The Anthem Force Chronicles

Revelations

I know it’s a dream because it’s the same one I have every night. I’m running along the rooftops, its just about sunset and my team trails behind me. We’re chasing after this villain. He smells like smoke.

And then he jumps to the next rooftop, except this one is farther then the others. I jump with him.

I reach out to him, my hands almost grabbing his shirt. Except then I realize I’m coming down. We’re not going to reach the next rooftop.

So I fall.

I wake up in a cold sweat, my body shaking. I feel the phantom pains, my leg aches, my wrist feels like someone is snapping it back, my ribs hurt with every breath.

“Easy now,” I tell myself as I take deep breaths, “Don’t worry yourself into a frenzy.”

After a few moments I feel better, the pains go away, although I suppose they were never really there in the first place.

Still, my anxieties keep me awake long into the night. “The Countdown” could only mean more attacks on the city and if my suspicions were right I knew who was behind it.

And today I would find out for sure.

When it reaches a more decent hour I call up Andy since it’s a Saturday and she’s off from school. “Hey do you want to go do some investigative work with me today?” I say into the phone.

“Do I ever!” she beams.

“Coolness, meet me at the asylum at ten.”

Andy hangs up and I get ready for the day. I change into my civies (civilian clothes), a grey hoodie and jeans. One of the perks of having no secret identity was not having to go around in full superhero uniform all the time. Full body spandex could get annoying after awhile.

Andy is already by the docks when I arrive. She’s wearing a pink button down and a floral scarf, her hair is two blonde pigtails.

“Hey Dante!” she grins when she sees me, “Thanks for inviting me to come with you. I can’t wait to see you in action.” She starts floating a bit in the air, her two pigtails sticking straight up.

“Thanks for coming,” I say as I tug her back down to the ground, “But I don’t think it’ll be too exciting. I just need to figure some stuff out.”

“It’s still cool. How was your date by the way?”

“It wasn’t a date… but it was nice.”

Andy grins and I threaten to wipe the smile off her face. It’s all real touching but I’m here for business.

Together we walk through to the asylum, the guards letting us through the bridge as soon as they realize I’m Dante Caslon. Another perk of everyone knowing you’re a superhero: unrestricted access.

We walk through the long hallway, this time Andy ignores all the jests and catcalls of the locked away villains, until we burst through the door of the chairman’s office.

“Dante?” he says as he looks up from some papers, “What a surprise.”

“Sorry for the intrusion Chairman but it’s urgent, this is Andy by the way.”

“Ah yes, Marvel I believe. Super strength, speed, flight; very nice.”

Andy blushes, “Thank you sir.”

“Of course,” the chairman nods, “So what was it that brought you to my office?”

“As you probably know there were two related incidents of buildings on fire this week,” I begin, “Which follow the pattern of a villain from my past. So I need to know for sure. Who escaped from Anthem Asylum?”