Meet Your Hero: Seeking Answers
Witchlight isn't the only one looking for answers. Mighty Horn faces the consequences of his repeated failure and reconnects with an old ally. Meanwhile, Cataclysm prepares his lair for company!
This week's update of my more, hm, 'serious'? Story that will (eventually) have smut! Enjoy.
The Lair of Cataclysm, Pacific Ocean, 13:00
Cataclysm busies himself around the lair. There were boxes to move, old glassware to pick up, and traps to set. He giggles as he cleans, it’s been so long! This was more exciting than his last Supr date!
He hasn’t had one of those in a while either, but this was better! A good old-fashioned ransom and a heaping helping of vengeance! True, he had just taken a cat, but it was better than nothing. There was something strange about this cat, too, Witchlight just had to come!
He skulks to the carrier and looks inside. “You smell like him.”
“Mrow.”
“I KNOW YOU’RE NOT A REGULAR CAT!” He barks. Obviously, the cat doesn’t respond. Cataclysm deflates and returns to his own cleaning. He would need to shower as well since he still smells kinda like beer.
Come to think of it, there was something strangely familiar about that smell beyond smelling like Witchlight. Whatever it was isn’t immediately clear. He focuses on the weird part of the smell and can’t find the answer, just a small ache in his chest.
He shrugs, it won’t matter after tonight. Witchlight will be a bloody stain on the wall. He’d better get back to it! After several hours of cleaning, he perches himself on his massive obsidian (but well-padded) throne. He laughs maniacally as he slaps a big red button on the arm of his chair. The floor beneath the now-suspended cat parts and reveals a pool of magma.
Rheus rolls her eyes.
“Come, Witchlight, come and meet your death!” Cataclysm cackles with villainous glee, more excited than he’s been in a long, long time.
Beneath the Boughs of the First Oak, 14:00
Witchlight sits shirtless atop the stone altar within the underground heart of his sanctum. Shimmering runes dance across his exposed flesh moving in a hypnotic pattern as he silently mouths the spell.
He can feel the alien presence behind him observing and whispering. Just a sip, a drop, and he would be able to reach through space and find Rheus.
TE-KE-LI-LI
It would be so easy, and all it would take is a single sip.
TE-KE-LI-LI
But it wouldn’t be just one, it never was. Power is an addiction, and the blood of old gods carries a terrible price. No. He had already drunk too much too soon.
TE-KE-LI-LI
“ Silence, creature.” He raises a hand and drapes a translucent sphere of silence around himself.
He would do this the hard way. He opens his eyes as he utters the final words to the spell. Candles dim and the runes peel from his skin to drift through the air around him. Contorting and shifting into new shapes, the dots of light each represent another place, another person, another mind. Complex tangles of wants and fears are distilled down to glimmers of light.
A chill runs down his spine. He spots a light sitting distant from all the others. As soon as he tries to grab it, it flickers out of existence. Peculiar, but not his greatest concern. He sorts through thousands of clusters until one set slightly removed from the rest presents itself.
He reaches out at a familiar mind. Could it be Rheus? Space stretches around him and his perception expands to encompass the world at large. The spell teases him, hiding his true objective. Her spells had always been frustrating and capricious.
No, not Rheus.
He is pulled to the museum, construction workers and recognizable costumed morons meander in the aftermath of today's brawl. He’s pulled again to a… locker room? He spots a rhino changing: Mighty Horn. Was this the Lodge? It certainly feels like the Lodge. You never forget some things.
He wouldn’t normally use magic this potent for perving out in a locker room, but the spell had brought him here. Avoiding looking down he observes his rival in hopes of finding a clue; anything that might tell him why he was here and not looking at Rheus.
Why would it show him this?
The Lodge, Pocket Dimension, 15:00
A gust of air brushes the rhino's skin.
“Cold in here today,” Michael mutters as he pulls a plain t-shirt over his head, careful not to tear it on his horn. He’s trying not to eavesdrop on the conversations on the other side of the lockers, but it’s hard not to overhear with how eagerly the voices seem to move through the room.
“–Should be embarrassed, this is what the fourth–”
“Agreed, need new–”
“Not cut out for this–”
“–Us all to shame.”
“He’s a fuckup.”
Michael slams the locker closed and stomps out, trying his best not to listen. It had been a long day and overhearing gossip wasn’t going to make it any better. Especially since the gossip was about him and his failure to stop Witchlight.
Again.
Witchlight was infuriating, arrogant, powerful, cunning, confusing, a little familiar, and…Exciting? Michael's face gets warm as he recalls the kiss. That stupid, taunting, and just a little bit exciting kiss. Why was he familiar? Worse, why was he exciting?!
He tries to organize his thoughts but it always comes down to the same thing: exciting, confusing, and familiar. Was it just because he’d been beaten by him so many times, or was there something else?
His wristband beeps, saving him from himself. It’s hardly better, though, as the screen denotes a message from the one and only Golden Boy. Leader of the Knights of the Round and Michael's boss.
Grunting, he changes direction to head deeper into the Lodge. It looked so sterile and heartless. He had never seen it before it was redecorated but however it looked before had to be better than this . Perfectly trimmed hedges, a perfect blue sky, everything so perfect , and perfect wasn’t natural.
“But Perfect is what Golden Boy wants.” Michael huffs. Why did Golden Boy want to see him? He never wanted to discuss anything positive, always ‘optics’ or how he could have done better had he been there. “Damn.” Michael sighs.
He stares at the heavy wooden door decorated with a dramatized mural of the famous hero. It had been an honor to be invited to join the ‘Knights of the Round’, but the magic wore off the first time he saw this glittering abomination.
Michael silently prays to fall through the floor and disappear as he grabs the handle. He receives no such mercy. Entering the room he’s greeted with more tacky memorabilia of the golden retriever. Paintings, newspaper clippings, trophies, awards, and a gigantic mural plastered on the ceiling depicting the Knights’ victory over some renfaire villain family.
A cough from the front of the room.
Michael fixes his gaze ahead as he sees Golden Boy admiring yet another large painting of himself behind a wide gilded desk. Trying to be polite the rhino clears his throat and takes a step forward, but the canine doesn’t respond.
After a full minute of silence, he finally speaks. “Michael, ‘Mighty Horn’, Horner. Have a seat.”
Michael sits, the chair straining under his weight.
“Your encounter with Witchlight today, how’d it go?” His voice is unnervingly calm.
Michael shifts uncomfortably in the chair. “In my report I–”
“I want to hear it from you.”
Another game. “Mystic Marmot engaged the subject, Witchlight, and tried to prevent him from entering the museum. He failed, but caught up with the subject inside, stalling him long enough for the rest of us to arrive.”
“Go on.” He nods.
“Witchlight,” Michael frowns, what was the point of this? “Witchlight used his magic to control a large number of bystanders, including the museum curator. Fortunately, none of them were harmed and everyone is expected to make a full recovery. This aligns with previous encounters: he often uses threats to civilians and innocents to spread us thin while he pursues his true targets. He rarely causes any civilian casualties.”
“Why?”
“We think–”
“ We think?” Golden Boy shakes his head. “What do you think?”
Michael shrugs. “Maybe he’s an anti-hero, maybe he just wants to keep more heroes off his back.”
“Maybe?” Golden Boy finally turns to acknowledge the rhino, his deep blue eyes are almost amused. “Haven’t you figured out his motive or goal yet?”
“He isn’t responsive to questions.”
“Oh, have we captured him? Interrogated him?”
Ah. There it is. “He eluded capt–”
“You.”
“I’m sorry?”
“He eluded you , Michael.”
Michael frowns. “None of us were able to–”
“You’re the leader, Michael. If your team fails, you failed.” Golden Boy interrupts. “It’s not your first failure, either. Witchlight is making us look like amateurs! I’ve got everyone up my ass trying to figure out why we haven’t dealt with him yet!” He slams the desk. “Not to mention how bad it looks that someone like him is able to, repeatedly, best Knights.”
“Someone like him?” Michael asks, glaring.
Golden Boy just shrugs.
Another breeze gives Michael goosebumps. “We’ve been working on a new tactic that could–”
“No. You had your chance.” It’s as if he was just waiting to interrupt again.
Michael stands. “You can’t take me off the team! We’re getting closer, I just need–”
“You’re not off the team, Michael. You’re off the Knights.”
“What?”
“I’m putting Dracunaut in charge–”
“You can’t!”
“–And your time with us is over.”
Michael's jaw drops. Where did this come from? No one had died, hell most of the time no one even gets injured ! Just confused, paralyzed, or otherwise incapacitated! The only reason the museum was damaged this time was because of that psycho, Cataclysm! Was this all for ‘optics’?
“Collect your things. Should you prove yourself worthy again I might consider you for the Squire program.” Golden Boy says.
“I’m no one's sidekick, Goldie.”
“Come on, no hard feelings. It’s just business.”
Michael stomps to the door and pauses. “I can’t wait to see him humiliate you too, asshole.”
THE MINDSCAPE
Arthur watches the confrontation. A shame Mighty Horn was fired, he was a worthy rival and his costume was a lot of fun to look at. Golden Boy, on the other hand, is an asshole with an ugly cape.
Someone like me? Homophobic prick. Just youuUGH–
Arthur's mind whirls as he’s pulled from the office back to Michael. He checks his surroundings. They’re outside now but still in the lodge, and Michael is talking to someone. Snowblind? Most of these heroes were easy to identify even out of costume. How many huskies had ice-blue coats?
He paces around the pair, well, he imagines pacing around the pair. He has no physical form but can will himself to move around. Magic is weird. He turns his attention back to the two and listens closely.
The Lodge, Pocket Dimension, 17:30
“Thanks for walking me out, Grant,” Michael says.
Grant smiles. “Of course.”
They walk in silence for a while until Michael pauses near another building that contains the Hall of Mirrors. “Hey, Grant, can I ask you something?”
“Sure thing bud, what’s up?”
Michael looks around, careful to ensure no one is nearby. “Doesn’t something about Witchlight seem familiar?”
Grant shrugs. “All these magic types look the same to me. Super campy or super edgy, Witchlights a fun mix of both.”
“Yeah. That must be it.” Michael frowns. “See you around, Grant.” Michael steps through a large mirror on the wall and vanishes from the lodge.
Hurtling Through the Mindscape
Images, lights, thoughts, feelings, and sensations tear through Arthur's mind. His consciousness swells and feels like it could pop at any second. Just when he thinks it’s going to be too much to bear he snaps into place in a crowded restaurant.
He gives his quiet thanks that he can’t vomit right now, and tries to get his bearings. Finding Michael is no issue, thankfully, he’s a giant. Yet another place that seemed completely irrelevant in his search for Rheus. Why couldn’t magic just make sense this one time?
Prairie City, Central US, 19:45
Michael sits on the patio of a restaurant along a busy street. People wander by without paying him any mind. A waiter delivers a couple of glasses of water and Michael takes a sip as he searches for someone amongst the crowd.
Soft gray paws cover his eyes. “Ambush!”
Michael laughs. “Kenzie, it’s been too long!”
The squirrel sits in the chair opposite him. “Not my fault the great,” Her voice deepens. “ MIGHTY HORN has been too busy with his hot new rival and cool hero team for his bestie!”
“About that…”
“I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Michael regards her curiously. “How do you know? It happened less than an hour ago.”
“I am a talented young lady, Mike.” He blinks at her. “Okay, well the oldheads at the Lodge don’t know what cybersecurity is so I–” Her back stiffens and she whips her head around. For half a second she spots a blonde human in the window, staring at them. She shakes her head and he’s gone.
“Everything okay?” Michael asks.
“Yeah, yeah I just… Nevermind. Anyways, I saw everything.” She replies. “Golden Boy is a dick.”
Michael nods.
“What are you going to do now?”
The rhino shrugs.
“Let me guess, mope?”
“No!”
“Okay, then can I make a suggestion?” She leans forward.
“The floor is yours,” He smiles.
“Neighborhood Watch reboot!” Kenzie cheers. “Alright, let's get eating, then we get scheming!”
THE MINDSCAPE
Arthur watches the pair eat from slightly further away. Somehow the squirrel had almost seen him. If he focuses he can still make out their conversation, but it’s nothing interesting. Just two friends catching up over a late dinner.
Movement, Michael, and his friend begin to walk down the street, and Arthur follows from a safe distance. This was starting to feel like a waste of time, he had gotten some useful intelligence about the Knights but was no closer to finding Rheus! Did Michael have her? In spite of his desire to drop the spell and go on the warpath, something compelled him to keep watching.
Prairie City, Central USA, 21:00
Kenzie drags Michael into the elevator that had come out of the floor and taps the ‘down’ button. Tech-based heroes were always putting elevators in weird places, it was a strange fixation that Michael couldn’t wrap his head around.
The elevator opens in the center of a large underground room walled with dozens of screens and whirring devices. Wires hang haplessly from the ceiling and crisscross the floor, small drones hover around the room performing all kinds of tasks.
“Welcome, Mike, to Headquarters_EXE!” Kenzie twirls dramatically. “Don’t trip.”
“Much bigger than your treehouse in our Neighborhood Watch years.” He nods.
“Alright, Ego?” She asks the ceiling.
A robotic voice plays from overhead. “Yes, Mackenzie?”
“Can you play the footage from this morning, Tower City?”
Michael groans. “Do we have to watch that?”
“We’re skipping the ‘good boy’ part,” She winks. “I clipped it for later.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Playing requested footage, Mackenzie.” Ego says.
All of the screens in the room light up, each featuring a different angle of the skirmish. Some of the footage is from the cameras in the building, others from helicopters, cell phones, and the cameras that the Knights wear.
It plays their humiliating defeat before skipping ahead to Cataclysm's arrival. Michael carefully observes the different scenes playing out, trying to find any new clues. So far it’s just a ruckus, rubble, and a cat.
“Wait, is that a cat?”
“It’s more than a cat, check this out.” Mackenzie points at a large screen. Cataclysm grabs the cat and retreats, laughing. He ignores the wounded heroes and Mighty Horn, instead, he bores a hole into the ground and vanishes with his feline captive.
“Why would he take a cat?” Michael asks.
Kenzie’s voice takes on a high-pitched sing-song quality. “So I had ego review all of your encounters with Witchlight and we found something. Eeeeegooooooooo?”
“Way ahead of you, Kenzie.” Each screen shows a different image, and in each image is the same orange tabby cat. Usually hidden or in the background but there is one grainy image of the cat following Witchlight into a portal.
Michael's jaw drops. “Holy shit. He kidnapped Witchlights cat!”
Beneath the Boughs of the First Oak, 21:32
HE KIDNAPPED MY FUCKING CAT! Arthur rages. He releases his hold on Michael and falls through space back into his body. Jumping from his perch he collects supplies his various reagents, tools, a wand, and his mask. Anything he might need to rescue Rheus.
His hand hovers over a vial full of black ichor. He stares at his reflection in the glass. It would be easy with this, it had allowed him to easily best the Knights for months. But he had been outnumbered, then. He needed to be sure those times.
He needed to be sure this time. He can’t imagine life without Rheus, and Cataclysm had it out for him. What better way to get his vengeance than to hurt his only friend? The thought made his stomach turn, more than the thought of drinking this unholy and entirely wrong fluid.
No. Rheus wouldn’t want him to risk it. Too much was suicidal and some of it still coursed through his veins, he’d just have to use it smartly. He could sneak into Cataclysm's lair and get Rheus out with no problem! With the Grimoire and his other supplies, he could easily keep the hyena locked down long enough to rescue Rheus and leave. He would just need to be clever.
Right. Yes!
Te
But what if he couldn’t?
Ke
What would he do without Rheus?
Li-Li
He palms the vial and places it in his coat pocket as he pulls his mask over his face. “Fuck it.”
Labradetectives Hangar, Prarie City, 22:00
“When did you get a jet? I thought you were, like, street-level.” Michael stares at the console in awe.
“You aren’t the only one making big career moves.” Kenzie winks. “It’s not mine, anyways. I helped Labradetective with some stuff last year and he let me borrow it.”
“Borrow?”
“I asked for permission!”
“He said no, didn’t he?”
“HE NEVER USES IT!”
“Kenzie, we can’t steal his jet.”
“I’m bringing it back, besides–” She pulls a lever. “Labradetective got super weird when I said I was looking into Witchlight.”
Michael frowns. “Weird how.”
“Just weird.” She grins wide. “You think we can ask CATACLYSM when we get there?”
The pair share a laugh as the engines thrum to life and they jet off towards Cataclysms island lair.
Lair of Cataclysm, Pacific Ocean, 02:17
Cataclysm taps his paw impatiently on the ground. “I expected him to be here by now, it’s after midnight!” He paces the glass floor.
Rheus licks her front paws as she watches the idiot hyena. He’d been checking his cameras for hours waiting for Arthur to arrive. The only break in the monotony of it was when he attempted to interrogate her.
“Where is your master, kitty?” He brings his big head to the carrier and stares.
“Mrow.”
“I know you’re not a regular cat!” Cataclysm growls and falls back on the glass floor, his back warmed by the gentle glow of the magma underneath. He had spent hours cleaning up the lair for this! It had been years since he had anyone over and he had gotten his hopes up.
It’s not like he needed to wait for Witchlight, he could go do villainy anywhere! Maybe he could kidnap a senator's kids or something. Show Witchlight he didn’t need him! Another thought creeps into his mind as the warmth spreads throughout his body.
He could open Supr. After all, why not invite a guy over and have a good time in another way–the lair was just cleaned. His paw scratches his belly just above his crotch, inching ever closer to his codpiece.
He unbuckles and moves his paw further down. How dare he be made to wait by that entitled asshole! Hah! Cataclysm imagines Witchlight arriving, begging for his cat to be released. Squeezing his junk through his underwear he growls.
He’d make him beg, alright, beg for more than just his cat, maybe he could get an even better ransom than some cash and the conduit? His mouth hangs open and his tongue is lolled off to the side. The conduit and maybe a quick bl–
“Disgusting! Are all mortals such slaves to their base desires?!” A voice screeches from the carrier.
Jumping upwards and clumsily buckling his codpiece back on Cataclysm points his spotted paw at the cat accusingly. “Hah! You fell for… for my plan! I knew you weren’t a regular cat!”
“Yes, what a clever ruse, you disgusting dog.” Rheus glares.
Cataclysm's tail hangs between his legs and his ears fall flat. There goes the Supr date idea, he could always put a blanket over the carrier but he had a feeling this cat wouldn’t make it easy for him to get it on. He didn’t perform well under that kind of judgment.
“Where the fuck are you…” He growls at the cavern ceiling.
Rheus yawns.
Walking across the large open space the hyena sits down on his magnificent, and comfortably padded, throne. Resting his head on his paw he stares at the floor, then the cat carrier, and then the door. At this point, he just wants someone to show up.
His lava fountains had run out hours ago and one of his banners had caught on fire. His lair was barely menacing now. Sighing he glances back to the cat, her carrier was facing away from him. He swipes his phone and clicks Supr open, looking to amuse himself.
He scans the first row expecting to see the usual suspects, not that distance was really an issue for most of the people on here. He could always chat with Oce–What the hell?! There was a new profile ‘M4G1C_T0P’, and the distance is–
“VERY CLOSE?!” He leaps out of his throne and summons his hammer. He’s here. “It’s rude to keep a man waiting, Witchlight, but don’t worry,” He cackles. “I know just how you can make it up to me.”
Lair of Cataclysm, Pacific Ocean, 02:31
Landing the jet in a clandestine corner on the insidious isle, Mighty Horn and Hero_EXE jaunt through the jungle, careful to avoid any treacherous traps. They scale the mountain and quickly find one of its many entrances.
Hero_EXE deftly disables the cameras as they navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the active volcano. In no time at all they arrive at a reinforced steel door and Mighty Horn prepares to charge, aiming his titular horn at the door but Hero_EXE stops him.
She pulls small explosive devices from her silver-blue metal suit and uses her tactical visor to determine the weakest spots on the steel door. Once everything is in place she gestures for Mighty Horn to charge!
Lair of Cataclysm, Pacific Ocean, 02:31
Witchlight crawls along the upper ledge of the crater and eyes the titanium dome that houses the lair of Cataclysm, and more importantly his familiar Rheus. Normally impenetrable, it was barely an obstacle to the stupendous spellcaster, he would be inside before anyone knew he was there!
Drawing upon the mysteries of Morgana's Grimoire he wills his body to become mist and silently enters the horrible hyenas lair. He would have his cat, and maybe some revenge, too! Someone had to teach the wash-up a lesson, and who better than his biggest fan?
Devilish Witchlight collects his corporeal form as he conjures cursed clouds to distract and befuddle his foes. He sinks to the ground at the heart of the villain's volcanic vista and summons his weakening wisps.
“CATACLYSM–” He starts!
“–WE NEED TO TALK!” Mighty Horn roars as he and Hero_EXE make their grand entrance, sending debris from the devastated door flying before coming to a stop next to Witchlight.
Lair of Cataclysm, Pacific Ocean, 02:32
Witchlight slowly turns his head to the left and blinks at the squirrel in her blue and silver mech suit, her bushy tail gently bouncing to the side. Then on his right Mighty Horn stares at him in shock. Finally, he looks up ahead at the slackjawed Cataclysm standing before his throne.
“What–”
“–The”
“FUCK!”