Hero 4 Hire (Dar)

Spoiler:

Zoey Lin Chanel was a hero for hire. She had always wanted to be a hero ever since she heard the daring heroic stories of how her great great grandfather bravely lead a rebellion against the tyrant shogun with nothing but his enchanted sword back a few centuries ago. Zoey couldn’t wait to follow in his foot steps. The only issue was the rest of her family was not into the heroing business at all or keeping up with the family tradition of sword training at all. The magic sword her great grandfather had used was a table prop at dinner parties and just a point of conversation her mother flaunted when she wanted to sound important.

But her family’s overall disinterest in their legacy did not discourage Zoe. From ages 8 to 14 she had practiced kenjutsu, fencing, traditional swordsmanship training, kendo, etc. She also kept to a strict and rigorous workout routine and practiced basic field medicine and read up on local laws. Zoe was 15 now and thought it would be the perfect age to start her hero for hire business. Although unlike Jump City or Gotham, Portland Oregon was not an epicenter of superhuman crime. Aside from the occasional drugged up naked hipster in a tree there wasn't much unusual crime the police couldn’t handle on their own, so business was slow….very slow. So slow in fact Zoe had taken to performing shows at the park to demonstrate her skills and hopefully attract customers. A few fancy sword tricks should bring in some business, hopefully. She at least needed enough money to pay off the loan she had taken to have her custom uniform made.

Luckily for the teenage heroine it worked! She had found a job as a bodyguard for a rich app developer and his girlfriend. He had been robbed a few times while going to local venues and thought having a superhero next to him would be more effective than paying for hired muscle. It honestly was not the true calling Zoe had hoped for but it would have to due for now. She needed exposure after all. Plus the gig was easy and good practice for her. So far since being hired Zoe had caught 4 pick pockets, stopped 1 attempt at armed robbery, and thwarted a kidnapping attempt on the client’s girlfriend.


Todays event was a meeting with her client’s new partner at a banquet ceremony. The ceremony was supposed to be some huge grand unveiling of a co-produced app between her client and the new partner at a large refurbished classic mansion on a plot of land near the base of the mountains just half an hour outside the city. But about 20 minutes into the event the lights went out in the entire mansion and when they came back on her client was missing and over 70% of the guest who had been drinking were unconscious. Zoe sighed. “Another kidnapping…” Luckily Zoey was under age and couldn’t drink or she’d possibly be out cold too. But zoe was still in deep trouble because not only was the client missing but his girlfriend was too. She needed to find them both and fast! Zoe would start by asking a few of the guests who were still awake if they had seen anything.

Zoe still hadn’t even picked out a superhero name but she had been playing around with the idea of Dark-Rose. So for now that’s what she would introduce herself as….

Lewis Fisher considered this a work-vacation. He was here with his co-workers and boss, and he did have to wear this dreadfully generic black suit and tie, but it wasn't every day you got to see the first unveiling of a new next-generation product. The all-you-could-eat food table was pretty nice, too. He didn't even know what all of these fantastic treats were, but they tasted great. He avoided the fancy alcoholic beverages, though. He had never seen the appeal. Besides, he needed his senses to be sharp in case Mr. Pacific was needed.

Who was he fooling? He hadn't done any hero work in...had it been a few years already? He had been hired for a tech company, and had been enjoying the benefit of having money to spend. He was so busy with work that the whole superhero thing had just...disappeared.

Oh well, it's not like the world had lost much. He had been foolish for trying to be a superhero in the first place. He didn't have any powers. Fighting villains who had crazy, out of this world powers had been...painful. He had fallen, hard. The last time he had put on his Hawaiian shirt, he had been thrown through a brick wall. Doctors told him it was a miracle he had survived.

And yet, without a greater purpose, what was he doing with his life? Playing it safe? Making lots of money? Waiting for someone else to save the world?

This was too deep of a conversation to share with the plate of sushi he was trying to enjoy.

He turned his attention outward, and noticed for the first time the girl with two katanas standing in the same room as him. It wasn't like him to miss something so out of place, but then again, this mansion was very distracting. There was even a polar bear rug! The girl seemed to be acting as a bodyguard, staying in close proximity to one of the developers. Awesome. Why didn't Lewis' company get katana wielding bodyguards?

The lights went out. Lewis heard bodies collapsing to the ground. What was going on? This was not planned.

Someone was rushing past him. Instinctively, Lewis reached out and grabbed them by the throat. A gurgle was all that escaped before Lewis put the man on the floor. He touched the man's face and found night vision goggles. A heavy weight sank to the bottom of his stomach. Something very bad was happening.

Pulling the goggles off the now unconscious man, Lewis put them on and witnessed the chaos. Guests everywhere were falling over, as if poisoned. Had the lights going off somehow triggered that? He wasn't an expert with such things, but the drinks had definitely been spiked with...something.

There were three more people with night vision goggles, picking up two unconscious bodies and running out the door. One of them waved Lewis over impatiently before realizing he was not actually one of the conspirators. The man turned and fled. Lewis started to give chase, but was tripped.

Ouch. The polar bear rug did not cushion the fall much. Apparently, the man he had taken the goggles from was not unconscious anymore. Lewis spun around. The man had produced a knife, and was about to bury it into Lewis' leg. A swift kick to the man's face changed his mind. Lewis turned and rolled over to the man. Grabbing his wrist, Lewis squeezed and twisted. The knife went sliding across the floor.

The man retaliated with an awkward punch, which connected right with Lewis' nose. Rolling away again, Lewis stood. He grabbed a nearby chair and began beating the prone man with it, over and over. When the chair broke, Lewis threw it aside and started beating the man with his fists instead. He wasn't trying to knock the man out at this point. He just wanted to hurt him.

The lights came back on, blinding Lewis. He stood and composed himself for a moment, pulling off the goggles. Most of the people here were knocked out on the floor, and the kidnappers were nowhere to be seen.

The girl with katanas was asking around if anyone had seen anything, introducing herself as Dark Rose. Lewis turned to her and pointed at the bruised and battered, but still conscious man at his feet. "He's one of them! He had these. Night vision goggles. There were three others. It's a kidnapping."

Zoe looked the tall built guy up and down. He looked as though he was a bit scuffed up but he was also the only lead the little girl had. Zoey was grateful to Lewis for the information and brimmed from ear to ear when he spoke to her. “Thank you mister!” She said and shook his bloody hand but directly made a disgusted face afterwards and wiped the little bit of blood on her hand on her yukata. “You should probably get out of here mister. Take as many people with you as you can.” Zoe nodded and then turned her attention to the man the retired hero had put out of action. “Um hi, can you tell me where you guys took my boss and his lady?” Dark-Rose had never had to intimidate anyone before so this was the best she could do for now. “I don’t wanna do anything to you but I need to get them back. So please just tell me.” Zoe tried to speak sternly, but if anything, she was coming off as adorably nice. The assailant just kept groaning while trying to get his bearings and completely ignored the young heroine. Zoe hung her head in shame. This was not part of the job she had been anticipating.

The perpetrator’s radio began to make static noises indicating someone was trying to reach him but may be out of range.

Get out of here? The idea hadn't occurred to him. The villainous plot had already taken place, and most of the kidnappers had left.

There were a lot of unconscious people, including all of his own coworkers. He checked someone's pulse. Definitely alive. They seemed fine where they were. There wasn't any imminent danger for them.

The kidnapped victims, however, were potentially in a lot of danger. Pacific couldn't just leave two lives were at risk.

Pacific, huh? Just like that, it was like he had never stopped. It was his identity, no matter his outfit.

Dark-Rose was trying to interrogate the man Pacific had...oh my goodness. Had he really done that much damage. There was blood all over the man's face, and all over Pacific's hands. Still, the thug was not knocked out. In fact, he was sitting up now. This guy was tough. And he was ignoring Dark-Rose's questions.

The young girl looked embarrassed. She was clearly new at this. He had expected her to be a stone-cold killer, but right now she was reminding Lewis of Sarah.

He shook his head. He didn't know anything about this Dark-Rose. Associating her with his sister was not a good idea.

The radio started screaming with static. Pacific couldn't quite make out words. The thug was slowly bringing the radio to his ear when Pacific kicked him in the face. With the man flat on his back, Pacific took the radio for himself. No words, only rough static. This was a short-range radio. The other kidnappers were leaving its effective range. He was sure there was an important message here. He just needed to figure out what it was, but everything was so garbled.

"There's an app for that."

Lewis pulled out his smart phone. Technology was really a wonder, and working for a tech company had given him a different set of skills. He pulled up the Interceptor app. Three buttons later, he had a much stronger read on the radio waves being sent to the radio. The words were coming in loud and clear for Dark-Rose to hear.

Pacific threw Dark-Rose a salute. "Isn't technology wonderful? My phone and I are at your service. You can call me Pacific."

The helpful mister kicked Zoe’s suspect in the middle of her interrogation. Not like the questions she was asking were getting anywhere near fruitful for Dark-Rose anyway. But then when he said he had a phone application that could help, Zoe clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh thank you, thank you!” She could hear them now. The other individuals involved in the kidnapping were running down the driveway towards the woods off-road with the “target.” This was great, now Zoe could give chase.

This big guy was being so helpful. Maybe she could make him her sidekick. Like the guy in the chair. Every hero needed a guy in a chair to stay on the lookout and do techy stuff. But the cheeriness came to a halt when the radio chatter began to inquire where their missing party member was. Apparently there was a sniper watching both Zoe and Mr. Pacific interrogate the man and was planning to take them out any moment now.

Zoe’s eyes widened and she immediately grabbed her katana and unsheathed it just as the shot was fired! However the magic of the sacred blade was activated the moment it was unsheathed. Zoe’s focus intensified and her perception of all things within a 20 foot radius slowed to the point that she could watch the wings of a humming bird flap in slow motion. She could pin point the shortest hair in a lions mane, and within the spherical 20 feet of space she could move fast enough to break the sound barrier with a single hand movement. This ability came in handy for the bullet the sniper had fired was just about to reach Mr. Pacific but was deflected by a sword swing from Dark-Rose just before reaching him. To Mr. Pacific this sequence of events probably seemed so quick that it may have been perceived that Zoe had just taken a mock swing at him instead of saving him. But when the unmistakable sound of shattered glass as the bullet penetrated the window on it’s way in the room, then the sound of it clashing with her sword and clinking on the ground a moment later became clear to him, Mr. Pacific would know what she had done. As well as why immediately after taking the swing Dark-Rose assumed a kenjutsu pose and looked all around her obviously on-guard for the next bullet.

This is what Zoe had been training so hard for. This exact situation. But what she didn’t expect was how hard it would be to protect people and herself at the same time. She really needed to go rescue her boss before they took him too far. The radio transmission confirmed that the sniper had realized he missed the target and that he was going to try again soon. “So annoying, I really need to go!” Zoe said as temperamentally as any spoiled teenage girl who was denied their next immediate desire and puffed her cheeks out while frowning.

Assuming the danger had passed was a mistake. Pacific understood that now. Whoever these kidnappers were, they knew their target had employed someone special as a bodyguard. Like any good bodyguard, Dark-Rose would give chase. That made her a threat to them.

Before Pacific could react to the information about the sniper, Dark-Rose deflected an incoming bullet. Her speed was impressive. He would be dead right now if it wasn't for her.

Pacific didn't react, even as the deflected bullet bounced at his feet. He was thinking. The kidnappers needed to be stopped very, very soon. With his level of speed, he would never reach them in time. But the girl could. She couldn't afford to waste time protecting him right now. They both knew it.

"I need the phone," Pacific said. "I will knock out their communications. That should confuse them some. You need to rescue your boss."

The kidnappers had been referring each other by code names. The "leader" was Boss. The sniper was Scope. Pacific knew he would only get one chance at this. He pushed another button on his Interceptor app, allowing him to speak to all of the radios on this frequency and encryption. It was time for his best impersonation.

"This is Boss. Leave the targets and get out of there, Scope! A swat team is moving in. At least four moving to your location."

With his message complete, Pacific pushed another button, jamming the connection up with heavy static. The radios were useless now. The kidnappers wouldn't be able to communicate with each other unless they pulled out a personal (and traceable) cell phone. Of course, there was always the old-fashioned method of face-to-face conversation.

His life depended on this bluff. Whether Dark-Rose was still there or not, Pacific closed his eyes and spoke. "Go. Save the day. My one life is less important than the two victims. If I die for this, then it has been an honor to meet you, Dark-Rose."

Zoe was rather surprised at how quickly and efficiently this man was at thinking on his feet even after a near death experience. He clearly was not shy around danger and his cool reactions and usefulness were key factors in directing Zoe in the right direction. Maybe this is what being a pro-hero was like. She hugged Mr. Pacific briefly after he had given her enough justification to leave him. “Thank you for everything you have done for me, I won’t forget it. Before I go….” Zoe pointed towards the window the bullet came from. “If you rush to the old guest house outback, you may be able to catch the shooter.” Usually Zoe wouldn’t tell bystanders to get involved but it seemed Mr. Pacific could handle himself. The large plot of land had a main building which they were in and outside a sub-structure assumably for guests with a small upstairs unit and a window. A perfect spot to set up a sniper.

Dark-Rose took off in the direction of which the kidnappers had most likely fled to with her boss and his fiancé. Zoe’s magic katana in hand. She had normal foot speed overall for a fit girl her age but advanced speed within her domain in which her power worked. Still Dark-Rose ran as fast as she possibly could to try to catch up to them before they could get to a getaway vehicle of some sorts hopefully.

She hugged him.

Pacific froze.

He had not felt a gentle touch like this since before his sister Sarah died. It surprised him. Surely, he had done nothing to deserve this. Right? Could it be...he was deserving of love?

But it felt nice.

The hug only lasted a moment. Then she was gone, running off to catch the bad guys. Sarah never would have given up, and neither would Pacific. He couldn't let Dark-Rose fight alone. He had to find that sniper before he could target her. At the very least, he needed to keep the sniper's attention on him.

CRASH! Pacific jumped through the window. It wasn't too far of a drop. Only 12 feet or so. Broken glass cascaded around him as he turned the landing into a roll and jumped back to his feet. He was on the move. His feet were killing him. These were certainly not running shoes. But the pain didn't matter.

He was in the garden now. It was an absolute maze of trees, flowers, and statues. He took advantage of the taller bushes to hide his location, and kept moving closer to the guest house Dark-Rose had pointed to.

Even if he reached the sniper alive, he didn't have any weapons. This was going to be hard. He would probably die, but it didn't matter. For the first time in years, Mr. Pacific was alive!

Meanwhile, "Boss" was trying to figure out just what had happened. Someone had located their frequency and had imitated him, giving false information before somehow shutting down the frequency all together. Now their communicators were useless.

His two other comrades were just getting the targets secured in the back of the get away van. They were in a wooded part of the estate. You couldn't even see the mansion from here. There was no way that bodyguard girl could find them here.

Wait...that was her! He could see her running right at them through the trees. The good news was that they had a vehicle. The bad news was that she was right where they needed to drive to get off the estate.

Boss shrugged. That was just bad news for her. He got in the van's driver seat, made sure everyone else was already inside, and then floored the gas. The van was speeding right at the little girl. There were movies where samurais could chop up bullets with their swords, but he had never seen somebody deflect a full sized van!

Zoe ran through the forested area in the direction of her employer’s kidnappers. Finally Dark-Rose reached a clearing in the trees. She ran into the opening and looked around but saw nothing but the round milk-white moon looking down upon her. Although unable to see beyond what the moonlight touched in this clearing Zoe did hear the sudden start of an engine. Zoe turned her head as the blinding headlights of the getaway vehicle washed over her, which was only a few yards away, and hauled off in her direction. Zoe’s ancestors had worshipped the deer in Nara as spiritual entities - Of the three actions to take when caught in moving headlights Zoe hoped this next one would honor them.

As the headlights drew near Zoe knelt down and slowly unsheathed her sword. Only when the car was within a few feet of her did she completely draw the blade. Just moments before impact Zoe rolled to the side onto one knee and with an abnormally quick rotation her spinning sacred blade shredded both tires on the right side of the vehicle. Sparks flew as the metals of the katana and the vans rims interacted. Once the consecutive blows were delivered Zoe looked on at the damaged vehicle from her knelt position  - observing if they would somehow remedy the situation and continue to run or retaliate in some manner. Her family heirloom katana was raised in the air overhead and she was breathing sporadically. This situation was thrilling! This is what it was to be a hero?!

The sniper in the outhouse had been banging her radio frantically and whispering for orders and confirmations to no avail. She was covered in all black attire down to her face paint and night vision goggles. That’s when the sniper heard a crash and breaking glass! What was going on? Nothing was going to plan since that kid had blocked her shot with a samurai sword! She threw away the radio and returned to her scope too late to catch sight of Mr. Pacific. As Pacific moved under the cover of the garden foliage the sniper licked her lips and turned her weapon from left to right looking for source of the noise. The radio she had tossed rolled away from her but continued to make static noises by the back entrance to the guest house which had been left cracked open for a quick escape.

The getaway van swerved to the side as both right tires blew. Boss felt his head hit something as the vehicle went out of control. A second later, the van flipped sideways, rolling a few times before coming to a stop upside down.

Smoke and dust filled the air as Boss shook his head to catch his bearings. He turned the engine off. His seatbelt was holding him up, suspended above the roof of the vehicle. He unbuckled and curled his legs against the cracked windshield. The glass cracked as he struggled to stand.

"Guys?"

Everyone else seemed to be out. He stepped out to see the girl's katana reflecting in the moonlight. She was just kneeling there, waiting for Boss to catch his breath.

A fury built up inside him. She was just waiting for him to surrender. Well, he still had one trick up his sleeves. Boss approached her, getting a little faster with every step. In one hand, he held a pistol. In the other, he held a smooth looking canister. He pressed a button, and a small horn snapped into place at ninety degrees. It looked similar to a generic hand held fog horn now. But it was far more powerful. One word stretched across the canister, written in bright red: PING!



Pacific really wished that he had his PING! right now. The sonic weapon was great for stunning enemies, if not knocking them out immediately. Instead, he was now armed with a humble shovel found by the garden.

He needed to stay quiet. This would be easier than he had feared, since the sniper had left her radio blasting static. Still, Pacific removed his shoes before entering the guest house. His socks brushed silently against the floor as he moved. His lungs were on fire from all that running, but he was managing to keep his breathing under control. This was it, after all. It was life or death. He was lucky to still be alive.

He came into view of the sniper. They were facing the other direction. Pacific snuck forward silently to smack the sniper in the back of the head. Hopefully one hit from a steel shovel would knock them out. It was a simple plan, but simple was best right now. He was praying that she wouldn't turn around.

Zoe held firm as the man approached. He had a gun. But as he and everyone was aware by now bullets were of no consequence to her with her weapon in hand. This was the part where heroes intimidated their foe into giving up. Zoe took a deep breath and began talking as deeply as possible to sound intimidating. "Surrender now! Oh and uh give me the prisoners, no hostages, yeah uh. Just uh...STOP! Yeah, stop what you're doing. I don't wanna have to hurt you. More! Hurt... you...any more. Ehem." A sweat drop ran down Zoe's head as she butchered her commands and the man steadfast approached her still.

It seemed like intimidation had failed. And in Dark-Rose's haste to be intimidating she failed to take heed of the possible danger the Boss's new item could possess. Instead Zoe attempted to close the distance between them. She figured if she sliced his weapon out of his hand then maybe that would scare him down. If the PING device was fired however Zoe would drop to her knees and lose all sense of balance and direction.

Meanwhile, a flashback sequence played with each step Mr. Pacific took towards his target. The first being of a young bright-eyed skinny girl enlisting into the Navy. Then a flashback of her graduating Navy seals training top of her class and shaking hands with her trainer as only the 4th woman to do so in the world. The next flashback was a sequence of her training day after day and winning many ironman, and body building competitions. The next was of her joining a covert death squad unit to protect her country from threats abroad. The next flashback was of her entire unit being shot to death and revealing that she had betrayed them for money as she stood by with the terrorist organization and watched it happen. The final flashback was a sequence of the woman descending farther and farther into the paid mercenery lifestyle until finally the flashbacks stopped when Pacific crossed her trip wire. The string was tied to a bucket and when disturbed it simply caused a bucket to fall over that had been sitting on a counter to the right of the sniper. However the racket was enough of a tip off for the six foot six female to swiftly roll out of the way of the oncoming shovel swing. The sniper rolled to one knee and pulled out a jagged hunting knife. Mr. Pacific and the Ex-Navy seal stared at each other eye to eye now, silence befeel them as both of them registered that one of them would most likely never leave this room. It would also be clear to Mr. Pacific now that this woman was rather muscular even if it she had been a man of that stature, and with how swiftly she moved, she clearly had more skills than just sharp shooting. "You did good. Almost got the drop on me." The sniper raised her guard and positioned the knife forward in her striking hand. "Take that comfort with you." These would be her final words to Mr. Pacific before approaching him slowly. She was clearly looking for an opening to dodge another shovel swing attempt and dig her blade into the retired hero.

The girl lunged towards Boss, and the Ping unleashed it's furious blast of sound.

PING!!!

Boss grinned as the girl dropped to her knees. One hit from a PING was enough to subdue almost any opponent. Two was enough to cause lasting deafness. But Boss wanted Dark-Rose to hear his words. "I could make use of your skills. For all the trouble you've caused me, it's only fair." He pulled out a zip tie and walked behind her. "Your sense of morality is annoying, but that can be removed, with time. It's quite the painful process." He would try to grab both of her hands and tie them firmly together behind her back.



Of course the sniper would have something to protect their backside, Pacific thought as the bucket fell over. He had been so focused on his target that he hadn't been looking for traps. His shovel crashed into the wooden floor. She had dodged his attack. That speed would be a problem. Oh well. If it had to be a fair fight, Pacific still felt confident in his abilities.

That confidence faded as the woman stood up. Wow, she was big! Not just tall, but muscular as well. She was sizing him up, as well, and she was clearly not impressed.

What could he do? Run? He was barefoot, and she was obviously faster. Grab and throw the bucket? He would be dead before he reached it. The gun? Dead. Blind her with the flashlight on his cell phone. A stupid idea!

Pacific looked at how she held the dagger and realized he was going to die. With his gear, and with more recent practice, it could have been a different story. He had taken on villains with super powers and lived to tell about it. But right here, right now, with this shovel, Pacific was simply outclassed in every way.

The sniper knew she had the definite advantage. She complimented him, saying that he had been close. The compliment felt genuine, and in an odd way, he appreciated it.

She approached him. Her movements were slow and controlled. Pacific reacted to her, staying at a safe distance and keeping his shovel in a defensive position. To attack her would provide an opening. But there was only so long they could continue this dance. He was going to die, just like...

"Sarah," Pacific said. "Sarah was the name of my sister. She wanted to be like me, and she died fighting for what she believed was right. She wasn't strong enough to save the day. But Sarah never gave up, even when I did. I gave up being a hero. I got a job that made a lot of money, and I poured myself into it. So when she finally donned a costume, she went on her first patrol alone."

Tears were running down Pacific's face. "It's my fault. I should have been her mentor. I should have been there to protect her. But I made the wrong choice. I chose greed and safety, and I lost my sister. I am so unworthy to have been saved from your bullet. But Sarah always told me that it's never too late to do the right thing. So even though I've made terrible mistakes, I am choosing to use this extra time I've been given to do the right thing, and I want you to join me. Right now, there's a girl out there who has her heart set on becoming a hero. She hasn't made the mistakes that we have, yet. Please, give her the chance that Sarah never had. Please help me save her. You can be a hero again."

Pacific tossed his shovel aside and stood with his arms at rest. If she still wanted to kill him, then it would probably happen. But he was guessing she was ex-military. There had to be some part of her that remembered what it was like to be proud of herself. Some time before she had sold out, he was certain that she had thought of herself as a good person. If that good person could awaken, then it would change everything.