Waiting for a Miracle

Chapter 14

Leaping from the side of a building to rebound from my attack, Wallace hit me right on target on the point of my chin. While I rocked my head back, he swept his hand to swat the ‘detonator’ of my fake bomb out of my grasp.

Before I could recover, he punched me in my chest and sent me hurtling to the ground, where the crowd of onlookers parted like the Red Seas.

I hit the sidewalk hard enough to shake the ground under our audience, and I resisted the urge to smile as they applauded Wallace. Standing up, I growled evilly instead, playing my role as the ‘heel’ to the fullest.

“Oh, do shut up!” I said, again fighting back a grin as they booed and hissed at me.

You may wonder why it would matter, since I wore a mask. Well, actually, I stopped wearing my suit and had resorted to using a stealth collar. Instead of my usual costume, I wore a white body suit with the initials LM stenciled in the middle of my chest in black. This made me a contrasting opposite to Wallace, still sporting his usual black slacks and sweatshirt painted with a white W. We were flip-flopping values on the color chart, turning white into an evil color, while black...was the new black.

There was no point to wearing a mask when my face was showing up in more tabloids. But far from being thought of as a menace, people were really starting to like me. With my plots all being foiled, people weren’t as afraid of me. I’d become more and more like a character in a wrestling federation. People booed me, but they didn’t consider me a threat as long as Wallace was around.

I looked up at Wallace, who was waving to his adoring fans. “Don’t worry, folks!” he shouted. “I’ll get rid of the bomb with my heat vision!”

He glared at the bomb strapped to the wall of the city’s first national bank. The device was nothing more than a piñata filled with powdered magnesium to make a brilliant white and yellow burst of flame once Leona triggered it by remote control from several blocks away.

Sure it was cheesy, but the audience still oohed and ahed over it just as they had every time we did this stunt. They were easily amused, and we gave them a show like this every day in various parts of the city.

I shook with rage over my defeat, leaping at Wallace for the grand finale of our fight before I would make my escape to a chorus of booing and hissing.

Instead I froze in mid-air. Standing at back of the crowd was Vicky, who wore an amused smirk as our eyes met.

She knew I was faking this, and she was enjoying the moment just as much as everyone else was. She gave a short nod, and I turned to look for Wallace right as he dropped an elbow to the back of my neck.

That was planned, but I hadn’t been ready for it, so it took me by surprise. I slammed into the pavement just in front of Vicky, standing up a little too quickly for the crowd’s liking as I tried to recover my dignity.

I flew back up at Wallace and hit him with a clothesline, which was our cue for a change in plan. He went with me, allowing me to push him through a plate glass window and into an empty office. As soon as we landed, he was ready to talk.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Too cheesy?”

“Normally, I’d say we’re spreading the Cheez Whiz a bit thick, but this plan needs to end now. I just found Vicky.”

“Ah,” Wallace said and reached out to take my hand. He made me invisible by extending his field to me, understanding immediately what I had in mind. “Lead the way.”

We flew out of the building and I located Vicky, who was still waiting around though the rest of the crowd had departed. I think she expected me to try and talk to her, but after a few minutes, she gave up and began walking up the sidewalk.