Tales of the Parodyverse

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Spaztic Chyld
Wed Dec 20, 2006 at 12:56:16 am EST
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The Reluctant Superhero - PART IX
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PART IX

Jacob was still watching the Cartoon channel when he heard a light knock on his door. Had it not been a commercial break, he probably wouldn’t have even gotten up to see who it was. But it was a commercial, and despite his indifference towards having company, Jacob decided to answer it anyway. He got up and was half way to the door when he heard some clicking and noticed the handle jiggling a little.

“That’s not good.” Jacob whispered as he began to back away from the door. He rounded the corner and started up the stairs when he heard the door creaking behind him, letting him know that whoever it was had just let themselves in. Not wanting to look back, Jacob did the only thing he could think of, head for a window. He rushed to his bedroom as he heard several people heading up the stairs behind him. Jacob closed the door and turned around only to have his nose pressed to the end of a snub-nose thirty-eight.

The room was dark and all he could make out was that the person behind the gun had gray hair. Jacob took a step away from the end of the barrel, praying that whoever it was wouldn’t shoot. Two men entered the room and one hit Jacob on the nape of the neck, hoping to knock him out. Jacob dropped to the ground with a cry of pain. One of the men tied Jacob’s hands and feet and blindfolded him, while the other began whispering something to the gray-haired man.

“Get him up,” came the command and Jacob felt the two men lift him off the ground. He felt them carrying him down the stairs and then stop at the door.

“Did you leave the door open?” He heard one of his assailants whisper to the other; then it was deftly quiet. He heard the third person with them, probably the gray-haired man slide past them and deeper into the house. They began to carry him out the door, but then stopped short when they heard a soft thud behind them. Jacob was dropped to the ground and he could see just a little under his blindfold.

One of the two men who were carrying him went into the house with his gun drawn and he heard the other draw a gun too. Suddenly, the lights in the whole house went out, plunging everything into darkness. Jacob was pulled up by the lone man and his feet were cut free.

The gunman stood back up and whispered in his ear, “Any smart moves and your dead, you got that?” Jacob nodded in acknowledgement and the two of them backed out of the house with Jacob being between the darkness within and the air of escape from behind. Half dragged down the walkway, Jacob was finally shoved into what felt like a van. As he heard the door shut, he heard another thump.

“Jacob?” came a familiar voice.

“Jayson? Is that you?”

“Yeah. We gotta hurry,” he said as he ripped the blindfold off of his friend. “Don’t know how many more might be nearby.” Jayson cut Jacob’s hands free and motioned for him to follow. The two were in the alley behind his house and more than anything, Jacob wanted to fly.

“What the hell’s going on Jayson?” he whispered loudly.

“Shh!” Holding a finger up to his lips. “I only maimed one and knocked the other to the ground.” Jacob noticed he was bleeding.

“You okay?”

“The one I knocked down had a knife.” He put his hand over the cut. “My car’s just around the corner.” He pointed down to the south end of the block. “If we run, we might make it.” Looking back at Jacob’s scared face, he decided to brief him so he would have his head about him when they made their run.

“Okay, the short of it is: you’re not safe anymore. They know you know me and that they can get to me through you. I was trailing one of the cronies who came here tonight. Once I realized where here was, I slid in behind them and waited ta help ya out.” He could see that Jacob was taking it in. “So, now we’ve got to make a run for my car. You got that?”

Just then, Jacob heard a bullet whiz by his head and as soon as he heard the pop that followed, he did exactly what he’d been thinking of doing since he was freed. Without a second thought, Jacob dove at Jayson’s waist and held on tight as he flew faster and higher than he’d ever flown before, carrying his friend with him. Within seconds they had flown from the Lake City district to Gasworks Park, where Jacob landed with ease. When he set Jayson down, a sonic boom caught up with them. Jayson’s eyes were huge. “You okay Jayson?” he asked.

“I… I saw a bullet ricochet off of thin air when we were taking off.” Jayson was holding his head just above his right eye, feeling for a possible scratch. “It would have hit me right here.” Jayson had seen a lot of things in his career, but this was bigger than he’d ever guessed. Suddenly, Jayson realized where they were. “Holy crow! We just flew five and a half miles in about three or four seconds!”

“Yeah, who woulda thought I had it in me?” Jacob kidded. “Are you all right? That cut looks pretty bad.”

Jayson looked down at his arm and held it tight. “Do you know the motel near Home Depot on Aurora Ave?”

“I know where Home Depot is.”

“That’s a start. Now, get me there and I can get this fixed up.”

* * *

A half hour later, Jayson had his whole motel room cleared out and clean of any prints. “I don’t know if they got a look at me, but if by chance they found my car they might know where I’m staying.” Jayson rubbed the doorknob thoroughly as he backed out and closed the door. He turned to Jacob who was by now over the shock of the situation and now reasoning things out in his mind. “If you’re worried about your folks, don’t be.”

“Don’t be worried about my parents?!!” Jacob exploded. “Did you not just see those guys try to kidnap me to get to you?! If they knew where I was, what makes you think my parents are any safer? They’ll just use them to get to me in order to get to you!” Jacob was venting his fears, but Jayson was prepared for this.

“Don’t worry,” he said in his calmest voice he could muster. “When I saw where we were, I called Intel and they have things under control.” Jacob started to look a little relieved. “By now your folks are in protective custody.”

“And what about me?” Jacob asked, running his hands through his hair like he always did when he was scared or stressed.

“From what I saw, you don’t need much protection.”

Jacob turned away from him and looked down at the ground. “They’re not who I’m afraid of Jayson.” He turned with fear in his eyes. “What is the government going to do with someone like me? Am I going to be a lab experiment the rest of my life? What are my parents going to think when they find out their kid’s a freak? What’s going to happen to me?”

“You’re gonna be all right Bro.” Jayson slipped a hand over his shoulder. “I’ve got… people who owe me favors. I’ll pull a few in and you’ll be all right. You’re not gonna be no lab experiment if I have anything to say about it.”

“But what if your ‘people’ aren’t high enough to protect me?”

“Oh, they are… trust me… they are.”

Jacob looked Jayson eye to eye. Either he was truly convinced of the power of his connections or Jayson had finally learned to lie to him. At this point, however, he had no other choice but to believe in his friend. “Okay. Where do we go from here?”

Jayson pulled out a small radio from one pocket and a small code receiver like the ones they used at Philips Medical Systems in their IT room from another pocket. He punched the code into the radio and then spoke slow and clear, “Rooster, the Golden Goose has laid its egg.”

There was static and then, “Good to hear you boy.” Jacob knew that voice, it was Jayson’s father. “We got the Turners. Is Jacob safe?” Jacob let out a sigh of relief on hearing that news.

“Yeah, he’s right here. Can we get an ETA?”

“We got your signal locked on. We should be there in about five minutes. Hold tight son.”

“Will do.” Jayson turned off the radio and looked at a very relieved Jacob. “What’d I tell ya! Don’t worry Bro.”





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