A Tale of Two Masks

Despite how he had left the day before, Ashton showed up to work on time, prepared to do his job properly. He was still upset about the whole situation, but he had acknowledged that there was nothing he could do about it. Like always. It had been a long time since Ashton had really felt this frustrated and helpless.

Luckily, Mr. Wyndart left the matter of the day before alone and went about the day as normal. Well, as normal as a day working with the controversial CEO of SI could be. It didn’t last long, though. Every week, SI as a whole did an inventory to make sure nothing important had gone missing or been misplaced. Today was that day, and the reports from various departments came flowing in from late morning to early afternoon.

Normally, the reports would just be delivered by the supervisor, unless there was a problem. The problem, big or small, had to be reported directly before the overview was handed over. Ashton had to deal with all of the department heads relating those reports with problems. Everything was the usual mundane until a bit later in the afternoon.

“This one needs to go to the CEO,” the department head told Ashton before he even began his report, “A superhero suit has been stolen. The thief even left a note.” As he spoke, he handed over the note in question.

Ashton glanced down at the note and felt his stomach churn. Was this another test? Had his life just become some big joke? The very bottom of the note was signed ‘Golden Reign’.

“I will become the real hero you promised I could be, so I will be borrowing this for a while.”

The more he looked at it, the more he was convinced it was another test. Ashton took the note to the CEO’s office and dropped it in front of him, a bit irritated.

“Is this another test of yours?” he demanded.

Amos picked up the note and gave it a quick read. “I wish it was,” he replied, setting the note back down, “May I ask what was missing.”

While he was still suspicious, Ashton was obligated to answer him. “Her costume.”

Another meeting was called with incredible speed, and Ashton had to stand by as they argued over what to do about the situation. They couldn’t risk arresting Summer while all eyes were on them, but it would be even worse if she went out there and lost. On the other hand, if she had an actual useful power and could win against some real villains that would help their situation quite a bit.

The problem was her power was useless in a real fight, and even if it was, there were no villains for her to go up against. They couldn’t stoop so low as to hire criminals. That is when all of the attention started to turn to Ashton. Ashton was useful in a fight. He had drawn the eye of a group of potential villains, too.

“Why don’t we have him watch over her?” someone suggested.

“Yes, even if things go badly, Shadow Pheonix can just have a redemption arc.”

This was going in a terrible direction already, and just like before no one asked Ashton for his opinion. They continued to discuss his fate as if he wasn’t standing right there listening.

“They are dating anyway. A romantic hero pairing. Just like that drama.”

Someone else cleared their throat. There had been some odd romance drama between someone who was clearly based on Golden Reign and someone who was clearly based on Shadow Phoenix. SI had sued them and it came to a premature end, but it was too late to undo some of the damage that had been done.

After hearing out all of the arguments, Mr. Wyndart spoke up. “Ashton, you will watch over Summer and ensure she does not turn to vigilantism. If she is ever in danger, you will use the skills we trained you in to protect her. Any questions.”

“Do I have to use that ridiculous costume?” Ashton asked.

“Did you want a new one fashioned for you?”

On second thought, that sounded much worse. “I will just take it,” he conceded, “What should I do about work?”

“There is no need to worry about things here for a while. We will provide you with some tracking devices in case the villains take the chance to come into contact with you.”

Just like that, Ashton was handed his villain suit and kicked out of the building. Was this his reward for following the rules? Had his perfect obedience turned him into a tool to be used and abused with no life of his own? He took a few moments to calm himself down. He couldn’t let his frustration drag him into someone else’s trap.

Once he calmed down a bit, he contacted Summer. Unfortunately, this was something he couldn’t avoid. She needed to know what had happened.

“I need to talk to you. Are you at your house?”

That didn’t sound too aggressive, right? It took her a few moments to reply, but she read the message instantly.

“I am. Is it urgent?”

Urgent? Now that he thought about it, what was this situation if not urgent? Ashton already felt tired.

“Yes,” he replied.

It took him several minutes to drive to her house, and he had barely rung the doorbell when it flung open to reveal a breathless Summer. She was nervous. He couldn’t blame her, and it made him feel worse that he didn’t have any good news to deliver.

“Is this an official visit for work?” she asked hesitantly.

“It is,” Ashton confirmed, his voice grave, “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

“No one else is home right now,” Summer told him, letting him in.

Ashton stepped inside. He should start by reassuring her. He had no intention of putting her through the same turmoil he had been dragged through. “For starters, I am going to tell you that I don’t believe you did it.”

“Did what?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

She was even more nervous now. That probably had not been a good way to start. Ashton turned to face her.

“This morning, when going over inventory and basic security, Golden Reign’s hero suit was missing. It was still there last inventory. You couldn’t have taken it when you left, and you haven’t been back. Unfortunately, many higher ups believe you hired someone else to steal it for you,” Ashton explained, “That’s not all. There was a note left behind with it.”

“Did they send you to arrest me? Question me?” Summer demanded.

“I have been sent here to warn you and give you one last chance,” Ashton replied, “They don’t care if you keep the suit, but you must never use it to become a vigilante.”

There was a long pause as Summer stared right at him. She seemed to come to some kind of decision before she spoke. “I think I know who might have done it.”

She began to explain everything that had happened to her, and how she thought the situation had occurred. Everything had started with her desire to track down Shadow Phoenix. She didn’t say why, but she was desperate to meet him. She had been going over old footage, and had met some suspicious character online whole had told her his master plan.

That plan involved her returning to the stage as Golden Reign and taking down villains to cause a scene. He seemed confident the first real villain would appear at SI seeking vengeance. Ashton was inclined to agree, and honestly couldn’t blame them too much.

“I don’t want to play along with his crazy plan so I was going to ignore it,” Summer finished, “I hadn’t even accepted his proposal.”

As he had listened, Ashton had formulated a plan of his own. Right now, he had a surprising amount of freedom to act on his own. It was time for him to take advantage of it.

“This is perfect timing then,” he said, “I will help you. They told me that for the time being, my job is to watch over you, so I will do just that.”

“How?” Summer looked a bit confused.

“For starters, I could help you find Shadow Phoenix,” he offered. It felt somewhat ironic that he was the person in the best position to show her exactly who Shadow Phoenix was.

“Really?” Summer asked in shock, “Isn’t that against the rules?”

Against the rules? From now on, Ashton only intended to abide by the official rules. So long as he did not reveal that he was Shadow Phoenix he didn’t need to worry about them.

“I’m beginning to doubt the rules,” he admitted, “And that note I mentioned earlier? It was a note typed and signed by someone claiming to be Golden Reign proclaiming their desire to become a real hero.”

The revelation shocked Summer a little, but also seemed to give her resolve. She nodded to herself. “So what’s the plan?”

That was a wonderful question. What was his plan? How could he introduce Summer to himself?