First Magic

CHAPTER ONE-2

“Ugh,” said Iron Angel, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet. “What was that …”

Dennis sighed in relief. “Oh, Mr. Iron Angel, I thought you were dead. Glad to hear you’re all right.”

Iron Angel suddenly looked over at Dennis in alarm. “Kid, stay away. Don’t come even one step closer.”

Dennis froze, one foot out, because he had been about to walk over to Iron Angel and try to help him. “Why? Are you hurt? Don’t you need help?”

“Because whoever shot me out of the sky is probably still around here,” said Iron Angel as he struggled to his feet. His wings must have been heavier than they looked, because he seemed to be having trouble standing because of his right wing. “And if they’re willing to attack me, then they are probably more than willing to attack a kid like you.”

“Got that right, Angel,” came a deep, yet scratchy, voice from the apple tree. “One of the few things you have ever gotten right in your life, you rotten bastard.”

Something fell down from the apple tree and then stood up. It was a person; at least, Dennis thought it was, but it looked like no person he’d ever seen in his life. It was humanoid in shape, but in appearance, it looked more like a plant creature than a person. Its limbs were like tree trunks, topped with branch-like hands and feet. It had strangely human eyes, while weird, multicolor flowers stood on its head like a crown. Dennis had never seen anything like it before and he wished he never had, because there was something creepy in the way it moved.

Iron Angel, however, did not seem confused at the appearance of the plant person. He did, however, seemed unpleased to see him. “Killer Plant. I didn’t expect to see you of all people here tonight.”

Killer Plant folded his arms in front of his chest, an amused look on his face. “Ah, but I’ve been expecting to see you tonight, have been expecting this moment for weeks, even planning it. For tonight is the night that the brave Iron Angel will die and all the world shall know the name of Killer Plant.”

Dennis gasped. He recalled having heard about this supervillain once. Killer Plant was one of Iron Angel’s regular foes. If Dennis remembered correctly, Killer Plant had the ability to control plants, a power he had used time and again to escape even the toughest of prisons. That such a terrible supervillain—who had once poisoned over 100 people in a day—was here, in Dennis’ own backyard, was even more unreal than Iron Angel’s crashing into his backyard like this.

“You say that every time we’ve ever fought, Killer,” said Iron Angel with a grunt. “Yet every time we fight, I always come away alive, while you usually have to slink back into whatever hole you’ve crawled out from to lick your wounds. Color me unimpressed by your empty rhetoric.”

“Ah, but tonight will be different,” said Killer. He gestured at their surroundings. “Not only have I disabled one of your wings, but I’ve also separated you from your sidekick, Winged Gal, and from the police. It is just you and me tonight.”

“That’s fine by me,” said Iron Angel. He stood up straight, but had to bend over slightly thanks to his ruined wing. “I can beat you even by myself.”

Killer smirked. “When did I ever say that I would fight you alone?”

Without warning, tree roots burst out of the ground around Iron Angel on all sides. But they weren’t just tree roots. They were wooden hands, which rested themselves on the ground and pulled out bizarre, monstrous plant creatures the likes of which Dennis had never seen before. The plant creatures looked even less human than Killer, like orcs from that Lord of the Rings book Dennis’ Dad loved to read. They surrounded Iron Angel on all sides, their joints creaking like tree branches in a powerful wind as they cut off every possible escape route.

“Do you like my minions?” asked Killer with a smirk on his face. “I call them Tree Golems. Not that it matters, because you’re going to be dead soon enough, but I thought you should know just the same. After all, not everyone gets the luxury of knowing the name of that which will ultimately kill them.”

Iron Angel looked around in alarm. He raised his hands, most likely to shoot missiles from his wrist-mounted cannons, but two of the Tree Golems grabbed his wings and pulled. The sudden movement caused Iron Angel to jerk back and lose his balance, while the rest of the Tree Golems moved in for the kill.

Dennis couldn’t take his eyes off the scene, but neither could he move. He saw the lights going on in his neighbors’ houses, but he somehow doubted that Killer would cease his attack just because he woke up cranky old Mr. Forrest or annoying Miss Sue. Yet as long as no one did anything, Iron Angel would die tonight in Dennis’ own backyard.

That thought compelled Dennis to step forward, even though he didn’t know what to do, but before he could do anything else, he heard a voice scream, “Dennis! Get back in the house!” and he looked up to see Dad peering over the side of the roof at him, an urgency on his face that Dennis had never seen before in his life.

“But Dad, Iron Angel is going to get killed!” Dennis called back.

“I don’t care!” Dad shouted. “Get back in the house now before you get yourself killed!”

Dennis hesitated. He knew that Dad was probably right, but at the same time, he couldn’t stand the thought of letting Iron Angel die. Iron Angel had no friends or allies. It would be a while before his sidekick or the police showed up to help, and by the time they did, Iron Angel would probably be dead and Killer would be long gone. Yet what could Dennis, a ten-year-old boy, do against a supervillain like Killer or any of his Tree Golems?

That was when Dennis noticed the spade in Mom’s flower garden next to the house. He looked from the spade to Killer—who seemed to have forgotten all about him in his zeal to kill Iron Angel—and made his decision.

With Dad still screaming at him to come back, Dennis yanked the spade out of the dirt and ran at Killer. Being part of his school’s track team, Dennis was able to cross the backyard in less than five seconds. Again, Killer did not seem to notice him, because the supervillain’s eyes were focused solely on his Tree Golems, who were punching a largely defenseless Iron Angel like a punching bag. Killer was actually smiling, like he was watching an entertaining movie.

Seeing Killer smile filled Dennis with so much rage that he didn’t even think about his next move. With a roar of rage, Dennis stabbed his spade into Killer’s right thigh, burying it as deeply as he could into Killer’s wood-like flesh.

Killer suddenly screamed in pain and backhanded Dennis so hard that Dennis was briefly knocked unconscious. When he came back to consciousness, he saw Killer yank the spade out of his thigh and toss it away before turning to focus on Dennis, his eyes burning with hatred. Some strange green liquid was seeping out of Killer’s thigh, though whether it was blood or something else, Dennis didn’t know.

“You dumb brat,” Killer hissed. “Trying to play the hero when your balls haven’t even dropped yet. I only intended to kill Iron Angel tonight, but I’ve never been one to turn the other cheek. Die with your hero, brat.”

Killer took a step toward Denis, but before he could get close enough to harm Dennis, the sound of metal boots clanking against the earth made Dennis look over to see Iron Angel running toward them. Iron Angel’s right wing was missing; as for the Tree Golems, they lay on the ground as still as Dennis’ toys. Dennis realized, in a vague sort of way, that his stabbing Killer must have broken Killer’s connection with the Tree Golems, thus allowing Iron Angel to come to his rescue.

Killer must have realized the same thing, because he looked at Dennis again and snarled, “Die!”

He lunged toward Dennis. There was no time for Dennis to dodge. Paralyzed by fear, he could only watch as Killer’s outstretched hands drew closer and closer to him.

But Killer never reached him, because in the the next instant, Iron Angel’s good left wing came out of nowhere and slashed straight through Killer’s waist like a sword. Killer didn’t even get a chance to scream. Both halves of his body just fell onto the ground, leaking that same strange, disgusting green blood that had come from his thigh wound.

Dennis realized he had been holding in his breath. Letting out his breath, he looked up at Iron Angel, who stood over him like a guardian spirit. Iron Angel was panting, yet he still stood, his wing dripping that Killer’s green blood, while his chest heaved in and out heavily.

“Dennis!” screamed a voice from behind him. A second later, Dad appeared out of nowhere and took Dennis into his arms, hugging him so tightly that Dennis thought he was going to die anyway. “Oh, Dennis, I thought you were going to die! I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Y-Yeah,” said Dennis, his voice tight. “Thanks, Dad. Could you let me down, please? You’re squeezing me too much.”

Dad stopped hugging him as hard, but he didn’t let go of Dennis. He just flashed him an embarrassed grin. “Sorry, Dennis. Everything just happened so fast that I was worried you might have somehow gotten hurt and I didn’t see it. Especially when that monster slapped you in the face.”

“I’m fine, Dad,” said Dennis. “Really. I don’t need to go to the doctor or anything like that.”

“Actually, I think you should take your son to the doctor,” said Iron Angel, folding his good wing behind his back. “Killer was a very strong supervillain. He could have easily broken something in your face without you knowing or realizing it. Also, his body is usually covered with a lot of different spores, so it’s possible he could have poisoned you without you even being aware.”

Dad looked at Iron Angel with new found respect in his eyes. “Yes, yes, of course. But first, thank you for saving my son, Iron Angel. If you hadn’t killed that beast, I would have … I don’t know what I would have done.”

“It’s fine, sir,” said Iron Angel in a modest voice. “I should be thanking your son, Dennis, because if he hadn’t distracted Killer like that, the Tree Golems would never have deactivated and I would never have gotten a chance to take him out for good.” He looked at Dennis. “Your son has the makings of a true hero, I think.”

Dennis beamed. Even though he was tired and hurting, he forgot all about that in order to say to Iron Angel, “Really? Do you think so?”

“Of course,” said Iron Angel. He rubbed his back. “Most kids your age would never have even thought about trying to distract such a dangerous villain. It was a stupid, reckless move, but superheroes have to make stupid, reckless moves all the time.” He grimaced. “Like patrolling the city alone at night. I should have brought Winged Gal with me. She’s never going to let me forget this.”

Dennis, however, had stopped listening to Iron Angel after that. He was too busy thinking about what Iron Angel had told him, about him having the potential to be a real hero. No one had ever told Dennis that before, not even his parents.

“In any case, I will call the police and let them know about Killer,” said Iron Angel. “You two should go back into your house. It’s possible that Killer might have some allies hiding nearby and I don’t want them to have any easy targets.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” said Dad, nodding. “Come along, Dennis. We’re going back inside.”

Dad put Dennis back on the ground and walked back to the back door. Dennis followed, but before he got very far, he heard Iron Angel say, “Dennis?” causing him to stop and look over his shoulder at him.

“Yeah?” said Dennis. “What is it?”

Iron Angel pulled a card out of a compartment in his armor and handed it to Dennis. “Take this.”

Curious, Dennis took the card and looked at it. It had Iron Angel’s name and phone number on it. It even had Iron Angel’s website address, which was cool because Dennis didn’t know of very many people with their own website.

He looked up at Iron Angel again. “What’s this?”

“My business card,” Iron Angel replied. “I want you to have it so you can call me when you’re old enough to apply for a sidekick license.”

Dennis gasped. “Wait, you mean you want me to become your sidekick?”

Iron Angel nodded. “Sure. Like I said, you have the potential to become a true superhero someday, although you’ll need plenty of training before then, like I got. Besides, my current sidekick, Winged Gal, won’t be my sidekick forever, so I’ll need a replacement at some point and you’d fit in my business perfectly.”

Dennis trembled. He almost couldn’t speak, but he finally said, “Thank you, Mr. Iron Angel. I will keep this business card in a special place forever.”

“Call me by my real name” said Iron Angel. “Luke, Luke Hat. Or just Mr. Hat. Mr. Iron Angel sounds too strange.”

“Yes, Mr. Hat,” said Dennis, nodding.

“Good,” said Iron Angel. “Now go and join your parents in the house. Tomorrow is a school day, so you should want to get as much sleep as you can so you won’t fall asleep in the middle of class.”

Once again, Dennis nodded. Then he turned and ran toward the back door, clutching the business card in his hands as if it was the most valuable jewel in the whole world. It would be several years before he could apply for a sidekick license, he knew, but he would make sure to keep this card where he could find it.

Because, more than anything else in the whole wide world, Dennis wanted to be a hero, a true hero like Iron Angel, and he would become a true hero, no matter how long it took or what he had to do to get there. One day, he would fight crime alongside Iron Angel and keep the city safe from all danger. He knew that as certainly as he knew his own name.