Minnow (Both parts of two)

Superheroes helped me through a rather rough period of my childhood. Upon reaching maturity, the cost of the books just went too high. I thus stopped collecting, although I still thought about them. I never really wrote much superhero stuff, but I thought that I would present my version.
A Fight for Recognition
Story One: Part One (of Two)
Minnow

It is not true that nobody knows who I am, which was proven by my phone ringing. I have associates that speak of putting their phone on silent at times. I never do that, because I never think to do that. No one ever calls me enough to make my phone ringing into an issue. I thus reached to grab the device and answer simply to deal with the unusual situation.

“Larry, where are you right now?”

The lady had not waited for me to say anything. I guess that she heard me grunt, which told her that I had activated my phone. It took effort to actually get my voice to respond.

“In my bed.”

“Well, good, as it means that you have rested. How about your wings?”

I knew where this conversation was going, so began to rise as I replied, “I just finished my tests. Have another Wednesday, but – yes, I can go out.”

“Get the girl out, Larry. Her mother is a friend. She has not called, but I was watching the news. Your action will thus not be a result of any known influence.”

“Directions.”

“If you head to my house, you should see the police. From the news, they have their lights on.”

She hung up. It would not be unusual for her to call me, as we did know each other. Mrs. Lorshein was however much older than me. The call could thus be explained away, but a long conversation could not be.

There was no Batcave. My equipment was in the attic simply because I did have people that drop by, and they did not need to see certain things. I listened as people spoke of all the technical support that would be necessary to maintain my toys, but the size and efficiency of their own devices should have let them know how stupid they sounded.

It took time to get into my outfit. It worked, and one should not fix what was not broken. While the major reason that the Minnow was not often seen was the difficulty to get into uniform, the fact that I kept coming back alive kept me satisfied with the process.

I activated Trout and Bumble. The latter is not a name of a fish, but I am not that immersed into my alternate identity. Also, I did not name them. Cindy did, even though unaware of what I was doing, and I cry when I think about my memories. Let us thus just leave the name thing – okay?

It was Trout that lifted me from my house. ‘Up, up, and away’ would apply to my going into action. If I flew around, people might notice. Simply rushing up into the sky made me nothing but a momentary blur on any surveillance system. Anyway, Bumble or Eagle were never my primary units for travel, but I activated them for other reasons.

Mrs. Lorshein was correct. The lights from the police cars did provide directions to the situation. She could have told me the house, as I did recognize it. Wondering just how much trouble Mrs. Lorshein was getting me into, I planned my attack.

There were no lights on my uniform or on my wings. I had no intent of being seen. People would see the shimmer of my costume in the light and believe that it would be easily spotted at night. I was glad that they thought that, as it kept me from being easily spotted at night.

The black shape against the black sky was not free falling. No, it was going faster than that. The direction was straight down, but if anyone was watching they would not consider an accidental disaster. No, they would understand that the resulting crash was intentional.

This really was not that dangerous of a maneuver. In fact, it rated a hell of a lot safer than any other method of illegal entry. In fact, survival was almost guaranteed doing it this way while a blunder with any other method sent the odds of completing the mission to zero and the possibility of death to the levels of realistic certainty. Plus, this stunt not only felt great, but if anyone actually did see it they would certainly think that it was cool.

Before reaching the ground, in fact before even reaching the large mansion, the black object made a swoop. One form was humanoid that ducked into a ball as it did a number of flips on its upward trajectory. Another form was rectangular with two stretched scalloped pieces on one side. The machine did a few rolls as it ascended. With practiced precision the black clad man straightened out and caught a bar on the opposite side of the box than were the scalloped pieces. Together the man and machine floated down. Like I said, if anyone would have been watching, they would have thought what I did to be cool.

The guards around the mansion were expecting trouble, but they were not watching for such a vertical descent. Truthfully, they probably should have been. They knew there was somebody going around acting like a superhero. They also knew that he could fly. That was about all they knew however, so in ignorance they watched for those who would challenge the property in more mundane manners.

The one who softly landed on the roof of the mansion was not tall. The black suit of tubed Kevlar-like material added a couple of inches to my height, but the form still was a couple of inches short of six feet. No skin showed through the suit. Instead of eye holes, two bulging optic shields would be seen. The name Minnow came from the appearance of the special fabric and my size, and it was kept as none of us knew of a superhero with that name. To complement my identity, my wings would add a sense of fins to my appearance when resting on my back.

Just to let you know, I knew nothing. I had not tuned into any police frequencies, news broadcasts, or even a pop music channel. I had my life on the line, and really sophisticated technology at my disposal. I had plenty to keep my mind challenged without adding more data. Also, I was a superhero, so I felt better just winging it.

I moved to a large aluminum sphere that was used to help release the expanding hot gases during the day. People did not consider these items to be paths of egress into their home. Truthfully, they were not. Most houses did not have them of a size large enough to allow a man or woman to pass. The larger heat vents had struts to support the light aluminum that again normally prevented movement. I had studied these devices however, so had developed methods just as others had their techniques for other restrictive devices. I called Trout to me, removed some tools from a compartment in the floating machine, then got to work.

Within just a couple of minutes, I was inside the air vent carefully setting the aluminum sphere back into place. Even the sleek Trout would be too large to fit through the hole, although it presently served a better purpose assuring proper replacement of the aluminum sphere. With the job done, the machine obeyed a command to shoot vertically up while I dropped and began moving along the struts of the attic.

In case you are imagining this activity in your mind, might as well tell you that was what I was doing as well. Nope, I did not use a light. There were enough ambient sources of illumination to enable me to move about. I did not have to see, probably did not want to see. In complete darkness every speck of light is important, and I moved with my hand feeling for struts upon which I could move safely while seeking the sign of where to go.

~^~^~ ^~^~^ ~^~^~

Steve Troxler was in his office looking at the feed from a surveillance camera. He was dressed in designer blue jeans and what appeared to be a flannel shirt although it had a designer label as well. Steve wore slippers on his feet because he was in his home. With him were a handful of men all in business suits. This was not their home and they were here because of matters involving people and money. That was what Steve was presently about, attempting to finish his association with the gentlemen.

The large screen television showed a car parked outside Steve's home. Inside the vehicle was a man casually dressed. Steve knew that if he met the man normally he would be in an old suit. The fact that the private eye was not in a suit now meant that he was presently considering himself at home. Realizing that the man was not going anywhere, Steve picked up his cell phone, and soon all in the room watched as the man in his car picked up his.

"Hey, Davidson, I got a job for you. I will have my guy bring out your usual fee, and if all goes well there might be bonus in for you."

"Go to Hell, Troxler. Wait, why don't you have Gregory Namath come out with that retainer. He was recognized in the videos as being a part of the Loretta Corinsky abduction."

Steve was really going to hate seeing Gregory go. He had been a very reliable man. Thinking quickly, Steve considered throwing the private eye the bone he wanted.

"I am sure that you are mistaken, but I will tell you what, I will send Gregory out to you. Read him his rights, take him down to the station, and we will discuss this later."

"Go to Hell, Troxler. I will be happy to entertain Gregory until the cops get here – oh, wait, they are here. I ain't moving. Even if I turn my head, I have a camera on you just as I know you got one turned on me. If you have your boy, or boys, rough me up, I will have people storm your place with a subpoena for your own damn surveillance videos."

Normally, Steve was more than willing to allow the police on his property. The gentlemen now with him were not wanting such to happen however, and Steve's body language assured them that he agreed. What he wanted at present was to have the road in front of his property as private as his own residence.

"Listen, Davidson, I have some guests here, and your dirty Sentra is ruining the scenery. Tell you what, I will have Gregory come out with a roll of quarters. You can not only bring him down to the station, but get your car washed as well. Put on a tie, and I won't mind you parked out front."

"Listen, Troxler, I am a member of the local school board. Loretta came here on a student exchange program. I don't know exactly how she is involved with whatever global situation is going on right now, and don't care. I am not going to allow my school district to be considered unsafe."

"You are barking up the wrong tree, Davidson. Tell you what though, I will send Gregory out on good faith."

Steve canceled the phone call, then spoke to one of his men that was in a kevlar suit standing beside a door. "Gregory, you got yourself tagged. Go pack some clothes and tell Doris to quickly pack as well. We all need to take a vacation."

The door to the room cracked, a voiced stated that he heard, then the door closed again. Steve commented to those still in the room with him that he understood the situation, but was committed to the project. He then touched a monitor button and told the man in the security booth to cut the video feed, to summon his helicopter, and have his jet prepare to leave. The next thing to do was explain the change of plans to those in the room with him, but Steve stopped with the realization that one little detail was missing. The man in the security booth did not return an affirmation.

Looking forward to the second part. Weird fish named superhero. I get the fact that he is small and such but still a little weird for me, though not distracting from a well written part one. I actually like Mrs. Lorshein as well. I instantly thought of Charlie from Charlie's Angel when she called. Nice beginning!

This is the start of a story arch that I have worked out, but writing the little details of superhero action have always bogged me down. I thus do not know how much I will present, but a little encouragement will keep me trying. So, thanks.

Note that I am not focusing on super-villians, but what I have so far is my super-heroes (should eventually be six) just having to deal with normal criminals. I believe this keeps the stories from straying into silly land. Still, the action needs to build, so more powerful villians will be eventually presented. Not even at that point right now. Anyway, again, thanks.

Normal crimes need solving too! Ha! Building up the action is key to keeping readers reading. You are doing fine with the details as well. If you hadn't given the details of the costume I wouldn't have really got the fish thing. By giving those details you also kept me interested in what Minnow was doing.

A Fight for Recognition
Story One: Part Two (of Two)
Minnow

People have a hard time relating to my superhero identity. My mouth is set with a plate that enables control of my wings, which prevents me from talking. My mask fully covers my face, so it is next to impossible to read my expressions. To resolve that problem, I leave when faced with a situation of having to relate to people. At present I was smiling, but I was not being sociable.

There had been no one in the hallway. Even after opening the attic access, dropping down, then closing it – not exactly a quiet operation, I was alone. I then noticed a certain secured door. Checking to find that the knob did open the portal, I left the hallway.

Let me make it clear that there is no Minnow signal, special phone, or any way to actually contact me. The couple of people that do know my secret identity would actually prefer if I did not go into action. Most people did not even know I existed, or believed others when they spoke about me, as I really did not go into action that often. The fact that I was present because Mrs. Lorshein contacted me actually made this a special mission.

If she had not called, I doubt that I would have gone into action even if I knew what was occurring. I knew better. All those comic book superheroes that walk into traps were idiots. If the cops mentioned that a situation was dangerous, I believed them. Minnow was not known for taking on high profile cases. Truthfully, if a broadcast for his aid went out over the media, or simply a cry of help was screamed, Minnow was normally not the one who noticed or replied.

Those that I associate with have speculated why the Minnow would show up at times and not at other times. I would participate, as they were fun conversations. No one could really determine exactly when or where my superhero identity would appear. I have seen reports from prostitutes mentioning the Minnow appearing in dark alleys and saving them from being abused. The police actually had a merit badge for him due to his help in shutting down those they were chasing among city streets. Minnow had been recorded as aiding in a few extremely threatening situations, but most of those had only revealed themselves as being dangerous after the initial encounter. The hired help inside the mansion thus truly had no reason to suspect the coming of Minnow, and luckily that even included the one in the surveillance booth.

I checked, and one camera did reveal the hallway where I dropped down from the attic. The brute in the room was more interested in watching a young lady that flipped a magazine while sitting in front of a television attempting to ignore whoever was observing her. The fight with the brute was quick. I did not fight fair. I was in good shape, and my suit did protect me, but lengthy battles, which meant fights of any duration, were not wanted. When my opponent thought to open his mouth and make a statement, I released a spray of gas. He dropped. Knowing that he would be unconscious for only a few minutes, and would wake up with a headache desiring to do harm, I quickly checked what information the cameras and folders in the room could provide.

The young lady was not just being watched by the camera, but there was a female guard in the room as well. From the way she sat, I figured that the door was locked. Being internal, it would not keep the young lady in the room, but the amount of time to release the door would hopefully give the guard time to reassert her authority.

When the phone rang, I simply activated it. I did not say anything, but acted quickly hoping the silence would give me a few more seconds. Knowing that those inside the house would become aware of a breach in their security, I ran for the young lady’s room. I did not have time for finesse, so did not use it.

No offense to women, as men would do it as well. Curiosity is a fault of both sexes. As Minnow, I did not speak. Still, something slamming into a door does make those on the other side wonder about things. The female guard opened the door.

She did not see me, as she had no reason to have looked down. I came up between her legs while grabbing them. She fell over as I pulled her into the room. I then spun to inflict some damage. The female guard balled up to protect herself, which conveniently put her legs together. I pulled a plastic strap and bound her legs, then as she looked at me with shock, I did her hands. What I had done was not a maneuver she had been taught to suspect, so it happened without any difficulty.

The young lady wanted to speak to me, but I looked around hoping she would realize that conversation would not happen. Things had gone well so far, but my objective was to get her away from the mansion. Instead of talking to her, or even looking at her, I sought a method to quickly leave.

The window was barred. That presented a problem. I moved to the guard again hoping for a weapon, but saw nothing I considered useful. Without any simple ideas, I grabbed the remote to the television and the hand of the girl.

Let me say that in my original design for my superhero identity, I definitely wanted to speak. Mr. Lorshein had however warned me that saying anything would work against my bet, which was to keep my secret identity a secret for one year. I figured that I could easily stay quiet the first year, as I did not expect my presence would get that noticed. Needing a method to control my wings while keeping my hands free, mouth controls were developed, and from that moment the Minnow became ever silent. To enable some communication, I learned sign language. Most however did not know it, not that I ever really got a chance to use it anyway, so the end result was that I did not speak.

The young lady spoke of thinking it cool to be rescued by what she considered to be an American superhero. She was slightly attractive, but I also recognized her clothes as proclaiming that she associated with a certain sorority. I did not associate with the Greeks. While it was nice having the young lady desire to stay with me, I directed her to the door without any desire to prolong our relationship.

The hallway curved at one end. I had come from that direction, and quickly decided that I could not afford to rush back and beyond to see where it led. A large stained glass window was at the other end making a flight of stairs a scenic addition to the estate. Seeing that her window had been barred, I had picked up the remote to check the integrity of other openings. Just a simple inspection of the grand assortment of colored pieces however told me what I wanted to know, so I dropped the remote while pulling the young girl down the corridor.

Men were coming up the stairs. They probably saw me. I believe that they began to reach for weapons. Within my mask I was smiling however, as the stairs were the wrong place to be.

Colored pieces of glass exploded as Bumble proved its worth. It was large for a number of reasons, but I found myself often surprised how just its size often proved a major asset. The machine had been ordered to quickly descend, and it hit the window with a great force. The panes had been reinforced, but while they might have been able to resist hurricane force winds they were not exactly designed to prevent the intrusion of a fast moving large metallic object. I did not bother concerning myself with the cost of the window, but as the glass fell I hoped that Bumble had made a large enough hole.

When I wrapped an arm around the young lady, she hugged me in return. She spoke words of not being worried, and I allowed myself to trust her. I reached for the handle on Bumble hoping that I could quickly bring my involvement with her to an end.

Flying out the window I had a number of concerns. The first was simply not getting hurt. If I was alone, I would have pulled an acrobatic maneuver allowing my body to be shielded by my machine. The weight of the young lady however prevented any fancy movements. Beyond the window, I also feared somebody using their weapons. An approaching helicopter added another concern into my thoughts.

Nobody knew about the Minnow, because no one had ever expected him to exist. Mrs. Lorshein and I would watch “Jeopardy” together often reminding each other that it was due to quiz bowl that our association began. Mr. Lorshein was my science teacher. I was smart, so he allowed me to tinker with things while using my activities to bring up topics for filling my head with more facts. Since we were doing question and answer type of things, I asked him about something I saw. He then got as curious as me, and we continued to research. The Minnow only came about as our questions had us look for answers in a direction no one else was seeking, and our enjoyment of the activities had us look for solutions others would not consider. In the end, even the Lorsheins and I were surprised at having created a superhero.

All of my wings had tremendous power. They flew because they were gravity neutral, so did not need the ground to keep them from falling. Everything still had mass however, so they could not simply flit about. My original observation dealt with power however, and not with anti-gravity, so I took pride in the work my machines could do and not exactly because they could fly.

There were limitations to my wings, but I understood them in a number of ways. Beyond basic research and controlled test results, I practiced with my wings. I thus could perform stunts that protected me from most dangers. My skills had also been put to the test for a few years now, so I had a competence with my equipment that made my feats as the Minnow worthy of claiming superhero status.

However much I might want to brag on myself, none of my statements would be true for the one I held. While flying high and fast would work for me, I really was scared that the female I held would not be able to keep holding on. I actually felt like flying to the nearby helicopter and placing her in it, but I did not know the weight limit of that machine or the skill of the pilot. I thus sought a quick and simple solution for dealing with my passenger.

A car had been readied. Considering the presence of the officials, I did not know how the car would help those that had abducted the young lady. I considered putting it to use for me, so worked my mouth to signal Eagle into action. Feeling that I would have the power to create a grand finish, I descended to the car.

The way the girl held me caused me to worry that she would not let go. She however appeared relieved to again be set on the ground. Without having to make any actions to direct her, she opened a door and climbed into the back seat. Feeling that I did not have to worry about her any longer, I checked on the position of my wings as I put my plan into action.

I went low not only to avoid any bullets that might be sent in my direction, but also because that was where I needed to be. Bumble came down and dropped its line. As quickly as possible I connected the lengths of braided filaments to the front bumper.

A few bullets did come at me along with some words as I connected a line from Eagle to the back bumper. The suit proved its ability to protect me, even as I did my best not to stress its limits. I could not stand in front of adversaries and live through their barrage of gunfire. I could survive being hit by a bullet, but when I heard gunshots I began doing what I could to get away.

I probably made myself more of a target climbing on top of the car, but the vehicle supplied protection as my two largest wings lifted it into the air. With me doing what I could to steady the ride, I directed my machines away from the house. Coming into view of the police along the perimeter of the estate, even more guns were directed at me, although the number of gunshots decreased to zero as the cacophony of those yelling at me increased.

I dropped the car in front of the gate. With policemen gathering around me, I worked to release the cords attached to the vehicle. While a number were commanding me to stay and give a statement, I then took off into the sky to head home.

Coming back down from the attic to my house, I did not call Mrs. Lorshein. We had long ago established certain protocols about our relationship. We would talk, but we had our scheduled times. I went back to bed not worried about Mrs. Lorshein, but about being alert for my classes the next day.

Yes! I was excited to see Part 2 come so quickly. I knew I was in for a great story to continue. That being said...

I love, love, love the fancy footwork Minnow did after the female guard opened the door. Nice action scene. I think from a writer's prospective it was normal, simple even but as a reader they are drawn in more so because this silent superhero actually has something super-hero-ing in him. If that makes any sense. I love the way you make him normal as well. He was worried about his classes in the morning. I think making him normal is important to your story because it makes Minnow real to your readers. Nice work!

Thanks. I am attempting to keep a plausible feel to the stories. The next one introduces my female superhero, 'A Ladies' Night Out.' I hope you enjoy it as well.

Oh a female super hero -- I don't know of many and the ones I do know of were viewed mostly as sex symbols. Make her hot, but make her brilliant as well please. Looking forward to it!