CHAPTER 5 – The not-so-secret app

Many-a-times you come across once in a lifetime news, which later just gets banned one or the other way, taken down into no-where, as if the public never heard the news, even when some did.

Not many care for such news. What follow-up could the news people even give for 'Superhero caught on a sloppy camera'?

Which ALWAYS is a sloppy camera. Like, yeah, why would places even have a high-end camera installed? But again, why would places even have cameras, if the cameras are so bad?

These mysteries don't just disappear in thin air. There is this organisation, unnamed, which made an app, 'The Baseball Codes', or also called as 'To Be Continued', or 'TBC'. And like anyone, but not everyone, could guess, the cases are continued here, by people given the role of 'Basemen'.

Even while I have used this secret app myself, for a long time. To keep basic updates on unknown news, updated by many Buster Fabulas… I couldn't get either of the roles. Moreover, NO ONE knows if someone can just get the roles, but the numbers of such candidates have increased surely.

One of the cases I came across… was of Rustizen. A footballer, goalie, a rather thin goalie. He NEVER missed to protect a goal. Eventually, probably even he realised the people's doubtful eyes, and missed simpler goals, just to get more eyes on him. And eventually this case closed into thin air.

It was no wonder for a 'force field generator' to choose such a typical profession. He was even close to being in the national team, even with all the suspicion.

I mean, it wouldn't even be a random guess, as Rustizen SCORED goals, FROM his net. The final goal before his disappearance, was the one where his block was such a hard push on the ball, that the invisible shield just yeeted the ball into the opposite goal post. Alongside breaking the neck of the opposite goalie, who hit his head to the side pole.

The app was set to be banned, smartphone companies started to make sure that their new models of phones were incompatible with the app.

Yet nothing stopped the app. And obviously since no one knew who made and controlled this app, nothing much could be done, long-term wise.

Especially for the case of Rustizen's disappearance, and a few other similar cases, the app was obviously eyed at, and cases were filed on it, as if it was the new murderous app, which wasn't exactly as some, like me, believed.

But as I said before, nothing could be done. Every ban or every action taken against the app, was solved eventually. It even was confusing how people were updated of such changes and easily re-found the app.

There were other roles present in the app. Not only was it impossible for everyone to find the app's founder or creator, but even those who had the roles were never found.

Obviously, they would have been relocated like Rustizen was. That is where the suspicion of Rustizen having one the roles comes to me.

Once though, people dug deep into the app, and found one name for the creator of the app, 'Shredder'. And the 'company' who made it was found to be named as… 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'.

While it could have just been a prank of anyone at all, or the actual creator, that was the only thing found from the app.

Obviously, this app was the place where I found most of my knowledge. While it doesn't help normal people, as of how they can easily be caught that way, no one seems to ever ask help directly to them. Probably those are done in secret, or those cases asking help out in light, are just ignored.

Also, another main application… of the application, was private messaging. Now you may wonder, if it was just phone number which gave access for two people to chat, or usernames even, then how can it be safe?

One, names are either random generated or you give yourself a name and find a temporary username person, to chat with.

Two, you aren't being a terrorist, so it's fine to just use this and even be found… you did nothing wrong.

Three, you can't be found as it is… not understood by me, but it is what it is.

And that is how I'm able to safely learn of Rustizen's location, without being found, and ring the bell at his door. Smartly enough, we both knew the names we had chosen, and Witch didn't have to suffer too long.

Scelestha evidently had made arrangements, as she covers Witch in a huge blanket, right at the door, and steals her into another room, where seemingly no one was there, as everyone are in the hall, I find myself in.

Rustizen closes the door behind me and turns to me. He looks too stressed or whatever, as his red neck is seen.

Everyone except Scelestha were still under masks seemingly, whereas Scelestha was still in her armour, which I just realise.

"Welcome to the team, Lost-Bird," Rustizen says.

"I swear I did not just simply plan this out to get into this. Nor did I follow to where Witch was going. I just-"

"-am a superhero," Rustizen says.

"What?" I ask.

"Can we care about that later? You, come with me," Scelestha says, hurrying into the room and dragging me away to where she had come from.

"It's a temperature device of sort. When I switch it on and feel it's bottom, I feel cold, and another setting partially burned my hand, and I soon will need burnol for that," I say and take a breath. "Anyways, it needs some kind of extension, which could put Witch into a hibernation phase. I'm thinking of a refrigerator, but she could get breathless soon enough."

Scelestha takes a moment to understand what I say, and finally starts to speak. "You are weirdly co-operative for a… suspicious person. But I'm thinking more of… hmm, extension brings in mind of Psyand, but she could just strangle Witch is all, and it won't exactly stay put at all."

I just stay dazed of her this time and think for a while, we both look at each other at the same time and then bring-in Wrap with us, and show Witch's condition to him.

"Okay, we are away from the kid so; what the fuck, and how the fuck do you expect her to live?" Wrap asks.

"We need to put her in a cryo-state or something first. So, does your powers of wrapping… allow respiration, like, air to pass through the bind you make?" Scelestha asks.

"Well, yeah, it does, just slower though. It feels more like a semi-permeable membrane of sorts so…" Wrap gives out his powers.

"That could work for now. So extend out or whatever, use this," I say and hand Wrap the device which… someone had given.

Wrap holds the device and feels it between his hands for a moment, before placing it towards Witch. As I and Scelestha wish for, the surrounding of Witch turns to a blue hue and literal ice seems to form around her.

Scelestha tries to feel the air around Witch, and she nods her head in satisfaction.

"You sure it'll work?" she asks.

"Well… yeah. But it'll just keep her in this state for long. But we don't have long. We are supposed to… find something. Someone, I guess," I say.

"Who?" Scelestha asks.

I glance at Scelestha and she still just continues to stare at me, through her helm.

"A white dragon."

Scelestha stares at me and then at Witch, and then nods. "Let's hope on whatever that is."

"Okay… and now explanations," Wrap asks.

We take Wrap to the hall and give everyone the same explanation, same fake story, which was obviously what could be said.

"Witch obviously has powers. And she is getting hunted from a while, by the Saturn Organisation, we suspect now. And they send these creatures for that purpose. And sadly today they surrounded her and hurt her. She always had this device she asked to use on her, whenever it could come to it," Scelestha says.

"And she asked me to find a white dragon. Whatever that is. And that could help her, she said," I say.

The partial truth, by saying that the whole truth rests with the one person they can't ask.

"Dragons are real," Rustizen says. "Normally I wouldn't have said it out loud, but what has happened to Witch... I don't want to know, but is very serious, isn't it?"

"Indeed… but wasn't the myth of dragons already present? Everyone almost knew it is real. Ashville, and what not," I say.

"Indeed, baseball codes," Rustizen sighs. "No wonder a powered individual like you, always had that app. And you should know through that."

"What is a dragon?" Psyand's mother asks.

"Ma, the thing you call as, 'udtha magarmach'," Psyand says 'flying crocodile' in Hindi.

"Before everything else, what is with pointing at me having power, since I arrived?"

"Well they released videos for different cities' powered individuals… while we found each one present in the room, except Psyand's mother, you were also in it, and we are sure," Scelestha says.

"Look, we understand, it IS scary. Random dudes and dudettes, even little dudette, who is not exactly scary with all due respect. But… we are all we have, like you said," Wrap says. "Let's protect each other."

I look at Scelestha and Wrap, back to back. But before I say anything…

"We didn't find nothing. Don't give in," Rustizen says.

Everyone, especially Wrap and Psyand, start sighing and nagging.

"Mr. Wrap worked well on that dialogue. Why did you ruin it Rustizen?" Psyand asks.

"I… wait a minute, how come I'm not called as mister here?"

"Because you don't look that old."

"Did you just call ME old?" Wrap asks.

"What am I?" Scelestha asks.

"You don't exactly sound old, but I don't know, you could be. But you are cool, so you are a 'Miss'," Psyand says.

"Doubtful… maybe you fear the blade. But you are cute, so I will allow it," Scelestha says and glances at Psyand's mother, who looks shook by the mention of blade. "Purely a sattire."

"Now we will never know if Mr. LB is a powerful guy," Psyand says.

"Ok… I'll take that as a compliment though. CLEARLY I'm old so," I shrug.

"F," Wrap says. "N-not that, it's a… meme thing."

"Are you people just going with all that information, pretending that you understand?" Psyand's mother asks.

"Dragons are real. Need to find white dragon. What even is unclear?" Wrap asks.

"Oh that was it?" Psyand's mother asks, with a dumbfounded expression. "It sounded more complicated."

"Okay, but how do we find the white dragon?" Psyand asks.

I just look at Scelestha, and find her looking at me, and she looks at Rustizen, and I follow. Rustizen flinches at our stares.

"I just know as much as you do, on this case. And… wouldn't it be better to ask Witch? She mentioned a white dragon. All we knew is dragons, not of colours and stuff. Her words mean… she knows better," Rustizen mumbles out, as a rap.

I hear Scelestha gulp.

"B-but she can't wake up now, unless she has healed," I say.

"We should give her some time to stabilize or something at least, first. Then we can wake her for a while," Scelestha suggests.

"So how long do we wait?" Rustizen asks.