Chapter 1.1.41 — (Not) Superhero 101

Emmett barely slept at all Thursday night. Between everything that happened with Paragon and Amarque’s accident downtown, then talking with mom on the phone, and waiting for Lock to come home, Emmett was a mess.

Emmett heard his roommate finally come home around three in the morning, and Emmett must have fallen asleep shortly after—

Suddenly, daylight seared his eyelids.

Emmett rolled away from the light and grabbed his phone. The first thing he noticed was the alert saying that classes were canceled today due to the accident, and that it was already eleven o’clock.

Even though he was exhausted, Emmett forced himself to get up.

He had to get to the lab.

~

Emmett took the bus, which was emptier and slower than usual. Streets were closed down and several checkpoints were in effect downtown. Emmett couldn’t remember ever seeing the police out in force like this, and he even saw several unmarked cars that could only belong to the Division of Superhuman Affairs.

Whatever had happened with Amarque yesterday had the city spooked and on high alert.

~

Dr. Venture and Clara were waiting for Emmett when he walked into the hub of the mechanical wing, section 002. They had both been looking at wall monitors and turned to greet him.

Clara’s eyes were red. She looked tired, but Dr. Venture looked exhausted. Even though Venture perked up when Emmett arrived, his shoulders sagged.

“You guys didn’t get much sleep,” Emmett said, but Venture’s glare made him immediately regret the remark.

“Thank you for stating the obvious,” Venture replied.

Clara’s eyes said much the same thing.

Emmett cleared his throat awkwardly. “So, what happened yesterday?”

Venture turned back to the monitor on the wall. “At approximately 8:34 p.m., Amarque lost control of their powers. The event lasted almost three minutes. Thankfully, Paragon intervened before the warp could stabilize and reduce downtown Belport to rubble. Amarque is currently in a coma at an undisclosed location, most likely outside of Belport.”

Emmett watched as several of the wall monitors showed footage of the event—chunks of buildings crumbling and falling upward like a child turning a snow globe upside down.

It was different seeing it on a screen and it took Emmett a moment to process how he felt.

Seeing it from so far away, some of the rubble was as small as a pixel, but Emmett had been there. He’d run away from downtown. Those tiny bits on the screen were pebbles, bricks, chunks as big as cars, and whole floors of buildings.

Seeing it now, it just looked so… sterile, compared to the pandemonium of actually being there. It was mesmerizing and horrifying.

Emmett still couldn’t get over the fact that it had been the work of one super, accidental or otherwise. One person did that.

“Why did it happen?” Emmett asked, tearing himself away from the screen.

Both Venture and Clara regarded him, like they’d been studying him as he’d been studying the screen.

Venture replied, “That’s the big question: What happened to Amarque?”

Clara added, “All we know is what the Summit has shared through official channels.”

Venture crossed his arms. “There was nothing on his person or in his blood to suggest foul play. He’d been drinking, but his blood alcohol levels were nonexistent by the time he was scanned.”

Clara said, “There are poisons and toxins with short half-lives.”

“Then there’s no traces. No evidence.”

Emmett came over to the central table. “Where was he when it happened? What about cameras?”

Venture said, “He was at the Donjon Club. It’s an establishment that caters to supers. They don’t have cameras in the club, but the Cabal of Otanh have ways of keeping tabs on who comes and goes. Unfortunately, Amarque nearly destroyed the club, and the cabal had their hands full just keeping the plane from collapsing.”

Emmett raised an eyebrow. “The plane? Like a plane of reality?”

Clara rolled her eyes. “Each club is on a separate demiplane, tucked away outside our reality. The clubs are managed by the Cabal of Otanh, a collection of reality warpers, sorcerers, and illusionists. Emmett, try to keep up.”

“That sounds awesome.”

“It is,” Venture replied with a smirk.

“When do I get to go to the club?”

Venture’s face turned hard. “After we figure out why Amarque nearly destroyed it.”

Clara replied, “Please. The club is overrated and the Cabal of Otanh is a glorified fraternity.”

Emmett chuckled. “Sounds like someone’s bitter they didn’t get invited.”

Clara scoffed, but Venture spoke up. “We have several theories to work off of, but there’s still a lot that we don’t know.

“Theory one: Amarque lost control through some fault of their powers. If so, the threat is already contained, though there is a chance their condition might deteriorate.

“Theory two: Someone provoked Amarque. I doubt someone openly challenged him, especially in the middle of the Donjon Club. And I doubt he would purposefully retaliate in such a manner.

“Theory three: Amarque was compromised by a nefarious actor—whether through poison or mind control. This would be difficult, considering the safeguards of the club, his specific power set, and hundreds of witnesses, but isn’t outside the realm of possibility.”

Emmett listened intently until Venture was finished. “So theory two is out, and theory one doesn’t really matter… Are you guys considering number three, then?”

“Yes.”

Clara leaned against the center table. “But as Dad said, there’s no traces. No evidence.”

“So, what can we figure out?” Venture asked. He glanced at the two of them like an expectant teacher, and Emmett felt like he hadn’t missed class after all.

“Motive,” Emmett suggested. “We can figure out the motive, then that will help us narrow down suspects. But shouldn’t the Summit be investigating this?”

“They are,” Venture replied. “The Summit, the Cabal of Otanh, the DSA… and so will we. If someone did poison or mind control Amarque, then this is a major assault on Belport, the Summit, and a violation of the Code. What could’ve been the targets?”

The three of them proposed several targets, one after another: Amarque, the Summit, the Donjon Club, the city of Belport, or any potential attendee of the Club or downtown business.

Venture said, “I doubt the target was some other individual in the club or downtown. There are a multitude of easier ways to assassinate someone that don’t require manipulating one of the most powerful supers in the world. Even if a single business was the target, there are easier, less messy ways.”

Clara added, “But what if they were trying to assassinate another super?”

Venture rubbed his chin. “Possible, but my point still stands. There are easier ways to take out a fellow super.”

Emmett was taken aback at how carefree Venture spoke about assassinating supers—not just the ease with which he proposed the violence, but that it would be easy to take out a super. Emmett thought back to Venture’s lecture about the Code and felt like he understood the rules a little better.

Emmett said, “So then they were after Amarque, specifically, or the Summit, or the Donjon Club.”

“Or the city,” Clara said solemnly.

Emmett glanced at both of them expectantly, but Venture didn’t refute the idea. “You think it could be terrorism?”

Venture sighed. “We can’t rule out the possibility.”

“What about ‘it always comes back to money and power’?”

“Power,” Venture said simply. “That’s the end result of terrorism.”

Silence hung in the room and uncertainty hung on their faces.

Finally Emmett said, “We don’t have much to go on, do we?”

“No,” Venture replied. “We’ll have more when Amarque wakes up. I’ve asked the Summit to notify me when they have something else to go off of.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?”

Venture gestured to the wall monitors and information sprang up about Porcelain. Pictures, video highlights, and bulleted information covered the wall, reminding Emmett of a noir movie with a mystery tacked up on the wall or spread out haphazardly across the floor.

Despite the gravity of the day, Emmett couldn’t shake the strange appearance of Porcelain’s mask and bodysuit. It looked like they were investigating a missing department store mannequin.

Venture said, “We already have our own case to solve: Porcelain’s involvement in the Champion street attack.”

That brought Emmett back to the moment.

Emmett steeled himself. “If I’m going to be involved in this… I want to know what happened that night.”

Venture met his eyes, and for a moment, it felt like Venture was challenging him, but he nodded.

“That night, Porcelain and an unidentified villain were engaged with two members of Summit of Heroes. There’s been little information released and the rest of it’s been suppressed. The DSA has a gag order in place.”

A knot had already formed in Emmett’s stomach.

Attacks in the city were rare, but not unheard of. He knew now that was because of the Code. But for the Division of Superhuman Affairs to cover it up…

Venture continued and the words hit Emmett like a truck: “Your bus was hit by a member of the Summit.”

Emmett swallowed dryly. “What?”

The question slipped out, and Emmett didn’t know why he’d asked. He’d heard Venture perfectly. There was no mistaking what he’d said.

A hero had killed him—killed five people and injured dozens. And the DSA was covering it up.

“It was an accident,” Venture said, startling Emmett. “And that cape is being reprimanded.”

Clara turned in frustration, as if she’d already grilled her dad with the same questions and knew what his answers would be.

“Who was it?”

Venture replied, “I can’t say, because I honestly don’t know. By the time the Fast-Response Drone reached you, there were other supers present and I had to prioritize between getting involved and saving your life.”

Emmett nodded. His fists were clenched, knuckles white. “You know who else was present?”

Venture frowned, but the retired cape didn’t look sad… he looked disappointed. “I will not be telling you which supers were there.” The statement fell with the weight of a gavel.

“Why not?”

“So you could do what, exactly? So you could question them?”

“Well, yeah.”

Venture’s voice rose. “You think they would give you answers that they won’t give the public? You’re not a cape. You’re not one of them, Emmett.”

Emmett didn’t know what to say. He stammered and a dozen things tumbled out silently.

Clara spoke up, “Maybe so he could get answers and get some closure, Dad.” Disdain dripped from her voice, but Venture didn’t flinch.

“This is not a game,” Venture said, struggling to keep his voice even. “The incident downtown and on Champion street… We've found ourselves staring down problems too big to take chances with. This isn’t some introductory superhero 101 course.”

Venture sighed. “I know what it’s like to want answers… and I sincerely hope that we’ll get them in time. But not like this. Even if you manage to find answers, it’s not worth the chance of getting on the wrong side of the Summit. There are enough dangers without making enemies of them, too.”

Neither Emmett nor Clara said anything.

Emmett was still frustrated. He didn’t want to wait—he shouldn’t have to wait.

But that was the joke, right? How do superheroes spend 90% of their time? …Waiting for shit to happen.

Venture said quietly, “I’m not asking for you to trust the Summit or anyone else. I’m asking for you to trust me.”

Venture was looking at Clara when he said that last line. Again, Emmett felt that pang of realization that there was something deeper between father and daughter, but now he knew better than to expect answers anytime soon.

Emmett wasn’t just caught between the Summit of Heroes and some villains, or Porcelain, or anyone else. He was caught between Venture and Clara, too.

~ ~ ~