Michael stood and turned toward Cannon. “Thanks,” he said, trying to make his voice sound deeper. He rubbed the back of his neck, only to take his hand away and realize how much blood he was coated in.
“Are you hurt?” Torque asked, walking forward and placing a pair of large cuffs on Bloodwake.
The shark man returned to a humanoid form with the cuffs somehow shrinking to match his new body.
“Uh, no, this isn’t my blood,” Michael said, examining the gore covering his body.
“Good, then let me help you out with that.” he held up one of his massive gauntlets, and a blue beam went over Michael’s body, causing the blood and a few spots of sand to disappear from his costume like they had never been there.
“Wow, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said, walking over to The Red Seamstress.
Wonder Boy walked back from the massive wave. “That should be handled for now.”
“Good. We should have someone here to handle it soon,” Cannon responded.
Wonder Boy turned to Michael next, looking him up and down. Michael could have sworn he saw the beginning of a scowl on the man’s face before a forced smile appeared in its place.
“And you are?” Wonder Boy asked.
Shit, I need a name! Uh, warden, vortex? He groaned internally when the ability to change out his power quickly came to mind. Michael stared at the man through his mask, trying to hide his contempt. Again, trying to make his voice sound deeper, he answered. “Flux.”
“Uh-huh,” Wonder Boy said, a slight twitch in his eye.
“You new to this?” Cannon asked.
Michael nodded. “I saw the attack on the news and thought it would make for a good debut.”
Cannon laughed hardily. “You are a brave one. Good, we need more people like you in this line of work.“ He walked over to Wonder Boy and clapped him on the back. “Two promising rookies in less than a week, aren’t you lucky?”
Wonder Boy let out a forced laugh. “Yeah, what are the chances?”
“Another rookie?” The Red Seamstresses asked, walking over. “Thanks for the save,” she said, nodding to Michael.
“Don’t mention it.”
She gave him a warm smile. “Well, since you’re new, you’ve got to come do a post-battle interview with us.”
“Oh, thanks for the offer, but I don’t think—”
“Nonsense!” Cannon roared, placing his arm around Michael’s shoulder. “You’re coming with us. We’re giving you a proper debut.”
Torque and the Seamstress nod​​ded.
Michael let out a sigh. “Alright.”
“Great! Let’s go,” Cannon said, pulling him toward the exit to the beach.
Several hours later, Michael finally managed to get away. He flew high into the sky and let out a yell of celebration. He could not have asked for a better debut, and with any luck, he would be hearing from Raymond’s lackeys any day now.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

 
Wonder Boy walked into the bunker in a terrible mood. Not only had he shelled out a large amount of money to hire Bloodwake for that job, but that damn rookie had to swoop in and ruin the whole thing! He chewed on his fingernail. She’s getting far too close!
“Wonder! Woah, what’s wrong with you?”
“The Seamstress is still alive, Raymond. Thats what’s fucking wrong.”
“I know, that rookie screwed over your plan good, didn’t he?” Raymond said with a chuckle.
“What the hell could you find funny about this? She is going to expose us, Raymond! She is far too close already.”
Raymond walked over and put his arm around Wonder’s shoulder. “Calm down, here take a look at this,” he said, holding a phone out for them both to see.
The image of a man tied to a chair with a bag over his head played across the screen.
“And who is that?” Wonder asked.
“Did you know the Seamstress was married? I didn’t, but she won’t be for much longer if she doesn’t give up her search.”
A grin flashed across Wonder’s face.
“See, you were worrying over nothing.”
He nodded. “Yeah, thanks, Raymond.”
Raymond waved him off, walking back towards his throne. “So now that is settled, tell me about those new rookies.”
 

Days passed as Michael continued his routine of keeping a lookout during the day and returning to the building he had found unlocked to sleep each night. He had made the abandoned top floor into almost a mini-home for himself, buying a few small amenities like a camping mat, a sleeping bag, and a pillow. While it was nothing compared to after that fight, his suit would still get specks of blood and dirt now and then throughout his day. Leading him to buy a bottle of detergent, shampoo, and body wash. While he still didn’t have access to a washing machine or shower, he did the best he could in the bathroom sink.
He sighed, looking at his dwindling cash. How the hell do superheroes make a living? He wondered. He lay back on his camping mat and turned on the news again when a thought hit him. Maybe that other rookie, green whatever, knows. With nothing to lose from asking the man, he walked out onto the roof and took off toward the perch he had been kicked out of the other day. When he arrived, Green Eagle was nowhere to be seen. Michael surged and decided to drop down to a food vendor he had seen while flying over to see if the man was back after.
Michael landed back on the roof, but the man was still gone. He pulled a bag out of his backpack and sat down, turning on the news to see if he was engaged in a fight. He shrugged when he saw nothing on the local superhero coverage station and pulled a large chicken tender from the bag. He ate his meal, monitoring the phone to see if anything had changed.
When he was finished and there was still no news, he decided to fly around when something caught his eye. Walking over to get a better look, he clamped his hand over his mouth, and his eyes widened. A piece of torn Green fabric was sitting in the corner of the roof, surrounded by a few eagle feathers and a pool of dried blood.
Don’t tell me…
He reached out to pick up the piece of fabric when he suddenly stopped. A creak came from the roof access door, and he jumped from the roof, landing on a fire escape.
“Yeah, the body is in the van, ready for transport. I’ll take it to one of the houses we stabilized recently and deal with it as soon as the mess on the roof is cleaned up.”
Michael tried not to puke as he recognised the voice, and his fear was confirmed. The Green Eagle was dead, and Saw had arrived to clean up his body.
Shit. Michael searched for Saw’s van in a panic, eventually spotting it parked in a nearly empty parking lot behind the building. Confirming the man was still working on cleaning up the mess left behind, Michael rushed down the fire escape and ran to the van.
He constantly looked over his shoulder to confirm that no one was watching the vehicle, and when he was certain, he pulled on the back door but found it locked.
“Shit!” he cursed, looking back at the building to confirm Saw was not returning. “Ok, you got this,” He affirmed himself, walking to the driver’s side window, hardening his fist and smashing it. He unlocked the car and walked to the back again, pulling open the door.
A black body bag sat in the center of the chemical-filled van, with one last look over his shoulder, revealing the pale form of Green Eagle. Michael entered a numb state; he used to endure working with Saw, and finished unzipping the body bag. The corpse was in a terrible state. Cutts covered his entire body, his left arm and leg no longer attached, and his wings had been almost completely shredded. A jagged slash ran across his neck so deep that Michael could see the deadman’s spine.
Michael sighed. “I tried to warn you.” He placed his hand on the corpse, and a vision flashed into his mind.