No Heroes Here

Part Three: God Help Them

Part Three:   God Help Them

It was full-on midnight when the band of weary acquaintances reached the last known almost-official maximum security prison left standing in the entire Midwest. The solid grey fortress was cold and imposing but was lit up against the black sky with powerful flood lights powered by make-shift hydraulic turbines. Men with guns guarded the entrance way but they let Warren and his group pass without saying a word.

“Even surrounded by chaos, we’ve managed to round up a handful of what we consider to be the most dangerous criminals and psychotics left alive in the states and have them incarcerated here. With your help maybe we can put even more of the worst natured citizens behind bars here and the streets will slowly become safe enough to rebuild on.”

Blast let out a slow whistle. “Dismal. I bet she really hates it here.”

“You have no idea, kid,” Warren answered, unlocking a large triple dead bolted door that opened up into a complex looking section of hallways. “Raph, why don’t you take 2-Ton and Blast down to the barracks area and get them suited up. A.J. and I will handle talking to Victoria.”

The three men not tasked with confronting Victoria thankfully scurried down the hallway like rats fleeing a sinking ship. A.J. didn’t protest his own assignment but he did say, “you’re not getting me to wear one of those comic book getups. Ever.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it son. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Warren put a hand on A.J.’s shoulder and led him in the direction of the most heavily guarded cells. “She’s already in an interrogation room, waiting for us.”

When they were still a few feet from the room, a hearty female laugh filled the hallway, it echoed off the walls and spilled across the floor like a heavy syrup. They opened the door to find a slender woman in blue scrub pants and a white t-shirt shackled to a heavy metal table that had been bolted to floor. Her head was down and long golden blond hair covered her face entirely. The laughter continued, speeding up to a maniacal fever pitch. Warren and A.J. entered the room. When the door slammed behind them the woman looked up and the laughter stopped suddenly leaving the room abruptly silent. There wasn’t even a trace of a smile on her lips, as if that hadn’t been her laughing just then at all.

“Hey there Jinks. Long time.” A.J. spoke softly and looked right into her chilling blue eyes. He knew better than to look away, to show weakness right now could be the death of them all.

To his surprise her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes brightened. She straightened up and answered brightly, “Why hello there A.J. it has been a long time hasn’t it?” She took her one free hand and touched her shirt. The material shifted and transformed into a low cut red halter top before their eyes. Her lips became a shimmering red, as if she had just tasted a juicy berry. A.J. quickly looked away from the smooth mounds of flesh popping over the top of her outfit. He had forgotten how well she knew his type.

The two of them had spent a lot of lonely nights playing cards in the game room when everyone else at St. Helen’s had gone to sleep. The drugs they were continuously fed made it difficult for them to sleep. They were friends for a time, or at least as close as they could get to being friends. A.J. supposed the friendship had to be a little one-sided since Victoria was a sociopath; a person who lacked the human feelings of apathy, remorse or love. She always had some self-serving scheme going on with the orderlies or doctors, some small way to buck the system in her favor to just to have a little fun. That’s why they had started calling her Jinks, short for hijinks.  

Her plots got more complicated and more than a little deadly once she discovered that the medication had given her the power to control the physical properties of any object she touched. She could turn one dollar bills into hundreds, change her appearance to match anything she wanted, or even heat the locks on the doors until they melted. She was the first who had been able to escape back then and when she did she left a bloody trail of body parts in her wake.

            “What’s he doing here,” Jinks pouted, nodding her head in Warren’s direction. “He’s the one who locked me up here. I don’t like him very much.”

            “Well you’re about to like him a whole lot more, he’s got an idea and if we go along with it then maybe you get to get out of here.”

            Jinks eyes widened. She raised her voice a few octaves and rushed her speech with mock excitement. “You mean you’re going to unlock my cage and let me out to pet puppies and walk little old ladies across the street? Yippy-skippy! Where’s the key?”

            “You know something already?” A.J. raised one eyebrow and looked at Warren for answers. Warren looked just as shocked as A.J. felt though, no answers there.

            “Of course darling,” Jinks said, dropping the fan-girl squeal. “There are very few secrets kept from me here. Lost, lonely little guard boys abound.” She laughed, just a small chuckle, but then stopped and gave them the same cold stare she had worn before.

            “We’re wasting our time. She doesn’t want to help anyone but herself.” A.J. started to leave the room but stopped when he saw the incredulous look on Warren’s face. Not convinced he wanted to see what it was, he turned to face Jinks again.

            She was standing against the wall, covered from head to toe in a yellow and pink suit made to look like a rubbery second skin. Her face was shrouded by a mask of crisscrossed yellow and pink over her eyes but you could still make out the sexy hint of defiance lingering there. She was also no longer handcuffed to the table and Warren realized with a sickening feeling that they had never been her captors to begin with.

            “I didn’t say I wasn’t coming with,” Jinks said. “Is this how you envisioned me Warren? Did I get it right?”

Right down to the pink spike high heels, Warren shivered at the sight of her but wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement. His plan was going to work, really work.

 “Where are the rest of my boys? It’s time to go out and play,” she said and slinked out of the room. The men watched her hips sway as she glided down the dark hallway like a feline.

            “I think we’re going to be sorry for this,” Warren admitted.

            “At least once a day,” A.J. said with a smile.

            They followed her through the hallways which she seemed to know like the back of her hand all the way to the barracks area where the rest of the group waited. 2-Ton sat on a cot, looking grumpy about his tight new wardrobe. His outfit was blue and yellow and kind of made him look like a Mexican wrestler. His eyes came to life when he saw Jinks though, and whose wouldn’t?

            “Hot damn in high heels,” Blast touted, stepping out from the shadows in a glowing garment of black and electric blue. “Let’s go waste some baddies!” He clapped his hands and smiled.

            Jinks pulled a metal chair noisily across the room and seated herself at a long rectangular table. As she pulled the chair across the floor it started to change into a plush leather executive’s seat. The table turned from metal into dark cherry wood as she drummed her fingers on it. Everyone sat down and Warren began to go over his master plan to turn them from meandering science experiment rejects into national heroes. The presentation included sketches and diagrams which Warren pointed to with a long stick as his voice bombed.

            A.J. looked across the table at Blast etching his name into the table with the sparks emitting from his fingertips, at 2-Ton picking at his suit trying to stretch it out a bit in places and at Jinks, who stared hungrily back at him. Who could guess what could possibly be going through her demented mind at the moment he wondered. He closed his eyes and took out a metal flask from his leather jacket. He gulped the warm whiskey he had been keeping there for just such an occasion. “If we’re the hope of the nation, then God help them all.”

(The End)

Note: Thank you for reading! This was a short story written for a contest called "Sci-Fi Smackdown."

Due to reader interest I will be doing a series with these characters so look out for more No Heroes Stories in the future! If you have ideas, or wishlists you want to see explored let me know!