishes, He settled into the seat, adn she could tell he was weary."You're going to inspire a lot of people. Just like this Arsonist guy."

Ace sighed happily, "I hope so. We're pretty much leading these movements now."

"Some people aren't happy with it, though."

"Why do you say that?"

"I was at my lunch break and a few of my Pro-Vitality co-workers were talking negatively of you."

"You guys design clothes for a living, why should I worry?"

Susan continued, "We're probably not the only ones. Maybe some cops are against it as well. They're excellent at forging evidence."

"All of the Pro-Quality cops quit the force."

"No they haven't! These people are smarter than that!"

"They're dim-witted and repulsive."

"Shut up, Ace!" Susan slammed one of her plates into the dry half of the sink and put her hands to her face. Ace stood up and hugged her. She pushed him away and dried her hands on a towel. Ace sat back down and Susan soon followed suit.

"I'm sorry, Susan." Ace's voice was solemn, he was hurt. He rubbed his hands together nervously, "I can only guess how stressful this is for you."

"You're my friend, Ace. You're my best friend and I don't want you to die because you feel you have to fight for other people to live. Eddie told me he was going to peacefully move a crowd of homeless people earlier today, you couldn't be like him?"

"Ed was out there?"

"Yes, he was. I don't know what happened, he's not returning my calls. I got really worried as I was working but I figured he could take care of himself out there..."

"After the Arsonist set me on fire, I heard explosions below me. I put out the flames, got on my bike and hauled ass. The street was a war zone-"

Susan's phone rang on the table. She picked it up after looking at the ID, "Hey, we were talking about you. I'm glad to hear you're okay." There was a pause, "Go right ahead, I'm just talking to Ace right now. He'll be glad to see you as well. Bye." She hung up the phone and put it down, "Eddie is coming over. He says he's fine, but I swear he sounds so excited it's like when we found his lost dog."

"That bad?" Ace grinned, "That guy's great. He was in the middle of the crossfire there and he's excited?"

"He idolizes you. Well, the Vigilante. After the first night he called me when he heard the news from his roommate and he was glad someone was protecting those lives."

Ace grinned. "See? I have fans."

"Ace that's not the point-"

"By the way," Ace held up his hands to make a rough shape, "I need a strap bag thing about this big."

"Ace."

"What?"

"It's bad enough I have to fix your suit." Susan put the newly cleaned dishes in the cupboard. "I'm not going to take up every fancy of a project you have me to do. I have a job, remember? If I fall behind-"

"Just that, and I promise you I'll learn how to sew by myself! I still have some of the learning drugs. I can juggle going to work, learning how to sew and saving lives easily."

Susan sighed and picked up Ace's saddlebag from the floor, "Last time, Ace."

"You're a doll."

"Susan! Ace!" Eddie rapped his hands against the back door. "How much of the news did you see-"

"Just come in." Susan called back.

The doorknob rattled a bit. "It's locked."

"Oh- right..." Susan dropped the bag and vanished into the hall. Ace took the moment to push his saddlebag into the cabinet under the sink. He settled back into his seat before Susan and Eddie came back to the kitchen. Eddie was already blabbering on.

"...So the mess was going on down below where I was right?" Eddie didn't bother sitting, even though Susan pulled out a chair for him. She took a seat and prepared for the wave of excitement. "Everything just paused for like, five seconds as the helicopter blew up! Everybody was lookin' up and stuff! It was like watching a movie only better!"

Ace fidgeted in his seat, "So, what happened?" Susan cast him a side glance, but he either didn't notice or simply ignored her.

"Well, everyone was watching the Arsonist throwing those damn bombs, and outta nowhere we just see this perfect sillouhette of the Vigilante just crashing down on the roof. It was some sick shit, man. I mean, the lighting and everything, man. And everyone was all 'Oh Arsonist' and then they were all 'OH SHIT IT'S THE TAZER GUY'. Man. Their faces man! Their faces! You shouldda been there, man."

"I wish I was." Ace growled. "I was working on my bike."

"You missed out man. You would have loved it."

"I saw the news clips." Ace groaned. "The Arsonist creeps me out."

"I can't believe they look up to him." Eddie growled. He finally fell into the seat Susan had for him. "The guy can just torch people outta nowhere and they think he's someone to look up to. No wonder they're so willing to put so many people six-foot under..."

"Wait," Susan leaned in, more to Ace than Eddie. "What actually happened?"

"Well, after the Vigilante landed-" Ace started drawing with his finger on the table. Eddie interrupted him.

"Hey, let the guy who was there tell the story, a'ight?" Ace leaned back. Eddie leaned in. "After he landed, he got off the bike and pulled out his taser baton, right? And he was just about to shock the Arsonist, the creep that he is, but just as he rushed toward him, the helicopter blew up! No one is really sure what the Arsonist did 'cause Vigilante was the only one close enough to see, and it's not like we can just ask him, ya know?"

"Uh-huh." Susan nodded. She bit her lip. She watched Ace fight to keep silent, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Then what? He had a flamethower?"

"He must have been packing one, 'cause out of nowhere he just torched the Vigilante while he was on the ground avoiding the shrapnel. The Arsonist is a reckless, sucker-punching cunt."

"Agreed." The word was nearly spat out of Ace's mouth.

"See what I mean?" Eddie pointed towards Ace, "I'm only talking about the guy and you already hate him." Eddie resumed pacing around the table, "I've gotta talk to Amy about this guy. She's probably seen the news."

Susan spoke up quickly, "How has she been? We haven't talked in a while."

"Actually, she's got a good paying job testing out future products. She got a little help from yours truly." Eddie walked towards the door, "I'll go ahead and visit her. You guys take care of yourselves. It was good to see you." He opened it and left without closing it behind him.

Ace got up and shut it, and put his hand to his forehead. He sat there on the floor, "Maybe if he put a little more time into getting himself a job he wouldn't be a day worker."

"He doesn't like to keep consistently busy. He keeps himself almost available at all times so he can see us if we need him." Susan looked around, "Where's your saddlebag?"

"Under the sink. I'll be back for it tomorrow. I've gotta self-medicate for a while. I'm starting to feel the burns on my back." Ace stood up and left, closing the door behind him.