Free to Play

1.10 - Theo

Steadfast stepped in the alleyway after donning his mask. It was a big step for him to extend his trust to someone else, but he knew how long an average vigilante lasted if they stayed solo. Having someone mind your back went a long way in extending your average lifespan and hero career.

He sighed in relief at what he saw. The Tinker was white, but he looked rail-thin and wore such an awful cowboy costume that he couldn't possibly have been a member of the Empire Eighty-Eight. Theo was half-afraid his father would keep tabs on him by surrounding his son with henchmen.

The Tinker jumped down from his sitting position at the top of his garbage truck and held out his hand. "Hey, you came! Thanks for coming to meet me. I'm the Void Cowboy."

"Steadfast." Theo introduced himself as he shook the excited teen's clammy hand. He absently wiped his hand against his jacket. "So what's your Tinker specialty?"

"Nothing big. Just some guns, and stuff." Void Cowboy drew his pistols from his holsters and showed them off. "I built these babies first. They can zap people with electricity, and I made sure they're not strong enough to fry people to death."

At least their team had that area covered. Theo nodded in satisfaction. "That's good. When I use my power, I become tough, but I don't get much stronger. I'll be too slow to chase enemies around, so it's up to you to take out the criminals."

"I get it. You're the tank and I'm the ranged dps." Void Cowboy stated, as if that was supposed to mean something to Theo. "How about we get right into it? You wanna go and patrol the outskirts of E88 territory?"

'No!' Theo momentarily panicked. "If you mind, I'd rather start somewhere else. The Empire has a lot of villains. I doubt we stand a chance against any of their core members. How about we head to the ABB?"

Now it was the Tinker's turn to look apprehensive. "Uhm, yeah, I already went there in my previous patrol. How about.. we go to the Trainyard or something? That place must be crawling with Merchants, right?"

The Merchants actually didn't hold any permanent territory per se, but it was a good suggestion nonetheless. "I'm okay with that."

The two stepped out the alley and calmly walked to their destination, keeping an eye out for any trouble. Though the night was just beginning to start, there were still plenty of people on the streets. Hardly any of them failed to notice the two young heroes and gave them a curious stare. Some even withdrew their cell phones and took pictures. Theo normally avoided cameras, but as Steadfast, he refused to show any fear. Besides, ever since Free2Play popped up, unknown costumed capes started to appear openly on the streets. Theo regularly spotted some on his way to school.

"I should have brought my car." Void Cowboy grumbled and he put his hands in his pockets.

"Why didn't you?"

"Oh, ehh.. I don't actually know how to drive." He laughed. "I'm not old enough to get a driver's license."

Neither was Theo, so he dropped the subject. So far, he found his new partner to be tolerable. Sure, Void Cowboy was.. different. Yet he meant well, and that was a good first step.

They spotted the first sign of trouble not at the Trainyards, but along a small local shopping street on their way to the outskirts of the city. Two young men and a woman were robbing a 24/7 deli with brazen violence and speed. Instead of guns, they used their powers to terrorize the shop clerk. Theo didn't like what he saw. One of the men clawed open potato chip bags with hardened and extended nails. The other one brutally cracked open the cash register with the shop of his hand. The woman on the other hand did nothing except stand near the exit. 'We don't know what her powers are, if she even has one.'

Void Cowboy frowned at the sight. "These guys.. the first thing they can think of after they gain powers is to rob a store? They haven't even bothered to dress up like villains."

The woman spotted the heroes and yelled a warning at her friends.

"Shit, we're made!" Void Cowboy swore and brought up both of his electric pistols to zap at the woman. Unfortunately, the small bursts of lightning failed to penetrate the windows.

Theo mentally groaned. He knew enough about cape combat that starting a fight while outnumbered was not a good idea. He activated his powers, feeling his skin turn into metal, and marched forward while the robbers appraised the do-gooders that aimed to stop them. "Void, call 911."

"What? But-"

"You can't do anything with the windows blocking your shots. Call the cops before you join me, okay?"

"Sure." The Tinker grumbled and holstered a pistol in order to grab his cell phone.

With backup on the way, Theo continued his slow advance. The clawed man laughed at his approach. "What are you doing here, fatty? You taking this hero shit seriously?"

"I'm here to stop you."

"You really don't want to mess with me." The clawman said. "I'll open you up like a can of tuna if you don't step out of our way."

The other robber finished emptying the cash register. "I got the goods! Let's go man!"

But Steadfast parked himself at the entrance of the deli. "You'll have to go through me if you want to run."

The three robbers looked questioningly at each other, as if they hadn't thought something like this would happen. Then the woman unsheathed a sharp kitchen knife and spoke up. "Ah fuck it, just kill the wannabe and let's go."

Having decided their course, the three advanced on Steadfast, not showing any hesitation or remorse of their intended action. Theo frowned behind his mask. 'These newcomers have no awareness of the unwritten rules.'

He really wished Free2Play would consider her no-questions-asked policy of empowering every single person that visited her. Giving too much power to the wrong people was liable to cause a lot of harm. He raised his arms and blocked a strike from the first attacker. The claws raked his metal skin but failed to penetrate. This only seemed to make the clawman angrier and strike faster, keeping Theo's attention occupied. That was bad since Theo knew the other man was the real threat.

Yet while the villainous striker tried to shift behind him, it was the woman who struck the first real blow. Her kitchen knife stabbed Steadfast's elbow and drew blood. Theo kicked low and managed to push her back before she could strike again. 'Damnit, the armor at my joints are thinner. How did she know that? She could be a thinker.'

But the fight went too quickly for him to dwell that long. The clawman switched his approach and tried to pierce his chest, sometimes succeeding in pushing past the metal skin, but then-

The striker received a full volley electric zaps just as he was about to attack Steadfast from behind. He fell to the ground, stunned, and leaving his teammates momentarily bewildered. Steadfast seized the opportunity and knocked the knife out of the woman's hand. She retreated, and instead of going for her weapon, she dove to her fallen friend and pried off the bag holding the cash, a task made more difficult since the body held it down. Her greed bought Void Cowboy enough time to get a clear shot and stun her into submission.

Theo had been busy as well. With no more distraction, he cut off the clawman's attempt at escape and knocked his head with a metal fist. He wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Steadfast let his skin turn back to normal, and helped Void Cowboy tie the criminals up. While Theo was satisfied with waiting for the authorities to arrive, his Tinker partner had other ideas. "What are you doing?"

"I'm using my right as a vigilante to claim the spoils the villains took for themselves." The cowboy cape rummaged through the back pocket of the unconscious woman and pulled out her wallet. He opened it and pulled out a handful of bills. He quickly repeated his actions with the other wallets.

"I don't think the vigilante laws work that way, Cowboy." Theo said, concerned. This looked far too much like robbery to him. The sirens were coming closer.

"Aw, just bear with me, okay? I'm flat broke and I need the money if I want to build better shit."

The Tinker at least had the sense to put the wallets back before the authorities arrived. A PRT van and a couple of police cars had shown up and were taking things over.

A bearded man in a light uniform approached the pair of heroes, and was not exactly impressed with what he saw. "You two another one of those 'free to play' capes?"

"Yes." Cowboy answered. "And we're heroes."

"Uh huh. Have you registered with the PRT yet?"

"Uhm, no."

"This is my first time out."

The PRT officer crossed his arms. "Then I highly suggest you register yourselves with the Parahuman Response Team as soon as possible. It won't take long and we'll just ask some basic questions. We just want to keep a count on how many of you are out here. If you want, you can apply to join the Junior Ward Program."

Steadfast wasn't so sure about that. His father wouldn't like it, and the PRT might try to pressure him into the Wards.

"Junior Wards?" Void Cowboy asked. "I haven't heard anything about that. Is that different from the normal Wards?"

"It's brand new." The man explained with a shrug, as if to say he cared little about the matter. "Too many of you heroes are running around like headless chickens. If you join the Junior Wards, we can teach you the ropes and give you a nice little salary. It's less of a commitment than the regular Ward program, but you can promote to it if you pass our qualifications."

"Thank you, sir. But we'd like to go now." Steadfast said, and gently dragged Void Cowboy away.

"Don't forget to register!"

As they left the deli, the clerk groaned at the damage he had to clean up. "This is the second time this week we got robbed by villains. This town's turning into a warzone. Maybe I should get some powers too."

When they were finally out of earshot, Void Cowboy turned to his partner. "What was that about?"

"I.. I don't want to join the Wards." Theo looked down. "Could you not pry any further, please?"

"Sure.. whatever you say man. I can deal with it." The Tinker said, and they both started walking again. "I'm not planning to join the Wards either. Too many people. It would be the same as school."

They had reached the Trainyards sometime later and patrolled the outskirts. To their disappointment, the site was almost completely empty. While they frequently heard police sirens, most of them zoomed past and went to other, more densely populated locations. Void Cowboy grew impatient and frustrated first. "This is a waste of time. Where the hell are all the drug dealers?"

"If we can find them that easily, they wouldn't stay in business." Steadfast explained, having seen more than enough times how meticulously his father managed his distribution operations. "Some Merchants might setup here a few days, then scram to someplace else when the cops start to get wind of it. That's how they usually stay in business."

Just when they were about to give up and go home, they came across a gruesome sight. Void Cowboy had to hold in his stomach as a faint stench permeated the air. Steadfast looked down on what appeared to be a group of four budding heroes, wearing cheap masks and costumes not unlike Void Cowboy's in their make. Right now most had tears, rips or were soaked in blood that had clotted over. One of the bodies had their heads ripped off. The other seemed to have most of its guts spilled out. A third had his entire body staked to a pole. As for the sole girl of the group, Theo couldn't put into words what she had gone through.

Void Cowboy finally couldn't hold it in and emptied his stomach onto a nearby bush. Theo stepped back, having seen more than enough, and shakily withdrew his phone in order to call the police. When Theo finished his call, he put the phone away and went over to his friend and gently clapped his back.

"It's horrible." Void Cowboy coughed as he tried to get rid of the foulness left in his mouth. "You know..we could have ended up like them. Dead. Forgotten. Thrown away like trash."

Not exactly. Steadfast recognized some of the wounds on the bodies he spotted. They seemed remarkably similar to what Hookwolf inflicted on his opponents when his father had once forced him to attend a cage fight. That he knew who was responsible for the murders just made him feel worse. But he also steeled himself and refused to let the situation overcome his emotions. 'This is the reason why I want to become a hero. I want to get away from the madness. No, I want to do more than that. I want to stop this misery.'

"You're holding out pretty good, Steadfast. Heh, I guess you've named yourself well." Void Cowboy looked down at his costume and his holstered pistols. "Goddammit, I'm shaking in my boots. This is not what I had in mind when I decided to be a hero.."

"This is the risk we take when we fight the villains." Steadfast said, hoping his partner wouldn't see how scared he was himself. He just hid it better. "This won't be the last time."

They shared a solemn moment of silence before Void Cowboy spoke up again. "Hey, I'm wondering.. did Freebie foresee this would happen? Do you think she cares? What if she's some kind of sadist power vampire? There's got to be a catch to those free powers, you know what I'm saying?"

"It's not her fault." Theo replied, though he was not exactly willing to defend someone he hardly knew. "I don't know what Freebie has in mind, but remember that it was us who came to her in the first place. What we do with our powers is our own responsibility."

"Yeah.. you're right.. I guess." Fortunately for Theo, Void Cowboy had nothing more to say. They both waited for the authorities to arrive and made their statements.