Origin Story: Part 10

“I can’t be the first person to accidentally kill a head of state.”

«FIRST

<PREV

Madeline slowly opened her eyes. It was an unfamiliar surrounding; it looked like some abandoned building. She soon realized she wasn’t alone as she saw the big, stupid grin of Harvey who was watching over her. “You’re awake!”

While sitting on the ground, Madeline rubbed her temples and tried to remember what last she saw. “What happened?”

“I found you unconscious, so I got you out of that military base,” Harvey explained. “Leave no man behind... I mean girl... woman. I’m not sexist.”

Madeline could now remember the sounds of gunfire and the certainty she was going to die. “Where is everyone?”

“I think they left us behind. I’ve been trying to get them on the radio, but I don’t really know how to operate it. Radios are so small these days; it’s really neat.”

“Who uses radio?” Madeline said as she searched the pockets of her fatigues. She pulled out her phone, but it was smashed. “When I bought the Hello Kitty bumper, I never thought I’d be taking it into a warzone.” She stood up and looked out a window of the building at an unfamiliar land. “Are we stuck in Mokovia?”

“Yep,” Harvey answered. “And since we just attacked them, they have military patrols looking for us right now. And I’m not so good with geography, so I don’t even know what countries border this one to know where we should try to escape. Now, you wouldn’t happen to know the language they speak here... or even the name of the language they speak here?”

Madeline sighed. “We so need Google.”

Harvey nodded. “Not to be critical, but you wouldn’t have happened to have killed the Mokovian head of state?”

Now Madeline remembered the moments just before she blacked out with Baron Stytle firing at her. “He shot at me, and I deflected the bullets with my force field and—” She saw in her memory the bullets hitting Stytle, and she had to brace herself to keep from throwing up. “I never sorta killed someone before.”

Harvey knelt to lightly pat her on the back. “I wouldn’t worry about it... definitely going to be a sticking point with the army that’s after us, though.”

“So what do you think we should do?”

“We’re just going to have to see what we can see and play it by ear,” Harvey said. “This isn’t the worst situation I’ve ever been in. Remember, I fought the Nazis. I once punched Hitler.”

Madeline stood up. “Hopefully, people here aren’t Hitler fans.”

Harvey chuckled and patted her on the back again. “Don’t worry; I’ll protect you.”

Madeline was so scared she only half felt insulted from being patronized. “I’m a superhero, too, you know.”

Harvey nodded. “Sure.” He walked over to a nearby table and picked up a rifle. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know how to operate one of these newfangled AK-47s, would you?”

Madeline shook her head.

Harvey looked confused. “You didn’t have a rifle course in elementary school?”

Again, Madeline shook her head. “No.”

Harvey shrugged. “Well, I do hear people complain about the education system these days a lot.” He held up a second rifle. “I got two; you want one?”

Madeline made a disgusted face. “Superheroes don’t use guns.”

“We kinda do,” Harvey said. “Especially in times of war.”

“I thought you had an American flag staff or something.”

“That was really for publicity,” Harvey said. “During the actual fighting in World War II, I mainly just shot people.” His eyes went distant. “I shot a lot of people. Nazis, though. Still, a lot of them were just regular guys with families and stuff. I know people kill Nazis all the time in video games these days, but in real life, it’s not a lot of fun.” He was quiet for a few seconds and then looked at Madeline with concern. “Is it racist to feel bad about killing Nazis?”

“Not something to worry about right now,” Madeline told him.

Harvey nodded. “You seem stressed. Here.” From out of his belt, he pulled out a metal baton and handed it to Madeline. “This is my collapsible America flag staff. I brought it as a good luck charm. Why don’t you take it, so you at least have a weapon.”

Madeline took the baton and held it. It was only a little over a foot long in its collapsed state and had a nice weight.

“I’d keep that out of sight,” Harvey warned. “Americans aren’t really popular here... especially since an American just killed their head of state. Also, try not to extend the staff unless you absolutely have to because it is not easy to collapse again.”

Madeline put the collapsed staff in her belt under her jacket and walked to a window of the building. Outside was a completely unfamiliar landscape. She was thousands of miles from home with no one to help her. She could feel panic start to creep into her.

“Hey!” shouted a voice in Madeline’s ear. She immediately clutched it, and the voice said, “I think I got the radio working.” Madeline turned to see Harvey grinning stupidly at her while holding up one of the radios.

“Cool,” Madeline said as she walked back over to Harvey. “But we’re in talking distance.”

“Yeah, but if something happened and we got split up, we’ll be able to communicate,” Harvey said.

Madeline shuddered at the thought. “Let’s not split up. We need to get out of this country as quickly as possible.” A thought struck Madeline. “I have exams Monday!”

“I still can’t seem to get anyone else on this radio, though,” Harvey stated.

“My watch!” Madeline exclaimed and held up the watch on her wrist. “It’s supposed to be a secret communicator watch.” She looked at it, but it didn’t seem to have any buttons. It just displayed the time, and Madeline wasn’t sure that it had been adjusted for the time zone changes in going to Makovia.

“Maybe it’s a one-way device for Armored Justice to contact us,” Harvey suggested. “I wonder what happened to him and the others.”

The panic gripped Madeline again as she thought of all the gunfire at the military base. “We could be all that’s left. How do we get out of here?” Madeline looked down at her flak jacket and fatigues which she guessed would make her stand out.

Some gray clothing was plopped down in front of Madeline. “I got us a change of clothes,” Harvey said. “Very drab and Eastern European. Should help us blend in.”

“How’d you get that?”

“Stole it!”

“From who?”

Harvey shrugged. “Not sure. Saw it drying on some clothesline. I feel a little bad about it, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve done.” He chuckled, though there was a nervous edge to it. “I was in a war — a really violent one.”

Madeline looked down at the clothes and then up at Harvey smiling at her. “Oh yeah,” he said. “I’ll... uh... go outside and keep watch for a few minutes.”

---

The clothes were even itchier than the fatigues, but Madeline just hoped she and Harvey didn’t stand out in them. They appeared to be in a small town and tried to walk nonchalantly.

“Just try and not look American,” Harvey warned her.

“You probably shouldn’t smile so much, then,” Madeline said.

With a little effort, Harvey got rid of the goofy smile he usually had. A few people were on the street, but no one seemed to pay any attention to them. They heard some commotion, though, and looked over to see people entering a nearby building that looked like a café or something. Harvey motioned to go closer to check it out, and Madeline followed him. In the building, they could see everyone gathered around a TV hanging from the ceiling. On it appeared to be a news program with a picture of Baron Strytle. Madeline couldn’t recognize the language, but the news seemed to be announcing Strytle’s death.

There was now video on screen. It was security camera footage of Madeline deflecting bullets back at Strytle. In the foreign words spoken over the video, she heard “Madeline Larson.”

“They know my secret identity,” Madeline gasped to Harvey. He did not need a reminder not to smile now.