First Rescue Free

Part 3

Doc was at the store alone one day when a boxy old gentlemen came in to ask directions to the café next door. Doc knew him from the thick, inky hair and a mink stole draped over his black fur overcoat. Adradian was an arch-nemesis of Stupendous Guy, not seen since the Wolfenstine crisis. Even the Legion of Bad Guys were saying Adradian had retired. Dr. Filth held his breath. He convinced himself the old man was up to something.

Adradian was technically rehabilitated by his last stay in Miskatonic Mens Correctional Facility on Dam Crazy Island off-shore from Metro City. Doc could not arrest or apprehend Adradian until he witnessed or could otherwise prove the old man was doing something wrong. Adradian was a big deal. If Dr. Filth could capture this villain, surely he would be readmitted to the Superhero Gang. All that stood in his way was proving Adradian guilty of a crime within the next half-hour to forty-five minutes. He directed Adradian upstairs to give himself time to formulate a plan.

If only Doc could convince himself he didn’t need right and wrong. He had a superpower, and that made him above the law. As a super-hero, he offered his life night and day to the scum who’d prey on the innocent. Dr. Filth was a better human being because of what he did. He should be able to throw down this dry scarecrow and worry about questions later.

Dr. Filth locked up at Gil’s and found Adradian at a table in back. He could not destroy Adradian unless the old man was presenting a direct threat to another human being. Right now, the monster was hunched over a chair staring at a cup of weak tea. Doc did not feel threatened. If anything, Adradian looked sad.

Bureaucraticus had been right. Dr. Filth didn't have any powers, he was a normal person, with a normal name, and his only talent was collecting garbage. Dr. Filth was a failure as a super-hero.

“You done with the paper?” Adradian asked, snapping Doc from his stupor. The old man spoke in a thick, Hungarian accent.

“Huh? Oh yeah. Not even reading.” Keeping eyes lowered, Doc pushed the paper out from under his arm and passed it to Adradian. Dr. Filth considered including his last business card.

“Thank you,” Adradian said, unfolding the paper in front of his face.

A woman in a fur hat came in the back door. She glared at Adradian hatefully as she passed, and returned a few minutes later with a tall glass of chocolate Smoothy. She sat down opposite Adradian and stared at the newspaper a few seconds. “Are we talking through the newspaper, because that always looks silly.”

“Oh Lucille!” Adradian moaned in feigned surprise, crumpling the paper like a curtain. “I didn’t see you’d arrived. Are you sure this is something we should discuss in such a public location?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you I can’t be seen, if that’s what you’re asking.” The woman sighed and sipped her Smoothy. “I have to hear about your son through the grapevine these days.”

“Then maybe Hallie should quit wasting her minutes calling him,” Adradian said, rolling his eyes. “My son has moved on. He has a new job, you know? Very stressful.”

“She’s scared. She doesn’t know who to talk to.”

“That child does not belong to my son.”

Continued tomorrow.