Chapter Ten
May 24th, 1:05 AM
The young man was getting into bed, clad in only his boxers, exhausted from a long night of work, when the doorbell rang.
"What the fuck," he grumbled. Probably just some kid. There were quite a few kids in his apartment complex, and they'd done this sort of thing before... though never at this hour.
He set his head down on his pillow and shut his eyes. All in all, it was a good day, and a very, very good night. He felt his hand inching down toward his groin, when the doorbell rang, again.
"Okay, come on," he muttered, kicking off the sheets. He jumped out of bed and pulled a shirt on, walking out of the bedroom with confident steps. He'd show those damn kids.
He stood by the door, silently lowered his hand onto the knob, and waited.
A minute later, the doorbell rang.
In a flash, he opened the door.
"Get out of here you damn kids!" he yelled.
But there were no kids standing in front of him; just an attractive young woman in a blue mask with tight blue spandex and white boots. A familiar face, and a familiar figure. His sometimes partner, sometimes rival: the superheroine known as the Blue Lynx.
"Good evening, Spaniel," she said.
Before he could react, he felt her fist in his stomach, followed by her hands on his shoulders, driving him into this apartment and shoving him to the ground.
"You have something that's mine," she said.
She stepped over to him and laid a hard, quick kick into his side. The young man bent in half, clutching at his stomach, crying out in pain.
"Nice place," the Blue Lynx said, looking around at the apartment. "You said you were an average guy, but I'd say this is an above average apartment."
The young man gritted his teeth. "How did you... get here?" he said, trying to fight off the discomfort.
"I've got a tracker in my belt, you fool," she said, setting her boot down on the young man's hand.
"Now," she continued, applying pressure to his palm. "Are you going to tell me where my belt is?"
The man convulsed under the boot, screaming out. "Ahh!" he yelled. "It's! Ahhhh! It's right over there! On the sofa!"
The Blue Lynx looked to her left. He hadn't lied: the belt was just laying there, lazily strewn on the couch like it was any other old article of clothing.
"Good boy," she said, and delivered another powerful kick to the young man's exposed flank.
He held his body, rolling up into a ball, watching the Blue Lynx as she sashayed toward the sofa. She grabbed the utility belt and wrapped it around her delicate waist, letting it click in the back. Once her tools were again safely resting against her lower body, she turned to face the young man.
"You left me tied up," she said, walking back toward him. "Tied and gagged. With all of those Rattlesnakes."
The young man shook his head. "They were... unconscious..."
"Not all of them, you idiot," she said. "One of them tried to violate me. And he would've succeeded, too, if the damn security guard hadn't shown more courage than you ever have."
The young man looked at her sincerely. "I'm... sorry..." he moaned.
"Not good enough!" the Blue Lynx responded, and once more kicked him in the side. The young man gasped in agony, his body turning left way and right, seemingly unsure of what pained part to attend to.
"You're a bastard," she said. "You call yourself a superhero. You're nothing."
She paused, evidently noticing something. The young man looked up and saw her staring at his kitchen table.
"A wallet," she cooed, moving toward her place of interest.
He watched on, painfully, as she opened the flaps of the wallet and stared at its contents.
"Brian Nelson?" she said, casting her eyes back and forth between his face and the face on his driver's license. "That really is an average name."
The young man exhaled. The Blue Lynx had learned his secret identity. It gave him an odd, sick feeling, but it didn't really matter, in the end. No one cared about Brian Nelson. She seemed to think she had made a more important discovery than she actually had.
"The Spaniel... Cool name," the Blue Lynx went on. "Brian Nelson? Lame name."
She was having fun, now. She didn't seem to realize that the young man was slowly regaining his strength-- that he clutched his stomach now not because it hurt, but because if he appeared hurt, he might get a chance to strike back.
"You got your belt," the young man said. "And you got my name. Now get out of here."
The Blue Lynx clicked her tongue. "No, Spaniel. I'm not leaving yet. Not until you feel as bad as I did up on the rooftop."
The young man already felt bad. He hadn't meant to leave the Blue Lynx in the clutches of the Rattlesnakes: he'd only wanted for her to lay there tied up for a bit, to reflect a little on what a weakling she was. But for her to come into his house, learn his secret identity, and now act like some sort of hotshot? The young man's indignation started to bubble underneath his guilt.
"I'm going to tell everyone who you are," the Blue Lynx said. "I'm going to drive you out of town."
"Don't do it, Blue Lynx," the young man replied. "I could've done it to you. I stopped myself."
"Such restraint!" the Blue Lynx said, with a sarcastic laugh. "I guess I'm not as principled as you, Mister 'Leaves Young Women Alone in the Company of Sadistic Rapists.'"
The young man smiled. "Don't give me that, Blue Lynx. I thought you could take care of yourself."
He watched the flash of color dart across her face.
"You bastard!" she yelled, winding her leg back to kick him. She brought her boot forward, but this time, the young man was ready. He swatted away the boot, spinning the Blue Lynx around, and sprang to his feet. He lowered his head and barreled into her, bringing her down on to the couch, landing on top of her with a heavy flop.
"This seems familiar," the young man said, pushing his bulk against the superheroine.
"Argh!" she cried. "Get off of me!"
She brought up her fist and caught him in the chin. The young man stumbled back, stepping away from the couch, allowing the Blue Lynx to regain her feet. She struck a fighting pose and looked at him, a mischievous glimmer in her eye.
"Playing dead," she said, derisively. "Pretty sneaky. Just the sort of low tactic I'd expect from a scumbag like you."
She charged at him, flinging a punch at his face. The young man swerved around it and moved to counterattack, but was met with a cross to his body. He grimaced, lost his footing, let her get near him and deliver a punch to his side. She shoved him away with a two handed push to the chest, driving him to the wall, shaking a framed picture off of its hook.
"Ugh," he said, bringing his hand to his head. He was dazed, but could feel his adrenaline pumping. The tiredness was sliding off of him, his body slowly adjusting to a fighting mode.
"You've got a lot of nerve," he said. "Coming into my house, one in the morning, knocking my pictures off my walls."
He stepped forward, putting his fists out in front of him. "Come on," he said. "Try to hit me."
The Blue Lynx smirked, and once again charged, now leading with her right knee. The young man grabbed her leg, spun her around, and threw her against the wall, which she hit with a BANG and a loud "Oof!" She tried to push herself away, but the young man caught her, placing her hand on her chest and shoving her back. Her head smacked against the wall, and now she was dazed, her steps suddenly uncertain, her hands waving around. Sensing an opportunity, the young man's hand darted toward her chest, snatching the fabric near her cleavage. He clenched the spandex, twisted it, and hurled the Blue Lynx from the wall and down to the ground.
"You can't beat me," the young man said, watching her prone figure, anticipating a reprisal. "Even when I'm not in costume, I'm the true superhero."
The Blue Lynx had rolled over onto her back. The young man made a move for her legs, and she responded by kicking up, nearly catching him in the face. He dodged and waited, standing still while she got to her feet.
"You're no hero," the Blue Lynx said. She had begun to sweat, but was clearly still a threat. The young man decided to get this over with fast. He had to sleep, after all.
"I'm still waiting for you to hit me," he jeered.
Taking the bait, the Blue Lynx leapt at him. The young man met her in the air, grabbed her, and threw her over his body, perfectly launching her into his kitchen table, which exploded into cinders as her body crashed into it.
It was totaled, the table: snapped in half, its legs splayed out, pieces of wood strewn all over the young man's kitchen. But it was worth it to the young man; worth it to see the Blue Lynx, her eyes fluttering, her consciousness barely holding on, sprawling in and around the shattered furniture.
"Uhhh..." she mumbled, her head rolling on her shoulders. Her body lay motionless on the floor, her arms and legs settled on top of table pieces.
"You look about ready to pass out, Blue Lynx," the young man said, grinning. He sat down on the ground next to her head and began to stroke her hair. "Maybe you should take a nap."
"No..." she whispered. "No..."
The young man's smile grew wider. An evil thought had popped into his head.
"Yes, go to sleep," he said, moving his hand from the top of the Blue Lynx's head and down to her face, placing his fingers awkwardly on her nose and cheeks. "By the time you wake up, your world will have changed... Completely..."
And as her eyes shut, as her willingness to fight abandoned her, as she became totally relaxed and unaware of what he had planned, the young man grasped her mask, held it for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and plucked it off her face, revealing the unmistakably gorgeous features of the Mayor's daughter, Erin Steele.
On to Chapter Eleven
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