The Controlled Persona

It was a normal day. Scarlet and her mentor, Hugh, had gone to the small mall in town. Hugh. Also known as the hero Bluejay.

They were looking for shoes. Scarlet had a red pair of boots for her “hero” outfit, her working boots. But the shoes she wore otherwise were wearing out.

They didn’t have anything else going on that day, so far as they knew. If they wanted to stop anywhere else, that was an option.

Scarlet was pretty sure the mall had been closed in summer. It was open now, with visitors coming to town to ski. There were a fair number of people in the mall, but Scarlet wouldn’t call it crowded. Certainly not compared to the malls in the city, where she grew up.

They walked down the hall together, passing a restaurant and a fountain. Scarlet had stopped to buy a pair of gloves for her brother, a Christmas gift she could ship back to him. She gripped the bag they came in tightly, her own gloves straining just a little.

Hugh turned to her, his hand raising slightly. Then a voice came onto the speaker, the same place the music came from. He lowered his hand.

“Greetings heroes, civilians, and other members of civilized society.” The voice was high, almost shrill, and definitely condescending. “You might recognize my voice as Whirlwind. Or you might not. I suppose I could give you the whole spiel on who I am and what I do. Blah, blah. But I don’t want to waste time on that, and I doubt you do either. So! The point.” Scarlet could hear her snapping her fingers over the speakers. “I’m a villain. I’ve taken ten citizens hostage. What I’d like is the most valuable item from each shop. I’m not even asking for something from the restaurants, aren’t I nice? And if I don’t get it? Well, if you’ve heard of me, I know you think I just make things spin. But I’m on the third floor floor, and I can shove these hostages out. Buh-bye now.”

There was the sound of cackling on the speakers. Then the sound cut off.

People around them had slowed to listen. Some whispered to each other. She saw someone go for the nearest exit, and people inside a shop or restaurant didn’t seem in a hurry to leave, like it was safer in there.

“This is bad,” Scarlet said. Despite the fact that it obviously was, her voice still came out like a question.

“It is,” Hugh agreed. “But I have a plan.”

***

The plan, as it turned out, was for Hugh to essentially use himself as bait.

They both got changed into their hero costumes. Hugh became Bluejay. Scarlet was still just . . . Scarlet. She was mentoring under him, learning to be a hero, but a name was a low priority. She hadn’t found one better than her first name.

It hardly mattered. Both of them goggles, helmets, or other headgear that somewhat hid their faces. But this was a small town, and anyone who lived here all year probably knew both their identities. It would be hard to hide. Meanwhile, in a bigger location, like where Scarlet grew up, people might not connect her to her hero identity even if she did use her first name. There was more than one Scarlet around. Who said she was the hero? Who said the hero name was even connected to the civilian name?

With Bluejay suited up, he headed up the stairs towards the third floor, in a very unsubtle manner.

Scarlet, meanwhile, exited out a staff exit. She crept around, sticking close to the wall, until she was below a window on the third floor. Then she waited.

There was a beep on her watch telling her Bluejay had reached the third floor, and probably engaged with Whirlwind. That meant she would be looking at Bluejay. Facing the door, not the window.

Scarlet set a timer on her watch. She could only use her own superpower for five minuets. There would be . . . consequences, if she ignored that.

She sent out tendrils of crackling energy. They came out of her back and reached the window on the third floor. Then they pulled her up. They opened the window, and she perched on the ledge.

She could see Whirlwind, back to her. She could see Bluejay, standing in the doorway. This being a staff only floor, there was only the one door in and out of this room. Bluejay was smiling wider than he usually did as a civilian, and was clearly trying to get Whirlwind to look him in the eye. She wasn’t falling for it. It didn’t have to be direct eye contact, but Bluejay needed people to see his eyes for his power to work. Whirlwind’s head angled so she could probably see most of Bluejay, would notice if he tried to punch or kick her, but she wasn’t looking at his eyes.

“You should just give up,” Bluejay said. “I’ve got you. You’d have better luck cutting your loses and trying to run away.”

Bluejay leaned down so his eyes would come into her field of vision.

Whirlwind quickly adjusted so she was looking over his head. She leaned forward into his space slightly. “Oh? You’ve got an interesting idea of ‘got you.’ I don’t think ours are the same.”

Scarlet silently used her red tendrils to grab some of the hostages, and lower them to the first floor. She couldn’t grab more than four at a time. The maximum number of tendrils she could create.

She reached for the next four, but Whirlwind flicked her wrist. Bluejay rose into the air, and began spinning. It looked like something you’d see in a video game, when you wanted a cool visual way to immobilize someone.

Scarlet hadn’t actually expected Bluejay to wind up in trouble. Her surprise and worry was enough to make her weight shift. She gasped softly, and her fragile balance on the ledge slipped. She swayed back and forth for a moment before forcing herself to fall forward into the room. Better than falling backwards out a window, on the third floor.

She smacked the ground. Her tendrils died.

“Oh? What’s this?”

Scarlet looked up to see Whirlwind looming over her. She had time to take in the toothy smile and wide eyes. Then she was also lifted into the air and spun around, like a cow in a hurricane.

“Tricky, tricky,” Whirlwind teased. Scarlet was pretty sure she wagged a finger, but since Scarlet could only briefly see her before spinning away again, it was hard to say for sure. “There’s two of you now. Shame your new friend is so-”

Then Whirlwind took a step back. She stepped on something round, the clang of metal following as it slid out from under her foot. A piece of pipe, maybe? She lot her balance, and her power ended on Bluejay and Scarlet.

***

Despite ultimately winning against Whirlwind, despite Bluejay assuring her she’d done well for someone with zero experience fighting villains, Scarlet was embarrassed at how badly that went. It made her blush the same red shade as her eyes.

But she tried to put that behind her. She and Hugh were visiting someone in one of the houses outside town today. It was close. It might take ten minuets to get into town. But it was far enough away they could have privacy, if they wanted. A quick look around showed they clearly weren’t farming or anything. The yard was small and, aside from grass, only had a few native plants.

Scarlet took a deep breath. She stood up straight and put her shoulders back. Then she knocked.

The car door shut behind her. Hugh had finished in there, apparently, and was coming to join her.

The door opened before he did. Scarlet stared.

The person at the door was different than the last time she’d seen her. Her expression was neutral. Her eyes were half-lidded, with slight bags under them. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing a bathrobe over her normal clothes. An unopened energy drink was in her hand. But Scarlet knew who she was.

“Whirlwind,” she gasped.

Scarlet slid sideways. Her red tendrils appeared from behind her back.

Whirlwind took a step back, eyes getting wider.

“Scarlet!” Hugh called out. His voice was more urgent than Scarlet was used to.

He put a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder, and turned so he was between the two. Though he was facing Scarlet, back to Whirlwind.

“Scarlet, she’s not a real villain!”

“And you’re only explaining this now?” Whirlwind asked, clearly annoyed.

“What?” Scarlet managed.

Her voice was so quiet, she wasn’t sure either of them heard. But Hugh elaborated anyway. He was just slightly more relaxed, now that she wasn’t about to attack Whirlwind.

“This is Abby Turner. She’s been pretending to be a villain for years.”

“People kind of expect villain attacks, especially tourists. Sometimes real villains do come to town. But it’s best to have a fall back,” Whirlwind-Abby explained. Her voice was different than the other day. It was deeper and slower. “The tourist industry gets hero and villain battles without any actual danger, and I get an interesting job. Works for everyone.” She shrugged.

“Interesting?” Scarlet asked. She genuinely wanted to know about that word choice. She hoped her tone didn’t sound judgmental.

Abby shifted, jabbing her unopened can at them for emphasis. “I hope you realize being a fake villain is harder than being a real one. I have to come up with crimes on a regular basis. If I’m feeling spicy, I can create a motivation too. I got the library hours extended by using that as motivation. Then I have to make the threat seem real without breaking the illusion, without anyone actually getting hurt. Do you know how hard it is to straddle that line? Especially when the heroes are falling short? I can only fumble villainy and still be taken seriously so many times.” She crossed her arms.

Scarlet grimaced. It was her. She’d messed up. She looked down at her shoes. “Sorry.”

“Hey now.” Hugh put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m the mentor. I’m supposed to train her to be ready, and instead I put a big responsibility on you both. I should-”

“Oh my God, you’re both like this.” Abby didn’t quite roll her eyes, but she did look at the ceiling. Apparently, both Hugh and Scarlet were exasperating. “I’m not actually mad at either of you. Stop it. I’m just trying to help you understand what I do, get more appreciation for it.”

Abby smiled. It was a soft smile, lips closed, very different from the one she did as Whirlwind. “Because I do like my role, you know? I like getting into fake fights and schemes. Great use of my otherwise odd power. I get to stretch my creativity and acting skills with almost complete control. I mean, like I said, I have to make sure nothing too bad actually happens. And I have to use some of my own judgment. Hyperactive, unhinged villains are in right now, so that’s where we’re leaning. Still, that’s all part of it. What’s life without a little challenge?” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not explaining this well.”

Scarlet stared at her. She wasn’t sure if Abby was explaining it well or not, wasn’t sure there was a way to explain it she would understand better.

Scarlet had always been aware of her potential to be dangerous. To be evil. She was careful. Responsible. Controlled.

And Abby must be too, for this to work the way she and Hugh were describing. But she did it so differently. Almost the opposite, in fact. And yet she hadn’t hurt anyone. And she seemed happy. Content. More so than Scarlet. (More so than Hugh too, if she dared by presumptuous.)

“Can we come in?” Hugh asked. “We can see what taxidermy you’ve added to your collect. And maybe you can explain it better when you’re not trying so hard.”

“Right, right. I doubt you came all this way to stand on my porch.” Abby stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter, though it was a halfhearted movement, like her arm was heavy. “Come on in.”