Super?

I'm Only Human Can't You See

Once again, Dave and Ollie are both waiting for me inside after Tate drops me off with a quick farewell and a smile that says Thank God we aren't dead. This is despite the fact that it is once again almost midnight. I myself am exhausted, because by now the adrenaline rush of Tate and I's near-miss has faded away. After being dropped off at the same abandoned parking lot by the creepy grey-themed teleporter known as Ghost, Tate drove me home. We stayed silent the whole ride home, but I knew we were both thinking about Sebastian's offer. It's hard to pass up because as always the dork's logic is undeniable: we're pretty much screwed and the only way we can get Dominic and Taylor back is if we get help. However, you can see why I might be hesitant about trusting Sebastian again. Maybe he is only working for Reggie purely because he's using him for resources and the such, but whatever his motivations are doesn't change the fact that he's also helped in my downfall. I don't trust Sebastian, but if he's willing to help me...
"You guys really didn't have to wait up for me," I murmur as they open the door and let me inside. Dave appears insulted.
"Dude, you went to a villain masquerade ball. Of course I'm going to wait up for you. I want to hear all about it. I'm sure you have quite a story." A mischievous grin plays across both of their faces. They look way too awake for this time of the day. Or night. "You look like hell, by the way," he informs me politely.
"Thanks, Dave." I meander over to the living room and flop down in their overstuffed brown armchair like all of the bones in my body have turned to liquid. The duo takes their seats across from me at the matching couch, watching me with expectant eyes.
"Did you see Ivory there?" Ollie asks impatiently after a moment of tense silence passes by.
"Oh, I saw him alright," I say with a bitter laugh. "He had three of his goons with him. Apparently Tate can conveniently phase through objects, which is pretty useful, because he got us into the room where they were talking. I had us cloaked and we listened to their conversation." I grind my teeth together when I recall the super-villain's ugly words.
"What'd he say? Did you find out Dominic's whereabouts?" Dave interjects, anxiously wringing his hands. I look at these two and I realize how invested they are in my problems. I've really dragged them along for the ride, I suppose. When you make the decision to host a reformed ex-villain, that happens.
"All he did was talk about Taylor like she was his personal prostitute," I snarl. "That was when I punched him." Instantly Dave and Ollie's faces transform into expressions of delight.
"No way!" Ollie squeals with a voice that sounds exactly like the stereotype he hates so much. Immediately his cheeks redden in embarrassment but he can't keep the grin off his face. I can't help but smile in return. He's infectious. These two are like my own personal cheerleaders.
"You punched the world's most renown super-villains and lived to tell the tale?" Dave's dark eyebrows practically disappear into his hairline. "How on earth did you get away with that?" My smile turns wry and my eyes narrow.
My voice laced with bitter irony, I say, "Oh, but that's the best part. Guess who showed up?" Dave glances at me expectantly. "Sebastian."
He immediately winces and says, "Ouch." Ollie's grin fades a few notches. "I mean, that was to be expected, though, right? The ball was thrown by Reggie."
"I guess. But get this- he offered to help me. After a guard stopped us from leaving, he dismissed the crowd and basically saved our butts. Then he said he was also trying to find out about Ivory and Dominic. He said that we should get 'help,' and he wants me to send him a recording of myself rallying all of the superheroes to help find Ivory. He's going to hack the TV channels and broadcast it everywhere like... like he did with Gia." My voice falters for a moment and I look down, remembering the awful scene playing in the television in Greg's apartment. Dave gives me a smile of comforting reassurance.
"Are you going to do it?" Ollie inquires. "I hate to say it- but maybe he's right. You're dealing with a freaking teleporter, May. How else are you going to find him?"
"I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. If I wouldn't have punched him and given myself away, I could've eavesdropped some more- could have learned some information that would help lead to finding Dominic and Taylor," I ramble, ignoring Ollie. I keep remembering Ivory's leering words as he spoke to the one-eyed man. She's proving rather difficult to adjust, but I think I'll be able to make some progress and she is a rather alluring dame. I picture Taylor, scared and alone with nobody for company but her captor- her perverted, villainous ex. It reminds me too much of that night in Chicago. I won't let him hurt her like that man hurt me.
"Maya. I would've punched him too," Dave is saying. Ollie nods enthusiastically. "He probably wouldn't have gone around discussing the whereabouts of his two prisoners anyway."
"How can I do this?" I bury my hands deep in my hair and gaze up at the ceiling, feeling the hopelessness of the task that I've taken up on my shoulders. "I want to- I need to- save them, but I don't know how."
"With help. You're a superhero now. You can call up some of your colleagues for a team-up now and then." Dave waits until I finally look at him. "How does that sound?"
"You gotta help me film this, though," I say with a sigh of defeat. Both of their faces light up with smiles.
:
"How do I look?" I adjust my hood further over my face and fidget awkwardly on top of the wooden stool they have me seated on. Dave is squinting into the screen of his phone hooked up on top of an old tripod. They have a black sheet draped over the wall behind me, held up by a solid border of duct tape.
"Like Fall Out Boy was playing when you came out of the womb," Ollie assures me from over the shoulder of his boyfriend. Dave rolls his eyes.
"You're so weird," I tell him, but there's a smile on my face nevertheless. Nerves twist at my insides like a little bundle of snakes writhing around. How do I manage to convince superheroes everywhere to help me? I'm literally nobody to them. So what if I saved a few people? They've saved more. I certainly don't deserve to be called Guardian Angel. I was a super-villain, for God's sake. I'm no angel.
"I take pride in that," he informs me solemnly. He glances down up at my hood and then down at my combat boots with a mischievous grin on his face. "You know what would look really cool?"
"I can't just grow wings, Ollie. We've gone over this before. I'm not going to be so literal with my nickname." He makes a pouty face but before he can protest, Dave clears his throat loudly. We both glance at him expectantly. His dark eyebrows are raised with impatience.
"Are we doing this thing?" Weirdly enough, he looks almost about as nervous as I do. I nod quickly. "Do you need Ollie to prompt you?" He gestures to the haphazard pile of notecards laying on the coffee table behind him. We've sort of taken over the living room.
"I think I got this," I breathe out. Chill out, Maya. This isn't high school speech class. No, it's not. It's worse.
"That's the spirit," Ollie says sarcastically. Dave promptly responds by punching him in the arm. "Ow."
Dave sobers and proceeds to hold up three fingers and say, "Recording in three... two... one..." His hand curls into a fist and he mouths the words: You're on. I take a deep breath and glance into the phone's camera lens. Remember, you're the Guardian Angel. You're fearless. Pretty much.
"Sorry to interrupt whatever channel you were watching, but for some of you this will probably be more entertaining than your next episode of Broken and Beautiful. In case you don't know who I am, and most likely you don't, I'm one of those superheroes. I'm called the Guardian Angel, but underneath I'm just an ordinary person like you. I binge-watch shows and eat way too much ice cream than is healthy, and just like you I need to ask for help sometimes.
What's this? A superhero needs a team-up once in a while? Yep. I may be new to this superhero gig, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize when I'm in over my head. This goes out to my fellow super-people, or anybody who has the courage to step up and help. What I'm asking of you isn't easy. It definitely isn't safe. But I can trust that you'll want to help do the right thing, because... you're all people. Just like me." I take a deep shaky breath and reach into my hoodie pocket, conjuring up a picture of Dominic's adorable freckled face, grinning from ear-to-ear. I pull it up and show it to the camera.
"This is Dominic Garcia. You've seen his face. Some of you probably can't even get his face out of your mind. If you're like me, then you have nightmares where you can still hear his screams. We all watched him die at the hands of an infamous super-villain named Eris. Then we watched her reveal something that should have stayed secret for a very very long time. She destroyed two lives at once: Taylor Garcia and Dominic Garcia were both victims that night. I'm here to tell you that we can still save both of them.
This is going to sound crazy. You probably won't believe me. But I don't have any other choice, because time is running out for them and-" my voice cracks and I feel an uncomfortable spike of hysteria rising up in my throat. Dave gives me a careful look, but I shake my head imperceptibly to dismiss his concern. "Dominic is still alive. And so is Taylor. But they won't be for long. After Dominic's death was faked by an illusionist called Gia O'Neill, or Diamond as you most likely know her, he was kidnapped by his own father. That's right- our very own Ivory. But, Angel, he died like a bajillion years ago, right? This is going to sound stupid. God. I can already tell how stupid this will sound before the words come out of my mouth. But I promise you I'm not as phony as the TV soap you were probably watching before I so rudely interrupted you. It goes like this- Ivory's been faking his death all this time, and I have the sufficient amount of evidence to prove it, if necessary. He's a teleporter. One of the best. We all know that. So why is it so hard to believe that he can just... disappear? Hm?" Ollie makes a circular hand gesture, code for get to the point.
"Less than a week ago, he also kidnapped his ex-lover, Taylor Garcia- or Crimson, if you want to get all code-namey. And nobody but me-" and a select few others "-knows they're both still alive. I need your help to track down a risen-from-the-grave teleporting villain, who has held captive two of the only people left in this world that I care about." Ollie makes a pouty face and sticks a finger to his heart like I hurt his feelings. I smother a grin, because that would just look disturbing when I'm talking to the camera about my friends being kidnapped. "If you see anybody that looks like this man-" I pull yet another fake image from my trusty hoodie pocket, this time of Ivory's smug figure, "do whatever's necessary to get information on him. Try not to get caught. If you find out anything about where my friends are being held, you can find me around the city at night. It sounds sketchy. Believe me, I know. But I wouldn't be here talking to you if the situation wasn't drastic. This is a six year-old boy we're talking about. And his mother, who- despite her faults- has saved this city's butt countless times over. Don't you think it's time you return the favor?"