Hero Mask

The antiseptic smell of the hospital really highlighted the room's sterile purpose. The sole occupant sat upright on the institution-white sheets. His left leg was propped up on a cushion, immobilized in a heavy cast. Jay had asked for them to move the other patient out to give them a little privacy.

Sometimes flashing a badge works wonders, Jay thought.

“Thanks again for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. Samson. I know you’re still healing from your ordeal.” Jay said in his friendliest voice. He was playing good cop today as he interviewed another victim from the latest bombing in downtown Chicago.

“Sure thing…um…Detective?” The man's forehead wrinkled as he appeared to concentrate. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”

“It's Mathers. Detective Mathers.”

“Oh, that’s right. Sure thing Detective Mathers. I’m happy to talk with you about…what happened. But like I told your…colleagues…I don’t really remember much. It’s all pretty blurry.” The man said as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

“It’s ok, Mr. Samson, anything you can recall would be very helpful. We’re trying to piece things together so we can figure out what happened, and hopefully prevent it from happening again, you know?”

“Ok, sure…sure. Well, like I said, I don’t really remember much. One minute, I was browsing the records. I’m into collecting old vinyl records. Beegees, Beatles, Beach Boys, anything, really. I just like the way analog music sounds...”

He was babbling, and Jay was letting him as he nodded his head to appear attentive.

Sometimes it helps a little to have them talk a bit about something familiar. Jogs things loose.

“...so I finally got to the ‘S’ records, and amazingly there’s a Stone Temple Pilots one. I didn’t know they did vinyl, but I guess some of the more indie bands put stuff out. It was a great thrift find. Anyway, I tucked it under my arm, turned to go…to go…”

The man breathed heavily as the heart rate monitor next to him beeped a fast staccato rhythm. He clutched his chest, his eyes grew large and his other hand grasped at the bed sheet.

“It’s alright Mr. Samson…Dave. Can I call you Dave?” Jay lightly touched the man's shoulder.

“You’re alright, Dave. You’re safe. You’re in the hospital, Dave.”

Jay rested his hand on Dave’s shoulder. The man’s breathing slowed, his hands unclenched. He nodded at Jay and blinked hard.

“Sorry, Detective Mathers.”

“It’s alright, Dave. And you can call me Jay. All my best buds call me that. I won’t tell you what it's short for, though, my parents had a wicked sense of humor.”

Jay was reminded of a friend with PTSD. He thought the best thing he could do is be the source of calmness.

“O-okay, Jay. Well, so, I went to pay and, next thing I know...there was this rumble, I felt it more than heard it, I guess. Then a lot of noise, lights, things hitting me. Then I woke up and I could see the sky. My leg…,” He nodded down at his cast-encased limb, “...I couldn’t feel it at all. But everything else hurt like hell. And I could feel...well, I thought I was going to die, Detective Mathers.” He was looking out the window at the buildings across the street.

“All I could see was that small patch of sky above me, and all this rubble around me. Things started to shake. I thought…I thought it was all going to collapse in on me. I was wrong, though, thank God I was wrong.”

He looked at Jay, tears rolled down his cheeks in great big rivulets.

“The debris, it was being moved. I thought the crews must be digging the place out, looking for survivors, so I started yelling. Help me! I’m here! Help me!”

He looked back out the window and wiped his face with his arm.

“The…concrete cleared away so fast, I thought I must be hallucinating. One second there, the next…poof, gone. When the stuff above my head cleared away, I could see her. She was flying, man! I know how crazy that sounds. But, dude, she was a real life superhero!”

He whispered that last part excitedly, as if he had shared a secret between them. Jay jotted down notes in his notebook and nodded as he listened intently.

“She was a superhero, but not like the half-dressed, comic-book superheroes, though…She just...well, she was flying and she was real strong, man. Like, she picked up huge pieces of the building and just chucked them into the river like they were pebbles, man. There was this golden light all around her, and she had long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. And…”

He sat up a little straighter and looked Jay directly in the eyes.

“Here’s the weird part. She was dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers. Like she’d been out for a run. But she was wearing this…mask. It was blue and covered with gold, curly lines. It kind of reminded me of one of those decorated porcelain eggs, you know what I’m talking about? There were only two holes in the mask where her eyes should be, but I could only see that golden glow.” He shook his head as if denying his own statements.

“Look, I know how it sounds…. But I got a real good look at her because, well..I mean, she did stand right next to me.” He said, blushing as he shook his head.

“It’s alright, Dave. I don’t think you’re crazy at all.”

It matches the description all the others from this site gave, down to the tracksuit and hair part. What I don’t understand is why others from other sites give a different description? How many of these guys are there?

“I mean, she landed right next to me. She said ‘You’ll be ok, I have you.’ in the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. Then she picked up the wall that was on my leg as if it was made of cardboard, and threw it, man…like absolutely chucked it into the river…I was surprised at how quick she was. It was amazing. Then things get kind of hazy. I remember feeling a lot of pain, especially in my legs and my back, and everything going blurry. Then it felt like someone was picking me up, and I kept falling asleep. After that, I woke up in the emergency room, I guess here at the hospital. That was three days ago.” He said as he looked up at the ceiling.

“They say they’ve worked on my leg as much as they can, so I might be getting released soon, thank God, I’ve been going a bit stir crazy, you know?” He scratched his head, chuckled under his breath, and leaned back into the bed.

“Well, thank you Dave. I really do appreciate you taking the time, and so does the department. You take care of yourself, ok? And if you remember anything else, give me a call at this number, ok?” Jay said as he pulled a business card from his jacket pocket. He put his notepad away, gathered his coat and waved back to Samson as he walked into the corridor.

***

Two days later, Jay walked through a residential neighborhood. He had just finished interviewing a bystander who’d witnessed both the flying woman and the bombing. As he walked down the block of row homes in one of the nicer residential neighborhoods, he noticed something twinkling in the sun on a nearby bench. As he got closer to the bench he saw it was a shimmering oval shaped object lined with a complex, threaded gold design. The material of the object radiated a multi-colored hue almost like a pearl with its rainbow colors. There were two holes at one end of the oval that made Jay realize it was a mask.

Well now, that is interesting. There’s no way this could be... He thought as he stood over the bench. He quickly looked up when he made the connection to his case. He looked around for the woman. He’d even looked up, as silly as that had felt. When he saw no one, he took a set of white latex gloves from his pocket, which he donned with a practiced snap.

Maybe our masked vigilante has prints we can run. He thought as he looked at the bench for any signs of other potential evidence. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he took several pictures with his mobile. He sent the pics to his assistant along with a message to put out an APB for any squad cars in the area to be on the lookout for his erstwhile heroine.

She’s probably long gone, but you never know. I should probably tell them not to forget to look up. She might live around here, so I’ll need to canvas the neighborhood, as well. He sighed when he realized it was going to be a long day.

He knelt down in front of the chair and used his pen to gingerly poke at the mask. He gently lifted it up a little to see if there was anything underneath. He used the flashlight on his mobile to ensure there were no hidden bombs or other traps there that waited to ensnare the unwary. His old partner and mentor used to say:

“There are three kinds of cops - the lucky, the careful and the dead, and the lucky end up being the dead more often than not.”

If his partner hadn’t retired last month, they would have worked this case together.

I can’t keep dodging the captain on a new partner.

He put his pen away so he could slowly pick up the mask with his gloved hands. He examined the intricate design. It had a pearly sheen that seemed to glow a rainbow hue. He expected it to feel delicate, like a porcelain cup, but was taken aback at its stiff, dense makeup. It felt almost like it was made of sheet metal or an aluminum plate.

He flipped it over, not sure what to expect. The inside seemed to glow the same iridescent hue as the front. The lines of golden etchings continued around the edges to the inside of the mask. On the inside, they looked like lines of circuitry, densely inscribed in straight layers. In the very center of the mask was a small plaque with characters of a strange language similar to what Jay thought of as Arabic.

Are those lines moving?

His vision blurred as the mask seemed to fall away, and the darkness grew around him in a long tunnel. What looked like two windows floated in front of him showing his hands holding the mask. He tried to force his hands to drop it but was not able to make them move. It was as if he watched somebody else’s hands through two windows on the other side of a long, dark room.

I’m dreaming. This is one hell of a dream. He thought in a panic. The hands through the two windows pulled the mask close, the holes lined up with the windows that used to be Jay’s eyes.

Ok, I’d like to wake up now. He tried to pinch himself but could not feel a thing. The view outside the two windows changed rapidly. They blurred in motion, at one moment it was a vision of clouds in an impossibly blue sky, then they became twin windows that looked in on an aerial view of the neighborhood he had just walked through. The windows swiveled up to twin views of the office buildings down near the river.

I must be flying. Jay thought, which made him wonder why he couldn’t feel anything. He noticed a golden glow had crept up around him until he saw nothing but the soft glow with the twin windows. He tried to will himself towards them, imagining he saw them growing closer. He silently cheered when he saw the windows grow larger. The twin views were like a first-person view of a video game where the player controlled a flying superhero. A superhero who fought a beastly demon in downtown Chicago.

What the hell is going on?

He was unable to do anything but watch when his arms grabbed the demon and threw it across into the side of a building. Large cracks appeared in the concrete masonry of the office building around the demonic beast.

Eh? What’s this now? You’re awake. That...doesn’t usually happen. A voice boomed all around him while the golden glow vibrated to the sound.

What the fuck!? Jay tried to scream but the words would only come out as thoughts.

Sorry, friend, It was necessary to borrow your body for a bit. I’m sure you’ve got questions. Usually you humans are asleep for this part. Hangon..

The view shifted violently. It bounced as if there was a sudden, drastic change in location. It stabilized and centered on the demon. He saw his arms reach out with his hands still comically wearing the latex gloves. They were outstretched towards the demon as it rapidly sped towards him. His hands grasped it around its thick, stubby neck when it came near. They squeezed it then abruptly twisted its head around to sickeningly face the wrong direction. The demon struggled, squirming like a fish until it slowly subsided to stillness.

The view shifted to show the ground rapidly falling away, presumably as he looked down and floated upwards. The view shifted up towards a dark sparkling haze that appeared above. The dead demon hurtled into view, headed for the haze, as if it had been thrown underhanded. When it hit the haze, both vanished in a puff of grey smoke.

Hole in one! Wow, that was a lively one. At least it was pretty weak. Don’t worry, when I borrow your body I make it a lot tougher, so you’ll get it back as good as new, friend.

Um, so what, you’re some kind of ghost possessing me? I mean, this is obviously a dream, but even I have a better imagination than that. Jay was unsure of what else to say, but felt he needed to make some sort of comment.

No, not exactly. I’m the hero, friend. The voice boomed as it projected the image of a handsome, charismatic fellow with a big grin on his face that winked at Jay mischievously.

What exactly does that mean? Was that you? And why the fuck are you in MY head? Jay thought. He silently wondered if he’d gone crazy or if the mask had been coated with a hallucinogenic.

I’m not a hallucination or a dream, friend. I’m the Hero. Look, I’m not really the mask or the image I sent you. I’m sort of remote controlling you through the mask. And the image is…let's say a friendly avatar. Your human eyes wouldn’t be able to comprehend my true self. I’m really in the universe next door. The mask shows up wherever there’s an interdimensional disturbance that requires a Hero to fix. I’m that Hero. Well, the Hero of this quadrant of the multiverse at least.

Whoa, slow down, so you’re some kinda alien, you’ve somehow possessed me, and you’re fixing reality with MY body? Jay wished he could scratch his head or something other than just think words. The view through the window had become an aerial fly over of downtown Chicago.

Still not quite it, but close enough. You’re an anomaly, though. I’ve checked records and the last time something like this happened was many years ago with the previous Hero. Started a lot of what your kind call legends. Anyway, the reality cloak’s mind suppressant must be on the fritz again. Don’t worry, you won’t remember any of this when you wake up, which you’d thank me for. Um, if you remembered, which you won’t.

Ok, now you’re making even less sense. Jay thought when the golden light shifted to purple, violently vibrating. The windows that were once his eyes shimmered in and out of focus of the city below.

It’s been nice talking to you, Jay. Maybe I’ll have the good fortune of needing you again and we can converse for a longer period. For now, there’s just one more anomaly we’ll need to take care, then you’ll wake up with no memory of any of this, as it should be. Goodbye, Jay. Hero, out.

***

Jay’s head thumped unceremoniously on his desk as his sleeping head slipped from this hand, where his chin had formerly been cupped. The sudden jarring thump awakened him, causing his eyes to peel open to groggily take in the pile of paperwork his head now rested on.

What the hell? How did I get here? Wasn’t I just interviewing…? He thought as he leaned back to survey his office. He looked out the window to see the sun was setting. His notepad was on his desk open as if he’d been reviewing his notes. His laptop was on with a document up, half a report typed out.

I must have fallen asleep finishing up that last report. Damn, I need a vacation. This latest case..what was I working on again? He thought, his mind fuzzy as he tried to recall the past few days. His smart phone buzzed as a message popped up.

“Boss, found something on pics of mask you sent. Not goin believe where. Going museum this afternon, fill you in later.”

It was his assistant, the message timestamped from earlier.

Must be the cell networks acting up. I hope Mel found…wait, what does she mean pics of the mask I sent?

END