Chapter 6: Batman Never Dealt with This
Getting out of the house was easy-Thank God for teleportation-but figuring out what to do after that point was a bit more challenging. Thomas rubbed his arms up and down on the sleeves. It was an odd sensation, given how he'd never worn clothes in his dog form before. He could see why most dogs didn't do it, it felt weird. But nonetheless, the track suit remained along with the mask he'd fashioned out of an old bath towel that had been in the rag bin in the upstairs closet. He needed to be in disguise, after all.
He exhaled as he continued walking down the street; I've got to train to be ready for Jinx. And what better way to train than to stop actual crimes, right? Thomas nervously rubbed the hem on his jacket. God, I'm insane, this is insane. These people might have guns or knives or whatever else. I can heal myself but this is fucking nuts! Thomas turned back toward home. He shook his head, No, I've got to do this. I have to be ready. With himself steeled he marched onward, heading toward downtown.
It was almost one in the morning and Thomas was feeling exhausted. He'd been up and walking along alleyways and side streets trying to find some crime to stop, but he hadn't had much luck. He glanced at his phone and considered his options. This is ridiculous, I should just go back home. Let the cops take care of this and just train more with Bandit or somebody else… But as he mulled over his thoughts he heard a muffled cry nearby. Thomas' ears perked up and he silently crept toward the sound. He saw a grungy looking male dog holding a knife to a female Pomeranian's throat.
"Alright, like I said-the whole thing. Now." He growled.
She complied and handed over her purse with shaking hands.
"Much obliged." He withdrew the knife and shoved her to the ground, turning to continue down the alley.
This is my chance… Thomas stepped out in front of the dog. "Hey, give her purse back now!" He ordered, trying to sound as authoritative as he could.
The dog scoffed, "What's a punk in trackies gonna do about it?" He flicked out his knife. "Be a good lad and fuck off, less you want this to get messy."
"Alright, I asked nicely." Thomas replied. He teleported behind the man and got the purse from his grasp before using a force field to shove him against the far wall and pin him there.
"Ah! What the fuck?!" The dog shouted, struggling to try and get free.
Thomas turned to see the woman cowering. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." He offered her her purse, which she took back.
"See? I'm not a bad guy."
"Thanks." She nodded before quickly dashing off, leaving only Thomas and the would-be purse-snatcher in the alley.
"So, what're you gonna do now?" The dog asked, glancing at him nervously.
"I'm gonna let the authorities handle you." Thomas replied, using his telekinesis to up-end a drainage pipe and wrap it around him. And with that he was gone.
Thomas reappeared a half block away, nearly hyperventilating. "Oh my God, that was insane. But it went well, right?" He said to himself. "C'mon, focus…" He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed the Brisbane police, leaving an anonymous tip about the criminal he'd restrained. After hanging up he rubbed his hands together.
"Alright, let's go!"
It was a bit before six when Thomas blipped back into his room. He crept across the floor and quickly changed out of his clothes, stowing them under his bed before shifting back into human form. He felt his stomach growl and decided it was worth it to grab something to eat. After all, it's reasonable for me to be up and hungry at this time… He nudged open the door to see Bandit looming in front of him with crossed arms.
"Fuck,"
After the girls had been dropped off at school Chilli and Bandit were sitting across from Thomas in the living room. Both of them had mixed expressions, but it was abundantly evident that there was a need to have a discussion about what had happened last night.
"So, can you start by telling us what you were doing?" Chilli asked.
Thomas sighed, "I went out to try and…" He mumbled the rest.
"What?"
"…to try and fight crime." Thomas repeated, slightly less mumbled.
"Dammit Thomas, don't you remember what I said in the car? You can't just go running headfirst into danger." Bandit said, a worried crease appearing on his face.
"I know, that's why I made a plan." Thomas explained, hoping that it might appease them.
"You had a plan?" Chilli raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I was dressed up so no one could see any of my markings, and I had a route planned, and I even made anonymous tips after I was done with any of them so that the police could take care of the guys and so I wouldn't have to stick around."
Bandit and Chilli both exchanged a few looks that Thomas took to mean an entire conversation without speaking. Eventually Chilli spoke.
"Thomas, we know you want to do the right thing and help people, but vigilante justice all on your own…"
"It's fucking dangerous!" Bandit interjected.
Chilli frowned, causing Bandit to back off for the moment. "You might be an adult, and have superpowers, but that doesn't change the fact that we worry about your safety." Bandit nodded in agreement.
"I get that, but I have to do this. I need to be ready for Jinx, and if part of my training is also helping clean up Brisbane… What harm could it do?" He grinned, hoping they'd accept his reasoning.
"You're not going to stop doing this, no matter what we say, are you?" Bandit asked.
"I'd prefer not to…"
Bandit rubbed his temple with his paw, "Well in that case, we need to make some sort of deal. I need to know you're safe."
"That seems fair enough." Thomas consented.
"You'll always be available for constant contact. Text or phone calls answered within five minutes. If they aren't, it's an emergency." Bandit began.
"Okay, that's doable."
"Also, you won't turn off your phone's tracker. Yes it has one; yes I used it last night to check where you were when you weren't in your room. I'm sorry, but you didn't answer any of my calls and I panicked." Bandit admitted.
"Fine, that makes sense."
"And you won't go into the worst parts of the city. There's a difference between stopping shoplifters and getting involved in a gang war."
"What? But how am I supposed to stop crime if I can't go where most of the crime is?" Thomas asked.
"You can stop crime just fine without risking your neck." Bandit asserted.
"Batman never dealt with this…" Thomas groused. "Fine, I agree."
"Good." Bandit smiled. "Now, your Uncle Stripe called earlier and wanted to meet with you about something…
Later that Day at Stripe's House
Stripe was giddy as he spread an array of comics across his dining room table. He could barely contain his excitement as he took a deep breath in, then out. "Okay, so you're serious, you want me to help come up with your outfit and hero name?"
"Yeah, I need something that'll work to help out with my disguise and make it easier for people to have someone to reference when I save them. So far I've just been called 'some dog in trackies' the few times people have mentioned me." Thomas rubbed his shoulder, slightly embarrassed.
Stripe nodded, "Bandit had told me that you were running around nearly in pajamas, so we have our work cut out for us." Stripe organized the comics into three groups. "The way I see it there are three main looks that you could go for. First, the classic primary colors-something bold and easily recognizable. It means people can see who you are, but it does make you a bigger target for your enemies."
"Okay, maybe…" Thomas nodded, not keen on being a bigger target than he had to be.
"Then there's the patriotic route. Something with a flag or symbol of your country. If you wanna go for the heart of the people you could wear the Aussie flag or a big Australia on your chest."
"But I'm American." Thomas replied. "And I've been told that my Australian accent is terrible."
"It is." Stripe agreed. "But going around as an American in Australia is a good way to get your teeth kicked in in a fight." Stripe noted. "Better to just pretend and not talk much."
"Fair point."
"Finally there's dark and edgy. Saturated, dark colors with a few small highlights of brighter colors. Good for blending in for dark environments, but can make you look like a villain if people don't know you."
"Hmm…" Thomas appraised the options in front of him. "Could I do some combination of 2 and 3?"
"Yeah, so something patriotic and a bit on the darker side… That could work." Stripe nodded.
"Exactly, I might have healing powers but I'd prefer not to get shot again." Thomas paused, realizing the look of slight shock on his uncle's face. "It's only happened twice so far and both times I was fine."
"I'm going to assume your parents don't know?" Stripe asked, slightly exasperated.
"Um… can I not answer that?"
Stripe exhaled and pinched the bridge of his muzzle. "Promise me that you'll be careful so I can rest assured that I'm not helping you inadvertently get yourself maimed."
"I will."
"Okay, in that case let's start thinking about what your costume is going to look like…"
After around 15 minutes they had a rough sketch. Thomas was going to continue doing hero work in his dog form-as so far it had gained some attention, but people generally seemed less immediately hostile than he imagined they'd be if he was in human form. The design itself was fairly simple, a navy blue suit with a darkened union jack on his upper left chest and commonwealth star and Southern Cross also placed across his torso.
"So I'm basically wearing a giant Aussie flag in muted dark colors?" Thomas confirmed.
"I mean, it works for the yanks, right?" Stripe shrugged.
"What about a name? I'm not going to be Captain Australia."
"Well, what about your powers? A lot of heroes have names related to their abilities."
"Well, I've got teleportation, force fields, force blasts, and telekinesis." Thomas listed, sticking up a paw for each item. "Well, those and healing and shape shifting, but I don't want to advertize those."
"And most of your powers are purple-ish in color, right?"
"Basically."
"What about Austra-Violet? It's like ultra-violet and Australia put together."
Thomas considered it for a moment; it actually had a decent ring to it. "Alright, I guess that works. But we'll need to add some purple to my costume then."
"We'll just swap it for the crimson." Stripe replied, grabbing one of the felt-tips and scribbling over the red areas.
"Nice. But how am I gonna get a suit? I can't sew."
Stripe bit his lip, "I need you to promise me that what I tell you doesn't leave this room, got it?"
Thomas nodded. "Sure."
"I may have made costumes for myself for comic conventions…" Stripe said as he slouched down in his seat.
"Really?"
"Yes." Stripe confessed, covering his face with his paws.
"That's actually pretty cool."
Stripe glanced up, "What?"
"It's cool, y'know to be able to do that. I can tinker and make gadgets but I'm useless with any of that sort of stuff. It's neat that you can do it." Thomas smiled encouragingly, his tail wagging slightly.
"You mean it?"
"Of course."
Stripe's tail wagged. "Thanks mate."
"You're welcome Uncle Stripe."
About a week later Stripe had delivered Thomas' costume and it had fit perfectly, and after modeling it for his family they all had seemed pleased.
"Wow! An alien and a superhero!" Bluey said, hanging off of Thomas' right arm.
"Yeah! We have a Superdog for a big brother!" Bingo declared, hanging off his other arm.
"Yes, but this superhero remembers the deal we came up with, right?" Bandit confirmed.
"Yes dad, I do."
"Good." Bandit nodded.
"We just want to make sure you stay safe." Chilli added.
"I know, I appreciate it." Thomas smiled.
Bandit smiled seeing his son happy. "Dad, can you take me to the shopping center? I saw a help wanted sign at a store and wanted to see if I can get a job there," Thomas asked looking at Bandit. "Sure mate!" Bandit said as he stood up. "Great! Let me just put this away," Thomas said as he went to his room and changed out of his suit. Thomas then met Bandit out to his car just before thanking Stripe again for the suit. On the way to the shopping center, Bandit then started to explain the workings of having a job. "Alright mate, even if you don't get the job on the first try there will be other jobs," Bandit explained. "Don't worry dad I've had plenty of jobs before landing here," Thomas explained with a chuckle "then I guess I don't have to worry much," Bandit said with a smile.
After Bandit dropped off Thomas, Thomas walked to the store he saw the help wanted sign. Thomas walked in and looked around for an employee. Thomas then found a brown and tan Dingo working with the toys. "Hello sir, I'm here about the help wanted sign," Thomas said looking at the Dingo. "Oh! Then I'll take you to my boss. His name is Bert," The Dingo said with a warm smile. "Great! Uh what's your name?" Thomas asked while they walked. "Alfie! What's yours?" Alfie asked, looking at Thomas. "Jason!" Thomas said with a smile. "Well nice to meet you Jason, Bert just through here in his office," Alfie explained. Thomas nodded and went into the office. Thomas met with Bert and had a conversation and filled out some paperwork.
Bert then looked over the paperwork and then smiled as he looked back at Thomas. "Well mate! You're hired! Can you start next week?" Bert asked, looking at Thomas. "Of course!" Thomas said, wagging his tail. "Great! Welcome to the toy store Jason Heeler!" Bert said, handing out his paw to shake. Thomas smiled and shook his paw. After the interview Thomas texted Bandit that he was ready to come home which Bandit replied with Chilli would be on her way with the girls since Bandit had a meeting to be at.
Thomas waited inside the store on a bench while looking at his phone. Surprisingly Jinx was quiet for the most part which was a little scary. Since that night Bluey had her nightmare and it came to life that had to be Jinx sending a message or at least trying to. "Hi Jason," Alfie said with a smile. "Hey Alfie," Thomas said looking at the brown Dingo, "I heard you got the job! That's awesome mate and Bert said you'll be working with me," Alfie said again with a smile.
"Really? That's cool!" Thomas said with a smile. Alfie nodded. "Well I wanted to congratulate you on the Job and see how you were doing, but I have to get back to work," Alfie said with a chuckle. "Thanks Alfie I'll see you next week," Thomas said with a nod. "See you then mate," Alfie said, ready to leave until he recognized two Heeler pups coming over to Thomas with their mum. "Jason!" The girls said. Beforehand they had to explain to Bingo that Thomas's Heeler name was Jason. "Hey girls!" Thomas said as they hugged him. "I know you two! You two were here with your dad!" Alfie said, looking at the two pups.
"And your Alfie! Muffin really liked her present! Thanks for helping dad with that," Bluey said with a smile while wagging her tail. "You are welcome! My pleasure," Alfie said proudly. "Come on Kids, we need to get home for dinner," Chilli called to her three children. "Okay mum!" Bingo said to her mother. "Bye Alfie!" Bluey said waving at the Dingo. "See you later Alfie," Thomas said waving to Alfie. "See you later mate," Alfie said before going back to work.
Now at Chilli's car Thomas gets in the front seat and buckled himself in. Chilli and the girls all stared at him. "What?" Thomas asked with a chuckle. "How did it go sweetheart? Did you get the job?" Chilli asked. "I did! I start next week!" Thomas said with a smile. Chilli wagged her tail. "That's great honey! Congratulations!" Chilli said as she hugged Thomas. "Thanks mom," Thomas said, hugging her back. "Congratulations Thomas!" The girls both said. "Thanks guys," Thomas said looking at them. "Let's get home and tell your dad," Chilli said as she started the car. This felt great to have Chilli and Bandit really care for him like their own and Bluey and Bingo support as well since he met them.
Now back at home
Thomas had told Bandit about him getting the job which made Bandit very proud. "That's my boy!" Bandit said as he hugged his son. "Thanks dad," Thomas said, hugging him back. Bandit nodded with a smile. "Come in mate, let's see if we can help your mum out in the kitchen," Bandit said as he made his way to the kitchen. Thomas nodded and followed his adopted father to the kitchen. After dinner was done and everything sat down at the table and talked about their day.
There were laughs and giggling while at the dinner table and then when it was time to clean up, Thomas helped his parents with the dishes and putting the food away while they gave the girls a bath. After Thomas was finished and the girls were in bed. Thomas have them each a kiss on their head and left the room. Thomas then puts on his new superhero suit still in his blue Heeler form and is about to go out and fight crime. "Remember our deal mate," Bandit said looking at his son. "I know dad I'll be safe," Thomas said with a wink letting his father know it was okay. Chilli cuddles Bandit as they both watch him teleport out of their house.
Chilli turned up as she cuddled her husband. "He'll be fine babe," Bandit said as he kissed the top of her head. "I know but.. everyday he reminds me so much of Baxter, is it possible he's him from another universe?" Chilli asked, looking at husband. "That I don't know but maybe…" Bandit said trying to stay strong for his wife. "Oh! We better to tell your parents about him soon and hopefully he'll be able to meet Rad soon, I also need to tell my dad," Chilli said as she made her way to the bedroom. "Right! I didn't think about that," Bandit said, rubbing the back of his head.
Thomas was on his normal route and patrol searching for any trouble unfortunately tonight was more quiet than last night. Thomas then sat on the rooftop of a building. Thomas then texted Bandit letting his dad know he was okay. Thomas then saw two Doberman dogs wearing masks robbing a convenience store. "Finally some action," Thomas said as he teleported into the store. "Hello there!" Thomas said as the two dogs turned around and looked at Thomas "who the hell are you supposed to be?!" One of the Dobermans said. "I'm your worst nightmare… I'm Austra-Violet!" Thomas said with a glare at the thugs. Two Dobermans looked at each other and laughed. "What's so funny?" Thomas asked. "That's the stupidest name for a hero ever!" They both said. "Yeah! We would rather take on Jinx than you pipsqueak," one of them said as they pointed their guns again.
Thomas rolled his eyes and shook his head "alright but don't say I didn't warn you," Thomas said as he used his force fields as they started shooting at him. The force field blocked the bullets and then Thomas shot their guns with his cosmic energy blast causing them to melt. Thomas then teleported behind them and hit the heads together knocking them out. "Whoa! That was awesome!" Thomas said with a smile wagging his tail. "You saved me! Here, have some beef jerky!" The employee said, wagging his tail. "Thanks," Thomas said, taking some beef jerky and then teleported out of the store. A few hours later close to Midnight Thomas was sitting on a rooftop looking down at the city.
Thomas eats his beef jerky while admiring the night sky with the southern lights looking down on him. "I wonder if that'll be my way home… if I wanted to go home… but I can't do that to the Heelers after they took me in as their own son," Thomas said to himself as he looked down. Suddenly a ninja star misses Thomas and lands next to him while beeping. "Shit!" Thomas shouted as teleported out of the way as it exploded. Thomas teleported a few feet away from the explosion and looked to see who threw it. Then Thomas saw a very tall man in a black armored suit land on the rooftop with Thomas. "Another one?" Thomas said, looking at the armored man. "Who are you?!" Thomas asked, still on high alert. The armored man tilted his head to the right and then pointed to his chest.
Thomas read his chest plate that read "Agent Fenrir 1 of 5 Hell hounds, alright what do you want!" Thomas asked. Agent Fenrir then pointed to Thomas. "Does he know I'm really human?" Thomas thought to himself. Agent Fenrir then shot Thomas with something out of his wrist which caused a shock which made Thomas scream in pain and immediately made Thomas return to his human form. Thomas took the shock bullet off his chest and looked at Agent Fenrir who was walking towards him. Thomas then used his cosmic blasts at the agent which seemed to do nothing to the armor. Thomas then jumped out of the way as Agent Fenrir came closer. Thomas then used his force field to throw at him which also did nothing. Agent Fenrir then pulled out his sword with laser cut technology. Thomas was breathing hard, not sure how to handle this situation.
"You Think I'm scared! I'm not!" Thomas shouted. Agent Fenrir then charged at him with his large blade. Thomas then did something didn't know he could do with his cosmic energy. Thomas formed a sword out of his cosmic energy and charged at Fenrir. The two clashed their swords together causing an Irruption in the air. Thomas tried pushing Fenrir back with his sword but Fenrir was stronger. Thomas was losing his footing as Fenrir got the upper hand and kicked Thomas 20 feet. Thomas landed in a roll almost to the edge of the building. Thomas coughed up some blood as he looked up at Fenrir who was walking towards him while dragging his sword along the ground of the roof. Thomas got up weakly and used his telekinesis to pick up a large air conditioner and threw it at Fenrir.
Fenrir was then knocked down and Thomas quickly stood up and used his cosmic blasts at Fenrir while he was down. Thomas did this while getting close to him. Thomas was close. Thomas was about ready to blast him again when Fenrir grabbed him by his neck. "That's not fair," Thomas said, trying to talk. Fenrir then stood up still holding Thomas in his grip. Fenrir then threw Thomas to the ground making him fall through the floor.
Thomas landed into office and the Fenrir picked Thomas up again and then slammed him again down to the ground down to the next floor and kept going down the floors until the ground floor. Thomas was badly beaten and spits blood from his mouth. Thomas's up weakly and looks at Fenrir. "I can do this all day mate," Thomas said with a bad Aussie accent. "But That would be getting myself killed," Thomas said with a chuckle. Fenrir grabbed his gun and pointed it at Thomas "See ya mate!" Thomas said before Teleporting. Just as Thomas Teleported Fenrir took the shot but missed.
Bandit and Chilli were watching some late night TV just as Bandit was about to call Thomas to tell him it's time to come home. Thomas teleported into the living room on the coffee table causing it to break. Chilli screamed and Bandit jumped up from the couch with a scared look on his face. Thomas was badly wounded with his healing taking slowly to effect as he was passed out . "Bandit!" Chilli shouted with tears in her eyes. Bandit had mixed emotions, scared and angry to whoever did this to his son. Suddenly everything came in all at once. "BAXTER!" Bandit shouted out of fear and pain for his son.
Meanwhile…
Jinx walked up to an elementary school and melted the lock on the door with forced heat from his hands . and walked into the school. Jinx looked around for anything that could have been or was related to Bluey. Jinx walked into a classroom and found pictures of students. Jinx looked at the pictures and chuckled when he found something he wanted Jinx looked at a picture of Bingo with her class. Jinx focused on the picture of Bingo and replayed the focused memory at which point of time it was taken. Jinx saw laughing and Bingo having a good time with her friends and then he saw what he wanted. "Bluey.." he said in his raspy voice. Jinx saw them both hugging and could feel the relation between the two. "Sisters…" Jinx said with a dark smile.
Once Jinx had seen what he wanted to see and then he touched Bingo's picture causing it to burn. The flame then caused the whole classroom to burn jinx watched happily as the whole school started to burn down to the ground. Jinx then walked out of the school as it was burning and then teleported himself out of sight just as the fire department were on their way.
The-Suburban-Guy A/N: So Thomas is basically a superhero now. What do you think about Austra-Violet? Let us know! If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to review. Thanks again for reading!
Kodiwolf321: Hey guys! The-Suburban-Guy has had the opportunity to start the chapter while I ended the chapter so tell us what you think about the switch we did and tell us how you feel about the chapter overall! Alright guys see you soon for more!