Hero of the City

Chapter 9: The Missing Piece

Things had been...complicated since Tippy learned that the Silver Blur was wanted.

The public still had no idea that the police were looking for the superhero, because they wanted this case low profile. It would be easier to catch the Silver Blur that way. Little did they know that thanks to Duke, Tippy was always one step ahead of them.

He still enjoyed helping the citizens despite the dangers. Avoiding officers while he and Harl did their rounds of the city just added an extra thrill to the missions. Harl believed if they continued to do good things for the city, the police would realize the Silver Blur was still good and hadn't turned on the city, but Tippy knew this was wishful thinking. Police cars were still constantly seen patrolling the city, no matter how many good acts they did. Duke told him that Captain Bennett wanted the Silver Blur to be caught by the end of this week. It was now Saturday, so the officers were working harder than ever today.

That still wasn't enough to keep the Silver Blur off the streets.

Right now he was hiding in an alleyway as the Silver Blur. He just finished helping more citizens with Harl, but they had to split when they spotted a patrolling police car nearby. Tippy had ended up in this alleyway near the docks, catching his breath.

A faint sound of a voice reached his ears. At first he thought he was imagining things, but he heard it again. As he listened in closer, it struck him that the voice was calling out for help. Could it be coming from Harl? Had his sidekick been caught?

He grabbed his grappling hook and launched himself towards the hollering voice. Once he got a clear view, he realized that the voice came from the Guardian of the Oceans vessel. He swung up to the deck of the boat and saw Captain Facepatch standing near the edge. His hand was caught against a metal pole, bound tightly by thick metal cords.

Tippy did not know much about boats, but it seemed this was the cord attached to the anchor of the massive boat, and the pirate's hand was being crushed under its tight grip.

"Oh thank goodness you're here Silver Blur!" Captain Facepatch exclaimed. He leaned heavily against the pole. He seemed weak from being trapped and yelling for help. It would be awful enough to get trapped anywhere but on his own ship? It must've been terrible to be betrayed by the place that was supposed to give a pirate the most comfort.

Tippy ran over to him. "How can I help?"

Facepatch used his free hand to point at a button that was on a metal box. Tippy ran over and pressed the button. A loud mechanical sound followed, and then the cords around Facepatch's hand twisted and loosened. Facepatch slipped his hand out of the metal ropes and examined the state of his hand.

"Is it going to be ok?" Tippy asked, leaning in to get a closer look. "Do you need a doctor?"

Facepatch gingerly held his injured hand and winced in pain. "Well, the good news is, I won't need a hook for a hand. The bad news is, I bet it's broken. I'm actually surprised it looks this good, all things considered."

Now that Facepatch was safe, Tippy allowed himself to breathe. He nearly forgot to do that. "How long have you been stuck?"

Facepatch made a little chuckle. "I was preparing the ship so me and Cortez could set sail, but I made a rookie mistake by not paying attention to the machinery. But to answer your question, maybe an hour?" He caught his breath, "Thank you so much for saving me. It would've been a while until Cortez would have arrived."

"It's nothing. I'm sure I did what anyone would have in that situation."

Facepatch looked at him intensely with his one visible eye. "No seriously, I don't feel like saying thank you is enough to express my gratitude." His eye lit up with an idea. "Stay right there. I'll be right back!"