Origin Story: Part 8

“How do you train a baby to be an assassin?”

«FIRST

<PREV

Madeline rechecked the address. She seemed to have it right (according to Google Maps), but all she saw in front of her was an abandoned warehouse — like from the movies. Nothing good ever came of an abandoned warehouse. And now the sun was setting, making the place even spookier.

She saw what looked like the entrance and cautiously crept toward it. As she reached for the door, a voice called out to her. “Hey, Madeline!”

Madeline turned to see Harvey and couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Did you send me the invitation?”

“No, I got one too!” Harvey held up a card similar to the one Madeline received. “Is getting secret invitations a common thing now? Is this like a Tinder thing? Snapchat? Twitter?”

“You’re just naming random internet things.”

“Pokemon?”

“Want to find out what this is about?” Madeline asked.

“Sure!” Harvey approached the door and opened it. Madeline then realized he was holding the door for her. She had kind of hoped he’d go in first.

Madeline walked inside with Harvey close behind her. It was dark in the warehouse, with the only thing Madeline could make out being some discarded pallets. Soon, though, she noticed a figure at the center of the room. And its eyes glowed.

Madeline immediately threw up a protective shield. This caught Harvey off guard, who walked into it and fell to the ground. He quickly scrambled to his feet. The figure approached them, and Madeline could see it looked like a massive metal figure — a robot. “Who are you?” Madeline demanded.

“I am Armored Justice,” said the figure.

“Are you one of them automatons?” Harvey asked.

“I am not a robot,” answered Armored Justice. “I am a person like you wishing to help in the fight against evil, and to that end, I made this armored suit. I know you have both been members of the Protectors, and I am guessing you have been disappointed by what you’ve been allowed to do.”

Harvey shrugged. “Eh, it was kind of fun. We don’t have Nazis to punch anymore.”

“The Protectors didn’t do much,” Madeline said. “We weren’t really there to fight evil.”

“That’s too bad because evil is out there,” Armored Justice stated. “And I am looking for heroes to help me fight supervillains.”

Madeline raised an eyebrow. “I was told there are no such things as supervillains.”

“That’s a lie,” Armored Justice said. “There are many evil people out there who openly wield vast amounts of power and often even dress flamboyantly just like from a comic book. They’re called dictators.”

Harvey nodded. “Oh, I’ve fought dictators before. I once punched out Hitler.”

Madeline was intrigued, but it also seemed worrisome. “You’re talking about going to other countries to fight their governments? Isn’t that against the law?”

“If the rules say we can’t help people in need,” Armored Justice stated, “then we ignore those rules.”

Madeline’s eyes grew wide. “Rogue superheroes!”