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crystalninjaphoenix · 9 months

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Spitfire Cat

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 21

First Part | Previous Part

Whoo! I've been waiting for this for forever! :D Jackie goes to confront Spitfire about the information he found, bringing the others along with him. And Spitfire finally opens up about his past and why he hates the League of Heroes so much. I'm so excited, guys. Gonna stop writing this author's note so we can get right to it :)

===============

“That’s... insane.”

“I know, right?!” Jackie paced back and forth in the apartment living room, right in front of the TV. Chase was sitting on the sofa with Frosty at his feet, eyes wide at everything Jackie had just rushed in to tell him. “If—if I was forced to guess at his secret identity, I would never guess that!”

“Yeah. It’s insane.” Chase whistled. “So, let me see if I’m getting this. This guy is the guy who ran into us in JJ’s shop the other day, right? You said you guys did Hero stuff together. And that whole time, you meant that he was a super villain you were working with.”

“Temporarily,” Jackie stressed. “It was a temporary alliance to deal with the Puppeteer stuff. I’ve never worked with villains before.”

Chase raised his hands defensively. “I wasn’t saying you did. Just getting things in order. Anyway, this villain really hates the League of Heroes, but this whole time, he was a Hero.”

“No, he’s not—not, like, being a double-agent or anything,” Jackie said. “He went rogue and then faked his death, and then became Spitfire Cat.”

“Right.” Chase nodded. “How long ago was this Phoenix guy’s fake death?”

“That was three years ago. Spitfire Cat showed up about two years ago.” Jackie rubbed his eyes. “It matches up. Timeline matches up.” A breeze fluttered through the room, flicking clothes and hair. “It all matches up!”

“Jeez, bro, take a deep breath or something,” Chase said. “Look. Does it really change that much? You already knew he—what was his name again? His real one?”

“Marvin Nedra.”

“You already knew Marvin was a criminal, is being a rogue Hero really that different?”

“I guess... not... functionally, but—but it really confuses me!” Jackie sputtered. “Spitfire Cat has always hated the League, and I mean really fucking loathed them. But if he used to be a Hero, then—what happened?”

“Hmm. Dunno. I guess he’ll be the only one to know.” Chase shrugged.

“I guess.” Jackie sighed and stopped pacing. “I gotta tell JJ and Schneep about this.”

“Why? You just said it’s not ‘functionally’ different.”

“Well, I should have told them about that guy being a villain in the first place! I should have let you all know the risks! Besides, I just told you, so it’s only fair I tell them too.” Jackie took his phone out of his pocket and started typing out a message.

“You’re gonna let them know through text?” Chase asked. “Isn’t that a bit like breaking up with someone through the phone?”

“No, I know this is big news, and I’m going to tell them in person. I just need to know when they’re both available. I’m putting this in the new group chat.”

“Oh hell yeah.” Chase grinned. He’d made the group chat the day before yesterday and titled it Windstorm Fan Club. Hilarious.

Jackie sent the text, and got an immediate answer from Schneep. I am at work for the rest of the day. Hospital until evening and then on call for emergencies all night. Tomorrow is the earliest I could meet for this “important news.”

“Hmm. Right. Makes sense.” Jackie nodded.

“It might be a while before JJ answers,” Chase said. “Why don’t you sit down? Stop hovering.”

“I’m not hovering.”

“Yeah, you are.” Chase pointed at Jackie’s feet. There was about an inch of air between Jackie’s shoes and the floor.

“Oh.” Jackie dropped to the floor. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be. God, were you doing shit like that often and I just didn’t notice?”

“Definitely not. I was being very careful. And you’re very smart, you would have seen if I’d been doing it. I guess I’m just not looking out as much now that you know.” It was nice, actually, to not have to constantly monitor himself.

Another text, this time from JJ. Tomorrow could work. Ned might drop by in the afternoon. He wanted to do something together.

Jackie stared at the message. The breeze in the room kicked up a notch. “Oh.”

Chase checked the group chat on his own phone. His brows furrowed. “Ned’s the guy who’s actually Marvin, right?”

“Yeah.” Jackie paused. “You know what? More than telling Schneep and JJ what I found, I want to tell Spitfire what I found. I need to know what happened and what the fuck’s going on with him.”

“Ah.” Chase raised an eyebrow. “So... the difference is to you.”

“What?”

“You found out some new shit and now you’re seeing him differently. I get it. I mean, I went through that just a few days ago with you and Schneep.” Chase gestured between Jackie and himself. “I get it.”

“...yeah, I guess you would.” Jackie gave a little laugh. Then he turned his attention back to the group chat and typed out another message. Actually, JJ. Ned should be involved in this. Can you tell him when he gets to your shop? Then the rest of us can come over and I can say everything all at once.

A few seconds passed. Sure, I suppose, JJ said. Should I tell him everyone is coming?

I dunno. He might leave if he knows so Ill leave that up to you.

Alright.

Jackie looked back at Chase. “So, ready to go over to JJ’s at any moment tomorrow?”

“I have work, but I can call in sick,” Chase said.

“Great. It takes a while to get to JJ’s place so we’ll have to go right away.” Jackie nodded. He started pacing again.

“Bro, I meant it when I said to sit down,” Chase said. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry.” He stopped again. “Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be nervous about.” Probably. They would be confronting a supervillain with his past tomorrow. There might be cause for nerves then.

===============

They got the text at one thirty the next day. Ned just showed up. We’ll be in my apartment upstairs, walk right in and meet us up there, JJ said.

Jackie and Chase wasted no time, heading down to the train station as soon as possible. They quickly made it to Zeit Way. Possibly a bit too quickly. Chase was panting heavily when they reached Jackson Legacy Crafts and needed to rest for a moment outside the door. Jackie hadn’t realized just how athletic he was until that moment; maybe there was something super about his stamina.

Schneep showed up a minute later. “Chase, are you alright?” he asked, immediately concerned.

“Fine.” Chase was still breathing heavily. “Fine, just... ran. Don’t... run much.” He pressed two fingers to his neck. “Everything’s... fine.”

“Alright,” Schneep said slowly. “Be careful.” Then he turned to Jackie. “So. What is this about? Why is it important?”

“We’ll all talk about it inside.” Jackie pushed on the door, only to realize it was locked. “Wait. Damn it.”

“I got it.” Schneep stepped around him and took a key out of his pocket, opening the door. “After you two.”

They headed in and straight for the staircase at the back, which they took slowly because Chase was being even more careful about stairs than usual. But soon they reached the trapdoor. Schneep was at the front, so he was the one to push it open. Chase and then Jackie followed him up into the apartment.

JJ and Spitfire were sitting on the sofa together, with JJ holding the television remote, switching through movies on Netflix, and Spitfire lounging next to him. It was strange to see the two of them being so casual. But it didn’t last long. JJ noticed the three of them as they entered and put down the remote. I didn’t realize you all would be here so fast, he said. Are you alright, Chase?

“Mm-hmm. Just... we went a bit hard getting over here.” Chase reached down and patted Frosty’s head.

Alright. JJ nodded. So what’s all this about?

“We’re getting to that,” Jackie said, blatantly staring at Spitfire.

There must have been something in his expression, because Spitfire froze the moment he saw it. “Well, uh, I’ll head out now,” he said, hurriedly standing up. “I-I didn’t know you guys had something planned—”

“Oh, we have something planned,” Jackie said. “But you don’t need to leave for this.”

“Holy shit, Jackie, you make it sound like we’re going to murder him,” Chase whispered.

Apparently Spitfire took it the same way, because his eyes were darting all around the apartment. They lingered briefly on the window. As if he was seriously considering jumping out of it. JJ, picking up on the sudden shift in mood, stood up. Jackie mentioned some important news earlier, he said. And he thought you should know too. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.

“Uh, well, Jackie can email me later,” Spitfire said hurriedly. He walked quickly around the sofa, going in a wide circle around Jackie, Chase, and Schneep, and headed for the open staircase trapdoor.

Jackie flicked his hand. A gust of wind slammed the trapdoor shut. All the color drained from Spitfire’s face as he stared at the blocked escape route. “This isn’t email-worthy!” Jackie snapped. “This is something I need to hear from your mouth. I need to know what’s going on, Marvin!”

Spitfire—Marvin’s head snapped around. “What?!”

“Yeah, I know about it!” Jackie strode up to Marvin, who took one step back but no farther. “I found out about Light Phoenix, the rogue Hero. I made the connections—they’re not too hard to see if someone knows enough about you! Spitfire Cat, the villain who hates the League of Heroes, is Marvin Nedra. You are Marvin Nedra, aren’t you?! You’re Light Phoenix!” He paused. “Or, you were, at least.”

Marvin stared down at Jackie. His expression was hard to read, but Jackie could see the emotions in his eyes. Anger was there, as he expected. But it was not the main emotion. Instead... Marvin looked afraid.

“Jackie,” Schneep said quietly.

Jackie glanced back at him. He, Chase, and JJ were all standing in a cluster, looking shocked. And a bit wary. Not of Marvin, though.

“Um... bro, can you... calm down?” Chase asked. “You’re...kind of intense... right now.”

Jackie hadn’t realized how close he was to Marvin until Chase said that. He hadn’t noticed the tight knot in his chest, or the wind rattling around the room. Taking a deep breath, he deliberately relaxed his muscles and took a step back. “I’m not... angry,” he said, turning back to Marvin. “I’m just... very confused. I know you hate the League. You’ve monologued about it enough. But... you used to work with them. Until... something happened. And I’m just... confused.” He didn’t know how else to put it.

The fear in Marvin’s eyes died down, leaving only the anger. “Where did you learn all this about Light Phoenix?” he asked in a deliberately calm voice.

“Hero database profile. I got curious—”

“Why?”

“W-well, uh, a couple people mentioned him, said I was... like him.” Jackie paused. “So I got curious.” He cleared his throat. “And don’t you dare try to say that it wasn’t you or something, the profile had a picture and the guy was clearly you!”

“That’s not saying much. Look around.” Marvin gestured at the room. “We’re all doppelgangers here.”

“Okay, yeah, but I’m not an idiot,” Jackie said. “There was more information there! It all fucking lined up! Powers, nationality, age, height—the fucking burns on your arms like you escaped a fire. Like the fire where Light Phoenix supposedly died.” The wind was back, blowing his hair into his face. He took another deep breath. “Just... tell me why. I-I need to know why.”

Marvin stared at him. His eyes flicked back to the other three in the room, who remained silent. Then he looked back at Jackie. “You know what? Fine. Fine. Maybe this will change some things. Maybe you’ll open your eyes a little.” He turned and quickly walked towards the kitchen area. “Jameson, do you have anything I can drink? And I mean drink.”

JJ didn’t hide his surprise. There should be something in the back of the fridge?

“Great.” Marvin yanked open the fridge door.

“You’re getting drunk for this?” Jackie asked in disbelief.

“Not drunk. But if I’m going to tell a room full of basically-strangers my whole backstory I need some encouragement.” Marvin reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of something red. “What is this, a wine cooler? Good enough. Oh, and it twists, very nice.”

“Jamie, are you sure about that?” Schneep asked.

JJ nodded. It’s fine. I wasn’t going to drink those anyway.

Marvin twisted the cap off the bottle and took a small sip. Then a bigger swig. He glanced at everyone else. “Why are you all standing? This is going to take a while. Sit. Jackie, you especially. Don’t you dare leave in the middle of this. You asked for it, you don’t get to walk away.”

Everyone sat down. Chase, Schneep, and JJ took the sofa, while Jackie slowly took a seat in one of the armchairs, and Marvin flopped into the other. “Maybe we, uh... shouldn’t be here for this after all,” Chase said slowly. “It seems kind of... personal?”

“Ohhhh it is,” Marvin said, a bit bitterly, and took another drink. “But you’re staying. Jackie wanted to be here, so here you’ll be until I’m fucking finished. Okay?”

“Uh... alright, I guess,” Chase said. He glanced at Jackie, his eyes wide.

Jackie nodded slowly. He was already regretting his decision to confront Spitfire Cat with everyone here. But surely Marvin wouldn’t hurt people who had nothing to do with this.

“Alright. Where to start?” Marvin swirled the bottle for a moment. “I think... I think we start with my grandmam.”

“Uh...” Jackie coughed. “I-I don’t need to know everything about you—”

“No, this is vital information. I need you to know this so you can understand.” Marvin took another drink. “My parents kicked me out of their house when I was fifteen. They didn’t say that I was leaving and never coming back. They said ‘your grandmother is getting on in years and she needs some help living in the city, and it’s easier for you to transfer schools than it is for us to quit our jobs.’ But everyone knew.”

“Were they... anti-super?” Jackie asked tentatively.

“They were anti a lot of things, but it wasn’t the super part that got me thrown out.” Marvin shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. I didn’t see them again after that, so it’s not important. Fuck ‘em. What is important is how Grandmam reacted. I never understood why my dad was the way he was when she had been his mom. She also knew what it meant when I came to live with her, and she was furious. This sort of righteous, protective anger that I’d never seen—at least not centered around me. She never talked to my parents again, either. And she made it clear I didn’t have to. And I never really felt the need to, after living with her. She made me feel... like I actually mattered. Like I could do anything. And it was because I knew she would be there. Even if I crashed and burned and made some terrible choices, I could always go to her, and she would... she would give me a hug, and... tell me that it was okay... and that I was still her family.” Marvin blinked rapidly. He took a shaky breath and looked away from the group.

“She sounds like a good woman,” Schneep said softly.

“She was.” Marvin swallowed a lump in his throat. “She helped me go to uni. I-I chose somewhere close by. Great place. Learned some stuff. Probably could’ve gotten a decent job with my degree, but I didn’t want a decent job. I wanted to be one of the League’s Heroes.” He glanced at Jackie. “And that’s what surprised you?”

Jackie nodded slowly.

“Well, it really shouldn’t. Everyone loves superheroes. They keep us safe. They protect the innocent and look cool doing it. If you somehow get superpowers, everything tells you that you need to become a Hero. What are you even doing if you’re not using your powers to fucking... fight people? Are you using them for crime? Because clearly that’s the only other option. You don’t want to do crime, right? Then you’ll go to jail. Better become a Hero.”

Schneep raised his hand. “I have powers, and I became a doctor, not a Hero.”

Marvin blinked. “Well congratulations for breaking the mold.”

To be fair, you HAVE done criminal things, JJ said.

“That happened after, it was never my intention,” Schneep waved away that detail.

“In any case,” Marvin continued. “I wanted to be a Hero. I wanted to help people and look cool while doing it. So I started going out on my own. Same way you did, Jackie. Starting with petty stuff and working your way up until you finally feel confident enough to put in the application. Let me tell you, it fucking wrecked my sleep schedule to do classes and hero work at the same time.” He paused. “Grandmam found out. She was always sharp as a tack, even in her 70s. I-I thought she would be mad... but she wasn’t. She just wanted me to be happy. And careful, of course.” He laughed darkly and took another drink.

“So you worked for the League,” Jackie prompted.

“I did. And it was great. Sure, it was demanding, physically and mentally, but the smile on people’s faces when you came to the rescue, the knowing that you were making a difference... it made it worth it, in my eyes.”

Jackie swallowed a lump in his throat. That sentiment wasn’t too far off from his own feelings.

“And it was enough to overlook a lot of little problems with the League that I noticed,” Marvin continued. He looked at Schneep. “You’re a doctor, right? So you know about the fees.”

Schneep nodded. His fists clenched. “They are terrible. I have a fund set aside to help cover it for patients.”

“That has to be a lot.”

“It is. What do you think those ‘criminal things’ Jameson mentioned were for?”

Marvin laughed. “Hell yeah.” His expression quickly became serious again. “And that’s only one of the many things nobody talks about with the League. For example, have you heard of neutrinalin?” He glanced at Jackie. “I know you have by now.” Then at Schneep again. “And maybe you. But you other two don’t have powers, so maybe it’s not common knowledge. When you inject a super with neutrinalin, it temporarily blocks their powers. But the League originally planned for it to permanently disable any and all powers, no matter how strong.”

“What?!” Jackie gasped. “That—No. People would know about that.”

“They did. About four years ago, when word of the League’s plans got leaked, there was a huge backlash against the idea of it. People compared it to chopping off a thief’s hand for stealing. So... the League quietly dropped it.” Marvin rolled his eyes. “But I hear that’s because they couldn’t actually figure out how to make the effects stick forever like they wanted.”

“Okay, okay, that’s a bit sketchy,” Jackie admitted. “You can’t just go around taking away someone’s powers. I mean, unless they’re fine with it, I guess? But who would be fine with that? Ugh, it’s not important!” He shook his head. “What does any of this have to do with you killing a man and faking your death?!”

JJ gasped. Schneep looked shocked. Chase glanced at the two of them and nodded. He’d reacted the same way when Jackie told him everything yesterday.

“So you really did find out everything,” Marvin stated, not a hint of emotion in his voice.

“Yeah! And I’m wondering what the hell that’sall about! Though I don’t know why I’m surprised, you did try to assassinate Pink Sunlight back in July.”

“And if I’d succeeded, she would have been the second person I’d ever killed.” Marvin sighed. “To be honest, I regret trying that now. It probably wouldn’t have done much. But Andras Brand? I’ll never regret that.”

“The profile said that the guy was in custody at the time, there was no reason to fucking murder him! You didn’t have to do that.”

“I think I did, actually.” Marvin locked eyes with Jackie. “And I’d do it again. In a heartbeat.”

Jackie stared back, not backing down. “Why?”

A few seconds passed. Marvin was the first to break eye contact, turning to the side and taking another drink. “Andras Brand was a villain called Hellferno,” he said. “And he was an absolute psychopath. He terrorized the country for years. One time he took a whole city hostage and said he would burn a building full of people every three hours the government didn’t give him some ridiculous amount of money. And then when they caved, he used the money as tinder for the next year. The only reason he wasn’t a national-level threat was because he was smart enough to know what line not to cross.”

“He sounds awful, but—” Jackie started.

“Yeah, I know, he was arrested, I’m getting there, okay?!” Marvin snapped. “Look, Hellferno hated my guts. He said I was a disgrace to fire-based supers, and my powers weren’t even real fire. Which they aren’t, but I never claimed they were. Everyone else described them like that. Anyway. We fought a lot. It started with him attacking me for being a fake fire-super, and then over time I just knew him so well that other Heroes started calling me in to deal with him. And he hated that even more.” A small smirk curled around Marvin’s mouth. “Hated that he kept losing, too. Had to retreat almost every time. I was some upstart who was ten years younger than him, and yet I was better.”

“So you killed your nemesis,” Jackie prompted.

Marvin’s smirk faded. He looked down, picking at the label on the bottle. “He found out who I was,” he said quietly. “We were fighting, and my mask got knocked off, and he saw. I-I was freaked out, but everyone said it was fine, that he didn’t know anything else about me besides my face... but that was enough. I-I later found out that he paid a minor villain to track me down online. I... I didn’t know that at the time, though. I thought it would be fine. It... wasn’t.”

The silence in the room was heavy. Marvin took a deep breath and continued. “I was out on patrol one day. It was quite busy, a lot of small-time villains running around and disappearing before I could put the cuffs on them. And then I heard on the police scanner that... there was a fire. A house fire. At... at my address. At the house where... where I lived with my grandmam.”

Jackie opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He didn’t know what he would have said anyway.

“I ran there right away, but it was too late. Everything was already up in flames. I-I’m not immune to fire but I wanted to run in. She only left the house a couple times a week. I knew she would be in there. I had to go in and get her. But Tasha—have you heard of her, Jackie? Her super name is Downpour. She makes it rain. Before she made it rain on the blazing fire, she stopped me. She held me back, insisting I couldn’t get myself hurt, and I-I was screaming that I was a Hero, I was supposed to charge into danger, and my grandmam was inside, she couldn’t possibly get out on her own, and she—she fucking punched me so hard she knocked me out.” Marvin’s grip on the bottle tightened. “It took five minutes for her to hold me back. Five minutes when she could have started the rain.”

Marvin looked up. “So yeah. Andras Brand murdered the only real family I had left. And I was pissed. But... I was still a Hero. I wasn’t going to lose control. Even when the next time I saw him he laughed about it and asked me how the funeral was. He fucking did it to get to me. Well, maybe he shouldn’t have bragged about it. Because that pissed me off enough to finally get him. We fought. I knocked him out. I used the new neutrinalin stuff. And that was it.”

The silence was deafening. Jackie could have sworn he could hear the clocks ticking in the shop below. He glanced at the others. Chase was stunned, taking it all in. Schneep looked thoughtful. And JJ had tears in his eyes.

“But you know that wasn’t the end of the story,” Marvin continued. “It should have been. But it wasn’t. Brand’s crimes were bad enough to send him to Byrthon Vault, the highest-security super prison in the ‘British Isles.’” He snorted. “British my ass, they’re only one fifth of the countries. But that’s beside the point. The point is, that’s what I expected. That’s what we all expected. But it’s not what happened.”

“It wasn’t?” Schneep asked, looking more curious than surprised.

“Noooo. Because like I said, Brand was smart. If there was one thing he was skilled at, besides sadism, it was getting out of trouble. He made a deal. Hellferno was connected to a bunch of villains, including some major players. So, if he got a nice minimum security prison and less than a life sentence, he would hand them all over. The offer went all the way to the Council of Heroes themselves. And it. Was. Approved.” Marvin’s eyes flashed orange, as bright as the anger in his voice.

“The League doesn’t... doesn’t make deals with villains...” Jackie said slowly.

“Why not? Heroes do it all the time.” Marvin gave Jackie a pointed look.

“That—We’re taking down the Puppeteer!”

“Exactly the sort of logic the League was using.” Marvin took another drink. “But they did it in a different way than you did with me. I... I don’t know how to explain it. I think it’s because there was more than cold logic in your decision. You weren’t like ‘many villains is more than one,’ it was more like... ‘I think we can help people together.’ Does that make sense?”

“I... Just... keep going,” Jackie said haltingly.

“As you wish,” Marvin said drily. “Well, as you can imagine, when I heard about this, I was fucking livid. No one knew Brand better than I did, and I knew he was smiling about it. He’d managed to play the fucking League like a cheap kazoo. I did everything I could to point this out to anyone. I thought, maybe if enough people were talking about it, the League would change their mind and stick to justice. But no one wanted to talk about it. Other Heroes might have disagreed, but they didn’t want to do anything. And forget about the higher-ups. They just said the same sorts of things. Letting Brand get what he wanted was a route to further peace. Which, like, I understand that logic, but—but no! No! This wasn’t the way to go about it!”

“Maybe... you were just upset because of... you know,” Chase said quietly.

Marvin looked at him. The sharpness in his face softened a bit. “Yeah. That... wasn’t helping things. I know.” He paused, and the sharpness returned. “The League said something like that, too. But not in the way you did just now. They said I was ‘compromised.’ Because I was ‘personally involved.’ And I was. Didn’t mean I wasn’t right, but I was. But do you know what they did next? They assigned me grief counseling.”

“You probably shouldn’t sound so angry about that,” Jackie muttered.

“I’m not angry about the decision, I’m angry about how it happened!” Marvin shouted. “Jackie, you probably have heard of the League-appointed therapists by now. Have you actually had one of their sessions?”

“...No,” Jackie said.

“Good. Because they fucking suck. I never had more than three sessions with one of those ‘therapists,’ because they were all saying the same fucking thing. It all boiled down to ‘hey, sucks that your grandmam died, but time to get over it and get back to work. Time to let it go so you can keep doing the sort of thing that got her killed.’” Marvin shook her head, disgusted. The air around him grew hotter. “None of them listened to me when I said I wasn’t ready. None of them acknowledged the situation with her murderer basically going free. They just said to forget about it. And the insult was that when I got a therapist outside of the League, they found out after two sessions and said that if I kept seeing her, they would dock my pay.”

“That can’t be legal,” Chase said.

“Who fucking cares about legal when you’re in the League?! It’s not legal to cut deals with criminals outside of a courtroom! But the League’s never set foot in a courtroom! The League makes its own rules!” Marvin laughed hysterically. “Who gives a shit, right?! What are the world governments going to do? Sue the guys providing free protection for their people?! No, that’d be crazy!” The laughter slowly died down. Marvin stared at the wall. He looked deeply exhausted.

“Did you do it out of anger at the League?” Jackie asked quietly.

Marvin glanced at him, not turning his head. “I did it because it was the only thing I could do. No one was listening. No one wanted to listen. Brand probably had some sort of escape in the works. Maybe he didn’t. But I knew him. He wouldn’t wait for the sentence to pass. He asked for less security so he had a chance of breaking out. And I couldn’t let him go back out there. I couldn’t let anyone else die.” His voice cracked on the last word.

No one dared say anything. Marvin continued. “So I had a plan. I knew that with my Hero status I could access the place they were keeping him. I didn’t tell anyone I was going there. I just showed up, and they let me in. I went straight to the cell. He was... sitting there. Reading a book in a chair. He looked up at me, smiling, and said, ‘Come for a visit? Do you want to reminisce? I have some memories I’d like to share.” Marvin paused. “I didn’t say anything. That smile of his slipped a bit. I always responded to his bait. He stared at me for a moment, and I think he saw my expression even around my mask. ‘Phoenix,’ he said. And then I killed him.” He raised his hand. A small sphere of red energy flickered in his palm. “Straight shot through the heart. It went through the chair, too. He died instantly. I wonder if he was afraid.” The sphere disappeared. “I turned and walked out, and kept walking. Then I started running. I knew what would happen next.”

“Being declared a rogue Hero,” Jackie whispered.

Marvin dropped his hand. “They told you the policy for a rogue, right?”

Jackie nodded. “Rogue Heroes are high priority. All Heroes in the area are to help search for them. If one of them finds the rogue, they’re meant to call it in so everyone can go help with the arrest.”

“Mein Gott, it’s a fucking manhunt,” Schneep whispered.

Jackie jumped a bit. He’d almost forgotten that Chase, Schneep, and JJ were listening as well.

“It’s a fucking manhunt,” Marvin agreed. “It’s really a miracle that I lasted as long as I did. Almost two weeks. Every couple days I’d have a scuffle with a Hero I’d known, some who I thought were friends, and then I’d have to leave the area immediately. I knew I couldn’t keep it up forever.”

“So you faked your death,” Jackie said quietly.

Marvin grinned. There was something grim about it. “Had to commit. Took a few days to prepare.” The grin disappeared. “I did feel like scum for breaking into a morgue and taking some of the cremated remains. But... I knew they could identify human DNA.” He paused. “Nowadays, decoy bodies won’t work. I hear that last year SepTech gave the League tech an upgrade that could identify who remains belonged to by comparing DNA to known samples and relatives. Not sure how many samples they have, but still. Worrying.”

“So that’s how you did it.” Jackie nodded slowly.

“Yep. I made sure they saw me on the edge of Dublin. I started a fire in the warehouse, left the remains in there, and...” Marvin went silent.

“What?” Jackie prompted.

“You know they have all Heroes’ fingerprints, right?”

“Yeah, they use those for the background checks.” Jackie remembered scanning a picture of his inked prints and attaching it to the application.

“Well they don’t get rid of those. If you go rogue, it’s easy to identify you by the fingerprints.” Marvin flexed his fingers. “So I had to make sure they couldn’t use that method.”

Jackie looked at Marvin’s gloved hands. The horrifying realization slowly dawned on him. “You don’t fucking mean—No. No no no no, you can’t mean—Holy shit. H-how the fuck—how do you just do that?!”

“It was... just as... difficult... as you think,” Marvin said haltingly.

“You can’t be fucking telling me you plunged your hands into fire.”

“You WHAT?!” Schneep gasped.

“I’m going to be sick,” Chase whispered. JJ certainly looked like he was going to, as well.

“It didn’t go well, but... i-it got rid of my fingerprints.” Marvin gave a weak smile.

“Yeah, that would do it! Holy shit!” Jackie leaned back in the chair, unable to stay upright at this. “You really hated the League enough to burn your arms.”

“Well the plan was for it to just be my fingertips, but things got... out of control,” Marvin said haltingly. “I’m lucky I can still use my hands, to be honest. I... spent too long thinking about the fire, and... about my grandmam, and the flames got... big. And then... the rest of the building caught quicker than I thought... and I just kept thinking about...” He trailed off, his gaze going distant.

I’m so sorry you had to go through that, JJ said.

“He didn’t have to go through anything!” Jackie shouted. “You didn’t have to burn your hands off!”

“Oh, and how else was I supposed to get rid of my fingerprints?”

“I don’t know! But you wouldn’t have had to do that if you hadn’t gone rogue!”

“I wouldn’t had gone rogue if anyone in the League had bothered to do their fucking job!” Marvin shot to his feet. The bottle fell to the floor, not breaking but spilling its contents in a wide arc. “Wake up, Jackie! They’ll treat you the same way! They may be telling you that you’re some special great Hero now, but that doesn’t mean they actually care enough to help you when you need it! It’s a fucking tough job to protect people! And they’ll push you through it nonstop until you break or go numb and become their little tool!”

Jackie stood up as well. “That doesn’t mean I’ll kill someone!”

“I never thought I would, either,” Marvin said bitterly. “But maybe you’re right. We all break in different ways.”

Jackie didn’t know what to say, but he wanted to say something. He stammered for a moment, then suddenly—

A musical tone filled the air.

Everyone looked towards the source. It was coming from JJ. He looked embarrassed and pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket. Turning away, he checked the number on the screen. Then he stood up. One moment, he signed, and hurried across the room, disappearing into the storage closet for some privacy.

“Huh. Who would call JJ? Don’t they know how one-sided that would be?” Chase wondered.

“Plenty of people do that anyway,” Schneep muttered. “Jameson complains about it often.”

“Well. Anyway.” Chase shrugged. “There’s, uh... a bit of a situation going on here. Marvin, right?”

“Uh... yeah,” Marvin said, suddenly drained of anger.

Chase grabbed Frosty’s leash, letting Frosty pull him into a standing position. “I’m sorry about all that,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry they never let you deal with things the way you needed to. And that they, uh, ignored what you said about the villain you knew a lot about.”

Marvin let out a shaky breath. He nodded, too choked up to say anything.

“And Jackie.” Chase turned to look at him. “You’re right. Murder is bad.” He laughed. “I don’t think anyone here needs to be told that. Even Marvin. But that’s not why he told this whole story. You asked to know why, and he explained. This... isn’t to, uh... justify things. It’s just to explain. To help you understand.” He glanced back at Marvin. “Right?”

Another nod.

Jackie’s head felt like it was spinning. It was so much. It was all so much. It felt like the ground beneath him was rocking, like he was standing on a ship about to go through a storm. The League helped people. The League cared about people. Didn’t they?

But Marvin couldn’t be lying. If he was, he was a phenomenal actor. That grief, that anger, that frustration was all so real.

“You two don’t have to get along,” Chase continued. “But just, like... respect each other, you know? Especially after this guy just bared his fucking soul to us.”

“Yeah,” Jackie breathed. “I... I’m sorry, Marvin. Sorry that... all of that... happened.”

Marvin stared at him. “Thanks,” he said, the word a single quiet syllable.

Jameson returned from the closet, clutching his phone in one hand. “Jamie, is everything okay?” Schneep asked. “You look...” He trailed off.

“Oh, wait, yeah,” Chase said. “You look really tired all of a sudden. What, did you do push-ups in the closet?”

Jameson laughed silently and shook his head. No, it’s just been... an exhausting time for a while. He walked over to the sofa and picked up the remote again, turning on the TV and flipping to the news (which was currently reporting traffic).

Chase raised an eyebrow. “You know we’re still here, right?”

Sorry, I thought some background noise might be appreciated, Jameson said, sitting down.

“Okay, sure?” Jackie said, a bit confused. “Uh... well.” He looked at Marvin. “I’m not... going to leave the League or anything. It’s... hard to, like... match up what you said with what’s already in my brain.”

“You couldn’t leave anyway,” Marvin muttered. “Quitting is a nightmare of bureaucracy, it’s basically only available if you’re retiring from hero work altogether.”

“Uh... that’s another thing that’s hard to match up,” Jackie said. “But as I was saying. I’ll... you said this might open my eyes, and... It’ll be hard to forget.”

“Good.” Marvin folded his arms.

“I just don’t know what you expect me to do with all this.”

“I don’t expect you to do anything. I expect you to think about it. I expect you to reconsider every policy the League has. I’m not asking you to go rogue, Windstorm. Jackie. I’m asking you to... I don’t know.” Marvin shook his head. “I don’t know,” he repeated quietly. “I’m only hoping you’re not as much of an idiot as I thought you were.”

Jackie paused. “Well... I’m still a bit of an idiot,” he admitted. “But I’m not a dumb idiot. If that makes sense.”

“That is arguable,” Schneep muttered.

“Whoa, hey!” Jackie whirled on him. “That’s uncalled for!”

“I saw you for three different injuries, Jackie. I’m sure at least one of those could have been avoided. Not to mention the binding situation.”

“Hey! What happened to confidentiality?!” Jackie put his hands on his hips. “Okay, just out me in front of the super villain, why don’t you?”

“Out? Wait. Oh.” Marvin’s eyes widened. “Oh, you’re—oh.”

“See?!” Jackie gestured at him. “He had no idea!”

“I mean... I-I don’t mind,” Marvin said haltingly. “I don’t really... care. I’m... also... in those circles.”

In the background, JJ silently nodded like Marvin had just confirmed his suspicions.

“Really? Oh, uh... this is awkward,” Jackie said. “I mean, obviously I also don’t mind, it’s just... I never expected to learn that about you.”

“I never expected to tell you. Just wanted to let you know I didn’t mind.”

“Yeah, uh... no one here minds, either.”

Silence descended on the room, thick enough to cut with a butterknife. Everyone glanced at each other, not sure how to break the quiet.

And then—

The TV screeched with static. Jackie jumped and whirled to look at it, as did everyone else. Black and white bars glitched across the screen. And then it all cleared to reveal a familiar face of green eyes and a jagged smile.

“Oh for the love of fuck,” Jackie muttered, covering up the sudden fear he felt with annoyance.

“I know you are watching, Windstorm,” said the Puppeteer, his computerized voice punctuated with static. “I know you figured out what I was planning. But all you’ve done is force me to adjust. Something is happening in the city, Windstorm. Can you figure out what it is? Or where they all are?” He laughed, the sound strange and robotic. And then the screen went to static again, and the normal news segment returned, with the anchor looking confused and worried.

“Shit! Of all the fucking times!” Jackie immediately ran for the window, then stopped. “Shit! I didn’t bring my suit!”

“You don’t carry it with you?!” Marvin asked, surprised.

“I do most of the time, but I wasn’t planning for this to happen!”

“You can never plan for emergencies, you can only prepare,” Schneep said, staring at the TV. “That was this villain. The Puppeteer. What did he mean by that?”

“I don’t know! Something is happening somewhere in the city!” Jackie patted the pockets of his hoodie, even though he knew he hadn’t brought his police scanner or the Red Line. “I have to go figure it out!”

“Wow, um... can we help?” Chase asked.

“Help?”

“Yeah, didn’t you say something about teaming up with this guy to fight the Puppeteer?” Chase pointed at Marvin.

“Your friend’s right, I’m not about to let this fucker get away with whatever he’s trying to do.” Marvin folded his arms.

“And I’m sure I could be of help,” Schneep said.

“I—are you sure, Schneep?” Jackie asked. “It could be dangerous.”

Schneep laughed. “Do you think I’ve never found danger in my exploits?” In fact, there was a fire in his eyes that said he was excited for danger.

“...okay,” Jackie said quietly. “You know the risks. And obviously Spitfire does, too. Um—Marvin does, too. But you two!” He pointed at Chase and JJ. “The best thing you can do is stay home! Where it’s safe! I don’t know what the Puppeteer’s planning, but it’s probably not good to be out and about!”

“Uh... yeah, that makes sense.” Chase nodded. “Do you think it would be safe to take the train back to the apartment?”

“I—Maybe? I can go with you. But JJ, please stay here.”

JJ nodded. He was slumped back against the sofa. I don’t want to go anywhere, trust me, he said. He seemed even more exhausted than before. But... Maybe when you go out for this, you can wear the gift I gave you?

“The—oh. Right.” The bracelets. Jackie chewed his lip in thought. “I think I can do that. I’m not sure how practical it is, but they can fit under the suit.”

I think it will bring luck, JJ said.

“I might forget, so no promises, but I’ll do that.” Jackie whirled around and headed for the trapdoor. “Now everyone! Move out!”

Without even waiting for them to respond, he rushed over, threw open the trapdoor, and ran down the stairs, skipping every other one. His head was still whirling with thoughts after hearing Marvin’s story, but there was no time to waste!

Time to be a hero.

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