soThe Dover Boys, v2.0 Chapter 5
Maximus whipped his helmeted head around at the approaching voice, and soon police officers came dashing across the campus green to where he stood with Dan and his four goons cowering in fear before him. The eagle swooped down and disappeared back into the sword as it ceased glowing, then the hero slid it into its scabbard and stepped back while the officers surrounded the biker gang with guns drawn. As the troublemakers were arrested (there was no need to subdue them), the sergeant caught sight of the burning hall and turned to the strapping guy in spandex and armor standing there.
"What're you looking at?" he asked in his rough, gravelly voice.
"Ha! You dare to speak in such a tone to the valiant Magnum Centurion Maximus?" said the superhero haughtily, offended by the middle- aged police sergeant's rudeness.
"Look, pal, don't be ordering me around! You better learn some respect for authority!" growled Sergeant Peterson as he stepped towards Maximus, hiking up his gunbelt around his portly waist. "And what's with the Halloween costume?! Look at you! Are you some kinda nutcase?!"
"Just WHAT do you take me for?!" roared the sleek-armored centurion, stepping up until he was practically chest-to-midsection with the sergeant. "Do you realize that with one command I can destroy you?!" To enhance his intimidating appearance, Maximus took his cape and swung his burly arms out and up, lifting the cloth with its beautiful satin lining exposed above his head as he made the claim that he could nuke the police officer into non- existence.
"You're the one who caused that fire then, huh?!" Sergeant Peterson angrily said, pointing his finger against the superhero's solid abdomen, at which the proud young man in the spandex suit and armor brought his arms inward and folded them over his puffed-out chest, enveloping his broad frame in the black cape. "You probably used your so-called 'superpowers' to flush those scumbags outta the basement and left the rest of the building to burn, is that right?!" The police officer was so furious his large mustache twitched and he glared with cold, dark brown eyes from under his bushy eyebrows.
"So, you blame me for starting the blaze, do you?! Just because I have awesome abilities that you could never dream of possessing?!" Maximus shot back, violently whipping his long, full cape behind him as he strode forward, advancing on Sergeant Peterson.
"We've taken these punks in before, but they ain't arsonists!" the graying law enforcement officer spat, trying to defend his case in hopes of pinning responsibility for the fire on the weirdo standing before him who thought he was a superhero, so the sergeant believed. On the other side of his tinted visor, the Magnum Centurion's baby-blue eyes widened in rage; one heavy-gauntleted hand flew to the hilt of his longsword, prepared to whip it out when he needed it.
"Enough of your foolishness! I should delight in ending your pathetic life here and now!" the hero said, fed up with arguing. He was about to draw the sword when two police officers hurried up and grabbed his arms, dragging him back forcibly, away from Sergeant Peterson. By flexing his massive biceps a few times, he was able to get them off of him. However, instead of moving to attack again, Maximus grabbed his cape and gave it a mighty whirl, wrapping half of it around his body full of large, rippling muscles. "Mark my words, one day you will see my might and capacity for doing good with your unbelieving eyes. Then perhaps you will think twice before turning me into a scapegoat." With that, he spun on his heel and bent his legs, then leaped up and out of sight onto the roof of the nearby building. Sergeant Peterson harrumphed as he turned back to his officers, who now had the gang leader and his followers all in handcuffs.
"Get those slimebuckets outta here," he ordered them. "And get the fire department here. I don't want these flames jumping to any of the other buildings." The police sergeant turned his gaze to the roof of the hall behind him, squinting his eyes as he thought about how he was going to get this guy in trouble, one way or another. Meanwhile, Maximus jumped down from the roof, landing behind the building; with a light shimmer of gold, the costume vanished and the longsword shrank down to dagger size once more. Tom Dover was left in his place.
What was all that I just did? the college athlete and honors student wondered as he walked through the shadows back to Culverton Hall. I mean, first having the ability to leap to the top of tall buildings in a single bound, then channel fire into an attack, and the sword, well...I never knew this thing could be so powerful. Tom stopped to open one of the pockets on the leg of his cargo pants and slipped the knife inside, then continued on. He broke into a trot, which turned into a full run as he got nearer to the residence building. Finally, Dover burst inside and headed for Mina's room, where he found her sitting on the edge of her bed with a young police officer comforting her. Tom's girlfriend looked up and saw him standing in the doorway and jumped to her feet, running to his waiting arms.
"Mina! Thank God you're okay," said Tom, relieved to see that she was doing fine. "I was so worried about you."
"Where are Dan and his friends?" Mina asked, bringing her hazel eyes up to meet her boyfriend's sky-blue gaze. Then she noticed the bruise on his right cheekbone, a large purplish mark, and gasped. "Oh, my God! Tom, what happened to you? Are you badly hurt? I hope you didn't get roughed up too much when you went to find Backslide and his posse of bikers."
"What—oh...that," the blonde said, his heart starting to race with fear. What if Mina discovered how he REALLY got the bruise? How could he break it to her? "I, uh...yeah, it was just one big free-for-all fistfight." As he tried to fabricate some ideas in his mind as to how he might keep his secret from her, the other two Dover brothers, Dick (a thin guy of average height who, like his ancestor, is the serious one of the group, but has an updated fashion sense; he likes to wear a lot of designer business suits and thinks he looks especially smooth in his leather jackets) and Larry (the youngest Dover Boy, still short and pudgy, yet his look is upgraded as well; the third sibling prefers stylish athletic wear in the Pimento University colors and custom-printed to his liking) poked their heads into the room. Despite their completely different tastes in clothing and interests, as well as their equally distinct personalities, the Dover Boys were all good-natured and not a selfish bone could be found in their bodies.
"Hey, Tom! I heard there was a big brawl before the cops came and arrested Jawbreaker and the others," Larry said, his eyes large with excitement. "Lita found out from one of the cops that some tall, muscular guy was being held hostage down in The Dungeon with them, and Dan's pals were beating up whoever it was. Then, the building was set on fire!"
"Yeah," added Dick. "I noticed some time later the guy had Dan and his group cowering in fear on the green in front of Vernon Hall. He was dressed in a costume of some sort—I think it was spandex and armor—and he had a gigantic sword in his hand. Then I saw this glowing bird emerge from the blade; I was thinking to myself, 'This can't be right. I must be dreaming.' It's probably all that it was, just a dream."
"Uhhh...sure," Tom said nervously, beginning to sweat a little. "Um, just a-a dream." Dick, the perceptive one of the trio, noticed his older sibling getting a touch uneasy with their talk of the strange person he and Larry had seen.
"Something wrong, Tom?" he asked. Though he loved his brother, Dick Dover surmised that there was one important element of this whole situation that Tom was keeping to himself. "You look slightly upset by what Larry and I witnessed. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this incident, would you?"
"NO!...I-I mean, well, I...happened to follow Dan and see where he was going. I planned to get revenge for Mina...because he was about to rape her, or else sh-she'd be killed," the handsome blonde Dover Boy stammered, feeling a trickle of sweat trail its way down his spine. As if on cue, Dora and Lita (Larry and Dick's girlfriends, respectively) walked in.
"Mina! Oh, I'm so glad you're doing all right!" Lita gasped, stepping towards her friend, who had Tom's arms around her. "I heard everything that happened. Do you need anything? I could go get a bottle of spring water from the vending machine if you want."
"No, no. Thanks anyway, Lita," replied Mina, smiling. "I'll be fine."
"It's rumored that this guy who cornered Dan Backslide and his gang, he's some kind of superhero," Dora spoke up, her eyes getting glittery as her heart fluttered. "A superhero...that's so dreamy. Did you see him, Tom?"
"H-he, erm, came to...help me! Yeah, he suddenly jumped in and took on all the punks at one time," he said, growing a little more confident as he made up a story to serve as a cover. "The guy, he had the armor and the sword like Dick said, and that cape of his—massive! Anyway, when he had those scumbags ready for the cops to book, he turned and looked at me, then said, 'Son, you did a fine job defending your girl. Next time, however, leave the fighting to a professional.' And then, he was gone. Just like that." Lita was hanging on every word of Tom's tall tale, stars shining in her eyes as well. Tom was somewhat disappointed that he could not imitate his superhero persona's voice; it came out sounding more like the Dudley Do- Right cartoon character.
"Ooooooooh! He sounds like a major hunk!" she squealed. "Do you think you could ever get me to meet this super-luscious superhero in person?"
"We-ell, I—" Now the eldest Dover had hit another sticky spot: if he got into the character of Maximus just so Lita could say she met her new idol, he would run the risk of potentially cheating on his own girlfriend! He couldn't do that to her, he loved Mina too much to break her heart. Dick, fortunately, intervened at just the right moment.
"Um, Lita?" he said, clearing his throat and tapping one foot, inside a highly-polished dress shoe, on the carpeting of the dorm room floor. "Did you forget, once again, that you already have a boyfriend?" Lita blushed bright red all the way to the roots of her curly, flame-colored hair.
"I-I'm sorry, baby," she said in a repentant voice, gazing at Dick with her patented "sad puppy" eyes. "I mean, I can't help it. What girl wouldn't want to meet such a babe-a-licious man, especially one who has superpowers and wears a slick costume to boot?"
"What? I'm not good enough for you?" asked Dick, his voice a mix of hurt and sarcasm. "Just because I'm not buffed up like Tom here, you think you can just go throwing yourself on every muscle-bound guy you lay eyes on?" He folded his arms over his flat chest, staring pointedly at Lita.
"Oh, no! I'm not like that," she protested. "I'm not like some of the girls here who dress in those skimpy clothes and go around shaking their butts at every guy who walks past them." Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow skeptically as he studied her baby tee and super low-rise jeans.
"Look who's talking," quipped Dick.
"Ooh! You know I only wear these to impress you," Lita whined.
"And every other male on campus," the middle man of the Dover brothers finished.
"Hey, you could get some muscles, too," his girlfriend said, putting her hands on her hips. "I got you that Crossbow all-in-one strength trainer for your birthday two months ago. And for Christmas..."
"Yeah? Go on," Dick answered, starting to relax, enjoying how he was able to play games with her head. He did this often as a subtle joke just to see Lita get mad.
"I'm going to give you something extra-special," she said. "It's the gift you've always wanted."
"Promise?"
"With all my heart. Forgive me, Dick?" A small smile crept onto his face.
"Say 'please.'"
"Please?"
"Pretty please?" This was getting better and better, he thought to himself as one corner of his mouth drew up in an amused smirk.
"Pretty please?"
"Pretty please with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, rainbow sprinkles, and a cherry on top?"
"Pretty please with whip—okay, watch it, mister," parried Lita as she narrowed her eyes, catching on to Dick's little game. "One more time and I'm gonna smack you."
Maximus whipped his helmeted head around at the approaching voice, and soon police officers came dashing across the campus green to where he stood with Dan and his four goons cowering in fear before him. The eagle swooped down and disappeared back into the sword as it ceased glowing, then the hero slid it into its scabbard and stepped back while the officers surrounded the biker gang with guns drawn. As the troublemakers were arrested (there was no need to subdue them), the sergeant caught sight of the burning hall and turned to the strapping guy in spandex and armor standing there.
"What're you looking at?" he asked in his rough, gravelly voice.
"Ha! You dare to speak in such a tone to the valiant Magnum Centurion Maximus?" said the superhero haughtily, offended by the middle- aged police sergeant's rudeness.
"Look, pal, don't be ordering me around! You better learn some respect for authority!" growled Sergeant Peterson as he stepped towards Maximus, hiking up his gunbelt around his portly waist. "And what's with the Halloween costume?! Look at you! Are you some kinda nutcase?!"
"Just WHAT do you take me for?!" roared the sleek-armored centurion, stepping up until he was practically chest-to-midsection with the sergeant. "Do you realize that with one command I can destroy you?!" To enhance his intimidating appearance, Maximus took his cape and swung his burly arms out and up, lifting the cloth with its beautiful satin lining exposed above his head as he made the claim that he could nuke the police officer into non- existence.
"You're the one who caused that fire then, huh?!" Sergeant Peterson angrily said, pointing his finger against the superhero's solid abdomen, at which the proud young man in the spandex suit and armor brought his arms inward and folded them over his puffed-out chest, enveloping his broad frame in the black cape. "You probably used your so-called 'superpowers' to flush those scumbags outta the basement and left the rest of the building to burn, is that right?!" The police officer was so furious his large mustache twitched and he glared with cold, dark brown eyes from under his bushy eyebrows.
"So, you blame me for starting the blaze, do you?! Just because I have awesome abilities that you could never dream of possessing?!" Maximus shot back, violently whipping his long, full cape behind him as he strode forward, advancing on Sergeant Peterson.
"We've taken these punks in before, but they ain't arsonists!" the graying law enforcement officer spat, trying to defend his case in hopes of pinning responsibility for the fire on the weirdo standing before him who thought he was a superhero, so the sergeant believed. On the other side of his tinted visor, the Magnum Centurion's baby-blue eyes widened in rage; one heavy-gauntleted hand flew to the hilt of his longsword, prepared to whip it out when he needed it.
"Enough of your foolishness! I should delight in ending your pathetic life here and now!" the hero said, fed up with arguing. He was about to draw the sword when two police officers hurried up and grabbed his arms, dragging him back forcibly, away from Sergeant Peterson. By flexing his massive biceps a few times, he was able to get them off of him. However, instead of moving to attack again, Maximus grabbed his cape and gave it a mighty whirl, wrapping half of it around his body full of large, rippling muscles. "Mark my words, one day you will see my might and capacity for doing good with your unbelieving eyes. Then perhaps you will think twice before turning me into a scapegoat." With that, he spun on his heel and bent his legs, then leaped up and out of sight onto the roof of the nearby building. Sergeant Peterson harrumphed as he turned back to his officers, who now had the gang leader and his followers all in handcuffs.
"Get those slimebuckets outta here," he ordered them. "And get the fire department here. I don't want these flames jumping to any of the other buildings." The police sergeant turned his gaze to the roof of the hall behind him, squinting his eyes as he thought about how he was going to get this guy in trouble, one way or another. Meanwhile, Maximus jumped down from the roof, landing behind the building; with a light shimmer of gold, the costume vanished and the longsword shrank down to dagger size once more. Tom Dover was left in his place.
What was all that I just did? the college athlete and honors student wondered as he walked through the shadows back to Culverton Hall. I mean, first having the ability to leap to the top of tall buildings in a single bound, then channel fire into an attack, and the sword, well...I never knew this thing could be so powerful. Tom stopped to open one of the pockets on the leg of his cargo pants and slipped the knife inside, then continued on. He broke into a trot, which turned into a full run as he got nearer to the residence building. Finally, Dover burst inside and headed for Mina's room, where he found her sitting on the edge of her bed with a young police officer comforting her. Tom's girlfriend looked up and saw him standing in the doorway and jumped to her feet, running to his waiting arms.
"Mina! Thank God you're okay," said Tom, relieved to see that she was doing fine. "I was so worried about you."
"Where are Dan and his friends?" Mina asked, bringing her hazel eyes up to meet her boyfriend's sky-blue gaze. Then she noticed the bruise on his right cheekbone, a large purplish mark, and gasped. "Oh, my God! Tom, what happened to you? Are you badly hurt? I hope you didn't get roughed up too much when you went to find Backslide and his posse of bikers."
"What—oh...that," the blonde said, his heart starting to race with fear. What if Mina discovered how he REALLY got the bruise? How could he break it to her? "I, uh...yeah, it was just one big free-for-all fistfight." As he tried to fabricate some ideas in his mind as to how he might keep his secret from her, the other two Dover brothers, Dick (a thin guy of average height who, like his ancestor, is the serious one of the group, but has an updated fashion sense; he likes to wear a lot of designer business suits and thinks he looks especially smooth in his leather jackets) and Larry (the youngest Dover Boy, still short and pudgy, yet his look is upgraded as well; the third sibling prefers stylish athletic wear in the Pimento University colors and custom-printed to his liking) poked their heads into the room. Despite their completely different tastes in clothing and interests, as well as their equally distinct personalities, the Dover Boys were all good-natured and not a selfish bone could be found in their bodies.
"Hey, Tom! I heard there was a big brawl before the cops came and arrested Jawbreaker and the others," Larry said, his eyes large with excitement. "Lita found out from one of the cops that some tall, muscular guy was being held hostage down in The Dungeon with them, and Dan's pals were beating up whoever it was. Then, the building was set on fire!"
"Yeah," added Dick. "I noticed some time later the guy had Dan and his group cowering in fear on the green in front of Vernon Hall. He was dressed in a costume of some sort—I think it was spandex and armor—and he had a gigantic sword in his hand. Then I saw this glowing bird emerge from the blade; I was thinking to myself, 'This can't be right. I must be dreaming.' It's probably all that it was, just a dream."
"Uhhh...sure," Tom said nervously, beginning to sweat a little. "Um, just a-a dream." Dick, the perceptive one of the trio, noticed his older sibling getting a touch uneasy with their talk of the strange person he and Larry had seen.
"Something wrong, Tom?" he asked. Though he loved his brother, Dick Dover surmised that there was one important element of this whole situation that Tom was keeping to himself. "You look slightly upset by what Larry and I witnessed. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this incident, would you?"
"NO!...I-I mean, well, I...happened to follow Dan and see where he was going. I planned to get revenge for Mina...because he was about to rape her, or else sh-she'd be killed," the handsome blonde Dover Boy stammered, feeling a trickle of sweat trail its way down his spine. As if on cue, Dora and Lita (Larry and Dick's girlfriends, respectively) walked in.
"Mina! Oh, I'm so glad you're doing all right!" Lita gasped, stepping towards her friend, who had Tom's arms around her. "I heard everything that happened. Do you need anything? I could go get a bottle of spring water from the vending machine if you want."
"No, no. Thanks anyway, Lita," replied Mina, smiling. "I'll be fine."
"It's rumored that this guy who cornered Dan Backslide and his gang, he's some kind of superhero," Dora spoke up, her eyes getting glittery as her heart fluttered. "A superhero...that's so dreamy. Did you see him, Tom?"
"H-he, erm, came to...help me! Yeah, he suddenly jumped in and took on all the punks at one time," he said, growing a little more confident as he made up a story to serve as a cover. "The guy, he had the armor and the sword like Dick said, and that cape of his—massive! Anyway, when he had those scumbags ready for the cops to book, he turned and looked at me, then said, 'Son, you did a fine job defending your girl. Next time, however, leave the fighting to a professional.' And then, he was gone. Just like that." Lita was hanging on every word of Tom's tall tale, stars shining in her eyes as well. Tom was somewhat disappointed that he could not imitate his superhero persona's voice; it came out sounding more like the Dudley Do- Right cartoon character.
"Ooooooooh! He sounds like a major hunk!" she squealed. "Do you think you could ever get me to meet this super-luscious superhero in person?"
"We-ell, I—" Now the eldest Dover had hit another sticky spot: if he got into the character of Maximus just so Lita could say she met her new idol, he would run the risk of potentially cheating on his own girlfriend! He couldn't do that to her, he loved Mina too much to break her heart. Dick, fortunately, intervened at just the right moment.
"Um, Lita?" he said, clearing his throat and tapping one foot, inside a highly-polished dress shoe, on the carpeting of the dorm room floor. "Did you forget, once again, that you already have a boyfriend?" Lita blushed bright red all the way to the roots of her curly, flame-colored hair.
"I-I'm sorry, baby," she said in a repentant voice, gazing at Dick with her patented "sad puppy" eyes. "I mean, I can't help it. What girl wouldn't want to meet such a babe-a-licious man, especially one who has superpowers and wears a slick costume to boot?"
"What? I'm not good enough for you?" asked Dick, his voice a mix of hurt and sarcasm. "Just because I'm not buffed up like Tom here, you think you can just go throwing yourself on every muscle-bound guy you lay eyes on?" He folded his arms over his flat chest, staring pointedly at Lita.
"Oh, no! I'm not like that," she protested. "I'm not like some of the girls here who dress in those skimpy clothes and go around shaking their butts at every guy who walks past them." Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow skeptically as he studied her baby tee and super low-rise jeans.
"Look who's talking," quipped Dick.
"Ooh! You know I only wear these to impress you," Lita whined.
"And every other male on campus," the middle man of the Dover brothers finished.
"Hey, you could get some muscles, too," his girlfriend said, putting her hands on her hips. "I got you that Crossbow all-in-one strength trainer for your birthday two months ago. And for Christmas..."
"Yeah? Go on," Dick answered, starting to relax, enjoying how he was able to play games with her head. He did this often as a subtle joke just to see Lita get mad.
"I'm going to give you something extra-special," she said. "It's the gift you've always wanted."
"Promise?"
"With all my heart. Forgive me, Dick?" A small smile crept onto his face.
"Say 'please.'"
"Please?"
"Pretty please?" This was getting better and better, he thought to himself as one corner of his mouth drew up in an amused smirk.
"Pretty please?"
"Pretty please with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, rainbow sprinkles, and a cherry on top?"
"Pretty please with whip—okay, watch it, mister," parried Lita as she narrowed her eyes, catching on to Dick's little game. "One more time and I'm gonna smack you."
