Two Idiots and a Cape

Chapter 21: Revenge, Avenge, What's The Difference?

Antennes growled, face twisted into a frown that was anything but typical on his face. Pam eyed him nervously as she clicked on her laptop, pulling up the information the villain asked her to look for.

"Ant... Do you really think this is a good idea?" She asked. A good idea? A good idea? How could it NOT be?! 

"I want to find the people responsible, Pam. I need to." His frown deepened as he thought about Micheal, chest aching deeply in a way he'd never felt before. It had taken all of his self-restraint not to pull Micheal into his arms and never let go as the man told him about what had happened years ago, about being attacked and stabbed in the back by someone he'd trusted. Someone who should have loved him. Now he was determined to find who these villains were, where they were, and take care of them himself. Pam sighed but continued typing before letting out a small sound of accomplishment. 

"Got 'em! These are the guys." He looked at the laptop and the picture of the four gang members' mugshots, all of them tough and hardened looking. He glared at the pictures, nodding as he read the news report that Pam had pulled up. The attack against Micheal had been looked into by police and had even made the front page of a few newspapers, but it seemed like Micheal had tried keeping things on the down-low from how difficult it had been to get any information on the attack. But here it was, the men responsible. Men who the police had never caught. They'd walked free after hurting Micheal so bad, and Antennes wasn't going to allow that any longer. 

"You ready to get to work?" He asked Pam with a smirk. Pam turned to him.

"Is the sky blue?"

After two hours of asking around in the streets, Antennes got a lead to a shoddy apartment complex, run down and ugly and, according to Dave the Drug Dealer, the place where the four gang members lived. Good old Dave. He was more trustworthy than one might think. 

"For the record, I think this is a horrible plan!" Pam hissed over his shoulder. She was right, mostly because he didn't really... have a plan, per se.

"Yeah, that's why you're staying here. As lookout." Pam laughed dryly.

"Oh, lookout. I've never heard that one before. Just go." She waved him off. He smiled before slipping up the fire escape, searching for the right room. Once he found it he peeked inside, quietly watching the three men inside laughing loudly as they watched a football game on the small television at the far left of the room. They were drinking and throwing snacks at the screen, yelling nonsense at the players and referees. One of them turned to shout over their shoulder and the fourth man appeared a moment later, flipping them off with an ugly grin. Antennes narrowed his eyes, forming his plan. Since the men were being so loud Antennes was easily able to slide the window open, letting out a smoky breath through his nose. Showtime. He let out a flood of smoke into the room, filling it quickly as the men looked around in confusion.

"What the hell? Did one'a you try cookin' again?" One of the men asked, covering his face with his hands and coughing. Antennes climbed into the room and locked the window behind himself, crossing the room quickly and locking the door, too. The men still hadn't noticed him as the smoke thickened, coughing and wheezing. His eyes shone a blazing orange as he watched them, feeling his fingers burn angrily. Two of the gang members ran to the door and struggled to open it, fingers fumbling with the locks and trying to grab the handle, but Antennes had heated it up and they yelled in paid as the metal burnt them, jumping back.

"Door won't open!" They shouted across the room. The other two made to run to the window, but Antennes intercepted them, standing in the smoky gloom with his eyes glowing brightly, smoke trailing from his lips.

"Who the hell–!?" One of the two rasped, coughing harshly. Antennes stared at the four men.

"Phone. You call 911 and tell them exactly who you are. Then wait for them to turn up and arrest you." He ordered through gritted teeth. He wanted to do so much worse to them, beat them down like they'd done to Micheal, but he knew that wasn't what Micheal would want or need. The tallest of the four wheezed a laugh.

"Wh-what? You c-crazy? We ain't calling 911!"

"Then you'll stay here and choke to death, and I'll watch it happen. CALL. NOW." The men glanced at one another, rasping and choking on the toxic air. Even Antennes could feel his own lungs begin to tickle, but he fought past it as he stood unwaveringly. Finally, the tall man nodded, stumbling across the room and grabbing the phone, clumsily dialing 911. Antennes stood, making sure the four men stayed exactly where they were until the sound of sirens stopped in front of the building, firefighters and police running inside. Antennes, moving at lightning-fast speed, knocked three of the men out, pinning the fourth to the ground.

"This was for Micheal." Antennes sneered, hand heating up where it was placed against the guy's chest. 

"Wh-who?" He gasped, wincing. Antennes didn't respond, knocking the man out before standing up and leaving quickly through the window as firefighters kicked down the door, scrambling to collect the four scumbags Antennes left in his wake. A dark part of himself wished he could have killed the men himself, but he was better than that. What's more, he knew it wouldn't be what Micheal would want. He met back up with Pam, struggling to tamp down his emotions. She patted his back soothingly.

"You ok?" She asked. He nodded, pulling off his mask and smiling.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Better now that they'll finally go to jail." Pam nodded.

"Let's get out of here. You stink and you're getting soot all over the car." Antennes looked down at his suit which was covered in dark smudges, the smell of smoke wafting off of him thickly. He wrinkled his nose. 

"Good idea. Thanks, Pam." He wasn't just thanking her for the suggestion. Pam grinned knowingly, starting the car up and driving off as the four men were loaded into ambulances, the police following close behind.

"Hey, if you and Micheal ever adobt a little girl, you'll name her after me, right?"

"Pam!"

The next night Micheal was lounging around in his living room watching the news absentmindedly, thinking about chores he needed to complete in the morning. He glanced up when he heard a chillingly familiar name, quickly turning up the volume.

"–Found in their apartment by firefighters and police. The apartment room had been full of smoke, though authorities are not yet sure what the source was. The four members of the Red Viper gang were treated for smoke inhalation at Freedom Medical before being arrested by police once they were fit, for crimes ranging from burglary to assalt and even two attempted murders–" Micheal flopped back on the couch, shocked. They'd actually been... caught? After all this time? Micheal had tried to get these guys for a while, but they always, always seemed to find a way to evade NightHawk. But they were caught now. They wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. Micheal grabbed his phone, smiling widly.

"Carla, you are not going to believe this."