Her Superhero Lover

Chapter 10

Maria Mendoza sat in the studio, keeping her professional smile on as she controlled the excitement inside. If tonight’s show went as good as she hoped, she’d be getting the call from CNN any day now. She’d even been approached by the BBC to cover their American desk, if it went well enough.

“Happy New Year and Feliz año nuevo, San Deigo. I’m Maria Mendoza, with an Action Five special. While the Chinese calendar says that the next Year of the Horse doesn’t happen for another few years, for San Diego and now most of Southern California and even Tijuana, this past year has been the year of The Horseman.

“I personally first heard the underground urban legend about The Horseman back in March, of a red and pale suited vigilante who was breaking up drug deals and cleaning up some of the worst neighborhoods in San Diego. I, like most others who heard the story, dismissed the idea as being a bit too comic bookish to be taken seriously. After all, we live in the real world. But the stories wouldn’t go away, with each of them becoming more and more fantastic than the last. The police officers I spoke to said they thought it was a combination of tall tales and the psychosis inducing effects of the latest drug craze on the streets, DCX.

“All that changed this summer, when The Horseman was caught on video breaking up a drug den.” The screen cut away from Maria, replaying the now world famous video of The Horseman’s first taped encounter. The sound and video had been enhanced to compensate for the poor cell phone quality, and was one of the most viewed Youtube videos of all time, even more popular than Gangam Style. By last estimation, over three quarters of planet Earth had viewed the video either on the Internet or through replays on terrestrial TV.

“After the first video, The Horseman continued his one man assault on crime, along the way being caught on video other times as well. Criminals were beginning to tape their activities for possible protection from The Horseman, hoping that the reclusive and silent hero would avoid anywhere he could be filmed. However, it didn’t work, and for the rest of the long, hot summer of this past year, we in San Diego were treated to another half dozen confirmed videos of The Horseman in action.”

A quick montage of the highlights of each of the videos was shown, the most spectacular being The Horseman shouldering a car to a complete stop and then walking away. The camera cut back to Maria, whose face became even more animated. “The biggest change in the year of The Horseman came just a few months ago, as just before Halloween, The Horseman enlisted the aid of another superpowered being, a woman who this reporter was proud to have gotten the chance to name Dark Justice. The superteam, which some criminals in the city have come to call Armageddon, while many regular citizens are calling the Fallen Angels, rescued forty eight preschool children and their teachers from a team of seven gunmen. The rescue culminated in the last gunman being on the receiving end of a tackle so viscous, she was nominated for both an ESPY for Best Moment, and a Slammy Award by WWE in the OMG Extreme Hit of the Year Category. Take a look at it now.”

The screen shot changed again, watching as an internal security shot from inside the preschool played. The gunman had his pistol aimed at The Horseman’s head, when suddenly a dark streak blasted across the screen, carrying both of them across the room and through the window. Another video took over, where the Action 5 news team had a perfect shot of the gunman being driven through the window (and carving a one inch divot in the stucco of the windowsill underneath) and ten feet out into the grass.

Maria appeared on camera again. “Since the dramatic preschool rescue, The Horseman and Dark Justice have been even more active, expanding their work from Tijuana all the way to Los Angeles. This whole time, the vigilante duo have never spoken to the police. However, due to some assistance that this reporter provided them during the first appearance of Dark Justice, I have been granted a very unique opportunity. From an undisclosed location, via a scrambled satellite uplink, Action 5 News is proud to bring to you, on New Year’s Eve, the first interview with The Horseman and Dark Justice.”

The shot changed, as Maria took up the left one third of the screen. Meanwhile, on the right two thirds, The Horseman and Dark Justice appeared. They were sitting in regular folding chairs, with a white room in the background. Grady had gone to great lengths to scramble the signal, to the point he doubted even the Pentagon could hack it. In addition to a fifty character time coded password that he used in his initial satellite uplink, he had bounced the signal off of eighteen different ground stations and satellites, using Chinese, British, Russian and Japanese relays along the way before sending the signal down less than twenty miles from where it had originated.

He hadn’t wanted to do it, but Renee had talked him into it. After all, she’d told Maria they’d think about her request, and not only had Maria delivered on the information that one time, but in multiple times since. She’d also helped steer public opinion towards The Fallen Angels, even as overzealous members of the District Attorney’s office kept releasing press statements saying that they were swearing out new warrants for their arrests.

 “Thank you for having us here Maria,” Grady said. He’d tweaked the microphones on their end, so that their voices sounded normal but unrecognizable. “And Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year Horseman. Or do you go by The Horseman?”

Grady chuckled and shook his head. “I think whatever is easier for you. After all, I didn’t pick the name to begin with.”

“Fair enough. And Dark Justice?”

Renee smiled, her teeth flashing white and friendly behind the mask she had adopted. Her new costume was significantly different than her old one, and incorporated a partial hood like Grady used as The Horseman, except that her eyes were covered by one way lenses that were ruby red. She had kept the black and red design, although her skirt was supplemented with shorts that went down to her mid thigh at the same time. “How about Justice? You keep calling me Dark, and you’ll have Al Sharpton on the line before the end of the night.”