Chapter Thirty Two

“Remind me again why we’re planning on saving this city,” Cali said in frustration as she plopped down on the bench next to Milo. Bill and Milo had found a relatively unpopulated spot of boardwalk that surrounded the Pier 17 shopping center. Stretching out in front of them was the East River and along that was a collection of apartment buildings, warehouses, and commercial real estate. Not far from where they were sitting was the warehouse Destructo had converted to his lair that Xander had shown them. They had been casing the place almost non-stop since they had arrived in New York only days before.

“What happened,” Bill asked with amused curiosity.

Calliope huffed. “I made a pass of Destructo’s warehouse like normal, and on my way back, a homeless guy starts harassing me for spare change. I told him I didn’t have any and he called me something rather nasty. I started to say something back and he spit in my face.”

“What?” Milo asked, stifling laughter. “That’s awful.”

“It was awful,” agreed Cali. “My mouth was open.”

“No,” Bill said, shocked. “He didn’t…”

“Yeah, Bill, he did,” she told him. “A homeless guy spit in my mouth.”

Milo and Bill exchanged glances quickly before erupting into laughter.

“It isn’t funny,” Cali chided. “I threw up just to get the taste out of my mouth.”

Milo and Bill choked back their laughter.

“That’s unreal,” Mila commented. “This city.”

Their time in New York had been brief and they hadn’t had much time to see the sights that the city was famous for. They did, however, have the opportunity to experience the worst parts of New York that people who lived elsewhere heard horror stories about. It was enough to make each one of them wonder exactly what they were trying to save. Not seriously, of course. They were true Heroes. But there’s only so much humanity a person can experience before they start to wonder whether there really was any good left in people. The little bit of laughter they had shared over Calliope’s unfortunate run in with the homeless man was a welcome change to the bleak, unforgiving nature of their visit.

By Captain Amazing’s instruction, they had been staking out the warehouse for hours on end. They needed to learn everything they could about what was inside whether it was an army of hired goons or robot warriors. The more knowledge they could obtain, the better off they’d be when they stormed the castle. Their efforts had proved to be less than worthwhile, however. Almost no one came and went to and from the warehouse. Food would be delivered three times a day at exactly 8:30, 12:30, and 6:00. The food was left at the door and an envelope was issued through the mail slot in the door. Other than that, nothing stirred.

“Dinner from Gino’s,” Bill said, looking through a pair of binoculars. “Right on time. Destructo sure does like that crappy pizza place.”

“We should get back,” Milo said, failing to acknowledge Bill’s comment. “We don’t have much time left. Hopefully Xander and the Captain have come up with some brilliant plan.”

There were only six hours until midnight and the end of the world. Captain Amazing had been pushing back their attack until their recon missions proved fruitful. Now they were out of time and had little to no information on what they should expect. Like it or not, they were going in blind, and it deeply unsettled all of them. Xander wasn’t much help since he hadn’t been inside the warehouse in weeks. They would have to come up with the best plan they could and hope for the best. No one liked it, but it was the only option they had left. The only other option was to let things unfold as they may, but that was never truly a real option.

They left the historic seaport walking closely together to help combat the bitter cold of the New York winter night. Only two blocks away, Captain Amazing had managed to secure them an empty apartment for a home base while they gather whatever intel they could and made a plan. It was sparsely furnished with just enough beds for each one of them to sleep in and a few folding chairs so they could sit comfortably. Captain Amazing used what little money he had left to his name to feed them, but none of the meals were all that great either in taste or size. The space was utilitarian at its basest; a space used for only a single purpose. No matter what happened that night, Milo had the distinct feeling he was going to miss the place.

When the three of them entered the rundown apartment that night, Captain Amazing and Xander were engaged in a heated argument.

“It ain’t happening, kid,” Captain Amazing growled. “I don’t care if you’re a clone of Jesus Christ himself. It isn’t going to happen.”

“Think logically, Captain,” Xander retorted. “He won’t be suspicious. He trusts me.”

“What are you guys arguing about,” Calliope asked. She moved to Xander’s side and hugged him quickly. It irked Milo how close the two had gotten since Destructo’s clone had come into their lives. He may be helping them to put a stop to Destructo, but there was still something bothering Milo about Xander.

“I was trying to suggest a plan to the Captain,” Xander told her. “He doesn’t seem to think it’s a good idea, even though it’s the best we’ve come up with so far.”

“Well,” Captain Amazing shot back, “when you stop being a clone, I’ll start trusting your plans.”

“What was the plan?” Milo asked. He was glad to see at least one other person had a distrust of Xander.

“Clone boy wants to go running off to Destructo,” Amazing said in a surly tone.

Xander rolled his eyes. “I’m not running off to anyone,” he argued. “All I said was that I can go in first to get a look at what’s inside and then report back to you guys. I’m his clone. He won’t think anything of the fact that I’m showing up. All I have to do is tell him I’ve found the Hero he was looking for and give him a fake name. It’ll be simple and it’ll better prepare you guys for what’s in there.”

Milo didn’t like it and he completely understood where Captain Amazing was coming from, but, loath as he was to admit it, Xander’s plan was probably the best they were going to do. He’d have to extend his trust in Xander just a little bit further for the sake of the entire world.

“I get what you’re saying, Captain,” he said in a soothing tone. “It’s a valid concern. But we don’t have anything else that’s even half as good as this plan. Xander can go, and while he’s gone we can discuss tactics once we’re inside. I don’t like it any more than you do, and there’s a high risk of it blowing up in our faces, but we’re just going to have to have faith.”

Captain Amazing regarded his great-grandson with a calculating look. Eventually his face went slack and he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s your show, Milo. I’m just here to give advice.”

Milo turned to Xander.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” he said. “How much do you need?”

Xander took a moment to think. “If I’m not back by eleven,” he said finally. “You’re going to have to come in after me.”

Over five hours they’d have to wait to see if Xander betrayed them or came through on his word.

“Can you do it any quicker?” Bill asked, anxious. “The fate of the world is kind of in the balance here.”

Xander shook his head. “If I cut and run too quickly, he’ll know something is up. I have to be there long enough for him to think I’m settling back in. If he thinks I’m compromised, he’ll kill me without a second thought.”

Milo sighed as he watched Cali’s fingers snaked in between Xander’s and squeeze his hand.

“You’ve got until eleven,” Milo said, “If there’s no sign, we’re coming after you.”

 

Xander was gone minutes after the decision had been made, leaving Captain Amazing, Milo, Bill, and Calliope alone together in the small, bare apartment. They were all anxious for different reasons, but no matter what the reason, the tension was palpable in the tiny space. They tried to talk strategy, but, as Captain Amazing wisely pointed out, strategy wouldn’t mean a thing without now what they were up against. So they were forced to wait.

“Have you all decided on codenames?” Captain Amazing asked, breaking a nearly ninety minute silence. “I know Calliope is going to be the new Marvelous Maiden, but what about you two knuckleheads. And please tell me it’s better than Indestructi-Bill.”

Bill looked sheepish. “It was just a suggestion,” he mumbled.

“Well it was a terrible suggestion,” Amazing said flatly. “So what do you two have?”

“Cobalt,” Bill admitted finally.

Captain Amazing took a moment to run the word through his mind, to weigh its fit for Bill and his powers. Finally he nodded and smiled.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I like that. Good work. Nice improvement. What about you Milo?”

Milo had thought quite a bit about his codename for when he was in the field, a name that could eventually turn into just his name like had happened with Captain Amazing. No matter what, it had to be something that really fit well and that he could see himself being called for the rest of his life as a Hero. It was possible to change your identity down the road, but, historically speaking, any Hero or Villain who did so quickly faded into obscurity. What he chose now would be his name forever. And there was only one name that kept coming back to him.

“Pulsar,” he said confidently.

“Ah,” Bill said grudgingly. “That’s such a cool name.”

“It actually kind of is,” Cali agreed. “Where did you get that from?”

Milo shrugged and half grinned. He had no idea where he’d heard the word before, but it was the first thing that jumped to his mind and it hadn’t left there since. He couldn’t deny how perfect it was, and apparently his friends agreed. The name felt right, felt like it had some power behind it.

“Doesn’t matter,” Captain Amazing said before Milo could answer. “It’s perfect and that’s what it’s going to be. Now you three better get suited up. Clone boy has half an hour before we have to assume he’s either betrayed us or been captured. Either way, you need to be ready to move.”

For Milo, time seemed to have been crawling along, each second taking thirty. He wasn’t happy to find out that it had actually gone by quicker than he had thought. Xander had thirty minutes to get back to the apartment and fill them in. Something deep down inside Milo’s stomach told him that Xander wasn’t going to be coming back. They’d have to risk going in blind and hope for the best. Whether Xander was dead or just taken captive was anyone’s guess. They’d find out for certain once they got inside the warehouse. If they made it far enough to find him, that was.

Not surprisingly, 11:00 p.m. rolled around without so much as a sign of Xander’s arrival. Milo noticed that Calliope was visibly shaken by the absence of the boy she’d grown to like very much. Even though he didn’t trust Xander any further than he could throw him, Milo wanted desperately to comfort his friend. He didn’t know what exactly to say, but there had to be something, anything, that could help ease her fear and trepidation. But they didn’t have time for that. Destructo’s plan was set to commence in an hour and it would set off a chain reaction that would tear the whole world apart. Broken hearts had to be set aside for the time being.

“Be careful out there,” Captain Amazing said to the three of them as the shuffled out of the apartment. “The world is in your hands. Don’t screw it up.”

Bill snorted half-hearted laughter. “No pressure,” he said sarcastically.

“Good luck,” Captain Amazing told them and closed the door as they made their way down the hall.

He walked over to where his duffle bag lay on the floor and snatched it up. Captain Amazing sat down in one of the folding chairs and unzipped the bag. He stared at the uniform sitting on top of the other clothes and smiled gently. It had been a long, long time since he’d worn that outfit. He wasn’t even sure if he had it left in him to do what had to be done. He pulled it from the bag and felt the familiar material between his fingers.

He’d give them a half hour.