Chapter 10: Theory
Blaze Hart couldn’t be a supervillain. The idea was absurd. He may be a jerk for trying to steal Mo away but that didn’t make him an evil mastermind. He was a Third Year Engineering major and on the rowing team, he couldn’t have the time to go off committing arson.
Eli tried to list all of the reasons of why Blaze being a super was improbable. Blaze not getting burned after the arena explosion could just be plain old luck as Mo wasn’t burned either. Eli had to be overthinking. Paranoia was an affliction some heroes dealt with. At least that’s what Mr. Carlysle told him the first week of training.
Mr. Carlysle had his suit delivered to him at the end of the day. He found the metal suit in his dorm room. Tadashi was out getting takeout for their dinner so Eli locked the door and put on the suit to check if it was working properly. All the functions seemed to be in order.
“Rose?” he called. “Are you there?”
“I am online again. Mr. Carlysle has fixed the suit’s vulnerability to magnetic force. The suit will now be able to absorb magnetic energy and convert it for reusage.”
“That’s good to know.” Eli paused before asking, “You’re able to access databases, right?”
“I have access to almost all of them.”
“Could you look up a person? Maybe even access medical records?”
“I am able to,” Rose answered. “May I ask who you want to look up?”
Eli took off the suit and placed it back in the metal case. He lied down on his bed and spoke to his smart watch. “It would be a severe invasion of privacy if I look him up. Mo would be furious if she finds out I did it.”
“What is the purpose of you needing to invade somebody’s privacy?”
“I think he could be a supervillain, the new one who was with Smokeburn during the bank robbery.”
Light shot up from the smart watch, a hologram of a video appeared. It was footage of the bank robbery, particularly of the new supervillain inside the truck. His face was covered by a red mask. Eli could still see his hair which was a dark blond color.
It could be a coincidence. There were plenty of blond guys in the world. There were lots of six foot tall blond guys.
“Superpowers are genetic,” Eli said. “Aren’t there tests to check for the super gene?”
“There are tests available,” Rose replied. “Carlysle Industries has a reliable test that is used to test candidates for the Heroic League. You were one of the successful candidates.”
“I was?”
He had no idea he’d been tested
“You tested positive for the super gene, and scored high for heroic aptitude.”
“Heroic aptitude? How did Carlysle Industries get a DNA sample?”
The A.I. went quiet.
“Rose,” he said. “How did they get my DNA?”
She finally responded, “That is classified information. You do not have the clearance to access that data. Please refer to Mr. Carlysle-”
Eli cut her off, “Of course I don’t. And let me guess, I signed away my right to ask these questions in the waiver.”
“Yes, on page four, paragraph six-”
Eli groaned.
And this was why he needed to read the whole document before he signed anything.
The next day, Eli had to skip one of his classes to fly into the city. He could’ve left it up to another hero but there was a fire. And where there was fire, there was usually Smokeburn. He wanted to see if Smokeburn’s protégé was there.
The problem was that Eli had an obsessive streak. It ran in the family. As easily distracted as he could be even with the Adderall, once he hyper-focused on something he could not be pulled away. He would not be able to give effort to anything else until he resolved this.
He could not stop thinking about Blaze being a supervillain. He found himself observing the guy’s every move when he saw him which was usually around Mo. Eli seethed in jealousy and cataloged Blaze’s behavior at the same time. What bothered Eli the most was the thought that Mo might be dating a bad guy.
Mo deserved more than a villain. He thought of ways on how to check if Blaze was a super. Even if he could get his hands on a test, he still had to get his DNA. He couldn’t imagine Blaze willingly handing that over.
An apartment building was on fire. Eli flew inside the building through a window to look for people to save. His suit kept him cool from the heat of the flames and from inhaling smoke. The suit didn’t have a built in oxygen tank so he couldn’t stay long.
He called out, “Is anybody here? I’m here to help.”
Flames burst through a wall and a figure in a red mask stepped through. The figure did not say a word and threw a fireball at him.
Eli yelped, “Whoa! What did I do to you?”
The red mask threw another fireball.
“Okay, okay. I get it. You’re not happy to see me,” Eli quipped. “But can we talk about this? Let me make it up to you.”
A tidal wave of flames came at him.
Eli jumped up into the air to avoid it. “Somebody’s moody. Is it a pyromaniac thing or just you?”
Another fireball.
“You’re really beginning to hurt my feelings,” Eli remarked. “I guess we can’t be friends.”
Before the red mask could throw more fire at him, Eli flew down and knocked him to the floor. They tussled trying to gain the upper hand, throwing punches at each other. The floor and walls were beginning to cave in.
A fiery fist hit Eli in the face with enough force to make him pause. The red mask took the opening and got the upper hand, throwing more fiery punches at Eli. His suit was working overtime to keep him cool and absorb the impact. Desperate to make him stop, Eli grabbed at the mask on the other guy’s face and pulled it off.
The mask landed far away and Eli could finally see his face.