The police pulled up in half a ring before Hazmat and the unconscious Shocker. Chief of Police, David McNeil sprouted from a police vehicle along with other officers who immediately rushed toward Officer Miller and Officer Cassidy.
A young, black officer named Sean gazed in awe at Hazmat and his charred police uniform. “What the hell happened to you?”
Hazmat uncomfortably scratched at the corner of his right sideburn as he answered, “Long story.”
“Wow, you caught The Shocker by yourself?”
It bothered Matthew to have to take credit that wasn’t entirely his. That strange, escaped prisoner and serial killer had helped him, but he couldn’t mention her not without becoming her accomplice. “Officer Cassidy helped too.”
Sean glanced to Officer Cassidy who slowly nodded—she was still lost for words.
Chief McNeil crossed the distance in his black, long coat and waved his hand dismissively at the new recruit.
“That’s enough of your questions. Let’s get this criminal behind bars ASAP.”
Two officers, including Sean, stooped down to heft and drag The Shocker toward a police car, while a third confiscated his gauntlets. The chief then set his hand on Hazmat’s shoulder and asked, “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
Oh lord…here it comes. Hazmat just walked with the chief over to his ruined vehicle. It made him ache to see it again. The chief released his shoulder and continued, “Now before you go tellin’ anybody else. What exactly happened here? And look at you, you look like a firefighter. You used your powers didn’t you? I know The Shocker is called The Shocker and all, but he’s a different kind of shock. You better make sure you tell me everything because if I see this anywhere on Youtube, I’m gonna be on your ass Miller!”
Hazmat smiled nervously and explained, “I might have used my powers a li-” He had raised his right hand, emphasizing what he would have meant by “a little” by pinching the air between his index finger and thumb; but the chief had given him the stink eye. “l~lot…okay, this part of the city was lit like Christmas, but I had no choice. He had kil-erm…he had tried to kill Officer Cassidy.” He then threw his hands in the direction of his car. “He wrecked my car. Look at this? Do you know how much this is gonna cost me? I can’t afford this! I nearly spent my life buyin’ the damn thing and havin’ it modified into a police car.”
Chief McNiel’s brown brows furrowed. If he had used his powers in the way that he described, then the whole world must have seen him. He turned his attention away from Miller to sweep the windows of the apartment complex. He saw glowing in the window a cell phone that some kid must have been recording the whole thing on. His nose wrinkled angrily before he asked, “I noticed we lost our radio for a few minutes. Do you think it was because of your powers? If we lost radio, then your ability could have acted like an EMP for all electronics in the area, which means the chances of anyone recording your fight is impossible?”
Matthew stared at the chief stupidly for a few seconds—brows raised and eyes wide. He had no idea. All he knew was that he had the ability to absorb different forms of energy, but beyond that he didn’t know what the externalities were. His hat tilted forward a little as he scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah…” he said dubiously.
The chief glanced to Officer Cassidy who was looking a little spacey.
“How is Officer Cassidy taking this?”
Matthew dropped his hand and glanced to the female officer who was watching the rest of the crew setting up police tape. Her hands were clinching her biceps as though she were holding herself. She seemed slightly unsettled.
“I’ll have to talk to her about it.” It wasn’t like she was his partner.
“You do that, and…” the chief sighed. “We’ll see what we can do about your car. You just keep your mouth shut to anyone else about this. This includes the press if they get in your face. You be sure to tell Officer Cassidy the same.”
“Will do, Sir,” Hazmat replied. If the NYPD was planning to handle his expenses, then that put him in a better mood.
Once the chief strode away, Hazmat walked over to Officer Cassidy. How was he going to do this?
“Hey, we need to talk,” he began.
Officer Cassidy faced Officer Miller with a chatisizing demeanor all of a sudden. She didn’t look like the lost and confused belle she had a second ago.
“When were you gonna tell me?” she asked.
Matthew arched a brow at her. “What? When? Never if I could help it.”
Officer Cassidy frowned. “So this whole time I would have never known that I was eating lunch with a super man?”
“Hey, I’m nowhere near comparable to that guy. The chief doesn’t want me usin’ my powers because it may draw negative attention to the NYPD and discourage the other officers.”
“Negative attention? I think it’s great that the NYPD has a leg up on all these super villains. Do you know how tiring it is to show up at a crime scene only to be considered cannon fodder for the super hero handling the situation? We were always the cleanup crew, but now we have a super cop” she playfully emphasized.
“Keep your voice down. I’m not a super cop. I’m just your typical defender of the peace.”
Officer Cassidy rolled her eyes. “And I’m Wonder Woman.”
“Can we not talk about this anymore? I need to find that girl.”
“Did you tell the chief about her?”
“Of course not. If he knew we let her go, he would have our badges.”
“And what are you gonn do when you find her? You can’t arrest her because she said she would escape.”
Hazmat scowled in frustration. “I don’t know. I guess I just want her in my sights at all times. I can’t have her goin’ around killin’ whomever she pleases. I want to learn what she’s all about and see if there’s any way she can get some sort of help. She couldn’t have gotten far unless she has some sort of super speed.”
“You can take my car.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just don’t wreck it like yours.”
“I didn’t wreck it. He blew my baby up!”
Officer Cassidy smirked. He always got so touchy when people mentioned his car. The female officer removed her keys and handed it to him. She then turned to help with the clean up.
Rolling her keys in his hand, Hazmat watched Officer Cassidy saunter away and asked, “Hey, when do you get off?”
She turned a green eye over her shoulder. “When you do.”
“You want to have dinner later?”
“Sure. Call me.”
“Will do!”
Hazmat grinned egotistically. She made him feel like a pro at this. Tossing the keys up, he caught them in his hand and set out to search for that Jane Doe.
It didn’t take Hazmat too long to locate the mysterious Jane Doe just on the outskirts of China Town. She not only looked like an evil doll, but she was sitting on the dirty sidewalk like a bum when there were plenty of benches. The cop car pulled up to the sidewalk, and Hazmat reached over to the passenger door and opened it. Gazing sternly at the killer, Hazmat grabbed the speaker and spoke on the loud speaker, “Get in the car.”
He wasn’t going to tell her twice.
RPG
