The pair finish their meal and sit back contentedly. Arc rubs his armor’s midsection.
The pair finish their meal and sit back contentedly. Arc rubs his armor’s midsection.
“That was some good pizza!”
“I’ll say! Why can’t you make pizza that good, Arc?”
He stands up with his empty plate and walks toward an end table near the buffet. “Roberto makes pizza using his family’s secret recipe. It took generations to perfect.”
Ember joins him. “And your own recipe?”
“My mother came up with it. I’m still working on tweaking it, of course. But at the rate I’m going it may have to fall to the next generation to finish.”
“So maybe Dinky will perfect it?”
Arc grins. “That would make me very…”
There is a knock at the door. Arc reaches toward the table and pulls his helmet to his hand with a Telekinesis Spell.
“Sounds like they’re here.”
Ember grabs her helmet with a spell of her own, sighing angrily. “Great. Let’s get this over with.”
Arc walks slowly toward the door. “That’s the spirit, I suppose.”
“You looking forward to this?”
“No.”
“Neither am I.”
Arc opens the door. Minerva and a cameraman wait outside expectantly. Arc steps aside to allow them to enter. Minerva looks over her shoulder nervously as Arc closes the door
“I’m pretty sure we weren’t followed.”
Ember sounds confused. “Why would you be?”
“Rival news stations mostly. Anyone else approach you wanting an interview?!”
“Um… no.”
Ember chuckles. “They’re probably too afraid to ask.”
Arc shrugs. “I can’t imagine why.”
Minerva looks Arc up and down before rolling her eyes. “Me either.”
Arc gestures for Minerva and her cameraman to follow him to the table. “There’s a bit of pizza left if you two want some.”
Minerva sits down at the cleared table. “No, thank you.”
Her cameraman reaches for the pan. Minerva does not look over to him as she pulls a notebook out of her purse.
“And my associate doesn’t want any either.”
The cameraman sighs and quickly gets back to work. He sets a microphone in the center of the table before getting into position. As Minerva looks to him, he gives her a nod as she turns to Arc.
“I’m here with Angel Grove’s very own Hero of Light and his partner in an undisclosed but secure location.”
Arc and Ember nods silently. Minerva turns to the pair.
“Sir, would you please introduce you and your companion?”
“I am known simply as the Hero of Light, or just Hero, Miss Minerva. And my partner here is Dragon.”
Minerva looks to Ember. “Quite the name, young lady.”
“Believe me, it suits me quite well.”
“Yes, well… can you tell our viewers about yourself?”
Arc shrugs. “I’m really no one of importance. Just an average guy, really.”
“Your heroics would suggest otherwise.”
“When people need help you can’t just stand idly by. Not when it’s within your power to help them.”
“Are you saying our viewers are in danger?”
Arc shakes his head. “No more than anyone else, Miss Moore. You could be in a car accident driving back to your office. I might find an opponent who takes me down. War, pestilence, fire, flood… they’re still fairly commonplace in the world.”
“Perhaps. Did you come to our world to abolish such things?”
Ember sounds confused. “Come to?”
Minerva nods. “The general consensus is that you two are extraterrestrials from a world far away. Is that true?”
Arc shakes his head. “I’m as human as you are.”
“We’ve all seen your… abilities. During our previous interview you and your companion vanished into thin air! I don’t believe our viewers will believe you’re merely human after such a display.”
“Yet it is the truth.”
“Is it perhaps your armor that gives you such power?”
“No, it’s just armor. My powers and strength come from within.”
“I see. And where did you acquire such power?”
“In a faraway land, a very powerful being granted me my special… abilities in return for doing him a great favor.”
“And where was this land? In deep space?”
Ember looks out the window. “Something like that.”
Minerva turns to Ember. “And you, miss? Do you also have these abilities?”
Ember holds up a fireball in her palm. “That I do.”
Minerva appears slightly shaken at the display. “And… and where did you…?”
She crushes the flames between the fingers of her gauntlets. “Unlike Hero, I was born with them.”
“So you ARE from another world?!”
Ember nods. “I am, yes.”
“Why are you here?”
Ember looks to Arc. “To follow my friend the Hero. We have seen much in our time together.”
Arc nods. “In this land and several others.”
“Traveling the cosmos?”
Arc shakes his head. “Nothing quite so grand. Just this world and Dragon’s.”
Ember frowns. “Is it really so hard for you to believe that we’re just trying to help?!”
Minerva nods. “It is.”
“Believe us or not, it’s the truth.”
Minerva thinks for a moment. “Perhaps we should change the subject. How long have you two dwelled among us?”
Arc chuckles. “I was born here.”
Ember shrugs. “Several months for me.”
“Are there others?”
Arc nods. “We brought a few from the land Dragon came from. Don’t worry, as they’re here to help us protect the innocent.”
“Are they like you two?”
“They are similar in form, yes.”
“Do they have your powers?”
Ember shakes her head. “No.”
“Right. They have much more… useful skills.”
Minerva appears intrigued. “Which are…?”
“The powers of observation and perception.”
“I don’t quite follow.”
Ember clears her throat. “Their job is to research and learn. They help point us in the right direction.”
“Did they point you to your most recent heroic act of challenging The Riders?”
Arc shakes his head. “Truthfully, that was a fluke.”
“A… fluke?”
“I was actually just passing by at the time.”
Ember chuckles. “I suppose it was fortunate that he did, as a certain reporter needed to be rescued.”
“Indeed. How exactly did you do that?”
Arc appears confused. “I don’t understand the question.”
“I clearly saw you some distance away. The next thing I knew you were pulling me away from danger.”
“It was due to one of the abilities I acquired in the faraway land I mentioned.”
“Certainly. But how does it work?”
Arc Blinks himself and his chair next to Minerva.
“Even I don’t understand that, Miss Moore.”
Ember Blinks to the other side of Minerva.
“It’s just something we can do.”
Minerva looks at them confused as the pair Blink themselves back to where they were. “You don’t understand how your own power works? That sounds a bit dangerous.”
Arc looks steadily to Minerva. “Do you understand how your vehicle works?”
“My vehicle?”
“The van that brought you here. I’m asking if you understand how your engine works.”
“I don’t, no.”
“But you do know it will bring you where you want to go safely. And I know that my own power will do as I tell it.”
Ember nods. “We know what we’re doing.”
“If your activities in the past have shown anything, that much is certain. However I’m sure you know there are others who don’t share that opinion.”
Arc nods. “Understandable.”
“Tell me, how would you respond to such accusations of thoughtless vigilantism?”
Ember growls. “From Guy Smiley?!”
“Yes. He’s been quite vocal lately regarding your actions.”
Arc puts a hand on Ember’s shoulder. “Guy Smiley, and anyone else for that matter, is free to think and say whatever they want about me. But that’s not going to change my mind about what I’m doing.”
“Which is…?”
“I have the power to help others. To make the world a better place. And that’s exactly what I plan to do. If Guy Smiley thinks he can do a better job, he’s welcome to try.”
Minerva looks to the camera. “This has been Minerva Moore reporting for Channel 7 news.”
She nods and the cameraman pushes a button before lowering his camera. Minerva turns to Arc.
“Thank you very much! I’m sure my editor can be convinced of your intentions with a little persuasion.”
Ember sighs. “He doesn’t like us?”
“That is correct. He, like many others, are afraid of you two.”
Arc shrugs. “I don’t blame him. But might I ask you a question, Miss Moore?”
“Certainly.”
“How did you know about the trouble at the pizzeria?”
“I received an anonymous tip that something big was about to go down.”
Ember’s eyes grow wide. “Who told you THAT?!”
“Sadly, I don’t know. But they were right about the apartment fire, so I followed their directions.”
Arc frowns. “You knew about the fire before it happened?!”
“Oh no! I was only told something big was going to happen there. Unfortunately I ignored the call and arrived too late to get the best of that story.”
Ember sighs. “So you were just going where someone told you to?!”
“Yes.”
Arc nods. “I see. In any case I upheld my end of the deal, Miss Moore. Now it’s time for you to keep your end of the bargain.”
“Of course.”
Minerva reaches into her purse and pulls out a flash drive. She hands it to Arc.
“That’s a copy of everything I have on the Shards and The Riders.”
Ember looks at Minerva angrily. “What gives?! I thought we were getting a bunch of info!”
“This holds data, Dragon. There should be quite a few pages held within this small device.”
Minerva nods. “That there is.”
“How do we know she’s telling the truth?”
Arc stores the flash drive safely in his ring. “I suppose we won’t until I put this in the computer back at our base.”
Minerva chuckles. “Don’t worry. I’m not so foolish as to double-cross two beings with unimaginable power. It would be detrimental to my health and bad for business.”
Ember looks confused. “Business?”
“It’s my job to seek out and report on whatever I find. If I help you, you’ll help me and my career.”
“You’re not interested in helping others?”
“Of course I am! But if I can get a bit of a boost over the competition in the process, all the better!”
Ember stands quickly. “Why you…!”
Arc grabs Ember’s arm. “Everyone is motivated by different things, Dragon. Are those from your own homeland really so different?”
Ember turns away from Minerva. “Hmph!”
Arc extends a hand. “In any case, thank you for this information. I’ll use it well.”
Minerva takes Arc’s gauntlet and gives it a firm shake. “Yes. You just do what you do, and I’ll do what I do.”
She hands him a business card.
“Do call me if you need anything else. I’m sure we could work something out.”
Ember growls. “Yes, I’m sure we could.”
Arc accepts the card. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to start going through the information you gave us.”
Ember nods as she moves to stand next to Arc. “Yes. The Rider’s base won’t find itself.”
Minerva looks up at him, surprised. “Wait a moment! You mean you haven’t figured out where they are?”
“Not yet, no.”
Ember rolls her eyes. “That’s what we wanted to find out from your information!”
Minerva nods. “Oh, it’s in there. But why don’t I save you a little time?”
She pulls out her notepad and writes something before tearing the paper out and handing it to Arc.
“Here. This is where their base is.”
Ember looks at the paper. “Uh… what is that?”
“An address.”
“Um… what?”
“I’ll explain it to you later, Dragon.”
Arc turns to Minerva.
“I had my friends scour the Internet, but they couldn’t find this information. How did you…?”
“Research is something every good journalist learns how to do VERY well.”
“Well then… I thank you for this. Farewell for now.”
Putting an arm around Ember, he Blinks. Minerva heads back to her van with the cameraman. She smiles to herself.
“That Hero… I do wonder what really motivates him. No one does so much without wanting SOMETHING in return.”
She rubs her chin for a moment.
“And I’m going to figure out what that is.”
Meanwhile, Arc and Ember reappear behind the pizzeria. Arc recalls his armor.
“That went well.”
Ember turns to him as her own armor fades. “What part of that went well?!”
Arc pats his magic ring. “The part where I got what I wanted.”
Ember rolls her eyes as the pair walk around the building and head for the Jeep. “I wish there was a better way to do that.”
Arc nods as they get into the vehicle. “Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have at hand.”
Ember watches Minerva and her cameraman drive away. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it!”
“Fine. But just remember that without her information we’d still be stuck.”
They wait for the news van to be out of sight before pulling out of the parking lot themselves. Proceeding back to Arc’s house they pull into the garage and get out. Ember turns to him as they walk into the house.
“How DO you think Minerva knew about the trouble at the pizzeria?”
“I believe her when she says someone tipped her off.”
“Great. But who?!”
Arc shrugs as they head down the basement steps. “I think we need to talk to the guys about this.”
His squad is looking over papers. Viktor walks over to him.
“How did it go, sir?!”
Xenos looks hopeful. “Find out anything over lunch?”
Arc nods. “Yes. Minerva gave me this.”
He reaches for his ring and pulls out the flash drive. Max eyes is curiously.
“What is that?”
Hugh looks to Max. “No idea.”
Ember shrugs. “Somehow there’s papers in that little thing.”
Viktor takes the device and looks it over. “I think this end would fit into one of the slots on the computer. Shall I try, sir?”
Arc nods. “Yup. Let me show you.”
He sits down at the computer as Viktor puts the flash drive in the slot. A dialogue box pops up.
“From here we can view the files… like so.”
A window opens with a large number of folder in it. They are each meticulously dated. Viktor looks over Arc’s shoulder.
“This is really something, sir!”
Max looks at the flash drive. “All these files are in that little box?!”
Arc nods as he stands up and trades places with Viktor. “Like I told you guys before, humans like to make things small.”
Ember shrugs. “Yeah, well… Arc has something much more important to ask you guys.”
Xenos looks confused. “Sir?”
“Yes. Minerva told me over lunch that someone tipped her off about the trouble at the pizzeria the other day. I’m sure I already know the answer to this, but none of you have been calling this stuff in, have you?”
Viktor looks over his screen. “No sir.”
Hugh shakes his head. “Not I.”
Xenos shrugs. “I didn’t.”
Max looks over the screen with Viktor. “Nor did I, sir.”
Ember frowns. “How would we have known anyways, Arc? You weren’t wearing your armor, so your cameras wouldn’t have been active.”
Arc shrugs. “Well, I just figured I’d ask.”
Sereb comes downstairs. “That does not clear up the question on how the young woman knew.”
Ember frowns. “Sereb, did you…?”
“No.”
“Well, I can only hope when Ember and I storm The Rider’s little base…”
Ember interrupts him. “And when exactly are we going to do that?!”
Arc heads toward the stairs. “Later this evening.”