Hello! How're you all enjoying this story? Leave a review if you love it, hate it, have questions or predictions. Hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy episode 5.
Danger S1E5: Dangerous Accusations
July 20, 2021
"…you would be rich. I could make you so much more than this false hero you pretend to be." Mob Boss Rob Moss tells Barricade as he's being dragged to the cops by the hero.
Barricade and Danger Force have just disrupted a huge deal the mob had been making. To their lucky surprise Mob Boss Rob Moss himself had been in the act and now was being arrested again. "No thanks. I like my job, and I'm not interested in your dirty money." Barricade denies.
"But a man of your skills could go far in my organization." Mob Boss Rob Moss entices.
"I don't see how my powers would be of any use to a mob, they're not exactly useful to money laundering or power broking." Barricade says.
"I don't mean your powers." Mob Boss Rob Moss says. "I mean your cunning and mastery of deception."
"What are you talking about?" Barricade asks, stopping with the mob boss a couple feet from the cop car he's leading him to.
"I mean that even I haven't figured out how you did it. Got away with it." Mob Boss Rob Moss says, jumping aggressively into the opportunity he thinks he sees. "I've had my spies feed me every detail they can, but it still makes no sense to me. That means you are good, the best I've ever seen at this sort of trickery; and that makes you're exactly the kind of person I need on my crew. All you have to do is help me escape."
Barricade frowns, "Again, what are you talking about?"
"What's going on? Bring Rob Moss over here." Police Chief Stalwart says, coming up to the pair. The other cops and the news crews have their attentions tuned towards the mob boss and hero as well.
However before Chief Stalwart's words are finished, Rob Moss is uttering his next sentence. "I'm talkin' about how you killed Captain Man and got away with it." He says, his words caught by nearly all the onlookers' ears.
A cold bolt thunders through Henry at the unimaginable words. His jaw drops but no noise can escape his throat. Outside him the rest of the scene has fallen silent as well. All eyes, even those through the live new footage fix on Barricade. "What!?" a newsman cries in astonishment. "He killed Captain Man?" Again, the words cut through Henry, so wrong that he can't believe they've been repeated.
Voices of disbelief and fear break out all at once around the scene for a moment before Chief Stalwart settles the crowd and says in a very practiced way. "No. Barricade is a friend of Danger Force. He couldn't have had anything to do with…"
"Of course, he did." Mob Boss Rob Moss interrupts, "You can't tell me you don't suspect it to Chief, it's obvious; look at the evidence."
"I-I don't…" Chief Stalwart trails off. He casts a guiltily suspicious look at Barricade. "What evidence are you talking about?" he asks of Rob Moss.
People press in to hear what the mobster has to say. Danger Force as well, taking places near Henry, Mob Boss Rob Moss and Chief Stalwart. They are silent with shock and disbelief at the accusation.
Seizing his chance to prolong the moment before his imprisonment, Mob Boss Rob Moss breaks free from Barricade's loosened hold to speak. "Everything that's happened in the weeks since this boy showed up and Captain Man died. From the time he appeared at the power station during the blackout things have worked out to lead him here. All the evidence and lack thereof from that day. His mysterious and timely arrival."
"Timely?" Shoutout says upset, though ignored as Rob Moss presses on.
"His interference during the police investigation shortly after the attack, the unexplained substance and it's reaction and disappearance when met with his presence. The fact that Danger Force, who are supposedly his friends didn't know his name."
"I did to!" Volt says. The surprised eyes of the civilians turning towards her defensive tone.
"Don't lie, Child!" Mob Boss Rob Moss commands, "Everyone there knew you didn't. Just ask them." He directs his gaze to Officer Lacy, knowing specifically that she had been the one to call Volt out that day.
Officer Lacy fidgets, "Well uh, yeah. You did seem to be saying something else than Barricade, something with a 'k' sound." She admits.
The civilians onlooking who'd known nothing of this become more frightened and astonished at her words. Not even the reporters say a word as they listen intently to the story Mob Boss Rob Moss tells, enthralled by the seeming answers he provides about the mysterious hero.
"So maybe she almost slipped up and said the wrong name!" Shoutout suggests, not untruthfully, attempting to deter the sway Mob Boss Rob Moss has attained over the people. "That doesn't mean we didn't know him."
"We've known Barricade as long as we've known Captain Man." Volt adds. "He's out friend!"
"Your interactions prove otherwise. His one exchange with Drex established that the two of them have a relationship more than your entire month with him has done to confirm that any of you four do." Rob Moss says.
"You mean when they fought over the security of Captain Man's body and made it very obvious that they hate each other?" AWOL asks rhetorically.
"Not all villains like each other." Mob Boss Rob Moss states. "And when Drex threatened to tell Barricade's secrets he was quick to shut him up. I ask you: what kind of secrets could he so want to keep quiet? What dirt could Drex have on him that he felt would mess with his standing in the city?"
The spectators of the argument are riveted, hanging onto Mob Boss Rob Moss' every word as he feeds their doubts.
"It was he who 'discovered' and interacted with Captain Man's so called 'body' when the man who should've been indestructible died." Mob Boss Rob Moss continues
"Barricade tried to save Captain Man. He's the one who did chest compressions on the body for twenty minutes." Volt says.
"He's the one who called off the resuscitation efforts and order you all away with it before proper medical exams could be performed." Rob Moss retorts. "He has been with the four of you almost every second since he first showed up. Even when he's not there he has his other Dystopian friends watching. He wormed his way into your team and took over as leader. Swept right into the vacated role of 'Captain Man' before the body was cold."
"He took over as leader because we asked him to." Shoutout argues.
"Asked him? Or were manipulated into it?" Rob Moss retorts.
"Barricade didn't kill Captain Man." she says defiantly.
Mob Boss Rob Moss laughs and give her a nearly pitying look. "Don't you see? This is the greatest part of it: he did it all so well that even you were taken in. Made it so none of you would suspect him; because the evidence is so infinitesimal and circumstantial, that the law cannot even accuse him of doing it. So, the police can't act on their suspicions, and he gets to continue to galivanting through the city playing his manipulative games, pulling it over all the people by becoming the new hero."
The police look uncomfortable and somewhat guilty under the stares of the citizens. None say anything, and in doing so give away the truth of their distrust. "You're wrong!" Brainstorm cries out, "You're using confusing words to make it seem the way you want it to. But you're wrong, we know better than you what happened, and we know Barricade; he would never have hurt Captain Man."
Mob Boss Rob Moss smirks, "If I am wrong, then why hasn't Barricade said anything in his own defense? Why does he only glare at me?" he looks to Barricade, who is filled so by indignation that words escape him. He can only glare horrified and sickened at the mobster. "Why so silent, Boy? Can't come up with a response to my revelations?" Mob Boss Rob Moss asks. "By now you've lost your chance to join me, I know I'm going to jail. I just want to know how you did it? How did you kill Captain Man, kid?" he implores most longingly, stepping close into Henry's personal space.
Henry snaps. "Don't call me Kid!" the nickname, the one Ray had called him more often than any else, being used in the same sentence as an accusation of Henry murdering his friend, is too much. The hurricane of cold, terrible emotions inside him whirls so violently that his control is lost in the storm. He decks the mobster hard, striking him to the ground. "And stop saying that I killed him. I would never… he was my best friend, my brother. I didn't kill him! I never could've killed him! Don't ever accuse me of killing him!"
The police intervene, dragging the mob boss away to a car and trying to hold Barricade back, perhaps even arrest him as many of them would like. But he casts them all off with his force field and they cower before him.
Henry huffs unevenly, staring back at the people and cameras watching him. The tension is almost solid as none of them move. "I didn't kill him!" he shouts again.
(Theme song: Henry's Voice dubbed over the image of Captain Man's bronze statue. "It all just kinda happened. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He shouldn't have died. But now here I am, doing his job." Cut scene to Man's Nest in chaos as the members of Danger Force and Schwoz run around reacting to an emergency alert blaring through the base. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this." Henry states and the music of the theme song begins to play...)
July 24, 2021
The studio of KLVY flashes over every screen in Swellview with the news. "Captain Man is dead, he's gone." Trent Overunder says, "It's been a month since the Hero of Swellview died and we Swellviewians still don't know how it happened. No official explanation has been given by the city government nor by Danger Force, though perhaps that is because of the questionable figure among them."
"That's right Trent," Mary Gaperman says with a nod, "Danger Force's newest member 'Barricade' is now suspected of having murdered Captain Man. A rumor started last Tuesday night by notorious criminal Mob Boss Rob Moss."
"But it isn't just the Mob Boss who suspects it now. Several police officers have voiced their thoughts in the days since and multiple blogger and social media personalities have shared collections of evidence against Barricade. Most of the citizens of Swellview now believe there is no doubt in his guilt. And the question is 'how long can he evade arrest now that his crime is public knowledge?'" Trent says.
"Turn that off." Henry demands roughly. He carves an enraged path through the Man's Nest with his pacing.
Charlotte mutes it most willingly, watching him concerned, as she seems to have been doing for a month. "Henry don't take it personally." She cautions, "Not everyone believes the rumors and they- we are not going to stop defending you."
"Yeah, great! I've got twelve people in the whole city who don't believe I murdered my best friend. That makes everyone else's hatred of me irrelevant." He says with sarcastic shrug at her. "I can hardly do my job because the people are more scared of me than of the villains I'm rescuing them from, but what does that matter as long as my closest friends still believe my innocence?"
"Don't be a jerk!" Piper scolds. She is sitting on the couch, working on a tablet. The siblings glare at each other for a moment before Henry resumes his pacing.
"Sorry if I come off as a jerk because the whole world thinking I'm a murderer makes me a bit upset." He growls.
"You need to take a break, Hen, and a breath; your attitude isn't helping anything. Go do something besides fight, sleep and eat." Charlotte speaks up before Henry can say anything else.
"I'm fine." he says defensively.
"Right, clearly." Piper says with sarcasm. He rolls his eyes.
"She's right Bro, let's go do something. You and me, Jasper and Henry, hanging out like normal buddies do." Jasper suggests stepping towards Henry. Henry brushes past him with a huff.
"That would be an irresponsible waste of time. We're in the longest, craziest crime wave in Swellview history. I should be out helping Danger Force." Henry says.
"They're dealing with a bank robbery." Charlotte points out. "It's not a big deal, they can handle it on their own and there's been no other emergencies reported in the last hour, so you really don't need to go out."
"I'm sure I can find something." He says, changing his direction of motion towards the tube. "It's not like every emergency is being reported to us anymore, since the people know it's us, not just Danger Force, on the other end of the line."
Piper gets in his way. He glares at her as she mirrors his moves, not letting him pass her. "They don't need you right now." She says, "There's no need for you to go out as Barricade. Your friends are telling you to take a break. So, for once in your life listen to Charlotte and find something else to do."
"If you want to do something worthwhile then let's go to the memorial." Charlotte says. "Let's go take some time to remember Ray and let our wounds of loss heal."
Henry's fists clench, his eyes close and his scowl turns into a grimace. He breathes slowly as he suppresses the rising unwanted emotions with a fresh wave of irritation. "The only thing that's going to make me feel better is hitting something." He says, sidestepping around Piper, this time successfully getting past her and finishes his course to the tube.
"That's not going to help you." Charlotte says, standing from her seat so as to chase him.
Henry reaches the platform and calls the command before any of them can stop him.
"You can't just leave anytime one of us suggests you deal with your grief!" Piper calls futilely after him. She rolls her eyes and huffs, much like her brother had moments before. "He's not okay."
Charlotte sighs and resumes her seat. "No. And he makes it so hard to help him."
"Well, we need to do something or he's going to get himself hurt." Jasper says.
Henry walks the streets of Swellview looking for trouble. His Barricade uniform seems to be having the reverse effect it usually does, trouble is avoiding him. Everything is. People on the streets turn around or duck into stores as he nears, they give him a wide berth and fearfully watch him pass. Some of them, maybe many of them, must call the police to report him because soon he's being followed by a cop car.
After this goes on for a while he stops and turns to the car. They reluctantly roll down their window when he knocks on it. "Yes?" the man says apprehensively, "Can we help you?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing. You've been tailing me for several miles." He says as politely as he can.
"Uh, we were just wondering what you were doing. Thought there might be trouble." The officer says.
Henry raises one eyebrow at them. He can see the officer across the car has his hand on his gun lightly. "Mhmm. Well, no trouble, just patrolling. Something most superheroes do." He says, eyeing them both. "But if you see anything feel free to call the Captain Man hotline, we're always available to help." He pulls away from the window.
"You still call it the Captain Man hotline, now that he's dead?" one of the officers asks before Henry's taken a full step back.
He frowns at the officer, "We're not going to change the names of everything just because he died." he says, "It's still his stuff, we're just, forgive the pun, manning it now that he's gone. It would be disrespectful to take his name from it, and I would never disrespect him."
The other officer scoffs lightly. Henry frowns more annoyed. He leans back down to the window, "I know you don't believe it, but I didn't kill him." he says staunchly.
The officer sneers and aggressively asks, "Even if you didn't, what gives you the right to take and use his stuff?" His hand is still resting on his gun. "It's illegal to take someone's stuff even after they're dead. Swellview City law won't let you keep it, they'll have it passed to his inheritors."
Henry sneers back and decides after a moment that the best way to answer the question is with a straight fact, "It was; he willed it to his team and family, both of which I belong to. He and I were family, and I now lead Danger Force at their request because I'm one of his oldest teammates. He left the Mancave to me and the crime fighting technology and weapons to our team with the request that we use it to continue to protect Swellview."
The officers look surprised and disbelieving. "He had a will, and left you his stuff?"
"Yeah, that's how close we were. So maybe you should try to find real facts before you believe someone guilty of murder." Henry says. They don't ask any other questions nor follow him as he walks away.
(Commercial Break)
Henry loses track of time as he chases down criminals to fight. He stops a mugging, a few robberies at small stores, but nothing turns into the fight he wants, everyone is too scared of him, surrenders to easily. His aggravation isn't getting vented.
It must be many hours later that something big finally happens. He can hear the sirens from blocks away and immediately takes off towards them. On the steps of City Hall, he finds Dr. Minyak seeking for attention by ambushing the members of city government as they leave work for the day.
He wields a strange blaster, surely of his own design, and is accompanied by a handful of goons, who keep the ambushed city officials as hostages. Most notably there is Goomer, whom Henry had never expected to see working with the mad scientist. What with Minyak being one of the technically smartest villains and Goomer being one of the dumbest. But he supposes Minyak must need the muscle and Goomer would be easy to take in.
Dr. Minyak is standing at the top of the stairs, proclaiming his plans and belief in an inevitable victory to the audience he's gathered. "Citizens of Swellview, gaze upon me! I am the greatest supervillain in the world, and I now declare this city to be mine! With Captain Man gone no one can stop me! I've taken your city leaders hostage and will only spare their lives if all of Swellview acknowledges my command."
"Stand down Minyak!" Chief Stalwart calls from his position behind his car, he and several other cops have formed a line along the curb and have their guns trained on the villain.
"No. I will not." Minyak says. He shoots his blaster at the cops, and it melts a chunk of the patrol car.
Barricade leaps on top of Chief Stalwart's now ruined car, joining the confrontation. "Give up now Minyak, you know your plan is going to fail, they always do." He says and everyone around him goes tense.
Minyak glares at Barricade and seethes a "You!" at him. "You stole my vengeance, I wanted to be the one to kill Captain Man. You will not take my victory today too." He shouts and shoots his weapon at Barricade, who deflects it off his force field with a flex of his arm.
"Oh, I think I will." He responds. Dr. Minyak makes his ridiculous angry face and shoots at Barricade again. Again, it meets only the force field. The third time yields the same results. "Dude, I could do this all day." He taunts and drops from the car, walking towards Dr. Minyak.
"No. No you won't. Because I have hostages." Minyak says. "If you are any kind of real hero, you wouldn't put hostages lives in danger." He aims his blaster next at the group being held by his goons. "Goomer, bring me the mayor." He orders.
"Okay, Mr. Dr. Minyak." Goomer says, guiding Mayor Blithe away from her employees.
"It's just Doctor. Doctor is my honorific."
Barricade stops in his tracks with an unamused look at Minyak as he takes Mayor Blithe to his side. Minyak beams, "Yes, see. Whatever plan he has, he wants to be seen as a hero. He can't have any more blood on his hands."
"I didn't kill Captain Man." Barricade says indignantly, loud enough to make sure everyone can hear.
None of them believe him. "Oh, do stop with that, everyone knows you did." Minyak derides.
"No, he didn't." Goomer argues.
"What? Yes, he did." Minyak says confused at being contradicted by the slow goon. Everyone else's reactions are similar. Even Henry is surprised; of all people in Swellview it's unexpected to have a criminal defend him.
Goomer frowns at Minyak and all the other confused faces with his own nonunderstanding expression. "Captain Man was his best friend. He didn't kill him." He repeats.
"You dense-headed buffoon." Minyak insults. "Don't say stupid things like that. Just be quiet and do as I tell you."
Goomer frowns and obeys. "Okay."
"Now, all of you kneel before me. I control all of Swellview and you will bow to me as your ruler!" Minyak declares victoriously.
A flash of yellow light beside him startles the villain. The voice of the newly intervening hero says, "I'll have to pass on that, your highness." AWOL's quip is followed by him yanking the weapon out of the hands of the surprised Dr. Minyak and vanishing with it.
"Goons! Help me! Find AWOL and my blaster!" Minyak yells. Unfortunately for him all the goons except Goomer are busy dealing with the other Danger Force members who are freeing the other hostage city officials. "What!? No! No! Stop them you fools!"
Barricade doesn't miss his chance to help defeat Dr. Minyak's plan. He rushes at the villain. Minyak cannot hide his fright as he leaps away from the coming hero and shoves Mayor Blithe forward. The Mayor can't catch herself as she is pushed over the edge of the top stair, but she doesn't have to; Barricade does. He catches her mid-fall and stands her back up. "Madame Mayor." He addresses pleasantly.
"Barricade." She returns with a smile as he cuts her bonds with his laser remote. "Thank you."
"No problem." He says with a nod. "You should get to safety while we finish cleaning up this mess."
From the line of police behind him, Chief Stalwart calls, "Stop Dr. Minyak. Don't let him escape." The other hostages are all running back into the building for safety now as the heroes defeat their captors. The area is clear of people except Dr. Minyak, Goomer, Barricade and Mayor Blithe so the police take their Chief's order as an allowance to start shooting.
It only lasts a few seconds before Chief Stalwart is calling for them to "Hold. Hold your fire. The mayor is still up there!" but damage is still done.
Minyak somehow is missed by all the shots aimed at him as he runs away, but Barricade is not. A hot focused pain radiates from a point in the back of his ribs. He cries out sharply and stumbles when the bullet hits him. Mayor Blithe in response cries concernedly, "Barricade!". He doesn't let her fuss as the few seconds of fire haven't ended. He pushes her down onto the steps and shelters her but by the time they're both down the shooting has stopped.
As soon as the sound of guns has died, Barricade sits heavily down on the stairs beside Mayor Blithe and feels at the spot in his back.
"Barricade!" Mayor Blithe cries again. "You were shot! Are you okay? I'll get a medic."
"It's fine. It's not that bad." He stalls her. "My jacket's armored so it almost stopped the bullet."
"Almost?" she challenges.
"It's not a deep wound." He says, "I'll be fine. I need to make sure Minyak doesn't escape."
He clumsily gets to his feet, left hand still pressed over the wound in his back. "You can't chase him like this." She protests, "Danger Force have got him. See?" she points to where the kids have cornered the mad doctor.
Barricade sighs in relief but doesn't relax, he casts his gaze about the scene, checking on every detail to be sure it's all taken care of. The kids and police are arresting Minyak, the hostages are free, the goons are knocked out and/or tied up where they'd been keeping the hostages. Only one thing is missing, "Goomer. Where's Goomer?" Barricade asks.
"I-I don't know." Mayor Blithe says looking around. "He must've escaped."
Just as she says this, however, he spots the big guy ducking around the corner of the government building. He steels himself and chases after him, running awkwardly with one hand still holding his wound.
"Barricade!" Mayor Blithe calls worriedly after the hero as he runs off in pursuit of the criminal.
"Goomer!" Barricade shouts as he enters the alley. "Goomer stop. The fight is over, it's time for you to go back to prison."
Goomer does stop and looks at him. "But I don't want to." he says.
"You did the crime, you gotta do the time." Barricade says.
"I was just trying to impress Frankini, so he'd take me back. If I escape, maybe he might think I'm good enough for him again." Goomer says taking a couple steps more backwards.
"Maybe. But I can't let you. You did bad things, you could've hurt people." Barricade says, he's walking slowly towards Goomer. He flinches with every few steps.
"You got hurt." Goomer says sadly, stopping in his backing. "I didn't want that, I like you."
"You do?" Barricade questions surprised. He stops a couple feet from the big guy to give him a chance to explain.
"Yeah, you're a nice person. You're the bestest superhero I know." Goomer says.
Henry can't find words to reply. Goomer is continuing to defy his expectations today.
"I don't get why everybody else is hating you right now. They all think you killed Captain Man, but that's just crazy; you'd never do that." Goomer continues.
"You really believe I didn't kill Captain Man?" Henry asks timidly. "Why?"
"Of course, I know you'd never kill him; sidekicks don't kill their heroes." Goomer says.
"I- I'm not his sidekick." Henry says pausingly.
"But you was. And even though you left for a while don't mean you'd come back to kill Captain Man. You're still Kid Danger." Goomer says with a smile.
Henry freezes in surprise. A different kind of feeling creeps though him than has in a long time. Unlike when Drex had recognized him, he isn't irritated. Rather, he's amused. "Y-you, uh, you recognize me?" he asks befuddled.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I? You is the same, you just got a new costume." Goomer says like it should be obvious.
"Goomer, I…" Henry huffs. He shakes his head in disbelief. "Who would have ever expected you to find a way to be the smartest criminal in the city." He says.
"I did?" Goomer asks confused.
"Yeah, Buddy." Henry says.
"Does that mean I'm smart enough to get away from you and not go to jail?" he asks, seriously thinking hard on it.
A snicker almost breaches Henry's throat as he considers the question. "Sure." he says. "If you go quick. I am injured, it won't surprise anyone if you get away."
"Aww. Thanks." Goomer says.
"Just promise me something." Henry says as he leans against the side of the building.
"Yeah?" Goomer smiles.
"Find some better company. You're not a really bad guy and you deserve better friends than the likes of Frankini. If you stop crime-ing, you could have a happy life." Henry requests.
"Oh." Goomer's smile slips. "But I likes Frankini, he's fun."
"But he's mean to you and bad for you." Henry says.
"I know. I guess I can try to find other friends." Goomer says.
"Good." Henry says, "Now get out of here before I have to arrest you."
Goomer smiles again. "Goodbye Kid Danger." He says and runs away.
Henry slides down the wall, letting the pain win for the moment as he considers all that's happened.
It only takes his team and Mayor Blithe a couple minute to find him after that. "He's here!" Volt calls, spotting him first.
"Barricade!" Mayor Blithe calls.
Henry pulls himself up the wall as they approach. "Hey guys." He greets.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Shoutout asks inserting herself at his side to support him. "You got shot!"
"I noticed." He quips. "It's not that bad." His words do nothing to convince his friends; he flinches as he says them.
"Dude, a cop took a pot shot at you." Volt argues.
"What? It wasn't…" he begins, looking at her doubting.
"Yes, it was. He was aiming for you. I saw it." She insists.
"What?" he asks thrown, looking to the others for confirmation.
"The cop was trying to hit him?" Brainstorm asks. He and the twins both look alarmed.
"I fear Volt is right." Mayor Blithe says. "Where we were standing, it would've been exceedingly hard to hit you while aiming at Dr. Minyak. It would've required an exceptionally terrible shot."
Henry loses the traces of amusement he'd had the last few minutes. He shifts uncomfortably at the pain in his back, which is somehow worse now that he knows the bullet was meant for him.
"I promise there will be a full inquiry into this, the officer responsible will be punished for their actions." Mayor Blithe says. "You need to get that wound fixed. Some ambulances should have arrived by now, let's go get you treated."
"No thanks. It's just a flesh wound. I'll get it patched up at the Mancave." Henry dissuades.
"Man's Nest." AWOL corrects him.
"Yeah, that." Henry says.
The other's give him declining expressions. "That seems ill advised. The EMTs are here and prepared." Mayor Blithe says.
"I'll be fine." Henry maintains.
"Haywire says to tell you that you'd better get it looked at by the EMTs or else." Shoutout says, passing on the message from the other side of the comms, which Henry isn't using.
"You sister agrees and says you're stupid." Volt adds with an entertained smirk.
"Wow. Thanks sis." he says.
"She also says that if you don't stop being a stubborn idiot, she'll knock you out and take you to the hospital herself." Volt relays.
"Alright, fine. Take me to the EMTs." Henry concedes shaking his head and an annoyed gesture of his free hand.
While Barricade is being treated by the EMTs, Volt and Shoutout go with Mayor Blithe to address the people. Chief Stalwart and Vice Mayor Willard are already talking to Brian Bender, assuring everyone that the situation is handled, and no one got hurt. "Except Barricade." Volt corrects as they join them.
"And all those goons we stopped." Shoutout adds.
"Well, yes, right. But if the criminals get a little hurt in order to stop them hurting others, then it's fine. None of them are badly injured and they'll all be taken care of in the prison infirmary." Chief Stalwart assure.
"Barricade's not a bad guy." Shoutout reminds firmly but kindly.
"And he was injured by your cop, who shot him in the back while he was saving Mayor Blithe." Volt says less kindly.
The men all look patronizing at the girls. "My cops were aiming for Dr. Minyak, I assure you his injury was accidental."
"No, it wasn't." Volt begins to argue, but Brian Bender's words direct the conversation elsewhere.
"Besides, he's not the good guy. He killed Captain Man." He speaks what the three men are thinking but the two officials are too polite to say.
"He didn't kill Captain Man!" both girls say fiercely.
"Really? Have you not read the articles of evidence online? Why would you defend him when you must know better than anyone else of his guilt?" Brian questions, directing his microphone at them eagerly.
Both girls speak at once, over top of one another.
"Don't be ridiculous! We know Barricade didn't kill Captain Man! ..."
"Those articles have no evidence, only supposition…"
"We know him! We 'know better than anyone' that he's not guilty! …"
"The accusations are baseless and quite offensive…"
"We were there when Captain Man died! We know what happened! …"
"Everything that has been said about his guilt is rumor-mongering…"
"We saw for ourselves what Barricade did and didn't do! …"
"There is no proof and to believe the rumors without real evidence is small minded and rude! …"
"He tried to save him. His death wasn't Barricade's fault!"
"He's a hero, not a murderer."
Brian listens fascinated until they're done. "You really believe he's innocent? Tell us the story then: what did happen that day? How did Captain Man die?"
"He-" Volt hesitates, "Well he was fighting this bad guy, a shadow man, who killed him and threw him out a window."
"Yes, but how did he die? Who is the Shadow Man and how did he kill him?" Brian presses.
"Well, we don't know exactly what happened in the power station's tower. But Captain Man fell out of the window and Barricade went to him and saw he was dead. Then I realized something was wrong and ran over and together Barricade and I tried to revive him."
"How do you know he died in the tower? The fall wouldn't have killed Captain Man. How do you know Barricade didn't off him after he hit the ground and before you joined him at the body?" Brian interrogates.
"He didn't!" she says. "He never would have, even if he could have."
"What evidence do you have of that?" Brian grills zealously.
"Mr. Bender," Mayor Blithe says authoritatively, "this line of questioning is undue. The Danger Force girls are right to remind you and the public that there is no real nor legal evidence that Barricade has done anything wrong, let alone murder."
"But Madame Mayor, they have no evidence he didn't either." Brian says.
"By that logic anyone could've killed him." Shoutout says.
"Yeah, what proof do you have that you didn't kill Captain Man?" Volt asks, not really acusingly but jibing him. Brian Bender looks offended as he begins to speak.
"Our legal and ethical belief is innocent until proven guilty." Mayor Blithe reminds, "And we do have evidence of character to support him."
"You don't mean to say you believe he is innocent?" Vice Mayor Willard interrupts appalled.
She frowns at him and says, "Yes I do. Barricade has done nothing but serve this city since he arrived. He's fought alongside Danger Force to stop criminals all over the city, he defended Captain Man at the funeral, and he just saved my life. He is a kind, caring young man and as I told you before I will not distrust him without solid evidence. Only real evidence that is great enough to convince these girls that he's guilty will sway me." She affirms strongly to the camera for all Swellview to know.
"Madame, that's an extreme position to take." Chief Stalwart says, "I do not think it wise to take such a stance in such a muddled situation."
"I know the situation, better than almost anyone. Many of the Swellviewians, seemingly including yourselves, have adopted strong bias against him, so those of us who stand with him must be at least equal in strength to the opposition."
Shoutout and Volt smile and nod with her words. "Yeah, and we're too stubborn to ever think he'd done it." Volt smirks obstinately at the men.
"It's more than stubbornness. We do know for certain that he didn't kill Captain Man." Shoutout amends.
"But, stubbornness fits too, because he is very stubborn himself." AWOL says. He, Brainstorm and Barricade join the rest of them now.
"Is there anything else we need to do here before returning to the Mancave?" Barricade asks as politely as he can despite everything irking him at the moment.
"Do you mean the Man's Nest?" Volt asks.
Barricade sighs wearily as the kids smile and snicker shortly at his oft recurring mistake, "Yes, that is what I mean."
"How is your wound?" Mayor Blithe asks him. "Have they already taken care of it?"
"It's not bad. They got the bullet out." he says.
"But Mr. Stubborn here doesn't want to go to the hospital, so he got into an argument with the EMT and refused to let the man stitch it up." AWOL says disapprovingly.
"What?" Shoutout says. "Why would you…?"
"We'll patch it up at the Mancave." Barricade interrupts.
"Man's Nest." All four members of Danger Force correct him together, not suppressing their chuckles this time.
"Dang it!" he curses his repeated slip up. "Yes. Man's Nest. Man's Nest."
Shoutout and Mayor Blithe raise their concerns about that plan to him while Piper comes over the comms, "Chapa tell him he's an idiot." She instructs. "And that none of us here know how to give stitches."
Volt laughs and catches the attention of everyone around her. "Your sister says to tell you, you're an idiot." She relays, "And would like to remind you that none of them there know how to give stitches."
"Haywire does know how to give stitches, actually." He says.
"Not well!" Haywire protests though he can't hear it. "And I never stitched your, nor anyone else's, bullet holes."
Shoutout relays her message to Barricade and finishes with, "You've been shot before?"
"I lived in Dystopia for a year, I've had all kinds of weird injuries, including two gunshot wounds." He says, "And even if her stitching is amateur, I'd rather have Haywire do it than the biased professionals here."
"Even if they don't believe your innocent, they will still take care of your wound to the best of their ability." Mayor Blithe tries to convince.
Barricade shakes his head, "This shot was less severe than the others I've taken, but it hurt a lot worse to remove, that comes down to the technician." He says contritely to her. "I don't want a similar result with the stitching. I'll stick to my friend."
She frowns and looks to the ambulance he'd been in, regretfully. "Very well." she says, wishing her city could see as she did, that he was no threat or villain.
(Commercial break)
Back at the Man's Nest Henry is met with his quite annoyed friends and sister. The girls latch onto him and drag him to a chair as soon as the tube has lifted. The force him to sit on it backwards and demand, "Shirt off."
He acquiesces, removing his jacket and t-shirt. Charlotte pushes him to lean forward over the chair back so she can get a good look at his wound. "Ugh, what were you thinking?" she berates, "You could have got an infection."
"It's fine, the EMT cleaned it, I just didn't trust him to sew it up." Henry says.
"It's not fine, an infection could make you very sick, and you didn't get it properly cared for so you could still catch one." She criticizes.
"So then, stitch and bandage it properly now." he says.
"Nope." She says, moving to his front to stand beside Piper and lecture him, "I'm going to help Schwoz check it over and get you the right treatment. You are going to sit here and do whatever we tell you or I'm going to have Piper tie you down."
"Schwoz?" Henry asks surprised.
Said little man pops out from behind Henry and says, "Yes, Schwoz. Schwoz and Charlotte are going to fix you up."
Henry sits up to follow Schwoz's path with his eyes and is clumsy to speak through his surprise, "Hey Dude, are you… uh, how-how are you?"
Schwoz continues to gather machines and supplies. "Better than you from what I hear: shot in the back and accused of murder. Plus, Charlotte and Peeper say you've been a pain in the bottom."
"He has." Charlotte asserts and pushes Henry back into her desired position. She and Schwoz begin work on his wound.
Henry tries not to flinch as they inspect and clean the hole in his flesh. He looks around for a distraction and finds Piper staring at him with her mouth open in shock. "What?" he asks.
"When did you get a tattoo?" she asks. Then he knows she'd seen the ink on his chest.
"In Dystopia, last summer." He answers.
The Danger Force kids come running to see, "You have a tattoo?" Bose asks excitedly. "What of? Where is it?"
Henry raises an eyebrow at their apparent enthusiasm but answers, "On my chest. I'd show you but I'm pretty sure Charlotte will thump me if I move."
"You're right." She says and thumps him.
"I didn't move!" he protests. She thumps him again out of sheer annoyance.
"Ow!" he complains but wisely says no more.
"I got a tattoo too." Jasper says, "You guys wanna see it?"
"No, Jasper. No one wants to see your tattoo." Piper brushes him off. "What is your tattoo, Henry? It looked like the Captain Man symbol."
"It is." He confirms, "Or also the Kid Danger symbol. I got the symbol and the superimposed words, 'It felt good' tattooed on my chest where the symbol on my old suit used to be to commemorate my time as Kid Danger it in a permanent way. Because I never thought I'd be him again."
"Cool." Miles says excitedly. "Hey maybe we should get Danger Force tattoos." He suggests to his friends. They excitedly begin a discussion on the prospect.
"What do you mean you 'thought' you'd never be him again?" Charlotte asks.
Before Henry has time to process or answer the question, Schwoz says, "Okay, I'm going to stitch you up now, Henry." So, Henry braces himself and sits as still as he can while Schwoz pushes and pulls the needle through his skin repeatedly. He clenches his fists tightly and gasps at the more tender pokes.
Charlotte watches him, contemplative. Other than his small reactions to the pain of the needle, he's quiet and motionless. "You're a lot calmer than I'd expect you to be after being shot by a cop who believes you a murderer." She says cautiously, hoping not to provoke him with the words.
He looks to her curiously and asks, "You expect me to be angry about it? Because I am."
"Well, you're not showing it. Which is a big change from how…grumpy you've been lately." She picks her words carefully.
"You should've seen him earlier." Chapa says. "It almost looked like he was smiling when we found him after he was shot."
"Smiling?" Piper asks.
"Yeah. I seriously wondered whether he been shot with happy juice." Miles says.
"Okay. Either way," Charlotte pulls the conversation back on track. "Henry, you are being uncharacteristically pensive."
"I've just got other stuff on my mind right now." Henry says.
"More important than being shot?" Jasper asks.
Charlotte sends him a look to say, 'Shut up.' And asks Henry, "What are you thinking about?"
Henry flinches and breathes slowly after a needlestick before answering vaguely. "Goomer."
"Goomer?" his friends question. He nods but doesn't expound yet.
"Dude, you were shot. It's not your fault he got away." Jasper tried to comfort, supposing this to be the reason for Henry's thoughts.
"He didn't escape. I let him go." Henry corrects.
"What? Why?" Mika asks.
"Because I wanted to. We had a good talk. He surprised me and made me feel a little better than I have been recently." Henry says.
"So, you let him, a criminal, go because he believes that you didn't kill Captain Man?" Piper asks accusingly.
"It's Goomer. It's not like he's going to do anything on his own and him being in jail wouldn't stop any other villain from enacting their plans." Henry points out, "And I didn't let him go because he believes in my innocence; I let him go because of why he believes in it."
"What do you mean? What exactly did the two of you talk about?" Charlotte questions intrigued.
"I'm just about to get to that." Henry chastises her interruption. "Goomer believes me because he knows who I am."
"What?!" eight voices ring out in shock. Schwoz stalls in tying a stitch.
"He recognized me as Kid Danger. Treated me like an old buddy. It was strangely nice, so I let him escape." he says. "And it just got me thinking, if everyone else knew I was Kid Danger…"
"Woah, woah, what?" several voices cry. Other faces just look silently awed.
"Dude!" Jasper cries, "Are you for real? You want to tell people that you're Kid Danger?"
"Yeah." He says, "Swellview knowing I was Kid Danger would solve a lot of the problems we're having."
"Would it?" Mika asks dubiously.
"I think so." He says, sitting up in his chair and looking intent.
"You can't be serious." Charlotte says.
"Reveal your Kid Danger to the whole world?" Piper asks. "That's crazy. That's one of your biggest secrets, you can't reveal it."
"It's not going to stay a secret. Goomer knows, Drex knows, Veronika at least suspects it." Henry says. "Other people are going to figure it out; wouldn't it be better to get ahead of the rumors?" he asks.
"You faked your death, even if rumors like that ever surface, they won't surpass rumor stage, people won't believe it. Nobody's going to believe Goomer if he tries to confirm it and Drex won't want people to know, your 'death' is his greatest victory. Revealing Kid Danger didn't die won't help anything." Charlotte argues.
"Yes, it will." Henry says more fiercely.
"How?" she demands.
"For starters people will stop thinking I killed Ray." He says, "No one would accuse Kid Danger of killing Captain Man. People love Kid Danger, they trust him. They wouldn't be scared of me anymore, and I could do my job."
"People will learn to trust Barricade." Charlotte argues. "You just have to be patient; you will win them over."
"The people hate Barricade, enough to shoot me. No one would ever take a dang pot shot at Kid Danger." Henry shouts, standing from his chair.
Schwoz exclaims "Henry!" surprised and reproving.
He ignores the little man to continue his argument, "If I go back to being Kid Danger, everyone would be happier. The whole city would be delighted to have me back, to see their old hero again."
"But, you're not Kid Danger anymore." Piper says.
"You wanted to be your own hero, to get out of Captain Man's shadow. If you go back to being Kid Danger, that's never going to happen. Have you forgotten all the reasons you left? All the reasons you wanted to quit being Kid Danger?" Charlotte asks frustrated.
"What do any of those reasons matter anymore? Whether I'm here or not I'm going to be my own hero. I have to be, there is no more Captain Man to stand in the shadow of. I said I wanted a life beyond crime fighting, but all I've done since I left is fight crime in another country. All I really did was leave him behind. So, what does that say about how I felt about him? I wasn't trying to get away from him; I loved him and fighting beside him. I'm not ashamed of having been his sidekick and I want to be part of his legacy. But no one is going to accept Barricade as part of it because they all think I killed him." Henry is fuming and near tears as he rants. He's tense and desperate. His words break as he says, "If they knew the truth, things would be okay."
All his friends watch him in silence for a moment. Some of them are in tears, all of them are visibly upset, the heavy cloud of sorrow being shared by all.
"Henry," Charlotte says more evenly, "I understand what you're trying to say, and maybe you have some good points. But you can't tell everyone right now. This isn't something you should rush into."
"Why not? What's the point of waiting?" he asks with a fierce look.
"Because you're upset. Because you've just had the worst month of your life. Your friend is dead, you've got a lot on your shoulders, and you're not thinking clearly."
"I'm fine. I am thinking about it. It would put things back the way they were, it would fix everything." he argues.
"No, it won't. Maybe it'll help; it'll probably fix some of your problems. But this isn't a minor, no-consequence choice to make. If you tell the world, you can never take it back. You will be Kid Danger for forever. And you have no idea what returning to that might cause, or how everyone will react. It might make things even more complicated."
He frowns at her.
"She's right Henry." Mika says. "This situation is already tense, and you don't want to do anything that will cause more chaos."
"Think of how the villains would react to finding out Kid Danger is still alive." Piper says.
"You'd become even more of a target than you already are." Jasper agrees.
"I can handle the villains." Henry defies.
"Henry," Schwoz speaks up, "Ray faked your death last year to give you the life you wanted, because you wanted him to. He wouldn't want, or let you, give that up over some stupid rumor. Charlotte's right, if you do this, it needs to be in the right way, because you think it's right not because you're upset."
Charlotte puts a hand on Henry's arm, gently guiding him back into his chair to finish being stitched up and says kindly but sternly, "Take some time to think honestly and logically about whether or not you really want this, or you might end up doing something you'll regret."
Nest Episode: S1E6: The Breaking Point