Myke Phoenix 4: Night of the Superstorm

Epilogue

"A puppy?" Paul Phillips peered over the top of the Astor City Gazette comics section. "Let me think about that for a few months."

"The place just seems a little empty since Frick died," Dana said. Frick and Frack were the black-and-white cats that formed the rest of their blended family when they were first married. Frack lived until shortly after their 12th anniversary, and Frick had died at the ripe old cat age of 20, not long before the serial kisser became a problem in Astor City.

"Dogs are entirely different animals than cats," Paul said. "I'm not adverse to the idea, but give me some time to get used to it."

"OK," she said. "Oh, did you see this about a jailbreak?"

"I see someone hasn't been reading the Astor City Beacon," he said. "Pookie, Jennings and Sid all escaped somehow. They're still trying to figure out what happened. Dr. Skull had to be behind it; it was neat and clean and nobody got hurt."

"I see someone hasn't been telling me what happened at work," she reproached her journalist husband. "Don't you think I'd like to know when my hostage-takers break out of jail?"

"You have enough on your mind. And besides, Myke Phoenix will always protect you."

"You ain't immortal," came a voice from the ugly green vase on the bookshelf.

"Oh, thank you for your vote of confidence," Paul said. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, or do you know something I don't know?"

"I'm just saying don't get cocky, son," the vase said. "Always is a long time. And oh by the way, Quincy Quackenbos is getting out in a couple of weeks."

One of his oldest adversaries, the half-man-half-duck was finishing his second prison sentence, having not learned his lesson after Myke Phoenix ended his criminal behavior early in the superhero's career. Whether the lesson stuck the second time would be a matter of conjecture in the not-too-distant future.

"I think I'll worry about that when the time comes, if you don't mind," Paul said.

"I never mind," said the vase, and was silent for the rest of the morning.

"Do you want the comics section?" Paul asked his wife.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Next: Duck Man Walking