A Tale of Two Masks

It was a day like many others over the last two years. Liz gave Summer a call about a tip they got on the Shadow Phoenix. Summer was already putting her shoes on as Liz spoke.

“Shadow Phoenix has been scoping out a warehouse in the Old Town,” she reported, “He intends to return tonight. This might be the last stand. We believe he might have found it.”

“Do we still not know what ‘it’ is?” Summer asked. It was frustrating, knowing the villains were searching for something in the Old Town, but being unable to do anything about it. Things might be different if they knew what the villains were looking for.

“We do not,” Liz admitted, “but there has been some new intel that suggests they are looking for some kind of relics of the first villains that appeared with similar powers to their own.”

“So each villain is looking for something different?” Summer asked. She had really hoped they could find ‘it’ after she chased away Shadow Phoenix tonight and prevent the villains from ever getting their hands on it.

“Most likely,” Liz confirmed.

Summer grimaced. “I’ll head to the headquarters right away.”

Since heroes needed to keep their identities a secret, they were given other roles. Fake reasons to be going in and out of SI frequently. Summer’s role was pretty simple. She was a premium member of their special power training gym. The best part was, it wasn’t really a lie. She used the gym often to train for her missions.

She grabbed her gym bag and a water bottle and headed out. “Good luck,” her father said, giving her a tight hug. She was glad she could tell her family, at least. She didn’t know if she could keep things a secret from her doting father.

“I’ll win,” she promised, “I always do.”

He nodded in approval. “Heroes always win,” he agreed, “but they sometimes get hurt, so be careful.”

Summer smiled and waved. The only time she had ever gotten hurt doing hero work was incredibly embarrassing. It hadn’t even happened in combat, but on the way out. She had tripped over some stray rubble and scraped her elbows when she caught herself. It even got infected, which was the worst.

She arrived at the gym, and was immediately led to her private room by Liz, who switched her gym bag for the case containing her costume. Donning the costume took ages because of all of the protective extra pieces, as well as those that were just there for aesthetics. At least it was comfortable and easy to move in.

“Show me the security videos,” she told Liz as soon as she was ready.

Liz took her to a room with a computer setup with three large screens, Briefing Room number 6. It was Summer’s favorite briefing room. The chair was just the right height for her, and it always smelled nice. Number four always smelled like old potato chips.

Summer had to log in to her hero account, and Liz immediately sent over the footage. It was fuzzy, like most security footage, but there was no mistaking the dark purple flames of Shadow Phoenix as he burned through the lock on the warehouse door. Unfortunately, the security cameras were only on the street so it didn’t show what he did once inside.

“How do we know he didn’t already find it?” Summer asked.

“Go to the end of the footage I sent you,” Liz told her, “He doesn’t look like someone who found something. See there, he makes a call. Our lip reading expert was able to tell us what he said.”

Every time she got the rundown like this, Summer felt chills of excitement. This was the first time a lip reading expert had gotten involved.

“Then let’s be ready and waiting for him when he arrives,” she decided.

One other thing that took forever was getting the camera crew ready. It was something that took a bit of getting used to, but all battles between heroes and villains were recorded. At first she had been embarrassed, especially after the whole elbow scrape incident, but luckily she had been able to convince them to cut that out of the final take that got released to the public.

The warehouse was still unlocked when summer arrived, but the sun was already setting. She hesitated, trying to decide if there might be a trap waiting for her inside. There was no way she could hide and surprise him in the open, though. Her outfit practically glowed in the dark. Luckily, once she pushed the door open, nothing was inside. Well, nothing unexpected.

There were the usual old dusty crates, rusted metal beams, and the skeleton like frame that supported the building covered in cobwebs. It was really creepy, so Summer decided to shed some light on the situation. The warehouse just looked old, not creepy, in the golden light. The camera crew had followed her in once the coast was clear, set up their cameras, then retreated to safety. Now all she had to do was wait.

She didn’t have to wait long. “Finished settling in?” Shadow Phoenix’s mocking voice asked from above her. He was in the rafters!

Summer jumped back just in time for him to land right where she had been standing. He pulled released the rope he used to descend as he made eye contact with her.

“Phoenix,” she scoffed, “You are more like a bat.”

“Bat, phoenix, it doesn’t matter,” he told her with a shrug, “You are too late.”

He had it?! Or was he just bluffing? She quickly scanned him for anything out of place, and it didn’t take long before she noticed the keychain hanging from his belt. There was a custom key hanging from it with fire designs.

“You were looking for a key?” she asked. He probably already knew she spotted it from her not-so-subtle gaze.

Shadow Phoenix reached down to the key and spun it around his finger. “You mean this thing? Neat, isn’t it? Aren’t you curious about what this key might open? But you won’t be able to use it. You don’t have a flame based power.”

The key reacted to power type? Summer had never heard about anything like that before. She would have to ask Liz about it once she finished this battle. This time, she needed to secure the key before he escaped.

There was no point in just standing there. She dove for it. Shadow Pheonix avoided her searching grasp with an annoying level of ease. Sometimes she had the feeling he was just toying with her. Fine.

“Try avoiding me now!” she shouted, summoning a cage of light to trap his movement.

He stepped back into the bars of light, let out a gasp of pain, and immediately fell to his knees. “Stupid egotistical hero,” he spat.

Summer grinned as she stepped through the bars and grabbed the key from him. “Don’t you know, villain?” she asked, “Heroes always win.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it. He reached out and grabbed her ankle, knocking her down. The key skittered across the floor, slapping an old iron beam with a surprising clang.

“Oh no,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his tone, “Whatever will our hero do.”

Summer scrambled to her feet, darting forward to grab the key, but she suddenly pulled back. Something was wrong. The fire printed key began to glow like real fire, and all of her senses screamed that it was dangerous.

She released the cage and shoved Shadow Phoenix behind the nearest pillar. “Watch out!”

Just as she feared, the key burst into flame, causing an explosive wave. One of the nearby crates caught fire as well, and she heard Shadow Phoenix swear as soon as he saw it.

“Forget this nonsense,” he said, pushing the startled Summer away from him with strength she didn’t know he had, “I’m done. I quit. The stupid fire relic was a trap. See ya never, Goldy.”

Summer almost tried to stop him before she remembered the warehouse was on fire. She needed to get out too. If she hurried, she might be able to catch him outside. Unfortunately, after pushing past the side exit he had escaped from, she didn’t see him anywhere.

“Where did he go?!” she shouted in annoyance. She needed answers. What did he mean, fire relic? Why was it a trap? And most importantly, what did he mean he quit? For the first time ever, Summer had this sinking feeling that she had lost.