Menace #27: The Death of the Menace
New Monmouth City was not a particularly old city. Not many people knew how it got there, or why it grew so fast; a common joke of the aged townspeople was, “I remember back when it was Old Monmouth City.” Of course, no one did. The oldest residents would deny this fervently, but, less than a century ago, New Monmouth City was a quaint town called Brooksfield. A century before that, it did not exist. The oldest part of the city were the houses that lined the southern side of the city, resting against the farmland that had supported the city in its early days. The houses were dully painted, worn, but sturdy enough to last another hundred years without renovation. At some point, the people decided that the town needed to expand beyond the houses, and created a small downtown area, located northwest of the houses. It, too, was small at first, but quickly expanded as more and more residents flooded into the growing town. As it became livable, houses were constructed on the eastern border of town property, lined against the sandy beach; ten years after their construction, there were none left to sell. As bigger industry took hold of the community in the early twentieth century, the townsfolk committed to larger housing projects, hotels, skyscrapers, and industrial complexes. Then, in 1912, Brook’s field was paved over to construct the town square, and the citizens nearly unanimously voted to change the name of the town to New Monmouth City.
After that the city began to decline. More and more super powered individuals began to appear, more and more destruction, less and less safety, less and less money. The Spring Praestan — the glowing representation of modernity and high society — began to crumble in the early 70’s, and, with that, the age of New Monmouth City had ended. The streets fell into disarray, the money had fled, and the city was left with few resources. These were the early days of Ultraman. Much like the city, no one could remember where he came from or how he got so big; it seemed as if he had always been a part of the city. More heroes began to fall in line, organized, unified against the villains, and the city began to bounce back. The streets were clean, the bad guys were incarcerated, and, with business now looking to return to the city, the economy took a violent upswing. Then, just as he had appeared from nowhere, he died, seemingly without cause, years later, leaving the city to once again fend for itself. The heroes following in his wake tried to uphold his legacy, but they flounder.
“Do you ever wonder why you never see older heroes?” The Gentleman asked the crowd that had amassed around the town square. “I don’t. Brave men are to death as presents are to children: to be opened voraciously and then forgotten soon after.”
Menace’s eyes flew open. He immediately entered the first stage of his powers, and everything around him grew sharper. He could feel the grass tickling the back of his neck and the dewy moisture dampening his clothes. He felt the tightness of the rope around his wrists and ankles, and the chill of the freezing air around him. A wind blew across the square, and his eyes watered as he strained to keep them open. He turned his head to the left to see the Gentleman giving his oration to the motley crowd of bystanders who happened to be caught watching. Next to him was a black stallion, who’s tail was swaying in the wind. The horse’s head was bent down letting the Gentleman rest his gloved hand on its head. Its veins pulsed against its legs as it stood silently next to the man. Menace realized that the rope attached to his left wrist was tied, on the other end, around the horse’s stomach, in a saddle-like position. His eyes jumped to his left ankle, following the rope to a white horse with a blonde tuft of a tail and flowing hair. It neighed softly, kicking at the ground every few seconds as if it were trying to stomp out a bug, or perhaps it was just ready to run. The one attached to his right ankle looked similar, but younger — just a pony, really. Its black hair was recently brushed, but it kept shaking its head, slightly tossing it out of place. It was walking in small circles, never standing still. The horse attached to his right hand looked markedly larger than the other three. Its hair looked treated, as it was long and orange, hanging over the horse’s tan bulk. It let out a large bleat, then sniffed hard, exhaling visibly in the cold air.
“It looks like the young man is awake!” The Gentleman proclaimed as he stepped towards Nate. The square was lined with people, more people than Nate had seen in the square, who were curiously watching the scene in front of them. They stood cautiously away from the horses, but filled in the areas in between them. Nate did not recognize a single face. “How are you, dear boy?”
“What’s going on here?” Nate asked in reply, seeing the cruel, smiling mask of the Gentleman appear above him. “Where is everyone?”
“Just enjoy the show,” the Gentleman responded, and Nate could have sworn that he’d heard a small crack in the villain’s voice. He entered into the second stage of his powers, and the clear, gray color of the sky began to scream at him until his head was aching. He squinted his eyes to focus, wishing he could move his goggles to his face, and tried to pull at the rope holding his wrist. It would not budge. It looked to be woven through the ground and then to the horse, preventing Nate from moving his hands and feet.
“Now, now, ladies and gentlemen, do I have a treat for you today. This young man has been plaguing society for the better part of a half decade now, under the guise of heroism! Look! Have any of you seen this boy before? Have any of you been saved by this boy before?” There was silence in the crowd. The Gentleman moved to continue, before a small girl who looked to be no more than eight, stepped forth. She was wearing a large, pink winter coat with bulky pants and snow boots, her hair fell from a white beanie that covered her ears.
“He saved me, and, and my sister and my mom once,” the girl said, and Nate tried to make out her face. She was the girl Liam attacked, he realized. “I think it was him, at least. My eyes were closed for most of it.”
“Surely, you’re mistaken, little lady,” the Gentleman replied, and Nate could see the corner of his forehead from behind his mask: he was sweating. The Gentleman reached out and touched the girls shoulder saying, “Why don’t you run back and find your mother?” The girl turned back to the crowd, walking back, mumbling something to herself that Nate’s ears, in their heightened state, picked up: “But I’m not lying, I’m right.” Nate couldn’t help but smile.
“This boy has been harming our business, our lives, our homes for years on end, and he hasn’t gone to jail; protected by the hero institute that defends all of his actions. It is almost disgusting. Worry not, that will change today. Or should I say, he shall change today. Yes, instead of one Menace to society, we shall have four, smaller, more manageable pieces,” the Gentleman began to force a cackle behind his mask. Menace realized it then: the Gentleman was controlling the horses. “Run!” He commanded, and the horses began to stampede through the city, pulling the large length of rope the Gentleman had allotted them. Nate entered into the third stage of his powers, and immediately his head began to throb as his senses went into overdrive. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled. He had learned about being drawn and quartered in history class, it ended with four equally sized Menace pieces spread across the city.
He was running out of time. He could see the coil of rope shrinking by the second, the audience seemed stunned, watching the spectacle. Every thing seemed to be popping in and out of his vision as he turned his head to examine his surroundings. The rope was getting smaller. He was breathing heavily now. He screamed out for help multiple times before he realized that no help was coming. He thought about Courtney. He thought about magic. He began to breathe properly, but realized he had no time to figure it out. The rope was on its last coil. He thought about Eloise. He silently apologized to her as he saw the last coil of rope leave. He thought about Jenny. She was right, his powers were too unrefined. He thought about the mantle of the Menace. He missed being Goggles. The part of the rope that had been woven into the ground began to fly into the air, forcefully ripped by the power of the horses running forward. He had seconds, if that. In his last seconds, a strange feeling came over him. It was almost like a piece of resilience that he had lost somewhere along the way. I never did have that “sink or swim” moment, he realized. As he saw the rope rip up the last could of rope from the ground, and he felt the tautness begin to pull at his arms and legs, he sharply pulled back in the opposite direction with one, swift, jarring motion. In four various streets of New Monmouth City, four horses lay wheezing on the ground, writhing in pain.
Nate tore the rope from his wrists and stood to face the Gentleman, but he had disappeared. The crowd looked upon him with some mixture of fear and awe. “Don’t worry,” Menace said,“I’m a super hero.”
“That was so cool!” Beatrice said to her sister as they walked from town square. “The scary guy was very, ‘Ha ha ha,’ yknow?” She asked, imitating the voice of the Gentleman. Her large, pink jacked was restricting her arm movements as she tried to gesticulate and act out the scene. “I knew the black shirt guy was a hero. I said it as soon as he saved us from the black arm villain.”
“I know, Be. I just thought he was a little too dark and scary too… the tied one, I mean. He looked kind of angry and scared.” Her sister, Ruby, wearing a similar, light blue jacket and white beanie, responded. The sound of their boots running together through the snow made a large clomping sound.
“One day, do you think we can be like him? The good one?” Beatrice asked.
“I can!” Ruby responded. “Better than you, at least.” Beatrice gasped.
“Rue!” She yelled, trying to punch her sister, as Ruby floated up from the street to be eye level with the roofs of the houses they walked past. She keeled over in laughter in midair looking down at her sister who, surprisingly, wasn’t there. Ruby looked up to see Be, suddenly above her gripping onto her shirt, as they both began to fall towards the ground.