Chapter 23 Birth of a Hero

Larry dusted off the left sleeve of his costume. He adjusted his mask, mentally preparing himself for this. He could do this task, right? He could rescue Peppy in a timely fashion, right? He had been good when it came to doing hero work before, so why would now be the exception?

Maybe it would turn out to be because he would be alone for the first time in weeks. He wouldn't be accompanied by Fiery Tempest this time around, a fact that had an abysmal impact on his confidence just thinking about it right now. While he had done well by himself before he met Peppy, those missions were relatively small and had relatively low stakes. Here, he was dealing with someone who had been able to take down an armed superhero. He would deal with someone who had overpowered Peppy. Sure, it wasn't a guarantee that they could overpower him, but just looking at the logistics and the circumstances, it was pretty likely.

As such, Larry slowly began panicking. He adjusted his mask as he went to the mirror, deciding he needed to give himself a pep talk. He gave his reflection a serious expression, puffing out his chest in a desperate attempt to hype himself up.

"Listen here, Larry. You're Captain Metal. You kick some serious ass as a superhero, so I know you can handle this." He pointed at the mirror. "You can rescue Peppy, and you will! There's no time for you to doubt yourself or worry." He put on an extra determined face. "Everything will work out fine! I know it will!"

With one last nod, he turned away from the mirror and exited the room. He walked down the hallway, telling himself multiple times to not get overwhelmed. That was the last thing he needed. That was the last thing Peppy needed. He didn't have to enter a downward spiral; he could rescue his partner/ex without any troubles.

"Larry?" Wendy asked when Larry came across her in the first-floor hallway.

Larry stopped. "I'll bring Peppy back, Wendy. I won't rest until she is safe and sound. I promise." He looked past her and resumed his forward march. Nothing was going to bring him down now. Nothing was going to impede his progress.

"Larry, you're going by yourself?"

It was a fairly innocent question Wendy asked, one that more than likely wasn't intended to rock the boat. But even though he knew that, all the questioning that Larry had done returned in full force. He stopped, frowning as he tried to tell himself yet again that he could do this. He told himself again and again, and yet, it never stuck. He could say that one question posed to him by his sister extinguished every last drop of his confidence.

"I…" Larry began to shake. "I mean… who would I go with? It's a pretty dangerous mission, so I don't think I want you to come with me."

Wendy frowned. "Yeah, I can see that." She stepped forward, her brow furrowed. "But if it's as dangerous as you say it is, that means you going out by yourself wouldn't be good either."

Larry sighed. "I know." He racked his brain for a possible solution. He supposed, if there was anyone he could ask, it would be Ludwig. Ludwig was the only superpowered individual he knew, so he would be a good bet. But than, there was a slight issue with that. Ludwig was currently sick with the flu and was bedridden at the current moment. So… yeah, Larry had no idea what to do. He couldn't go by himself, but…

"Wait," Wendy said. Larry turned toward her, hoping that whatever idea she had would be good. It seemed to be, as she smiled with an enthusiasm that she didn't normally display. "I know who can help you."

"Really?" Larry raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Wendy smiled and pulled him to the side.

…

If Larry were to be frank, he would say that he wasn't one hundred percent sure about this. He ran through what Wendy said as he stood on the doorstep of… a complete stranger. Yeah, there was no other way to look at it; the person whom his sister directed him to was a complete stranger. Wendy knew her, obviously, but Larry had never taken the time to interact with her. As such, he felt a little uncomfortable when standing on her doorstep.

But he also knew that Peppy's safety meant more than any discomfort he could be feeling. So, he knocked on the door. He tapped his foot as he waited for her to show up, feeling each valuable second ticking away at speeds that were somehow both too slow and too fast. Right as he was about to just leave and try to figure out a solution on his own was when the door opened. Larry put on a determined face, hoping that expression would convey the seriousness of the situation to Lilac.

"Hey. Lilac Arbol, right?"

Lilac stared at Larry with wide eyes. "C… Captain Metal?"

Larry blinked before a drop of pride made him smile. "Yeah. You've heard of me?"

"Of course! You and Fiery Tempest are all over the news!"

Larry chuckled. "Fiery Tempest? You mean your friend, Peppy Pequena?"

"Yes! As a matter of fact, I…" She stopped, blinking before she raised her eyebrow at him. "Wait, how do you know that Peppy is my friend? For that matter… how do you even know where I live?"

Larry seized up. "Oh…" he scratched the back of his head, starting to feel sheepish. "Well… you know. Superheroes have all sorts of databases they have access to and…"

"You're one of Wendy's brothers, aren't you?"

Larry sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I am. Larry to be more specific. She got the call about Peppy being missing and then told me about it."

"I see. Well, that's less creepy than that superhero databases thing you were making up." Lilac paused for a second before gasping. "Oh, sorry! I'm being rude; would you like to come in?"

"I would, actually." Larry stepped into the house, with Lilac closing the door behind him. As they stood near the door, Larry's nerves began acting up. After all, what he wanted to ask her wasn't a small thing in the slightest. It was a big deal and would potentially require her to dive headfirst into a dangerous situation.

"So… wait." Lilac looked confused. "If you know about Peppy going missing, then what are you doing here?"

Larry's unease threatened to strangle him. Don't worry man; you can do this. He took a deep breath before facing Lilac, making direct eye contact with her as he did.

"Well, here's the thing. If Peppy is being held prisoner by some sort of supervillain, then saving her is a tall order. I probably could save her by myself, but the odds of me being successful are less likely given the gravity of this current situation. So… need some help."

Lilac slowly appeared to understand. "And because I have the water sacred star, you think I would be your best bet."

"E…Exactly." Lilac started shifting around on her feet. "Now, I know that this is a big ask. I know that it's risky and that it would be dangerous. I won't blame you if you say you don't want to come. If you don't… I'll just figure out a way to do this on my own."

Lilac cringed when she heard that. "But that would mean you'd be putting yourself in danger without anyone to back you up."

Larry's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah. It would. So… I don't know; the choice is yours. You can do what you want; it's cool either way."

Even as he said that, Larry prayed in his head that Lilac would agree to this. Just based on some of her body language, he didn't know precisely what her answer was going to be. She kept shifting her feet, frowning as the gears turned in her head. She looked at Larry for a little bit, then away from him for a little bit. She put her hand to her chin, looking ready to bite down on her finger.

"Peppy is in a lot of danger, right?"

"Potentially?"

"I see." Lilac put on a determined face and stepped forward. "Well… I can't just leave her like that. She's my friend. One of my best friends, as a matter of fact."

As Lilac's words sank in, Larry's face rose into an elated smile. "So, you're coming with me?" When she nodded with a smile, he felt like dancing on the inside. "Oh, thanks Lilac! You have no idea how much of a relief that is for me!"

"No, but I can imagine." Lilac walked past Larry, pausing for a second before gesturing for him to follow her. Confused, Larry tagged along, unsure what she wanted to do. They eventually arrived at her bedroom (which was probably the most boring and barren bedroom Larry had ever seen, by the way). Just as he was starting to feel a little concerned was when Lilac opened up a desk drawer and pulled out what appeared to be the water sacred star. It was the right shape, and it looked a lot like Peppy's fire sacred star with the exception of being blue instead of red. Lilac fastened it around her neck, looking nervous, excited, and determined all at once.

"I haven't used the water star in a while, so…" She turned toward the wall and pointed her finger at it. A stream of water shot out of her finger, and she beamed as the wall got drenched. "Yep! It still works!"

"Great," Larry said. He looked behind him toward the door. "So… I guess we're all set then?"

"Not quite." Larry couldn't help but do a double-take when she said that. Just as he was about to ask what was missing was when Lilac reached into another desk drawer. Much to Larry's surprise, there was a light blue superhero outfit in there, one that was clearly new considering it hadn't been taken out of the packaging. His eyes grew wide as Lilac took the outfit out and started putting it on as she talked to him.

"Peppy told me she was Fiery Tempest a few days ago," Lilac explained. She put on some gloves, which were the same shade of purple as her shell. Larry had to admit they looked good with the blue. "And despite everything, I was really excited. Especially since I wanted to join her."

"Join her?" Larry asked, his disbelief growing stronger and stronger.

"Yep." Lilac straightened her hair before putting it up with a scrunchie she pulled from her hammerspace. "I asked her if I could join her on some of her missions, and she said that would be fun." She chuckled. "Right after saying I'd have to compete with you for the title of best superhero partner."

Larry's heart ached when he heard that. "I… I see." Oh man, Peppy really had thought highly of him, hadn't she?

"But I digress. I was really excited about going on superhero missions, so I went out and bought myself a new costume." She grinned with shining teeth as she put on her mask. "I even brainstormed some codenames I could go by. It took me a while, but I finally settled on one. What do you think… of Tidal Wave?"

"Tidal Wave?" Larry thought about that before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds pretty good." He chuckled. "Between this and you picking the name Fiery Tempest, I think it's safe to say you've got a knack for superhero names."

Lilac's face turned pink. "Th… thank you." She curled her hair back before pushing her embarrassment to the side and standing up as straight as she could. "Well. What do you say we head out now, Captain Metal? We need to find Fiery Tempest as soon as possible, right?"

"Right you are, Tidal Wave." Larry looked toward the door, taking a deep breath as he did. "So… yeah. Let's get a move on, shall we?"

With a grin, Lilac followed after Larry. As they made their way out of the house, Larry's nerves began to act up again, which was odd considering he now had a new partner.

Oh, I hope this goes well. To his surprise, he even began to shake a little bit. The whole situation with Peppy has been a shitshow. I hope I can fix it at least a little bit after we rescue her…