The Boy Who Could Fly

[Gaunt]

Gaunt tried to salvage his dignity while the two of them were talking about the magic. At least he understood what had happened. The anti-magic had canceled out his powers, making him nearly human for a few seconds. It was an unsettling experience. Immortality had its ups and downs, but Gaunt had gotten used to it. Knowing that the boy could take it away, even for a moment, was enough to get him a top spot on the avoid list.

The bluff only half worked. The giant seemed sufficiently intimidated, but the boy on her shoulder was all business. That voice seemed more familiar the more Gaunt heard it. "I was trying to take a walk in peace, without being flagged down by any clowns in costume." Now was plan B, his metahuman civilian schtick. It didn't always work, but at least it provided a smokescreen. It even had the added bonus of allowing him to act offended if they assumed he was a villain.

Then it dawned on him. Gaunt's eyes widened as he figured out who he was talking to. "You!" A spindly finger pointed at the boy on the giant's shoulder. "You're the one who attacked me in the old subway a while back! Can't you ever let me take a stroll in peace?" He was a little concerned about another violent episode, but Gaunt was hoping that the giant would come to his defense if the boy went full antihero on him.

[Gaunt]

Vincent was taking well to this whole superhero thing, acting all authoritative. "Yeah, what he said!" Kaie chimed in, trying to look serious. She was so used to easy confrontations, it was weird having someone act so defiantly innocent. She didn't quite know how to process it.

His story was weird, to say the least. A metahuman using invisibility to go for a walk among the warehouses? None of it made sense. It was the kind of alibi that showed up in silly crime comedies. "Seriously? Ye were going for a walk here?" The disbelief was visible on her face. This guy better have a good excuse, or it was off to the slammer with him. Once they found a crime, of course. They still hadn't found any wrongdoing, but it was so obvious that you just knew some was going on.

She was taken aback when the ugly super turned things around on them. Kaie turned her head to Vincent. "Vi- V, you know this guy?" That was close, she had almost said his name. Still, this was a shocking revelation if it was true. How would Vincent meet a creep like this?

[Deleted]

Vincent's instincts faltered as the man accused Vincent of attacking him in a subway before. The boy had no recollection of what the man was talking about, and all he could feel was confusion. He slowly lowered his sword as he wondered just what the man was talking about. Vincent would never attack someone without a just reason. The only reason he had brought out his weapon was due to his instincts screaming at him that this person was a danger. None of this made any sense to him.

"I have no idea who he is...," Vincent said as he looked the man over again. He would definitely have remembered someone with his appearance. If it had not been for Kaie, Vincent would have easily labeled him as a demon just from his appearance. This world had all sorts of creatures that Vincent had to be careful who he tried to slay and purify. Not all of them were evil, and Vincent had no idea which category this man fell into.

"You must have me mistaken for someone else," Vincent said before returning to the matter at hand. "You still have not given us an answer. Just what are you doing out here?" Stay on point. Yes. That should work from the shows he had watched on the magical box. At least Vincent hoped it would work.

[Gaunt]

Okay, maybe his walk excuse wasn't that great. Even the notoriously dim Rumble seemed pretty skeptical, but Gaunt was going to stick to his guns here. He kept the same annoyed, defiant expression, staring down the two heroes. Absently, the vampire shifted his stance a little, making sure his gun remained concealed under his jacket. If he slouched too much, the hand cannon could show an outline. He had to keep good posture.

If V was pretending not to remember Gaunt, he was doing a damn good job of it. He seemed to genuinely not recognize the vampire. Gaunt scowled, ignoring the hero's question. "Oi!" He shouted. "You attacked me! You broke my invisibility, tossed me around, and did some other magic [REDACTED]! Did it slip your mind? Do you do that so much you just forgot?" Gaunt took a step forward, staring up at the two of them. At the very least, this could put them off their game. It was a pretty shocking revelation about the new hero, and it had the added weight of being true. Not that either of these dunces was a living lie detector, but the sincerity helped. Gaunt glanced over at the giant. "He drag you into this too?"

[Gaunt]

Kaie turned back to the ugly man. She was pretty confused by all this, but she trusted Vincent. He'd been almost comically honest since she met him, and she couldn't imagine him lying about this. "Maybe ye got the wrong guy? I mean he is hidin his face." She was starting to wonder how pointy-ears could be so sure, with Vincent's face hidden and his voice magically altered. Was there an impostor on the loose?

She stood a bit stronger when the man started yelling. Now she was getting mad. Vincent had been the ultimate gentleman with her, maybe a little more gentlemanly than she would have liked And she was NOT going to hear him slandered like this. He was nice, and definitely not the kind of guy to hunt other metahumans for sport, even ugly rude ones like this one. "Hey! I know V here, and he ain't nothin like that! Either ye got the wrong guy or yer making this up, but either way ye have'no answered the question! Now why are ye really here?" She scowled right back at him. That was one of the advantages of having a maskless costume, she could really put her facial expressions to work. She hadn't really seen it, but Kaie was pretty sure that a glaring fanged giant was pretty intimidating.

[Deleted]

"You either have me mistaken for someone else or are trying to lie to us to get out of this situation. Being out here with unclear motives, you are certainly the one to lie in this situation," Vincent said calmly at the strange man. It was almost as if someone else was talking out of Vincent now. In a way, someone was. Just that someone was all those detectives Vincent had watched on the magical box. Otherwise, he would have been standing there clueless. Good thing his voice was masked to make it sound like he knew what he was saying.

And it seemed Kaie was taking Vincent's side as well. He was glad as he had no idea what he would have done if the giantess had started to believe the stranger. Vincent really had no idea what the man was talking about or how he could even recognize him if it was truth. This was the first time Vincent had used this outfit after all. The only thing was his sword.... but those thoughts melted away when he saw Kaie glaring at the man. For being so soft, that face was pretty scary.

"Answer us or we will have to bring in back up to deal with you," Vincent threatened as he materialized a Titan communicator in his hand. What the strange man did not know was the item was hollow. Vincent had no idea how those things worked so he could only materialize the outside of it. Hopefully that would get the job done.

[Gaunt]

Gaunt was as sure as he reasonably could be, but this guy didn't seem to remember and the big girl was backing him up. Maybe there had been some sort of brainwashing thing, that happened every thirty seconds with these hero types. He would have to look into it later, but keeping up this line of discussion was getting him nowhere right now. If anything, it was only making his situation worse. Instead of facing down two confused supers, he was facing down two angry supers. Not really a good position to be in.

"Look, I already told you idiots I'm going for a walk. Now are you going to keep harassing and threatening me, or can I go on my way?" He pulled out a cigarette, lighting up and blowing smoke up at them. "I got a few things to pick up, and I'd like to get that taken care of sooner than later. Maybe you two should get back to work and stop hassling random citizens." Gaunt turned on his heel, starting to walk away again. With any luck, that would get them to back off. If not, he could always hang the threat of a harassment suit over their heads. It was an empty threat, but they didn't know that. These two didn't seem all that bright anyway.

[Gaunt]

Seeing Vincent hold up a communicator, Kaie followed suit. She pulled out her plus sized T-comm, holding it up for the ugly metahuman to see. She wasn't sure why they would call for backup for just an uncooperative suspicious chap, but it was probably a bluff anyway. In that case, it was better for her to back him up. And if it wasn't a bluff, she'd likely have to call it in. There was no telling if Vincent even knew how to operate a communicator.

When he started to storm off again, Kaie opened her mouth to speak. Then she stopped, hand still up. He had a point. They had nothing on him, besides vague suspicion that could probably get them in trouble if they kept running with it. She sighed, turning to look at Vincent. "He's kinda right." she said reluctantly, her face falling. "Les' jus get back to patrol." This totally blew. She was hoping to have something cool happen, and that had been blown by the first super she'd seen on an official patrol just being some grumpy old man. She would have to hope for better luck next time.

[Deleted]

Vincent narrowed his eyes at the strange man through the puff of smoke he blew at them. Not the nicest thing someone could do, but it was also not reason enough pick a fight with the man. Something inside Vincent really wanted to lash out at the man, and Vincent had no idea why that feeling was there. Sure, there was something familiar about the guy but not anything unique. Whatever this feeling was, Vincent would figure it out later. Hopefully.

It was Kaie's voice that snapped Vincent out of his thoughts. He turned around and smiled up at her. "There was definitely something weird about him and not just the way he looked. Oh wells. This thing wouldn't have worked anyways," Vincent said as he broke the fake communicator in half to show it was hollow inside. "And you have a really big one!" he exclaimed as he looked over to Kaie's own communicator.

Even though Vincent was behaving normally again, he was simply doing his best to ignore the weird feeling the strange man had brought. It was a bad sensation, and Vincent was glad Kaie was the one with him right now. Anyone else and Vincent would have probably dwelled on it for far too long.

Alright. Invisibility back on?" he asked as he gathered the energy in his left hand.

[Gaunt]

Gaunt let out a sigh of relief as the two held back. His bluff had finally paid off, and he could leave with his score. It was so tempting to bid them adieu with a rude gesture, but he didn't want to give them an excuse to come after him again. Mr. Gaunt would have to be content with just absconding. He shimmered for a moment, his image warping as he faded out of sight.

He made his way back home, silently venting his frustration as he traveled above ground. Nobody could see it, but he was letting a bird fly in each direction the whole way. It wasn't until he reached the tunnels that he settled down, turning visible as he locked the gate behind him. Gaunt still had a lot of work ahead of him sorting through the data, and he'd wasted enough time with those chumps.

[exit]

[Gaunt]

Kaie nodded. "Yeah, somethin ain't right. An' the way he tried to smear you, that just weren't right. I don't like him." Kaie glared after the thin man as he flickered out of sight. That was the worst part of being a good guy, you had to play by the rules. They had nothing on him, so they had to let the most obviously suspicious guy since Snidely Whiplash just walk away. "We shoulda asked his name, maybe he's a supercriminal or somethin."

She couldn't help laughing when Vincent popped open his communicator. "I were wonderin' where ya got it!" Kaie held up her own. "This one's all real. Cy made it special fer me, since I got big hands and all. Canna really use the buttons on the normal ones." She slipped it back into her pouch. She'd insisted on having a few of those on her costume, just in case. They'd kinda gone out of fashion after the 90s, but she still liked them. "Sure thing V, let's go ghost!" The giantess gave him a wink and a grin before they vanished.

[Deleted]

Vincent released the energy the moment he had confirmation from Kaie, and the two vanished from sight immediately. The spell was easier to cast now that he had done it before. Getting it right the first time was always the difficult part, and now he knew how much energy it required to make them both invisible. As long as they didn't run into that guy again, everything would be good.

"Wonder what else we will run into tonight," Vincent said softly as he floated up and set himself down on her shoulder. He could see far again from up here, but Vincent just wanted to be closer to Kaie. The closer he was, the easier it was to ignore the dark feeling the man had brought out in him. Vincent took in a deep breath to steady himself before looking out over the docks again.

"I've gotta admit. Your height advantage makes it easier to spot things," Vincent said, doing his best to keep his mind occupied.

[Gaunt]

Kaie grinned broadly as they faded from sight. This was so cool! She loved magic in general, but being invisible like this was just too awesome for words. Rumble started walking, keeping an eye out. "I hope we find somethin, it just wouldn' feel right if that were the only encounter we had tonight. That were just disappointing." She was probably going to be grumpy about that for a while. Her super encounters hadn't been going as well since her first. "I'll be yer lookout!" she said with a giant smile.

As they walked, an idea started to form in Kaie's head. Sure, the beach trip had been nice, but they hadn't been on a legit date yet. "Say, Vincent." she asked, momentarily forgetting about secret identities. "We're both free tomorrow night, right? Wanna go for a movie?" She blushed slightly, looking away to hide it.

[Deleted]

Vincent had been focused on looking around the docks he had not expected Kaie's question. Then again, it seemed like a normal question among anything she could have asked. As far as he knew, it was just going to be hanging out with her yet again. It was not like she had asked him to go to the beach again. Vincent was not sure if he was ready for another day like that after what they went through. Even now Vincent did his best to not think about the feelings that had been brought up then.

"Sure! You'll have to show me where and everything. I know I've heard people talking about going to the movies, but I never knew exactly what they were talking about," Vincent agreed to the date. He said nothing as she looked away since he figured she was just scouting the area.

"Where should we meet up?"

[Gaunt]

Kaie had to hold back a squee. A real date with Vincent! This was gonna be so great. She was pretty sure she had a sense of what he might like, so she'd have to look over what was out to pick something. It was a hell of a responsibility, introducing Vincent to his first movie. It was going to take a lot of thinking. Kaie hoped she was up to it, thinking wasn't generally her thing.

"Great, so it's a date!" she finally managed to say, smiling at him and blushing slightly. She wasn't quite sure if Vincent knew that word, but she'd be sure to teach him if he didn't. Among other things NO GO AWAY BAD THOUGHTS NOW IS NOT THE TIME. "I can meet ye at the tower tomorrow night, okay? I'll contact you on the crystals when I know a time." Acting on impulse, Kaie turned and kissed him on the cheek. Immediately she looked away again, blushing as they went back to patrol.