Quantum Dissolve: Chapter Five. (Jade Shade vs Desmodus-Guy)

Day 41

The bad guys were getting cute.

On TV, the Mayor publicly introduced the city's new superhero, Desmodus-Guy.

He was all decked out in black body armor, wore a face mask and cowl that covered everything but his eyes and mouth, and these pointy rodent ears looking things were sticking out the top of the head.
Coming from the shoulders down was a leathery wing-like cape.
On his chest was a symbol of a white moon silhouetting some sort of avian critter.
He also wore a chrome utility belt.

After making his lame pre-written for him speech, (in which, surprise, surprise, Jade Shade was declared enemy number one) The Mayor then demonstrated a spotlight with the same icon as Desmodus-Guy's chest shield.

The assembled press was eating it right up.

"Okay,...play it that way. I'm ready for it", JS whispered with a smirk.


Day 45

Desmodus-Guy was pretty damned easy to avoid.
All JS had to do, was be on the opposite end of town as the Desmodus signal.

JS figured The Mayor must be pretty goddamned frustrated.
Good.


Day 47

JS had left motion activated cameras where Desmodus-Guy did his patrols.

He was now studying the footage.

Just as he suspected, karate, ninja bullshit weapons, everything he eschewed literally on day one.

"Well, this should be easy to wrap up", he mumbled, almost bored.


Day 50

A warehouse was burnt down.
The two men inside were safe in the parking lot, tied up, and gagged.

A note was left pinned on one of them, written in green highlighter.

"Broke your toys, DG -JS".


Day 54

An exotically customized black sportscar was found stripped in a bad neighborhood.

A post-it was on the dashboard, green highlighter ink again.

"...and your car. -JS".


Day 55

The Desmodus signal was destroyed.

Melted, by homemade thermite.

Another note.

"Guess you'll just have to text. -JS".


Day 56

A repeat sex-offender was found beaten to a pulp, and tied up in front of the police station.

Another note.

"So, DG, how many actual criminals have you caught? -JS".


Day 60

Desmodus-Guy got right on the news, and called Jade-Shade out.
He named the time, and place.

"Desperate. Good", JS grumbled..


Day 65

In a ratty abandoned tenement building, Desmodus-Guy was waiting, ninja stars and teargas bombs at the ready.

Hidden cops with machine guns even readier.

8 o'clock, nothing.

9 o'clock, nothing.

10 o'clock, nothing.

11 o'clock, nothing.

Midnight.
To the second.

A remote activated  small explosive charge went off.
Just strong enough to break a rope.

An iron weight dropped, breaking a pre-cut support beam.

Crumbling cement, brick, and dust rained down on Desmodus-Guy, and the crooked cops.

Only 2 of the cops escaped.
They were immediately met with Federal Officers screaming "don't fucking mooooove!!! Don't fucking mooooovee!!!!".

The cops in the crumbled building were alive, but all of them would need body casts.

Desmodus-Guy was a little better off, but not by much.

"Hi", said Jade-Shade, emerging from the shadows.

"You sonovabitch!! Do you know who I am!!??! I've...", Desmodus-Guy hissed through a bloody mouth.

JS cut him off.
"Oh, judging by your voice, speech patterns, mannerisms, I'd say...Bert "Blackie", Aaron. Am I right?".

JS peeled off DG's mask.
"Yep".

JS remembered him in photographic stereophonic quality from the day of the "listen, you little SHIT..", speech.

Blackie stared in terrified and confused frustration, and then hissed "I've got powerful friends!!".

"All being handled", JS said, smiling, the mask betraying no emotion.

"What does that mean?!?!", Blackie asked, trying to hide his nervousness with mocking incredulity, and failing miserably.

"You'll see", JS clipped out, totally deadpan.

"So...1999, you killed a lot of kids, and teachers. You're a very, very, bad boy", JS said, still deadpan.

"...listen, hey, I had nothing to do with....so...what? Are you going to kill me?".

"Too easy", JS said, excitement creeping in, but managing to hide it.

He pulled out a metal pipe.

5 minutes later, and now Blackie needed a full body cast too.

JS held up the Desmous-Guy utility belt.
"Taking this", he said matter-of-factly.

It was sure going to be cooler than a fanny-pack.


Day 80

All the details were finally starting to assemble on the mainstream news.

On day 52, a thick folder full of evidence had arrived by airmail to FBI headquarters.
Much of it found in the warehouse.

It incriminated everybody up to The Mayor, and was airtight.

The Mayor had been removed from office, his network of crooked cops, who hadn't fled, were all rounded up, and all his dirty little nepotist cousins and nephews and nieces that had been put in strategic spots were likewise caught.

The deeper the FBI dug, the more dirt was found, and the more people that went down.

The entire network of scummery was torn down.
The graft, the drugs, even the prostitution might have slipped by, but...everyone hated a kid-killer.
Everyone connected to Blackie's doings was destroyed.
And, they all were connected somehow.

Blackie himself had a litany of secret crimes.
None of them surprised JS.
Especially, that he was the killer of his parents.
He knew.
All along he knew.

Now the world knew.
And their little conspiracy, Desmodus-Guy and all, was finished.

And, Dusty Irwin was exonerated, once and for all.

Dusty/Jade-Shade, was free.

...free to start phase 2.

Day 100

Jade Shade was waiting in the office of the new Mayor.

"We've got to talk", he deadpanned.

After the talk, the cops were hands-off with him.

He needn't have bothered.

He was a hero.

Day 101

Three months, and some change.

Jade-Shade was making quick work.

But it had only begun.

He knew now, the world knew about him, and even with the law ostensibly on his side, there would be new villains, new ersatz-heroes gunning for him.

"Bring 'em on", he whispered.