Dial H for Heroics

Jack hummed as he led the way out of the bank. He had a bag of silver in his pocket, a watch that let him become other people with powers, and a goal he could accomplish in a world from War of Warcraft.

And if he couldn’t accomplish his goal, he could become a villain and rob people while roaming around.

He doubted he would even try to complete the quests if Josie wasn’t trailing around behind him.

He was going to keep that to himself. He didn’t need her thinking he would just leave her on her own. That might cause her to do something destructive to the city around them.

He didn’t really care about the city. The people were just moving targets getting in his way. That was even more so now that he had something that gave him the ability to do anything he wanted.

The quests flashed at him. Apparently they didn’t like the thought he might just retire instead of doing what they wanted. That was interesting.

Could they take the watch back if he didn’t make a move in a direction they liked?

How much time did they have before they couldn’t fulfil the first three quests, the prime quests? He frowned as he considered his options. They had to do something about the main quests to keep the watches. He didn’t like it, but it looked like unlimited power came with some limited responsibility.

“We know where the bog hound and the doomed town are,” Jack said. “Which one do you want to try out first?”

“Let’s try the town,” said Josie. “I have no way to tame a hound. I don’t even like dogs.”

“I thought about not even trying,” said Jack. “The quest list shouted at me in anger.”

“Makes sense,” said Josie. “The quests are why we’re here. If we don’t try to get them done, we might be stuck here without working watches.”

“That would be horrible,” said Jack. “Neither one of us have the skills to live here other than as petty criminals.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Josie. “I have dozens of skills I can turn into a job here. I just don’t want to live here.”

Jack shrugged. He had no idea she knew that much practical stuff.

“Let’s ask our friend, Ken, where Accordly and Lake Myra happens to be,” said Jack. “Then we can figure out how to get out there from here. We might have to come back here to town, so maybe we should think about renting rooms until we get back. I wonder how we should do that.”

“We should ask about the other quests too,” said Josie. “We’re going to have to deal with them sooner, or later.”

“Good idea,” said Jack. “I wonder if there is some kind of mystery around the

Princess going missing.”

“There might be something going on that someone else is taking the blame and no one can really look into it,” said Josie. “I mean we’re the only ones here who don’t owe anything to anyone.”

Jack nodded. It made sense to him. If a dealer, or a bag boy, got robbed, they couldn’t go to the cops and complain someone had taken their drugs or money. Instead they put the word out and waited for someone to snitch to get a bounty, or favor from highers up.

A princess in trouble could mean that another country was trying to explain they weren’t behind things. Some paranoia and anger might be on the Princess’s side of things. There might be hawks on both sides calling for fighting.

He didn’t have an idea on the Dark Rider, but it sounded like a Ghost Rider. They might have to figure out how to split the power from the rider when they needed to get things done.

That might be a good use of his Angel. Would the Dark Rider be able to stand up to the minute of power he could bring to bear? He was bound to try.

He spotted the vendor at his stand. The man looked surprised to see them, but he covered it up with a smile.

Jack grinned back, putting on his mask as he watched the market around him. The first reaction put him on guard. Their new friend might not be as honest as they first thought.

“How’s it going, Ken,” said Jack. “The Exchange gave us some money, so we wanted to come by and thank you again. We have some other questions that we thought you could help us with before we have to leave town. Would you mind?”

“Do you want to talk right now, or later?,” asked Ken. He handed off three apples, and some broccoli to a matron.

“Do you know an Inn we can stay at for the next few hours?,” asked Jack.

“There’s one a few streets over called the Bell Tower,” said Ken. “I’ll be glad to meet you there when I am done for the day.”

“Thanks, Ken,” said Jack. “We’ll see you there.”

“Something wrong?,” asked Josie. She tried not to look at the vendor as they walked away.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. He decided to walk three streets over, checking the

intersections as he went. “He seemed surprised to see us.”

“Why?,” asked Josie.

“Got no clue,” said Jack. He paused when he saw a bread loaf with a spike sticking out of it. He smiled. “There’s the inn he recommended. Should we go down there and talk to them, or look for some place else to crash and then meet Ken later?”

“How bad do you think this is?,” asked Josie.

“I have no clue,” said Jack. “We can totally ask around for another inn.”

“Let’s see if we can use it for a home base for right now,” said Josie. “We’re not going to be here long if we have to travel to find this Bog Hound, or Lake Myra.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “It might be hinky, but we’re only going to be here for one day, maybe two, then we’re flying out to deal with the important things.”

“Long enough for us to get adventurer clothes, and fit in a little better,” said Josie. “I like it. It’s simple. It reduces trouble.”

“I’m for that,” said Jack. “You going to keep your lightning?”

“You keeping Deadpool?,” asked Josie.

“I was thinking of trying something else to be scarier like the circle x or the arrow a from the Avengers,” said Jack.

“I guess that’s understandable,” said Josie. “You can always get the Marvel star.”

“So we can be a matching pair,” said Jack. He grinned. “You can be Captain Marvel, and I can be ten Captain Marvels.”

“But my Captain Marvel will always be better,” said Josie.

“At being a big red cheese,” said Jack.

“At least mine didn’t get Cancer,” said Josie. “With ten others trying to seize the name.”

“That’s a low blow, Jo,” said Jack. He clutched his heart in fake injury. “I might

never be able to talk to you again.”

“You’re right,” said Josie. “At least none of your Marvels split into pieces and rushed around like that.”

“I know, right,” said Jack. “Wait. There was a Captain Marvel that did that?”

“Yep,” said Josie. “His magic word was Splitzam.”

“You’re putting me on,” said Jack.

“Check it when you get home,” said Josie. “He won’t be on either of our watches. He’s a hero from Harvey, or Columbia.”

“I thought Harvey did Casper and Richie Rich,” said Jack. He led the way up to the front of the inn. A sign next to the door proudly proclaimed he had come to the right place.

“They did superheroes before that,” said Josie. “They had Dracula as a super Batman for instance.”

“Really?,” said Jack.

“Really,” confirmed Josie.

They walked inside and looked around at the people taking up spots at their tables, and the long counter. A lot of them looked at the two strangers. Jack waved at the crowd.

“Can I help you?,” said a waitress. She frowned at their appearances.

“We need some food, some beer, a room, and a clothing shop,” said Jack. “My friend needs some traveling clothes.”

“All right,” said the waitress. “The food and beer I can do in a few minutes, a room in a bit, and there is a clothing shop a few places down that can help with your wardrobe.”

“Thanks,” said Jack. “Is it okay if we talk to the tailor while you rustle up the grub?”

“That’ll be fine,” said the waitress. “It’ll give the place a chance to clear out before the dinner crowd comes in.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Let’s get you some clothes, Jo. Then we can feast.”

“All right,” said Josie. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Jack waved at the crowd again before they left. He looked up and down the street.

“I didn’t see a shop coming down from the main road,” said Jack. “Keep walking?”

“Let’s do that,” said Josie. She pushed her hair out of her face.

“What do you think about the town so far?,” asked Jack.

“It reminds me of places in Europe before they invented the car,” said Josie. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen any horses around.”

“They might be penned up so the streets are clear,” said Jack. “I did see a cart being pulled earlier.”

“All right,” said Josie. “I’ll take your word for that. I just assumed there would be more.”

“I know,” said Jack. He checked the front of stores as they walked. “I think this is the place. Let’s go in and see if they are as friendly as the rest of the people we have met so far.”

“I hope Ken can tell us something about our quests so we can get this over,” said Josie. “Living in the past doesn’t seem so charming without plumbing.”

“I wonder how we’re supposed to tame the Bog Hound,” said Jack. “Sounds like a Ghostbusters episode.”

“I forgot about that,” said Josie. She rubbed her face. “That’s the one with the four leaf clover.”

“Maybe that’s what we’ll need to settle things,” said Jack.

“That’s horrible,” said Josie.

“Let’s get some tougher clothes, and then food,” said Jack. “My stomach wants something inside of it.”