Hero Be Damned Ch. 01

Prologue:

Being a superhero, it's every kids fantasy at one point or another. Be there for the world, rescue the beautiful woman, marry her, live a secret exciting life... I wish.

I used to be Shade, protector of Castor City, the masked head to toe superhero type you'd see in comics, movies etc zipping around saving the day, rescuing kittens from trees, I'm sure you're aware of the drill.

Now, I'm just Jack Rollins. I don't do the super hero thing any more. It's cost me far too much. I don't want it to cost others.

You never think about how a life choice can affect others, never really do. Never think about how it can seem so great one moment, then the next, it's the bane of your existence, the sole reason for your life going to hell, for everything being lost... for others suffering needlessly.

All my 'nemesis' are dead. When I 'retired', I use that term loosely, the city went to hell for a short period. The infighting started. No structure amongst the lawbreakers, no honour amongst thieves, led to them all turning on each other, bumping each other off for ultimate power. After about a year, fourteen of the fifteen people who used to torment Castor City regularly were six feet under. Be it in cement shoes, bullet ridden or melted by acid in a drum somewhere, they were taken care of, not by the law, but by each other.

The fifteenth, well, he's gone. That's a long story. Needless to say it's why I find myself at this turning point, standing here at these figurative crossroads looking at my destiny. Well, moreso a trainstation back here in reality. Do I buy a return ticket and head back to Castor, become Shade again, provoke enemies into coming out of the shadows, for more to step up and challenge me? Or do I wander out there, find somewhere, and start anew... I just don't know. It's not like it matters anyhow now is it.

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Chapter 1: Shattered illusions.

"I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive, men weren't meant to ride, with clouds between their knees, I'm only a man, in a silly red sheet..." -- Five For Fighting : Superman.

"Jack,"

"Jack, I need you to look. They need to confirm it."

My eyes opened, they fixed on their bodies, laying on the metal tables. Veronica, my dear Veronica, the day we met was so perfect. The catamaran we hired to take into Batells Bay where we picnicked on Twoheys Island. The sunset that we sat and shared... and the life we went on to share was nothing short of perfect either, the nights I'd come home, dinner would be waiting, you'd kiss me on the lips as I'd take my suit off, and put my other suit on... how you'd kiss me as I left for the next few hours to patrol.

My now dead partners eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling, something was missing, it's hard to describe, but there's a 'spark', that just seemed to not be there... and then there's my son.

Three years old. The single most beautiful thing in my life. Taken from me. The day he was born was amazing. I saw him emerge from his mother, sure, I have excessive strength, my speed is unmatched, but this was truly amazing. A life, born in front of me. Nothing could ever match that.

Ever.

His shock of brown hair was now limp, lifeless, his eyes closed, his lips a blue haze... I stood there, transfixed, not crying, I was beyond crying at that point. I was emotionally dead. I wondered if I'd ever recover.

"I'm sorry Jack, I know it's hard."

"You have no idea... don't patronise me. How the fucking hell could you, you get to go home to your wife tonight, you get to kiss your daughter goodnight. What do I get to do? Plan a goddamn double funeral... No. This isn't happening. This isn't the way it's going to happen..."

Caleb looked over at me. He had a well of tears built up in his own eyes.

"Jack, Margarets already started the funeral process, don't worry about that."

I'd turned to walk out the door, my anger and fury spilling out into venomous words aimed at my dear friend Caleb. I stopped at the door, my hand finding the frame, my fingertips tracing the frames edge slowly, I stared at them, as they pressed on the painted wood. I noticed the faint smudge they left as I rubbed them up and down the gloss finish, dissipating into nothing like the lives of my woman and child.

"Caleb I'm sorry, it's not your fault..." I whispered slowly.

"Jack," he replied softly, I could hear the pitch in his voice taking a softer turn, "There's nothing to apologise for. But I loved them too. They were like family to me. And if you think this is easy for anyone, if you think this is easy for me or Margaret, or hell even my little Kaley? Don't kid yourself. We're there too okay, we lost our friends, you lost your partner and son, but we're here for you, don't ever forget that. You're still here and we're not going to lose you too."

"I know. I know you are. And I appreciate it. I just need some time, space. I need to get my head around this."

Caleb nodded, he walked out ahead of me, leaving me along with Veronica and James. My family. My mind couldn't even fathom what had happened yet. Getting my head around this was going to take time that's for sure.

I left the door, walking over to the tables, looking into Veronicas eyes, looking at my sons closed eyes, he was at peace, she was too.

My hands traced to the sheet covering my sons body, grasping at it gently, I pulled it back and looked at his naked body, all tiny, never to be grown up, always to be a boy. Then I saw them.

His stomach,it was covered with them. The marks, the cuts, the incisions. My boy had been mutilated. I pulled the blanket back up quickly, my knees turned to jelly, my legs buckled. My breathing became rapid, gasps of air exploded from my mouth, cries of anguish, pain and horror erupting from me, my eyes flowed, my nose ran, what kind of ungodly monster would do this to a child... I tried to regain composure, unable to close my mouth as my raw screams erupted, my emotions vomited out of me into the cold air. I began to retch, dry retching, eventually I stopped, I got myself under a form of control, vaguely.

I turned to my partners body, clasping the bench in my hands I pulled myself up. I pulled the blanket back.

It was worse. Much worse. He'd carved his name into her, the cuts on her were ten times worse, he'd taken his time, it was obvious, words such as 'revenge', 'get you', 'gone forever' sliced neatly into her skin. Her breasts had been removed by him, then sewn back on with twine. She was alive when he did this to her according to the M.E.

This wasn't just murder, this was torture, this was evil defined.

Caleb came bursting back into the room, "Oh fucking hell," he cried as he saw the bodies, "They told me but I didn't look at it..."

I looked at Caleb, my eyes running, my cheeks stained with the tears of my family. I could feel my humanity slowly draining out of me, one bit at a time. I pursed my lips, trying to hold back my emotions again, wiped my eyes and nose. I breathed in deeply, bringing myself back down.

It took a while but I got there, my legs were still wobbling, I could barely stand. But I made it into an upright position.

Caleb had pulled the sheets up over their heads. "I'll understand if you're not home tonight you know."

I leaned down, kissing the area on the cloth where their foreheads were, one at a time, slowly. Standing back up I looked at him, straight into his eyes. "I want him," I nodded slightly at my family laying there, lifeless, "And when I get him, he'll never hurt anyone again."

Caleb nodded, "You know though, if you do this, Shade has to go. He can't come back."

I craned my neck, looking into the fluro light above me, my eyes closed, I inhaled, the sharp smell of some chemical or other stinging my nose a little. "I don't know what I'm going to do Caleb. But Shades already dead. I'm just Jack Rollins now."

Caleb nodded slowly, he understood clearly what I meant. "Jack, sometimes justice isn't in a courtroom, or behind bars, sometimes Justice comes from another source. Make that son of a bitch pay."

His words echoed down the hallway after me as I strode towards the exit...

To be continued in Chapter 2: Questions and Answers