13. The End of It
Last time on Quarks of the Heart, the Malevolent Med-Student had been defeated by an impromptu team-up of Captain Happily Married and Liz Flask, who had successfully tricked the supervillain into revealing the details of the Pharma-Death Beam so that cybernetic soccer ball Seymour could relay them to the superhero hospital and save Meg Atomic! This week: the aftermath…
In many superhero stories, the tale ends with a terrific and lengthy battle right in the middle of a major populated area, replete with property damage, civilian casualties, and witty banter as the main characters slug it out for possession of the primary plot device or whatever their various and particular objectives were. Here, things were a little different.
The Malevolent Med-Student and Captain Happily Married’s climactic battle took place in a (mostly) secure vault on the city outskirts; there were no civilians around, and the property damage was kept to a minimum at best. The battle, in fact, was remarkably short; the Malevolent Med-Student had no real superpowers of his own, relying entirely on his technological devices. The problem was that before he could fire the Kaboominator, Liz Flask fired off a shot of water that froze the entire trigger assembly solid, and he didn’t have time to get it unfrozen before Captain Happily Married tackled him with the combined power of an entire NFL offensive line.
The supervillain hit the ground with a loud and distinct thud. The Malevolent Med-Student’s loyal henchwoman Candystriper, seeing the way things were going, promptly surrendered. The day had been saved.
A few loose ends still remained. One in particular.
She wasn’t at full strength yet. Seymour and the people at St. Cupertino had done their best with the information the Malevolent Med-Student had unwittingly provided, but her recovery would be long, they’d all said. Her graviton pulses were still on the weak side. She’d tried a few times to work out small probabilities: the likelihood of a particular coin landing on heads when she flipped it, for example. . Even then it was difficult to focus, and the effort left her head aching.
All the same, when Meg Atomic learned that he was in custody, she asked to see him the first chance she could. Captain Happily Married was on the point of an absolute refusal, but Super Soccer Mom stopped him.
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll arrange transport.”
The logistics didn’t take long. The next morning, in fact, she found herself walking, still somewhat haltingly, into the secretive Penitentiary for Enhanced-Risk Persons. After a long and thorough security check (more than a few shapeshifters had gone bad, after all), she was finally allowed into the visitation room. Another long wait passed before they brought him in. Fortunately she’d brought a book to pass the time.
At last he arrived. They’d checked for every possible tech or anything else he could’ve smuggled in. Every known power-suppressant was active on his side of the window. She could see him through the glass. He looked wary; for all he knew, her powers were very much full-strength and she’d come to blast him into quantum bits.
Admittedly she’d considered it. Instead, she pressed the communications button. “Hello, Keith,” she said.
“Hello,” he said slowly.
“Dad told me what you said. I assume you meant it.”
“Well-”
“Please,” she said, “Don’t say you started out pretending you were in love and then to your surprise you really did fall in love with me and you just didn’t know how to choose between your newfound love and your villainous plan. We’re both too smart for that. Besides, Seymour was kind enough to replay your monologue for full analysis.”
“Well,” he said, and left it at that. Or he should have, anyway. But like most supervillains and a good many normal people, he couldn’t resist trying to get the last word.
“I suppose you suspected me the entire time, and even if you didn’t, you wouldn’t admit it to me anyway.”
Her eyes were cold as metal. “Either way, here we are. Goodbye, Keith.”
She pushed another button that closed the channel. Then Meg Atomic rose, turned her back, and walked away.
Read the Epilogue.
