Heroes of Global Warming-2
499 Words
It all started with the clinking of beer bottles, a year ago to the day. We started down this road with a toast to the future, to setting it right, my partner and I.
Make that Sunblock and I.
Neither of us was smiling as we tipped back the bottles and drank. The occasion was hopeful, the plan was worked out, we were committed...
But the price would be steep.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Sunblock raised his eyebrows. Tiny beads of sweat stood out on his dark forehead, the effect of sitting across a table from me with my two-hundred degree body temperature.
"Of course not." I swigged some more beer, which was already warm from my hand. "But I'm willing to try."
"Shit." Sunblock shook his head slowly. "Are you sure you don't want to switch places?"
"And be the double-crossing mole?" I touched the big "C" on my chest; back then, I was still wearing a Castigators' uniform. "Having to hide my true purpose from America's premiere super-team while secretly manipulating them from within?"
Sunblock sighed and put down his beer. "I've gotta ask, Mike. This isn't because of the critics, right? You're over that, aren't you?"
I laughed, though it wasn't a laughing matter. "I'm not doing this because I won the Droopy Long-John." It was true. Receiving the critics' award for most useless hero was just one of the things that was motivating me, one part of a miserable life.
Sunblock reached across the table and put his hand on top of mine, which I knew made him uncomfortable. Fresh sweat popped out on his forehead and ran down his face. "What about the R-word? I hate to bring it up, but..."
"Retirement?" I bumped his hand aside. "How many times do I have to tell you, this isn't some mid-life crisis."
"I know, I'm just..."
Lunging forward out of my chair, I grabbed the front of his purple costume. "This is about the future, Joe! Making things right for everyone!"
"Except two dozen super-heroes." Sunblock hissed the words in a harsh whisper. "Tricked into a cape-and-cowl death trap."
I held on to him for a moment, locking my gaze to his ebony eyes. As always, they were full of understanding and friendship. Like any good friend on the brink of a big leap, he was simply conducting one last sanity check. He was backstopping me, as always, because he cared.
And I was holding out on him, as always, for the same reason. Holding back something he needed to know.
"Thanks." I released him and settled back into my chair. "Yes, I'm sure I can do this."
I watched as he smiled calmly and raised his beer. "Well all right then." What if he did know? What if I told him? "So we do this thing." Those questions always hung between us like a cloud of cigarette smoke.
And like always, they remained unanswered. "We start tomorrow, Sunblock." But for how much longer? Another week? Another year? "One year from now, the world as we know it will cease to exist."
- Writer
